Last week, after President Trump recognizing the reality that Jerusalem is the Capital of Israel, though also adding enough qualifiers so as not to actually change anything other than making clear that, at the very least, half of Jerusalem will be the Capital of Israel, the Arabs on all borders and within Israel announced three Days of Rage. Perhaps a little clarity would be of some assistance. Every Friday afternoon the Arabs in Judea and Samaria have demonstrations at specific locations where they act against Israeli security forces, IDF, Border Police and regular police, with varying degrees of violence from shouting curses and spitting to throwing rocks often using slings of the variety with which David slew Goliath or even shooting at the Israeli forces from behind rock throwing children so as to get movies of Israeli security forces firing rubber bullets presumably at the children with the people with the rifles out of frame. So if these outbreaks of violence are almost as regular as clockwork, what is the big deal with announcing Days of Rage? That is simple. Where the regular violence is performed so that the Pallywood cameras can record everything from various angles such that the best editing makes the acts look real to use in Arab propaganda throughout the world to portray the Israelis as savage monsters; the announced Days of Rage are special because that signals the world media to come and record the action for the six o’clock news broadcasts and are aimed largely at the United States media as well as international media such as CNN and the BBC. There will be a less official Day of Rage again this Friday and actually are being carried out in select locations all week for the remaining media who are still hanging around just in case a really good action piece emerges showing Israel in the worst possible light.
Three Views of Jerusalem
The reality is that there are staged eruptions at the most effective checkpoints often organized by European and other leftist groups some of which include leftist Israelis. Just as are present in the United States, Europe and the rest of the developed world, there are the useful idiots who take the side that their country is a terrible and oppressive nation, as it had not adopted their idea of a socialist utopia. We have them here in Israel as well except here they are far more dangerous as the world, especially in Europe; use these people to demean the government and the security forces which protect them. These are far leftists who would demand for Israel to sacrifice its Jewishness on the altar of a socialist plurality which permitted the entirety of the so-called Palestinian refugees who number closing in on eight-million to become Israelis along with the Arabs in Judea and Samaria giving the Arab Palestinians a majority voice in the government. To them having a Jewish State is an anathema and anachronistic as they argue that no other nation in the world is religiously based. Obviously they have never heard of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq or the other nations which claim to be Islamic States, but it is not that Israel has a religiosity, it is that it is Jewish that bothers them. These often are Jews ashamed of their own Jewishness so they argue that everything Jewish must be made less Jewish until nothing is Jewish. For this reason, they side with their enemies believing that their enemies will reward them once Israel as a Jewish State has been destroyed. Should such an event ever occur, Hashem forbid, then they will find out that they are considered as Jewish as every other Jew in Israel and will receive identical treatment.
Still, with or without any assistance, the Arab Palestinians will protest and riot on a regular basis with checkpoints which are most effective in preventing terrorist attacks targeted in hopes of forcing their being dismantled, on the Temple Mount, and in Bethlehem and other readily recognized locations which will thus garner the greatest amount of media coverage. The media in much of the world has reported that there have been riots in every part of Israel in response to President Trump’s announcement on Jerusalem. That is far from the reality. There were some demonstrations along the Gaza border with a small number of rockets launched into Israel, disruptions on the Temple Mount and in Eastern parts of Jerusalem, in Bethlehem and some other locations in Judea and Samaria. As for most of Israel, life has continued uninterrupted and as peaceful as can be. But a peaceful Israel does not make for breathtaking news alerts on the hour and the half hour, only broad rioting wherever the media can see amounts to making for good news reporting. Ask yourself if you saw coverage of rioting in Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, Ashod, Netanya, Herzliya, Ma’alot, Eilat or Akko. Isn’t it remarkable that there have been no reports of rioting or violence in all of these Israeli cities, some of the most well known and largest in the little country? Perhaps the lack of news about problems in all of these locations is because the violence is limited to the few locations where the news coverage was directed and nowhere else. What is not a very well know fact about Israel is that, even including terrorist acts, you are less likely to have a violent crime committed against your person in Israel than you are in the United States. Part of the reason is that Israel has remarkably low crime and a well-ordered and happy society. This is proven by the World Happiness Report where Israel is the eleventh happiest nation on the planet. That is an eye-opener, is it not?
Now for the real brain-teaser, we are about to enter the low rioting season. Arab rioting in Israel is seasonal and when it is colder and rainy, there is far less rioting, terror and violence in general. On the other hand, when it gets very hot in the balmy days of summer there is far greater propensity for violence from the Arab Palestinians. This is similar to crime statistics in most major cities where crime increases when it is very hot and drops precipitously when winter arrives. The rioting in Israel is very seasonal peaking in July and August and dropping off in January and February. If the rioting, terrorism and violence really were about the harsh and terrible treatment imposed by Israel, then one would expect there to be an even number of provocations throughout the year and a very steady level of related violence. But that is not the case as it is actually very seasonal with peaks also coming during Jewish holidays, specifically those holidays when Jews are most likely to desire visiting the Temple Mount. This is why during the weeks leading up to Rosh HaShana, Yom Kippur and through Sukkot the rioting on the Temple Mount hits a crescendo forcing the closing of the Temple Mount. What is interesting is this closure of the Temple Mount is more often just imposed on Jews and only when the rioting becomes dangerously damaging that the Temple Mount is completely closed, which leads to greater rioting at the entrances which are barred by Security Forces. Odd that it is during these special holidays that suddenly there erupts violence by the Arabs to close the Temple Mount to all non-Muslims; but when Christmas arrives there is no rioting, instead, there are Arab merchants at the entrances selling seasonal gifts and souvenirs as well as food to the visiting foreigners who have money to spend. Then again coming into and through Passover there oddly enough is no second wave of Temple Mount violence. This would be strange as it is another holiday when Jews desire visiting the Temple Mount. But Passover always corresponds to Easter and that brings those tourists with the money to spend and business takes precedence over preventing the Jews from visiting the Temple Mount. Some things are universal and making money off holiday traffic is one of them.
Beyond the Cusp
Beyond the Cusp 