OP-ED Redefining Normalcy
I was speaking to a friend who had not followed the war today. She asked me what had happened, and I told her, in Hebrew, "כרגיל", "as normal." She replied, "So we've gotten into a routine?" Following the war so closely has definitely made it routine. The routine is, of course, a nightmare for those up North and down South who are living underground. But it has, nonetheless, become routine. That is why we must keep fighting.
I remember beginning in 2000, when the Palestinian Terror War against Israel began, each bombing was new. Over time, living in Jerusalem, it became a horrifying routine, but a routine. Finally, one Pesach in 2002, the routine became too much, and we went to war. That is precisely what is happening right now.
Our enemy to the North, believing we were weak, much in the same way Osama Bin Laden thought of the United States before September 11, was attempting to define our sense of normalcy and routine in order to gain strategic goals and weaken us further. But he was mistaken.
Kidnapping soldier after soldier from within Israel proper is an attempt to create a pattern and instill fear to change the way we behave. Thankfully, our new Prime Minister, whom we all stand behind at this time of war, was not willing to allow that to happen. We in Israel have become accustomed to war. We have tried time and again to change the situation. We have gone the extra yard in offering our most precious city to the enemy. But when, after doing what the world has asked, after defining international borders and leaving our enemy alone, our children are killed and kidnapped from our own soil, we must redefine normalcy not only for ourselves, but for the enemy and all those who grant him refuge and assistance. It is our only recourse.
Current calls for a cease-fire in order to end the violence which may "spiral" out of control miss this point entirely. The worrying prospect of a greater war is one we all share - but we will do what is necessary to ensure that our children will indeed have a sense of normalcy dreamed of by generations of Jews. Fear will not define our behavior. The calls for a cease-fire miss the point that there are things in this world which must be destroyed; terror must be destroyed. Appeasement, the same type offered to a tyrant in Europe more than 60 years ago, is the fuel that promotes violence. Offering a cease-fire after vowing to destroy them in order to ensure that this routine will not remain such will mean thousands, perhaps tens or hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dead years from now.
The War on Terror is global. The war now taking place in Northern Israel and Lebanon is evidence of the link between terrorists everywhere and their desire to change the world. Whether or not they are all working hand-in-hand is irrelevant. They have the same goal. The regimes that support them encourage the disruption of lives and economies in order to destroy the world as it exists and rebuild it in their image.
Iran’s messianic regime dreams of changing the routine of the world. It dreams of a one-world regime, dominated by the rule of Islam. It pursues the means to meet that end. It attempts to disrupt the rebirth of a new nation at its doorstep. It creates war where people want peace. It succeeds to change the agenda and routine of world diplomacy.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has defined the War on Terror as the Third World War. The current war between Israel and Hezbollah is this war's latest front. It is a front which may end in a few weeks or may take
longer. There are other determining actors other than the terrorists and the Jewish State, actors with an agenda to redefine normalcy. We must not to let this happen. We must fight this through to the end. It is our desire to change this routine, for the betterment of the world.
I wonder how many others would live with this routine. I fear how many are actually willing to fight it.
I remember beginning in 2000, when the Palestinian Terror War against Israel began, each bombing was new. Over time, living in Jerusalem, it became a horrifying routine, but a routine. Finally, one Pesach in 2002, the routine became too much, and we went to war. That is precisely what is happening right now.
Our enemy to the North, believing we were weak, much in the same way Osama Bin Laden thought of the United States before September 11, was attempting to define our sense of normalcy and routine in order to gain strategic goals and weaken us further. But he was mistaken.
Kidnapping soldier after soldier from within Israel proper is an attempt to create a pattern and instill fear to change the way we behave. Thankfully, our new Prime Minister, whom we all stand behind at this time of war, was not willing to allow that to happen. We in Israel have become accustomed to war. We have tried time and again to change the situation. We have gone the extra yard in offering our most precious city to the enemy. But when, after doing what the world has asked, after defining international borders and leaving our enemy alone, our children are killed and kidnapped from our own soil, we must redefine normalcy not only for ourselves, but for the enemy and all those who grant him refuge and assistance. It is our only recourse.
Current calls for a cease-fire in order to end the violence which may "spiral" out of control miss this point entirely. The worrying prospect of a greater war is one we all share - but we will do what is necessary to ensure that our children will indeed have a sense of normalcy dreamed of by generations of Jews. Fear will not define our behavior. The calls for a cease-fire miss the point that there are things in this world which must be destroyed; terror must be destroyed. Appeasement, the same type offered to a tyrant in Europe more than 60 years ago, is the fuel that promotes violence. Offering a cease-fire after vowing to destroy them in order to ensure that this routine will not remain such will mean thousands, perhaps tens or hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dead years from now.
The War on Terror is global. The war now taking place in Northern Israel and Lebanon is evidence of the link between terrorists everywhere and their desire to change the world. Whether or not they are all working hand-in-hand is irrelevant. They have the same goal. The regimes that support them encourage the disruption of lives and economies in order to destroy the world as it exists and rebuild it in their image.
Iran’s messianic regime dreams of changing the routine of the world. It dreams of a one-world regime, dominated by the rule of Islam. It pursues the means to meet that end. It attempts to disrupt the rebirth of a new nation at its doorstep. It creates war where people want peace. It succeeds to change the agenda and routine of world diplomacy.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has defined the War on Terror as the Third World War. The current war between Israel and Hezbollah is this war's latest front. It is a front which may end in a few weeks or may take
longer. There are other determining actors other than the terrorists and the Jewish State, actors with an agenda to redefine normalcy. We must not to let this happen. We must fight this through to the end. It is our desire to change this routine, for the betterment of the world.
I wonder how many others would live with this routine. I fear how many are actually willing to fight it.
posted by Mr. S at 8:08 AM
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