What you said, Josh, is akin to Israel suggesting that the US and Al Qaida have to learn to get along; have to work together to bring back the calm. If we put Al Qaida and the US on an equal moral plane, you’d be horrified, insulted and you’d probably feel justified in calling us idiots.
So, I’ll return the favor. There is no moral equality served by suggesting that the man who stabbed a fifteen year old boy and the man who shot the terrorist and stopped him from killing that child are on the same level, or even live in the same society.
There is no way that the security forces that killed the terrorist who had just murdered two fathers, stabbed a mother and shot a 2-year-old in the leg can restore calm in any way other than what they did – neutralizing the murderer.
There comes a time when a man must stand up for truth rather than continue to speak nonsensical words that others put in his mouth. I encourage you to shed the inane, meaningless language you have been taught in the school of diplomacy and begin speaking the language of honesty.
Israel cannot restore calm because we didn’t break it. The only thing you can do with a terrorist is hope to neutralize him before he succeeds in killing.
Our true friends will stand beside Israel in these difficult hours and demand that the Palestinians stop the violence they started, that they finally denounce terrorism and return to negotiations without preconditions.
Anything short of that is, without a doubt, yet another betrayal – not only of Israel but of justice as well. By continuing your silence in the face of this latest wave of terror – a wave that has already cost the lives of at least one US citizen, you play into the hands of the terrorists perfectly. You teach them that they can get away, quite literally, with murder. If you learn anything from September 11, it should be that terrorism comes to the shores of those who fail to fight it, fail to condemn it, and fail to support others involved in the same fight.
What starts in Israel, spreads to the world. That is true of the light – monotheism, the Bible, the Judeo-Christian faith upon which our countries are built; and it is true of the dark – suicide attacks, attempts to undermine the fabric of our society by introducing values that do not center on life, on peace.
Today, you sounded like an idiot because you agreed to speak the words the White House demands of you, rather than standing for truth and honor.
I can only hope that tomorrow, you will come to your senses and demand, on behalf of a suddenly-enlightened administration, that Abbas reign in the terrorists, stop the ongoing attacks.