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Expel the darkness! By Reuven Koret December 9, 2001 Israeli children on Hanukkah sing a traditional Hebew song: "Go away! Darkness, we came to expel you. In our hands light and fire. Each one of us is a small light. Together we are a strong light. Go away, darkness! Flee from the light!" One of the recurring themes of the Hanukkah festival is the contrast of dark and light. The oil lamp that miraculously burned for eight days instead of the expected one, enabling the redemption of the desecrated Temple by the heroic outnumbered Maccabees, symbolizes the victory of the "children of light" over the forces of darkness. Today, as the war against terror -- fought by the Americans against al-Qaida and by the Israelis against the Palestinian Authority -- has yet to yield a clear triumph. Still, American and Israeli leaders call upon the absolutist language of good versus evil to justify their respective military campaigns. Dissenting voices call for reconciliation with the adversary, compromise in the name of preventing the loss of life. We all know that life is not black and white. There are bad Israelis and good Palestinians. But are there "good" Hamas members? Or "good" followers of Osama bin Laden? One struggles to understand why Prime Minister Ariel Sharon hesitates to implement the policy that his government has at last authorized. In the wake of the massacres of Jews in Jerusalem, Haifa and elsewhere one week ago, the Cabinet overwhelmingly defined at last the Palestinian Authority as a terror-supporting entity. The Americans said they supported Israel's right to defend itself. One would have thought that, at last, Israel would launch a systematic campaign to root out the terrorist evil that has been allowed to flourish in the Palestinian territories since Oslo. At best, one might call the Sharon policy "Go slow." His actions--blowing up Arafat's helicopters, tearing up his runways, and rattling his windows--were for the most part symbolic. One would charitably hope that it was only the torrential rain that has dampened the expected Israeli campaign to do unto the PA as the Americans did unto the Taliban. But the window of opportunity is fast closing. What is he waiting for? Each passing day brings more shooting, bombing, mortar attacks. The latest explosives included rat poison, for heaven's sake! Is he waiting for nerve gas? Tomorrow may bring a different political constellation, less propitious for the long overdue clean-up of the terrorist infrastructure. What is so clearly called for is a lightning campaign of "search and destroy" of offensive capabilities in the Palestinian-run areas, eliminating the bomb factories and the bomb makers, the agents and planners of anti-Israeli killings. Intelligence estimates say it would take a matter of days to sweep through the bastions of terror and "drain the swamp" where the terrorists breed. The result would not be heaven on earth, and Israel would incur casualties in any such operation. But the alternative is inevitably worse: continued killing and maiming of Israeli citizens in terrorist bombings and shootings. Sometimes you just need to do the right thing. The Maccabees did not compromise with their enemies or accommodate themselves to changes in the status quo of the Temple Mount, as Jewish contemporaries did in the name of keeping the peace and assimilating to the Hellenistic fashions of the times. On Hanukkah we celebrate the zealots, the fighters, the heroes who would not accept humiliation and desecration of their nation and all they held holy. Let us hope that this Hanukkah we may merit to see the modern descendants of the Maccabees expel the darkness that has plunged not only the Middle East but also the entire world into a maelstrom of terror. Never before have the enlightened nations of the world been so acutely aware of the danger that awaits them if the benighted advocates of jihad are allowed to continue cultivating and exporting their murderous evil. Terror has plunged Israeli tourism and technology into darkness. It has killed hundreds and wounded thousands since Oslo. There's no light at the end of the tunnel. If we wait, there's only an oncoming train. The time has come to expel the darkness of terror from our midst. Israelis as a nation, and Sharon as our leader, must not flinch from the fire. Let us unite to serve as a light unto the nations, showing the world how it's done, with purity of arms and lightning efficiency. Let us thank the good General Zinni for his well-intentioned efforts to arrange a cease-fire, punctuated daily by the sounds of suicide bombers and roadside snipers, along with the deafening silence of Arafat non-arrests and revolving doors in his prisons. And now let us show him and our American friends how we deal with "our Taliban." "Surah! Banu hoshech l'garesh! B'yadenu or v'esh! Kol echad hu or katan, v'culanu or eitan! Surah! Hoshech hallah schor! Surah! M'fnei ha'or!" The Hanukkah prayer with which we light the candles blesses the Lord for making miracles for our ancestors, "in their days, in our own time." The times are merged. The past is present. This time expelling the darkness should not take a miracle. It should not take much more than a week. Despite everything: Chag Sameach -- a joyous holiday to all! Views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
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