Out of the Mouths of the Terrorists

[GabysPoppy]

Israel has had a hard time over the years explaining its political position and its need to focus on security. Often we are told to give land, make concessions and then there will be peace. What we have understood for many years, the world still fails to comprehend. The true character of the Palestinian leadership is expressed in its Arabic broadcasts to its people, rather than the polite, peaceful words they mouth in English.

Look how they want peace, claim the Europeans. Yasser Arafat is calling you his partners and begging you to make the "peace of the brave." Trust us, offer the Americans, follow the "roadmap" and it will get you to a final settlement. After more than 50 years, this time the Arabs will meet you at the negotiation table and end the conflict.

Words, we try to explain, just words. The truth is in the buses that are blown up, in the graves we dig each week. Even releasing real footage, taken in the minutes after a bomb explosion, does not seem to have impressed the world. They have yet to understand that the real Palestinian goal is in the mortars they launch every day, each day, almost without fail. It is in the rocks that they throw, in the bullets they shoot at us. It is in the teachings of their children, the sermons of their religious leaders, the hatred broadcast in their newspapers and television programs and the continued calls for more violence.

It isn't often the Palestinians trust the stupidity of the world enough to speak from their hearts. So, they speak in English of peace, of negotiations, of the poor Palestinians only wanting what is rightfully theirs, of the need for work, and the world believes. And, at the same time, in Arabic, they speak of jihad and shaheed, holy wars and martyrdom. They promise their youth glory at the end of the bomb. Eternal life achieved through the murder of the enemy.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=3347

Hopefully the message will be discussed as opposed to the source. But then again, I used to believe in the tooth fairy also.

[alwynsw]

1. Here come the flames

I see and sympathize with your position. I simply do not see the Palestinians ever settling down unless Israel ceases to exist. I want to see Israel succeed and prosper if for no other reason than this: I can find no people in the history of the world that have been so persecuted for so many thousands of years.

I wonder if the Palestinians realize that - how do I say this lacking the technical vocabulary - genetically pure Jews and genetically pure Arabs (going to the Semetic roots of the race) are genetically the same race as are Koreans and Japanese (but the Korean/Japanese issue is another kettle of fish)?

I'm almost to the point of believing that this would help stop some of the violence:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=583&e=3&u=/nm/20040213/od_nm/mideast_pig_dc

Me? Irish lineage all the way, except for back in the 12th Century when my ancestors migrated to Ireland from Scotland.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

2. Palestinians?

It's always amazed me how there are "Palestinians" but there is no "Palestine". How does that work? Indeed, aren't the Palestinians really Israelis under the current system? There is something in the language, in how the 2 parties address each other, that is curious. I understand there are no easy answers, and I don't pretend to be able to understand what both sides feel, but the enmity between the two is breathtaking.

I think Michael Moore was right in, i believe, "Downsize This", or it could have been "Stupid White Men" when he suggested that if the Palestinian people embraced non-violent protest and passive resistance the Israeli government would be down on its knees begging for them to quit. That the Palestinians use terrorism plays right into the hand of the Israelis and around and around the circle of revenge goes.

[alwynsw]

3. I agree with the non-violent approach

Just a small point. Tom Clancy beat Moore to that idea by several years in one of his books. It started with a sit-in on the Temple Mount as I recall. One of the portestors was accidentally (on purpose) killed by a rubber bullet. At any rate, the upshot was peaceful co-existence with UN oversight.

I'd likely follow Moore a little closer if he did two things:

1) Have an original thought

2) Stop the grandstanding and spinning. So help me, he's the left's version of OxyRush

Sorry for the partial thread hijack, GB

Edited to add: Going to bed now. Will read the flames in the morning. Nite nite, all.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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[drdon326]

12. Well...

its painfully obvious that Jordan doesnt want them.

[ex_jew]

4. From the article...

" So, in 10 years time or less, weakened by borders we cannot defend, our capital once again divided, with Syria once again towering over our northern cities, and a million Palestinians massing on the border of Gaza, we will be revisited with buses blowing up, cafes being bombed, and our cities again subjected to daily mortar attacks. "

In other words, Israel could buy itself 10 years of peace and find itself no worse off than it is today, simply by doing what the rest of the world has asked it to do, yet this proposal is only a figment of the Palestinians' imagination.

Why is it always the powerless whose words threaten the powerful to such an extent that they must be dismissed as imaginary ? Why is it that the bedraggled dictatorship of Iraq was portrayed as a monstrous and gathering threat to the greatest army the world has ever seen ?

I think it is because admitting that they hold all the cards EXCEPT JUSTICE is simply too painful for the warlike oppressors. The tiniest concession could not be squared with the legends that award them full, unquestioned title to whatever they may happen to covet. Everyone else is some lesser kind of creature, to be evaluated only as a potential threat and then crushed when the time is right. Even concessions that would obviously make borders easier to defend (e.g. removing settlements from Gaza) are of no real interest, because the issue is NOT security in the first place. Those who feel entitled to a piece of land will NEVER let go of any of it, because co-existence and peace are not seen as valuable in themselves.

Contrary to what the article says, the problems Israel faces in explaining its position to the world have nothing to do with foreign accents. Tom DeLay is not a foreigner. Paul Wolfowitz is not a foreigner. Alan Dershowitz is not a foreigner. But what they are saying has ceased to resonate with much of the world's population, and the situation is only getting worse.

[tinnypriv]

6. Can I discuss the source pretty please?

This is the same outlet that says the Israeli media is "known for their left-wing views".

They're talking about Yediot and Ma'ariv. :crazy:

Makes you wonder what they consider center, doesn't it?

Hazofe? Kach pamplets?

[GabysPoppy]

7. Was this stated by Rantisi or not?

And now, out of the mouths of terrorists, comes the truth in all languages. It is the truth as we have known it, said in a language the world might, perhaps, finally understand. Senior Hamas spokesman Abdel Aziz Rantisi has made an offer to Israel. He wants Israel to withdraw from parts of Jerusalem, all of Gaza and all of the West Bank. We are to give up the Golan Heights and release all prisoners. And, if Israel will meet all of the Palestinian demands, Hamas will grant us a cease-fire. An end to suicide bombings. A cessation of violence.

But it is only a figment of their imagination, another attempt to fool the world. It is a temporary cease-fire they offer. One that will last up to 10 years, but, Rantisi assures us, "not more than 10 years."

Makes one wonder why the source is attacked as opposed to the message?

[tinnypriv]

8. I attacked it because

Serious analysis of Rantisi's comments has already been done:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/16916

In addition, I addressed the Hamas offer elsewhere (suggesting it be "accepted"), which I'm sure you're perfectly well aware of.

Either way, I'm not particularly bothered about what Hamas has to say (except insofar as their words can be used to trap them into agreements designed to eventually destroy their organisation, perhaps physically).

If you wish to quibble over what they may or may not have said in English and Arabic, that's fair enough. I don't consider it a particularly useful endeavour, given that there are far more productive ways to assist peace efforts in the region.

One way would be trying to direct the torch away from the cockroaches of Hamas, and shining a light on disgraceful U.S. policy which is perpetuating the conflict right at the moment, which you and I have the capacity to infulence if we like ("we" and "I" used in a general manner).

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

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[Noon_Blue_Apples]

10. yes, it makes one wonder

you begin your statement speaking of "terrorists" then we refer to these terrorists as 'Hams/Rantisi' (not a stretch) then (tada-presto chango) we are speaking of 'Palestinian' demands being met.

makes one wonder how demands of Rantisi and the mouths of terrorists becomes 'all of the palestinian demands'?

yes it does make one wonder.

what are these 'palestinian demands' and what motivation do you have for referencing them as such?

B

edit: how to what