Last night in the heart of Jerusalem, at Damascus Gate, Israeli police were assaulted by large mobs of Arabs. They were pummeled with fists and pelted with stones and iron rods. The reason this time? They tell me it's Ramadan, the holy month of Muslim introspection, charity, and good deeds. It is logical that it must begin with attacking Jews.
That however was the first time I have seen Arab Ramadan celebrants dare express their religious fervor by challenging a cop in a fistfight.
"The times, they are a changin"..
Today this most famous, historic, and beautiful city gate is a no go area for Jews who are repeatedly pounced upon by Arabs. The police dare not walk alone.
Of course, it wasn't always this way.
Damascus Gate, or Sha'ar Shechem in Hebrew, is the one that faces the heart of East Jerusalem and has heavy Arab traffic. I was always aware of the human scenery around me and that as a Jew I was a minority in that space but that was exactly why I thought it was important for Jews to be a part of the scenery. Jerusalem is ours after all and Jews are free to be in any part of it. Right?
That was so for the first few years after the miraculous 1967 Six Day war. They feared us then.
We fear them now. What happened?
Of Course, it's all our ("leaders'') fault.
But I recall how an authentic Jewish leader understood the developing problem there many years ago and did whatever he could and beyond that to warn us.
The Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem have a mezuzah on them as Jewish law and sovereignty demands. Because Damascus gate is in the "Arab " area, the authorities felt it was a "provocation" to affix a mezuzah to its doorpost and so forbid it in order to buy quiet and good neighborly relations. They did not want to unnecessarily provoke the Arabs with Jewish symbols in "their" areas.
One rabbi who, we now understand, saw further and clearer than any other in his time, insisted it was of the utmost importance to affix a mezuzah and publicly make the required blessing with dignitaries present. Common wisdom then condemned him as an agitator and the cause of communal tension.
He was dragged away from the Gate Time and again as he tried to affix the mezuzah. He bore the embarrassment of being dragged by Jewish police in front of jeering Arabs. The establishment smugly watched with satisfaction as the radical rabbi's threat to coexistence was removed and discredited.
However he did not stop warning us. He did not stop begging his fellow Jews to listen.
Fast forward a few decades to the same Mezuzah-less Gate.
There is no mezuzah. There is no radical rabbi. There is a Left-wing, appeasing government that coddles the Arabs in every way.
Yet, or rather as the rabbi would have warned, as a direct result of that, the Arabs unleash their hate and are emboldened as never before. When they smell Jewish blood they can never have enough.
Now imagine if there was a mezuzah on the Gate, as halacha and sovereignty demand of all Jewish gates. Imagine if the mezuzah and the gate were protected as if it was indeed ours.
Imagine if the rabbi who warned us so long ago were in charge instead of the "leaders" whose wise solutions have led us to where we are today.
Imagine if when a Muslim enemy who attacks a Jew is killed and buried in a pigskin. Thus the "shaheed" , the hero will be refused entry into the Muslim heaven and won't meet his black-eyed virgins. Killing Jews becomes less attractive.
It worked for the enlightened British who introduced this tactic..
Theodore Herzl said. "If you will it , it is not a dream"
Imagine. Dream. Act.
My book,
"Jews, Israelis, and Arabs" tells the story
On Amazon and Book DepositoryShalom
1 comment:
Chazak!
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