Is It Moral For a Soldier to Degrade His Country?

IDF soldiers (Image credit: Yonatan Ne'eman/Government Press Office of Israel)

An unbelievable video has been going viral with the speed of lightning, in which a Palestinian teenager in the village of Nabi Saleh and her friends push, slap and kick the body and face of two Israel soldiers, both of whom failed to respond and simply took the attacks.

The soldiers degraded the Israeli army by allowing themselves to be attacked by teenage girls and then backing away - they obeyed orders received from the high-ups in the IDF.

The heroine of the attack is Ahed Tamimi who is 16 years old; this girl has been slapping and hitting soldiers since she was a small child as her blond curls gave her an innocent look. Her parents were the educators and the ones taking the pictures, as were Israeli-hating photographers. The purpose was for the soldiers to hit the girls, and that would be shown to the world while the attack on the soldiers would be cut from the film: "Poor children get abused by Israeli soldiers."

What is incomprehensible is that after all these years, the IDF finally arrested Ahed and her family. They had no choice since Ahed Tamimi put the YouTube on her Facebook page and became a leader. On her Facebook appears the degrading video, including comments like: "This girl is the honor of the whole nation"; hearts, smiley faces, and other emojis supplemented the supportive comments.

Let's not forget that the one who had a hand in driving the terrorist who committed the horrific Sbarro pizza restaurant suicide bombing in Jerusalem in 2001 is a member of this Tamimi clan. In the bombing 15 people were murdered, children included, and many more were injured and maimed for life.

What will happen to Ahed and her family? A slap on the wrists? Time in jail, where they will be able to use cellphones to contact their friends, and receive visitors? Ahed and her father, who travel to many countries to tell the woes of their abuse by the Israelis, will come out of jail as heroes. Israel would do well to put all of them in solitary confinement while in jail, where they will learn what suffering means; perhaps others will not want to follow their heroism. Demolishing their homes and sending them out of the country would be another option, but, I know neither will happen.

It won't happen for the same reason that soldiers are given orders to take abuse and show how “moral” they are. Moral? Did we not see a woman during the “Days of Rage” make a fist to punch an Israeli policeman?

Is it moral for a soldier to degrade himself and his country so the world will love Israel? Did we not learn throughout the years that we are hated; did we not see how most of the countries went crazy when US President Donald Trump came to Israel and said, "Israel's capital is Jerusalem"?

Our “morality” shows weakness and not only embarrasses soldiers, but takes the will to fight out of them; they are degraded. Want to be loved? Show strength, show pride. Show the world that whoever lifts up a hand or foot to a soldier whether child, man, or woman will not only be arrested, but have that hand and foot broken.

Most of the world will scream and continue to hate us, but so what? They love us when we have an Auschwitz and pity us. We are not benefited by their pity or their love, rather we need a strong and proud IDF feared as it was in 1967. Let us bring back those days and change the orders for our soldiers. Give them a free hand to defend themselves.