Who are the pawns?
We have a situation going on in this country where the teenage religious youth are being callously played against the middle by both sides in a massive power struggle that is threatening to upset the delicate balance on which this country was built.
Any psychologist could virtually predict the moves that known idealistic youth are going to make given certain inputs. That being the case, both the police and the settler leadership should have been prepared for the recent Hevron uprising and what will follow. There are psychological ways to deal with these issues and there are plenty of marketing ways to stem the tide and present a completely different picture. This should be a fight of amongst adults - people who think with their heads. The problem here is not one of incompetence, it is an overabundance of competance. The political echelon wants to incite the youth so they get good pictures showing that settler youth are no better then the arabs they constantly point at. The settler leadership wants to use the children to make it seem like these are little children who are acting irresponsibly, while they work the diplomacy side in a more reasonably acceptable fashion.
The kids are pawns.
Having worked with teenagers in a youth group setting, I have seen first hand how easy it is to manipulate and confuse them. It is simple to quote facts without basis and how to present unrealisms as realities by twisting emotions. If you learn your subject matter, you can figure out exactly what to say to push buttons and cause reactions.
This is how teenage kiruv works, this is how cults work and this is how drug dealers work.
Other pieces in the game include
- the adult settlers who by and large moved to the settlements for an improved lifestyle and because of their zionistic ideals.
- joe secular israeli who by and large have their opinions formed by the mass media.
Who are the players?
According to a ridiculous book that I read, the bad guys are souls of the eruv rav. (All of whom died in the desert.) The book wasn't as ridiculous in its content as much as it was in its presentation. It was what I will describe as a powerpoint book. The first footnote on the first word of the book was something like: The structure of this book makes it impossible to use proper grammer and sentence structure. Basically, each sentence or fragment was its own paragraph. It used manipulative phrases such as "we both know," to bring the reader to the side of the author. The book was written in an impact style, no meat - just statements which implied facts. Just like a powerpoint presentation. I know of companies that have banned powerpoint because of its ability to capture an audience without telling them anything.
You can see the marketing here, trying to make a large impression on maleable minds.
The government, with its endless resources of youth psychologists knows exactly what to do and how to do it to cause a reaction. Announcing the 2000 police officers are going to remove 20 children from the Hevron marketplace is one example of a way to cause a huge brawl. Haven't they ever heard of PsyOps?
Remember one of the methods that the IDf uses to get terrorists to give in? It is not a threat that we are coming in with 2000 people. It is asking a neighbor to go and talk to the guy and explain the reality of the situation. That works because the terrorist know that when there are 15 people from an elite IDF unit outside he will not escape alive if he tries to make a break for it. He is able to hear the voice of reason coming from someone who speaks his own language.
We are looking at an example of cynical manipulation of teenagers as pawns in a serious bid for power. The messianic zionist Israelis who are trying to bring the Mashiach by their love of the land against the anti-messiah post-zionist Israelis who are trying in their own defeatist way to become a proud member of the European community.
In this game, I am not a player, I am an observer.
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