“We in the West have
been civilized and safe for so long that we have forgotten the concept of ‘the
enemy.’” – Lee Harris
Lately, especially in the wake of the October 7th
horrific events, we hear many Yisraeli commentators stressing the need to learn to
speak “Arabic,” or “Middle Eastern.” It is safe to state that the reference is
rarely to languages. Rather, it is a call that points to adopting the modus
operandi and frame of thought of Yisrael’s enemies and the enemies of the West.
This, according to them, is of utmost importance, particularly when considering
the geopolitical changes that engulf our fragile region and the unstable world.
“An enemy,” according to Lee Harris, as he states in the
preface to his book Civilization and Its Enemies, “is someone willing to
die in order to kill you.” Though Harris eases the definition to someone who
merely wants to kill you or harm you, I believe that in the Middle East, at
least, especially after witnessing the October 7th horrific acts
committed by a vicious barbaric enemy, the former definition fits best. “Arabic”
and “Middle Eastern” are the only “languages” Yisrael’s enemies speak, the only
two they understand.
Fortunately for me, I was first introduced to these “languages”
many years ago, albeit I didn’t label them as such. It was in 1977. I was then working
on my graduate degree, at UC Berkeley.
As a staunch Labour Party activist, at that time, I was
still mourning the victory of Menachem Begin, several months earlier. I was so
upset that I refused to watch Yisraeli news, distanced myself from Yisraeli
politics and concentrated on my studies.
Not that night, though. Something pulled me to the small
black and white T.V. and I turned it on. I could not believe my eyes. There, on
the screen, in front of me, was President Sadat of Egypt debarking a plane in
Yisrael.
After rubbing my eyes in disbelief, the questions started
popping up. Had I not read that Begin was, an extremist, a war monger? Hadn’t
we been told that he hated Arabs? “What is going on here? I kept asking myself.
I was dumbfounded.
It was then that I decided to embark on a mission to check
and study the profile and demographic structure of Begin’s voters. “Surely,” I remember
thinking to myself, “they must know something that I don’t.”
As I delved into the research which included much reading as
well as speaking to his supporters, both in Yisrael and the U.S., I learned
that most of Begin’s electorate were people who came from Muslim or Arabic
speaking countries. Many were refugees from those countries. They had lived
among those who call for our demise. These voters understood and spoke “Arabic”
and “Middle eastern.” They were well familiar with the “Arabic” and “Middle Eastern”
way of life, and what fuels those who are reared in the lap of these two
“languages.”
I, on the other hand, a daughter of two Lithuanian Jews who
was raised in a Western society and has never lived in any environment that
comes even close to that of most of Begin’s voters. I was clueless about their
culture and way of life. They taught me, in what I might describe as, a “crash
course” all they knew about our enemies’ behavioural patterns. The lesson was
painful. It burst the ideological bubble which had been my habitat for several
years before. Their words illustrated to me that all those I felt sorry for,
those that I supported in their efforts to establish a state, and, on whose
behalf, I demonstrated, had one aim only, annihilate me and my fellow Jews. Those I spoke to, all echoed the same message,
“We are facing a malicious enemy who will use any means to eradicate us. The
only way to deal with our enemy, according to them, is “with a mighty hand and
a strong fist.” Begin, in their opinion, was the only one who understood and
spoke their language.
In 1979, I officially became a Likudnik. I have never looked
back.
The sooner we, Yisraelis, master these “languages,” and utilize
their method of operation in the political, military and propaganda arenas, the
more invincible we will become. This is of utmost importance, especially when it comes to the pursuit of Peace. In the words of Dr. Kedar, “Peace in the Middle
East is only given to an invincible state.”
Shavua tov, Am Yisrael and a great week to all.
