Disturbed

by Shmuel Neumann, Ph.D.
May 17, '04 / 26 Iyar 5764

I am a particularly disturbed Jew.

I am the village idiot that finds it amazing that we still are amazed, finds it shocking that we are still shocked, and finds it disgusting that we are still disgusted and do nothing. By now, we should take for granted that a pregnant mother and her small children would be shot to death at point-blank range and that soldiers' bodies would be mutilated and body parts paraded in the streets.

It is laudable that there is some shock at the savagery and inhumanity of the Arab killers in executing the Hatuel family, and in parading body parts of killed Israeli soldiers in the streets of Gaza. It is laudable that Jews feel the suffering of their brethren and I believe that there is no Jew that didn't grieve the senseless, horrific loss of life. What I don't get is why we are still shocked and surprised. Children have always been the Arabs' targets. Going back to Maalot, weren't children massacred in cold blood? Weren't two boys beaten to death in Tekoa in a face to face confrontation with the Arabs? Weren't children murdered in their beds and other children shot to death with their mother in Metzer and Itamar? And what about the two soldiers lynched and paraded in Ramallah, have we forgotten about them? Where the so-called Palestinians do not value their own lives, why are we shocked that they do not value the lives of children or have respect for the dead?

As a people, as loving Jews, who savor life, we can not accept that there is evil so pervasive. We keep clinging to the hope that just maybe they don't mean it. We are in denial.

Our denial is further exacerbated by world opinion. World opinion so blatantly and consistently posits that Jews have absolutely no right to self-determination. Any decisions made by Jews to promote their survival are irrelevant. Despite the unambiguous message that the Likud party members have sent Ariel Sharon and his yellowbellies, the headlines include, "Sharon plans to forge ahead with his Gaza plan, with minor modifications" and "Sharon orders removal of additional outposts."

Jumping into the pecking party, the United Nations' and United States' reacted to the Likud vote by dismissing the Jews' right to make any decisions that ensure their self-preservation. The news headlines continue, "The UN votes to grant the Palestinian Authority sovereignty over the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem", "Bush and Abdullah agree to promote the Road Map" and "Powell asks for an immediate meeting with Abu Ala." It doesn't matter how much they commit atrocities, these ostriches still have the irrational knee-jerk reaction of "Hey, fellas, let's talk. We can work it out." Complete denial.

The latest affront to basic human decency, parading the body parts of blown-up Jews, triggers the most inane comments; comments that make me incredibly disturbed. Ex-Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, speaking on national radio, insists that we have no alternative but to leave Gaza. In response to the interviewer's question of what happens after we leave and they attack, Ben-Eliezer, in his pig-headed, dogmatic style pontificated, "If they shoot the first bullet, we know how to deal with them." If he knows how to deal with them after shooting the first bullet, why is he keeping it a secret? If he really knows how to deal with them, why didn't he do it when he was the Minister of Defense and why don't we do it now? Deep denial can be fatal.

When first diagnosed with cancer, one can hope to limit the danger of spreading by treating the locus of the cancer. Left untended, the cancer spreads and the prognosis is hopeless. Despite all empirical data to the contrary, we insist that it is benign and it won't kill us. Our failure is that we have failed to acknowledge the cancer and treat it at its inception.

Terrorism is the malignant cancer and it is spreading. As we did not eradicate the cancer in time, the cancer has spread to the entire so-called Palestinian population. Those of us that haven't lost all contact with reality have abandoned the hope that it can be cured. When the entire so-called Palestinian population cheers the deaths of children, lynchings of soldiers or the deaths of the thousands that perished in the World Trade Center, and parades body parts in the streets of Gaza, the cancer is intractable. Yet, we are so much in denial that Yasser Arafat is ensured his safety and terrorist leaders are free to train their successors.

I am so disturbed, I may explode. Am I the only one with the clarity of vision to see that the peace process is bone dead? Am I the only one that has gone through the stages of mourning: denial, bargaining, anger, depression and acceptance? How can so many Jews keep believing that it is not possible that the Palestinians are so inhumane, or that some kind of deal is possible, although they have violated every bargain, without exception. There are more than enough "sacrifices for peace" to move us through the stages to acceptance. We must accept that all Palestinians do not want peace, and they will kill every Jewish man, woman and child until we are driven out of the Land of Israel. Once we accept this, we can move to the next stage of therapy, effective living characterized by controlling the things we can, accepting the things we can't, and knowing the difference.

Israel is hopeless, not helpless.

The intifada has been a win-win situation for the so-called Palestinians. They kill us, they win. They die, they win (their 72 ladies-in-waiting). We retaliate, they win, as they elicit condemnation of Israel perpetuating a cycle of violence. We freeze settlements, they win, as by doing so, we tacitly concede our rights to that portion of the Holy Land. Even the proposal of disengagement from Gaza is a victory for them, as is the order to dismantle Jewish farms and small communities in Judea and Samaria. They have an ally in the White House that has the dream of an independent Palestinian State, a euphemism for their sole objective - driving the Jews from the Holy Land.

The only reaction that is not a win-win situation for them is settlement. The only way to win this war is to frustrate their sole objective of driving Jews out of parts of the Holy Land. The only way we can win this war is by reclaiming the entirety of Judea and Samaria.

Jews have purchased hundreds of thousands of dunam (acres) of land in the so-called West Bank. There is absolutely no justification to resist annexing those parts of Judea and Samaria that were purchased from Arabs. In addition, there is no justification to refuse to annex all Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

We certainly have no less right to these parts of the so-called West Bank than the United States' rights to Manhattan and the entire Mid-West. The United States claims legitimate possession of the island of Manhattan because it was bought for $24 and some beads. Their claim to the entire Mid-West is a purchase from Napoleon. Every schoolchild is taught the legitimacy of the Louisiana Purchase.

Jews bought hundreds of thousands of dunam from Arabs in Judea and Samaria for prices considerably above fair market value. Why is this not part of Israel? All parts of the Holy Land belong to the Jews. Certainly those lands publicly purchased by Jews belong to the Jews. If we want to win this war, it is as simple as annexing these lands into Israel. If the United States doesn't like it, I suggest they lead by example and deed the entire Mid-West to the French. Even a disturbed village idiot like me knows that $24 for Manhattan and ten million dollars for more than twenty million square miles is unconscionable and therefore a retroactively invalid purchase. If the purchase by Jews for fair market value is unconscionable, then the Native Americans should refund the $24 and a string of beads and take back Manhattan. If it is illegal for property purchased by one country to become part of that country, then Alaska must be returned to Russia.

To me, it is no-brainer.

The so-called Palestinians are incapable of living in peace with the Jews. They should be paid fair market value for their properties and be permitted to emigrate back to Jordan or any country of their choice. The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights gives them that right.

Settlement is not the problem; it is the solution.

But then again, what do I know? I am seriously disturbed.