At 04:11 PM 3/25/02 +0100 Baardwijk, J. van DTO/SLWPD/RZO/BOZO wrote:
>I know it is popular among the rabid pro-Israel crowd to equate
>"Palestinian" with "terrorist", but unlike what those people think, the
>international community is *not* calling for negotiations with terrorists;
>they are calling for negotiations with what they see as the legitimate
>Palestinians leadership.
A leadership that continues to support terrorism with their actions, even
while they make token declarations for the cameras.
>What those people fail to see is that there is a difference between the
>Palestinian Authority and Palestinian terrorists. The terrorists are
>fundamentalists who do not care one bit about what Arafat thinks, says or
>does. Demanding that Arafat stops terrorism is therefore ridiculous: the
>terrorists are not listening to him. It is not the Palestinian Authority who
>does not want peace with Israel; the militant fundamentelists of Hamas are
>the ones who do not want peace.
Actually, if you were to follow news reports closely, you would know that
some of the recent killings have been made by the Al Aqsa Martyr Brigades,
part of Arafat's Fatah movement.
>> I'm starting to think that the fundamental political failure in the
>> Middle East is the moral equivalence placed by the rest of the world
>> between Israelis and Palestinians as if they were just two squabbling
>> children. Sure both sides kill the other, but one side at least takes
>> reasonable steps to avoid killing civillians (like evacuating buildings
>> before it targets them), the other blows up 12-year old girls' bat
>> mitzvahs and sends young children of @10 to throw grenades at Israeli
>> Tanks.
>
>You know, if there is one thing I find sickening, it is the neverending
>hammering on "Israeli girl killed" and "Palestinian child throws grenade".
>Why do people like you keep hammering on that, but conveniently never
>mention all those Palestinian children killed by Israel?
Because there is a difference between a child killed at a Party and a child
killed who is attacking soldiers.
>
>> (The footage was shown on ABC News last week - not that the Europeans
>> will even issue a token statement about child soldiers!)
>
>But then, those children are not members of a regular army, so technically
>they are not soldiers.
I am continued to be stunned by your reactions, Jeroen.
Simple questions:
1) Do you believe that the people who gave @10-year-olds grenades and told
them to run towards Israeli attacks with them should be condemned?
2) Why do you think that your government did not condemn them?
3) Is an Israeli soldier morally justified in killing a child who is
throwing a grenade at him or her?
4) Is an Israeli soldier morally justified in killing a child who is
throwing an object at him or her that looks like a grenade?
>Then what do you propose the Palestinian Authority should do with their
>prisoners? Jail them all for life because they *might* use violence against
>Israel once they are released?
And finally, Jeroen, what do you think should be an appropriate punishment
for someone caught by authorities with bombs in his apartment and detailed
plans for blowing up a bus with them? In the United States, it would be
jail for a very long time. In Palestine, it is apparently jail for a few
days. Do you think that such a short sentence is justifiable? Do you
think that a regime that imposes such short sentences is seriously trying
to curb terrorism?
JDG
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"We fight against poverty because faith requires it and
conscience demands it." - George W. Bush 3/22/02
