There will be no ethnic cleansing here, whether we're talking about Jews or Arabs, right?

...Before we become angry at the nations of the world, we should hold ourselves to the same standard. The people from the camp that opposes the path of the current government should take a look at the peace platform they are so proud of and remove the question mark once and for all: There will be no ethnic cleansing here, whether we're talking about Jews or Arabs. Let the intellectuals and the writers stand up and announce that they will lie down in front of trucks that try to cleanse Judea and Samaria, or any other place, of Jews.

Dr. Gabi Avital..
Israel Hayom..
12 September '16..
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=17167

Has the enlightened thinking of the West, of which we were notified after the two world wars, become so muddled? This, of course, is about the impulsive responses from White House and EU spokespeople to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks that the Palestinian Authority is seeking "ethnic cleansing" of the Jews living in Judea and Samaria.

I read and listened to what Netanyahu said. I wanted to make sure it was no mirage. Neither is a dramatic faux pas. These are simply statements by the prime minister of a country embroiled in an ongoing conflict that, on the one hand, point out the reasoning behind an absolute refusal to carry out an ethnic cleansing of Jews alone, and, on the other, show a desire for broad-based coexistence and cooperation between Jews and Arabs.

If I let my imagination run away with me, I might expect U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to get the peace plane ready and presidents and royalty to stand at the doors of their own aircraft and wave excitedly at the prospect of the peace and coexistence they dream of. After all, what is more heartening than a vision of young Jews and Arabs studying side by side, both sides working together, a state dedicated to equality, and the thought that both peoples can live together after all?

I imagine that Americans, who on Sunday stood for memorial ceremonies honoring the 9/11 victims, were asking themselves, "Why did educated, well-off Saudi terrorists attack us at the World Trade Center, a symbol of universality? We didn't occupy anything, and we certainly haven't carried out ethnic cleansing." And then the criticism by the State Department would follow.

We need to go back and ask ourselves what these spokespeople's motives are and whom they represent that they can clearly support the ethnic cleansing of Jews. The Jewish sages defined it well: A sculptor sculpts in his own image. It's very easy to talk about how "ethnic cleansing" is a dangerous, fateful pair of words, while at the same time putting it into action against Jews. Black on white, like a mirror held up to the enlightened faces of those who hate wars and long for peace.


Before we become angry at the nations of the world, we should hold ourselves to the same standard. The people from the camp that opposes the path of the current government should take a look at the peace platform they are so proud of and remove the question mark once and for all: There will be no ethnic cleansing here, whether we're talking about Jews or Arabs. Let the intellectuals and the writers stand up and announce that they will lie down in front of trucks that try to cleanse Judea and Samaria, or any other place, of Jews.

But MK Nachman Shai (Zionist Union) once again spoiled the fantasy.

"Netanyahu is ruining things between Israel and the international community," he said. If the "things" he is "ruining" are tools for the ethnic cleansing of Jews alone, would the international community be so kind as to pick up the pieces?

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