Jews Are Reluctant Warriors

Submitted by Dave (United States), Sep 1, 2018 at 13:42

In Andy Boroweic's "Warsaw Boy", an autobiographical history about the author's participation as a 15 year old in the Warsaw Uprising towards the end of WWII, he describes how difficult it was to recruit Jews into the various Polish partisan groups, despite the fact that the Nazis had bulls-eyed them. At one point, he told how he and some fellow partisans were discussing this phenomenon when another partisan spoke up and said that he was Jewish, that he totally agreed with them, but that he himself was determined to fight. This particular Jewish partisan was eventually killed by his own grenade.

I think that it is very hard to get used to being on the offensive when you've had no power at all for two thousand years. It's not so much Jewish morality, but is really a sociological phenomenon. The Israelis have had to fight in order to survive, but they often seem reluctant, and always seem to be looking for ways to reconcile with their opponents. As an aside, I think it's actually immoral NOT to use force to stop the lethal kite and balloon launchers, as inaction could bring harm to one's own people.

The concept of Palestinian defeat is logical, but actually getting the Israelis to go the extra mile may be a vain hope.

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