I am greatly saddened by the past two days in Israel. Once again, terrorism has ripped people’s normal lives apart. (I don’t pretend to suggest that life in Israel is normal – it can’t be with the constant threats – I guess I mean “routine”). People there have become accustomed to being targeted and have shown exceptional courage and restraint despite all that they have endured. They have been loyal allies, tempering their responses over the years to help meet our common goals. I don’t believe we would have responded in turn if they said to us, “Don’t go after bin Laden this time. Let it go,” as we have asked of them during previous attacks.
There is a story today in the Washington Post that sickens me and –remarkably– gives me great hope. It tells the personal story of the two Palestinian men who conducted deadly suicide bombings in Jerusalem.
This statement by one of the terrorist’s father made me sick: “I feel both pride and sorrow,” said his father.” What kind of place do you live in when you can say you are proud that your son murded dozens and wounded hundreds more?
I feel hope from a statement made by a friend of one of the terrorists: “he started working in Israel and seeing the luxurious life they live there, and probably he started asking questions: Why are they leading a better life than us? Why are they treating us so badly? Every one of us asks these questions every day.”
The Palestinian people should feel angry that they do not have the life that the Israeli people have. But it’s not the fault of the Israelis, it’s the Palestinians who are to blame.
If you support leaders who rub salt in your wounds, then things will never get any better. You are being used and you are being oppressed. Not by the Israelis, they don’t care a darn about you. They care about their people. You are being oppressed by your own leaders. And the same holds true in Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabi, Yemen, and countless other middle eastern nations. Your leaders tell you, “Things are bad here because (insert name here) is an evil government aligned against us.” No, things are bad there because you have no freedom. And rather than rise up and claim you God given rights, you submit to generation after generation of oppression.
If one Palestinian ever reads this, I hope you ask yourself: How is my life better because of the terrorists who taped nails, bolts, nuts, and screws to a bomb and blew up an Israeli neighborhood? Guess what? It’s not. And it never will be. Not because you are wrong to fight, but because you are fighting the wrong war. You must stand up and throw off the shackels. If you do, you will have freedom. If you do not, God help us all.
You people in this world….Sometimes you just give me the biggest headache. I gotta close this. I need a Tylenol.