It doesn’t take a genius to understand what happened in Bnei Brak.

Are Jews the only people in the world who are expected to calmly accept the presence of those who repeatedly harm them?

Just as the international community demands that Israel “sustain” the Palestinians—ignoring the absurdity of forcing the victim to feed the snake—so too are Israelis, and even some within our own community, condemning the boys of Bnei Brak for daring to resist.

But let’s be clear about one thing: The soldiers were never attacked. They were jeered. They were booed. They were confronted by a large crowd that refused to let them enter the neighborhood. That kind of response would be considered normal and justified anywhere else in the world.

Yet when the protesters are chareidim, and the authorities are “Israeli soldiers,” suddenly it is labeled “violence.”

The soldiers were not assaulted. They were resisted. They were viewed with suspicion because, in the broader experience of this community, state power has too often been used in predatory ways—even if, in this specific instance, no physical harm was intended.

And despite that history, they were still not attacked. They were opposed.

Look at the pattern. At these protests, police officers are almost never injured, but young boys are routinely beaten.

The officers walk confidently through these demonstrations because they know they are unlikely to be harmed. The imbalance of power is obvious. It resembles a lion stalking a herd of bison. The bison do not attack. They defend themselves through numbers. Only when the lion circles, threatens, provokes, and presses closer and closer does the herd finally react.

That is what happened here.

Across the world, when authorities are seen as harassing or abusing a community, it is understood—almost instinctively—that resistance will follow. People defend themselves when pushed too far.

But here, a powerful enforcement apparatus confronts a community that asks only to be left alone. And when that community bands together to block intrusion, to assert its boundaries, to say “enough,” it is branded as violent. The victims become the aggressors and the powerful become the “endangered.”

That is hypocrisy at its purest.

And turning this episode into a moral indictment of an entire community is nothing less than a modern blood libel.

Signed,

C.B.

The views expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of YWN. Have an opinion you would like to share? Send it to us for review.