DIKLA COHEN AND THE LIKE

Dikla Cohen, dragged away by the Israeli soldiers in Neve Dekalim, had the nerve to say that the Gaza pullout is a progom, adding: “we are now refugees of the state of Israel.”

Well, well. I waited, patiently, for my preconceptions about the settlers’ behavior to become misconceptions – I truly hoped they would prove me wrong. But reading about Dikla Cohen, or her irate husband who cut his shirt in mourning, or the settler in Atzmona who had a Nazi poster on his door (in his mind, Israel is making Gaza a “Jewish Free” zone), or the woman who set herself on fire – the list goes on and on – I understood that these people don’t even know that it is possible to behave some other way. That’s it.

I confess – I have absolutely no compassion and no sympathy for them. None whatsoever. Actually, I can’t even understand how their minds work. These people are in this situation now because they placed themselves in it. No one forced them to move to the area. They chose to. The fact that the Israeli government stood behind them in the past – politically and financially and so forth – does not mean they were misled. They knew all along they were residing in a politically unstable area, where the lives of their children and loved ones were in constant danger, and where things could change anytime (especially if one takes into account the fact that Israel has given land back before).

Now they are clearly disobeying the Israeli government. They are disrespecting (cursing, slapping, even stabbing) Israeli officers and officials who are only doing their job. As in the past, I am shocked and also disgusted at these settlers. They have no respect for democracy, their intolerance is horrendous, their ethnocentrism is appalling and their prejudice, unlimited.

For all I care, Dikla Cohen (and the like) can leave. If she so disagrees with Israeli policy and the democratic process which culminated in the disengagement plan, she should just go. Who knows, she might qualify for refugee status somewhere else…