Freedom Fighters?

My Website ^ | April 17, 2004 | Yoni Freeman

[yonif]

Thanks to the great holy work done by Israel’s security forces, which include the Shin Bet, IDF, Israel Police and other intelligence groups, Passover in Israel this year was quiet. This stands in start contrast to the 2002 Passover celebration during which an Arab suicide terror attack at a hotel on the Passover Seder night itself occurred. This attack caused the murder of 30 Israelis who were innocently celebrating their freedom to practice their religion. During the holiday this year, TEN Palestinian Arab terrorist attacks, among them suicide terrorist bombings, were intercepted by Israel (1). Due to the biased nature of the world media against Israel, these attacks were not publicized to the world community. The world media prioritizes reports about successful terrorist attacks in Israel, using these attacks to make it look like Israel provoked and deserved them. Let me also note that the Saturday before Passover started, a successful terror attack was executed. An Arab terrorist murdered a father of five (who, using his personal weapon, went out of his house to try to stop the terrorist who was firing at his family) and injured the man’s daughter as well.

The first such heinous attack directed at Tel-Aviv that was intercepted was an Arab woman who was forced to strap on a suicide belt after her husband found that she had been cheating on him. The husband saw this attack a as a means of clearing their family’s name. In another attack, three suicide terrorists intended to strike an Israeli city, disguised as soldiers. Finally, a suicide terrorist was to commit murder by blowing up Jews celebrating the holiday. In addition to the bomb, he was to have HIV-infected blood on him as well, so that the injured would have a chance of getting infected with the virus after the act. The group that had planned this attack was Yasser Arafat’s Fatah terrorist group.

Other attacks by this group called for the abduction of an Israeli from a Jewish community, and the placement of explosives in a dead donkey to explode and murder yet more Jews. Furthermore, other terrorists intending to commit suicide terror at a restaurant in Beersheba or Tel-Aviv were captured. These terrorists were going to disguise themselves as IDF soldiers and infiltrate Israel with the harboring aid of Egypt. Finally, there was another attempt to murder Israelis with the use of an explosive-laden bus.

A partially-executed attack during Passover occurred in a Jewish Gaza community (2). Eight Arab terrorists infiltrated Nezarim armed with automatic weapons, in a bid to go on a killing spree. Luckily, IDF troops guarding the community spotted the terrorists moving towards these houses, and eliminated two of them. Unfortunately, the rest were able to escape. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the attempted terror attack. Even children participated in this wave of terror. For example, a 16 year old was caught during the Passover week looking to perpetrate a terror attack. The IDF noted that the same cell that dispatched this young terrorist was the same one that sent out the 12 and 14 year old suicide terrorists a month before. The so-called “humiliating” roadblocks and searches were the reason that many of these terrorist attacks were prevented in the first place.

It is obvious that the terrorist plots that were intercepted over this holiday deserve international attention from such organizations like UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the United Nations, PETA, and others. But of course you will not hear them. In their books, attacks such as these do not constitute terrorism, rather Israeli counter-terror or defensive actions do.

I am also interested in hearing again those who characterize these murderers as “freedom fighters.” The mere fact that these people solely aim to maximize civilian deaths, not military ones, is the prime reason why the terrorists, should not be recognized as fighting for freedom.

Ronald Reagan once said “One man’s terrorist is another man’s Freedom Fighter.” That is true in some cases, but as I have shown above it is not true when it comes to the type of people Israel (and most of the world) is fighting.

But let’s see what happens if we analyzed these individuals as “freedom fighters.” Let’s for a moment apply this sentence and imagine that the groups Israel is defending against -– those groups considered terrorist ones – are freedom fighting ones. Let’s say we did agree, and the Arab terrorists blowing up Israeli busses, restaurants, universities, cinemas, and hotels were really, who many around the world claim them to be, – “freedom fighters.”

My question would then be, what kind of freedom are they fighting for? Are they fighting for freedom from Israeli “occupation” and the development of their own government? Are they fighting for freedom because they as individuals are not allowed to exist with an Israeli presence in the Middle East (as they are, after all, seeking to destroy Israel)? Is the existence of Israel the reason they cannot speak freely, publish what they want, practice their own religion, or peacefully assemble?

In other words, is the kind of country these fighters are trying to establish going to be free in the sense of the word? Simply put, not at all. The simple fact of the matter is that the mere argument that these people are fighting for freedom is flawed. Here is the folly of the argument. This “Palestine” will be no different then the 22 other Arab countries in the Middle East.

It will not have freedom of press. It will not have freedom of religion. It will not have freedom of speech. It will not have a free media. It will not have freedom of association. And neither will it provide its citizens inalienable human rights a democracy is supposed to have. The simple reason being it will not be a democracy, but a dictatorship modeled after the current dictatorship called the Palestinian Authority and the other dictatorships that plague most of the countries in the Arab world (apart from maybe Algeria). This will be a dictatorship which will exert its iron fist on the people. The Palestinian Authority regime, for example, currently portrays “justice” as being the dragging of a guy’s body down the street or the murder of an individual without any trial or evidence being presented against him.

Or do you actually believe that the Palestinian Authority is democratically elected or really controlled by the people? Let me ask you, when were the last elections held? Remember, it will be this Palestinian Authority taking power when this state is established.

Ironically, the state that will be established by these “freedom” fighters will be one that NOT ONLY will not be protective of freedoms when it comes to the Arabs living under it, but their people will also be less free then if they were under Israeli control. The fact of the matter is that Israel, a Jewish majority state, PROVIDES MORE RIGHTS TO ARABS who have Israeli citizenship, then ARAB STATES provide to their own citizens.

Arabs in Israel have the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of press, and freedom of association. They have a right to a trial and a right to be represented by a lawyer. They are allowed to vote or run in elections. By law, theoretically, an Arab could even one day become the Prime Minister of Israel. Arabs currently have ten seats in the Israeli Knesset, the legislative body of the Israeli political system, where they actually have power. Can you name a parliament in the Arab world where Arabs have real power, and are not some rubber stamp for the regime? Can you name an Arab country which by law freedoms are protected by the government and are enforced? If an Arab were to walk down the street in Tripoli calling for new elections would he be untouched? Of course not. The secret police would quickly arrest him. In Israel it isn’t so.

It should be recognized that those Arabs in 1948 living in the new State of Israel, before the war began, were offered full Israeli citizenship by the Israeli government. The Israeli government at the time pleaded with them to stay and tried to persuade them to not listen to the calls of the Arab governments who announced that all Arabs should leave Israel immediately due to the coming war which will burn Israel to the ground. The Arabs then promised those people a return to those places after the Jews were pushed to the sea. This never happened of course. Compare this fact to the status quo currently in the Arab world which nowadays has a declining or non-existent Jewish and Christian population, while in Israel nowadays since 1949, an Arab population has been increasing. This begs another question – who is really committing genocide?

The above descriptions provide amazing details about Israel as a country. The fact is it, as Jewish state, provides more to the Arabs living as citizens, then Arabs living as citizens in countries supposed to represent them. In other words, Arabs are freer and more represented in the government of Israel than they are represented in an Arab government in the Middle East. Israeli Arabs have more power politically than if they were in an Arab country. In fact, an example of how Arabs are fearful of losing Israeli control occurred in 2000 during negotiations between the PA Arabs and Ehud Barak, the Israeli PM at the time. Ehud Barak put half of Jerusalem on the table to be given to the Arabs. However, an Arab Council convened in eastern Jerusalem, an area deemed to go to the Palestinian Authority, and declared that Barak had no right to represent them and that they did not want to go to Palestinian Authority control. The Arabs know how it is under the Palestinian Authority and the fact they are less free under it, although you probably never hear them say so in public.

This all boils down to the point I was trying to make. Not only is calling these terrorists “freedom fighters” inaccurate because of who they target, it is also inaccurate because they are not fighting for freedom, rather the institution of dictatorship, repression, tyranny and terror. They are fighting for an entity which will provide FAR LESS RIGHTS then they have now, by trying to destroy the State of Israel, its population, and its government which provides MUCH MORE RIGHTS to them than if they were in Saudi Arabia or Syria for example.

Subsequently, in my opinion, the only government worthy of attack by Palestinian Arabs is the Palestinian Authority, a regime which not only is the reason their ruled areas are devastated, but also the reason terror groups are allowed to operate under their guise in the first place. They would then be freedom fighters in my opinion. But sadly, the Arabs on the most part have no intention on doing that, choosing to continue their quest to push Israel into the sea rather then their own governments who are truly the ones responsible for their troubles, brainwashing, and disillusionment.

Until next time,

YF

(1)Jerusalem Post, “AIDS-infected terror attempts stain Pessah”; April 13 2004: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1081748016646&p=1078027574121
(2) Israel National News, “Major Attack Thwarted in Netzarim”; April 13, 2004: http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=60757

[yonif]

This was my weekly column published last week in my campus paper. Was a little late getting it online.

[yonif]

Ping.

[goldstategop]

The terrorists are going go for a big one soon. They've refrained due to the 40 day period of Muslim mourning. Look for something timed to coincide with Israel's Independence Day.

[Tax-chick]

Later

[Southack]

If Palestinians truly cared about establishing a homeland, they would be fighting for their land in Jordan and Egypt.

They don't.

Palestinians are only supposed to act as though they want things, such as land, from Israel. In reality, their sole role in the Middle-East is to destablize Israel by any means possible.

Negotiations are only supposed to sow dissent among their hawkish and dovish Israeli enemies. Bombings are meant only to kill and disrupt Israeli daily life.

As a people, they are expendable. The Jordanians don't want them. The Saudis don't want them. The Iranians don't want them. The Syrians don't want them, and the Egyptians don't want them. They serve only one useful purpose to all of the above: they harass Israel.

And one day they'll all be dead.

[Southack]

"The terrorists are going go for a big one soon. They've refrained..."

WRONG! Guess again. Terrorists don't "refrain."

[Klein-Bottle]

They have not refrained, but have been stopped by new security defenses, especially the wall.

Do not equate their lack of success with lack of effort.

[goldstategop]

Exactly. They're just waiting for the right moment to make up for their losses.

[Salem]

Yoni's latest ... just laying out the facts.





If you'd like to be on or off this
Christian Supporters of Israel ping list,
please FR mail me. ~
    
There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had
spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass. (Joshua 21:45)
Letter To The President In Support Of Israel ~
'Final Solution,' Phase 2 ~
Warnings ~

[lainde]

bttt

[Susannah]

Good job, Yoni! and I only found one typo?--second sentence, "start"=stark?

" The fact of the matter is that Israel, a Jewish majority state, PROVIDES MORE RIGHTS TO ARABS who have Israeli citizenship, then ARAB STATES provide to their own citizens."

The lamestream news seems to always ignore this in their reports.

[yonif]

Thanks. I will correct it. It is just a typo that I got while I was transcribing it from the paper. So it's ok in print.

[Jaguar Girl]

Thank you Yonif, great article you wrote.