My last entry provoked a rabid response from Mr. Anonymous, who apparently views my perception of the Arab-Israeli conflict as uneducated and naive. I have a suggstion for you, Mr. Anonymous: before you succumb to the propaganda espoused by the suddenly en vogue leftist-leaning apologists for Palestinian terror, study the situation more carefully. I welcome your thoughts to the Baltimore Group and appreciate your contribution to the examination of the Mideast conflict, but get your facts straight. There is no question where I stand, and it is impossible to separate emotion from intellect when discussing this issue. No one is innocent in this cycle of violence and retribution. Undoubtedly, Israel is guilty for atrocities it has committed in the tumultuous history of Palestine; the Jewish state has not always been the innocent, sacrificial lamb it oftentimes has claimed to be. But, how can you possibly defend people who strap explosives to their chests for the sole purpose of uprooting society and mudering innocent civilians? You speak of unwarranted criticism of Hamas and other Palestinian organizations. How do you have the audacity to apologize for the slaughter of young men and women simply trying to live their lives?

An hour ago–literally an hour ago–Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade claimed responsibility for an explosion outside a comedy club in northern Tel Aviv. The bomb detonated around 11:15 PM, near a group of young adults waiting by the entrance on the corner of Herbert Samuel and Yonah Hanavi streets. So far, Haaretz is reporting that over 35 have been wounded and 4 killed, and I assume these numbers will increase as the minutes progress. You ask me if I’m going to argue that “deaths resulting from an ‘errant’ 500 pound bomb or HE tank shell are any less horrific for the victims and their families than deaths resulting from a suicide bomber?” My answer: yes. I won’t pretend for a second that it is okay that innocent people die as a consequence of war, and I do not apologize for the Israeli Army when it targets a suspect and kills the suspect’s family either by mistake or intentionally. However, there is a huge difference, much like the difference between manslaughter and murder.

If you view an “atrocity” as merely one’s behavior against another, then your point is well taken. Death is death, and the victim you speak of, or his or her family, suffers no differently. But if you look at the intent perpetuating such behavior, your point is flawed. For example, The Hamas Charter, drawn up in 1988, not only gives tacit approval of terrorist activity, but encourages it:

“Nothing is loftier or deeper in Nationalism than waging Jihad against the enemy and confronting him when he set foot on the land of the Muslims. And this becomes an individual duty binding on every Muslim man and woman; a woman must go out and fight the enemy even without her husband’s authorization, and a slave without his master’s permission…”

Hamas was thus founded with the intent to inflict harm on all Jews in Palestine, to call on men, women, and children to fight in the name of terror. You cannot say the same about Israel. Mr. Anonymous, you allude to Menachim Begin and the terrorists of the 1940s. I assume you are attempting to compare Jewish terrorism to the kind of terrorism I demonize. I concede that Begin, and other Jews at the time, did use terror to confront the British and intimidate them to leave their “homeland.” But here’s where you are mistaken. Begin was part of the Irgun, a militant group that launched a war against British authorities–not innocent British, or Arab, civilians. The Irgun’s objective was to blow up British military installations and police stations in response to the White Paper of 1939. The group determined to destroy the infrastructure that enabled the British to maintain a stronghold on its mandate. In no way did they intend to terrorize indiscriminately. There were of course instances when rebellious Jews would inflict harm on innocent Arabs, particularly in the case of one Shlomo Ben Yosef, who shot at an Arab bus and was hanged by British authorities. Yet, even here we see a difference: the Jewish Agency condemned Yosef’s actions and tried to implement a policy of restraint. You certainly did not see Jews celebrating in the streets in support of Yosef the Martyr. Never in its history has the Jewish community in Palestine, as a unified entity, declared its intention to inflict terror. The leadership of the Yishuv and the State of Israel has always wanted to exist in peace. Nearly all of the violence Israel commits is in response to Arab agression. They are in possession of the disupted territories, in the first place, as a result of Egyptian and Syrian provocation. You sympathize with the Palestinian refugees (and I too believe they are entitled to a better life), but don’t forget that they are refugees as a consequence of a war that the Arabs began.

You also speak of organizations like Hamas having no choice but to use terrorist tactics, for the United States and Israel (read: Zionist Imperialist Usurpers) are in sole possession of the big bad weapons. First, Hamas is not exactly lacking weapons, particularly since many of them were given to P.A. security forces during the short-lived Oslo Accords era. Second, would Hamas’ possession of such weapons preclude Palestinians from blowing up malls or abate their intense desire to wipe out all the non-Muslims from Muslim land? Third, if you can’t trust these people with the primitive weapons they do own, can you imagine the havoc they would wreak with F-16s or Abrams tanks? You must work on this point Mr. Anonymous.

I agree with you that the only peace you make is with your enemies. And I agree that there is no better outcome than terrorists like Begin becoming responsible citizens who uphold the laws of the state. But I am talking about responsible, rational leaders–not thugs with more credibility than previously afforded to them. Some of these men who are vying for power are animals who crave nothing more than to see Jews thrown into the sea, who send young boys into nightclubs packed with dynamite, who teach their children it is ordained by the Prophet to go to Tel Aviv tonight, February 25, 2005, with the mission to destroy the lives of innocent kids who just want to have a good time. What shall the “mainstream press” you so disdainfully mention say about this one? Should they not demonize Islamic Jihad tonight? I owe it to myself “to study this situation as seriously as I would the Likud factions or settler movement?” I have, and I will continue to, with the hope that I respond dutifully to the brand of misleading crap that you have spewed today.

–Clark Kent