PBS Documentary: Israel's Next War?

PBS recently aired a documentary titled Israel's Next War. It is about the little heard of extremist Jews in settlement outposts.This documentary is eye opening in that it makes one aware that religious literalism, extremism, militancy and terrorism are all not confined to one religion or one people. One could easily make comparisons between these militant Jewish settlers, and certain factions of Muslim extremist ideologues (e.g. Takfir wa al-Hijra, Al-Qaeda, ...etc). For example:

• Both are at odds with their own people, accusing them of apostacy. This is in addition to being at odds with "the other"
• Both want to establish a theocracy where a sole leader would lead
• Both are uncompromising absolutists with views in black and white only
• Both see new ideas and change as direct threats
• Both feel they are under siege, and that their religion is under attack
• Both train and coach their adherents how to respond to government tactics, such as interrogations

Choice quotes:

• "We will take revenge. Revenge is Good. The Talmud says so".
• "Our fence is as far as an M16 bullet would reach".
• "We are against the Arabs and the apostate secular Israeli state"
• "We are working to expel the Arabs and be ruled by the King of Israel who will rule by the Torah"
• "They want to create a new religion called Israelism, where you can be a Jew or an Arab and be Israeli"
• "Not Peace Now, but War Now!"

The only difference here is that the Israeli government is lenient on the Jewish extremists. After some of them were caught with explosives in a car, on their way to an Arab girl school, some were arrested. Eventually, some were found guilty and sentenced to prison. Others refused to talk, and had to be freed after being in administrative detention. It is evident from this example, and many others, that extremism takes similar forms in various religions and ideologies, sometimes even identical. Definitely worth viewing.