Shoot back

A movie I love watching when it pops up on cable is Blackhawk Down. I find that it qualifies as one of those “hard to change the channel” movies. Shawshank Redemption, The Warriors, you know, all the classics! If those appear while channel surfing, I know I’m going to be in it for the long haul.

One of may favorite moments in the film I find hardly ever discussed, yet in its simplicity, was the answer to saving lives and taking initiative when needed. Tom Sizemore’s character named McKnight, was on a mission with his men when all of a sudden some of the soldiers under his command come under small arms fire. One of the soldiers looks up at him and says, “They’re shooting at us, Sir!” Sizemore simply looks down and says, “Well shoot back!” It’s about time Israel shoots back, and I’m not necessarily talking about on the battlefield.

A sickening video of hostage Elkana Bohbot pleading to be freed was recently released by Hamas. He is in obvious mental anguish as he screams and yells even hitting his face talking about the mental abuse he is going through. It’s hard to watch. Anyone with a soul who sees this video would simply come to the conclusion that Israel should do whatever it can to get him released. It’s obvious psychological warfare by Hamas, and it’s working.

Riots on the streets of Tel Aviv and protest after protest criticize the government for not moving forward with whatever deal is being put forth, and the animals that are Hamas are loving every second of it.

They see a country tearing itself apart and that’s exactly what they want. Instead of debating whether whatever deal of trading hundreds of convicted felons and terrorists for hostages is a good idea, how about simply doing what McKnight suggested and SHOOT BACK!!!

I have not seen a single video of prisoners being held in Israelis prisons begging and pleading for Hamas to just return the hostages and all of the misery will end. “I’ve been in an Israeli prison for years, just give the back the hostages and give me the chance to see my family before I die!” Even if the prisoners refuse to cooperate and not say how awful Israeli prisons are, then you still win. “Oh, you mean you are not being abused and tortured here? Thanks for the PR debunking all of that nonsense!”

There should be video after video of prisoners talking about how awful it is in prison and those videos should be pumped right into the airwaves of every Gazan able to watch. “But wait Avi, that’s not ethical!” Really? And we are dealing with ethical people back? And my other answer to that is … who cares?

In WWII when the allies caught Nazis dressing as US Servicemen violating the rules of war; there was no trial, no judges, and no due process. They were lined up and shot immediately. The Army’s attitude was if they aren’t going to play by the rules, then we won’t either. I’m not advocating lining up people and shooting them, but this constant playing defense simply isn’t working. Israel’s most successful war was The Six Day War in 1967 when they took initiative. That lesson seems to have been lost. I still wonder why targets that have been identified as terrorist buildings and centers are only struck after Israel is fired upon first. I’m not a military analyst and far be it from me to second guess one of the best militaries in the world on operational issues, but this isn’t that. This is how we respond to thugs playing mind games with the Jewish people and us falling for it.

Jews justifying defending themselves to the rest of the world has never worked, and there is no reason to think it will now. So, stop trying! Stop thinking about what the rest of the world is going to think about you. It might actually be very mentally freeing. What should not be mentally freeing is the absolute anguish that every Palestinian is living in Israeli prisons, and that their misery could end if the savages of Hamas simply gave the hostages back. Let every Palestinian know! Let them know with video after video. See someone on social media ripping into Israel? Don’t go on defense. Rip into them back! “Israel is an Apartheid State!” Really? Compared to what? Syria? Iraq? Jordan? Iran? How are those countries doing in regards to human rights compared to Israel? Shoot back.

Every now and then we all need a break and just need to escape. Movies can be a great way to do that. Sometimes we can even learn lessons from them even when that’s not the intention. I certainly did from one line in Blackhawk Down and I hope Israel and the rest of us do to. It’s time we all just do the simple thing. Shoot back.