A Free People in Our Land?

From Anat Gopstein (This post was supposed to be published in the Shabbat publication Gilui Da’at last week, but they ran out of room, so Anat posted it on her page):
A Free People in Our Land?
“How do you deal with such difficult news ?!” I was asked this week by a parent who was suddenly informed that his daughter was dating an Arab. The pain, anger and disappointment are immense. This is a girl from a Torah-observant family. When the parents saw the pictures of the friend on Instagram, they were really scared: All his pictures were with weapons, some of them stolen from the IDF. The parents realized that their daughter was dating a dangerous criminal, who could hurt her at any moment. They thought to contact the police, and when they asked me, what do we do? Contact the police? I smiled very bitterly.
I instructed them, of course, to file a complaint, but not to develop any expectations that it would be helpful. “I understand that you expect the police to act and arrest the terrorist, but unfortunately this is a common phenomenon which the police deliberately ignore. The police are involved in politics, and less in crime prevention,” I told them sadly.
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As a therapist, I refer girls who have been harmed by Arabs to the police, but I know that the case will be handled with deliberate negligence, and in 99% of cases it will be closed. The girls end up with great frustration and a great sense of injustice – which alows the offenders to continue to do harm. The conduct of the police is to add guilt to the crimes committed against those unfortunate girls.
Today everyone is talking about the violence in Arab society. When we talked about it and called on the police to act, we were called racists. But unlike the Leftists who sit in the ivory towers in Tel Aviv and preach to us, I see every day how girls get into dangerous relationships, and how Arabs exploit their innocence and use them as “seduction” girls to transfer weapons and drugs at checkpoints. At the time of this writing, three high-risk girls who are being exploited by Arabs, are missing. We make efforts to return them and support their families in times of need. These girls are abandoned, and the state ignores the phenomenon. And its devastating consequences.
And from nationalistic terrorism to another type of terrorism, which has been mistakenly dubbed “TikTok Terrorism.” We have all watched the new trend of videos, in which Arabs harm and humiliate Jews. But in truth, this is not a new phenomenon. What is new is the publicity, and the readiness of those villainous Arabs to attack Jews openly – because, as in nationalistic terrorism, here, too, they know that nothing will be done to them. This terrorism is not the TikTok terror, then, but the same old and well-known Arab terrorism, which this time has been done with excessive boldness and impudence on the part of our bitter enemy.
The police, as usual, treat the phenomenon with contempt. “Pranks,” was what the commander of Merhav Kedem called these anti-Semitic incidents. The enemy raises its head, national honor is trampled, and the police respond with appalling apathy. The police have always specialized in concealing harm to Jews done on a nationalistic basis, and inflating Jewish responses to Arab terrorism. During the pogroms in the capital, police chase down hilltop boys with felt-tip markers, for fear of graffiti. For them, graffiti or shouting in the street are more dangerous than physically harming Jews.
In response to the anti-Semitic incidents in Jerusalem, MKs Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich and other members of the Religious Zionism Party arrived at Damascus Gate, where the commander of Merhav Kedem undertook to ensure the personal safety of Jews walking in the Old City. Since then, they have closed Damascus Gate to Jews. For them, it’s no Jews – no terrorist attacks.
Of course, the terror and harm to the Jews did not stop for a moment. Unfortunately not everyone understands that silence is immoral, blood and soul are abandoned, and the question arises: What happened to majesty and splendor; how can one remain silent about Jews and not protest the blasphemy???
We decided to hold a protest demonstration at Damascus Gate. No buses were organized for the demonstration, no money was invested in it – and yet, thousands of Jews from all over the country came to Jerusalem to participate in the demonstration and protest against police incompetence. Unfortunately, alongside the members of the extreme Left, among those who jumped to the head to condemn us was the mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Leon. Leon, who did not protest the harm done to Jews, and even admitted on a live radio broadcast that he tried to prevent the demonstration from taking place. It is sad that the mayor of Jerusalem is a Galut Jew who finds it difficult to distinguish between an enemy and a friend, and a victim and an aggressor.
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This week Lag B’Omer will take place. I remember Bar Kochba and Rabbi Akiva and wonder: Where did Jewish heroism go??? The painful reality reminds us that it is much easier to get the Jew out of exile than the exile out of the Jew. Throughout the years of exile, Jews have prayed to be a free people in our country, and here, when we are free in our country – we are still afraid to do what is right, and to act as a sovereign people over our country and state.
But this is not destined to be our fate. We can change. It depends solely on us.