Arutz Sheva: Are we allowed to hate? Clearly so, but only sparingly and when there is no other alternative. For it is almost always appropriate to reserve that hatred as an emotion directed at someone who has caused us terrible injustice and not at entire sectors of the population.
We are allowed to quarrel, argue, disagree with one another, vote for different parties, celebrate the formation of a government or be sad over it.
We can act lawfully to change the government. We can demonstrate, sign petitions, post videos on social media, get angry and express criticism.
But we must never mobilize hatred and incitement to advance our goals.
While it is important to win an argument, to push for our opinions and lifestyle to be adopted by our leaders, it is far more important to maintain a civilized framework.
A victory that leads to the destruction of this framework is a short-lived, hollow one. A hate-filled victory that leaves the other side defeated and offended leads to nothing more but another round of clashes saturated with more intense hatred.
While we must demand that our leaders, politicians, media and other public figures work to moderate the public and political discourse in Israel, this does not absolve each of us of individual responsibility.
We are not children in kindergarten watching the adults and imitating them without independent thought or criticism. Read More
