So much anger and hatred...

In today's Ma'ariv (for those of you who read Hebrew, click here for the article) , Yona Avrushmi, the man who killed the peace activist Emile Greensweig in 1983, gave an interview a few months after being released from prison for his crime.

Avrushmi says:
"I am one of the people who is responsible for the disappearence of the Israeli left, my name is written in the history books...There is no more Peace Now, no one hears about them. There is no left wing in Israel. Because of my action, many people understood what the Israeli left was... Why should I hurt left-wingers now? They don't exist anymore... People on the street want to kiss my hand... People want to kiss both my hands, the hand that opened the pin and the one that threw the grenade. I go to a lot of synagogues in the country...and everywhere I go I meet with support..."

So much anger
so much hatred

Instead of paying adoration to the grenades, the rifles, the tanks, the bomber planes, and to the other weapons of war, we should pay tribute to:

                                     Emile Greensweig is in the center, in the white shirt

And this

and this

Today the streets of Israel are filling with citizens from all walks of life protesting the government's trampling of our basic rights to decent and affordable housing, decent and affordable food, decent salaries and working conditions, affordable college tuition, affordable electricity...

Perhaps the message of these thousands and thousands of people who are setting up tents, marching through all of the cities, blocking the highways, will topple this government that spreads hate and anger and fear and has gone to war against its citizens.

Instead of anger and hatred, it is time for care, compassion, cooperation.

Yona Avrushmi, Bibi Netanyahu, Avigdor Lieberman, Fania Kirschenbaum - you do not speak for the people!

The days of anger, hatred, spreading fear, tearing the country apart are coming to an end.
Pack up your anger and hatred, it is not wanted, not needed.

Today we celebrate Emile Greensweig's message of peace, today we celebrate Daphni Leef, who got the young (and now older) people out into the tents, into the streets, to fight social inequalities, today we celebrate all of the thousands and thousands of ordinary people who are saying: A new day is a'dawning - one of care, compassion, cooperation...