Fight Terror With Terror?

This is a statement and a response to the propaganda the clearly biased and racist student Danny Baram wrote yesterday. He titled it, “America: Take a Stand on Israel.” He begins stating the militant, “innocent” Israeli citizens are at risk every day due to “suicide bombers with no regard for the value of human life.” First off, I would like to state the suicide bombers, though not acting in a humane or productive manner, have a respect for human life. They have seen three times as many of their civilians killed. They are continually witnessing their culture disintegrating at the hands of the 54-year-old state of Israel, and they not only have respect for life, but also for the life of their culture.

Baram, just because you know big words and have support from the American media does not vindicate you. You still are racist, overcome by emotions and perhaps blindly trying to strike back in reaction to the violent Jewish history.

I do not advocate suicide bombing, nor do I advocate the genocide that Ariel Sharon is orchestrating in Israel. I also am extremely amazed that Israel itself has decided to fight terrorism with terrorism. Jews tell me they are protecting themselves, but the following excerpt from the Washington Post, similar to many other stories, shows otherwise:

RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 4 — Israeli forces shelled a pickup truck carrying a Palestinian militant’s wife and three children through Ramallah today, killing the four family members and two unrelated Palestinian children in a passing car.

The attack was the deadliest of a day of bloodshed in which Israeli soldiers killed at least 17 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip — including a physician overseeing efforts to rescue the wounded in a refugee camp — following Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s latest vow to step up attacks on Palestinians.

I also am amazed the educated Israeli public is so blind to the fact that killing innocents simply incites terrorists to also kill innocents. They (the Israelis) are not protecting themselves, they are killing themselves. Perhaps their racism runs so deep, they are happy killing two to three Palestinians for each Israeli. Every person I know who went through Israel’s brainwashing mandatory military service has a view of Palestinians that fails to see them as actual human beings. Sadly, the mentality is similar to that which Hitler tried to instill in the Nazi youth.

Baram acknowledges Israel maintains a “policy of no negotiations with terrorists,” and I can’t help but laugh that Israel wouldn’t be able to negotiate with itself, as it is a terrorist state. Would you consider frequent assassinations of opposition leaders and uncalled-for murderous occupations terrorism? I would, as would any objective, impartial person. He states it is a “time surely demanding something more” when discussing the option of peace in the country. I am amazed he is so obviously advocating the genocide Israel is planning. Shamefully, Baram, an assumedly educated American with a high standard of living, could lower himself to that level. The Jews haven’t forgotten the Holocaust. No, they have vowed to return the injustice to an unconnected party.

Baram calls for American support and intervention in the bloody mess. I already have to live with the fact that $3 BILLION a year go to that racist government. Not to mention the American media has been biased toward Israel for years, unlike the more objective view seen in Europe. I view all lives as having the same worth (not Jews or Americans as better). Therefore, I would rather that $3 billion go to save MILLIONS of lives in other countries — not simply to a country that protects our oil interests and actively carries out terrorist acts. Not to mention that Sept. 11 would NOT have occurred if not for the fact that Israel is kept alive and comfortable with its hypocrisy by U.S. support.

I also am extremely upset Baram tries to play on emotions and fear to sway opinion by citing the state of fear Israeli citizens’ experience. I know of a peaceful Palestinian man whose wife was shot dead by a “well trained” Israeli soldier as Israelis invaded a Palestinian town, blew up doors and ravaged through the humble homes, breaking down handmade walls to move between neighboring homes. They were looking for explosive “factories,” but they didn’t have any reservations about killing Palestinians and wrecking whatever little the oppressed Palestinians had made for a home.

He states, “It’s time for our government to step up to the plate and realize Israel’s battle is also our own.” Hell no, I scream. I regret the past U.S. support of Israel and would love to cut them free. Our support has allowed them to disregard world criticism, massacre Palestinians and act without reserve. Hey Israel, if you can’t exist without the support of the world’s biggest superpower, perhaps you shouldn’t exist. In reality, though, I feel the only righteous solution would be a Jewish state of Israel, and ALSO a separate, autonomous Palestine. Perhaps Israel could find it in its heart (if it has one) to give back some of the land stolen from Egypt, Jordan or Syria — land stolen in wars essentially separated from civilian Palestinians.

Baram also calls for unequivocal U.S. support given with a “yes or no.” First of all, if he has any idea about international politics or the current situation, he would know such a comment is rash and detrimental for Israel. We would never give absolute support to Israel, a nation committing genocide, which spies on us and often stabs us in the back, if we aren’t smiling and happy with its injustices. But if I could make that “yes or no,” it would be a proud and jubilant “NO.” I am not a Palestinian — in fact, my father is Jewish and lost most of his family to genocide — but I have developed a pacifist, humanistic and just set of values. However, if I was a Palestinian and my friend or mother was murdered by a soldier who was wealthy, educated and acting intentionally, I would possibly decide to take my own life in an effort to be heard, as there would be nothing, not even a country, that I could call my own.