I don't know Haim Shedmi. I understand that he was one of the better-known anti-Netanyahu protesters, and takes pride in the description of "left-wing activist." Last week, he gave a performance that boiled down the essence of how low the camp that supposedly espouses humanism and opposes violence can go. In a speech full of pathos, eyes wet with tears and deep hatred, Shedmi called on the government to give him a gun to point at "the settlers."
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At me, in other world. This militaristic all was greeted by thunderous applause from all those present at the discussion, which was held at the Knesset under the title: "Stop the settler violence." Again, "the."
The conference, organized by MKs from Meretz, Labor, and the Joint Arab List, took place a day after the late Eliyahu Kay was murdered in the Old City of Jerusalem. Irony was welcome, but common sense, morality, and brotherhood were all absent.
In recent months, "violence by the settlers" has become a code that is designed to become a fact on the ground. A quick Google search yields dozens of pages of position papers under that title put out by groups such as Yesh Din, Human Rights Watch, Peace Now, or the UN's "Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Occupied Palestinian Territory."
When I see a well-orchestrated campaign, the first question I ask is, who does it serve? Who has an interest in portraying the residents of the communities beyond the Green Line as potential terrorists simply because they are there? Who wants to make the Israeli public forget who Israel's true enemy is?
I want to offer you a glimpse at the daily life of one resident of these communities, who drives on their roads daily and knows that there are certain times at which one shouldn't drive past a school in Lubban ash-Sharqia, because there's nearly a 50-50 chance you'll get a rock thrown at you. One who knows that in this Russian roulette, the moment a Jew tries to defend himself, there will be hordes of Palestinian photographers, funded by foreign money, waiting to document "the settler violence" and disseminate the footage.
Who benefits from delegitimizing the residents of the settlements? Sadly, the people who want to do that are currently sitting around the cabinet table. And what will happen the day it's not Naftali Bennett sitting at the head of the table as prime minister, but Yair Lapid? The same Lapid who in 2006, after the Gush Katif explusion, wrote: "Why was it so urgent for Israel to pull out of Gaza? I want to propose a theory: it wasn't despite the settlers, but rather because of them. It was never about the Palestinians, demography, the desire for a peace agreement, the IDF being comparatively worn down, or any other of the explanations we have been given. The motivation was completely different: it is rooted in the disruption of the delicate balance that existed between the settler society and Israeli society." According to the alternate prime minister, there was a need "to teach the settlers a lesson in modesty, and maybe democracy, as well."
The lesson hasn't been learned well enough. Lapid and his camp have a monopoly on democracy, as we know, and particularly on "normalcy." And what could be less "normal" in the eyes of the progressive camp than people who insist on holding to their values and believe with all their hearts that their path is the right one, having been paved by a divine commandment? The battle against "the settlers" is just the tip of the iceberg. The next stage will be much broader.
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