A modest proposal regarding Naqba Day sirens

For Arabs who call themselves 'Palestinians', May 15, 2016 is called, Naqba Day. 'Naqba' means, I am told, 'catastrophe'. 

Interestingly, 'Palestinians' don't celebrate hope or life. They choose instead to celebrate a 'catastrophe'.

The particular catastrophe they celebrate each May 15th has nothing to do with a natural disaster. It has nothing to do with any kind of financial or political disaster. It has nothing to do with events over which they had no control. 

The 'catastrophe' they celebrate so religiously each year is a disaster of their own making. 

In 1947, the United Nations voted to break up the-then British Palestine. The UN decided to create in this Palestine two states for two peoples, the Arab and the Jew. That vote was (and is) called, UN Resolution 181. 

You should read it. You can access it by googling 'UN Resolution 181".

What you will read is the original 'two-state' solution. It's a 'solution' which the Jews accepted. It's a solution which the Arabs rejected--and still reject.

Soon after the UN passed this vote, the Arabs declared war against the Jews. The Arabs' intent was clear: they would push the Jews into the sea, destroy the new Jewish state even before it got a chance to 'be born', and turn Palestine into an all-Arab, all-Muslim country.

The Naqba today's 'Palestinians' celebrate is not that declaration of war. The catastrophe they celebrate is the fact they lost that war.

They don't mourn the fact that their Arab fathers started a war that has left them stateless. They don't mourn the fact they'd have been better off doing what the Jews did--accept the vote to create two states.

They mourn only one thing. They mourn over the fact that they lost that war.

Today is May 15th. It's the day we read in the Jewish Press that, at noon, mosques in Judea-Samaria that stand within the Palestinian Authority will replace their daily loudspeaker calls to prayer with a special 'Naqba Siren' (Shalom Bear, "Naqba Day sirens to sound at noon", Jewish Press, May 15, 2016).

If this news report is correct, we could see 'Palestinians' imitating the Jews of Israel, who sound a siren for Israel's Independence day. In imitation, Arabs could, supposedly, stop whatever they are doing to stand silently for the 2 minutes' duration of the siren sound. If the 'Palestinians' actually do this--and, again, if the Jewish Press is correct--the effect on Israelis could be dramatic: 2-minutes of Arab silence could mean that no Arabs will be throwing stones at Jews, stabbing Jews or otherwise trying to harm Jews. 

2016 could be the first time Arabs use sirens to celebrate their 'catastrophe'. If Arabs do indeed heed the sirens' call and stand in silence, these two minutes could turn out to be the safest two minutes in Israel's history.  

Because Muslim mosques stand so close to Jewish residential areas, many Jews in Israel will hear the sirens. Because the Jews of Israel do not mourn the Arab loss in that 1947-49 war, the sirens might not be well received.

If the report in the Jewish Press is correct, why must Israel's Jews stand aside and allow Jew-haters to remind themselves that their 'catastrophe' must be avenged (the usual Arab response to Naqba)? If the Arabs are going to blare about their Naqba, shouldn't we blare about our survival?

After all, Israel is a democracy. Isn't democracy about equality--equal rights, equal opportunity?

If these Jew-haters are using their religious centers to recall how they failed to kill Jews, shouldn't Jews have the democratic right to remind the Arabs why they lost?

Here's a modest proposal: during these mosque-generated siren blasts (if they occur), Israelis should use their own loudspeakers. During that same two minutes, these Jewish loudspeakers should proclaim, 'Shema Yisroel, HaShem Elokainu, HaShem Ehchod!"--and should repeat these words until the Arab two minutes of sirens cease.

The Shema, as many of you know, is a centerpiece of Jewish prayer. It is known by almost all Jews, no matter their denomination. It is the singular--and among the oldest--ex‎pression of the monotheistic essence of Judaism. It proclaims our undying faith in the G-d of Israel.

Remember, Arab aren't the only residents in this country who have access to loudspeakers. If they use their loudspeakers, they should understand that we have the same right to use our loudspeakers. 

That's the democratic way, isn't it?

We'll soon see if the Jewish Press is correct.