Jews Love Life. What Do Arabs Love?

Today is Yom Hazikaron, the Israeli Memorial Day. Usually people focus on what this day teaches us about life with loss. I want to focus about what it teaches us about the enemy.

Today, of all days, I want to look forward.

On Yom Hazikaron, Israel mourns the death of 25,417 servicemen and 5,229 civilians who died in the struggle to establish and maintain the Jewish state. It is instantly followed by Independence Day, creating a sharp shift from mourning to jubilation; a type of emotional whiplash typical of Israeli society and Jewish culture.

Other countries have memorial days as well; The UK has Remembrance Day, the US has Memorial Day, the Netherlands has Remembrance of the Dead.

However, the Palestinians have no Memorial Day. This is curious since their entire existence is endless war, and martyrdom is a major part of their identity.

So what do Palestinians have instead of Memorial Day?

There is Nakba Day, which commemorates the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Arabs in 1948, and Land Day, which is a protest against land confiscation and settlement expansion since 1976.

Both days focus on the loss of land rather than the loss of life. Both are days of rage rather than days of mourning. If on Memorial Day, an Israeli says, “I’m sad that people have died,” on Land Day, the Arab says, “I’m angry the Jews took our land!” One is passive, with little attention to the enemy. The other is active, focused on the enemy.

Part of the reason is that unlike lives, which are lost forever, land can be redeemed (usually at the cost of lives). However, there’s more to it.

In 2004, Hassan Nasrallah, the former head of Hezbollah, said: "We are going to win, because they love life and we love death." This phrasing is often used by Muslims. As early as the 7th century, Khalid ibn Walid threatened his enemies by saying: "I bring you men who desire death as ardently as you desire life."

People often take it to mean that the enemy is fearless and nihilistic. This is incorrect. The enemy has strong values, they’re just different.

The loss of life is hardly mourned, often celebrated. To quote Ismail Hanyiah, the former head of Hamas, "The blood of the women, children and elderly… we are the ones who need this blood! So it awakens within us the revolutionary spirit!"

However, the loss of land is a staggering blow. Follow Arabic discourse online. Critics of Hamas bring up the loss of Palestinian land as the main failing of the organization. Same goes for Hezbollah in Lebanon. Due to their failed wars, the Arabs have lost land. This is what angers people the most.

The enemy has not one, but two memorial days to lament the loss of land. Not only the massive loss of the Nakba, but even the minor loss of just 20 km² commemorated by Land Day.

Nasrallah said, “The Jews love life, so that is what we shall take away from them.”

To this I answer, “The Arabs love land, so that is what we shall take away from them.”

The enemy shows us what hurts him, so this is where we must strike.

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