The three fingered salute

These are Arab Idol fans showing
support for Mohammed Assaf, a contestant,
in June of 2013

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Remind me to never trust a hasbarah blogger again.

It turns out that what I thought was an obscene three-finger pro-kidnapper salute is really nothing of the sort. Most of the pictures being touted as evidence of Arab callousness are more than a year old and were created to support a reality show contestant. So please unlearn all the lessons those photos of cute girls holding up three fingers mistakenly taught you about the Arab mentality.

See here http://m.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-23012803

Now, you'll note I said **Most** of the pictures being touted as evidence of Arab callousness are more than a year old and were created to support a reality show contestant. 

Here's the thing: After the Palestinian and Israeli media picked up on the old pictures and wrongly identified them as part of a pro-kidnapper social media campaign, some new pictures were created by people who actually are communicating support for the kidnapping. Those people are behaving obscenely. 

But I do have a confession to make. In Hebron, more than 100,000 people are frozen in place. They are being subjected to extra-judicial searches, detentions, and worse. If 100,000 Jews were being treated that way, I might be tempted to do something obscene myself.

Warning: Do not interpret  this confession as a statement of support for the terrorists or as a condemnation of the search. It was nothing of the sort.  I believe that the search should continue and that the Hebron operation should go on without much too modification. Just be alert to the unintended consequences and the shared humanity, that's all.

Search for more information about Mohammed Assaf at4torah.com