Better safe than sorry

Far too many times in the past, we have seen how a refusal or reluctance to take decisive action has resulted in disastrous consequences.

Conditioned by two thousand years of Diaspora experiences, an inability to take proactive measures has resulted in an inbuilt genetic reluctance to act. A fear of retribution by the ruling authorities for any display of assertiveness has inculcated over the millennia a tendency to remain invisible.

This tactic of keeping safe resulted in waves of assimilation and even conversions when remaining Jewish was a dangerous reality. It also had a negative spinoff whereby even overt and blatant threats to Jewish lives were dismissed as inconsequential and able to be weathered. The Shoah years should have finally put an end to these fantasies, but unfortunately, that is not the case for many.

If indeed the lessons of history had been learnt, those countries who had stigmatized, hounded, discriminated and then finally murdered entire Jewish communities would not today still be home to Jews.

It is all very well to boast that the persecutors didn’t win because we have returned to the scenes of the crime. The question is, are those Jews who have returned to Germany, Spain and Portugal or those who remain in Ukraine, Russia, Poland, South Africa and Venezuela safer today? Are the volcanoes of hate rumbling beneath their feet going to vanish, or will their illusory safety prove to be yet another disaster in a long line of fatal decisions?

Places once deemed safe and secure for Jewish life are now questionable as the virus of hate rampages unchecked.

Critics argue that living in Israel is no safer. The difference, of course, is that here, we are able to defend ourselves, while elsewhere, we are dependent on the goodwill and beneficence of others. Some point out that many Israelis have abandoned the Jewish homeland and fled to the “safer” havens of Europe, USA, Canada, Ireland and Australia. Unfortunately, as many have shockingly discovered, safety in foreign lands is somewhat illusory. In Berlin, for example, the community newspaper now does not print in its social columns for births, deaths, marriages, or any family names and instead uses initials. The threat of terror against anyone exposed is now so great that, once again, invisibility is the preferred option.

In countries where graffiti and acts of vandalism against Jews and Jewish properties have become commonplace, many Jews have removed mezuzot from the front doors of their homes. In some countries, enrollment at Jewish schools has dropped because of the fear of terrorism.

The lesson we should learn is that those who rely on others to safeguard them from danger are living a precarious existence. Fickle friends are liable to morph into disinterested bystanders or, even worse, join the perpetrators. Submerging one’s identity and attempting to blend into the prevailing culture has never, at the end of the day, been a successful strategy.

History should have taught us that hard lesson.

Now that Jewish sovereignty has been re-established in part of the Land promised to our ancestors, the question arises as to what course of action to follow to ensure our safety.

For the first time since the Roman Empire’s ethnic cleansing of Jews from their homeland, we are in a unique position to respond against the revival of the longest-surviving virus of hate.

In order to do this, a major change in attitude and resolve is necessary. Many find this too much of a hurdle and instead prefer to follow the old discredited “don’t upset the haters” line of thinking. Thankfully, we now have a generation of Jewish Israelis who are no longer slaves to past disastrous policies.

The ability to fight back and take action that may mitigate or negate adverse results is a refreshing break from past experiences. It does, however, come with a cost. The spectacle of Jews fighting back is frightening not only for the haters but also for those Jews still stuck in appeasement mode and conditioned to bend in the face of disapproval.

In 1948, when Arab nations attacked the reborn Jewish State, none of them expected any sort of meaningful resistance. Likewise, even so-called friends confidently predicted a massacre and urged surrender. When, against all odds, Israel prevailed, the scene was set for future revisionist mantras. From the very outset, Israel had to undertake an agenda guaranteeing safety rather than being sorry.

On every occasion when a fight back against terror was called for, Israel was constrained by those who preferred appeasement, meaningless dialogue and illusory visions of constraint. After every war for survival, Israel was expected to sacrifice any gain achieved and urged to put its trust in worthless guarantees.

In 1967, USA “guarantees” of freedom of navigation vanished as an Egyptian-led alliance prepared to massacre every Israeli man, woman and child. Rather than waiting for the inevitable pogrom, Israel in a classic “better safe than sorry” mode, acted to eliminate the existential threat. This, in turn, led to the birth of the “Palestinian occupied territories” myth which has become embedded in UN-sponsored lies.

Whenever Israeli policymakers have embraced internationally anointed gestures, disaster has been sure to follow.

In 1973, not wanting to “upset” so-called friends and lulled into a false sense of security, Israel did not pre-empt the Yom Kippur attack. The Oslo debacles of 1993 and 1995 resurrected Arafat from Tunisian exile and welcomed him and his terrorist legions into our backyard. The suicide bombers, bus explosions and unleashed terror that followed were a direct result of falling into the fatal trap of believing that a “new Middle East” was being born. The debacle of creating a corrupt Jew-hating Palestinian Authority and ignoring its poisonous offshoots continues to afflict all concerned to this very day.

The handing over of Gaza to terror gangs and the refusal to deal with the takeover of Lebanon by Hezbollah and Iran have been more examples of failed attempts at placating rather than being resolute. As a result, when it has come to the inevitable showdown, the fallout has been worse than it otherwise would have been.

The 7 October disaster need not have happened if those in charge had not been once again lulled into a false sense of security. Iran marches to nuclear blackmail status as deals are contemplated. Egypt is consolidating military equipment and bases in Sinai, and our experts tell us not to worry.

How many times have we heard all these false assurances before?

Despite all evidence to the contrary, delusional masses still peddle mirages of peace, tolerance and brotherhood, resulting if only we would acquiesce to the establishment of a terror entity in our heartland. The Abraham Accords are held up as an example of what could be achieved. Left unsaid is the stark reality that the signatories to this historic pact have more or less abandoned the vilification of Jews and Israel. Their citizens are being exposed to genuine friendship and co-operation which is something entirely absent in the cold “peace” with Egypt and the Hashemite Kingdom.

The self-loathers and the brain-addled legions of the progressive left and Greens inhabit a universe impervious to facts. Occasionally, however, enlightenment dawns, and when it does, we should acknowledge it.

One such significant event occurred recently.

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, President of the New York Board of Rabbis and an influential Reform leader in the USA, confessed to a startling revelation. In a week when the Bibas family drama played out in all its sordid detail, he articulated these heartfelt words:

“This was the week that finally ended the hope, at least in my lifetime, for a Palestinian State and a Jewish State existing side by side. The Palestinians themselves strangled this fragile hope in its crib.

Until such time as the Palestinians themselves say they want peaceful coexistence, two states living side by side, we must cease deluding ourselves that a two-state solution is available now.  

The polite lie that we tell ourselves over and over again is that Hamas does not represent the Palestinians. It is simply not true. We recite this like a mantra so that we do not have to face the terrible truth that Hamas is the Palestinians. That Palestinianism is more about destroying the Jewish State than creating a state of their own.”

These self-evident truths articulated by a long-time progressive Jewish leader should be circulated and sent to the foreign ministries of each and every country that has voted at the UN to recognise a Palestinian State.

If we do not take heed we won’t be safe and we will definitely be sorry.