The August 2001 bombing of Sbarro pizzeria

In his column Monday berating the Israeli leadership for not having accepted the Arab League initiative, veteran Ha’aretz journalist Akiva Eldar provides another example of his selective vision (“Arab peace initiative is another missed opportunity for Israel“). He writes:

Instead of making peace with all the Arab states, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon launched a war against the Palestinians the day after the March 2002 Arab League summit: In response to the murder of 30 Israelis in the Hamas suicide attack at a Passover seder in Netanya’s Park Hotel, he ordered the army to reoccupy the territories (Operation Defensive Shield ).

That is an interesting take on reality. If Eldar considers Operation “Defensive Shield” the launching of a war against the Palestinians, how does he describe the year and a half-long terror offensive directed against Israel which preceded the operation? In Eldar’s mind, was the murder and carnage of Israelis on buses, cafes, and pizzerias, and the firing of rockets at Israeli towns — which first began in the beginning of 2001 — simply the normal course of affairs?
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The little Nordic country famed, among less positive matters, for giving the world a vivid synonym for traitor — Quisling — for its pro-Nazi regime during WWII, is seemingly obsessed with heaping contempt on Israel and its supporters. The latest example centers on renowned Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz’s lecture tour of Norway, during which he offered to speak for no fee at any university on the subject of international law and Israel. All refused.

As Dershowitz notes in his Wall Street Journal column, these same universities, having presented virulent anti-Israel speakers and advocated academic boycotts of Jewish Israeli academics are now boycotting pro-Israel Jewish speakers as well. The bigoted sentiment of some Norwegian professors is striking. Trond Adresen from Trondheim University has written:

There is something immensely self-satisfied and self-centered at the tribal mentality that is so prevalent among Jews…[They] as a whole, are charaterized by this mentality….It is no less legitimate to say such a thing about Jews in 2008-2009 than it was to make the same point about the Germans around 1938.

Fortunately, students at three universities organized enthusiastic meetings for the Harvard professor, attracting large crowds eager to hear the facts about Israel.

Norway expert Manfred Gerstenfeld contends the crude, exclusionary policies of the anti-Israel academics are a reality underestimated in their virulence by many policymakers in Israel. At the same time, Gerstenfeld notes, they don’t represent everyone in Norway. Siv Jensen of the opposition Progress Party expresses positive sentiments towards Israel — and even displays an Israeli flag on her desk.

Khaled Abu Toameh reports in the Jerusalem Post:

At least eight journalists were beaten by the Hamas police officers during the [unity] rallies.

Some had their cameras and laptops confiscated, while others were taken into custody and made to sign a document pledging to refrain from covering such events in the future.

Later, Hamas security personnel raided the offices of a number of media organizations and confiscated equipment and documents. Among the offices targeted were Reuters, CNN and a Japanese TV network.

One of the female journalists, Samah Ahmed, complained that a Hamas policeman in military uniform stabbed her in the back as she tried to leave the al-Katiba Square, where pro-unity protesters were staging a sit-in strike.

She said that she and another female journalist, Asma al- Ghoul, were later also beaten with clubs before they were taken to detention.

Just one more example of how Hamas treats journalists “with dignity.”

The Los Angeles Times goes on the defensive about its indefensible characterization of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as “the self-destructive tit-for-tat mentality that often seems designed to keep the conflict alive rather than to end it.” Editorial writers argue:

You can argue forever about who is right and who is wrong. Or how far back to go to determine who started the hostilities. Or how much worse it is or isn’t to kill civilians on purpose than it is to kill them as collateral damage. Those are questions for philosophers to wrestle with. But to deny that there’s a cycle of violence seems pointless.

A couple of thoughts: Isn’t it the job of editorial writers to grapple with the relative gravity of the intentional brutal murder of civilians versus the killing of civilians used by terrorists as human shields against anti-terror forces? (Is it really that difficult a question to address in the first place?)

As for the “cycle” of violence question, it would be an interesting question for the deep thinkers at the Times to ponder: what would happen if Israeli forces simply laid down their arms and did not attempt to stop any rocket crews, or prevent tunneling into Israel to carry out attacks, or to hunt down terrorists? Would Palestinian attacks continue? And what would happen if the Palestinians completely halted all attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers, and stopped stockpiling ever more dangerous Iranian weaponry for the next round? Would Israeli attacks continue?

(Hat tip: Stephen S)

The J Street Web site may want to update its myths and facts page, a section devoted to attempts to counter charges of anti-Israel activity, malfeasance, dubious fundraising, unsavory associations and the like. The question is how to explain away positive mention from the author of a book deeply hostile to Israel, in the view of some anti-Semitic. Stephen Walt, who himself has trouble with the facts, is marking the five-year anniversary of his The Israel Lobby with pride in the impact it’s had. Although he says “we didn’t expect groups like AIPAC to dry up and blow away” he’s encouraged by other developments. He finds it

gratifying to observe the emergence of J Street, to see groups like Americans for Peace Now and Jewish Voice for Peace become more vocal, and to see writers like Peter Beinart and David Remnick take public stances that are substantially different from ones they might have expressed a few years ago.

Some of those mentioned have always been extreme, but Walt is surely right about David Remnick’s shift. The New Yorker editor is far more radical, one-sided and, seemingly, obsessed with scrutinizing and blaming Israel than a few years ago.

A Chaldean Archbishop has put the elites in the West on notice. Christians in Iraq face “near genocide” conditions. The Catholic News Service provides the details:

Archbishop Bashar Warda of Irbil, Iraq, said part of the problem was the country’s “weak constitution, which tries to please two masters.”

“We are living in a region which cannot decide if it is for democracy or Islamic law,” he said March 16 at news conference sponsored by the Catholic charitable agency Aid to the Church in Need.

Archbishop Warda criticized “neighboring governments feeding insurgents with money and weapons to destabilize the Iraqi government” and said the rest of world’s governments had “turned their backs on us, as if the human rights abuses and near-genocide conditions Iraqi Christians experience are temporary.”

Archbishop Warda said that since the U.S.-led occupation of his country began in 2003, more than 500 Christians had been killed in religious and politically motivated violence.

Between 2006 and 2010, 17 Iraqi priests and two bishops were kidnapped and beaten or tortured. One bishop, four priests and three subdeacons were killed.

“In most cases, those responsible for the crimes stated they wanted Christians out of Iraq,” the archbishop said.

Mainline churches remained silent about the massacre of two adults and three children in Itamar, but at least one mainline church — the PC(USA) — has condemned yesterday’s attack in Jerusalem, which killed one person and injured more than 30 others. The statement, issued late yesterday by Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) reads as follows:

We have received word today of the detonation of a bomb near a bus stop in the city of Jerusalem. At least one death and numerous serious injuries are being reported.

We condemn this act of violence and the hatred out of which such acts spring.

On behalf of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), we call all people of good will to pray for those who have been victimized by this deadly act, and we renew our petitions to God to help us find a way to facilitate a future of peace in the region.

We recognize that this is not an isolated incident, but reflects the culture of violence that has troubled relationships between Palestinians and Israelis for so long. We urge swift action to identify and punish the perpetrators of this heinous act. We also urge all parties to refrain from using this incident to further escalate the cycle of violence and repression affecting both Israelis and Palestinians.

Every such incident reminds us all of the urgency of the quest to find common ground on which peace can be built.

The shopworn reference to the “cycle of violence” and the failure to mention exactly who is responsible for the incitement that generates and justifies violence against Israeli civilians is troubling. Still, the condemnation indicates that the attack has attracted the attention of people within the PC(USA). It did not go by the boards altogether.

Amira Hass‘s Op-Ed yesterday, “The sanctity of the soaring Qassam,” provides a fascinating look into the depths of her psyche.

In a display of verbal gymnastics, Ha’aretz‘s Hass attempts to explain to Hamas why the group should not fire Qassams at Israel. Why gymnastics? Because instead of simply saying, “Don’t fire Qassams in populated areas because it is a crime against humanity and wrong,” she speaks in terms of tactical interests.

Hass explains that Qassam attacks enables Hamas “to put on an act of being an army, one that targets civilians, and thus provide Israel with more ammunition for its victim show.”

Hass gives additional reasons why Hamas should not fire rockets:

It’s wrong to provide [Israel] with pretexts that would enable it to once again put Gaza’s children and old people through an ordeal like Cast Lead, or even one half as bad.

And

The Qassams merely feed Israel’s madness. It is not the Qassams that will ensure the Palestinians, both in and out of Gaza, a life of dignity. It is not the Qassams that will topple the Israeli walls around the world’s largest prison camp.

Despite several attempts to explain why Hamas should not fire Qassam rockets, she never once mentions the significance of firing on civilians. Hass is simply not capable of just once simply saying: shooting rockets at civilians is a wrong and unjustified act. Period.
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“Tit for tat” is defined as “an equivalent given in retaliation,” or “giving back exactly what one receives.” Sheera Frenkel, reporting on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” cites alleged “tit for tat” violence between Israelis and Palestinians:

Over the past several weeks, Israelis and Palestinians have engaged in tit-for-tat violence that has left civilians dead on both sides in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

But her own description of the violence on both sides belies the “tit for tat” canard. Her next words are:

In Gaza, Palestinian militants have fired more than 60 rockets into southern Israeli communities over the last week, injuring at least two Israelis. The IDF has responded with targeted attacks against Palestinian militants. But in one exchange on Tuesday, an Israeli tank misfired and killed four Palestinian civilians in a home close to where the militants had been firing missiles. The IDF said that four militants were also killed in that attack. (Emphasis added.)

In other words, Palestinians indiscriminately set bombs and fire rockets at purely civilian targets, with no military target nearby, ie commit war crimes. Israel attacks Palestinian terrorists who are firing rockets at Israeli civilians, and who use the cover of their own civilian population to do so. As a result, the unfortunate Palestinian civilians exploited as human shields by Palestinian terrorists are killed. Tit for tat?

Moreover, among the civilians dead in the West Bank in the last few weeks (unmentioned by Frenkel), were the five members of the Fogel family — parents Udi and Ruth, and their three children, Yoav (11), Elad (4), and Hadas (3 months) — who were brutally stabbed to death in their sleep. Perhaps Frenkel omits this particularly odious atrocity (even by Palestinian standards) because it, more than anything else, undercuts the tit for tat lie.

In a statement yesterday President Obama strongly condemned the bombing in Jerusalem and rocket attacks originating from Gaza and offered condolences for the casualties. He also reaffirmed Israel’s right to self-defense and offered condolences for the death of four Palestinian civilians in Gaza, killed as Israel was attacking a nearby rocket-launching crew. Here is the President’s complete statement:

I condemn in the strongest possible terms the bombing in Jerusalem today, as well as the rockets and mortars fired from Gaza in recent days. Together with the American people, I offer my deepest condolences for those injured or killed. There is never any possible justification for terrorism. The United States calls on the groups responsible to end these attacks at once and we underscore that Israel, like all nations, has a right to self-defense. We also express our deepest condolences for the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza yesterday. We stress the importance of calm and urge all parties to do everything in their power to prevent further violence and civilian casualties.

But the Los Angeles Times entirely ignores the President’s condemnation of the anti-Israel terrorist attacks as well as his affirmation of Israel’s right to self-defense, which were the first and second (and thus most important) points of his statement. The Times selectively quotes:

In a statement issued Wednesday from the White House, President Obama offered condolences to Israeli and Palestinian victims of violence. “We stress the importance of calm and urge all parties to do everything in their power to prevent further violence and civilian casualties,” the statement said.