-Caveat Lector-

Euphorian spotted this on the Guardian Unlimited site and thought you should see it.

To see this story with its related links on the Guardian Unlimited site, go to 
http://www.guardian.co.uk

British envoy questions Israel on terrorism
Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Monday December 16 2002
The Guardian


Britain's ambassador in Tel Aviv has described terrorism as justified, if defined in 
certain ways, drawing parallels between the Jewish fight for a state of Israel and the 
present day Palestinian struggle.

Sherard Cowper-Coles said that the killing of non-combatants, particularly children, 
could never be defended. "Terrorism defined as attacks against innocent civilians is 
always and absolutely wrong," he told a conference in Berlin on European-Israeli 
relations.

However, he went on to say: "If terrorism is defined more widely as attacks on formal 
military units, we can all think of times in history when it was not always wrong."

Mr Cowper-Coles pointed to Israel's own struggle for independence and the activities 
of the Stern Gang, labelled as terrorist by the British authorities in Palestine for 
bombing Jerusalem's King David hotel and for killing British soldiers but seen as 
national heroes by many Israelis.

Ariel Sharon's government prefers to describe the killing of all Israelis, in whatever 
circumstances, as terrorist. The Palestinian leadership argues that soldiers in the 
occupied territories and, sometimes, Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza are 
legitimate.

In carefully worded remarks, the ambassador suggested that the failure to pursue 
political options fuels terrorism.

Regarding the founding of the Jewish state, he laid the blame at the feet of Field 
Marshal Montgomery, who in 1946, he said, refused to negotiate with moderate Jewish 
insurgents in order to separate them from those the high commissioner viewed as 
extremists, such as the Stern Gang.

"Montgomery insisted on a military solution. We put 100,000 troops into Palestine and 
20,000 paramilitary police with catastrophic results."

He likened terrorism to a cancer. "You need to ask yourself what the carcinogens are 
and you need to use a range of therapies"

Britain has learned from bitter experience, he said, that terrorism must be tackled by 
tough security combined with "political, economic and social measures to separate 
terrorists from the sea of popular support in which they swim".

Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited

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