Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Oxblog On Killing Children

David Adesnik of Oxblog ends his report on the murder of a 13-year old Palestinian girl by Israeli soldiers with this comment:
Of course, when Hamas and Al Aqsa murder Israeli children, they describe it as a tremendous success.
How does he know that? Hamas runs hospitals, among other things. To me it is not obvious that all its members and supporters enjoy killing children. Does Hamas literature specifically advocate the murder of Israeli children? If so, why doesn't Adesnik provide us with examples?

I am a frequent reader of Adesnik's Oxblog entries, and they are generally factually accurate and well-documented by links and references. He does not seem to be the type who blindly hates other people for no reason. Yet his casually derogatory remarks suggest a strong prejudice against the champions of the Palestinian cause.

By the way, this is why I don't like the phrase "war on terror". It is not that it is untrue. But it discourages even intelligent people like Adesnik from asking basic questions like: "Why do these people use terror tactics to achieve their aims?"

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