Here We Go Again

(June 15, 2003) This past Wednesday I happened to be home when the news of the latest homicide bombing in Jerusalem broke. As is my habit, I flipped back and forth from one cable news network to the other in search of more facts. I have friends over there, and each of these attacks unnerves me a little. So, I was flipping from Fox to CNN to MSNBC and so on. And within an hour, the story morphed right in front of my eyes.

What seemed to be a pretty straight story - homicide bomber detonates on crowded bus killing 17 and wounding 123 - quickly became a travesty of journalism. To really understand this one, we have to go back a few days. Last week, President Bush appeared to have succeeded in getting the Palestinians and Israelis to at least work towards a real peace. The Palestinians even went as far as to recognize Israel's right to exist which is more than the murderer Arafat would ever go. The Israelis agreed to take down some of the further settlements that were points of contention. The Palestinians agreed to make every effort to quell the terror troubles in this region and prevents every effort at peace.

No sooner had that promise been made, then it was violently broken by the Palestinian terror groups, acting in concert. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Brigade (which is part of the murderer Arafat's own political party) sent homicide attackers into border crossing to kill Israeli soldiers. They then took public credit for the attacks and promised more as long as there were any peace talks underway. The terrorists even played their hand in full by promising to "keep killing Jews until our land is returned." The land they claim is all of Israel. And they are not after Israelis. No, they are after Jews. Openly.

When the Palestinian Authority under the Puppet Prime Minister Mohammed Abbas - or Abu Mazen as he is known - did nothing. They promised to talk to Hamas, et al. Hamas said they wouldn't talk to Abbas. And nothing was done. No talks, no action, no nothing. Seeing the promise broken, Israel, as is their right, targeted a Hamas leader and attacked his car with helicopter launched rockets. Al-Rantissi was injured, but bystanders were killed and injured as well. Sadly, that happens in war.

To put that in context, the U.S. on three occasions during the War on Terror have used overwhelming force to try to kill the enemy leader. Once against Bin Laden at Tora Bora where we pretty much flattened mountains and killed hundreds. Again in Baghdad, where we dropped 41 bombs on a single building targeting Saddam. And once more aiming at Saddam in Baghdad where we bombed the crud out of a neighborhood, killing who knows how many. Now, I have no problem with this. I can still see the towers falling and thousands dying. Sadly, many Americans seem to have forgotten that.

No sooner had the Israelis taken action, then the world's media began to excoriate the Israelis for "breaking the peace." Not a mention of the Hamas statement or the terrorist attack the day before. Well, that was Tuesday, and as mentioned above, on Wednesday, a homicide bomber took out the number 4 bus on Jaffa Street in downtown Jerusalem. 17 dead, 123 wounded. Keep those numbers in mind. As the story broke, journalists immediately began blaming the Israelis for the bus bombing. The line touted by leading liberal lights in this nation is that Israel should never have taken action in her defense. They just invited the bus bombing. The international equivalent of, "She was asking for it."

Somehow, a moral equivalence has been drawn between an attempt by Israel to rout out the terrorists and the terrorists killing innocent bus passengers. For some reason, it is OK with the jackals in the media when the US does it, but let the Israelis engage in a war on terror and it is totally unacceptable. Even though Israel has had hundreds of these attacks in the last few years, and we have had but a few. By some unknowable media logic, killing children on a bus is as noble as fighting to defend one's nation. I have my own opinion about why this is. And it is not about oil or even money.

This, sadly is all about old prejudices come back to life. Look at the reporting. 17 dead Israelis and 123 wounded for just being on the bus, and the top story everywhere is 4 Palestinians killed in an attack that also killed 2 known Hamas terrorists. Forget the 17 dead and the 123 wounded Israelis...let's rush off to the Gaza hospital to see one wounded Palestinian. What, dead and inured Jews? Over a weeping unhurt Palestinian woman? Not for the liberal media in this country. Loop that weeping woman and run it over and over. And after 3 minutes of blather on the relative handful of Palestinians hurt, mention in the final sentence the 17 and the 123. Or was it the 6 million? Dan and Peter and Tom tend to forget which is which. Liberal heart throb Joe Lieberman can't seem to remember either.

It is high time that we and the rest of the world recognized Israel's right to exist, and the Palestinian's right to a sovereign nation. and it is time that the world forced the Arab nations to stop supporting the terror. It can be done. President Bush has held a very hard line on this. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al Aqsa and Hizbollah are all listed as terrorist organizations. And, yet the media and the liberals all seem to wave that aside in the face of....perhaps I should stop short of libel here.

The point is that the free and democratic nation of Israel is under daily terrorist attack supported by brutal oppressive dictatorships. The media and their ilk seems to think that is just fine. Well it is not. And I, as an American Jew am disgusted and angered. Does anyone else remember the 6 million? And the 17 and the 123?

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