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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Response to Terror: An Eye for An Eye |
| 2006-11-26 |
| A noted religious Zionist rabbi has advocated arming “ungoverned” civil defense groups in western Negev communities to fight back against Kassam rocket attacks from northern Gaza. Rabbi Yisrael Rosenne, director of the Tzomet Technology and Jewish Law Institute in Alon Shvut, says that arming civilians and permitting them to fire back at the terrorists would be a proper way to stop the attacks from terrorizing residents in southern Israel "if the government were in 'Jewish' - and not necessarily religious - hands." The rabbi's remarks, written in the weekly bulletin Shabbat B’Shabbato, note that the issue is one of Jewish ethics. “The eternal response to terror is counter-terror, an eye for an eye,” Rabbi Rosenne wrote. The Yesha Rabbinical Council this week similarly advocated a return to the Jewish ethic of "rising to kill him who would kill you." Palestinian Authority terrorists continue to fire deadly Kassam rockets at Sderot and nearby Negev communities, as well as the Ashkelon area, despite a recent IDF incursion into Gaza aimed at stopping them. The PA is taking no action to stop the rocket launches, and rather than pressuring the terrorists to stop, the general public in Gaza has begun taking on the role of human shields to block Israeli counterterrorism efforts. Rosenne suggested that providing weapons to youth in places like Sderot, Ashkelon, Kibbutz Netiv HaAsarah and Kibbutz Zikkim – all areas targeted in a constant barrage of rocket attacks from northern Gaza – would create an additional deterrent force against those who are committed to driving Jewish residents from their communities. "The Strategic Affairs Minister could claim that the State of Israel has become integrated into the Middle East and cannot control the mili-Zionist youth," he wrote. The rabbi agreed that his plan might not be effective, "mainly because of the leftist underground in the media... But let it not be said that it is not ethical." |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #7 I prefer the Lamekh version For I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Qayin shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamekh seventy-sevenfold. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-11-26 18:59 |
| #6 *shields* UGH! |
| Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden 2006-11-26 18:25 |
| #5 Perhaps the itinerant members of the International Solidarity Movement and other Why not follow in the Peace is peace, so the ISM shouldn;t have any qualms lining up to defend Jewish as well as Muslim lives, right? I thought so. |
| Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden 2006-11-26 18:25 |
| #4 And returning fire, rocket for rocket, makes a lot of sense. But I don't think civilians ought to do it. It should be something the IDF does, even if it won't make a bit of difference to the terrorists, it would be something more palateable to the ever-so-philosophical international community. Fred, in this case I must respectfully disagree. As gorb notes, it would be unwise to allow the civilian population of Sderot and other edge-locations to return rocket fire. Such actions would only serve to cement the long held Palestinian insistence that ALL Israelis, including civilians, are fair targets. The Palestinians must denied any attempt at imposing moral equivalency. Especially so when their population votes for, shields and actively supports terrorist activities. Rest assured that your response was my first thought as well, but the Palestinians both need and royally deserve the bitter taste of crushing military defeats much more than any tit for tat ballistic exchanges. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-11-26 16:37 |
| #3 But what about the international uproar? It's not fair! They should just sit there and take it! Oh, the poor, poor Palestinians. People could get hurt. And a few more truckfulls of similar crap from people who are just as clueless as they are opinionated. I've always thought it would be good to drop a 500# bomb at some random location in the Paleostinian area each time a suicide bomb went off or was even found, even if it was unexploded. And returning fire, rocket for rocket, makes a lot of sense. But I don't think civilians ought to do it. It should be something the IDF does, even if it won't make a bit of difference to the terrorists, it would be something more palateable to the ever-so-philosophical international community. |
| Posted by: gorb 2006-11-26 15:29 |
| #2 I think it was yesterday or the day before that I suggested the inhabitants of the Negev be given their own rockets to fire back toward Gaza when Gaza fires rockets toward them. Naturally, I regard Rabbi Rosenne as a tactical genius. |
| Posted by: Fred 2006-11-26 15:10 |
| #1 The PA is taking no action to stop the rocket launches, and rather than pressuring the terrorists to stop, the general public in Gaza has begun taking on the role of human shields to block Israeli counterterrorism efforts. Forget about issuing small arms to the villagers. Take the battle to the enemy. Those who would shelter or shield the enemy are the enemy. After enough of those who would interfere with military prosecution of the terrorists end up dead, the interference will cease. So long as Israel is willing to back down when confronted with the prospect of incurring collateral damage against those who joyously inflict collateral damage, their cause is lost. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-11-26 14:34 |