----- Original Message ----- From: "J. van Baardwijk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Brin-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2001 9:49 AM Subject: Re: Tragedy in Israel
> At 08:39 25-12-01 +0200, Ilana Halupovich wrote: > > >Jeroen asked > ><<So, you believe that Arabs have an anti-life culture?>> > >Those who send/go to commit suicide and take other with them? Of course. You > >see any evidence that it isn't so? > > I believe it goes way too far to say that Arabs as a people have an > anti-life culture, just because *some* of them commit suicide and take > others with them. > But, its not just that. A poll was taken among Palestinians, and 65% supported the terrorist attacks. Its not just a few crazed individuals, the attacks are generally supported. One of the problems with the peace accord last year was that Arafat would have had an uphill struggle to persuade the Palestinians to accept the West Bank and Gaza as the Palestinian state. There are very strong indications that the vast majority of Palestinians would only accept a peace that would result in their ability to return to and take over Israel. I do not believe that the Arab culture is inherently an anti-life culture. But, after 50 years of teaching lies about the Jewish people, the general population still supports the end of Israel, although two of the many governments have signed peace treaties with Israel. > >Where? I heard of this possibility - only it was always out of Israeli > >borders.>> > > Given that the Israeli government apparently finds "disagreeing with the > government" enough reason to arrest people, I can imagine that such groups > within Israel keep a low profile. I'd take that viewpoint with a grain of salt. What happened was one of the associates/teachers of the person who killed the prime minister was found with writings that were strongly right wing and anti-government. IIRC, and this is a hazy memory, the writings were strong enough to be interpreted as calling for attacks like the sucessful assasination. IIRC, many people at the time thought that it was a contribution to the attack. Now, this may have been an over-reaction. But, what I remember is far stronger than simply critizing the government. For example "the Oslo peace accord is wrong, and we must force a vote of no confidence in the Knesset to stop it" must be protected speech in a democracy. But, "the Prime Minister is a traitor for signing the accord, and any means at all, including administering the death penalty for treason is acceptable" need not be protected speech..and could be subject to prosecution when a student who has been taught by a person goes and kills the prime minister. > >Check your data. There were no reaction to several terrorists acts. And > >while you are talking about "launching helicopter attacks on buildings of > >Palestinian government and police" you may remember that Palestinian > >authorities were warned ahead to evacuate those buildings. > > Ah, and that makes it okay? So, if a Palestinian wants to destroy an > Israeli police station by blowing himself up inside the building, that is > just fine too if he warned the Israeli police beforehand to evacuate the > building? > If the Palestinians were to change their methods of attack so that they did this, it would be an overwhelming step forward. It would be a very very significant step towards the end of violence. Let me put it plainly...if the Palestinians were to accept the Biblical injunction of "only an eye for an eye, only a tooth for a tooth", the peace process would be back on track. Have you ever asked yourself, what precipitated the renewal of violence on a massive scale after about 10 years of relative peace? I wonder if the European press covered what actually happened. Dan M.
