CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
WILL JAR JAR BINKS-STYLE LOGIC SAVE ISRAEL'S DAY?
Posted by Yocheved Golani, January 23, 2005.
In one of the Star Wars movies, accidental hero and native of the city called Gunga, Jar Jar Binks reacts to a soldier's alert about "... the sound of a thousand terrible things heading this way." Jar Jar sucks in his breath as his commander remarks, "And if they find us, they will CRUSH us, GRIND us into bits and then BLAST us into oblivion!" Jar Jar shares his thought that it would be wise to retreat, saying in his native dialect, "Eh...yousa point is well seen. Dis way, hurry!" Jar Jar is an intellectual lightweight, but his instincts make sense.
Jar Jar's approach to the reality of an imminent threat that worsened over time provides food for thought to Jews in the Middle East. This essay is going to consider Jar Jar's worldview along with the adage that "The Jewish People are above Nature," a thought which rabbis have repeated for thousands of years, to reassure the beleaguered Jewish nation.
Some days, the threats against us seem beyond all versions of reality; even Hollywood's suspended one. But what if Jar Jar, separated by several levels of wisdom from the intellectually superior rabbis, was on to something correct, kosher, and more profound a little later in the film?
As Jewish citizens of Israel wonder when we'll reach the flash-point of civil war, the religious residents know that it has not happened because halachically observant Jews are loathe to raise a violent hand to their own people, religious or not. It seems that this religious reluctance to rumble has some secularly inclined Knesset members in a daring mood. Professor Gail Winston has alerted readers of his syndicated writings to provocation from the Oslo camp. The mass media is also informing the public at large of similar goings on. Here is a brief and far from inclusive recap of current events:
* From Professor Winston's January 19 2005 update: "How do we know the Terrorists will enter the Gaza when Israeli Jews are ethnically cleansed from the homes? The Head of the General Security Service (Shabak) Avi Dicter says so. He spoke out unambiguously against aspects of PM Sharon's withdrawal plan. Leaving northern Samaria and removing the IDF presence there will 'turn the region into Gaza' in terms of terror activity, while leaving the Philadelphi Route (border between Egypt and Israel at Gaza) will 'bring southern Lebanon to southern Israel.' He also warned that the number of arms smuggled through the corridor to Gaza is liable to increase dramatically and turn into a 'river.'"
In other news:
* Israel's Supreme Court partially accepted the appeal by Sgt. Yossi Pilant, the IDF paratrooper imprisoned for encouraging his comrades to refuse orders to destroy two Jewish homes on January 4. [Filant's parents have posted a website in support of their beleaguered Zionist son at http://www.aboutyossi.org]
* Jerusalem Newswire's January 18 2005 update Israel to Lower the Boom if Abbas Doesn't Act informed readers that:
As the bombardment of Jewish towns continues unabated, Israel Tuesday reached into its seemingly bottomless reservoir of tolerance for PA leader Mahmoud Abbas and decided to give the longtime terror boss yet another opportunity to fulfill his peace obligations. Should Abbas fail to use his power to curb rocket and mortar attacks on Jewish civilians in the coming week, however, senior Israeli officials said the IDF would launch a massive raid on Gaza-based "Palestinian" terrorist forces. But Abbas, sticking to his policy of protecting rather than combating the terror groups, traveled to Gaza Tuesday to persuade the killers to temporarily halt their artillery attacks in order to enable him to extract further Israeli concessions. The besieged residents of Sderot, meanwhile, marched on the nearby northern Gaza PA-controlled town of Bet Hanoun to protest their government's failure to protect their lives. More than 600 Kassam rockets have been fired from Bet Hanoun at Sderot over the past four years.
Jar Jar summed up his precarious plight in war, and made a case for Israel's, by saying "Monsters out there, leaking in here. Weesa all sinking and no power. Whena yousa thinking we are in trouble?"
Tiny Israel, threatened every minute by who-knows-what falling from the sky, is riddled with citizens agitating for adequate and unified military response. Global consumers of media outlets have been noting Abbas' request for quiet without necessarily learning about and understanding Israel's plight under his "presidency." Jews around the world have been clamoring the media for fair reporting. Some are warning that if Israel were to fall, the rest of the world would lose its best barrier against encroaching terrorism.
The situation is not unlike our celluloid hero's realization that if his companions get slaughtered by their enemies, then "Gungans get perched toosa?"
The fictional warring factions become more embroiled as the Star Wars saga continues. Jar Jar Binks' observation to an enemy combatant that "Gungans have grand army. That's why you no liking us meesa thinks" sums up Israel's real-life situation in a moment. Like the underdog he is, Jar Jar leads his rag-tag colleagues to military victory by accidentally unloading a mighty weapon on the battlefield. Audiences laugh as Jar Jar runs from the scene, alarmed at the destruction he's unleashed. Can it be that much-maligned Israel will be forced to succeed this way, too? Israelis wonder, especially in the wake of Prime Minister Sharon's announcement that the IDF has a "free hand" to deal with terror. PMO spokesman Ranaan Gissin declared that "The real test will be the test of performance [of how well PA security services implement the decision to curb their violence]. So far we haven't seen any real steps. Mortar shells continued to be fired at the Jews of Gaza."
References to Sharon's insistence that there would be no "grace period" for the cessation of violence, at http://www.jnewswire.com/library/article.php?articleid=407, boggle the average mind. Like Gissin's thoughts about increasingly closer persecution from Palestinians, Jar Jar's reflections on the chances of imminent demise by nuclear reactor are so upsetting: "Better dead here than deader in the Core. Ye gods, whatta meesa sayin'?"
Meanwhile, Israelis of various religious identification prepared saplings while snacking on produce native to the Holy Land, in preparation for the holiday of Tu B'Shvat, the new year for trees. As Jews ponder the parsha of the week, we recall the Toraitic passage "Not by bread alone does a man live," (Devarim 8:3). The essential is the bread; it's the package that delivers holy nutrients. Rashi (Sanhedrin, ibid.) explains: "When the Land of Israel will generously give her fruit, then the End will approach." And soon will be established "for they will soon be coming." Jews are able to come, since there is food to eat. Try not to think of Jar Jar getting his tongue stuck when he licks a recently used machine.
Reality on that level seems to check out, somewhat. We're gobbling goodies for the holiday before it even arrives. But there's more to the Biblical thought than superficial reality. "The Jewish People are above Nature," our rabbis assure the beleaguered Jewish nation. Some days, it seems beyond reality. Or perhaps it is merely beyond earthly reality, as the rabbis teach.
News outlets reported a mind-boggling development on January 19th, 2005:
Saturday's Kassam rocket attack left ten-year-old Tamir Abukasis of Sderot moderately wounded. Tamir then asked what so many Israelis in and outside Sderot want to know: "When is Prime Minister Ariel Sharon going to finally defend his town against incessant Palestinian aggression? Tamir's 17-year-old sister, Ella, critically wounded in her brain stem by that attack, was pronounced brain dead on Tuesday.
Sharon's schedule called for convening his security cabinet that day, to consider new IDF options for curbing ongoing rocket and mortar attacks on Jewish civilians both in and around the Gaza Strip. The IDF has long warned Sharon that withdrawal from Gaza is suicidal. The grace period that Sharon had not extended continues unabated to this day.
Like Jar Jar in his accidental journey to the battlefield, Israeli Jews continue to walk around very confused by the situation surrounding us. Abbas is not confused, however. He's appealed to Israel via world media, to halt the reprisals on the militants he's been inciting before and after his "election." Meanwhile, reports indicate that Abbas considers Jews outside 1967 borders to be fair targets. Hamas is doing its personal best to support him.
Back to Star Wars. As the military leader of the group he is supporting asks, "How did you end up here with us?" the increasingly wiser Jar Jar responds "I don't know. Mesa day startin pretty okee-day with a brisky morning munchy, then BOOM! Gettin very scared and grabbin that Jedi and POW! Mesa here! Mesa gettin' very very scared!"
Mentally collected Israelis gathered at the Western Wall on Wednesday January 18 to pray for Ella Abukasis to experience a miraculous recovery. Wounded while trying to protect her brother during Saturday's Palestinian rocket attack on Sderot, Ella died of her injuries before the next Shabbat. Sderot's Mayor Eli Moyal declared "a local day of mourning for the victims of the rocket attacks... more than 600 Kassams and other rockets have slammed into his town since the start of the Arab-initiated Oslo War in September 2000." The occasion and sentiments are no Hollywood fantasy. They long ago became frequent Israeli reality.
United Press International quoted Moyal's accusation that the Sharon government has been "playing games" by repeatedly sending troops into Gaza for limited raids following rocket attacks, but withdrawing before the job is done. "A government that cannot defend its citizens cannot stay in power," he insisted. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz eventually informed Channel Two News that Israel would launch such a raid soon if Abbas failed to act.
If? The situation begs for a reality check. Perhaps some frustrated Israelis should pay heed when Jar Jar's juvenile companions remark that "All slaves have a transmitter placed somewhere in their body. Any attempt to escape... And they blow you up! BOOM!" and Jar Jar replies, "How wude!"
According to Channel Two's Ehud Ya'ari, Abbas convinced members of his own Fatah organization to temporarily halt attacks on Negev towns adjacent to the Gaza. Jews living in the Strip would remain fair game, however. Abbas added that he'd persuade Hamas and Islamic Jihad to accept similar terms. Senior PA security official Bashir Nafe said the Abbas regime also planned to eventually collect all illegal weapons currently in the hands of recognized terror groups. Hamas has repeatedly stated it will not willingly lay down its arms until the Jewish State is annihilated.
Think about this when you consider that, in order to help ensure the end of rocket attacks on Sderot, Abbas won concessions from his compatriots. The PA said it would deploy a special force along the Gaza-Negev border. Then think of this foxes guarding the hen house quip by Jar Jar Binks: "If me be returnin, the Bosses will do terrible things to me! Tewwwwible things!"
Colonel Uzi Buchbinder, head of the Home Front Command's civil defense department, recently announced that if Sharon's plan is implemented, 46 Negev and coastal towns would be under direct threat of "Palestinian" artillery attacks. General Security Services chief Avi Dichter has already warned that without an Israeli presence Gaza would resemble southern Lebanon, which has become a virtual terrorist state under Hizballah control following Israel's May 2000 withdrawal. Israel can't engage in pinpoint retaliation due to diplomatic considerations to eliminate the threat of Hizballah attacks on the Galilee region, according to news reports.
Jar Jar would mock that diplomacy with a quick "Wesa dyin' here!" Yoda, the Jedi Master and superb diplomat of Star Wars, would understand that the politicians differ vastly from military leaders. He'd dryly say about them, "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you."
Some Israelis would be inclined to agree with both of them. Rabbis would. Protesters at the Knesset and throughout the GUSH and Shomron have. But, the world at large and Israel's society itself, are having difficulty facing the issues. Something must be done to overcome the globally muffled screams of "Looki, Looki!! Wesa all in big doodoo over here. Wakea up!!!"
Thank G'D the rabbis are correct that the Jewish Nation is above nature. Otherwise, we'd have been wiped off the map long ago. Nevertheless, we remain endangered by violent realities and dangerous politicking. Living in the natural world as we do, something must give to ensure our survival. Too bad Israel lacks Jar Jar's political colleague with a sense of moral urgency. Queen Amidala emphatically stated in the same Star Wars movie, "I was not elected to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in a committee!"
Jar Jar, without a duplicitous cell in his simple but sincere brain, would respond to the dilemma by rallying the troops and the stay-at-home citizens by saying, "Gungans no giben up witout a fight. Wesa warriors!"
The Jewish nation isn't thriving under political pressures and by appeasing those who impose them. Jar Jar's simple logic just might save Israel's day. And every day to come.
Yocheved Golani provides a journalist and writing service; she does author reviews and book reviews. She can be reached at her websites: www.ygolani.com, www.yochevedgolani.com
!
