At 06:03 PM 3/27/02 +0100 Baardwijk, J. van DTO/SLWPD/RZO/BOZO wrote:
>And apparently, a part that is no longer listening to Arafat. Each time a
>bomb goes off, Arafat strongly condemns the attack -- not that it matters
>much, though, since the pro-Israel crowd is by now convinced that every
>Palestinian is a terrorist...
The question is, why do you believe Arafat? Arafat condemns the violence
one day, and the next day says that his greatest wish is to be a "martyr"
for Jerusalem? Indeed, Arafat consistently refers to terrorists as
"martyrs", and facilitates special payments from none other than Saddam
Hussein to the families of terrorists. Arafat continually refuses to
round up terrorists and place them in jail for more than a few days at a
time. Indeed, Arafat presides over a media network that continually
broadcasts Anti-Semitic propaganda and incitements to martyrdam. Also,
Arafat presides over an educational system that teaches kids Anti-Semitic
propaganda and teaches them geography on maps that show "Palestine" as
occupying the entire State of Israel. Yet, you always seem to take these
statements made before the cameras of the Western Media (telling them what
they want to hear) at face value, and don't ever seem to consider what
Arafat says and does in private. This is surprising to me, because when
it comes to just about anything else (American Governments being just one
example) you are usually a healthy skeptic.
>BTW, something else that specific reader mentioned was the death of a
>Palestinian doctor who was killed when an Israeli Apache gunship fired on
>his ambulance. Ambulances tend to be quite distinguishable from other
>vehicles; when did it become OK to fire on an ambulance? That not only
>smells of murder, that also smells of a war crime.
No, it is not o.k. to fire on an ambulance - and I would hope that it was a
mistake. As it is, by virtue of Israel being a democracy, there is
currently a healthy debate regarding the actions of the Israeli Military in
this conflict progressing in Israel. As a result, incidences of
misconduct, like the above, are being investigated by the media and the
government, scrutinized in public, and resulting in changes in policy (and,
possibly, punishment for those guilty of malfeasance.)
>When a soldier is attacked, he certainly has a right to defend himself.
>However, especially when a child is throwing something, ducking for cover
>should be a soldier's first priority, not shooting at the child.
Well, I think that most soldiers who have "ducked for cover" from a grenade
would disagree.
>But then, those Israeli soldiers are members of an occupation force and
>should not even be there in the first place. I am not going to feel sorry
>for them if they get killed.
So, do you honestly believe that one can only defend oneself from armed
agression from within one's own territory? That's a nice sentiment,
Jeroen, but terrible military strategy for self-defence. (And given that
you once complimented as "ingenious" the strategy of attacking on religious
holidays, I would have expected you to be well aware of this.) As it is,
Israel was viciously attacked for a fourth time, and Israel is currently in
the continuing process o confronting that armed opposition from an enemy
that refuses to negotiate for a peaceful settlement that would result in
their independence. By any reasonable standard, Israel has every right to
be there.
>A long jail sentence would be appropriate. But that still does not answer my
>question.
So, you agree that Arafat is acting in appropriately by releasing
terrorists early?
>> In the United States, it would be jail for a very long time. In
>> Palestine, it is apparently jail for a few days.
>
>They could be released as revenge for Israeli agression. Or they could be
>released because their was no (or insufficient) evidence to keep them in
>custody any longer. Are you so intimately familiar with every case that you
>can tell whether the release was justified?
According to ABC News, he was found in his apartment with bombs and
detailed plans to attack Israelis. Moreover, the decision to release him
was *Arafat's* not that of a judge's.
And finally, I am deeply shocked and appalled that you would regard release
of terrorists as legitimate revenge for *any* sort of aggression.
>And now, a few questions for you as well:
>
>1. Do you feel that Israeli terrorists attacking Palestinians should be
>condemned?
Yes, incidences of terrorism carried out against civilians with an intent
to create terror should be condemned.
>2. What do you think should the Palestinian Authority do with people that
>are suspected of planning a terrorist attack? Jail them for a long time (or
>even execute them) based on that suspicion alone, or give them a fair trial
>and release them if the accusations can not be proven?
I believe that they should be jailed, tried, and convicted. If you can
show me any evidence that Palestinian terrorists are being released solely
because of lack of evidence by an independent judiciary, I will happily
concede the point to you Jeroen. Until then, the blood of these
terrorists is on the hands that released them - Arafat's.
>3. Is a Palestinian who is living under Israeli occupation justified in
>fighting Israel?
No. This war was caused by an act of naked agression by said
Palestinian's government. As such, the war is unjust, indeed as the
intent of the war was genocide, downright evil. The moral obligation of
the Palestinian is to pressure his government to sue for peace.
>4. If Israel destroys a specific building, and it later turns out that the
>destruction was not justified, should Israel repair the damage?
The destruction of national infrustructure is justified during war.
>5. If innocent Palestinians (like the ones I mentioned above) are killed by
>Israeli troops, should those soldiers be jailed?
They should be subject to military justice, with full recognition that
civilian casualties are *inevitable* during war. As such, the soldiers
should only face courtmartial if they were willfully negligent (or worse)
in causing civilian deaths.
>6. If so, should they be tried by Israel or by the Palestinians?
Israeli Military Courts would be the competent body in such a situation.
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
