Friday, June 18, 2004

Reader Michael Lonie had some comments on my post The Sting (of course, it's taken me ages to post them, lazy me):

I have often marvelled at the restraint of Israel in the face of the horrible things the Palestinian Arabs are doing in the present Oslo War (as I think of it). I think if they had tried this stuff on an Arab government starting at the end of September 2000, by the end of that October half the PA territory would be a smoking ruin and tens of thousands of Palestinians dead, just like at Hama in Syria in 1982. The Palestinians are lucky they are fighting Israel, infused as its people are with Jewish ethical and moral beliefs, and not some brutal Arab dictatorship. Think of Saddam Hussein gassing Jenin.

I never forget the reason there is an Israel occupation in the first place: the concerted Arab effort in 1967 to destroy Israel. I was a teenager at the time, but I well remember the period of tension leading up to the fighting, when it seemed the whole world had abandoned Israel to its fate and the Arabs were ready to pounce. Then Zahal struck and produced what seemed to be a miracle of deliverance. "He blew and they were scattered" sums up the amazed relief Israel's friends felt at the close of the sixth day.

As far as I'm concerned, as long as the Palestinians maintain their goal of the destruction of Israel they can rot in the mess they have made for themselves.