eliyahu asheri and who is to blame

i went to sleep last night right after hearing the latest news from israel to hit the US cable networks. that might have been around one or two in the morning.

this morning, i woke up at 4.43, two minutes before my alarm was to go off, ran to the bathroom and quickly got back in bed so i could hear if there was any news.

they announced that 18 year old eliyahu asheri had been killed by the "palestinians." it wasn't until a few minutes ago that i found out the horrible details. needless to say, when i first heard this morning that he was killed, in vague half-asleep incoherency, i began muttering about how we should "go in [to gaza] and level the whole place." i then recall calling the "palestinians" several names that i'd rather not put down here, and again, swearing that we should take them all out, and that they are all guilty of terrorism--those who commit it, and those who condone it. sadly, many of our own people who support israel's left, and who sympathize with the "palestinians" are guilty of this same behavior, just as many of the more liberal jewish population in the US who think that standing in front of bulldozers defending people who wouldn't hesitate to spit on them, to kick them, to torture and kill them if the opportunity availed itself are also guilty. i'm not raising the following as a comparison, but merely as a reminder. the town of oswiecim, poland was a strange foil for the auschwitz-birkenau concentration camp complex. one might be inclined to think that the folks outside of the gates would have protested, or at least KNOWN about what was going on inside. but they all claimed innocence at the end of the war when allied forces dragged them in to see what was going on in their own town. but they weren't innocent at all because they didn't oppose it, or wonder, or ask, or do anything. they supported the mass murder of millions. i'd say that very support is evidence of being guilty. or maybe i'm being too harsh. maybe passive support is acceptable behavior. maybe one only becomes guilty once one acts on that support. it's sort of like the last few seinfeld episodes, where instead of helping a citizen in trouble, elaine, jerry, george and kramer opt to watch, laugh, and i believe take pictures (but i could be wrong on that one.) is a lack of common sense, compassion, ability or inclination to act a punishable crime?

is it okay for a whole society to harbor terrorists, to preach terrorism to their followers, to educate their children to kill and hate?

is it okay for the world to claim that because the "palestinians" (when was that name first used--the 1960s? i should get the exact date of the reference) are a minority, they have the right to bomb busloads of innocent people? HAS THE EDUCATED WORLD LOST ITS COLLECTIVE MIND? or do they condone the actions of the "palestinians" because of that old, hidden and not-so-hidden anti-semitism that likes to rear its disgusting head as soon as the jews get comfortable somewhere?

i'm currently learning nevi'im (prophets), more specifically sefer yehoshua (the book of joshua). last night we were discussing some of the battles that he fought, and how there was no way the israelites could have won any of these battles. it just didn't make sense. but it came up about how it is constantly repeated through the torah, that if the israelites keep the laws, then hashem will protect them. and so, the israelites won many battles and were protected. so, and i'm not saying here that everyone should keep everything, but aren't there some basic precepts that folks could be following but have opted not to follow? and if they were to begin to follow a bit more, would that help? and if the world's jews could stop finding excuses to not move to israel, then shouldn't they get over there? don't numbers make a difference?

a question that has come up in my house often (possibly every shabbos) is that if more jews from america had made aliyah (and we are guilty of this as well) and settled in the territories and really expanded them, then would land have been given away?

last summer, when we watched the settlers ripped from their homes in gush katif, and we cried and questioned how this was allowed, it occurred to us that yes, we are also to blame. instead of making aliyah in 1996 and 1998 when we had the opportunity, we figured we'd wait. but for what? so there we sat, tears streaming down our faces, and i think that may have been the beginning of the realization that we cannot wait forever--because if we wait forever, whichever corrupt government in power at the time may opt to give all of israel away to random terrorist factions (g*d forbid).

so, while i, without flinching, blame all of the "palestinians" for eliyahu asheri's murder, and i blame the government for not stopping the kassams fired into sderot, and i blame the government for giving away land for "peace" (which at this current juncture, i define as "more terrorist acts"), and i blame the liberals for their lack of brain power utilisation, i also cannot help but blame myself for not making aliyah sooner, and i blame those who feel that "aliyah is great but not for me." as jews, we need to realize that passivity does not cause problems to go away. it's all very nice to want peace, but peace comes with a price. if your enemies know that you can (and will) destroy them if they attack, they will give you peace. if the US suddenly threw all of its weapons into the sea, i guarantee we'd be attacked and taken over the very next day. israel needs to level gaza. israel really needs to take out most of the middle east, but leveling gaza might do it. how sad that we waited as long as we did.

prayers are being sent out (as usual) to israel, to the families of all of the victims of terror and the victims themselves from all in bec's world.