Fear in Terror's Clothing

I had a much different blog in mind for today, one about the Democratic debate and how I really appreciated the exchange of ideas, as well as the lack of the use of the word, “mess.” But then I read about Dafna Meir. And then, in the New York Times,  I read this:

             Palestinian Wounds Israeli Woman in West Bank, Military Says

By  ISABEL KERSHNERJAN. 18, 2016  JERUSALEM — 

A Palestinian stabbed and wounded an Israeli woman in a West Bank settlement on Monday, according to the Israeli military.The attack came the day after an Israeli woman was fatally stabbed at the entrance to her home in a settlement to the south. Searches continued for the assailant, who managed to flee after the assault on Sunday in the settlement of Otniel, south of Hebron.The assailant in the attack on Monday, which took place in the settlement of Tekoa, south of Jerusalem, was shot and wounded at the scene.

According to Israeli news reports, the assailant was a Palestinian boy, who was about 15 years old and who had entered the settlement through a hole in its perimeter fence.The focus on settlements signaled a possible shift in the recent surge of violence, during which Palestinians have attacked Israeli soldiers, police officers and civilians, usually using knives, cars and guns as weapons.Most of the previous attacks took place on the streets of Jerusalem, in cities around Israel, or along roads and at military checkpoints in the West Bank.

Dafna's Funeral /AFP-M.Kehana

Since Oct. 1, Palestinian assailants have killed more than 20 Israelis, an American student and a Palestinian bystander. More than 150 Palestinians have been killed during the same period, many of them after they attacked or tried to attack Jews and others during protests and clashes with the Israeli security forces.The attack on Monday occurred as the funeral was beginning in Jerusalem for Dafna Meir, 38, the woman who had been killed the day before. Ms. Meir, a hospital nurse, was a mother of six, including two foster children. At least three of her children were in the house at the time of the attack, but they were unharmed.

The victim on Monday, a pregnant woman around age 30, was stabbed in a clothing warehouse in Tekoa.

This line really got me: "...many of them after they attacked or tried to attack Jews and others during protests and clashes with the Israeli security forces."  Can someone explain this excuse to me...and to the families of people standing at bus stops who have been mowed down by terrorists?

I went back to look for the headlines for Dafna Meir’s murder, and found 2 in the Times:

• Israeli Army: Palestinian Kills Israeli Woman in West Bank – January 17^th, 2016 – Associated Press
• Palestinian Attacker Stabs Israeli Woman in West Bank – January 18^th, 2016- Associated Press.

Two young Israeli women were fatally stabbed by assailants unknown to them simply because they were Israeli. They were not the first to be murdered in such an act, and they will not be the last. The headlines don't say this, but these are acts of terror. 

Reem Riyashi -homicide bomber

The men who murdered them were Palestinian. They had been taught that to murder women is a pathway to heaven, an act of holiness. They believed that murdering a young mother and a pregnant woman was an okay thing to do. 

This line really got me

Who taught them that? Was it their own parents? Was it the teacher in the school? Was it the imam? Does it matter?

Well, actually, it does. Throughout Israel, Palestinians are walking up to street corners, into markets, into restaurants, onto beaches to randomly stab people who are doing nothing more sinister than breathing. Some die, some live. Some of the murderers die, others who are wounded receive the same superb medical care as the victims who survived. Despite the acts of terror, that is an act of humanity in the face of terror. 

Dafna Meir/ blog photo

Interestingly, Dafna Meir, the mother of 6 murdered in the doorway of her home while her children were there, was a nurse at Soroka Medical Centre in Beersheva; she was studying Arabic to improve her communication skills with her Arab speaking patients. Her death means there is one less skilled, Arabic speaking nurse who can treat and care for Israeli Arab and Palestinian patients. While the loss to her family is incalculable, the loss to her patients and future patients is equally staggering. 

Terror is not knowing if you will be safe when you open your front door. Terror is kissing your kids goodbye in the morning and really not being 100% sure you will see them in the evening. Terror is knowing that there are people walking the streets who believe that killing you is a good thing. And terror is knowing there are whole schools and playgroups devoted to teaching 4 year olds to be suicide bombers. 

Terror is not what the GOP Clown Cavalcade thinks it is. Trump is afraid of his own shadow, Christie is paranoid, Cruz is delusional, Rubio...well....he's just naive. These clowns think you deal with terror by carpet bombing another country. That wholesale destruction of a country far, far away will stop Daesh from coming here. So they dress up fear in terror's clothing. They tell us the only way to live is to cringe behind the closed door they want all America to be.  

Israelis open the front door. Israelis kiss their kids and send them to school before they go to the office. Israelis go to shopping malls and restaurants and bars and clubs. Israeli civilians rarely own guns; permits are almost impossible to get. What Israelis don't do is hide. If you hide, the terrorists win. 

Whether or not the Associated Press or the New York Times wish to acknowledge that terror is what's happening in Israel speaks volumes about their shared perspective. Those two news outlets are willing to call anybody and everybody a terrorist....unless they are white and taking over federal lands in the Pacific Northwest....or Palestinians committing murder in Israel. In reporting, headlines matter. 

The media has become the message. Whether it's an attack in Marseilles or in Otneil on the West Bank, not calling it terror implies that this is random thinking, not intentional attacks on an identifiable group. 

Draw your own conclusion. 

Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Routinely, throw stuff out. You don't need it. 

It makes thinking about moving much less terrifying.