          In the traditions of Rabbi Meir Kahane, z"l
                     by Gershon Ben Shabtai
                          May 27, 1992
                         Innocent Arabs

       In reaction to the brutal slaying of Helena Rapp of Bat Yam by an Arab worker from
the Gaza Strip, citizens of this Tel Aviv suburb took to the streets and sought revenge by
destroying Arab vehicles and attacking any Arab they could get their hands on.  The Israel Police
and Border Police were called in to quell the riots, but the citizens of Bat Yam are not so easily
calmed.  Perhaps the murder of this high school youngster might have been the last straw that burst
the dam of Jewish "tolerance" to the continued indiscriminate murder of men women and children
by Arab "nationalists".
       The fact that Jews are murdered nearly every day here has become the accepted norm. 
It is a new phenomenon, however, to see angry Jews prepared to react violently and in defiance of
the law to such outrageous acts.  The media, whose reporters are well known for their disinterested
manner of reporting the news, suddenly becomes the bearer of morality as it clearly labels Jewish
violence as unjustified.  A professor is interviewed who calls such behavior a "lynching" which is
destructive of the public good, and a reporter asks the innocent question, "Is it right for innocent
Arabs to be attacked for a murder committed by someone else?"
         When simple minded people ask such inane questions one can only surmise that they
are either stupid, or blind.  There is a war going on in my country.  In war one doesn't presume his
enemy to be innocent, although, in fact, he may very well be.  In war, to paraphrase General
Norman Schwartzkopf, you destroy your enemy as quickly and decisively as you can.  By so doing
you bring the war to a speedy conclusion and, although, indeed, innocent lives are lost, by ending
the war quickly, many more innocent lives, on both sides, are saved.
       Of course the Arabs who were attacked did not kill or harm anybody.  Of course it is a
bad thing that innocent people get hurt.  But the blame doesn't lie with the angry and frustrated
Jewish rioters whose incredible patience with a do nothing government has at long last reached its
limit.  The blame lies with the do nothing government.  If citizens are expected to obey the law, it
is axiomatic that they have the right to expect that the law will protect them.  How is one supposed
to react when our police come out in force and successfully protect the lives of Arabs, yet are
unable (or, more honestly, unwilling) to do the same for Jews?
       One can cry in frustration when he listens to the hapless proposals put forth to prevent
such murders in the future:
       Arabs under the age of thirty should not be permitted to work on our side of the so
called "green line";  More careful screening should be done of Arabs crossing that line; No Arabs
should be allowed to cross from Judea, Samaria and Gaza into "Israel" (sic);  Give the Arabs their
own state in Judea Samaria and Gaza; Establish a mandatory death penalty for Arab murderers;
etc., etc., ad nauseam.
       I will be the first to recognize the very true fact that most Arabs are not murderers. 
Indeed, most are very nice and hospitable people.  Despite this truth, we have a very serious
problem in this country.  It is a problem of our own creation and one that will not go away.  We
have, over the past forty-four years, nurtured a fantasy among the Arabs.  We have given them
reason to expect that, with patience, perseverance, and, lacking these, murder, they will eventually
be able to replace Israel with an Arab "Palestine".  To this very moment the government of the
Jewish State has done nothing to put this fantasy to rest.  On the contrary.  By recognizing, and
thus giving legitimacy to, the fantasy of an Arab "Palestine", the Israeli government guarantees the
continuation of internal Arab terror in this country.
       Indeed, there are innocent Arabs.  But they are not victims of Jewish avengers of blood. 
They are victims of a cowardly Jewish government which refuses to tell them that "Palestine" is
only a fantasy which will never see the light of day in Israel, maybe in Disneyland.  No Jewish
government, from right to left, wants to see a new Arab state arise on Jewish soil.  But not one has
dared to take meaningful steps to prevent such an event.
       The nineteen-year-old Arab who murdered Helena Rapp was not a pervert.  He was a
young displaced Arab with a dream; a dream given to him by every Jewish government that has
ruled in this country.  This Arab was born under "occupation" of what he was taught was his
rightful homeland.  No Jewish government has given him reason to believe otherwise.  He sees
himself as a fighter for the liberation of what rightfully belongs to him and his people.  In war,
desperate people do desperate things to accomplish what they perceive to be a higher goal.  
       The death penalty will not discourage more Arab "freedom fighters" from murdering
more little girls.  Because of our cowardice and refusal to disenfranchise non-Jews and proudly
declare Israel to be an exclusively Jewish State over the past forty-four years, there is only one way
left to guarantee the end of terrorist attacks against our civilian population; the total removal of all
Arabs, innocent and guilty, from the Jewish State.  Like it or not, there is simply no other way. 
How many Jewish children must die as the price we continue to pay so we can be "fair" to
"innocent" Arabs? 