Caroline Glick Archives - standing by the gate

An Unfortunate Moment for IDF Officer Shalom Eisner and His Victim

“The truth is something that mankind, for some mysterious reason, instinctively dislikes.” (H.L. Mencken) In the case of Senior IDF officer Shalom Eisner, who recently got caught on video smacking an “innocent bike rider” with his M-16, the reasons are not so mysterious. Eisner is a Jew. He is also an Israeli soldier. Israel, with one tenth of one percent of the world’s population and no broad national ambition beyond hoping to exist, is a threat to world peace…

That’s mankind’s story and we’re sticking to it.

Though Eisner has been reprimanded, suspended and may face criminal charges, this is clearly not enough. Given, the gesture was brutal and, from the 2-minute video below, it seems unjustified, but the YouTube caption that accompanies the video has transformed the encounter into a Middle Eastern version of The Killing Fields:

Palestinian and international cyclists were brutally attacked by the Israeli occupation forces on Saturday as they attempted to bike up Route 90…The cyclists were demonstrating against Israeli apartheid policies in the Jordan Valley, which limit Palestinian access to roadways as part of an ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing against the indigenous Bedouin communities of the Valley.

In just two sentences three myths are amplified, occupation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing, and the reader envisions a bloody military onslaught against Sunday cyclists. Maybe the author hoped you wouldn’t watch?

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Since we arrived in Israel at the end of March we had been blessed with good weather. The humidity is typically low here, we are at about 2,400 feet above sea level and even late in June we found it could be quite chilly at night. Though warned that it gets hot and miserable here during the summer (there is after all a real sand-dune desert just miles to the east) it seemed only plausible. June and the beginning of July were, literally, a breeze. Our unairconditioned apartment stayed cool and comfortable.The only trick necessary to bearing the heat outside was to stay inside or, when outdoors, stick in the shade.

Not to complain, but starting about three weeks ago the breezy days and chilly nights ended. It’s hot, very hot, and afternoons have been a challenge.

Interestingly enough, this year the truly miserable weather roughly aligned with the beginning of The Three Weeks of Sorrow beginning July 19 on the Gregorian calendar, a period of observance among religious Jews extending on the Hebrew calendar from Tammuz 17 to the 9th of Av when the five calamities occurred.

Moses broke the two tablets of stone on Mount Sinai;
The daily tamid offering ceased to be brought;
The walls of Jerusalem were breached (leading to the destruction of the Temple);
Prior to Bar Kokhba’s revolt, Roman military leader Apostomus burned a Torah scroll;
An idol was erected in the Temple.

The time is commemorated by fasting and introspection. Israel has a lot to consider now, past and future. In September, the international community may have to deal with the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian State (this link provides a biblical prospective). All indications are that the President of the United States supports it.

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