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Photo: Reuters
Celebrations in Gaza
Photo: Reuters

Let’s talk about justice

David Moria, whose son was killed by terrorists, has no sympathy for Gazans who celebrated in streets

About 10 months ago, after our 16-year-old son was murdered in a terror attack along with seven of his friends, TV screens worldwide showed festive images from Gaza that included dances, the handing out of sweets, and gleeful shots fired in the air – alongside the terrible images of the blood-soaked library at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem.

 

I won’t deny the fact that the current images from Gaza elegantly circumvent my humanistic instinct and make their way to a satisfying sense of the most primitive desire for revenge. Yet my sense of justice has also been satisfied. Moreover, anyone living in this country knows that soon we shall again see the images of the blood of innocent Jews, and again Gaza residents will be celebrating it.

 

All of us know that in this country we have a large sector, including quite a few Knesset members, which despite the occasional condemnation of murderous terror directed at citizens secretly hopes for a multi-casualty terror attack – so it proves there is no way to defeat Hamas, and we must therefore capitulate to its demands and negotiate with it.

 

Commentators explain to us why being strong also means being weak, and why being weak also means being strong, and say that many casualties on our side will force us to talk to Hamas. Meanwhile, many governments worldwide provide us with words of advice and preach morals to us in the aim of renewing the lull and the talks. Yet everyone knows that every single one of these countries, had it faced our situation, would have embarked on a belligerent, destructive move a long time ago, without showing any compassion to women or children.

 

Yet everybody is talking about peace and nobody is talking about justice. The time has come to stop talking peace and to start talking about justice. I once knew a grandmother with common sense who used to say: What’s bad is bad, and what’s good is good.

 

Firing dozens of bullets at children quietly studying in a library is bad.

Firing missiles with the declared aim of hurting civilians is bad.

Causing intentional suffering to the family of a captive by disparaging him is bad.

Being overjoyed and dancing when innocents die is bad.

 

On the other hand, making an effort to hurt our killers, without hurting civilians, is good.

Razing the home of a terrorist in order to deter the next one is good.

 

And in my view, taking citizens who sympathize with the murderers in Gaza and transferring them to the site of their sympathies is very good.

 

Good things should be done without any lulls or truces, and darkness must be fought tirelessly. Yet there is one bad thing that is more dangerous than anything else. You will find it not only among Hebrew-speaking Palestinian talkbackers but also, to our regret, among many of our own people - Making us forget that we’re right.

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.31.08, 16:51
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