Part 2:Conflicting World Views Lead to Different Societies | The Children

You can always judge a society by the way it values and treats its children.  Childhood is a Garland of Roses (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 152,119a)

Click here for Part 1.

In Israel, Jews embrace the traditional Jewish approach that childhood is considered a period of purity, joy, and beauty to be valued and cherished. The Talmud states “childhood is a garland of roses.” To emphasize the concept further, one rabbi states of children that “their very breath is free of sin.”(Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 152,119a).

And parenthood can be summed up in one word –commitment. Parents are obliged to raise their children and to provide for them. At the very minimum, Jewish parents are obligated to teach a child to read (so he can understand the Torah), teach the child a trade (so he can be self-sufficient), help him find a proper spouse, and teach him to swim. Don’t ask me what the swimming is about. It must, in some way, be connected to the Jewish mother’s obsession with not going in the water for at least one hour after eating.

Israeli children are much more independent than their American counterparts. They are allowed to roam at will after school and on the weekends, moving from one activity and club meeting to another. Frankly, they could be out hijacking cars and robbing stores or being kidnapped themselves for all their parents know. But that doesn’t happen. Why not? Because they are everyone’s children and everyone’s responsibility. Your garden variety pedophile wouldn’t stand a chance on the streets of Israel.

And here is a travel tip for everyone visiting Israel during Passover – don’t plan on getting any serious shopping done at any Israeli mall. During Passover break, children own every mall in the country. There are continuous activities, live performances and even story time and sing-alongs for the youngest children. Below is a photo I took from the second floor mall balcony in 2008 of just such a sing-along.

And yet, the Israeli version of the PTA has one central purpose – to fill the guard roster for their children’s school. From nursery school through high school, anyone who has a child enrolled in school is required to provide at least one person trained in the use of firearms for guard duty. Long ago, Israelis learned that their children are prime targets for Palestinian terrorists and acted accordingly. Even the teachers are armed. I suppose that’s why there has not been a shooting at an Israeli school in a very long time.

One of my most vivid memories of raising my children in Israel was watching my son, along with twenty other 2 year olds, on a nature walk around the neighborhood. The teacher led the way with all our babies following behind, two-by-two and holding hands. Several paces behind them walked one of their fathers sporting this silly, “look aren’t they adorable” grin with an M-16 slung over his shoulder.

Armed escort for a school outing

And in times of imminent danger, this is how Israelis protect their children. Below are just two examples of the Israeli version of the “human shield” from last summer’s rocket assaults launch by Hamas.

Israeli Mother Shield Child

IDF Version of the Human Shield

“Death has Become an Industry”, Fathi Hamad, Hamas Minister in Gaza

Look at the other side…

In Gaza, parents raise their children on a steady diet of hatred and violence. Children learn to hate “the other” and to actively seek their destruction, the first in line being Israelis and all Jews. And if you think this hatred is aimed only at the Jews, you are sadly mistaken. Read the Hamas Charter and you will find Masons, Rotarians and the Lions Club are next in line. Paraphrasing Martin Niemöller’s now-famous poem:

First they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Freemasons, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Freemason.

Then they came for the Rotarians, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Rotarian.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

An Unhappy Boy Soldier (left)  and Shahid Will be Famous One day (right)

Little Muslim children hear hatred from their leaders and in the media. Their teachers and religious leaders encourage them to choose martyrdom over a productive life. Their parents continue to feed them this poisonous gruel at home.

“Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children

more than they hate us”, Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel

Golda Meir, the former Prime Minister of Israel once stated, “Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” She was right. It’s not that Palestinian and Muslim parents don’t love their children. They just don’t love them enough.

A Little Girl’s Dream | Memri.org

Young Boy Cites Poem on Hamas TV | Memri.org

And this sad reality is not limited to Gaza and the Palestinian Authority. Throughout the Muslim world and beyond, children are taught that Muslims are better and more deserving than any other people on earth. They are taught not to be friends with non-Muslims and that it’s all right to smile in our faces while cursing us in their hearts.

Muslim Human Sacrifice

Muslim children are taught that death as a martyr – in jihad – is a noble endeavor and the only guaranteed path to paradise. They are taught that executing someone who insults their prophet is a righteous act worthy of praise and celebration. They are taught that the lives of non-Muslims do not matter as much as their own sense of entitlement and destiny to be rulers of the entire world.

And the situation is no better outside the Muslim world.

France: Just a few days ago, French schools planned a moment of silence to honor those killed in Paris. Many Muslim students showed utter contempt or disrupted the commemoration.

Nigeria: Earlier this month, Boko Haram forced a 10 year old girl to become a suicide bomber. The explosion in a crowded northern Nigerian market killed 20 and wounded at least 18 others.

Syria: A video has surfaced in which ISIS records the execution of two Russian spies. The executioner was a 10 to 12 year old boy.

Such an upbringing bears a poison fruit. These children grow into adults that murder anyone that looks at them sideways, plunder the property of others with abandon and sell young, non-Muslim girls and women into slavery while believing they are doing those girls a favor.

These children grow into adults who are more than willing to sacrifice their own children on the blood-stained alter of an angry, vengeful and merciless god.

The Jews abandoned human sacrifice more than 5,000 years ago. It is past time for Muslims to catch up. It is time for Muslims to love their children more than they hate us.

By Hannah Szenes

“Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame”

 The author publishes under the name Hannah Szenes to honor her courage and determination. Sent by the British into Nazi-occupied Hungary, Hannah was captured, tortured and executed. To this day, she is hailed as a Jewish and Israeli heroine. Her official goal was to help organize partisan resistance groups inside Hungary. Her personal goal was to find and save her mother and to bring hope to her people.