“I did not speak out because…”

In the beginning, he was a gazelle whose neck the hunters were seeking. With time, he tried to become a seagull in the hope that if he was in the sky, they would not bring him down. He went to every corner of the land to build a nest for his rejected hopes, to find a refuge, until he finally found a place to rest his legs and soul − Nitzana. Late MK Arie “Lova” Eliav was the first traitor. But I did not speak out because I was not Lova.

Later on, they attacked the people of the kibbutzim for being hedonists, and the kibbutz for being a place where people sit on easy chairs and take a dip in the pool, where the grass is greener and the water is the brightest blue. So they imprisoned them within the security fence; they broke their spirits. The Zionists’ gem and pride turned into a wreck that would not be worth its weight in the settlements’ gold. But I did not speak out because I was not a kibbutznik.

After that, they settled accounts with the media, tamed it and emasculated it, and instead of being a watchdog, it became a pet. They exposed the left-wing mafia and eliminated the moles. Since then, the media has fled everyday reality for reality shows. What is happening in reality is not to be shot by the camera, and only what is shot is actually happening. But I did not speak out because I didn’t work in television.

Then they began lynching the judges. They do not sit among their people, they said, and who are they anyway, and what do they understand? It’s better to be judged by pagans than by apostates who are Meretz’s secret spies. Even the government no longer abides by their hostile rulings. But I did not speak out because I was not a judge.

After that they began to lash out at the country’s Arabs and other minorities, saying they were a Trojan horse; that evil would come forth from their bellies and their wombs. It is an act of kindness to discriminate against them and their children for generations to come, and it is obligatory to make their equality conditional on an oath of allegiance. Until they swear allegiance and implore, they will be conditional citizens and whenever possible will be put to the test.

Even the most faithful of the faithful will not return to their homes in Biram and Ikrit, as they had been promised. But I did not speak out because I was not an Arab and not a refugee.

And then they dealt with the non-governmental organizations, and everyone who was not prepared to serve as the long arm of the government. If you did not join in the chorus, you would be silenced and suspected of having alien money and ulterior motives, and your ship would not be allowed to pass. But I did not speak out because I had no connection with the New Israel Fund, Adallah or B’Tselem.

After that, they pounced like predators on the education system. The school principal who does not salute the Israel Defense Forces as the generation’s guiding light had better watch out; he will be in trouble if he calls the occupation by its name. But I did not speak out because I was not an educator.

Nor was I a foreign worker who spreads illness, so I kept silent.

Now they are attacking the academic world in the hope of conquering it − the syllabus for the most part is anti-Zionist or post-Zionist and it destroys the souls of our youth. That has been revealed by a new study that people with their finger on the trigger pulled out of thin air. But I do not intend to speak out because I am not a professor.

It is merely a matter of time until they reach me too, and you as well. But by that time, there will no longer be anyone here who can speak out on my behalf or yours.