Will Justice be Served?

Yakir Ashbel (center) - the Chasan at the 'Hate Wedding' (TOI)

Terrorism is rampant in the world right now. And even though Israel is no longer the focus of terror by the mainstream media  – it still exists there in spades. I need not go into all the attacks not too long ago by individual Palestinians against individual Israelis. Unfortunately those of us who pay attention to what happens in Israel are well aware of it. (Although it seems to have died down somewhat in recent months.)

One such attack happened in June of 2015 on a road near the West Bank town of Shvut Rachel. Hamas terrorists opened fire on 4 Jewish civilians in a car traveling down that road. One was killed.

Sadly this type of thing is still a concern for Israelis living in – or traveling through outlying areas.  There seems to be little Israeli law enforcement can do about these kinds of random attacks.

The question arises whether there is anything anyone at all can do about it. And if so, is it ethical or moral. I am not one that believes in taking the law into your own hands. That is a prescription for disaster. Often a private citizen will end up shooting and killing innocent victims – mistaking them for the perpetrators of a crime. Or they may end up being killed themselves in the attempt. 

I am therefore firmly opposed to anyone but law enforcement – enforcing the law. That they may be hampered at times in carrying out justice because of legal technicalities is something we have to live with in a civilized society. Police must err on the side of caution. Lest they become murderers themselves. Innocent blood must never be shed!

Unfortunately there are terrorists among our own people who care nothing about innocent blood being shed –as long as it’s Arab blood. In fact they celebrate it! Which in my view makes them little different from Palestinians on the West bank that celebrate killing Jews - or even Americans on American soil - since they perceive Americans to be supporting Israel. One may recall the revelry and expressions of joy by Burka draped Palestinian mothers celebrating the events of 9/11, They handed out candy to little children on the streets of the West Bank! (I will never forget that sight.)

We have our own share of such celebrants. In what was clearly a celebratory response to the cowardly act of firebombing the home of an innocent Palestinian family in the village of Duma. An 18 month old baby was burned alive and three other family members died. This happened shortly after the attack near Shvut Rachel. This was almost certainly perpetrated by Israeli terrorists on the extreme fringes of the right wing. From a 2015 JTA article: 

A senior Israeli army officer said there is no doubt that Jews firebombed a West Bank Palestinian home that left an 18-month baby and his parents dead.

“We know unequivocally that this is an act of Jewish terror,” the officer told reporters Tuesday in a briefing, the Israeli media reported.  “All the rumor and speculation being spread on this issue lack any basis in reality.” 

Amiram Ben-Uliel - indicted for murder  (TOI)

On January of 2016 Amiram Ben-Uliel was indicted for murder in this case. 

So yes, terrorism is alive and well in Israel. And Palestinians aren’t the only ones doing it. But even on the outside chance that Jewish terrorists from the extreme right didn’t do it – as is claimed by so many of their defenders – under the outrageous theory that Palestinians did this in order to make Jews look bad - the reactions to this horrible crime by 500 attendees of a wedding were certainly those of Jews. Unfortunately religious looking ones… as the photo (above) of Yakir Ashbel - the Chasan at that wedding indicates. 

Ashbel denies any knowledge of the revelatory celebration of that firebombing – claiming that he was too involved in his wedding to notice it. But I find that a bit hard to swallow. As do the police apparently since he too was arrested. 

But whether he knew about it or not, there is not a doubt in the world about the fact that this group of fanatic mostly right wing Religious Zionist - Kahane type Jews were in love with the fact that a Palestinian baby was burned alive.  There  is no denying it because it was recorded and placed on the internet for the entire world to see.

Thankfully 13 suspected instigators of that celebration were indicted a couple of days ago. From the Times of Israel: 

The indictments — for charges of incitement to violence, supporting a terror group, racist incitement, and weapons offenses — were filed with the approval of Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit, due the nature of the charges against the suspects. 

I can’t think of too many more people I would like to see in jail than these miscreants. If they are convicted - it would be poetic justice to put them in the same cell as Palestinians who were convicted of a similar crime. Because a lesson must be learned here.

This wasn’t merely a case of celebration of taking justice into your own hands. That would be bad enough. This was a case of celebrating pure unadulterated revenge against innocent people in the most horrific of ways. As a civilized society Israel needs to do whatever it takes to prevent both the crime and any celebration of it from ever happening again… if we are ever to reclaim the moral high ground.