General Information Staff Subscribe Donor Information Archives Syndicate Chronicle Headlines Other Opinion articles		John Tabin   Evil's enablers What do Neighbors for Peace really want? Posted 05-03-2002, 01:06 by John Tabin Thursday night at Immanuel Lutheran Church, "Neighbors for Peace," the local anti-war fringe group formed after Sept. 11, hosted an event billed as "Eyewitness Palestine." It featured Kathy Kelly and Jeff Guntzel, Americans recently returned from the West Bank. I get very emotional about Israel. It has been observed that, as it stands right now, if the Palestinians unilaterally lay down their arms, they will be given peace and their own state, whereas if the Israels unilaterally lay down their arms, they will be destroyed-- and as far as much of the world is concerned, either option would be fine. This upsets me in part because I'm Jewish, and if someone feels the world would be better off without the state where nearly 40% of Jews live, he likely thinks the world would be better without Jews, too. But there is an even more important reason to support the Jewish State, in my mind: if Israel can be defeated, that sends a message to the Islamofascists that they can triumph over the West, which will embolden them to kill more and more of us. I am opposed to this scenario; I think it should be fought. Kelly and Guntzel, however, are clearly of the "violence never solved anything" school of thought. This is nonsense, of course; history is replete with examples of violence solving things (taxation without representation in the American British Colonies, the collapse of the Union and bondage of slaves, the rise of European fascism and Japanese militarist expansionism, just to name a few examples off the top of my head). Though they are earnest, and in fact quite charming-- if they seem a little gullible in regurgitating unquestioningly the stories of non-anonymous Palestinians (who would no doubt face trouble with the PA if they got "off-message" with the foreign press)-- Kelly and Guntzel's pacifist activism may have had real consequences. Upon getting a message that there would likely be a bloody commando raid on Arafat's compound in Rammallah, international activists, including Kelly and Guntzel, conspired to sneak more of themselves into the compound to make the raid politically untenable. "This [was] not about protecting Arafat or anything like that," explained Guntzel, "but simply the fact that that's no way to settle this standoff." The commando raid never did take place after the activists entered the compound, so whatever their actions were about, the effect of them may well have been to preserve the life of one of the most vile men on Earth. As for the battle of Jenin, to their credit, Guntzel and Kelly do not necessarily say that it was a "massacre," (though they feel that only with U.N. inspectors would we know for sure how many died there), but Guntzel did say, "it's a crime against humanity when 800 family's homes are eliminated for the sake of a couple hundred fighters who would not give themselves up, this is an excessive act." It sure sounds like he's saying that Palestinian property is more valuable than Israeli lives. "I needed no training in human rights, in military strategy, in anything to know that what happened was excessive, excessively violent, and way over the top." Actually, he has it backwards; if he had some experience in, say, a carpet-bombed city, he might be better able to put Jenin into perspective. And given that the sieges in the West Bank seem to have stemmed the tide of suicide bombers, they appear to have been at least temporarily effective militarily. I was reflecting on these points as the question and answer session at the end of the presentation proceeded. I was relieved that several questioners were pro-Israel; seeing such a large crowd-- somewhat under 100-- gathered for Palestinian propaganda nearly made me ill at the beginning of the evening. As Kelly was making a point that Europeans support the Palestinians, I couldn't help saying, "Yeah, because they hate the Jews." Now, the spread of European anti-Semitism of late is hard to dispute. Nique ta mere les juifs has become such a common scrawl on French walls that it is often abbreviated NTM les juifs-- it means "Fuck your mother, Jews." Synagogues burn across the continent, and police in Berlin advise Jews not to wear yarmulkes for their own safety. (Remember shortly after Sept. 11th when some non-Muslim American women donned the hijab to give Muslim women strength in numbers against potential hate criminals? Nothing like that has occurred to them across the pond.) "No, that's not it," came a voice from nearby. "Yeah, it is, they hate the Jews," I answered. "You're out of line." This voice belonged to a young man about my age, who was also recording the event, with dark, unkempt hair, a strong chin, black wire frame glasses-- and a navy blue-and-white patterned scarf around his neck. Folded differently, it could almost be a talis, but the way he wore it, it was clearly of the type that terrorists wear in Hamas marches. That Intifada-rag is the closest thing in mainstream fashion-statements to a swastika armband. It signifies expulsion or murder of Jews. If it doesn't, than the Nazi banner is just another historical German flag. This guy muttered, as one of the pro-Israel questioners was mentioning the hundreds killed and many more maimed by suicide bombers, leaving cripples throughout Israel, "There are cripples in Palestine too." This got me petulant: "Yeah, most of them are terrorists." "Yeah, all those kids, yeah--" "YEAH, there are kids who are terrorists, they have ten-year-old suicide bombers." "Their families were all killed by Israelis, that's WHY they became suicide bombers." At this point I came very close to punching this gentleman in the face; I lunged, but held myself back. I walked out of the church in a rage, making quite a scene as I left. This wasn't particularly professional. I probably should have kept a cool head, not even engaged the anti-Zionist, observed quietly and filed an amusing report on the fringe. But some things aren't amusing. Some things, like implied justification for suicide bombing, are enraging. And sometimes, percolating among evil's enablers like the ones at Immanuel Lutheran on Thursday, rage can't help but erupt. Email this Article Printer-friendly version Author John Tabin [e-mail] Reader Feedback Post a comment Name E-mail address Subject   Comment hi by abdalla (aseel_00@yahoo.com) on 02-01-2006, 04:21 would you plz conect me with the manager here All this violence! What's happening to the world? by Amin Abdullah (kamalmahasan@msn.com) on 03-27-2004, 09:19 Greetings Brothers and Sisters! It seems like there's violence on both sides here. What with war, suicides, you name it, it's all violence. Therefore I recommend you all go to http://www.powerstressmanagement.com/ http://www.icon.co.za/~magnolia/ http://www.the-testament-of-truth.com/ and sead your minds with the truth! Blessings to you all and my universal love to you all!!! Zionism by Bryan Mosley (lakesidefantasy@yahoo.com) on 10-31-2002, 16:37 Michael Walzer's piece doesn't mention Zionism. He sometimes hints at it with phrases like "divine gift" or "historical destiny", but never mentions it directly. This is not surprising. Of all the lectures and papers on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict I’ve seen not one has ever mentioned Zionism, except for the article above. My question is: Why shouldn’t we all be anti-Zionists. Most lectures and papers on this conflict start at 1947 and never look back into the issue of Zionism. They claim that Palestine had the chance to accept statehood but didn’t. Why? Why did Israel so readily accept the partition plan while Palestine refused it? Because the Israelis had nothing to lose, that’s why. They were gaining land that the Palestinians were losing. I think it is very clear that the Palestinians got skrewed. Skrewed by Zionists who wanted Palestine because they felt it was their “historical destiny”, their “divine gift”--theirs for the taking. Now, I don't support terrorists, nor do I support a one state solution in Palestine, but I certainly don't support Zionism either. Manifest Destiny by John Tabin (johntabin@hotmail.com) on 10-29-2002, 12:07 I'm for Manifest Destiny, too! Unless there are any Californians out there who think they'd be better off as part of Mexico... Seriously, though, you should check out this piece by Michael Walzer from the latest issue of Dissent. Even his "four wars" are an oversimplification (the literal 1967 borders aren't the only or even the best viable compromise), but it's a relatively clear view of the conflict from an honest leftist. Confusion over what's at stake-- whether the destruction of Israel or a the creation of a Palestinian state, the security of Israel or its expansion, are at stake in any particular action is the source of much confusion about which side is in the right. Zionism by Byran Mosley (lakesidefantasy@yahoo.com) on 10-28-2002, 23:33 Hellooooooooooo out there! I'm your little leftist worm waiting to have his teeth smashed in. Zionism doen't get talked about very much in connection with the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. I just thought you guys might have some comments to offer. Zionism by Bryan Mosley (lakesidefantasy@yahoo.com) on 10-27-2002, 15:55 Well is Zionism akin to Manifest Destiny or isn't it? I mean there's a reason why the world is torn between supporting Isreal and not supporting it, right? brief comment to John Tabin by ron robertson (ranrabertson@hotmail.com) on 10-27-2002, 02:53 I am a mild mannered man from Melbourne Australia. It makes me angry that these idiots can make you boil in public like that, but I agree with you and I am proud of you. Of course, as an Australian, I would have preferred it if you had smashed his teeth! A non-Jewish friend of Israel, your friend, Ron. ( sorry about using hotmail, fucking paranoia!) Evil's enablers by Richard (wretchard@bigpond.com) on 10-27-2002, 01:42 "You're out of line." The key to handling situations like this is "role playing" preparation. Prior to attending meetings at which a verbal or physical confrontation is likely, you ought to simulate, as realistically as possible, the kinds of questions you may encounter. Prepare some stock answers. You can respond to put downs like this by saying "who put you in charge?". I carry a $50 bill in my pocket for the purpose of making rhetorical wagers I am absolutely certain to win. Find a fact that is verifiable over the internet and sucker a Leftie into disputing it. Know by heart an Islamic URL that justifies the use of children as bombers -- and challenge him to look it up. Back him down and keep backing him down. Do this because the Leftists do it all the time. It part of their preparation. They also salt the audience with intimidating characters. You should realize that you can be just as intimidating to them. They will assess you according to a stereotype. Let them see you as a bumbling conservative. Sucker them in and spring your trap. Above all, gain experience in confrontations. It builds confidence. If you need some more, take up some stressful sport. Repeat after me, I am Bad. Do you know why this Leftie is wearing a keffiyeh? In his mind, he imagines himself to be a mighty Islamic warrior. In his mind. In reality, he is just a wannabe with a dimestore scarf. When you get the confidence, you will yourself in an almost out of body state, looking at that little worm and finding ways to puncturing his pathetic Stalinist ego. Hope these tips help. france hates jews by a libertarian (sfgsdf@hotmasi.com) on 10-26-2002, 23:52 Who cares about the walls with s**t written on them, how about the 400+ synagogues and the Israeli embassy that all had mysterious electrical fires in France? Zionism by Bryan Mosley (lakesidefantasy@yahoo.com) on 10-26-2002, 23:31 My question is: Why shouldn't we all be anti-Zionists? Isn't Zionism akin to Manifest Destiny? Whoops... by John Tabin (johntabin@hotmail.com) on 10-26-2002, 20:41 In my previous post, both instances of the word "above" should say "below"... didn't know how the Chron comments board worked. And remember to visit my blog. Uh-huh by John Tabin (johntabin@hotmail.com) on 10-26-2002, 20:36 I missed the above comment when it was posted (I haven't looked at this page in a while). I wonder if the writer is familiar with one wall in France, period; in any case, my source was this story, by Chris Caldwell, filed from France. I have no reason to think Caldwell was lying and every reason to think the anonymous poster above knows nothing. Anyway, for those who found this through Instapundit, I urge you to check out my blog. piss off... by Nique TA mère (piracy@microsoft.com) on 06-10-2002, 10:23 I don't know ONE wall in France on which there is something like 'Nique ta mere les juifs'.... Back to top Hosting generously provided by Steadfast Networks.