Saturday, March 13, 2010

No Self-Respect

My friend's children live in the Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood. They are fabulous young people and have terrific faith-filled neighbors. They also have Arabs in the area who are constantly hurling curses, stones and boulders at them. They say they've called the police on many an occasion and the reaction was either nothing or less than speedy. The police say they have a "policy of not tolerating disturbances," and that's a very comforting thought. I hope that will be true when Jews are being disturbed.
The riots this week near the homes of the Jews of the Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood are very disturbing. Adding insult to injury is the fact that our own Jerusalem Post (not Al Jazeera or the New York Times) calls the neighborhood Sheikh Jarrah. Why don't they call Ramat Aviv by its Arab name of Sheikh Munis or Har Nof by its name Deir Yassin?
By constantly acknowledging the Arab scenario, the media and the government are weakening our Jewish roots and connections to this country, while strengthening our enemies. http://voices-magazine.blogspot.com/2010/01/truth-about-israeli-arab-aspirations.html
Alas.
The Israeli government should demand that Jewish neighborhoods be called by their Jewish names. But it goes back to the same discussion we've had several times already - our own government's lack of belief/confidence that this is our land.
No wonder they take visiting international dignitaries to Yad Vashem instead of living thriving Jewish sites of growth and development. They feel comfortable with Jews and Jewish communities that ONCE EXISTED but have long since been destroyed. They feel uncomfortable with living doing succeeding Jews today.
Shrug.

1 comment:

  1. Excellent post! You should send it to Havel Havelim.

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