Civis Romanus Sum

Seems that Hallel Yaffa Ariel, the Israeli girl killed by a terrorist as she slept in her bed, was an American citizen.  From the State Department, we get the usual mawkish half-hearted condolences.  President Jimmy Carter set the tone back in 1979, when some Iranian terrorists took the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Teheran hostage and Carter allowed the situation to continue, literally until the last day of his term in office.

Once upon a time, there was an international perception that America would protect its citizens abroad.  In 1904, President Teddy Roosevelt had the State Department send the famous "Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead" telegram to secure the release of Ion Perdicaris, an American (or, as it turned out, a former American) held hostage in Tangier.  [Never mind that Raisuli's political demands were met; at least Roosevelt sent in the Marines.].

Genghis Khan had no patience for those who harassed his subjects.  And in 1850, the Don Pacifico affair boosted the political career of Henry John Temple, the Viscount Palmerston, who would become British Prime Minister five years later.  As Palmerston noted in his speech to Parliament, in the days of the Roman Empire a Roman citizen's declaration of his status as such ("Civis Romanus sum") would bring various privileges and protections not only from the Roman governmental authorities, but from the governments of other nations as well.

This questionable ability and resolve of the State Department (which, you will recall, utterly failed to protect its own Ambassador in Benghazi) is not sitting well with the American expatriate community here.

Packing it in Israel

Here in Israel we have just completed the Holiday of Shavuot, commemorating the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.  For various reasons that will not be expounded at length here, it is celebrated one day in the Land of Israel and two days outside of the Land of Israel (which means that the holiday is still in progress in the USA).

Israel is still reeling from the terror attack at the Sarona Market complex in Tel Aviv.  Much has been written and reported and punditized about the incident; I have little to add at this time, but gratuitously note that (1) Israel Police, along with military personnel carrying their weapons, have shown a higher profile these past few days; and (2) during this coming week I expect to ride a bus that passes within 2 blocks of Sarona. 

What I will mention, though, is that during the past two days at my Shul worship services (Saturday, of course, was Shabbat, and today was Shavuot), I saw a heretofore unprecedented number of individuals packing heat.  Two I know to be law enforcement officers, but that did not explain the others.  Turns out that word was informally passed that those licensed to carry should carry to shul during the holiday.

Before we departed from the USA I had a discussion with my rabbi.  He had made the decision to enlist armed security for Rosh Hashanah services, and was considering asking some congregation members who are licensed to carry (including two retired police officers) to carry on a regular basis.  Another rabbi of another congregation caught some heat (pun intentional) from his resident leftards for doing that.  With the strong encouragement of the Rebitzin, my Rabbi told everyone that they would be welcome to carry.  Most of the congregation members backed him on it.

In Israel everyone seems to understand the need for defensive measures, but these days it must be difficult to be a Jewish hoplophobe in America.