Weekly Commentary: Don’t Reward Violence – Can We Isolate The Violent?

Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 23 October 2014

The last thing we can afford to do is to reward illegal violent activity in
Jerusalem by constraining legal activity.

It is perfectly legal for Jews to move into properties that were legally
purchased.

Any move by the Israeli authorities to delay or constrain Jews from
exercising this most basic of property rights only encourages more violence.

And every time that the already limited Jewish access to the Temple Mount is
subject to additional restrictions because of Arab violence this only serves
to justify the violence in the first place.

Will the police get things under control?

It is not just a question of the police.

After all, if the judges don’t mete out serious sentences the police work is
an exercise in futility.

Can we isolate the violent?

There is one way that Israeli policymakers could get insight in this
matter – polling.

What do the Arabs in neighborhoods served by the light rail think about the
Arabs who have been attacking the light rail cars?

Do Moslem Jerusalemites applaud the Arab rioters on the Temple Mount – or do
they consider them a nuisance – hurting the tourism business and causing the
Israeli authorities to respond at times by putting age restrictions on
access to the Temple Mount?

These and other questions would enable Israeli policymakers to identify
which issues and activities pit the Arab community against the “trouble
makers” and which, unfortunately, may express an Arab consensus.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(Mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
Website: http://www.imra.org.il