Andy McCarthy: Will The Gaza Strikes ‘Educate’ The Palestinians?
Andy McCarthy: Will The Gaza Strikes ‘Educate’ The Palestinians?
Commenting on Israel’s attack on Gaza, NRO’s Andy McCarthy wonders whether the strikes will “demonstrate that terrorism is a loser for those who vote for it.”
The question is whether the Palestinian people are educable. Which brings me back to the first point: the Palestinians voted to put in power — i.e., vest with the power of a quasi-sovereign government — a terrorist organization which thinks legitimate governing consists of bringing about the annihilation of its sovereign neighbor and, meantime, targeting the said neighbor’s civilian population with bombing attacks. When you do that, you make yourself a target.
It’s one thing to defend Israel’s disproportionate attacks as a legitimate attempt to destroy Hamas’ capacity to launch rockets into Israel, but it’s quite another to defend them as an attempt to “educate” the Palestinian people. The former is debatable, the latter is a forthright embrace of terrorism, the use of force against civilians to achieve a political goal.
McCarthy’s advocacy of violence against people who vote the wrong way raises an obvious question. Granting, for the moment, McCarthy’s simplistic interpretation of Hamas’ election, (which was more a vote against Fatah’s incompetence and corruption than it was for Israel’s destruction) if Palestinian civilians have made themselves targets by voting into power a party that advocates the destruction of Israel, have Israeli civilians made themselves targets by voting into power successive governments that have continued a military occupation while expropriating Palestinian land? Have Americans made themselves targets by voting in governments that support that occupation? According to McCarthy’s reasoning, the answer to both questions is yes.
This is very similar to the justification offered by Osama bin Laden for attacks on American civilians in his November 2002 “Letter to the American People“:
The American people are the ones who choose their government by way of their own free will; a choice which stems from their agreement to its policies. Thus the American people have chosen, consented to, and affirmed their support for the Israeli oppression of the Palestinians, the occupation and usurpation of their land, and its continuous killing, torture, punishment and expulsion of the Palestinians. The American people have the ability and choice to refuse the policies of their Government and even to change it if they want.[...]
This is why the American people cannot be not innocent of all the crimes committed by the Americans and Jews against us.
Allah, the Almighty, legislated the permission and the option to take revenge. Thus, if we are attacked, then we have the right to attack back. Whoever has destroyed our villages and towns, then we have the right to destroy their villages and towns. Whoever has stolen our wealth, then we have the right to destroy their economy. And whoever has killed our civilians, then we have the right to kill theirs.
This is the rhetorical company in which McCarthy now finds himself. While we shouldn’t be surprised that there are many things that conservative extremists from all cultures agree on, decent and reasonable people should agree that there is no legitimate justification for intentional violence against civilians, by anyone.
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9 Responses to “Andy McCarthy: Will The Gaza Strikes ‘Educate’ The Palestinians?”
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Moron!
December 28th, 2008 at 6:26 pmThe only reason Hamas won over Fatah in Gaza is because it was a plurality election where Hamas had the party discipline to run one candidate per seat, but Fatah as the favored party was running typically two or more candidates per district, so they got clobbered by the spoiler effect. That was one election which really made the case for instant runoff over plurality voting.
December 28th, 2008 at 6:43 pmYour musings about “McCarthy’s simplistic interpretation of Hamas’ election” which according to you “was more a vote against Fatah’s incompetence and corruption than it was for Israel’s destruction” is just ridiculous. Yes it is just absurd for Israel and the U.S. to elect politicians who would defend civilians from violent attacks against their people. I mean its just like the Palestinians who make a ‘political’ statement by electing a known well established terrorist organization to power. Its not as if the Palestinians went against the established political parties and elected Ralph Nader. They knowingly elected a terrorist government and while no innocent civilian should be knowlingly attacked by Israel, they must own up to their mistake and remove their political leaders or have them forcibly removed.
December 29th, 2008 at 12:29 amThey knowingly elected a terrorist government and while no innocent civilian should be knowlingly attacked by Israel, they must own up to their mistake and remove their political leaders or have them forcibly removed.
The Palestinians voted for Hamas as an alternative to Fatah, in the hope of getting better government. Journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, a noted critic of Palestinian politics, wrote:
The question is whether, by making this electoral choice, Palestinians have effectively lost the status of civilian. Andy McCarthy thinks they have. I think this is preposterous.
December 29th, 2008 at 7:19 amLooking toward the future, we can help or hinder. Let’s hear some ideas for the best ways to help. Here’s my idea: Base the number of WPA wind turbines each side gets by how quick it gets back into a cease-fire and stays here. Keep up humanitarian aid to both sides. Continue all existing plans for peace and security except for a drawdown in Iraq, the savings used to finance public education, including free college tuition, reduced class sizes, more schools, higher teacher salaries, and mandatory Safe Routes to School programs.
What’s your idea?
December 29th, 2008 at 9:41 ambarktwiceifyourinmilwaukee said : I mean its just like the Palestinians who make a ‘political’ statement by electing a known well established terrorist organization to power.
Based on your theory I wonder what should be done to us for having George W Bush elected !!!
December 29th, 2008 at 12:08 pmand waot … TWICE!!
barktwiceifyourinmilwaukee said : I mean its just like the Palestinians who make a ‘political’ statement by electing a known well established terrorist organization to power.
Based on your theory I wonder what should be done to us for having George W Bush elected !!!
December 29th, 2008 at 12:08 pmand wait … TWICE!!
This is an excellent point. It must be said that the embargo on Gaza for many months has the explicit purpose of punishing its civilian population. This is an atrocious violation of international law, and will only breed more extremism.
December 30th, 2008 at 3:28 amA vote against a corrupt government is not a vote for terrorism. Hamas delivered for the people when Fatah played the graft game.
McCarthy is yet another ignorant American. The election was strongly supported by Bush Co. Who could have imagined Hamas would win? Not Condi…
January 1st, 2009 at 5:07 pm