Those grievances produce suicide bombers, etc. So goes the argument
So it does. As if grievances just naturally produce suicide bombers, because the people were so desperate and had no other possible option, all diplomatic roads were closed off, they'd tried every other option already, etc, etc. You already know all the ways that I object to this argument, starting with the fact that it's false, and will continue to object to it. Furthermore, I maintain that accepting it without comment legitimizes suicide bombing as a political technique, which is the point that you have not responded to.
As for your comments about who are civilians, the numbers are so disproportional that your rejoinder could hardly change this. The issue here is that the American media doesn't even broadcast those numbers
Not true, the numbers are about three to one, and the Palestinians have been using kamikaze techniques rather heavily. This does tend to rack up casualties. Also, deciphering who is and is not a civilian is not easy where the vast majority of combatants are out of uniform and all the witnesses will chorus, "oh he was a civilian, definitely" to any reporter.
And the American media has certainly reported these numbers over and over and over. Every report contains a body count and ends with a body count. One the grievances that sparked protests against the New York Times by the pro-Israel community is that the paper kept repeating the body counts without ever mentioning, for instance, that 40% of Israeli casualties were women but only 5% of Palestinan casualties were women, because the Israelis were not targeting non-combatants.
As for your line echoing the comment that what's needed is a spiritually defeated Palestinian population, I see it as reflecting the increasing demonization that takes place in these conversations. And the degree to which the violence spiral continues
You seem to have the notion stuck in your head that to say something that is not nice about any population is, horrors, demonization. Sometimes things are both not nice and true at the same time. When a population has been fed a hateful ideology, many of them will buy it. The Palestinians - not most of them, but enough - buy the idea that suicide bombing is glorious martyrdom and they must fight until they drive the Jews into the sea. This may be a truly stupid idea, but they have it, and the PA has been busying encouraging them to have it for ten years now, inculcating the young in Jew-hatred and rejection of the existence of Israel. You may think that withdrawal from those awful settlements will magically redress all grievances and make this idea go away. Another triumph of hope over experience. |
