Gaza - a 'terrorist squat' apparently
Dear Madam,
On the 5th of August an Israeli soldier killed four Israeli Arabs on a bus travelling through the settlement of Shfaram in protest against the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, he was then beaten to death by an angry mob.
Imagine an Independent newspaper reporting with reference to this inexplicable event that, even as the Israeli people move to change the international perception of their intentions towards a Palestinian state by conceding land to their perceived enemy some Israelis just can't help but murder someone. In today's Irish Times Mark Steyn manages this tricky feat. Racism, contradiction and incoherence in the space of five lines.
"Even when Ariel Sharon hands them a great "victory", some Palestinians can't stop blowing themselves up long enough to celebrate it...The United States doesn't exist because the colonists "deserved" a state, but because they went out and fought for one. The same with the Irish Republic. By contrast, the world deemed Palestinians "deserving" of a state, and they've absolutely no interest in getting one."
The apparent concession made by Ariel Sharon to the Palestinian people has been an enormous success for the Israeli leader, the media have revelled in the emotional imagery of children being torn from their homes by anguished soldiers, some of whom are known personally to them, so as to give land to Mr. Steyn's ungrateful Palestinians. ITV News refers to the Palestinians momentary refrain from violence, preferring instead to enjoy the spectacle of Israeli suffering. BBC News displays picture after picture of Israelis being man handled by their own people in an effort to appease the aggressors on the other side of that defensive wall.
Where was this massive show of compassion for the 23,000 Palestinians forcibly removed from their homes in the dead of night moments before the Caterpillar appeared. Where were the interviews with the Palestinian children made homeless. Where were the Israelis who enjoyed the scenes of Palestinian suffering. Why the silence over the terms of this 'concession', the terms that ensure Israels continued control over the Gaza Strip including the movement of goods, a 'concession' that the World Bank found would cause a rise in both poverty and unemployment.
While those settlers being forced from their homes will now receive upwards of $140,000 for their troubles, the Palestinians still clutching the deeds to that land received nothing, not one single cent.
Mr. Steyn's perceived world "embrace of the Palestinian 'cause'" is unlikely given that in the present circumstances a Palestinian state is improbable. The liberal media have made it their job to glorify shallow concessions, to embrace stability, to favour the bad guys, but not the ones Mr. Steyn refers to. Supporting an endless purgatory, while the Palestinians fall ever closer towards a living hell.
How much longer will we be subjected to this warbling hack?
Yours etc...
Counterpunch Article via Media Lens
Gaza set to decay further into terrorist Islamic squat
Mark Steyn
Opinion: From New York's Newsday report of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza: "Palestinians Friday celebrated what they consider their victory over Israel...
"'This pull-out is a result of our sacrifice,' he [ Mahmoud Abbas] said, 'of our patience, the sacrifice of our people, the steadfastness and the wise people of our nation.' Still, all was not calm among Palestinians. Two Hamas militants were wounded as they carried an explosive device that blew up accidentally near the evacuated Kfar Darom settlement."
Ah, well. Even when Ariel Sharon hands them a great "victory", some Palestinians can't stop blowing themselves up long enough to celebrate it. I've never subscribed to the notion that this or that people "deserve" a state - a weird and decadent post-modern concept of nationality and sovereignty, even if it weren't so erratically applied (how about the Kurds then?). The United States doesn't exist because the colonists "deserved" a state, but because they went out and fought for one. The same with the Irish Republic.
By contrast, the world deemed Palestinians "deserving" of a state, and they've absolutely no interest in getting one.
Any honest visitor to the Palestinian Authority is struck by the complete absence of any enthusiasm for nation-building - compared with comparable pre-independence trips to, say, Slovenia, Slovakia, or East Timor.
continued... The Irish Times
posted by dav at 7:48 p.m.
