tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718120950252476804.post5156016942013058053..comments2023-12-28T09:21:30.579-05:00Comments on Adam Holland: BBC / Guardian blame Israel for Arab terror attackAdam Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06245468599571473818noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718120950252476804.post-49285249978366550752008-09-03T14:49:00.000-04:002008-09-03T14:49:00.000-04:00First, I've posted at length in reply to you elsew...First, I've posted at length in reply to you elsewhere with respect to how Israel came into possession of the eastern part of Jerusalem. They were attacked by Jordan during the 1967 Six Day War and took the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem during their counterattack. Jordan has since renounced their rights to this area. The Israelis were engaged in negotiations with the Palestinian Authority to establish their sovereignty in the West Bank, but the PA broke off those talks and started the second intifada. The legality of the situation is unclear and needs to be resolved by negotiations.<BR/><BR/>Second, you have some nerve saying that I don't care about the human lives involved, only scoring rhetorical points. You know nothing about me whatsoever, except what I've written about this subject on this blog, very little of which is personal, and none of which addresses where I live or my connections to Jerusalem. Your comment reveals that <I>you</I> are the one attempting to score rhetorical points without knowledge of the human dimension behind the text. Your ad hominem attack betrays a lack of depth and seriousness with respect to the human dimension.<BR/><BR/>Third, you missed the point of my objection to Freedman's article. His Guardian piece predicted a violent reaction by Israelis against Arabs in response to the first bulldozer attack. This was not a reasonable first reaction to that carnage; moreover, it was not journalism per se, but special pleading for a cause. It was designed to cast Israel the villain. This has been borne out by the complete lack of any such reaction. In fact, the only subsequent violence resulting from the first bulldozer attack was a subsequent copy cat attack by another Palestinian terrorist. <BR/><BR/>Freedman called his column "The inevitable overreaction". I suppose that fact escaped you.Adam Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06245468599571473818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4718120950252476804.post-16565344632541423092008-08-31T10:54:00.000-04:002008-08-31T10:54:00.000-04:00The BBC's headline was disingenuous to put it mild...The BBC's headline was disingenuous to put it mildly, though if the Israeli government wishes to pretend that East Jerusalem is part of Israel you can hardly be surprised if from time to time people become confused.<BR/><BR/>However, it's your remarks about Seth Freedman's piece in the Guardian that I take issue with. Let's see: <BR/>"The focus was, of course, not on the Palestinian terror attack and its victims"<BR/>First paragraph of the article:<BR/>"There can be no excuses. Nothing; not the occupation, nor the siege of Gaza, nor any of the myriad attempts to justify the actions of the murderous bulldozer driver, who slaughtered with wanton abandon earlier today. Once defenceless civilians become fair game in the never-ending cycle of Middle Eastern violence, then the gloves are off and nothing is sacred anymore."<BR/><BR/>And the over-reaction of which he complained? Read a few lines more:<BR/><BR/>"Trade and Labour Minister Eli Yishai's on-the-scene response was to demand an immediate freeze on freedom of movement for Arab residents of East Jerusalem, as well as the predictable call for the terrorist's home to be demolished. Not for him the option of treating every criminal as an individual; instead, the attack was reason enough to tar all Arabs with the same brush, and clamp down, vice-like, upon their thousands-strong community."<BR/><BR/>Or later:<BR/>"Once the dust settles on Jaffa Road and the bodies have been given a proper burial, the only question will be how Israel can protect its citizens and pull the rug from under the extremists' feet. Vicious reprisals against the killer's family, mass restrictions of movement for all Arab residents of East Jerusalem, and revenge attacks on Palestinian towns and cities, are not the answer."<BR/><BR/>You see, Adam, Seth Freedman is a Jew living in Jerusalem rather than safe on an American island, so this kind of thing isn't a game of rhetorical point-scoring to him as it is to you, but life and death.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04181616393829854686noreply@blogger.com