There seems to a certain controversy over the ‘mourning tent’ established outside the family home of the dead terrorist who murdered eight young Israelis this week. Some people are claiming that a democracy has to respect all points of view, even as extreme as praise for the murderer. No one could seriously argue that anyone inside that tent is actually in mourning for a dead murder; it is far more like that they are celebrating his ‘achievement’.
In terms of traditional law, this could and should be reclassified as an act of subversion against the state. The celebration of the murders and the ideology represented by that act are directly contrary to the safety of a democracy and directly attacking in both form and the physical body of the Israeli state. A democracy cannot accommodate elements that seek to destroy it and is not therefore akin to a debating society, where the losers of an evening’s debate can walk away. A democracy is a political system that lives within the living body of its people. A subversive attack in both physical and ideological form cannot therefore be permitted as the attack constitutes an assault upon the democracy itself.
It could be argued that such an attitude is yet another example of the liberal-left refusing to defend themselves, believing that to defend themselves would constitute an act of aggression. But to my mind, such an stance is suicidal in both the long and the short term. The family and the supporters should be arrested, tried and punished but it may be that sterner measures will have to be taken.
All states should contain the mechanism for the suspension of civil law in times of emergency and Israel has been living in this state since 2000. The Palestinian Arabs must be punished more severely for such acts.
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Neoconservativism and the West 
Excellent Blog. I’ve been reading along and just wanted to say hi. I will be reading more of your posts in the future.
– Jason.
How would you address the actions of the terrorist Baruch Goldstien, an American born Israeli physician who perpetrated the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in the city of Hebron, murdering 29 Muslims at prayer in the Ibrahimi Mosque (within the Cave of the Patriarchs) and wounding another 150 in a shooting attack?
Goldstein was buried at the Meir Kahane Memorial Park in Kiryat Arba, a Jewish settlement next to Hebron. The park is named in memory of Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the Israeli far-right political party Kach, a group classified by the United States and Israeli governments as a terrorist organization. Goldstein was a long-time devotee of Kahane.
The gravesite has become a pilgrimage site for those with extreme right-wing political views; a plaque near the grave reads “To the holy Baruch Goldstein, who gave his life for the Jewish people, the Torah and the nation of Israel.”
The above, for your information, is taken directly from Wikipedia.
ATW
I was and remain aware of the attack by Baruch Goldstein. However as one with an open mind might be aware, such attacks are not a part of Israeli military, political or cultural methods or practises. On the contrary, Israel takes great care to preserve civilian life when conducting military operations.
Is Germany to be condemned for the existence within it of a few far-right thugs? If not, then neither should Israel. This is an issue in which the moral equivalence brigade appear, claiming that like for like makes equality. The existence of a man like Goldstein does not compare to the stated ends of all political groupings in Palestinian Arab society, namely the physical annihilation of Jewry.
On the one hand, we have Hamas, Fatah, PFLP, Islamic Jihad and the nascent al-Qaeda groups. On the other hand we have… Baruch Goldstein. One man does not make a society wicked; a society dominated by genocidal thugs however is another case, where one should be concerned about the health of that society. Which is the case with the Palestinian Arabs.
Interesting analogy and justification. But if one man (Baruch’s actions) – do not make a nation wicked, then remember that all – yes, this is no exaggeration – so-called Settlers are just like Baruch in demeanor and actions! Can they be excused? Then you should not point the finger at the “Arab Palestinians” either.
And I will argue back that regardless of how “big” you want to make it seem by mentioning Hamas, Fatah, PFLP and all others, how many are there in numbers compared to the 300 Million Arabs? Forget Arabs, just Palestinians. Do the ratios of Settlers to Israelis and compare to the groups you mention to Palestinians in Palestine. You will be surprised! So again, the actions of the few should not mean collective punishment of a People.
But one fact remains and I must strongly disagree that Israelis take great care to preserve civilian life. I say again that Israelis target children and in the head. They are on videos breaking the arms of children who threw stones at them. The examples are many and the documented facts and statistics are all there for the world to see. An average of 10-1 (Palestinians killed vs. Jews/ Israelis) hardly imply that the Israelis take “great care” in preserving civilian lives! Same goes for the adults and I have the pictures on my blog of an American citizen for God’s sake – who was shot in the head! This seems to be the favorite spot for “target practice” for Israelis. Add Rachel Corrie and hundreds of others (non Palestinian) and your “argument” holds no water.
ATW
So you are accusing all of those settling in Judea, Samaria and formerly in Gaza of being extremists on a part with the Nazis? While I disagree with statements and attitudes of some of the ‘settler’ movement, I would not paint them as universal extremists, thugs or murdering bullies. Neither would I say the same about the PalArabs as a whole population group.
However we do find the difference note worthy when it comes to widespread attitudes. Try looking at what is regularly published by all aspects of the Palestinian media and you will find that it is neither peaceful or geared towards tolerance. Sermons are preached calling for the deaths of the Jews (and these are ‘moderate’ Fatah preachers), while the PA and Hamas both regularly claim that ‘armed resistance’ and ‘reclaiming our heritage’ (meaning the destruction of Israel) have neither been laid aside or renounced.
A small point. If the settlers are to blame for the antagonism within what are termed the ‘occupied territories’, how do you account for the behaviour of the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip after the 2005 withdrawal of the settlers and the IDF? The PalArabs smashed up the greenhouses (left as a present by Jewish American financiers to the Gazans), trashed the apartments left by the settlers and continued the cross-border terrorism (raids, suicide attacks and more frequently the Qassam and mortar attacks against CIVILIAN targets).
At some point, my dear, you have to ask yourself why people might do this? You cannot blame the Israelis forever.
From what I have been aware of, those videos date from the First Intifada back in the late 1980s. Are you aware of the Pallywood phenomenon? That the footage of shootings by the IDF is regularly faked?
As for ‘poor’ Rachael Corrie and the other members of the ISM/PSM, I would point out that the footage and reporting of those deaths remains highly suspect and in the case of Rachael Corrie, she seems to have put her own life in danger, perhaps deliberately seeking death or injury to promote the ’cause’. And before you jump back up, she and her comrades were not protecting a home but were protecting a weapons smuggling tunnel.