The Unspoken Roots of Violence: A Societal Crisis

Three murder-suicides have rocked Israel this week, leaving the nation stunned. The wave of violence shows no signs of abating, with a significant portion of it perpetrated by men against women.

Condemnation of all violence is unequivocal. However, those who ask us to understand suffering must also grasp that this suffering has contexts. Just as we do not condone murders, we also cannot claim they occur in a vacuum.

In Israel, family courts are notoriously known as anti-male strongholds. Today's permissive culture and gender discrimination increasingly target men rather than women. Furthermore, feminist processes, including women's departure from the traditional family sphere, parental alienation affecting fathers and their children, infidelity, and disloyalty, have become more prevalent than ever. This is the backdrop against which frustration, pain, hurt, humiliation, sorrow, and indifference can drive a person to the brink of insanity and murder.

This situation brings to mind Jim Morrison's timeless line: "Girl, you gotta love your man / Take him by the hand / Make him understand / Our lives are in your hands."

Morrison understood that feminism places men in a very strange position. On one hand, women are now trying to prove themselves in traditionally male arenas. On the other hand, men are losing their purpose and objective. They are replaceable, transient, and in today's app-driven world, a new man can be found in an instant.

The severe violence against women often overshadows the phenomenon of male belittlement and alienation. This is a form of violence that manifests in many ways, from economic to legal and legislative. It is no coincidence that hundreds of Israeli men commit suicide each year, primarily divorced fathers whose lives have been turned into a living hell.

The media prefers to focus on the abhorrent and grotesque violence itself, but it largely avoids discussing its fundamental roots. Until that changes, tragic incidents like those witnessed this week on the rooftop in Bat Yam will continue to occur.