-Caveat Lector- > Jonah Goldberg > A Mexican suicide bomber walked into a pizza restaurant in a > Santa Fe, > N.M., mall this morning, killing at least 15 people, mostly children. > Up to a > hundred others were wounded. > The bodies of two young boys who had been playing hooky from > school were > found in a cave outside of Phoenix. They had been beaten to death, > and their > bodies mutilated. Authorities are looking for Navajo separatists they > believe > are responsible. > Militia in Tijuana, Mexico, fired rocket grenades into downtown > San > Diego, killing 20, wounding 50 and, once again, snarling morning > traffic. > It's more than a little uncomfortable ascribing such barbarous > crimes to > completely innocent folk. Still, imagine if such things happened here > instead > of in Israel on an almost daily basis. How do you think the United > States > would respond? > Indeed, the comparison is less outlandish than you might think. > After > all, the United States took land from American Indians. It took land > from > Mexicans. In a sense, "we" even took land from the British. And, no > matter > how you slice it, America's claim to Texas and the Southwest is > certainly far > less morally compelling than Israel's is to its land. > When the European Jews not already living in Palestine arrived > there > after World War II, the area was largely empty. What is today called > Jordan > was the historic home of many "Palestinians." And, after all, even > the most > militant Muslim must concede that the Bible places the land as the > historic > home of the Jews. > Meanwhile, when European colonists came to North America, they > had no > historical claim to the land whatsoever and, besides, it was > occupied. > But for the sake of argument, imagine if Mexican irredentists or > Indian > militants took it upon themselves to routinely blow up innocent > civilians. > America, conventional wisdom dictates, couldn't handle watching young > > (italics) soldiers (end italics) being killed in Vietnam. How would > they > handle seeing young girls shopping for the prom being blown to > unrecognizable > bits outside the Gap? Or US Army Reservists being killed by mobs of > Mexican > day-workers? Or old ladies being shot by sniper fire? > My guess is that most Americans would see, with abundant > clarity, that > such violence would have to be stopped. Unfortunately, Israel doesn't > get the > same consideration. > Last week, when a suicide bomber blew up a Sbarro restaurant in > Jerusalem full of kids, killing 15 people and wounding 100, Israel > responded > by seizing control of some Palestinian military installations. > Secretary of State Colin Powell's response? "I hope that both > sides will > act with restraint," Powell said. "They both have to do everything > they can > to restrain the violence, restrain the provocation and the > counter-response > to the provocation." > This is the equivalent of saying that if someone sucker-punches > you, you > are just as wrong for punching him back in self-defense. > In fact, it's worse than that because Israel never (italics) > intends > (end italics) to kill innocents. When terrorists kill Israeli > civilians, > Israelis attack terrorist strongholds, military targets and > bomb-making > infrastructures. > Sometimes, they've even used rubber bullets. But even when the > "payback" > is unambiguously severe, it is always delivered to grown-up, declared > > combatants. Hence, when Palestinian innocents die it is virtually > always an > unfortunate byproduct of Israeli action. When Palestinians kill, > innocents > are the target. > And yet, night after night, the American media feel compelled to > list > Israel's unintended casualties alongside Yasser Arafat and Hamas' > intended > casualties. For example, when two Jewish boys (one of them American) > were > beaten to death in a cave last May, press reports linked it to the > death of a > Palestinian baby killed by accident in a crossfire two days earlier. > ``In a region seemingly numb to violence, the deaths of both > Palestinian > and Israeli youngsters have struck nerves on both sides of the > conflict," > reported a CNN correspondent. > But the baby was shot by accident when Israeli soldiers were > returning > fire on mortars. The baby was, tragically, in the way. But the two > Jewish > kids were simply murdered. If an American cop shoots a kid by > accident in a > crossfire, would it then be OK to go out and shoot two kids because > their > parents are police officers? Well, that's precisely the moral > equivalence > we've established for the Middle East. > Israel offered a stunningly generous peace settlement to Yasser > Arafat > in the last days of the Clinton Administration. I thought it was > foolish at > the time, but it turned out to be fortunate, because it showed that > the > Palestinians cannot accept peace. > When Arafat turned down the ultimate land-for-peace deal, even > Israeli > doves knew, finally, that Israel is the only party willing to take > peace > seriously. If someone refuses to pay you $1 for your car, you know he > was > never serious about buying it in the first place. > So now Israel is in a situation where its enemies have declared > war, but > it cannot. Because even when Israel merely responds to terror, it is > called > no better than a terrorist. And that is a disgrace. > You can write to Jonah Goldberg in care of this newspaper or by > e-mail > at [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Goldberg is the editor of National Review Online ( > http://www.nationalreview.com). > > http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/goldberg.htm > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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