A group of citizens attacked American democracy, the silent stronghold, founding values and attitudes of the United States, adhering to the rules of the game.
They disputed and denounced all symbols and images, all lines in the oppressed face of the United States of America, a country that has been accustomed to conflict and great internal turmoil over the centuries. – and won.
Movement of Trump supporters storm the Capitol in Washington, DC on Jan. 6, 2021
(Photo: AP)
Once again, the United States of America defended its basic infrastructure and on the same day defended it – with its head held high – the U.S. Congress reaffirmed the decision of the people in democratic elections, reaffirming that Joe Biden the 46th President-Elect. Shortly afterwards, President Donald Trump announced that he would make an orderly transition of power on January 20th.
The United States of America has once again proven that the largest democracy in the world is stronger than anyone.
Its structural and ideological institutions have already proved their resilience against evil spirits as well as internal and external threats.
As a student at Ramaz Jewish High School in New York, my teenager gave me an in-depth knowledge of the Foundations of America.
I arrived there just after the Watergate scandal erupted, President Nixon resigned and two years later, another change of government with Republican President Gerald Ford replacing Democratic President Jimmy Carter .
In the midst of such power temptation shifted, and life went on.
For many generations, many people found shelter in the United States, in greater numbers after World War II; not only because of its spirit of equality and freedom, but largely because of its impressive democratic rule.
Many asserted that they found a reflection of Jewish values embedded in the words of the American Declaration of Independence and Constitution. After their world was destroyed during the Holocaust, they found in those words the strength for reconstruction.
At times, we all tend to take words too lightly. We are wrong to think that their influence goes away with the end of a speech, a tweet or a curse.
U.S. Capitol police officers point their guns at a door to the Senate Chamber while a mob attempts to break in, Jan. 6, 2021
(Photo: TNS)
The actual violence in Washington, DC was not just a violation of the rules of the game of the largest democracy game in the world. It was a way of powering words to ignite flames that can burn a world full of values.
Democracy, state, institutions, philosophy and tradition are big, amorphous, sometimes too complex words for a short slogan; but they are the strong foundation that holds together our disagreements. Without this safe space, different groups of people cannot live together.
Words continue to reposition, creating their own life and interpretation, which is strengthened and strengthened by those who loosen the tongue and throw their own brothers to the coin.
Words of power have the power to create and change, to destroy and to rebuild. When focusing on identities rather than credentials, the power of words far outweighs the fragility of the rules of the game in the face of an angry, resolute crowd.
The democratic rules of the game require you to not only know how to win, but also learn to accept losses – and just how easy it is to accept the rules when you are on one side of the event. , it is essential to accept them when you are on the other side. This is all democratic teaching.
So the lesson of the tragic events in the United States must be engraved in our minds and hearts.
These days, when Israel ‘s public sphere has been squeezing for two consecutive years in an endless election campaign, the boil is very close – too close.
Protests against Netanyahu outside the prime minister’s official residence in Jerusalem
(Photo: AFP)
Unfounded grain and polarization demand heavy prices, but the heaviest part of the erosion is our national resilience. When all groups feel threatened, when everyone gathers within their own world – and not just at the time of coronavirus lockout – the pacification which comes from deepening with each passing day; not only between individuals and groups, but also between citizens and their country.
In those days, every public leader needs to have a polite, calm voice. They should pay attention to their words, use words to emphasize upholding the rules of the game, stand up and democratize and defend its guiding principles, stop the violence.
A person’s life is defined by the decisions he or she makes along the way. And these days, we must all rise to the moment and defend our democracy.
Isaac Herzog is Chairman of the Israeli Jewish Group and a former Leader of the Opposition in the Knesset.