Friday, April 3, 2009

Right and Wrong Even Amongst the Shadows

Yesterday a Palestinian man armed himself with an ax and made his way to a Jewish settlement to murder civilians (there's no army base there). Once there he hacked a child to death, started on an even smaller child, was then stopped by a local, but managed to escape. Since the security forces know who he is, it's only a matter of time before he's caught.

There are additional parts of the story, that make for all sorts of shadows, though they're shadows that can work in both directions. Oddly, this blog doesn't seem to attract many pro-Palestinian readers, or even plain antisemites who couldn't give a damn about the Palestinians but love them for their enmity to Israel, but I encourage those who are here to register their comments about those shadows, that I may hold them up to light.

Until then, however, note the fundamental difference between Israel and the Palestinians. Remember the squall of hand-wringing we had recently about some Palestinian civilians who weren't shot? Not to mention the larger question of waging war in Gaza. Compare that to this: the coldblooded murder of children, and silence at best from the society of the perpetrator; in some future round of negotiations the murderer will be sprung from an Israeli jail as a freedom fighter whose return home is a necessary condition of normal relations.

4 comments:

Marc said...

And there was nothing about this in the Guardian this morning.

Soccer Dad said...

"...silence at best..."

Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of silence.

Ibrahim Ibn Yusuf said...

Oddly, this blog doesn't seem to attract many pro-Palestinian readers, or even plain antisemites who couldn't give a damn about the Palestinians but love them for their enmity to Israel, but I encourage those who are here to register their comments about those shadows

Let's indulge you.

Until then, however, note the fundamental difference between Israel and the Palestinians.

Hmmm, I think you're forgetting to mention an even more fundamental difference.

The Israelis can do whatever they want to the Palestinians. They don't need to stab their 13-old children because they can take over their lands and property without firing a shot.

Just as we sit here writing these lines, Jewish settlers in the West Bank are stealing private Palestinian property to build a road between the legal settlement of Eli and the illegal outpost of Yuval.

The question is: can the Palestinians use similar violence against the Israelis? Can they go to any place they wish inside Israel proper, build illegal outposts and then bring in their bulldozers to build a road?

I suspect that if the Palestinians were able to dispossess the Jews with their State's military support and subsidizing, they would do that, instead of killing teenagers with an axe. What do you think?

And remember: the roads built by fanatical Jews are a much, much more serious hindrance to the peace process than this or that individual murder, because they help extend the cancer of settlements and outposts that is gradually swallowing what is left of the prospective Palestinian state. You know that perfectly well, I think.

Anonymous said...

Ibrahim Ibn Whatever, alias whatever: maybe you start considering you're having a SERIOUS problem - this is more than weird.Take care of yourself, since you are not Palastinian: you have no right to play a role as a Muslim Robin Hood (female version?)-you simply are a poor person that hasn't found herself.If you want to speak for whomever- go, live with them, share.This is ridiculous! And take in consideration: here are people who love Isreal, becaise they are Jewsish.Not even you can change that there are Jews: have been, will be.
You desperately need a shrink!(Be carelful: moste of them are Jews!)