MK Zvi Sukkot smashes ‘terror monument’ in Arab village

Knesset member Zvi Sukkot should never have taken a sledgehammer in his hands and smash to pieces part of a limestone monument in the Judea/Samaria (a.k.a. the West Bank) Arab village of Madama.

Because it was wrong? Since it was provocative? Because it would be a violation of vandalism laws in America? These are good reasons, but hardly the most critical one.

This monument was documented proof of where Israel stands with the so-called Palestinians. If Madama’s attitude reflects that of other villages, what is the point of negotiating for an independent Palestinian state?

The New York Times inadvertently reveals this prospect – or lack thereof – in an Aug. 25 article about a video which showed Sukkot and his aides smashing the monument while touring Arab communities; they were accompanied by Israeli soldiers. The Israeli military said in a statement that Sukkot and his aides were under the soldiers’ protection but “acted deceptively and manipulatively, without authorization, departing entirely from the approved framework, and began demolishing one of the monuments in Madama.”

Soldiers soon removed Sukkot and his partners from the village.

It will probably surprise nobody that the monument stands for a single state controlled by Arabs and glorifies terrorists, and a Knesset leader said this monument was among many like it to be found in the region.

An outline of the land stretching between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is displayed on the monument with “Palestine” inscribed in Arabic in the middle, according to the Times. Mayor Rami Nassar said the names of “people killed by the enemy” over the decades are listed on the monument.

Yamen Faraj, a commander of the Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades, a military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, is among the listed names. Faraj was involved in a 2003 suicide bombing, according to Israeli officials.

Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a social media post that Israel “should have long ago dismantled the terror monument,” the Times reported. That means the same for dozens of other such monuments that were built throughout Judea/Samaria.

Hold it right there, Smotrich.

The entire world clamors for a two-state solution which will allow Israel and an independent Palestinian state to exist side by side in peace. It would be nice, but critics do not understand that the details consist of an enormous devil that would likely make a two-state unattainable.

Israel has been open to compromise since its inception 78 years ago and the Arabs always rejected it. In 2000, then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat launched or facilitated a war against Israel after turning down an Israeli proposal for an independent state covering Gaza, 93 percent of Judea/Samaria and part of Jerusalem.

For several years, Gaza served as a de facto independent state while Hamas completely controlled the strip. Hamas and other terrorists took advantage of a porous border with southern Israel by invading several Jewish communities on Oct. 7, 2023, and slaughtering 1,200 Israelis. This raid violated a cease-fire that Israel and Hamas agreed to in 2021.

It is common knowledge that many Arabs in Israel’s territories seek a one-state solution so they can control all the land.

The Madama monument served as a written confession, comparable to a signed legal statement of guilt. It celebrated terrorists and registered its plans to seize all the land.

If this monument reflected how a high portion of Arabs there think, then a two-state option is a delusion. Negotiating such a proposal is a waste of time.

Sukkot removed one opportunity to have it all in writing.

Nassar, Madama’s mayor, should be grateful. Now Israel cannot say it has proof of Arab intentions. Instead, he complained because the soldiers did not intervene immediately. “They (the military) provided a shield for this criminal act,” he told the Times. “We’re living in a situation that is becoming more and more extreme.”

Who was extreme first?

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Bruce S. Ticker is a Philadelphia-based columnist.