There is a strong tendency on the Left and with the Palestinians for a complete lack of gratitude.
There is possibly no greater human trait than gratitude. Simply saying or expressing thanks to another demands a great deal behind the act:
- Recognition that I can’t do everything by myself
- Admission that sometimes we “need a little help from our friends”
- Acceptance of the good or assistance being offered and not standing on pride
- Statement or act of thanks in light of the help provided
We are blessed to live in the Jerusalem neighborhood “Shaarei Chesed,” which literally translates to “Gates of Kindness.” And the title could not be more applicable. After the 2002 suicide bombing, we had many issues to face. Feeding the family, getting to the hospital on a daily basis, and having babysitters for the kids were three of the most urgent. As to the latter two, neighbors would often offer a ride, while younger kids in the neighborhood would come over to be with our kids (ages six and under) while my wife and I had business at the hospital. Regarding the first issue, it’s hard to express in words the warmth and kindness of those who live near us. Several women organized a schedule to bring food every day to our home. The food would generally be brought around noon by the one who prepared it. So, when the kids came home from school, they had a hot meal waiting for them. People did not skimp: they brought us high-quality meals, often with meat or chicken, and in large quantities.
On one occasion, the food did not arrive. I was embarrassed to call and say, “Hey, where’s the food?” But we literally had no time at home to make things, so I called one of the organizers, a good friend’s wife. She got back to me—with an apology and guarantee that the food was on its way. On another occasion, I confided in the mother of a boy who was a good friend of our son that I felt humiliated to receive food from others. She told me that she had been confined to bed for several months during a pregnancy, and the neighborhood women cooked for her. “There is a time to give, and there is also a time to receive.” I was moved by her wisdom. After a few months, we got back on our feet and started to go shopping and cooking again. I called my friend to request that the deliveries stop. He asked if we could take food for another two weeks. I asked why. “They have already made the food and put it in the freezer. They really want to give it to you.” In the 20 years that have passed, we have also had a few opportunities to cook for others, including soldiers fighting in Gaza. As the lady said, there is a time to give and a time to receive.
When I met one of our lawyers from a bombing-related lawsuit in New York, he made a very interesting statement. He noted that when Israel killed a bona fide terrorist, his funeral was a hate fest filled with calls for revenge. When terror victims were buried, their families cried and sought out how to make some good from the disaster that befell them. I remember being speechless when a young man threw a wedding ring into the grave of his intended, who had been murdered with her father in a suicide bombing just a day before their planned nuptials. The lawyer went on to say that he had clients who funded scholarships in the names of the deceased or funded summer camps for their siblings. Each one was trying to find some way to turn horror into something positive, while over on the Palestinian side, everything was rage and revenge.
Caroline Glick is a senior adviser to Bibi Netanyahu. She is a very smart person and has written for years about the Israel-Palestinian conflict as well as local politics. There was a time when she had a political satire TV show called “Latma.” One of the regular characters was “Mr. Fadicha,” which in Arabic means Mr. Embarrassment. His official title in the Palestinian Authority was “Minister for Uncontrollable Rage,” and with that, Glick hit the nail on the head. The Palestinians are always angry, always demanding. And so too are their fellow-travelers in the West. Have you ever heard them say, even once, “Thank you”? Do the Palestinians ever offer something for a supposed peace with Israel? Like Dudley from “Harry Potter,” it is demands nonstop. Give us land! Give us money! Return our murdering brothers from jail! Recognize us as a state! The Palestinians are professional ingrates. They wouldn’t know gratitude if someone stuffed it into a pita-falafel sandwich. Their entire approach is one of “I am owed” and one can thank the Western Left—including the Israeli Left—for this behavior. Sure, the Palestinians are the constant kvetchers, but it was the Left who told them that they are such unfortunates. “Look what they have done to you!” “They stole your land!” “The world owes you.” And so on. The Palestinians are like the kid who was never told no. They are insufferable.
But they are not alone. Every victim group lives to demand. In the U.S., Black Lives Matter did not care a whit about black-on-black violence. No, just give us absolution money and let us buy a couple of mansions to soothe your conscience. ANTIFA and other professional protesters live to complain and demand. A good word you will never hear out of their mouths. Like the Palestinians, they believe that they are owed, and as such, they have no vices. White-hating blacks can’t be racists. Illegal aliens deserve citizenship and government freebies. It always humors me how the Left likes to drop a word here or there. They talk about the millions residing illegally in the U.S. as “immigrants,” just like the folks who filled out the paperwork, had a formal interview, and entered the country in a legal manner. They always drop the “illegal” in front of the word immigrant. And the Palestinians are now convinced that they had a country of their own pre-1948. They always seem to forget the words “British Mandate” that preceded “Palestine.” They had nothing. The British ran the show, and neither the local Jews nor Arabs could claim to have had a country of their own. The leadership was British, as were the military and police forces. But don’t ask the Palestinians. No, they had their own country, and then the Jews came out of nowhere to take the whole nine yards. Yeah, baloney.
The Palestinians cannot make any deal with Israel because they are certain that they deserve every square inch of the real estate here. The reality is that much of modern Israel is made up of land purchased by Jews who came in the late 19th and early 20th century. I met a distant cousin who came to Tel Aviv from Germany in 1933, and it was a big pile of sand. The rest of the country was won in war, just as many countries today hold land won in conflict. Giving the Palestinians Gaza and offering them a big chunk of the “West Bank” has only led to more demands from the professional ingrates in Ramallah. Don’t delude yourself into thinking that only Hamas makes endless demands; its twin sister, the Palestinian Authority, is no different. Mahmud Abbas spends his time traipsing around the globe and demanding that Israel give him everything he wants. I would only agree if he hires a minister for unbridled rage. He might be the busiest public servant in the Palestinian Authority.