"If Muhammad does not come to the mountain, the mountain will come to Muhammad," says the ancient proverb.
Muhammad also knows this proverb, and he, on the other hand, actually came to the mountain, and to the hill, and to the plain and the valley, and filled them.
And the land of the Negev is full of him and his family and his clan and his tribe, who sat in it without a permit and a plan, and the land is full of hamas.
And for years Israeli governments have chosen to ignore.
Because it's in the Negev, because it's far away, because it does not interfere, because we do not really have a solution, because who wants to deal with it.
There is a founding children's book called "Dragon - There is no such thing", which tells how one morning a dragon appears in the Bixby family home. Billy sees him, but Mom says, "Dragon? There's no such thing." And every time she says that the dragon grows, until it fills the house and it is impossible to live in it.
So when the Israeli governments said, "Bedouin who break the law? There is no such thing," they let the dragon (as a metaphor, if it is not self-evident, and of course it is not the whole sector) grow, and grow, and grow. And when the dragon realized that no one was looking or going to mess with it, he started doing really what he wanted and where he wanted. And he stole ammunition from IDF bases, and he shot at roads, and threw stones, and stole from kibbutzim and neighboring cities, and burned, and smashed, and harassed girls in malls and streets, and raged.
Once, when the dragon just appeared, he had to be petted and told, "Honey, this is not the way to behave. You can not build where you want. You need permits," and if the dragon had built anyway - his house would have had to be demolished.
Just like that, as they do to Jews.
We're not a racist country, are we?
One rule per.
And if they had done that, it would have been painful, but less so than it should be now, and prevent the pain and damage caused from then until now.
And now we are standing in awe, and not so much knowing what to do at this point, because stolen IDF tanks in Rahat are really not being photographed well, and certainly will not pass in the current government, though that may be what it should be. And after all the "good morning Elijah" "We are left with too many raging and law-abiding Bedouins, and it does not help anyone we have been right. The truth is, it will not help even if there are twice as many policemen in the area, or three times as much. The dragon is big and strong and full of confidence.
And when the Bedouin look at us as the most sucker clan in space, they do not count us.
And in order to restore our status in their eyes - which will restore sovereignty and peace - the State of Israel must also go berserk.
She has to do it once, and with such intensity that even the hard and stubborn will understand.
What should be done?
Everything, and without fear.
For example, demolishing houses that have been built illegally - and it will not be difficult to find such (it is possible to go by the elimination method), and when there is not one block, one balcony, one tent without a signed permit - there is a high chance that, contrary to expectations, the Bedouin rampage will decline.
Because Shabbat brothers together, the coveted harmony, can only happen when the tribes understand that there is a state and a law here.
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
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