Professor Zev Sternhal, Davar, April 5, 1988
I decry violence.
I therefore, first and foremost, express disdain for people like Professor Sternhal (prounounced Shtern-hall) who use their intellectual standing and position to preach violence. Even Haaretz notes that in
his remarks in the media, specifically an article he wrote in Haaretz which justified an attack by Palestinians on settlers...
And, of course, I condemn the bomb attack against him, whoever did it. It is immoral, illegal and unproductive.
I do, however, find it odd that pro-Pals., those of the "peace camp", always manage to explain away Pal. terror by assigning its cause to Jews/Israeli/Zionists. Pal. terror is a reaction to Jewish colonization, settlements, raodblocks, occupation, harrassment and much more. It's always our fault.
So, what is the illogic in that someone would think that Sternhhal was attacked due to something he did?
Like writing in Haaretz on May 11, 2001, justifying Arab terror against settlers, calling on Arabs to murder settlers and encouraging them to place explosive charges, but only on the eastern side of the Green Line.
"There is no doubt regarding the legitimacy of the armed resistance in the territories themselves. If the Palestinians had a bit of sense, they would concentrate their struggle against the settlements. [...] They would similarly refrain from placing explosive charges on the western side of the Green Line."
or in (now defunct) Davar in April 1988:
"Fascism cannot be stopped with rational arguments. This can be stopped only by force, and when there is willingness to risk a civil war. When necessary, we shall have to forcibly deal with the settlers in Ofrah or in Eilon Moreh."
If I define the peace camp (which I don't) as fascist, can I write the same words about, say, Shenkin Street in Tel Aviv where the cafes are full of pacifists and progressives?
More this past August:
It is there, between Hebron and Yitzhar, that the settlements are burying the democratic Jewish state...the unwillingness to confront groups of toughs who flout the law and government decisions is a disgrace in itself, it is not the major obstacle to ending the occupation...a mafia-like culture of theft, lies and deception developed in the territories...a minority took control of the fate of the entire society and held it hostage, due both to the left's ideological impotence and a lack of character, determination and leadership. If society does not find the emotional strength to remove the noose of the settlements, nothing but a sad memory will remain of the Jewish state as it still exists."
Those are fighting words.
As is recorded in Matthew 26:52: Then said Jesus...all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. The pen is not always mightier than the sword.
P.S. Note, too, how Peace Now director makes political capital:
In the wake of the attack and the discovery of the fliers, police have beefed up security around the home of Peace Now secretary general Yariv Oppenheimer.
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5 comments:
Now that the Left is discredited politically , something like this comes along to rally the Left. I wonder if this is a police provocation, just like "the big one", Rabin's murder.
However, if it was a "right-winger", all I can say is they should put him in the clink and throw away the key. These actions serve the Left's interests, period.
Winkie - you're now quoting the NT???
Nu? What gives?
I prefer Job 36:12 (even the whole chapter) for something similar which most definitely applies!
I was trying to use a source Sternhel would feel comfortable with.
The name is spelled Sternhell and pronounced shtern-hell. I was called today by Erev Hadash to appear on the program, presumably because I appeared on the program back in the spring to protest Sternhell receiving the Israel Prize. I couldn't appear for personal reasons.
It is difficult not to suspect that the attack on Sternhell is a provocation against the right, nor that it will never be properly investigated. Shades of the Arlozorov assassination.
Did Sternhell Inspire an Attack?
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
On Wednesday night there was a pipe bomb attack on Prof. Zeev Sternhell in the heart of "Israeli-occupied Jerusalem." The far-left extremist Hebrew University professor was lightly hurt and there were condemnations left and right.
There's only one problem. No one actually knows what happened. But I think I do.
The attackers, you see, were readers of Haaretz and they decided to follow Sternhell's own advice. As I think he must have written somewhere in one of his articles, "There is no doubt regarding the legitimacy of the armed resistance in the territories themselves. If the settlers had a bit of sense, they would concentrate their struggle against the leftists...."
Oops. Wait a second. Sorry. I looked at a Sternhell article from Haaretz (May 11, 2001). It seems he actually wrote: "There is no doubt regarding the legitimacy of the armed resistance in the territories themselves. If the Palestinians had a bit of sense, they would concentrate their struggle against the settlements...."
Now that, of course, is a completely different thing. What was I thinking?
Much, much more seriously, I believe that the Left to which Sternhell belongs did, in fact, legitimize Arab terrorism in the service of certain goals they approve of. So, some on the Right may have been convinced by that constant far-left incitement - justifying all violence in the service of high ideals - and taken it to heart. What can we do if the goals and ideals of the far-right are different than those of the far-left?
So, Prof. Sternhell, when those who attacked you are captured, can they call upon you as an expert witness in their defense?
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