Terror? Hey! We ain't goin' noplace!

The following was sent to me by a friend. It’s a letter from a woman who lives in an Israeli town very close to where several Arab attacks against Jews have occurred. That town is still (as of October 25, 2015) under attack.

I believe this letter is from the internet site of Project Y.e.s., which has been run by Rabbi Yakov Horowitz. I’ve edited the letter:

--

We aren't in the midst of a conflict here in Israel.

You read that right. There's no conflict here.

A conflict is inherently an event where two parties are engaged in a fight, a battle, a struggle.

There's no conflict in Israel right now.

There is terror.

Out and out one-sided terror.

When I see the coverage that the international media offers to what's happening here, I feel like I'm living inside The Onion, an American news-satire organization. The coverage is simply too far-fetched to be believed--and yet it's being believed around the world.

Recently, a well-educated Arab woman walked into a bus station in Afula with a knife and tried to stab a soldier. The soldier got away but she refused to put the knife down, and eventually had to be shot in the legs. The Arab world (falsely) reported she was killed in cold blood with no justification.

Another day, two brothers, aged 13 and 15, set out to stab Jews. After stabbing and critically injuring two people, they were stopped by our forces. The 15 year old was killed.  Abbas himself reported that we ‘executed’ the 13 year old in cold blood with no justification. Not only did we not kill him, but he's just been released from our hospital (at Hadassah) after ripping a 13 year old boy off of his bike and trying to kill him. In the Arab social media world, they’ve shown a picture of this Arab 13 year old. They described him on that day as one who was ‘just on his way to the mall’ when we killed him in cold blood.

That was a lie. We didn’t kill him. And he wasn’t ‘on his way to the mall’. There are videos out there that prove exactly what he was doing when our security forces stopped him. He was trying to kill a Jew.

There’s no conflict here.  

There is terror.

In another incident, an Arab Israeli, with the same rights and privileges that I experience in Israel (and probably a much higher salary), used his Bezeq company car to crash into a bus stop. He got out of his car and savagely hacked to death a 60-year old Rabbi who had been waiting for a bus.

And then, of course, there’s the video going around the world that teaches Arabs exactly how and where to stab Jews.

The world has gone mad. And we feel it. 

And as we feel it, this is what I know.

I know that I'm putting my purse high up so that my four year old doesn't find the pepper spray that I'm now carrying around 24/7.

I know that I have a son who now carries pepper spray as well. I hope he never uses it. I know also that his school is now giving the children there self-defense courses.

I know that I'm going to spend two hours tomorrow in my own self-defense course. I know that in the next few weeks I’m going to spend a lot of time becoming much more comfortable with the gun that I absolutely do not want to carry.

I know that I check the news obsessively. I know that I check in with my family members even more.

I know that I have to tell my 13 year old that he's only allowed to look at the news for a few minutes each afternoon and that he's not allowed to look at videos. Gd only knows how he's processing all of this.  

I know that my 7 and 9 year olds have been talking about how they would get away from a knife-yielding terrorist.

I know that amazingly resourceful Israelis have been using everything at their disposal to stop terrorists--from selfie sticks and umbrellas to nunchucks.

I know that all of this--all of it--would go away if the Arabs would just stop. The violence in this entire country would be over if the Arabs would stop being violent. Period.

Again and again, Israel has asked the Arab population to come to the table. We have offered land. We have withdrawn from Gaza. We are willing to try.

But the Palestinian Authority has created a situation by using Har Habayit/Al-Aksa [the Temple Mount] as a spark to start a fire of hate against Jews, telling lies to its people the entire time. All the while, the PA refuse to create or build a better future for its people--because violence is easier.

This is not a conflict. We aren't in conflict when I drive down the road praying not to get hit by a rock or a bullet aimed at me.

We aren't in conflict when I walk the streets, looking behind me at every turn. We aren't in conflict when I go to the grocery store and manage to take products off the shelves behind my back so that I will always have a view of the aisle behind me. We aren't in conflict when I have to think to myself "Never turn your back, even when you're picking out tomatoes."

We aren't in conflict.

We’re being murdered.

We’re alone. We’re alone with this terror. We’re alone because the world tells us it’s wondering if we’re using "excessive force" against the Arabs murdering us.

I’ll tell you this: unless you live here and walk the streets with me each day, you can't imagine how that feels.

--

There’s also this excerpt from Israel Today (Anat Schneider, “I have no other country...”, October 20, 2015; I’ve edited it):

…We send our children to schools and kindergartens with concerns that their bus will be blown up.

We worry that some madman will ram his car into those waiting at a bus stop and crush them.

We walk the streets and worry that some crazy Arab kid could rush up with a knife and try to plunge it into someone's body.

People walk with guns, tear gas, a club, a rolling pin or even a selfie-stick. They carry anything they can to defend against some monstrous attack.

Each day, there are fewer and fewer people on the street. The malls are empty. Markets are empty. Cafes are empty….

--

These writers are closer to the violence than I am. But I, too, see the empty streets. I, too, take precautions.

I know that every shadow is a threat. Every corner is a threat. Every car on the road is a threat.

We are surrounded by a Jew-hate that is unbelievably barbaric. But the greater the barbarism we see, the more committed we become to remain.

After all, if this holy land is important enough for the Muslim to kill us to get it, it's important enough for us to fight to keep it. 

May HaShem, the G-d of Israel, protect us.

Actually, HaShem will protect us. We’re His Chosen: we ain’t goin’ noplace.

This isn’t bravado. It’s the truth.