What a weekend! A bomb exploded in one Manhattan neighborhood, and an unexploded pressure-cooker device was found just blocks away. Meanwhile, across the country at a mall in Minnesota, a man calling out the word “Allah” stabbed nine people before he was shot dead by an off-duty police officer. Earlier, a pipe bomb exploded at a Jersey shore town shortly before a Marine Charity Run was scheduled to begin. Elsewhere in New Jersey a backpack containing five explosive devices was found near a train station.
Islamic State claimed responsibility only for the stabbing … at this writing the other terrorist attacks and plans are orphans with no known home address.
The two presidential candidates’ initial responses to these events were perfectly characteristic. Donald Trump’s was a general “we have to be tough!” Hillary Clinton’s response was a more nuanced and thoughtful comment, which included recognition of the first responders, care for the victims and consideration for the unfolding investigation. Their differences reflect their personalities and how they might lead the country in a time of ongoing terrorist threat.
Will a Clinton/Trump America respond to terrorism in the French way? France implemented a temporary state of emergency after last year’s deadly Paris attacks, which allowed authorities to search homes without a warrant, to detain people without trial and to block websites they are deemed a threat. France extended its state of emergency indefinitely following the truck bombing in Nice on Bastille Day in July.
Or will a Trump/Clinton America be more like Turkey? After a failed coup attempt, Turkey’s deputy prime minister said it would follow the French example and temporarily suspend the European Convention on Human Rights as part of its declared three month state of emergency. Since then, Turkey has reportedly arrested tens of thousands of people, including the wholesale arrest of journalists, academics and educators.
Need we fear a Trump/Clinton America that will act like Russia’s President Vladimir Putin? In July, Mr. Putin signed a counterterrorism law that cracks down on Christian evangelism. Among other restrictions in the law, Russians are now permitted to share their religious ideas and beliefs only at state-registered places of worship. Nowhere else.
I am writing this at my desk in Jerusalem, a city that has known far too much violence. After the violence in Europe and Turkey this summer, Jerusalem’s mayor, Nir Barkat, wrote an article that shares lessons Israel has learned from its experiences (WHAT THE WORLD CAN LEARN FROM ISRAEL AFTER JULY’S WAVE OF DEADLY ATTACKS, Newsweek, 8/3/16). He rejects the French, Turkish and Russian approaches.
The article includes an important message for us, the general public, ordinary people.
“Don’t Let Terrorism Disrupt Our Lives”
Be vigilant. Be alert. And while we do that, recognize that we are a community with mutual responsibility. That knowledge empowers us and gives us confidence to live our lives fearlessly.
Shortly after the explosion Saturday night, New Yorkers were back out on the street, headed for restaurants and clubs, theaters and movies, just the same as every weekend.
How will we respond to terrorism? With freedom, with resilience, and without fear.
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