What Kind of Society?
JERUSALEM, Israel – What kind of society condones the murder of a 13-year-old child? Think about it.
Hallel Yaffa Ariel (hallel means praise and yafa, pretty, in Hebrew) was resting in her bed yesterday morning when an Arab teen walked into her bedroom and stabbed her to death.
The Arabs blame the "occupation," meaning Israel, for this young man's thinking. His mother says she's proud of her martyred son. Can anyone imagine being proud of a son for doing that?
The Palestinian Authority – Israel's peace partner – is.
P.A. officials were quick to release statements praising and excusing the murder. It's all about anger, they say, because of Israel's occupation of what's rightfully theirs.
The P.A. names streets and cultural events after terrorists, calling them shahids – religious martyrs. They honor a person who dies in what they see as service to Allah.
Ironically, there was another attempted stabbing Friday morning at the Cave of the Patriarchs (Machpeleh), in Hebron where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah are all buried. Rachel's remains are in a tomb outside Bethlehem. It would seem the attacker carried the same misguided hatred. She was shot and killed at the scene of the attack and now she joins the ranks of a shahid.
U.N. Secretary Ban Ki-moon is calling for a way forward in the negotiations between Israel and the P.A.
The problem is that's not exactly what the Palestinian Authority is looking for. Their children grow up believing Jews are the bad guys who stole their land. They'll get it back sooner or later, they're told.
That's how these kids are raised. They're taught that martyrdom for killing one of these imposters is a good thing.
What they don't realize is the Jews aren't going anywhere.
Israel is the last stop for them. They, their parents or grandparents – some have been here for generations – came here from some other country, and most know they're home.
The Arabs are spinning a very different story and for some reason the world is prone to believe them. That, in turn, is bringing more Jews to Israel.
That the child who was killed Wednesday morning is a dual Israeli-American citizen is not unusual. There are lots of Anglo-American Israelis and more are coming.
Jews from every nation in the world are feeling the call to live in what they believe is their God-given land.
They're willing to deal with inconvenience and face danger to reclaim their biblical inheritance. But only those who believe the Bible understand that.
Israel is surrounded by Muslim Arab countries. Some are friendlier than others and some are certainly more pragmatic, especially in the wake of the U.S.-led Iranian nuclear deal and the influx of cash it's brought to the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism. While Iranian leaders repeatedly threaten to wipe Israel off the map, other Arab states, Saudi Arabia for one, are leery of Iran.
To live in Israel, to stand as a people against what certainly seems to be growing anti-Israel sentiment worldwide, takes a combination of faith, purpose, courage and determination. That's what the slain child's parents have. They chose to live in Kiryat Arba, on the outskirts of Hebron. Some call it a Jewish suburb of Hebron.
Hebron, which Jews refer to as the city of the patriarchs, is the most ancient of biblical cities. While the Palestinian Authority controls 80 percent of Hebron, Jews have an undeniable historic connection to it.
It will be hard for Hallel's parents, siblings and extended family and friends to smile as the weekly Sabbath begins Friday evening. But you can be sure they will smile between the tears.
Join us in praying for them and for the people who are being raised on a diet of hate and misconception that Jews and Arabs can't live together in peace. That's been proven false in the Jewish nation-state.
