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Last update - 17:09 18/12/2007
Killing the Palestinian who wishes you dead
By Bradley Burston
Tags: Jihad, Hamas, Burston 


We, the Jews and the Arabs, hold a number of truths to be self-evident, not knowing, or not caring, that they are, in fact, the lies we live by.

One of the lies of the Jews, a lie in which the Jewish right takes particular delight, is the idea that Palestinians, as a people, want to see the Jews dead. The lie serves with devotion and remarkable durability the ulterior political motives of the right, in particular the restoration of the lost Kingdom of Yesha, the return of Jewish dominion to all of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Like all lies which become ironclad tenets of political belief, the lie of the genocidal Palestinian comes with a certain wrapping of truth. There are Palestinians whose life goal is to bring death to the Jew.

On Monday night, Israel's armed forces killed 10 of them.

The IDF, it must be said, killed the Islamic Jihad men without shedding the lives of innocent Gazans. One of the men killed, Majed Harazin, has for years been one of the central commanders in the Jerusalem Brigades, the Jihad's armed wing. He and another Jihad commander killed in the Monday night raids were key figures in Qassam production, targeting, and launch against civilian targets and innocent populations. A third Jihad man killed was the wing's commander in the northern West Bank.

They were war criminals. More to the point, they were soldiers. Soldiers in a war in which they are declared combatants, and in which civilian non-combatants are their declared targets. It was our right to kill them. It was our responsibility.

Just as we condemn, and should, the Israeli attacks in which innocent Palestinians are killed, we have a right to respect and appreciate what it took to prevent the deaths of non-combatants while killing our sworn enemies.

In the interest of candor, let us call the Palestinian Islamic Jihad what it is: the most active terrorist organization now operating in the Holy Land. It is this group which fires most of the Qassams into Israel's southwest. It is this group which has hatched most of the suicide bombings over the past two years, most of which were, thank God - who is their God as well - thwarted by Israeli intelligence and security efforts.

And in the interest of shedding light on the lies by which we live, it would be worth taking a closer look at the Jihad's initial response to the IDF operations.

After the deaths of Harazin, rocket mastermind Karim al-Dahdouh and the others, the Jihad e-mailed reporters, threatening to retaliate with a wave of suicide bombings inside Israel, effectively greatly escalating attacks against Israeli civilians. "The assassination of the general commander will open the door wide to a wave of martyrdom operations," the e-mail read.

In a second announcement, Jihad spokesman Abu Hamza told reporters at a mosque, "The blood of our comrades will be the fuel for the rockets that will bring death and destruction to the Zionists."

That is how it is with lies. You can't have it both ways. You can't call yourselves Soldiers for Palestine, lovers of death, cravers of martyrdom, incinerators and dismantlers of Israel and the Zionist enterprise, and, at the same time, profess outrage and anger that we would have the temerity to kill you.

You're soldiers. Grow up.

But that's how it is with lies. Their strongest appeal is to the two-year-old in all of us, and to the 12-year-old boy in too many of us. The suffering of those on our side is the only suffering in the conflict. The other side has no rights to recognition, nationhood, peoplehood, land.

The irony is that the Palestinian organization which was once the most honest, Hamas, is now trapped within a number of lies of its own. Two days after 200,000 Hamas activists rally in Gaza to chant "We will never recognize Israel," a spokesman on the group is a guest on Israel Army Radio's flagship morning news talk show, telling the host that assassinating Jihad men is not the way to seek a solution in the conflict, and that only negotiations can bring a solution.

On one hand, Israel has done much to cripple the possibility of talks taking place. But there is another hand, and it's a strong one in this tug of war. Hamas supplies the Islamic Jihad with weaponry, including the Qassams that Jihad men fire at Israel.

Moreover, the Jihad takes orders from Iran, which has no interest in the survival of Israel, much less talks with an existing Jewish state in the Holy Land.

Truth be told, there was always a certain overall contradiction in their activities. Year after year, Hamas showed selfless generosity in providing health care, education, and sustenance to children, young families and the elderly of Gaza, while providing self-congratulatory suicide bombers to kill children, young familes and the elderly of Israel.

The longer the lies of martyrdom and What Our Lord the Terrorist Wants go on, the longer the world will be content to live without an independent Palestine in its midst.

The Palestinians must choose what they want to do with their liars. The Palestinians themselves must decide what they want to do with the warlords who want Jews dead more than they want a state. With the babyish young men who want Jews dead more than they want Palestine to be a functioning, contributing part of the world. With the Palestine-as-Columbine gun nuts who want Jews dead more than they want Palestinians to be able to live in peace and well-being. And who will never accept a Palestine which is won on the negotiating table and not in a blood-flooded West Jerusalem street.

The Palestinians have a choice to make. They can be ruled by the mentality of the seventh grader, the kid with a heart full of fresh, unsullied ideals and a head full of hormones. Or they can begin to think about the future like adults.

Thanks to the Jihad and to Hamas, the real martyr is no longer the poor kid who goes to kill himself for a few dinars and a passle of religious lies. At this point, thanks to the Jihad and to Hamas, the real martyr is the cause of Palestine itself.

______________


Previous blogs:

Previous blogs:
Hamas - If we can kill them, we can talk to them
Self Test: Are you a fanatic on the Middle East?
People who hate the very idea of peace
Nine reasons Annapolis will succeed

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  1.   killin the palestine 11:14  |  bill usa 18/12/07
  2.   When did the Islamic Jihad last kill a Jew 11:15  |  Daniella Harter 18/12/07
  3.   No, Bradley, the real martyrs are the victims in Sderot. 11:20  |  Dr. L. Brnd 18/12/07
  4.   Extra-judicial killings 11:29  |  David Summer 18/12/07
  5.   #1 etc 11:40  |  A.M. 18/12/07
  6.   Then don`t cry foul when the IDF conscripts get targeted. 11:46  |  Captain "R" 18/12/07
  7.   # 3 11:48  |  A.M. 18/12/07
  8.   Didn`t every Jew want the Nazis dead? 11:50  |  Ginger 18/12/07
  9.   Bill USA 11:52  |  Bill in England 18/12/07
  10.   israel will not survive as a jewish state 12:05  |  Reality 18/12/07
  11.   another good article 12:16  |  Mike 18/12/07
  12.   killing palestines 12:17  |  bill usa 18/12/07
  13.   #6daniella and confusion about intent 12:18  |  victor hardman 18/12/07
  14.   THEY ARE NOT SOLDIERS; THEY ARE JIHADISTS 12:19  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 18/12/07
  15.   Daniela Harter 12:32  |  Sarah 18/12/07
  16.   Bradley is correct, but this is not a one-way street here..... 12:35  |  Swiss (Dino) 18/12/07
  17.   David Summer 12:53  |  Sarah 18/12/07
  18.   #1 Bill USA 13:14  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 18/12/07
  19.   ARAB-ISRAEL CONFLICT 101 13:24  |  G. Marcus 18/12/07
  20.   Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 13:29  |  Larry54 18/12/07
  21.   ISLAM-LIKE A CANDLE! 14:26  |  Veni Vidi 18/12/07
  22.   right!! no targeted killing of civilians-Jihad should target 14:32  |  Jihad 18/12/07
  23.   Daniella and palijustice: not very Nice 14:48  |  Israeli 18/12/07
  24.   Evaluation of Hamas on its 20th anniversary 15:20  |  Tosefta 18/12/07
  25.   # 2 Daniella harter ...this past summer in Eilhat 15:28  |  Lynn 18/12/07
  26.   EXTREMISTS On ALL Sides MUST NOT Win!!! 15:29  |  Proud Pal Defender 18/12/07
  27.   BB right for once 15:56  |  Nik "Banned" Miller 18/12/07
  28.   YOU KILL THEM, THEY EXPECT YOU TO BE HAPPY? 15:57  |  indrajaya 18/12/07
  29.   play with kassam fire an get will get burnt! 16:22  |  don 18/12/07
  30.   I guess the only innocent israheli are draft dodgers 16:28  |  come to think of it 18/12/07
  31.   Arab lies 16:28  |  izwick 18/12/07
  32.   condescension 16:29  |  Joshua 18/12/07
  33.   Veni Vedi wishful thinking 16:50  |  Jax 18/12/07
  34.   Joshua 16:53  |  Jax 18/12/07
  35.   Joshua #26 17:00  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 18/12/07
  36.   Mr Burston doesn`t know how to read 17:14  |  Gee 18/12/07
  37.   Bradley is believing his own lies... 17:16  |  Dutch 18/12/07
  38.   Lynn #25 17:18  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 18/12/07
  39.   #37doris cadigan floating on cloud 9 again 17:24  |  victor hardman 18/12/07
  40.   More importantly Ginger 17:29  |  British academic 18/12/07
  41.   16Dino`s False Symmetry; Time to be honest. 17:29  |  Rob 18/12/07
  42.   Lets not be politically correct 17:30  |  british academic 18/12/07
  43.   Wake up Mr. Burston to the painful truth 17:41  |  Shalom Freedman 18/12/07
  44.   Hamas Solves Energy Crisis 17:48  |  Klaudia 18/12/07
  45.   Truths vs. lies. 17:50  |  curious 18/12/07
  46.   Bradley 17:58  |  Yosemite 18/12/07
  47.   Vilolance and Annexation 18:05  |  Binco 18/12/07
  48.   David Summer - "Extra-judicial killings" 18:08  |  SDHD 18/12/07
  49.   Happy Birthday to Tosefta - dull defender of Hamas 18:13  |  17 18/12/07
  50.   Pals have no choice 18:24  |  Shechinah 18/12/07
  51.   gINGER # 8 18:30  |  Christian Van Nieker 18/12/07
  52.   # 10 18:36  |  Baruch Hashem 18/12/07
  53.   Bill of USA # 12 18:42  |  Baruch Hashem 18/12/07
  54.   Read the Qu`ran lately, Bradley? 18:44  |  Pilly 18/12/07
  55.   "A certain overall contradiction" 18:51  |  ZADOK 18/12/07
  56.   reality 19:03  |  AA 18/12/07
  57.   Israel will survive by love and die by hatred 19:03  |  John 18/12/07
  58.   Shalom freedom, Blaming the victims . 19:05  |  Dutch 18/12/07
  59.   Burston to Pals: please grow up, please, please, please... 19:24  |  Boris 18/12/07
  60.   Daniella Harter - when? 19:28  |  Mark Lincoln 18/12/07
  61.   #14 Cipora Julianna Kohn "share the land" 19:38  |  hala 18/12/07
  62.   Arabs have too much land already 19:47  |  Efox 18/12/07
  63.   Palestinian cause is martyr? 19:57  |  Adam 18/12/07
  64.   Baruch Hashem`s trite non sense 19:59  |  Nobel 18/12/07
  65.   Pilly: quoting from `seculare islam` and `masada 2000` 20:01  |  Saul 18/12/07
  66.   Mark Lincoln 20:02  |  Daniella Harter 18/12/07
  67.   HAMAS spokesman radio interview 20:03  |  Mike 18/12/07
  68.   #62 quoth efox: Arabs have too much land already 20:42  |  hala 18/12/07
  69.   Dutch (#37) So if we use rockets similar to Qassams it will be OK 20:44  |  Gil 18/12/07
  70.   #53 Baruch Hashem and the underachieving Muslims 20:57  |  hala 18/12/07
  71.   HOW to STOP QASSAM ROCKETS 21:22  |  jim 18/12/07
  72.   Torah Concept 21:40  |  Artie 18/12/07
  73.   Torah Concept 21:42  |  Artie 18/12/07
  74.   Only problem with Burston, 60 years of history to the contrary 22:13  |  JJ 18/12/07
  75.   Amen G. Marcus 22:15  |  JJ 18/12/07
  76.   To Dutch Get real 22:21  |  JJ 18/12/07
  77.   Doom for Arafat 22:23  |  Israeli 18/12/07
  78.   to Daniella Harter you must be thinking 22:32  |  JJ 18/12/07
  79.   #8 Ginger - Your intelligence matches your name 22:40  |  B`Galil 18/12/07
  80.   "You`re soldiers. Grow up." 22:44