Israeli Mass Insanity Over Abducted Teens

Since the kidnapping of three Israeli teens last week, the Jewish state’s leaders have demonstrated their tendency towards mental instability, with the “eternal victimization” complex on massive display as they lash out with vengeful attacks upon the Palestinian population.

In a frenzied reaction to the abductions, Israeli soldiers have gone door-to-door in the West Bank, raiding and searching homes, and according to one report, more than 150 Palestinians have been taken into custody. Among those arrested were several Palestinian legislators, including the speaker of the Palestinian Parliament. These ongoing and indiscriminate house raids predictably have prompted street clashes from the local population, with one 20-year-old Palestinian youth being shot dead by Israeli soldiers and another severely injured as a result.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hamas of being behind the kidnappings (a Hamas spokesperson has called the charge “silly,” and Netanyahu has so far produced no evidence to back up the claim), while another Israeli official, Tourism Minister Uzi Landau, seems to hold the US responsible.

“The willingness of the US administration to effectively recognize the Abbas-Hamas government causes damage to the security of Israel’s citizens and encourages terror,” read a statement issued by Landau’s office on Sunday.

Landau’s comment reflects the victimization neurosis/paranoia in a nutshell–place the blame anywhere and everywhere except where it belongs: upon oneself. If one or more Palestinians did abduct the Israeli teens, could it possibly be because of the occupation or the continued theft of Palestinian land? Or might it perhaps have been motivated by the detention of Palestinian children and their abuse at the hands of their Israeli jailers? Maybe it was simply a case of someone being fed up with long lines at checkpoints or the difficulty in getting to schools, jobs, or hospitals? Neither Landau nor the rest of the Israeli leadership seem to consider these possibilities, and that is one of the symptoms of the victimization complex: a total mental disconnect between cause and effect.

Unfortunately, the neurosis isn’t confined to the country’s leadership. On Sunday night more than 25,000 Israelis gathered at the so-called “Kotel,” or Western Wall (see photo above), to voice prayers for the abducted teens, and also, it seems, to vent their anger.

“We prove to our enemies that the nation of Israel is alive and will never be broken,” said Israeli Chief Rabbi David Lau, who presided over the affair.

It would be nice if some of those gathered at the wall would pause and give some thought to the words of Press TV host Marzieh Hashemi, because she voices something well worth considering:

“Many Palestinian children and teens are detained and even incarcerated, and some are killed, by the Israelis every year, and nothing is said, not by the Tel Aviv regime and very little by the so-called international community,” said Hashemi in a segment which also features an interview with Gilad Atzmon.

Hashemi is correct–the “international community” has very little to say about the deaths of Palestinian children. But when it comes to the disappearance of three Israeli teens, the outpouring of angst and concern is dramatic.

On Monday, a delegation of 40 European politicians visited the home of the Fraenkel family, whose son is one of the abductees, while on Sunday more than 20 European parliamentarians signed a statement condemning the kidnappings.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the recent kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers and demand the Palestinian Authority to actively assist in securing their safe return,”the statement read.

Drawn up with the help of several members of the Israeli Knesset, the statement also denounces the BDS movement, which “merely maligns and marginalizes the only democracy in the Middle East.”

One of the signers is Joel Vooderwind of the Dutch Parliament, who asserts that “Hamas is a terrorist organization that wants to wipe Israel off the map,” while another is Latvian politician Inga Bite, who is hopeful the declaration will advance greater support for Israel in her country.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the Atlantic, John Kerry has called the abductions “a despicable terrorist act.”

What we have here is not only mass insanity on the part of the Israelis, but the imposing of that insanity upon the leadership of other countries. It seems clear that in the minds of these officials, Jewish life is of infinitely greater value than the lives of Palestinians–and this is an observation that could equally be applied to the media coverage of the kidnappings.

A report in the Toronto Sun headlined “Israel Expands Hunt for Missing Teens, Palestinian Killed,” features photos of the three Israeli boys but doesn’t even include the name of the young Palestinian who died (from a gunshot to the chest).

His name, by the way, was Ahmad Sabarin.

One of the West Bank towns where the Israelis have conducted house raids in search of the teens is Beitunia, where on May 15 two Palestinian teenagers, ages 16 and 17–essentially the same ages of the abducted Israeli teens–were shot dead in an incident captured on video. The footage showed that the two boys posed no threat to Israeli soldiers at the time and were merely walking down the street when they were hit by gunfire.

I wonder how many European parliamentarians have signed a declaration condemning that? I suspect probably not many.