They too negated the bigotry that it is not Jewish to fight . Since then, Israel has by necessity become a truly astonishing fighting force in the Middle East. This was never the intention of the Jews who built that land. The Arabs, then and now, always believed that they had and still have the right to murder any and all Jews as did the European bigots of earlier centuries. It is of course understandable that the beliefs of centuries are not easily forgotten.
Sociologists call such antiquated beliefs culture lag .
This means that people often continue to cling to views which are long outdated and no longer correspond to reality. Included in such beliefs is the Arab view that Jews cannot fight, that Jews have no right to exist and that they, the Arabs, have the same right to murder six million Jews as did their European role models, i.e. Hitler, Himmler, Eichmann, etc. etc. This view was recently rekindled in the Arab mind because the erstwhile prime minister, Barak, acted in the spirit of the European ghetto Jews and adopted the attitude that Jews must always surrender in face of any demand and any aggression. This is particularly surprising because Barak is indeed Israel s most decorated soldier. The history of our own country reveals that here too Jews have shown themselves most capable fighters.