24, Hevron & Al Jezeera

I finally did it. I got hooked on FOX's show 24.
I have one word to describe the experience of watching it.

INSANE

Now, as a rule I don't watch TV, unless I feel it has some kind of intellectual or educational benefit. The only other TV show I enjoy is Star Trek, especially The Next Generation, because of all of the issues and topics that they cover, ranging from philosophy to terrorism.

24 definitely touches on terrorism (that's what the whole show is about) and when I first started watching it, I started to feel guilty, asking myself how I was growing by watching the show. I had come across a guilty pleasure without, it seemed, a real purpose.

Then I read an interesting article on Al Jezeera, regarding the holy city of Hevron.

Yishai Fleisher on his Monday show announced that the radical group Shalom Achshav (Peace Now) would be demonstrating at the Tomb of the Patriarchs protesting Israel's "occupation." Yishai was putting together a counter demonstration so there would be some kind of opposition to these non-religious Jews who don't understand our heritage. The Tomb of the Patriarchs is the first place in all of Israel that was purchased by a Jew, Avraham, and of all places to protest at, of all the places to say that's "occupied" and should be given to the Arabs, Hevron should be the last place on anyone's list.
Of course if you don't believe in the Torah, or G-d, and if you think that you are really in charge of your own destiny, then I can understand how one could want to give it up. But they sadly don't realize that giving land away is not the way to get peace. The only way to get peace is for every single Jew to put aside their differences (and this includes me) and have shalom among ourselves, because the Jewish people are at their strongest when they are one, not when they are scattered or fighting. Rav Twerski made an interesting point that in Israel there is so much friction between the religious and non-religious, but when there is a crisis, like a war, the country becomes unified and like one. This is the real reason Israel continues to win its wars. Not because of military might, or political prowess, but because the country and all the Jewish people are unified and are one.

Now what does this have to do with 24?

Al Jezeera did a piece on the Peace Now demonstration and in the article they mentioned an Arab man and his family in Hevron being shot by Israel's soldiers. According the article "the soldiers shot the man, 67, when he answered the door."

Suddenly I realized what was going on.

Jack Bauer is very good as knowing when someone is about to kill hum, and when there is a potentially dangerous situation. I realized that 24 is educational. And what really tipped me off was the next line, "An Israeli military source said the soldiers opened fire in response to "an attempt to assault one of the soldiers."
That's what happened, and this is how they continue to slander the soldiers and Israel. The image one would see would be a soldier going to an Arab's house and then opening fire on the Arab. What wouldn't be seen would be the Arab on the inside, reaching for a weapon in an attempt to attack the soldier. Once again, a case of illusion, of distorted facts, even when the event is seen by eyewitnesses, who claim that the soldier attacked first. From what they saw, they could have attacked first, but in reality, the truth was hidden behind a closed door.