?Evil and Stupid?
That was the title of an editorial in the London-based Saudi Arabian newspaper a-Sharq al-Awsat. The title was referring to the multiple terrorist attacks on Israeli tourists in Kenya a little over a week ago. The article itself came out on the morrow of the attacks and represents a strong condemnation of them, comparing the perpetrators to Serbian war criminals.
While saying that the attacks should have been expected, the a-Sharq editor wrote, ?Expectation, however, does not make what happened any less evil ? or stupid.? Then, the editorial launches into a two paragraph condemnation that, despite its distortion of Israeli military actions, should give apologists for terrorism pause:
?It is bad enough when innocent bystanders are killed in military action, but civilians, Israeli or otherwise, must never be targeted. The fact that the Palestinians are at war with Israel does not alter that fundamental fact. In any event, what was the military objective here? Was the hotel a secret Israeli army base? Where the two children killed in the blast Israeli soldiers? Were the six Kenyans killed closet Israelis? The fact that the Israeli Army kills innocent Palestinians, even Palestinian children, is no justification. It is not for Israel?s enemies to mimic its evil deeds.
?To target and kill civilians is the worst of crimes against humanity. Killing Israeli holiday-makers, or those waiting for buses in Israel, is no different to Serbs slaughtering the innocents of Srebrenica, other than in scale. Those who organized the Mombasa attacks are on a par with the Milosevics and Karadzics of this world ? just as cruel, vile and culpable.?
The extraordinary editorial then explores the political stupidity of such attacks, in addition to their immorality. Such attacks, writes the author, will not move the Arab agenda forward, rather ?[i]t will set it back ? which is why this coordinated attack, for all its apparent sophistication, was so insane... Every time a suicide bomb goes off in Israel, every time Israeli civilians are killed, at a club, at a bus stop, that moral high ground is eroded. Whether or not Palestinians were involved in the Mombasa action, they will, sadly, be tainted by it.? The attacks also serve the Israeli right, according to the a-Sharq editorial. The Mombasa attack and ?the bus attack in northern Israel are precisely the sort of action that frightens the Israelis into Ariel Sharon?s bloodstained arms. He ? and Netanyahu ? alone gain.?
?There will be other victims too ? Muslim victims...? the editorial claims, ?Tanzanian and Kenyan Muslims still feel the weight of discrimination and suspicion as a result of al-Qaeda?s 1998 US Embassy attacks in the two countries. In Tanzania there has been outrage among Muslims at a new terrorism law, which they believe discriminates specifically against them. This bombing will make matters immeasurably worse.?
But it is far from over, the editor writes, ?[T]his attack is also a warning to President Bush who has allowed himself to be deflected by Iraq. Last month there was the bomb attack in Bali. Yesterday, it was Mombasa. Tomorrow where? Goa? Benidorm? Bodrum? Marrakesh?? The Saudi Arabian newspaper then makes the following colorful observation and demand: ?Al-Qaeda is not going to stop. Like a ravenous, stalking beast, it has tasted human flesh and will crave for more until it is destroyed. Its destruction has to be the crux of the war on terrorism, not Iraq.?
In contrast to the forthright, unabashed condemnation issued by the London-based a-Sharq al-Awsat, an editorial in The Egyptian Gazette attempts to blame the Israelis for being the root cause of such international terrorism. ?Despite the fact that attacks on hotels, planes or buses are fully condemned, the Israeli leaders should take the blame for threatening the lives of innocent civilians on air, on land and at sea. Tel Aviv's rulers should understand the fact that their crimes against the Palestinian people inevitably invite reprisal acts, which are currently in full swing. Israeli rulers can positively help slow down the bloodletting only if they honor international resolutions and accords.? Such an analysis, of course, also contains an implied threat, enunciated by the Egyptian author, as well: ?What else is left for a helpless nation, denied its land, its legitimate rights and its ability to earn a living? Predictably, such desperate people will give vent to their suppressed anger by launching reprisal acts against the aggressors and land-grabbers. Therefore, the US has a great responsibility to right the wrong done in the past. The US must be fully aware of the horrifying escalation in the situation between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The flames will engulf everything and the interests of US citizens will not be safe.?
There is, therefore, only one thing to do, writes the Egyptian columnist, an ?immediate convention of the proposed international conference to investigate a collective mechanism to fight terrorism and organized crime effectively. In the meantime, the independent Palestinian state should be established. Believe me, in the absence of these two goals, humanity will be denied safety and stability. Let's wait and see.?
That was the title of an editorial in the London-based Saudi Arabian newspaper a-Sharq al-Awsat. The title was referring to the multiple terrorist attacks on Israeli tourists in Kenya a little over a week ago. The article itself came out on the morrow of the attacks and represents a strong condemnation of them, comparing the perpetrators to Serbian war criminals.
While saying that the attacks should have been expected, the a-Sharq editor wrote, ?Expectation, however, does not make what happened any less evil ? or stupid.? Then, the editorial launches into a two paragraph condemnation that, despite its distortion of Israeli military actions, should give apologists for terrorism pause:
?It is bad enough when innocent bystanders are killed in military action, but civilians, Israeli or otherwise, must never be targeted. The fact that the Palestinians are at war with Israel does not alter that fundamental fact. In any event, what was the military objective here? Was the hotel a secret Israeli army base? Where the two children killed in the blast Israeli soldiers? Were the six Kenyans killed closet Israelis? The fact that the Israeli Army kills innocent Palestinians, even Palestinian children, is no justification. It is not for Israel?s enemies to mimic its evil deeds.
?To target and kill civilians is the worst of crimes against humanity. Killing Israeli holiday-makers, or those waiting for buses in Israel, is no different to Serbs slaughtering the innocents of Srebrenica, other than in scale. Those who organized the Mombasa attacks are on a par with the Milosevics and Karadzics of this world ? just as cruel, vile and culpable.?
The extraordinary editorial then explores the political stupidity of such attacks, in addition to their immorality. Such attacks, writes the author, will not move the Arab agenda forward, rather ?[i]t will set it back ? which is why this coordinated attack, for all its apparent sophistication, was so insane... Every time a suicide bomb goes off in Israel, every time Israeli civilians are killed, at a club, at a bus stop, that moral high ground is eroded. Whether or not Palestinians were involved in the Mombasa action, they will, sadly, be tainted by it.? The attacks also serve the Israeli right, according to the a-Sharq editorial. The Mombasa attack and ?the bus attack in northern Israel are precisely the sort of action that frightens the Israelis into Ariel Sharon?s bloodstained arms. He ? and Netanyahu ? alone gain.?
?There will be other victims too ? Muslim victims...? the editorial claims, ?Tanzanian and Kenyan Muslims still feel the weight of discrimination and suspicion as a result of al-Qaeda?s 1998 US Embassy attacks in the two countries. In Tanzania there has been outrage among Muslims at a new terrorism law, which they believe discriminates specifically against them. This bombing will make matters immeasurably worse.?
But it is far from over, the editor writes, ?[T]his attack is also a warning to President Bush who has allowed himself to be deflected by Iraq. Last month there was the bomb attack in Bali. Yesterday, it was Mombasa. Tomorrow where? Goa? Benidorm? Bodrum? Marrakesh?? The Saudi Arabian newspaper then makes the following colorful observation and demand: ?Al-Qaeda is not going to stop. Like a ravenous, stalking beast, it has tasted human flesh and will crave for more until it is destroyed. Its destruction has to be the crux of the war on terrorism, not Iraq.?
In contrast to the forthright, unabashed condemnation issued by the London-based a-Sharq al-Awsat, an editorial in The Egyptian Gazette attempts to blame the Israelis for being the root cause of such international terrorism. ?Despite the fact that attacks on hotels, planes or buses are fully condemned, the Israeli leaders should take the blame for threatening the lives of innocent civilians on air, on land and at sea. Tel Aviv's rulers should understand the fact that their crimes against the Palestinian people inevitably invite reprisal acts, which are currently in full swing. Israeli rulers can positively help slow down the bloodletting only if they honor international resolutions and accords.? Such an analysis, of course, also contains an implied threat, enunciated by the Egyptian author, as well: ?What else is left for a helpless nation, denied its land, its legitimate rights and its ability to earn a living? Predictably, such desperate people will give vent to their suppressed anger by launching reprisal acts against the aggressors and land-grabbers. Therefore, the US has a great responsibility to right the wrong done in the past. The US must be fully aware of the horrifying escalation in the situation between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The flames will engulf everything and the interests of US citizens will not be safe.?
There is, therefore, only one thing to do, writes the Egyptian columnist, an ?immediate convention of the proposed international conference to investigate a collective mechanism to fight terrorism and organized crime effectively. In the meantime, the independent Palestinian state should be established. Believe me, in the absence of these two goals, humanity will be denied safety and stability. Let's wait and see.?