By Rabbi Dow Marmur
JERUSALEM– In response to the recent heinous terrorist attacks against Israelis in the Hebron area in the West Bank that took the lives of a 13-year old girl in her sleep, killed a rabbi and badly injured members of his family in the car he was driving, and the rocket from Gaza that hit a kindergarten in nearby Sderot (mercifully when the building was empty), the government of Israel is reported to have decided on a number of collective punitive measures against Palestinians.
People in the know say that such measures don’t deter terrorists. They’re usually taken to appease the settlers (represented in the cabinet by Education Minister Naftali Bennett and his party) who often complain that they don’t get the protection they deserve.
The target of the collective measures is primarily the Palestinian Authority which refuses to condemn terrorist attacks against Israelis and which is said to support financially the families of terrorists. Even the Quartet, once led by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, has condemned the Palestinian incitement to violence in the same breath as it expressed opposition to Israeli building more homes in the settlements.
The fact that Muslim terrorism isn’t confined to Israel is no consolation: Muslim counties like Turkey and Bengladesh aren’t spared either, to cite but the most recent examples. It only confirms the Israeli impression that the world is incapable of dealing with terrorism and that, therefore, it behooves Israel to take every measure at its disposal to curb the violence in and around the Jewish state, even if it seems impossible to eradicate it.
No measure taken by Israel and no report issued by international bodies holds out hope for a solution to the conflict. All we can expect is containment. Israelis seem to be reconciled to it and appear to take the casualties in their stride seemingly not very differently from the way they respond to the terrible number of lethal road accidents.
Will changes in the leadership of the Palestinian Authority alter the situation? It depends who succeeds Abu Mazen. Last Friday’s Ha’aretz once again brought up the name of Marwan Barghouti, who’s currently serving many life sentences in an Israeli jail for his terrorist activities. In a long article the paper quotes anonymously his captors and others in the security services that he should be let go, not because he deserves it but because he’s said to be the only person who can unite the Palestinians and perhaps make peace with Israel. The De Klerk-Mandela relationship is mentioned again, though everybody seems to agree that Barghouti is no Mandela and it’s not certain that Israel has a De Klerk.
And then there’re those who believe that Israel has decided to live indefinitely with the present situation, especially if attacks from the North can be averted. Hence the seemingly almost intimate relationship with Putin, whose presence in Syria cannot be ignored. Perhaps Turkey will also help to restrain Hamas in Gaza, now after the reconciliation-of-sorts with Israel. The fact that Turkey is also seeking to improve relations with Russia may be relevant in this context.
A lot is happening around here, but nothing is changing. Some may read this as an optimistic assessment because they believe that any deal with the Palestinians – even with Barghouti at the helm – will enable Iran to come in and act upon its extremely dangerous publicly stated intentions.
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Rabbi Marmur is spiritual leader emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. Now residing in Israel, he may be contacted via dow.marmur@sdjewishworld.com. Comments intended for publication in the space below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)