Sayed Kashua, no "Haaretz" 05/01/09

Hit them where it hurts

Before I start writing, let me inform you up front that I love you dearly. I would like to warmly embrace the inhabitants of the south - Arabs not included - and dedicate this festive column to them. The spectacular demonstrations in Gaza have only contributed to our feelings of a shared fate, Arabs living in the Land of Israel and the Jewish people. Let those among my Arab brethren who want to demonstrate, demonstrate, and those who want to wax bellicose, wax bellicose, but reality is stronger than words, and the fact is that terrorists do not distinguish between Arab blood and Jewish blood, as is attested by the Arab victims felled by missiles fired with the aim of striking at innocent people.

Moreover, allow me to commiserate with the bereaved families and to declare from this platform that in addition to the two families from Sderot whom we are hosting in our home now, members of my family and I are ready to host two more families from the area under bombardment. We can be contacted through the newspaper's editorial offices.

On this rare occasion, I want to strengthen the hand of our leaders, policymakers and commanders. You earned this war honestly. It is the duty of a normal country like Israel to defend its residents in the face of a prolonged threat that is embittering the lives of more than half a million residents. I apologize to my Arab readers who do not share my attitude, but at this time it behooves a courageous figure from our nation to step forward and speak the truth without hesitation, knowing that the vast albeit silent majority of the Arabs in Israel believe in the recesses of their heart that justice rests with me. During my long years as a journalist, I was compelled to live in an Arab community, and I always had the painful feeling that I could not be sincere in my declarations, either oral or written. A feeling of distress gnawed at me, knowing as I did that I was violating the rules of morality and estranging myself from the foundations of intellectual integrity. But now, at long last, a golden opportunity has arisen: Israel has opened fire in the south and I, happily, am now ensconced in a protected Jewish neighborhood, infinitely joyful, because at least I can write without fear about what has lain for long years on my heart. At the end of the day, Israel is better, in my eyes, than every neighboring Arab state, if only because of the freedom of the press and the freedom of expression it preserves so rigorously.

That ends the clarification part. And now, with your permission, I will move to somewhat more operational language, in accordance with the winds that have been blowing for the past few days. What I am actually saying here is: Hit the bastards where it hurts. And you know what - anyone who comes to us with complaints is an idiot who doesn't know what he's talking about. And most worthless of all are the locals who have already started to make noises here and there and ask, "What is the goal of the operation?" in a whimpering voice that makes me sick. Here's the enlightened leftist sitting on the balcony of his home, puffing on a Marlboro Lite and wondering with his pompous pals, "What are the aims?"

So now I am telling you: Our aim is to grind them into the dust. We will soften them up with missiles until they understand that for every blasted Qassam they let fly at us, they will get a hundred tons in their face. And it won't end, either. Who said it has to end? Hey, the rules of the game have changed. How long can you be good to them? Hey, was there a cease-fire? There was. What happened? All they did was figure out how to plan the next blow. So we didn't open the transit points? Is that our fault? They brought Hamas on themselves. Let them deal.

That's how it is, we have to go on to the end, until they learn that you don't come to us with force. Either they surrender and kiss our feet and we leave them alone, or we go on inflicting blows from the skies and they won't know what hit them.

Here's a fact: When they behave a little more quietly, like in the West Bank and Jerusalem, what's so bad there, with Abu Mazen and the jema'a? It's not like anyone stops them from sneaking by the checkpoints, right? It's not like caution isn't exercised in targeted you-know-whats, right? Aren't the settlers arrested when they rampage? How can anyone even compare their fabric of life with tons of bombs that kill 300 people in two days?

Bloody hell, don't they look at the life of luxury led by their brethren in the West Bank and learn that quiet pays? From my acquaintance with Arabs, I tell you: They simply have a mental problem. There's nothing to it. No matter what you do, they will come back with complaints. Aalek, Gaza is one big prison of refugees, the jobless and the starving. Hey, is that our fault? Hey, is it because of us that they're like that?

It's not that they fire Qassams and say it's because they don't have anything to eat. No. They fire them and say that the gates of hell will be opened on the Zionist enemy and that they want to expel us from our homeland. Right. Hey, are we supposed to be responsible for every hungry Arab kid?

And one more thing that I really can't understand is the Arabs in Israel. We are as nice as can be to them, there is no more Military Government, they can move freely, work, go to school, they have citizenship - dear God, we let them vote and they come and demonstrate. The very same people who know well that only by dialogue and understanding can one live with us in peace. Hey, what's the deal? Did we expropriate their land? Did we neglect the infrastructures in their villages? Did we ignore their distress and the poverty? No way. Their situation is ten times better than that of the Arabs in the West Bank.

So instead of understanding better than anyone else that we have no choice but to trample Gaza, they demonstrate solidarity with the bearded guys in green. I want to tell you, no matter what we do we will come out patsies and that's why I say not to listen to anyone. What more do they want? What? That we should treat them like Jews?

To conclude, one more thing that, regrettably, not many dare say aloud: A court won't help. I know that you, just like me, don't want to live with Arabs.