© AFP/GettyIsraeli soldier chokeholds young boy at gunpoint after clashes between Israeli occupation forces and Palestinian protesters following Nabi Saleh march against illegal Jewish only settlement expansion on their village land. West Bank, Palestine August 28, 2015
In his book
"The Joys of Yiddish" (1968), Leo Rosten writes that "the classic definition of chutzpa is, of course, this: Chutzpa is that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father, throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan. A chuzpanik may be defined as the man who shouts "Help! Help!" while beating you up."
Chutzpah is a term in both Yiddish and Hebrew. Whilst in pre-Israel times it may have been a term mostly regarded with negativity, the Zionist settlement in Palestine and the establishment of a Jewish State with borders that became undefined and continuously expanding, came to give this term an aura of actual virtue in the eyes of many Israelis. Chutzpah, in Israeli national terms, would come to be known as a necessary ingredient to get by and grow.
Israel's second Prime Minister Moshe Sharett noted this aspect clearly: "I have learned that the state of Israel cannot be ruled in our generation without deceit and adventurism. These are historical facts that cannot be altered. . . In the end, history will justify both the stratagems and deceit and the acts of adventurism". (In Simha Flapan,
The Birth of Israel: Myths and Realities and
partially at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. )
Israel's Chutzpah at the national level, shouting "help! Help!" whilst beating Palestinians up, could be seen in vivid colors last year, when a video from the weekly Friday protest at Nabi Saleh on 28th August 2015 went viral. In the video, a fully armed and masked Israeli soldier is seen picking out a boy of 12 (minute 2:00) who has a broken arm in a cast, grappling him and pressing him down on a rock, on his broken arm. The boy's sister and mother come to his rescue and, unarmed of course, attempt to rescue the boy from the soldier's hold. This situation was an iconic portrayal of the egregious balance of power, where the boy is inarguably a victim. But no - Minister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev was "shocked to see the video this morning of Palestinians hitting an IDF soldier," adding that, "It cannot be that our soldiers will be sent on missions with their hands tied behind their backs. It's simply a disgrace!.... We must immediately order that a soldier under attack be able to return fire. Period."
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