Issues Under Fire: Israeli Mobs Makes Mockery of Humanity
Whether this recent rash of rabid violence eventually flares up into another Intifada or simply fizzles out until the next issue is ignited, will largely depend how Israelis respond to the crisis. If the country's citizens are allowed to take the law into their own hands, you can expect the violence to intensify at every level and on both sides of the divide. Panic and hysteria has led to crazed irrational acts of violence no civilized society should tolerate, let alone embrace. When mob rule becomes the rule, you're living is a place without any rules.
When trying to coexist in a tiny space with people who strain to get alone under the best of circumstances are subjected to higher than normal levels of stress and mistrust, it don't take more than the slightest of slights to trigger an episode of violence. With deep seeded animosities always simmering below the surface of every interaction, any false move, misstep or misunderstanding is cause for preemptive action. In an environment like this, being safe is always better than being sorry.
Just such behaviors played itself out in a most heinous fashion 48 hours ago. In the southern city of Beersheba an Arab man wielding a gun and a knife went nutz killing a soldier and wounding nine others. That individual was shot dead by the police. When security personnel spotted another man they suspected of being involved, he was shot as well. Unfortunately for the authorities, this individual was not involved. When the police realized the misidentification, they called for medical attention. That's when the mob took control.
While lying defenseless on the ground, passers-by screamed, cursed, kicked, spat upon, beat and clubbed the 20 something African migrant from Eritrea to a bloody pulp. The police, with the help of a few bystanders tried to protect the man from the vicious assault. But to no avail, The young man died of his wounds. His name was Habtom Zerhom for those who care. Granted, he was a nobody, but even nobodies have somebody who'll miss them when they're gone.
In another equally reprehensible act of violence driven by fear, hate and hysteria, a Jewish Israeli stabbed another Israeli Jew because he thought the other Jew looked too much like an Arab. Apparently hellbent on exacting his due pound of flesh to avenge acts of unprovoked violence against his people, he simply struck out against the first non-Jewish looking person within his reach. Under stressful conditions like these, level headed and courageous leadership is critical. Unfortunately, thus far only tough talk and lip service is all that's offered to date.
Bottom line: Although these atrocities have sparked outrage and calls of condemnation from all the usual sources, as well as demands for the culprits to identified and prosecuted for their lawlessness and inhumanity to mankind, the astute observer never forgets the other side of this historically horrid ledger. On the other hand, others are calling these acts of retribution, no matter how extreme, acceptable considering the current climate of kill or be killed. If a few innocent lives are taken in defense of the greater good, so be it. Remember, its better to be safe than to be sorry. Podcast below!
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