There is a direct correlation between this week's violence in the Negev and the clashes that occurred in May last year during the latest round of conflict with Hamas as well as the government's faulty conduct and the anarchy on the ground. It forces us to walk on eggshells lest we, God forbid, upset the public order.
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We need to smile pleasantly, breathe quietly, and tiptoe in order not to cause turmoil. And if one does occur, we are blamed for provoking it. March in Jerusalem carrying Israeli flags? Provocation. Drive on the roads of Judea and Samaria? Provocation. Live in mixed cities? Provocation. Pray on the Temple Mount? Provocation. Plant trees in honor of Tu B'Shevat? Turns out, that too is a provocation.
Throughout Zionist history, the Jewish National Fund planted trees in order to preserve the land for future use. As in the past, so too today, it is meant to preserve areas from illegal construction. This week as well, the JNF began to prepare the land in the Negev for tree planting.
The matter was debated last year and was even approved by the Supreme Court of Justice. The area is disputed, with a Bedouin tribe claiming it has ownership, but the government wanting to register it as state land. However, since the tribe was never able to prove it owns the land, planting the trees is the most minimal step the government can take to prevent its overtake.
Tree-planting is also easily reversible. If the tribe ever proves the land belongs to it, it will be able to decide whether to keep or uproot the trees. One thing is clear, even to the Supreme Court: unless trees are planted in the area, it will be lost.
But unfortunately, the Israeli government gave in to violence again.
The planting stopped and the violent demonstrators won. The same Bedouins who earlier in the week threw stones at a train with the intent to cause a massive accident, the same Bedouins who set the Jews' cars on fire, who smashed cars and busses, threw rocks and Molotov cocktails, and burnt tires. These people achieved their goal.
Why argue, the government says. What good will it do?
You see, when it came to the 2005 evacuation of Gush Katif or Givat Amal, Jewish residents did not set cards on fire, target soldiers, or injure innocent civilians. Only when it comes to Arab and Bedouin land that violence enters the picture.
The government vowed to put an end to violence in the Negev, yet it is now surrendering to the very phenomenon it promised to uproot.
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