Knock It Off
I initially wrote this off as just another stunt by overzealous settlers:
The opponents of the disengagement plan sharpened battle lines Tuesday when dozens of settlers donned orange Star of David badges, comparing the evacuation of settlements to the Holocaust.
But after thinking about it a little, I'm more inclined to join with everyone else who has a brain (Ma'ariv's gentle way of putting it: "response was equally harsh across the political spectrum") in finding it patently offensive:
(a) it's false:
"It is unfortunate to force people to relocate but it is still not a concentration camp, not gas chambers or Auschwitz crematoriums. The use of the Star of David as a publicity stunt does not help the settler cause, in spite of the fact that their pain is understandable", Lapid added... Weiss added, "How can the two be compared? Is anyone, God forbid, being strangled to death in suffocating train cars? Is anyone being tested in Mengele’s laboratory? Is anyone led to the gas chambers? What kind of comparison is this?"
(b) you're not allowed to compare Jews to Nazis, especially if they happen to be Jewish teenagers conscripted into the IDF to protect the Jewish state.
(c) it's offensive in the extreme:
(d) it's counter-productive to the settlers' ostensible goal of national unity:
"The plan to wear orange stars perverts the historical facts and damages the memory of the Shoah," said the chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, Avner Shalev. "It is important that the memory of the Shoah remain a unifying factor in Israeli society, not the opposite."
Nonetheless, it's important to remember that these are people being ripped from their homes, and that they deserve understanding and compassion (and it's also important to remember that many settlers are against this disgusting stunt). They built lives with assurances from their government that they'd be protected and with gratitude from their country that they'd be serving as the front line against Arab aggression.
We would also do well to contrast the coverage being given to Israeli settlers with what would happen if the roles between Jew and Arab were reversed. Imagine if Israeli Arabs were being expelled into a new Palestinian state. There would be front-page stories on every front page of every newspaper with pictures of crying kids holding teddy bears in the dust and of wallpapered baby rooms in childhood homes being left behind. Imagine the rallies and human rights declarations showing solidarity with the Arab protesters outside the Knesset. Imagine the calls for us to understand their passions and their excesses and their lash outs. Imagine the Guardian justifying a Tel Aviv suicide bombing as the inevitable result of displacing people who have lived in the same place for 40 years. And now look how the Israeli settlers are demonized.
The difference, of course, is that Israeli settlers are expected to comport themselves more ethically and reasonably. And they should - which is why this Orange Star stunt has to stop. But their sacrifices should be recognized and they should be defended when the rest of the world disparages them.
The opponents of the disengagement plan sharpened battle lines Tuesday when dozens of settlers donned orange Star of David badges, comparing the evacuation of settlements to the Holocaust.
But after thinking about it a little, I'm more inclined to join with everyone else who has a brain (Ma'ariv's gentle way of putting it: "response was equally harsh across the political spectrum") in finding it patently offensive:
(a) it's false:
"It is unfortunate to force people to relocate but it is still not a concentration camp, not gas chambers or Auschwitz crematoriums. The use of the Star of David as a publicity stunt does not help the settler cause, in spite of the fact that their pain is understandable", Lapid added... Weiss added, "How can the two be compared? Is anyone, God forbid, being strangled to death in suffocating train cars? Is anyone being tested in Mengele’s laboratory? Is anyone led to the gas chambers? What kind of comparison is this?"
(b) you're not allowed to compare Jews to Nazis, especially if they happen to be Jewish teenagers conscripted into the IDF to protect the Jewish state.
(c) it's offensive in the extreme:
Former Knesset Speaker and current Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council, Professor Shevah Weiss used harsh words to describe the latest protest. "As one who wore a Star of David, I call on every one involved to take it off. There are countless ways to express pain and protest. Do not use the Holocaust as one"
(d) it's counter-productive to the settlers' ostensible goal of national unity:
"The plan to wear orange stars perverts the historical facts and damages the memory of the Shoah," said the chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, Avner Shalev. "It is important that the memory of the Shoah remain a unifying factor in Israeli society, not the opposite."
Nonetheless, it's important to remember that these are people being ripped from their homes, and that they deserve understanding and compassion (and it's also important to remember that many settlers are against this disgusting stunt). They built lives with assurances from their government that they'd be protected and with gratitude from their country that they'd be serving as the front line against Arab aggression.
We would also do well to contrast the coverage being given to Israeli settlers with what would happen if the roles between Jew and Arab were reversed. Imagine if Israeli Arabs were being expelled into a new Palestinian state. There would be front-page stories on every front page of every newspaper with pictures of crying kids holding teddy bears in the dust and of wallpapered baby rooms in childhood homes being left behind. Imagine the rallies and human rights declarations showing solidarity with the Arab protesters outside the Knesset. Imagine the calls for us to understand their passions and their excesses and their lash outs. Imagine the Guardian justifying a Tel Aviv suicide bombing as the inevitable result of displacing people who have lived in the same place for 40 years. And now look how the Israeli settlers are demonized.
The difference, of course, is that Israeli settlers are expected to comport themselves more ethically and reasonably. And they should - which is why this Orange Star stunt has to stop. But their sacrifices should be recognized and they should be defended when the rest of the world disparages them.
