Martin Zagnoev, Johannesburg
The ghetto Jew was seen as a loser who allowed himself to be trodden on. And so, the tough Israeli was born.
This produced the multiple miracles of Israel’s establishment, survival and incredible prosperity. Everything was achieved in an extremely short time and in a desert without any natural resources by a tiny nation of immigrants. All this was done while having to fight a number of wars against an overwhelming number of surrounding enemies.
This is probably the greatest and most astonishing success story in history. These achievements filled many of us with pride, especially when much of the world hailed Israel’s David and Goliath victory in the Six Day War.
Much of this positive sentiment has been lost with Israel now being seen by many as the aggressor.
While Israel feels cornered by so much hostility, she feels the need to fight fire with fire in order to survive. And indeed, this is exactly what enabled her to survive in the past. But too much fire can lead to burn-out, with neither side benefiting.
In order to suppress terrorism, Israel imposed a barricade on Gaza. Unfortunately, this backfired and played into the hands of Hamas by creating anger and poverty among the Palestinians who were further radicalised.
Similarly, installing metal detectors on the Temple Mount will enflame rather than reduce further violence. There is a time to fight the good fight and there is a time for a diplomatic solution. After all, the current approach is not working.
Rather than being a loser, the ghetto Jew was one of the greatest survivors the world has known. He knew the military option would have been suicidal for a minority in those cruel times when the Church still demonised our people, and became a master negotiator instead.
In fact, the military option is what caused all the problems in the first place! Two thousand years ago most of our people were still living in the Holy Land.
The pesky Jews then decided to attack and expel the occupying Romans. Unfortunately, the Romans crushed the rebellion and destroyed the Great Temple instead. Many Hebrews were marched off in chains and sold as slaves in Europe. And so, this terrible 2 000 year exile began.
