The Dehumanization Disease

On baseless hatred

An Iranian missile struck a shelter in Beit Shemesh, Israel, killing nine and wounding dozens. Most of the victims were Haredim, ultra-Orthodox Jews, a community widely resented, in part due to their resistance to being drafted into the military.

A moderated mainstream Israeli outlet covered the story.

Scrolling down to the hundreds of comments, I found nearly half celebrating.

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• “The Iranians accidentally hit the Amalekites within our territory.”

• “Fewer ultra-Orthodox, better for the world.”

• “Lucky for us, they’re Haredim.”

• “Organic matter wasted. Next.”

• “We need to thin out the ultra-Orthodox. This is also a method.”

• “Let’s hope only draft dodgers who are a waste of oxygen died, not people who contribute.”

• “It happened to us, a miracle, a few enemies of Israel were killed in the synagogue.”

• “Not a big deal. Human garbage.”

• “Good for them, they don’t contribute anything to the country anyway.”

• “How many of them are people and how many are “penguins” who refuse to enlist?”

• “Great. Turns out there really is a God.”

• “They wanted to die and not enlist. They got exactly what they asked for.”

• “Asked and received. Happy holidays.”

• “God didn’t protect the parasitic idlers?”

• “I hope it’s Haredim and not regular religious people who died.”

• “Ultra-Orthodox are not our people.”

Among the comments, many were horrified.

• “What is wrong with you people? These are our brothers.”

• “I’m on the left and I’m disgusted by these comments.”

• “How did we become this cruel?”

• “The hatred in these comments is sickening. We are one people.”

• “I’m also angry at the Haredim who don’t enlist but these comments are shocking.”

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Those condemning the rhetoric now fail to realize it has been there all along. It was easier to ignore when it was aimed at others outside the tribe. It spread through silence, and through denial.

The dehumanization virus does not discriminate. It does not stop at the wall. Once someone carries it, it will turn them against anyone, other, tribe, family. Having been wronged does not make someone immune. The search for an Amalek outside never ends, and it consumes whoever carries it, regardless of which political side they believe they are on.

I used to believe the Haredim were parasites. That they only took and never gave back. That my way was superior because I fought, because I served, because I was a “real Jew.” It didn’t stop there. I held the same beliefs about diaspora Jews, opposing political parties, other religions. It never ended.

Letting go of that meant losing the thing that made me feel safe, superior, and certain I was on the right side. It meant sitting with the possibility that the identity I built my entire life on was part of the problem.

Carrying these beliefs is a sickness. And sickness can be healed, if there is enough courage to admit the infection. The ego resists that more than anything, because it means that our identity was part of the disease.

The cycle does not break by spreading the virus further, it breaks by recognizing it within. But if it goes undiagnosed, it will kill the host and everyone around him.

Not from the outside.

From within.

ואהבת לרעך כמוך

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