WarSclerotic

More forces in the field, Israel Hayom, Boaz Bismuth, October 13, 2015

Only in our sick Middle Eastern reality could there exist a scene as horrific as the one that took place in the Pisgat Zeev neighborhood of Jerusalem on Monday: a 13-year-old Arab boy and his 15-year-old relative, both armed with knives, on a spree to kill Jews. Fate decreed that the victim, who was riding his bike, was also 13. One 13-year-old — the Arab one — wanted to kill, even if that meant he himself would die. The other — the Jewish victim — wanted to live, even if life is hard sometimes.

Thirteen-year-olds are old enough to know that life is more important than anything, that death can wait. At least that’s supposed to be what they hear from us adults at home. But the wave of stabbing attacks against Israelis, which on Monday marked its 12th day, is showing us that not everyone in our Middle East shares the same values. The knife attacks are bringing us face to face with a psychotic reality in which young Palestinian boys and girls are not afraid to die as long as they die killing Jews.

If only it were the result of desperation. Then it would be easier to understand. And there is desperation in our region: in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen, and in Libya. Ask the Muslims living under the control of the Islamic State group.

But there is no desperation here. Not among Jews, and not among Arabs. Can anyone explain why a 19-year-old Arab woman studying history at college, supposedly the daughter of concerned parents, should despair? Why should a 29-year-old mother, studying for her M.A., feel compelled to whip out a knife at the Afula Central Bus Station?

Why, with all the choices they had, did these two woman — just like the 13-year-old boy on Monday — opt for death? It’s not desperation — it’s something else. Something very, very depraved. We are seeing a new phenomenon: a kind of infectious disease of terrorism that is passed from one zombie to another. A kind of mental illness that is legitimized from holy places.

Because the Arabian Nights stories about Jews who want to build their Temple and demolish Al-Aqsa mosque is spreading online. Because Israeli MKs from the Joint Arab List think that they were elected to serve as pyromaniacs, even if in the media they present themselves as trying to quell the flames. All of a sudden, young people are being given Allah-sanctioned legitimacy to commit murder, and get killed in the attempt. These are nihilist youth, but it’s not the nihilism of Camus. The nihilism we’re facing doesn’t reject religious faith, it operates in its name. And that’s the last thing we needed.

We’ve been through tough battles, and should keep things in perspective. We can assume that after making it through the wars of 1948 and 1973, not to mention two difficult intifadas, we’ll survive this battle, in which the doomsday weapon can be a pair of ninja turtle-style nunchucks.

But in crazy times like these, we need forces in the field. A 13-year-old Jewish boy riding his bike should see uniforms around him. Not terrorists. This still isn’t an intifada, and let’s hope it doesn’t become one, but we’ve entered a war of raw nerves. Increased deployment of police and soldiers will help calm the civilian population.

Israel hasn’t been defeated fighting for its existence. Obviously, it will survive the current zombie plague, too.

This entry was posted on October 13, 2015 at 4:37 PM and is filed under Abbas, Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islamic culture, Islamic terrorism, Israel, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian heroes, Palestinians. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Abbas, Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islamic culture, Islamic terrorism, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian heroes, Palestinians