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The sale of an IDF costume for Halloween angered Israel-bashers, exposing their irrational hatred for the Jewish state. A Bedouin Israeli, however, accuses anti-Zionists of preventing coexistence.
Numerous Israel-bashing shoppers reacted on social media with venom to an IDF soldier costume for Halloween on sale at Walmart, an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of discount department stores and warehouse stores.
Comments on Twitter promoting lies and incitement included, for example, “Fun! Dress kids as the #IDF 4 #Halloween, steal other kids candy, then egg their house & claim it was 4 security!”
Another stated: “if @Walmart is doing this, http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mens-Pashtun-Papa-Costume/40513782 … they should also have an IDF costume with a dead Palestine baby dangling from it.”
And yet another: “Dress your kid this Halloween as #IDF and assassinated your neighbors” [sic]
The opposite reaction, however, came from Mohammad Ka’abiya, a member of Israel’s minority Bedouin community, who posted on Facebook a photo of a young Bedouin boy dressed as an Israeli soldier. The caption, in Hebrew, read: “This is the Bedouin education… A child in IDF reconnaissance gear.”
(Facebook)
David Ha’ivri, an Israeli who lives in Samaria and promotes peaceful coexistence, also posted the Bedouin boy’s photo on Twitter, adding the caption: “Hey @Walmart this Muslim Bedouin kid thinks that wearing IDF costume is cool.”
Ka’abiya is an outspoken Zionist activist who encourages IDF enlistment and minority integration into Israeli society. Amid the growing intensity of Arab violence against Israelis, he wrote a Jerusalem Post op-ed that appeared earlier this week, titled, “Who is Really Looking Out for Coexistence Between Jews and Arabs?”
According to Ka’abiya, “Today, only Zionist parties can meet the special needs of the Bedouin community. Only Zionist parties can look out for the Bedouin youth, because the benefits and conditions granted to discharged soldiers, or young people who want to integrate themselves into Israeli society, will never be promoted by anti-Zionist Arab parties, who may call for coexistence and integration but in reality strive to create a rift.”
The UK’s Independent reports that a description of the Walmart IDF costume on another website, Wholesale Halloween Costumes, read: “Defend your Jewish heritage proudly by wearing the Israeli Soldier Boy’s Costume! The Israeli Defense Forces have a mission to protect the land and the people of Israel from outside threats with low casualties, and to avoid waging war if at all possible.”
To date, Walmart has not responded to the attacks, and the costume is still available on the site.
By: Atara Beck, United with Israel
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