Riots by Arabs against Jews across the country have sparked a debate about the degree of 'symmetry' with Jewish responses. At the same time, initiatives have emerged to encourage coexistence between Jews and Arabs. What all of these have in common is a blind eye to reality and a refusal to call a child by his or her name.
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Not only is there no 'symmetry' between the attacker and the attacked, between the perpetrator of the riots and the one trying to defend himself against them, but there are really no two sides here that need to be appeased. There is only one side, filled with hatred and a lust for murder, that needs to be educated or deterred. If it stops hating and harming Jews – there will be peace and we will all live in peace and tranquility.
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One side is violent.
From this perspective, all 'coexistence' initiatives cause more harm than good. Just like the 'peace initiatives', based on Israeli concessions, which have distanced peace and brought us waves of bloodshed. Because at their foundation is the assumption that Jews bear some degree of guilt for the ongoing bloody conflict. This assumption legitimizes Arab violence.
The truth is that this assumption is fundamentally flawed. From the beginning of settlement in the land, the Jews sought to live in peace with their Arab neighbors. If the Arabs had extended a hand for peace, we would all be living here together in good neighborliness and peace. All the conflicts arose as a result of murderous aggression by the Arabs, which naturally led to defensive actions by the Jews.
We saw this clearly in the last wave. It was not the Jews who started uploading videos in which Jews beat Arabs and humiliated old people and women. It was not the Jews who attacked their neighbors' houses with stones and Molotov cocktails. It was not the Jews who burned mosques and stoned Arab cars. The arson did not begin with such acts, but exactly the opposite – with violence on the part of Arabs.
The fact that there were also (a few) violent acts by Jews against Arabs afterwards was a counter-reaction, given the helplessness of the police and the continuation of the absurd situation in which Jewish blood and the sanctities of Israel are becoming a thing of the past in the Jewish state.
This is the correct order of events, not the other way around. If the Arabs had not started the riots, no Jew would have harmed an Arab.
To uproot hatred
Therefore, the solution is not to call for calm on 'both sides,' just as the solution to the conflict with Hamas is not to place blame on 'both sides.' There is one side that is violent, hostile, murderous, and the other side that wants to live in peace. All pressure must be directed at the source of the violence, and not play 'symmetry' games.
There is a well-known rule that states that knowledge of the disease is half the cure. The first thing a doctor does is diagnose the disease. In our case, the disease is the hatred of Jews that rages in the hearts of large sections of the Arab population.
This hatred must be uprooted. It may be possible to do this through educational means. It may be possible to harness moderate Islamic elements, who will instill in the Arab public the value of the sanctity of life and the fact that every person is created in the image of God. Alongside education, there must be firm and determined deterrence, and zero tolerance for any harm to Jews. This is the only way that will bring peace and quiet to our streets.
