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Have we become Sodom? By Israel Harel Tags: settlers, Israel news It's true: There are young men - hoodlums, as Ehud Barak terms them, or rioters, to use the media's phrase - who harass Palestinian olive harvesters. There are even some who physically assault Arabs. I, like the absolute majority of my colleagues in the settlement movement, cannot understand how these people, most of whom would never physically harm a Jew or damage his property, can do such things to Arabs. And some even think they are thereby fulfilling a religious commandment. If you are relying on halakha (Jewish law), I once said during a heated discussion with about a dozen of them, this is not my halakha. And even though no one has authorized me, I continued, I am convinced that this is the opinion of the absolute majority of my colleagues in the settlement movement. I have known them for many years and I know the moral, ethical and religious values that motivate them. My fists clench in anger when I read reports about youths who, Clockwork Orange-style, physically assault elderly people in Haifa and Tel Aviv - cutting off chunks of their flesh, tearing off bracelets and necklaces, sometimes even murdering them. Have we become Sodom? Have we come to resemble Gomorrah? What kind of houses were they raised in? On what values were they educated? Whom do they take as their role models? Advertisement I go out of my mind when I hear about gang rapes committed by teenagers, sometimes by children, in Ramat Hasharon and other places, including kibbutzim and moshavim. What is going on in the adult world there that causes such a behavioral reaction in these children? And my heart shrinks when I read the frightening statistics about drug dealing and use. What - and whom - are these youths fleeing as they escape into the world of hallucinations? But there, in Rishon Letzion and Ramat Aviv Gimmel, the media does not ask what value system is being inculcated by their parents and their environment, or what education and pastimes are influencing these youths' behavior. And when it comes to drug dealing and use (according to data from organizations that fight these phenomena), we are talking about thousands of criminals. That's the way it is: In Judea and Samaria the guilt - even if we are talking about only a few dozen youths - is collective. And the motives, of course, are also clear: racism, religion and nationalism. In Be'er Sheva and Evron, in Ramat Hasharon and Kfar Sava, such acts are mere "juvenile delinquency." There is no address, except perhaps for the police, which is always accused of not doing enough to prevent crime, and which ought to reply: Who produced these wonderful exemplars? Their parents? The environment? The educators? The media? I spoke with two well-known and concerned public figures who set out to discover what was really happening during the olive harvest. Following a thorough investigation, including talks with the police and the army, these two people - who were active in different parts of the country - concluded that the main opposition to the harvest stems from security worries. The harvesters, they discovered, sometimes come right into the settlements ("for instance, to about 50 meters away from the school in Elon Moreh"). Even the army believes there is a risk of terror attacks, or intelligence gathering, being carried out under cover of the harvest. The Israel Defense Forces and the police, in consultation with local Jews and Palestinians, have therefore begun coordinating times during which the army will protect both sides' security. But then, they said, the agitators arrived: Israeli and foreign "peace activists" who incite the Arabs not to accept the times that have been agreed on. When the Palestinians and their abettors approach the boundaries of settlements without IDF security, clashes erupt, which are then reported by a media eager to accuse the settlers. When the truth is distorted so radically, and when all the ills of the state and the people are imputed to the settlers, the only possible conclusion is that aside from the political motive, the deeper reason for this destructive criticism is hatred - pure, baseless hatred. After all, this same collective hysteria erupted after the bombing that wounded Prof. Zeev Sternhell. And after the olive harvest, in another two weeks with the events to commemorate the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, the ruthless attacks against the settlers will reach a crescendo. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Palin as Olmert? Free flights and life of luxury characterize both the VP hopeful and our outgoing PM 'Hit a Jew Day' St. Louis middle school students face punishment over spirit week game gone bad   1.   No, Israel is neither Sodom nor Gomorrha..... 10:01  |  Swiss (Dino) 23/10/08   2.   Harel the individual and collective guilt 10:06  |  x-ray 23/10/08   3.   Truly a wake-up call to Israel being destroyed by its fanatics 10:13  |  Ivar 23/10/08   4.   Palestinians "harvest" stolen car-parts, not olives 10:41  |  Dan 23/10/08   5.   you preach HATE as a ... 10:56  |  Samos 23/10/08   6.   He is right but... 11:10  |  Shalom Freedman 23/10/08   7.   #3 ivar of the loony left planet saudi 11:32  |  victor hardman 23/10/08   8.   Racist thieves. 11:35  |  Sean 23/10/08   9.   Find the guilty, Mr. Harel 11:37  |  Murray 23/10/08   10.   An answer for Israel Harel 11:46  |  Jim 23/10/08   11.   #7 11:48  |  eric 23/10/08   12.   Proximity equals conflict. Settler movement deludes itself. 11:49  |  dyinglikeflies 23/10/08   13.   "Collective hysteria" 11:50  |  sh 23/10/08   14.   The evil of zionism overwhelmingly trumps S&G 12:03  |  Josh 23/10/08   15.   IVAR Come back when you condemn murders of Israeli civillians 12:10  |  PETER SM 23/10/08   16.   Rights? 12:11  |  Motic 23/10/08   17.   The destruction of the soul of Israel 12:29  |  Clickfool 23/10/08   18.   For Peter SM # 15 12:32  |  Clickfool 23/10/08   19.   Lunatics on the web 12:33  |  DW 23/10/08   20.   # josh 12:37  |  sunday obikoya 23/10/08   21.   JOSH Hate the editorials?Why read them?Stickto martyrdom for kids 12:41  |  PETER SM 23/10/08   22.   Settler/IDF collaboration 12:47  |  Boycott 23/10/08   23.   #20, Sunday 12:53  |  Josh 23/10/08   24.   CFOOL You are wrong.I condemned the death of the Arab taxi driver 12:59  |  PETER SM 23/10/08   25.   Proximity equals conflict. Palestinian movement deludes itself. 13:06  |  Joe Sittizen 23/10/08   26.   Josh, stop joshing 13:08  |  x-ray 23/10/08   27.   Josh, using Israeli software for his fingers 13:10  |  x-ray 23/10/08   28.   #19, DW 13:23  |  Josh 23/10/08   29.   Don`t worry too much Israel Harel 13:24  |  Peter Williams 23/10/08   30.   No, "x-ray", not quite 13:38  |  Murray 23/10/08   31.   Joe Sittizen, I`ve been through the place, don`t need Google 13:42  |  dyinglikeflies 23/10/08   32.   #27, x-ray 13:45  |  Josh 23/10/08   33.   Josh the remedy is in your own hands: boycott it 13:51  |  x-ray 23/10/08   34.   Murray 14:51  |  x-ray 23/10/08   35.   dyinglikegnats for some proper writing 15:21  |  Joe Sittizen 23/10/08   36.   Mindboggling hypocrisy! 15:39  |  THK 23/10/08   37.   Josh #28 15:46  |  DW 23/10/08   38.   Sodom and Gemorrah is right 15:51  |  The Equalizer 23/10/08   39.   #14 Josh 15:54  |  John Allen 23/10/08   40.   Oh` poor little Harel and his settlers. 16:06  |  mike 23/10/08   41.   Sodom? Sodom and Egypt 16:09  |  American Way 23/10/08   42.   Who created them? 16:35  |  Mark Lincoln 23/10/08   43.   horrible things 16:38  |  Salem awaad 23/10/08   44.   have you read wht you wrote Harel 16:43  |  Richi 23/10/08   45.   harel could be writing about any western country 16:56  |  victor hardman 23/10/08   46.   Haaretz Policy of "Balanced Opinion" 16:58  |  Sidney Rosenberg 23/10/08   47.   Clashes 17:33  |  American 23/10/08   48.   #46 nice post sidney but haaretz and balance are not 17:34  |  victor hardman 23/10/08   49.   To #10 17:48  |  Ami 23/10/08   50.   Huge Pillar of SALT 18:16  |  Danny 23/10/08   51.   Poor babies 18:31  |  Mark Lincoln 23/10/08   52.   The destruction of the soul? What a dream, an English dream 18:49  |  Israeli citizen 23/10/08   53.   Clickfool wants to be our Prophet for the XXI century 18:51  |  Israeli citizen 23/10/08   54.   #33 x-ray 19:21  |  Boycott 23/10/08   55.   Shalom Mr. Harel 19:42  |  Lou Medel 23/10/08   56.   Israel has NEVER fully withdrawn Joe Sittizen... 19:47  |  BBSNews 23/10/08   57.   The hypocrisy shocks...! 19:54  |  Esther 23/10/08   58.   Mark Lincoln #42 20:13  |  Elihu 23/10/08   59.   Sodom is another place; Gomorrha bigger yet. 20:14  |  Jack Paulden 23/10/08   60.   For Israeli Citizen # 52 20:17  |  Clickfool 23/10/08   61.   For BBS News # 56 20:22  |  Clickfool 23/10/08   62.   The forest and the tree 20:39  |  alberto 23/10/08   63.   Boycott you want the ME like South AFrica 20:43  |  x-ray 23/10/08   64.   #60 Clickfool 20:53  |  H 23/10/08   65.   Clickfool, I am worried, because to be human is to be criminal 20:57  |  Israeli citizen 23/10/08   66.   prophet`s cry from high tower(earth invisible) 21:01  |  Ben 23/10/08   67.   Clickfool, I am worried, because to be human is to be criminal 21:10  |  Israeli citizen 23/10/08   68.   Text by David Grossman that fits here. Perfectly. 21:37  |  alberto 23/10/08   69.   And Clickfool, how quickly they also forget... 22:23  |  BBSNews 23/10/08   70.   Joe Sittizen #35- What they pretend to want is their problem 22:30  |  dyinglikeflies 23/10/08   71.   For H in London # 64 22:49  |  Clickfool 23/10/08   72.   #17 clickfool 22:54  |  Victoria 23/10/08   73.   #12 dyinglikeflies` formula 23:14  |  Jim 23/10/08   74.   MOREb/s from michaels bad news in monroe 23:46  |  victor hardman 23/10/08   75.   Ahhh, so I see, Israel Harel... 00:19  |  Johnboy 24/10/08   76.   Its Ironic 00:28  |  ARTH 24/10/08   77.   Bible truth for today 00:39  |  Concerned for you 24/10/08   78.   #71 Clickfool. What is it about him that people don`t like? 01:09  |  H 24/10/08   79.   Just as the Angels who visited Loth 01:19  |  Moishe Pipik 24/10/08   80.   As Israel is sinking into obscurantisn 01:31  |  Moishe Pipik 24/10/08   81.   We suffer the same fate in America Moishe 02:24  |  Mark Lincoln 24/10/08   82.   Has Lot offered his daughters? 05:07  |  Mark Lincoln 24/10/08   83.   REAL BIBLE TRUTH Re; Sodom... 05:41  |  PADDY 24/10/08   84.   Yes. 05:52  |  Mark 24/10/08   85.   Moishe, thank you for your insight... 07:06  |  BBSNews 24/10/08   86.   Paddy, please don`r confuse the wingnuts... 07:09  |  BBSNews 24/10/08   87.   Mark abandons hope for Israelis... 07:20  |  BBSNews 24/10/08   88.   #75 johnboy PEDDLES his OBTUSE Olive Groves CONSPIRACY 09:01  |  CK Tan 24/10/08   89.   For H again # 78 09:39  |  Clickfool 24/10/08   90.   For Paddy # 82 09:47  |  Clickfool 24/10/08   91.   #56 bbs hits BUMP in the road and NEVER quite RECOVER 11:13  |  CK Tan 24/10/08   92.   #75 johnboy PEDDLES his OBTUSE Olive Groves CONSPIRACY 11:14  |  CK Tan 24/10/08   93.   C.K.Tan beats up a strawman # 84 11:33  |  Clickfool 24/10/08   94.   clickfool 16:15  |  BB 24/10/08   95.   Oh well, you know CK Tan Clickfool... 17:21  |  BBSNews 24/10/08   96.   CLICKFOOL - Children can be excused... 00:43  |  PADDY 25/10/08   97.   #88 CK Tan and his pointless point of order. 05:36  |  Johnboy 25/10/08   98.   #97 johnboy WORSHIPS the SOUND of his OWN voices 08:15  |  CK Tan 25/10/08

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