Israeli society is starting to normalize hatred against Arabs. Extremists’ remarks do not shock people anymore.
By JPOST EDITORIALUpdated: NOVEMBER 27, 2019 20:47Baruch Marzel argues with Palestinian tour guide in Hebron, Rabbi Bentzi Gopstein(photo credit: ARIK SULTAN/TOVAH LAZAROFF)
The prosecution took the right step when it filed an indictment on Tuesday against extreme right-wing activist Bentzi Gopstein.For many years, Gopstein has been leading the extremist group Lehava, known for their black shirts and flags. Anyone who walked passed Zion Square on a Thursday night has seen him standing there with his youth group, looking for prey.He has been involved in activities that would be dubbed racist, including controversial remarks against Arabs and interracial marriages.While the last point has been debated throughout the Jewish world for years, there is no excuse for pure racism against Arabs and their assimilation into general Israeli society.In the charge sheet, the prosecution cited various interviews during which Gopstein expressed a racist worldview.In an interview with Channel 2 News (now Channel 12), for example, which was conducted at a wedding, Gopstein was asked if there were Palestinian waiters there.“My first condition before I go to a wedding is that there are no Palestinians here – no Arabs in the wedding,” he said. “We believe in the purity of ‘Hebrew labor.’ Let’s say that if there were an Arab waiter here, he wouldn’t be serving food,” he said smiling, according to the indictment.“So what would he do?” the interviewer asked.“He would look for the closest hospital, I believe,” Gopstein replied.According to Gopstein, there should be no coexistence with Arabs in Israel. In one document, he keeps referring to them as “enemies.”In another instance, he appeared in a video on Israel National News (Arutz 7), saying, “The enemies among us are a cancer. And if we won’t expel this cancer we will not be able to continue existing here, and Jews will die every day here. This cancer metastasizes everywhere – yesterday it was Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Arad, Beersheba,” he said. “There is no place that this cancer has not metastasized.”He then added, “This dangerous cancer is called coexistence.”In the last election in September, Gopstein tried to run for the Knesset with the extreme Otzma Yehudit Party, but a Supreme Court ruling disqualified him. Gopstein, the court said in its decision, “systematically incites against the Arab society.”While the court took active steps against Gopstein in an attempt to block his extreme ideology and prevent him from becoming a policymaker, it seems that his ideas – especially the notion that Arabs should not be an integral part of Israeli society – are growing.In the past year, there were several incidents of Arabs being refused the right to rent or buy a house in the northern city of Afula, which is located in the Galilee, where many Arab-Israelis live.As the situation escalated, some residents organized a protest against allowing an Arab family to buy a house. Following the protest, a city council member said in an interview with KAN News that he “wants to keep Afula an all-Jewish city.”The city was back in the headlines later in the summer when it decided to close the gates of its main park to non-residents – a move essentially aimed at keeping Arabs away. The court later decided that the move was illegal.These are just two examples of numerous policies that were advanced this year. These include a soccer team that as a policy won’t add a Muslim player; a minister who implies that Jews and Arabs should have different maternity wards; and a prime minister who says that a coalition based on the support of the Arab parties is an “existential threat” to the country.Israeli society is starting to normalize hatred against Arabs. Extremists’ remarks do not shock people anymore.While the courts play an important role in blocking the spreading of this plague, it is up to us, Israeli society, to stop it.True, we are in a historic conflict with the Arab world, but dehumanizing adversaries will not solve anything – even if that is exactly what is being done to Jews in the Palestinian Authority educational system.We are the only democracy in the Middle East, and we should be proud of it. Making Arab-Israelis feel welcome and equal should be our goal. We need to kick racism out now.
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