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May 31, 2006
Unimaginable culture of cruelty
Every so often, it's helpful to reacquaint yourself with the players in the Middle East's central conflict; i.e., Israel versus everyone else.
What's going on in the territories controlled by the Palestinians?
Let's just say Arabs might prefer taking their chances of survival in areas under Israeli control.
Masked Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades gunmen on Tuesday publicly executed a Palestinian man and woman they suspected of having spied for Israel.
The man was shot dead in the main street of a refugee camp, with a large crowd looking on. The woman was later shot to death by her relatives in the courtyard of the West Bank's largest hospital.
The Aksa Martyrs' Brigades, an offshoot of Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, accused Jafal Abu Tzrur, 24, of having informed the IDF where to find three of its members. The three were killed by IDF troops during a raid on the Balata refugee camp near Nablus earlier this year.
Al Aksa gunmen interrogated Abu Tzrur, claimed he confessed and then dragged him into Balata's main street. As a large crowd looked on, the gunmen threw Abu Tzrur to the ground, witnesses said. When he tried to get up, the gunmen killed him with several shots, the witnesses said.
The movement said it also killed Odad Abu Mustafa, 27, a Nablus woman. Abu Mustafa was married to one of the Aksa men slain by Israel, and was reportedly having an affair with Abu Tzrur.
Abu Mustafa, a mother of four, was shot by gunmen and male relatives on grounds that she shamed her clan. More than 15 people took part in the execution, witnesses said. It took place in the courtyard of Raffidiyeh Hospital, the West Bank's largest.
The mob originally planned to kill her in the street but were swayed by a man who pleaded with them not to carry out the killing in the view of little children could. She was then taken into the courtyard of the hospital, said Yousef Mahmoud, 18, who witnessed the killing.
"One of the gunmen said 'where is her brother?' and when he stepped forward they said to him 'you know what you need to do,"' he said. "The brother took out a gun and shot her in the head with one bullet."
Mahmoud said the brother then emptied the entire clip into the body of his sister, while the surrounding gunmen fired into the air. He said that the woman remained silent throughout and did not resist her captors.
Neighbors of the woman said she had four children; two boys and two girls, ranging in age from 11 to three and a half.
Nope, no difference between the Israelis and the Palis, not at all.
And how do the Palestinians feel about America?
That's right: pissing on Liberty herself, as she holds the tablet, "Democracy."
The cartoon is from the May 25th issue of Al-Risala, a Hamas weekly newspaper. Another newspaper, Al Hayat Al Jadida, covering a rally in the Palestinian-controlled territories, reported in March that the United States was dangerous because it had been trying "for many years of trying to penetrate Islamic youth with dubious things such as the ideas of democracy."
And the reason why we're in favor of aid to people who despise us is . . . what? The very act of trying to force more money, of freedom and democracy on these people engenders neither love nor respect, but deep, undying contempt, with a dash of shame and humiliation.
Mark Twain said, "If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man."
It seems clear that the modern metaphor still involves a dog, and we're the hydrant.
Posted by Mike Lief at May 31, 2006 08:32 PM
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Comments
That cartoon reminds me of how extreme liberals treat America. The Cindy Sheehans, et al.
Posted by: Vermont Neighbor at June 1, 2006 09:22 AM