-Caveat Lector- > No 'isolated incident' > > Editorial > > The Jerusalem Post > > July 7, 2002 > > CNN's coverage of Thursday night's attack on the El Al > counter at Los Angeles Airport must > have puzzled local viewers. > > The obvious first assumption, given the timing and location > of the incident, would surely be that > it was a terror strike as was indeed stated immediately by > Israeli officials. Yet CNN's > broadcaster seemed at pains to stress that no such evidence > was yet available (as if it could > be) to draw such a conclusion. Instead, several other > theories were floated. Perhaps it was a > "work dispute," since early eyewitness accounts supposedly > had the attacker shouting out > "They cost me my job!" Others apparently described it as an > "altercation that got out of hand," > and CNN's newscaster even helpfully reminded viewers that > "California is a place where a lot of > people walk about carrying around guns." > > This wasn't just a media line. US law enforcement officials > also seemed to reluctant to label the > incident a terrorist attack, instead saying that at first > glance it appeared to be an "isolated > incident." One American security expert appeared on the air > confidently declaring that it was > unlikely to be the forewarned al-Qaida strike on July 4, > because that group prefers committing > "large-scale terror attacks" as if al-Qaida operated only > according to some kind of strictly > followed playbook. > > Even after the assailant was identified as Hesham Muhammad > Ali Hadayet, an Egyptian > national who has spent the past 12 years in the US, local > law enforcement officials continued to > resist drawing the obvious conclusion. Because Hadayet had > no prior known links with terrorist > groups, Richard Garcia, the FBI agent in charge of the > investigation, told The New York Times > it just as well could have been a "hate crime," or perhaps > Hadayet "might simply have been > despondent for some as yet unknown reason, perhaps a > financial problem or a family dispute, > and that despair drove him to violence." > > It may well be that Hadayet had personal problems. It is > also clear that he was capable of hate. > "He had hate for Israel, for sure," the Times quoted one > former employee in Hadayet's limousine > service, who added "He [Hadayet] told me that the Israelis > tried to destroy the Egyptian nation > and the Egyptian population by sending prostitutes with AIDS > to Egypt." > > The Israel/AIDS conspiracy is a fantastic anti-Semitic > canard widely circulated in Arab circles > during the past decade. Perhaps Hadayet read about it in > Egyptian newspapers sent from > home, or saw it on anti-Israeli Internet sites, or heard it > discussed in the local mosques near his > home in the Los Angeles suburb of Irvine, described by an > Israeli official in one report as "a > problematic center of anti-Israel rhetoric recently." > > The notion that an individual like Hadayet necessarily > needed a direct personal order from the > likes of Osama bin Laden to carry out his nefarious deed for > it to be characterized as a "terror > attack" rather than "isolated incident," "hate crime," or > "despondent act" is a dangerously > misguided one. It is misguided about the nature of terrorism > in general, and about the nature of > the enemy America is facing in specific. Haven't bin Laden > and other Islamic terrorist leaders > publicly called on individual Muslims like Hadayet to commit > such acts? And when they do, isn't > that terrorism, pure and simple? > > Why the reluctance on the part of some in the US to > acknowledge that this was clearly a > terrorist attack on American soil? Because to do so would > grant a victory to al-Qaida? Or > because it would mean admitting that letting such a heavily > armed man inside an airport terminal > on a day when the nation was at the highest state of alert > was a clear lapse of security? (Had > Hadayet attacked any counter other then El Al, one wonders > if he would have been stopped so > quickly and prevented from killing many others). > > Or is this a sign that even after 9/11, many Americans are > still grappling with the mind shift > needed to wage an extended war on terrorism both at home and > abroad? > > Even the early characterizations of the victims as Israelis > Victoria Hen and Ya'acov Aminov were > Israeli-Americans seemed intended to somehow shift the > definition of the crime away from an > act of terrorism against the US, to some kind of > transplanted offshoot of the Israeli-Arab conflict. > > No wonder that Hen's family felt compelled to issue a > statement flatly declaring: "We the family > believe that this was a murder, an act carried out by a > terrorist against Israelis and American > Israelis on American soil. We wish that the American > government will once and for all take a > clear and present stand on the issue of terror and will act > on it." > > The intention here is not to criticize the US war on > terrorism from an Israeli perspective. Israel > has its own problems, both in psychological and practical > terms, in dealing with terrorism. The > US, with its rich tradition of civil liberties and proudly > multi-ethnic society must find its own, very > different path, to fighting and defeating this scourge. > > But echoing the Hen family, one thing needs to be stated > loud and clear about last week's > attack at LA airport. This was no "isolated incident." The > enemies of America vowed to commit a > terror strike on American soil on July 4 and they succeeded. > America needs to clearly > acknowledge this fact, draw the necessary conclusions, and > then act on them as swiftly as > possible. > > * Find this article at: > > >http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/Full&cid=1025787710717
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