Festering hatred leads to terror

Setting aside my phone on Sunday night, I felt a chill run down my spine. I had just heard that a restaurant that my Israeli cousin and I had stopped at a month ago had been the site of an attempted terrorist attack.

We had spent a glorious day on tiyul at Ein Gedi and then the Dead Sea before heading in the direction of my cousin’s home in Modiin. He stopped so that I could check out the wares at the outdoor stalls at the Almog Junction, and then on the spur of the moment, we decided to go into the restaurant for a bite.

Last Saturday night, two men walked into the same restaurant, and one of them opened fire. His weapon fired one shot before it was believed to have jammed, so they fled.

In my mind’s eye, I can still see the faces of the people working there, and a child’s birthday that was being celebrated with his family at a nearby table.

I can visualise the entrance where the gunmen would have come in. I can taste the hummus we ate, and see the waiter who served us.

It’s eery yet horrifying to think how random our decision to stop there was, and that a few weeks later, these terror mongers chose that same place to attempt to take innocent lives.

Such is the randomness of terrorism where there is no particular individual target for hatred, just anyone who, to the terrorist, represents Jews or Israelis. And killing and maiming is the aim.

That gunman at the restaurant was out to kill as many people as he could, but somehow, he was prevented from doing that. He didn’t care who he killed or harmed. He didn’t care if they were visiting journalists from South Africa or Israeli children. He just wanted to destroy innocent lives to create chaos and despair in Israel.

The same goes for the 21-year-old terrorist who perpetrated the deadliest terrorist attack in Jerusalem in years. Just before 20:30 last Friday night, this young man went on a killing spree outside a shul in Neve Yaakov, killing seven and injuring at least three others.

The following morning, just before 11:00, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy shot and critically injured two people at Jerusalem’s City of David site. What makes a child do something like that? What kind of hatred was he filled with to motivate him to do this? He also didn’t care who he hurt or what would happen to him if he got caught. He went out last Saturday morning with murder in mind, and all he wanted was to harm Jews en masse. Just 13 years old! What does a child that age know of the kind of hatred it takes to kill? I don’t believe a child of that age has that kind of hostility. It’s pure indoctrination – children are being taught to loathe other human beings. (See Dan Diker’s opinion piece on this page.)

What kind of indoctrination does it take to get people to throw away their own lives to kill anyone they find, anyone who might happen to be within range of their weapons? I don’t understand that kind of revulsion or brainwashing.

What kind of adult engenders such hatred? And why would you want your children to have that deep-seated anger and venom towards people they don’t even know. Why would any parent want their child to have so much hatred for a group of people, they are willing to throw away their lives for it?

I guess I’ll never know.

But the attempted terror attacks didn’t stop there.

The next day, before lunchtime, a gunman was stopped and killed just before he attempted to get into Kedumim settlement in the West Bank.

Then on Tuesday, a driver accelerated before ramming into pedestrian soldiers at Tapuach Junction in the West Bank and then fled. Two Israeli soldiers were hurt in the incident.

When will this stop? How much more must Israeli civilians take?

What’s interesting is that most people in Israel don’t worry about their safety and security. They feel safe.

I felt safe there. I didn’t think twice about walking around alone, day or night. It’s Israel. It’s safe. Or is it?

The truth is, hatred is devastatingly destructive, whether you’re Palestinian or Israeli. And violence begets more violence.

When will people recognise that there are other ways to deal with conflict and disagreement? Violence always has a bloody ending for everyone.

In a few days, we celebrate Tu B’Shvat, otherwise known as the new year for trees. This holiday is all about positivity, growth, and development. Greening plots of land can only be good for everyone, and it has certainly changed the land of the Jews.

JNF-South Africa is encouraging us to offer “75 minutes of environmental activism” in which we can do something good and helpful for our country and people.

This can be planting trees, cleaning up, planting a vegetable garden, anything like that.

So, with all the negativity that surrounds us in South Africa and in Israel, let’s do something good to uplift ourselves. And boy, do we need uplifting!

Then, take pics and videos of you and yours in action, and email it to the JNF at b.schneider@jnfsa.co.za as part of its national project. You can also post it on your own social media platforms, tagging JNF-SA and using the hashtags #7500forIsrael or #JNFSA4trees.

So, while we try not to let load shedding and all-too-regular water shortages, potholes, and strange leadership choices keep us down, let’s do some good.

While we consider the huge price some people pay for keeping the Jewish land going in its 75th birthday year, let’s join the JNF in this initiative, and improve our world and future.

Shabbat Shalom!

Peta Krost

Editor