Tuesday, November 02, 2004

For the Sake of Accuracy ...

Turns out that Mr. Moral Equivalence, who I thought was from France, is not from there after all. My bad; I made an assumption based on his name. But he still equates Israeli self-defense with Palestinian terrorism and, inter alia, asks the following:

Wasn’t everything pretty much settled after Oslo and util [sic] Sharon decided that there was not enough blood in the region anymore?

Oh, so it’s all Sharon’s fault, is it? If you read a bit of history, you’ll find that the Palestinians began the present terror war against us in the fall of 2000 after Ehud Barak offered them everything and Arafat walked away. Sharon wasn’t even in office then. Or is that distinction perhaps a bit too fine for those who delight in blaming Sharon for everything that’s gone wrong, regardless of the facts?

In case you’re referring to Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount: wrong.

And as for the idea that after Oslo everything was “pretty much settled”: wrong again.

Finally, there’s this gem:

When Palestinian children are shot by the Israelian [sic] army, isn’t it as much terrorism as when Israelian children are killed by Palestinian suicide bombers?

Oh, is that what’s going on? You could have fooled me.

Palestinian gunmen planted mines and fired automatic rifles and homemade anti-tank shells during the intense fighting. In one incident, gunmen surrounded by children and teens set up a grenade launcher in an unpaved alley, waiting for a target.

Now, I wonder: why would those “gunmen” be so careful to surround themselves with children? Could it possibly be that they use children as cover because they know the IDF will do everything in its power to avoid shooting at them? (Unfortunately, accidents do happen. But that is precisely the point: they are accidents, while Palestinian terrorists deliberately target civilians and children.)

On the other hand, it’s a sure bet that the sixteen-year-old terrorist who killed three people and wounded dozens at Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market yesterday was taught that all Jews are the enemy: soldiers, shoppers, babies. No difference, no distinctions. And he himself was undoubtedly taught that the highest and best thing he could possibly do with his life was to end it while killing as many Jews as possible.

And that’s the end of my debate with Mr. Moral Equivalence, folks. I don’t have the time or the energy to teach remedial current events.

In other, sadly related news, filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered today for criticizing Islam.

Enough of this. It’s getting too depressing. I think I’ll watch some election coverage and go to bed, and wake up in the morning to find out who our new President is.

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