April 9, 2002

Routine demonization of Palestinians

Routine demonization of Palestinians Aziz Poonawalla objects to my side of the debate with Tony Andragna.

To really achieve peace, we need to pragmatically address the needs of both sides, so that both get some measure of justice. As long as one side is routinely demonized, this cannot happen. This sort of "partisanship" is acceptable and even healthy for a nation's politics - for example the demonization of Democrats by Republicans. But when it shapes foreign policy, there is vast asymmetry and the result is the chaos and injustice that we see.

My position is that the Palestinians are demonizing themselves by their actions. And yes, I still address the Palestinains as a block, because they are still acting as a block. When a significant number of them reject the suicide bombings and the targetting of noncombatants, and begin to demonstrate against them, then I will recognize a distinction. The overwhelming wealth of information from Israel and Palestine shows clearly that the two sides differ not only in their agendas, but in their approaches as well. The Palestinian terror groups, al Aqsa for example, do not target combatants but prefer to target non combatants. Contrast this with the Israelis, who have acted with restraint, going after militarily significant targets, then withdrawing when their limited objectives have been carried out. Yes, non combatants have died in this process, but they were not specifically targetted.
There is a huge ethical difference between the two sides, and until the Palestinians reject the use of terror tactics, then they shall surely reap what they have sown.

Aziz also links to a diary written by folks in Palestine right now. The stories are horrific, as all war stories are. Oddly enough, there seem to be no Palestinian militants, only poor, innocent Palestinians trying to survive the evil nasty Israeli soldiers, or Americans abd Brits, horrified by the sights and sounds of war. What none of these diarists talk about, and I've read through quite a few, is why this operation is going on.

Here is one example:

The people from the camps carry with them the memory of fleeing for their lives from their original towns and villages within ’67 borders from waves of massacres carried out by the Zionist forces in 1947-1948. In some cases, a few men with guns are trying to resist, but somehow in the media the reasons why are not understandable, neither their right to resist Occupation under international law and heaven forbid anyone dare to speak of their right to return provided under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and according to umpteen UN resolutions now.

How heinous it is to invade a refugee camp? How appalling that the US, after Sabra and Shatila, looks on and allows this? How miserable that a world full of civilians who have undergone inhumanity and racism cannot make state powers serve the needs, deliver the rights and guarantee the basic protection of human beings. It should be our common priority.

It is still totally unclear in the Western media that it is Israel violating international law here, it is Israel which acts lawlessly and thus creating and perpetuating this terrible situation. It seems that according to Israel and with the green light of the US, the only right of Palestinians in the camps and Palestinian civilians in general seems to be to die or disappear.


No mention of the suicide bombings, the rockets aimed at neighborhoods, the driveby shootings. This myopia is the true cause of the conflict, and if the Israelis are guilty, the Palestinians are equally so. Yes, Palestinians are dying, and in greater numbers than Israelis. That's usually what happens when you pick a fight out of your weight class. That doesn't make it Israel's fault. There are plenty of quotes from the Palestinain leadership, from Arafat, from al Aqsa leaders which quite clearly express their aim: not to live in peace with Israel, but to drive her out and destroy her completely. Did the Palestinian people object to this rhetoric? Did the riot in the streets to demand that the warmongers go home? Nope. Some say it's because the Palestinians live in a police state, that they are unable to voice their true feelings. If a dissident can make his voice heard in China, if a student can stop a tank, albeit only temporarily, then the Palestinain dissidents could make themselves heard. Perhaps had the Palestinians cleaned their own house, repudiated terrorism and Arafat, and worked to find a peaceful compromise with Israel instead of slaughtering people who went out for dinner on a Holy Day, perhaps then the Israeli army would not have to do the job for them. I'm confident that they would rather not have to do the job, because the inevitable consequence is more anger, more rage, more hatred directed at Israel.

So, what is the answer? Should Israel pull out again, and see if a peace can be reached? Should the US intervene, and force a peace? Should we force Israel to stand still while Arafat and his thugs destroy them piece by piece? I don't know the answer, but I do know this. While I have sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians, as long as their chief representatives continue to use their favored tactics of terror and mayhem, as long as the Palestinian people acquiesce to these actions and support them either expressly or tacitly, I will not support them, or their objectives.

Posted by Rich at April 9, 2002 12:31 AM