MK Uri Ariel - 'Price-tag' terror is not the Jewish way

MK Uri Ariel
Israel Hayom
04 October '11

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=591

From time to time, history presents us with events requiring a clear-cut response that, sadly, we can't presume will happen automatically. That response is simple: There is no forgiveness for those who committed the horrific crime of destroying the mosque in Tuba-Zangarriye on Monday.

Many of those who condemned the act demanded a full investigation before casting blame on the entire national-religious sector. I too, of course, expect the police to investigate, and it is good that there are already some suspects in custody. In any case, I'm not worried. The perpetrator, whatever his or her motives, is not part of our community, even if he or she thinks so.

I do not fear incitement against the Right or settlers following this incident. Even if some officials try to leverage this affair against us, any Israeli with common sense knows that we advance our goals through building, not destruction.

Incitement and hatred are not, for the most part, the way we operate. Rather, they are part of the broken vision of our antagonists.

True, there is tension and anger between the various sectors of Israeli society. There are legitimate differences between us, Israelis, and Arabs living in Judea and Samaria and other parts of Israel. Harsh statements are fine, strong reactions are acceptable, but villainous acts by “price-tag” activists are absolutely beyond the pale.

The blind choice of a random mosque in a random village is reminiscent of the behavior of the ugliest and worst of our foes throughout history. These are pogrom tactics. Such burning hatred toward all non-Jews is unacceptable in our community.

I condemn this act and not just on my own behalf. The entire national-religious sector stands behind me.



We are at the vanguard of the national enterprise, and sometimes our actions give rise to differences with the Arab and Bedouin sectors. For this very reason, we will be the first to condemn the actions of those who, for whatever motives, behave so lawlessly.

Until more details emerge, there is still a possibility that this act was not carried out by “price-tag” activists. It may be some other kind of provocation. But this possibility doesn't concern me.

If this is indeed a “price-tag” act, I will be neither defensive nor apologetic. Whoever did this is not me, nor did he or she act in my name, representing either settlements or Zionism. Anyone who derives such conclusions from this act is behaving in a racist manner, riding a wave of cynical exploitation to advance political objectives.

It is important to emphasize that the sharp condemnation I am publishing here is unrelated to the fact the current act was carried out in the Galilee rather than in Judea or Samaria.

These acts are serious, condemnable and unacceptable when they are carried out in Judea and Samaria as well, even if they were carried out in the village or house of a terrorist who attacked Jews. We do not take the law into our own hands.

We have created a country governed by rule of law through blood and toil. To take the law into our own hands is to give up on the Jewish state, the kingdom of Israel, and replace it with anarchy.

As mentioned, I call on the police to investigate and apprehend the guilty parties. I call on the justice system to prosecute them to the full extent of the law.

The author is a Knesset member from the National Union party.

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