New York Times editors are brave enough in today’s editorial to include Hamas alongside other world terrorists:
While Republican delegates have been meeting in New York City, terrorist bombs have been exploding in the rest of the world. The horrific pictures of victims on an Israeli bus and slain airplane and subway passengers, as well as of a school held hostage in Russia, are a stark reminder to Americans that terrorism is not all about us. It is the tactic of preference for the self-obsessed radical movements of our age.
But they then revert to blaming West Bank settlements as the ‘source’ of that Arab terrorism:
If Mr. Bush is going to speak seriously about terrorism tonight, he also needs to talk about Israel. With its fixation on Iraq, the administration has allowed the situation in Israel to turn into a stalemate in which the Sharon government continues to expand its suicidal West Bank settlements while attempting to keep the Palestinians under control with sheer military force. The West Bank is not just a breeding ground for terrorists; it is the perpetual wound Arabs use to justify supporting and financing violent extremists. Iraqis can go to the polls to vote, but the Middle East will still be a hotbed of terrorism if Palestinians cannot grow up with hopes for a decent life in a land over which they have some control.
So it’s all about Palestinian hope, which, Times editors imply, has been taken from them by another people’s housing — not Arafat’s massive embezzlement and corruption, not the terrorist bands in their midst, and not indifferent Arab leaders — settlements. The entire problem of Mideast Arab terrorism boils down to settlements. Democracy in Iraq simply cannnot work if there are Jewish apartments in Ariel. And the Times claims Bush is ‘fixated’ on one issue?
Regardless of one’s opinion on the legitimacy of Israeli communities over the Green Line, to finger disputed housing as the primary reason for Arab terrorism is simply delusional. It’s accepting the mullahs’ anti-Israel invective as justified and accurate.
Times editors have come around on the need for Arafat to go, and calling Palestinian terror by its name. Its time to drop the settlements excuse as well.
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