The fact that Ariel Sharon is running for prime minister has
opened a new bone of contention between the Left and the
Right, a game which, in essence, has never been locked.
Sharon is one of the main targets of Leftist incitement
against Rightists and religious figures,lehavdil,
which has been ongoing since the founding of the State.
True, Menachem Begin was also a target for character
assassination, but the Left crudely defames Ariel Sharon
more than any one else in the state and, without any
restraint whatsoever. He is the man about who books such as,
He Doesn't Stop at Red Lights and songs such as
"Clear the way; the murderer is coming; an uncontrollable
mad bull," were written.
However, beyond this personal mudslinging against Sharon,
once can discern a lack of restraint on the part of the Left
on its way to seek power in the coming election. It seems as
if this time the Leftists are the ones not bothering to stop
at red lights. For those holding the reins of power can do
whatever they please.
For those who may have forgotten, the Sabra and Shatilla
affair began with a massacre of Moslems by Lebanese
Christians. Israel had absolutely no connection to the
affair, not even indirectly. No Israeli soldier was even in
the area at the time. But the Leftists have had no qualms
about presenting Israel as the guilty party and Sharon as
the one who ordered the massacre.
Although there were claims about Leftist informants in the
days of the pre-State underground, at a time when members of
the Haganah never hesitated to hand over Jews from Etzel and
Lechi to the British, these were cases involving mere
individuals. The Sabra and Shatilla affair, however,
entailed informing on no less than the entire Jewish Nation
to the nations of the world.
Even people of minimal ethical standards know that there are
times when exploitation is taboo. They, too, have ethical
codes based on elementary decency, dubious as they may be.
They don't tattle, they don't offend an opponent in the
middle of a funeral. But it now seems as if the Leftists
lack both common decency and fundamental self-restraint. As
long as they get what they want they are not bothered by the
fact that the Jews in Israel as well as those the world over
will be exposed to persecution.
What do they want? To keep their avowed enemy, Sharon, from
the Ministry of Defense. That's it. In order to achieve this
minor aim they are were willing to institute a blood libel
and to endanger the lives of Jews the world over. The Left's
capacity to sacrifice so much in order to obtain so little
attests to the lack of conscience characterizing the
Left.
When I speak with youth about conscience, I often use the
following example: "A person that craves a Picasso painting
worth a million dollars and proceeds to steals it, still
can't be labeled someone without a conscience. He is a
thief. He was confronted by temptation and couldn't overcome
it. But a person wanting to hold a wienie roast, runs to the
nearest museum and takes a masterpiece along with its frame
and uses it as firewood, is one lacking a conscience. It
doesn't bother him to sacrifice something of great value for
his petty desires. And if his will is enormous, he will
sacrifice the entire world, no holds barred."
There is a concept of, "for a hundred shekel he will sell
his parents, too." This concept describes a person without a
conscience. (Pedagogues often examine the extent of a
youngster's conscience by ascertaining if he sees his
surroundings, or only himself and his wishes.)
When the Left wants to present something, all methods are
considered kosher to achieve what it wants. When Yossele
Shumacher disappeared and the affair became a matter of
principle for the Left, it was no problem for them to stop
the work of the Mossad and the intelligence agency and
abandon whatever they were doing, if only the child is found
and forced to become irreligious. That's how it was during
the events of Wadi Salib. Of course, this reached new
heights during the ugly affair of Sabra and Shatilla, only
because they wanted to kick someone out of the Defense
Ministry whom they didn't particularly like.
It is no wonder that rumors of conspiracy were spread about
Rabin's murder. The writer of these lines doesn't believe in
this theory in the case of Rabin, but he sincerely believes
that the Left would have been capable of such a thing.
We all recall very well that political equality between the
Right and the Left blocs stems from Arab support of the
Left. Now, when the Arabs are unprepared to support either
candidate, Barak receives only between twenty and thirty
percent in voter surveys. That reflects the true strength of
the Left. The Jewish sector is unprepared to forgive the
Left for what it did in the past or for what it is capable
of doing in the future. That is my humble opinion. The
reason for this is that the person most responsible of all
for the slander in the Sabra and Shatilla affair was never
elected to public office.
I wouldn't suggest that anyone depend on the Arabs'
abstention on election day. Let's get this straight: on
election day they will vote for Barak, just as they voted in
'96 for Peres, despite the Kfar Kana massacre. Then, too,
everyone thought that the Arabs would abstain. Forget it.
The Arabs like to vote for whomever can best destroy
Israel.
Why do we recall the Sabra and Shatilla massacre now?
Because this week, Labor party propagandists placed ads in
Arabic newspapers with shocking pictures of the massacre: a
huge picture of butchered bodies as well as an Arab mother
wringing her hands and screaming. Underneath it was a large
picture of Sharon; beneath it, smaller pictures of Yvette
Lieberman (who at that time was still a high school student
in Russia), Benny Alon, Rechav'om Zeevi, Gideon Sagi and
Michael Kleiner (although it isn't clear how he merited that
"honor").
If these pictures infuriated Jews because Jews don't do
things like that, imagine how they infuriate the Arabs. If
that is not labeled "incitement" against Jews, what is?
If someone were to publicize the pictures of those who were
murdered in the Ramallah lynch after the treatment they
received from the barbaric Arabs, and place pictures of
Barak, Sarid, Beilin and Ben Ami under the pictures, it is
needless to say what type of commotion would erupt.
Administrative detentions, police inquests and who knows
what else.
But the Left can do whatever it pleases, and unlike the
image it seeks to portray, it is the Left that operates
devoid of any trace of conscience, and doesn't even stop at
red lights.
