Peloni: Never was there a greater need for Jews around the world to be well armed (to the limit of local laws), well trained, and well disciplined, as they provide a secure defense and presence for themselves, their loved ones and the community in which they live. Dependency upon others is not the solution to rampant violence. Instead, self defense is the solution, as it provides not only a deterrence to attacks but a meaningful response for any attack which might arise.
It’s now season on Jews of all stripes, anywhere, any time. Active self help can begin to blunt the wave of attacks.
Waking up to check the news has become an exercise in the ability to digest the surreal and the truly bizarre.
We are living in times that might have been merely interesting at one point but now are almost predictably jaw dropping.
Seemingly random as well as carefully planned acts of unspeakable violence, sadistic violence, have become regular fare.
Adding to the dizziness is the increasing likelihood that violence will strike people and places once thought to be off the beaten track of wanton destruction.
This of course is the essence of terror: strike those areas, those segments of the population that are not in the news, that are seen to be uncontroversial, and just plain ordinary.
Shooting up a classroom at Brown University, and a beachside Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia are just the latest in acts that (by design) seem to have just come out of nowhere.
Rest assured that copycat killers will be happy to riff off these and previous head scratching sadist acts.
In all of this, of course, Israeli Jews, and, increasingly, Jews of various countries have found themselves the central focus of hatred. Once upon a time this hatred was portrayed as striking at Zionism and the Goliaths that promoted it.
More recently, the canard of “I am not anti-Semitic, just anti-Zionist” has been discarded. It’s now season on Jews of all stripes, anywhere, any time.
Ironically, one reason why this proliferation has been spreading is because of the success of Israelis in blunting the genocidal aspirations of our haters.
The IDF has prevailed against the likes of Hamas, Hezbollah, Syrians, Houthis, and yes, Iran. Our citizenry has shown itself to be vigilant, fearless and proactive in protecting the home front.
So, given the cowardice of our enemies it is not surprising that non-Israeli Jewish targets are increasingly becoming the focal point of murderous hatred. Prospective jihadists benefit from non-awareness, obliviousness and sense that violence happens over there – Israel – and not where we are.
That of course is quickly beginning to change. The seemingly impossible is becoming all too frequent and predictable.
Something not only can be done about this, but, increasingly self-evidently, must be done about it. I would assert that that something is to globalize the Maccabee posture that has become the way of life for us here in Israel.
What does a Maccabee posture entail? I would suggest that it begins and ends with a mindset. It is the mindset of self-acceptance, of self-appreciation and a rock solid conviction that we are worthy, deserving and entitled to be what we are: proud, caring Jews.
That we are decent, humane and in no way in need of apologies. Explanations, certainly, especially as a way of validating and confirming the mindset we have about ourselves. But apologies? Never.
An important component of how a community appears is how it carries itself. And in the world we find ourselves, that increasingly means, self-reliance leading to self-assurance.
Our brethren in the Diaspora can no longer afford the conceit that physicality is something that Israelis need to do, but they don’t. That they can rely on relationships, connections and a sense that we are integral to the community.
That predisposition is now anachronistic, a part of the now burst bubble of the post WWII ahistorical decades when voiced anti-Semitism was taboo.
Our brethren need to assimilate the message that the bullies around them can only be deterred by actions.
One of the most transformative initiatives seen in many Israeli communities, especially its vulnerable border communities has been the proliferation of kitot konenut – civil defense groups.
These civilian groups are armed and actively patrol their own communities. They augment and coordinate with the local police and take a big burden off the shoulder of the IDF. While there was initial reluctance to have these groups in place, they have now been integrated and have proven their effectiveness.
They are effective in a number of ways. First, they empower the people who serve on them, giving them a sense of very tangible responsibility. By extension, they comfort local residents, who can see for themselves that there is active monitoring and surveillance being done.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, they send a signal to outsiders that there is active patrolling being done, by armed monitors no less.
Much the same can be done in Diaspora communities. In some cases, they will be allowed to be armed; in others they will just have to project presence. But even in the absence of armaments, the presence of people, identified as civilian protectors, will have an impact. (See the site for NY Boro Park Shomrim, one of a number of successful haredi neighborhood guard forces in the Diaspora, for example.)
It will also have an important beneficial impact on the local Jewish community, providing a sense that not only is something being done, but it is being done by ourselves, for ourselves.
The empty, meaningless pro forma condemnations by political leaders of terror acts committed against Jews in their domain only serve to underscore the need for self-reliance and self-protection.
While Israel proudly sends disaster relief crews and even ZAKA or Hatzalah squads to assist with major attacks, it does not have the resources nor the manpower to provide ongoing, on the ground, community protection out of Israel itself.
But it can inspire and provide the examples whereby local Jewish communities can increasingly take the initiative to step up for themselves.
Local communities can ride the coattails of the successful IDF in conveying the message that what Israel has done in its broader neighborhood, the local Diaspora community can do.
It is more than overdue for local Diaspora Jewish communities to take their protection into their own hands. Like their forebears, the Maccabees, they might be small in number, but can be huge in impact.
Bring it on.
Douglas Altabef is the Chairman of the Board of Im Tirtzu and a Director of the Israel Independence Fund.
Indeed. This has been my advice, my only comment on the news……if you haven’t already, arm yourself and get training.
And then keep training.
Understand that we are in a war.
Definitely!
But we must be aware of the legal mechanisms set up by our “fearless leaders” to deter us from taking natural defensive action.
Better still, we should be prepared to legally defend our actions, preferably without bankrupting ourselves.