Violent conduct by protestors on our streets demands zero tolerance

Democratic citizens who resort to violence assault all their fellow citizens, not just the person at the end of their fists and boots.

By GIL TROY
Orthodox Jews take part in a protest against the enforcement of coronavirus emergency regulations in Mea She’arim, October 4, 2020 (photo credit: NATI SHOHAT/FLASH90)
Orthodox Jews take part in a protest against the enforcement of coronavirus emergency regulations in Mea She’arim, October 4, 2020
(photo credit: NATI SHOHAT/FLASH90)
Q: What’s worse than a “Sukkot-in-Seger,” with Sukkah huts lacking guests?
A: A “Sukkot-in-Chaos-and-Cowardice,” with leaders lacking the guts to stop political violence.
The bloody clashes during this lovely, if too-quiet, Sukkot for most demand a bold response from our leaders – especially the man who claims to be in charge (when it suits him) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But this challenge requires the credibility, consistency and integrity Netanyahu lacks. We need zero tolerance for street violence – be it from ultra-Orthodox mask-resisters, anti-Bibi protesters or pro-Bibi anti-protesters. Democratic citizens who resort to violence assault all their fellow citizens, not just the person at the end of their fists and boots.
Partisanship is a political steroid. It artificially puffs up the small-minded and distorts their vision, blinding them to their own faults while exaggerating their enemies’. It hatches delusions claiming “our” side has “mostly peaceful protests” – when peace, like pregnancy, is all or nothing.
The easiest violence for Netanyahu to condemn and control is hardest for him – the unconscionable thuggery of his supporters and allies, the pro-Bibi “anti-protesters,” and some ultra-Orthodox. In Pardess Hanna, a dozen of these strutting, spitting, kicking, cursing, threats-to-democracy beat Guy Lev, a 48-year-old protester who bravely intervened when they harassed a woman who was protesting. The mini-mob turned on him, breaking his hand. In Mea She’arim, even young kids were unleashed to break the law and target our police-heroes.
Such hooliganism now erupts with increasing frequency – sometimes fueled by Mr. Indictment’s despicable incitement. His obsession with quashing the protests against him, his own dog-whistling – shouted-out by Likud demagogues – eggs on these criminals. It must stop before Likudnik thugs murder protesters. And it must stop before those ultra-Orthodox who defy science and personal responsibility overwhelm Israel’s medical facilities.
Netanyahu should learn from Likud’s founder, Menachem Begin. In 1948, when David Ben-Gurion double-crossed Begin and had the Irgun ship Altalena attacked, Begin insisted: “there shall never be a civil war.” While mourning 16 comrades needlessly killed, Begin resisted the sinat chinam, senseless fraternal hatred, that destroyed the Second Temple. Netanyahu – and his lackeys – must offer similar non-partisan moral leadership. If he can’t do that – he should resign, because he clearly is unfit for office.
Similarly, if Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi cannot fulfill Blue and White’s mission by denouncing the violence eloquently and effectively, they too should go home. Gantz tweeted that violence is “unacceptable.” But his formulaic responses pale when compared to the memorable Facebook post of a coalition partner, MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh. She described “watching my sisters and brothers battling in the streets” and “sitting in my sukkah in tears.” That’s memorable. That transcends clichés, challenging us all to think.
A more complicated problem requiring diplomacy, creativity and moral clarity concerns the anti-Bibi protesters and our police-heroes, who risk infection daily to protect us. It’s hard balancing pandemic, protest and public safety. The democratic right to assemble peaceably is sacred; but, if everyone’s limited to one square kilometer from our homes, protesters and synagogue-goers should be too, while allowing some protests near Netanyahu’s residence – with masks, social distancing and reasonable numerical limits. Our leaders must reframe the conversation to maximize respect for peaceful protest and police safety too.
Unfortunately, the moral vacuum at the top echoes throughout the country. These complicated balancing acts don’t work with a morally-compromised prime minister who winks at the violence that works for him while running rings around his politically-maladroit coalition partners. Blue and White is to national-unity governing what Chris Wallace is to debate moderating: proof that good intentions cannot avoid bad results when amoral monsters lurk.
I wish I could propose America’s president – or his more decent opponent – as role models. That shrill chaotic first presidential debate demonstrated how bullies demean everyone, especially themselves. US President Donald Trump’s treasonous refusal to defend the democracy he heads by promising to respect the electoral outcome now means that voting for him sanctions his greatest crime – questioning America’s legitimacy. That shameful failure alone makes him unworthy of re-election.
Also inexcusable was Trump’s resistance to wholeheartedly repudiating white supremacists and far-right militias. True, he said “sure” he would. True, he spoke clearly days later. But onstage, facing the American people, his hesitation spoke volumes, as he stammered: “give me a name, go ahead who do you want me to condemn?” Moreover, he summarized our hyper-partisan myopia, by admitting: “I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing not from the right wing.”
Given an equally clear opportunity, spontaneously, to assert moral leadership, Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s response was pathetic, too. True, Biden has repeatedly condemned Right and Left violence, including antifa rioting. But, onstage, facing the American people, his hesitation spoke volumes, as he muttered: “His own FBI director said, unlike white supremacist, antifa is an idea not an organization.”
The Democratic nominee needed to shame Trump by authoritatively denouncing all violence. Instead, voters endured Biden’s often-barely-comprehensible, Beltway-speak. The FBI director did conclude that antifa is an “ideology” not an organized network like far-right militias, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t antifa-spawned violence. Biden sounded like the tsar saying “Don’t worry, Communism is just an idea.” Ideas and shadow networks are insidious, often harder to defeat.
Sukkahs, like democracies, represent powerful ideas that have outlasted dictators over centuries. But even minimal violence can destroy our flimsy huts and our fragile, ultimately voluntary, political systems. If the sniveling partisans who purport to lead today cannot deliver the eternal vigilance democracies require, we the people must provide it, in the US, Israel, worldwide.
The writer was recently designated one of Algemeiner’s J-100, one of the top 100 people ‘positively influencing Jewish life.’ He is a distinguished scholar of North American History at McGill University, and the author of nine books on American History and three books on Zionism. His book, Never Alone: Prison, Politics and My People, co-authored with Natan Sharansky was recently published by PublicAffairs of Hachette.


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