Ringolevio and Exploding Pagers

By Walter E. Block

When I was a child growing up in Brooklyn, New York, we kids used to play a game. It was called Ringolevio. I was born in 1941, so this must have been around 1948-1951 or so. According to the rules, there were two equally sized teams (if there were an odd number of players, one team with the better players would have fewer of them; we wanted to equalize things, so as to have a good competition). Each player would try to “capture” the members of the opposite teams. The way to do this was to grab him (no girls played this game, at least not in my neighborhood), and yell Ringolevio 123, 123, 123. If the victim were not able to break free by then, he was placed in a “jail,” or “safe house.” When the entire opposing army was located there, the other team had won. However, you could break your team-mate out of the safe house by touching him and saying “Ollie, Ollie, Oxen Free” (don’t ask; these rules were passed down generation after generation). Of course, this was not easy, since the capturing team would leave one or two members there to stand guard and prevent such outbreaks. When you were captured, and in one of these jails or safe houses, the rules specified you could not be further “molested” in any manner, shape or form. No more grabbing at you by the other side.

What does this childhood game of mine have to do with exploding pagers in Lebanon and with Hezbollah? The latter group of terrorists are outraged by being victimized by these exploding electronic devices. They are highly indignant. They are attempting to take the moral high ground as unjustified victims.

They act as if they are engaged in a game of Ringolevio. There were in their “safe houses.” They were not at the time of these explosions engaged in any hostilities whatsoever against Israel, or anyone else. Therefore, it was totally unfair of their enemies to engage them. Fair is fair!

Let me assure Hezbollah: you are not engaged in a game of Ringolevio against Israel. There are no safe houses for you. There is no line over which you may pass and then stay out of the range of the IDF. If you wore uniforms, and engaged in traditional battlefield military operations, you would know this full well. However, you act as if once you go to a shopping mall, or a restaurant, or go back home, it is totally improper for you to be targeted. Not so, not so at all.

According to published reports, several hundred of Hezbollah fighters have been killed, and thousands more have been injured, many seriously by these exploding communication devices. This is what you get when you fire rockets and missiles at a neighboring country. You full well deserve such treatment.

However, there are Lebanese claims that women and children and other non-combatants have also been impacted by this new weapon. Let us stipulate, arguendo, that this is true, despite the practice of outright lies emanating from this quarter. If so, this is greatly to be regretted by all decent people in Israel and around the world. The IDF does more than any other army in human history to safeguard against such collateral damage. Often, it drops leaflets on targets. How many other militaries do this? Obviously, it could not do any such thing in this case.

But who is responsible for these unfortunate deaths and serious injuries? The perpetrators of this military exercise or Hezbollah? The perpetrators are, if what is now going on in the Middle East is a game of Ringolevio. Safe houses are supposed to be safe! However, back to the real world, in which this game is not at all being played: these unfortunate calamities are solely the responsibility of the Hezbollah terrorists. If they had not been lobbing missiles and drones at Israel all the live long day, none of this would have occurred. If they had not acted as if they were involved in a game of Ringolevio, they would have realized they were in danger and stayed away from women and children. Only Arab armies hide behind women’s skirts. Only they use children as shields.

Hezbollah wants to have it both ways. They want, in effect, a time-out. Ok, it is alright to attack them when they are in the midst of launching rockets at Israel, but once they are finished, it is improper for them to be pummeled. They are now off the clock. They are now located in a safe house. Their enemy is hitting them below the belt.

This latest episode may have convinced them they are not playing a game. They are playing with guns. Real ones. They will have to learn there will be serious consequences of their dastardly actions.