Friday, June 04, 2010
Israel's one unforgivable offense
Word.
What's the real problem with Israel's assault on the Gaza flotilla? It's not the loss of life. Almost nobody cares about that. It's not the suffering of Palestinians. When Palestinians suffer, the world shrugs.
Remember the worldwide condemnations, the protests across Europe and Asia, the stern rebukes from the world's high councils in January of last year -- when Hamas militants executed 54 members of the Fatah party and tortured 175 more for (allegedly) collaborating with Israel? You don't? That's because the killing and torture went on with almost no notice or comment.
How about the world's outrage in November 2007, when Hamas gunmen killed seven civilians and wounded 80 more during a rally memorializing Yasser Arafat in Gaza? If you don't remember the outrage, the marches in the street, the scathing U.N. resolutions, that's because there weren't any.
Nor did the world weep when the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) suspended operations in Gaza after two staff members were caught in a Hamas-Fatah crossfire and killed. When Palestinian factional violence impedes humanitarian aid, well, tsk-tsk.
Last February, Amnesty International reported that numerous prisoners injured by an Israeli bombing of a prison were "shot dead in the hospitals where they were receiving treatment." But they weren't shot by Israelis, so nobody objected.
According to a report by Reuters, "An estimated 616 Palestinians have been killed in factional fighting since Hamas defeated Fatah" in January 2006.
World reaction? Shrug.
Keep reading for the answer, with which I completely agree.
More along the same lines from Krauthammer.
7 Comments:
By 
Georg Felis, at
Fri Jun 04, 03:12:00 PM:
Israel's first unforgivable offense is that it exists. Their second unforgivable offense is that when attacked by the surrounding states, Israel always wins. And their third unforgivable offense is that the state of Israel prospers, despite being a democracy, having no oil, and being surrounded by enemies.
May they always continue to bring offense to the world in this fashion.
By MTF, at
Fri Jun 04, 05:03:00 PM:
Anti-semitism is going mainstream. Last week, we had Helen Thomas telling the Jews of Israel to "go back to Germany" rather than continue to inconvenience the world with their presence in Israel, and now we have the President of the United States telling Israel to back off self-defense. I guess he means that they should just sit quietly and accept what's coming to them. Mearsheimer and Walt are ascendant. Mona Charen calls the administration out today, and she is well worth reading. Hopefully, November will change this ugly tune.
By 
, at
Fri Jun 04, 09:42:00 PM:
From Hinkle: "Two wrongs don't make a right, and none of the above is meant to excuse Israel's clumsy, ill-orchestrated boarding of the Mavi Marmara. Nor is it meant to offer an unequivocal defense of the blockade, a legitimate point of contention. (Are cilantro, sage, chocolate, and notebooks really tools of terrorism? Really?)"
Does one really need to point out that the purpose of running the blockade is to destroy it, and thereby, through later importations of items more dangerous than cilantro, sage, and chocolate, destroy Israel?
But surely Mr. Hinkle knows this. At least, judging by the rest of his analysis, he doesn't strike me as an idiot.
By Gary Rosen, at
Sat Jun 05, 01:11:00 AM:
Is Thomas' revolting statement being covered anywhere except right-wing blogs? Trent Lott and Al Campanis ignited firestorms and lost their jobs for statements far less offensive. I'd say it's an unbelievable double standard but sadly it's all to believable.
By Gary Rosen, at
Sat Jun 05, 01:12:00 AM:
sheesh "too believable" of course. I'm pretty heated up about this one.
By Assistant Village Idiot, at
Sat Jun 05, 08:33:00 PM:
Gary, the biographical tidbit that H. Tomas is a child of Lebanese parents is being mentioned a lot today. I never knew that until today.
By Gary Rosen, at
Sun Jun 06, 03:58:00 AM:
I've known that for a long time, AVI. That is probably the reason for her hostility to Israel but is no excuse for her telling Jews to get back in the ovens which I believe was her real intent in saying go back to "Germany and Poland". Not implying that you think it's an excuse either.
