Unwanted lessons
Op-ed: At the heels of yet another terror attack in Europe, Netanyahu rebukes the European community for being weak in the face of terrorism. The arrogant manner and crass comparisons between Islamic and Palestinian terrorism leaves much to be desired.
Imagine Yariv Levin wiping away tears, Ze'ev Elkin turning his head so no one could see his eyes, Miri Regev taking out a handkerchief and wiping her nose. Where can these types of emotional human gestures be seen here? Who would give these people a pass without labeling them as weak and soft and proclaiming the triumph of terror?
Perhaps it is absurd to request our leadership to show emotion that isn't fury, the quest for revenge and strength. It's permitted—and even expected—that when a terror attack takes place somewhere that isn't Israel, we don't pounce on them and rebuke them while trying to compare it to Palestinian terrorism. It's as if the stabbings in the streets of Israel by hopeless young Palestinians are similar to the terror attacks by Islamic Jihadist extremists, whose goals and motives are completely different from those of the Palestinians.
This is exactly what Netanyahu did on Wednesday night, when he held a press conference to say—wait, what exactly was he trying to say? He repeated Israel's experiences and abilities and told that countries from all over the world to learn from Israel to combat terrorism.
In one sentence, as if there were no difference between them, Netanyahu spoke about the terror attacks in Paris, Brussels, Ankara, Istanbul, Ivory Coast, California, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem. In all these places, Netanyahu announced, terrorism isn't borne of deprivation, but rather out of frustration. It's due to a murderous ideology. This fight, Netanyahu says, is a fight sweeping the world, and hitting us hard.
It's as if the story of the teenager in East Jerusalem, whose family has been living under Israeli occupation for the past five decades, is the same story as the two brothers who committed the Brussels attacks, who were influenced by radical Islam.
How is Netanyahu's gloating, which he can barely conceal, and his eagerness to say "I told you so," any different than the gloating of Erdoğan, who compares terror attacks by ISIS to the Kurdish PKK rebel group?
And it's not just the "we told you so"—it’s the patronizing and arrogant way we deal with global terrorism. It's as if we, with all of our experience, can teach them what terror is. Sorry, but with all due respect, what can we teach them exactly? How we were able to defeat terrorism?
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This was an unnecessary, artificial press conference, whose goal was to give the feeling that Israel is an inseparable part of global terrorism, that Palestinian terrorism and global terrorism are one and the same, and that the world still doesn't know how to deal with it. Luckily for us, most of us have already learned.
