RUTHFULLY YOURS

Ra’anana, Israel — “We don’t run. / I’m standing my ground. / We don’t run, / And we don’t back down. / There’s fire in the sky, / There’s thunder on the mountains. / Bless each tear and this dirt I was born in. / We don’t run. / We don’t run.”

Jon Bon Jovi sang these words ten days ago to a raucous crowd of 50,000 Israelis during his first-ever performance in the Jewish state. “This should be the fight song for all you Tel Aviv-ers,” Bon Jovi told us that night, as my wife, my son, and tens of thousands of our closest friends wildly applauded.

Little did the rocker know how apt his words would prove to be. Minutes before his performance, two Israelis were stabbed to death in Jerusalem’s Old City by a Palestinian attacker, in part of what has become a surge in terror attacks against Israeli civilians.

Already this month, the Jewish state has absorbed dozens of murderous assaults with guns, bombs, fists, screwdrivers, cars, axes, vegetable peelers, and, most commonly, knives. Most of the attacks have been carried out in broad daylight in public places for maximum effect.

The terrorism hit very close to home for my family Tuesday morning with two separate attacks in our town north of Tel Aviv, just blocks from our kids’ school.

The wave of violence has been incited in part by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who, on the pretext that Israel was allegedly harming Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque, recently told his constituents that “every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem is pure, every martyr will reach paradise, and every injured person will be rewarded by God.” This is the same Abbas who last month declared he would no longer abide by the 1993 Oslo Accords designed to resolve the Arab–Israeli conflict and bring autonomy to the Palestinians, and whose state-run television station depicts Jews as bloodthirsty monkeys.

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Others are even more explicit. In a widely circulated sermon, a Gaza imam last week wielded a dagger and exhorted his followers to stab Israelis, helpfully noting, “We recall today what Allah did to the Jews.” This imam is not alone in urging grotesque violence on Jews.

Abbas now purports to be calming the situation, as the leaders of various Arab countries have pressed him to do. But even if willing, he may not be able to quell the inferno he and others have lit.

These loathsome attackers seem to have three chief goals.

First and foremost, they intend to maim and kill Jews. Many of the terrorists are teenagers, some of whom have stabbed Israeli teens and children — one in a candy shop — earning praise from Abbas’s spokesman.

Second, they strive to sow discord not just between Palestinians and Israelis but also among Israelis, especially between Israeli Arabs and Jews. Many of the attackers have been Israeli citizens, and, regrettably, some Jewish Israelis have engaged in reprisal attacks: fewer and less violent — indeed, non-fatal — but deeply problematic nonetheless. The terrorists’ knives double as wedges, meant to cleave the Israeli body politic as much as Israeli bodies.

Third, and most importantly, they seek to propagate fear among Israelis, to prevent families from dining in restaurants, to keep kids home from school, to close down public transportation. These assaults are much more primitive, personal, and visceral than last summer’s rocket attacks. They aim to make Jews question whether we even belong in the rough-and-tumble Middle East — notwithstanding our continuous presence here for thousands of years.

#share#But these attacks have also brought out the best in Israelis — a resilient people if ever there was one — and will ultimately undermine the attackers’ efforts.

First, while many Israelis have suffered injuries and some have lost their lives, each and every attack has been met with firm and decisive action by Israeli security personnel and civilians alike, who in almost every case have subdued or killed the attackers. Would-be attackers in turn now realize they’re likely embarking on suicide missions.

Second, as always during times of national peril, Israelis have rallied together. Resourceful civilian passersby have overpowered assailants with fists, nunchucks, an umbrella, and a selfie stick. Maybe Israelis do run — but they run toward danger, not away from it. And while it’s painful to recognize that telephone-company workers and other Arabs seemingly living peacefully in our midst can so easily and viciously turn on their fellow Israelis, we must not and will not regard Arab citizens of Israel as our enemies. (Thankfully, at least one courageous Arab leader has spoken out forcefully against the terrorism.)

And third, while security details have been reinforced, and while all residents have taken extra precautions, we’re doing our darnedest not to let the bastards influence our lives. Cafés, movie theaters, and buses are still full. Schools remain open. The roads are still clogged with traffic. People-watching may have taken on a whole new meaning, but it persists. Israelis are fearful, yes, but undaunted.

We don’t run. We won’t run. We belong here as much as anyone else. And the sooner the murderers and their puppet-masters realize this basic fact, the sooner we can all return to our normal lives.

— Michael M. Rosen, an attorney and writer from San Diego, has been living in Israel with his family since August of last year. Reach him at michaelmrosen@yahoo.com.