[Haveil Havalim is here]
The sentiment is all over the blogs, Netanyahu has emphasized it, all sorts of ambassadors and consuls and spokesmen have underscored it, but I can’t get into it.
"They kill, we build," the line goes. "They murder tiny infants, we build homes for families."
But it’s no consolation for the massacre of the Fogel family in Itamar.
And more, the public relations argument that we build and Palestinian Arabs murder babies is irrelevant, a response to a straw man argument that no one has alleged.
The world doesn't claim we destroy. The world's actual argument is that we are stealing land. So to them, the government’s permission to build hundreds more apartments is, “They kill, we steal.”
I'm not saying we shouldn't build. We must build. But stop making an empty PR argument out of it.
The world doesn't get it, they won't get it, and certainly not when we respond to straw men.
Sorry to be so depressing this morning, but there it is.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
If the world in general wants to ignore the Biblical and historical reasons for our claim to Israel, regardless of any facts we muster, it is certainly able to do so. We have to identify and address those people who really do want to know the score.
ReplyDeleteI'd also like to see a far more aggressive response to eliminate and deter Arab murderers.
But they did take a step further, releasing what I'm told are horrific photos of the murder scene to try to sway Western media opinion (I couldn't and wouldn't click the link to look at them).
ReplyDeleteSo that's a more direct reply, but I just can't believe it's halachically acceptable (even though the family agreed to it). I'm sorry, to me it leads to bizayon hamait and I doubt whether it will be shown and impact Western public policy.
Bob-
ReplyDeleteEven those who want to know the score aren't listening - the charge against us is theft, and if we choose to respond with argument then we need a better argument than this one.
Michael-
That's an interesting question. We do have halachic precedent for nivul hameit for the sake of benefit of relatives.
Good point, but a lot of that is really self-assurance, not a debating tactic. It's like taking the line about how "the only thing [Arabs, Jews] understand is force," which both sides assures itself is completely true.
ReplyDelete