It is so sad to see my fellow self-righteous Jews get all bent out of shape when a Jewish person attacks an Arab. (“Twin Cases Of Extremism Spark Calls For Crackdown,” Aug. 7) They get on their on their soap box and start telling us what is wrong with the State of Israel and its leaders. How disingenuous. It seems that Daniel Sokatch [who heads the New Israel Fund] knows more than the Israeli police and the Israeli attorney general; he has already convicted “Jewish extremists” of the arson in Duma.
Never mind that there are many holes in the case: such as the longstanding Arab clan feud in the town of Duma that has pitted Arab against Arab, with violence often a result; or that the house firebombed was located in the center of the sprawling village and it burnt very quickly. This meant that the arsonists had to place many firebombs through the house’s lattice- requiring time to do so. And despite this, the perpetrators made it out of the village on foot and were not stopped or detained by the locals; or that despite the massive police crackdown, no arrests have been made specifically linked to the arson.
Of course we do not condone violence-perpetrated either by a Jewish person or an Arab. But why don’t liberals journalists and community leaders speak out with the same passion when liberal Jews incite to violence? Worse, why is there deafening silence in the face of overwhelming Arab violence against Jews?
Today we hear the phrase “black lives matter.” I ask my liberal friends, why don’t Jewish lives matter? To equate ideologically driven crimes by Arabs — a very common occurrence — with fringe Jewish crimes against Arabs, is just wrong. It is morally bankrupt. It is time to stop the self- flagellation.
Clifton, N.J.
