We must stop apologizing! 

by Isi Leibler
July 29, 2002
http://www.jpost.com

We have every reason to be distressed, angry and disgusted. 
We are distressed at the accidental deaths of Palestinian 
civilians, children included, in a military operation against 
a cruel and evil mass murderer. But Salah Shehadeh was aware 
that he topped Israel's hit list and deliberately chose to 
shield himself among civilians in a densely populated area. 
The deaths and injuries in Gaza City are his responsibility. 

We have reason to be angry that Gideon Meir, head of Israel's 
Foreign Ministry Information Department, rushes to tell CNN and 
the BBC that the strike was "indefensible," and that Foreign 
Minister Shimon Peres follows with an outright apology. 

Apology for what? Given the carnage orchestrated by Shehadeh 
and his gang of savages, such apologies which are tantamount 
to an acknowledgment of guilt are a form of masochism. They are 
even more grotesque in view of our desperate efforts unlike 
those of any other nation to try to minimize civilian casualties, 
frequently at the cost of the lives of our own soldiers. 

What are we expected to do when we locate the Palestinian 
counterpart to bin Laden brazenly organizing new, large-scale 
terror attacks? Are we to stand by with folded arms until more 
of our children are blown to pieces? The chorus of hypocritical 
international bleeding hearts with their usual double standards 
is beneath contempt. Their condemnations contrast starkly to 
their muted responses to the suicide bombers and terror attacks 
targeted against Israeli civilians. 

None of our detractors questioned why a mass murderer could be 
permitted to live and work among civilians while actively 
plotting to kill more Israelis. Instead, we are informed that 
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, head of an organization whose goal is the 
destruction of Israel, and who is one of the chief instigators 
of suicide martyrdom, was allegedly on the point of agreeing to 
a cease-fire. This report comes from Reuters, which quoted Yassin 
as saying that Hamas would "consider" a cease-fire if, among other
conditions, Israel evacuated the West Bank and released Palestinian
prisoners. The timing of this report is transparent as psychological
warfare to create the impression that the killing of Shehadeh was a 
Sharon conspiracy to kill the negotiations. 

The gall of tyrants who inhabit the United Nations, who condemn 
Israel while remaining silent over bestial acts of genocide which 
take place among their own members, defies belief. Kofi Annan 
sanctimoniously lectures Israel about international law in the 
knowledge that Shehadeh brazenly continued recruiting, planning, 
and manufacturing bombs for suicide martyrs right until the moment 
of his elimination. No word from the UN secretary-general regarding 
the international legal implications of a regime enabling mass 
murderers to carry out their activities in the full light of day. 

The shameless Europeans are of course again targeting Israel for 
war crimes. In this context it is noteworthy that Javier Solana, 
the European representative to the Middle East a biased and hostile 
critic of Israel crossed all red lines some days ago by holding a 
personal meeting with none other than Hamas leader Yassin. 
Yet paradoxically, Solana was secretary-general of NATO three years 
ago during the 78-day aerial bombardment of Yugoslavia which 
resulted in the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians. 

He himself approved the use of cluster bombs on crowded cities and 
densely populated areas, including the botched effort to assassinate 
Slobodan Milosevic by bombing his bunker which was located in a 
residential neighborhood. Contrast that to Israel. According to 
Ha'aretz correspondent Amir Oren, out of more than 100 assassinations 
of terrorists in the territories, innocent bystanders were killed on 
fewer than half a dozen occasions. Yet despite this, Europe is one 
of the leaders in the campaign to demonize Israel. 

Naturally the Third World joins in, too, particularly the Africans 
for whom practicing genocide against one another is almost de rigueur. 

Then there are the Chinese, whose respect for human rights in Tibet 
and elsewhere is fully on record. And of course the Russians, whose 
handling of the Chechen insurrection hardly reflects the humanitarian
considerations they demand of us. Regrettably, even our friends the 
Americans this time felt sufficiently pressured to join the pack. 
We have been reprimanded for being "excessive" and "heavy handed." 

Yet in 1986, after an American soldier was killed by terrorists in 
a German nightclub, president Ronald Reagan ordered an air strike 
on  the residence of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi. He escaped, but 
37 civilians, including his daughter, were killed. 

There were no condemnations by the United Nations or the Europeans 
on that occasion. 

A few months ago, referring to casualties incurred among non-combatant
family members of al-Qaida, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told 
The New York Times that the women and children were in the battle zone 
"of their own free will, [and] know who they're with and who they're
supporting and who they're encouraging and who they're assisting." 

Even more recently, the Americans acknowledged that the killing of 
400 Afghani civilians in a bombing raid was an accident. 
The implication was that what was an "accident" for the 
Americans is for Israel targeted killing with malicious intent. 

It would indeed be stretching the imagination somewhat to visualize 
the United States standing aside and passing up an opportunity to 
eliminate bin Laden out of concern for the welfare of civilians 
living with him. 

We are at war and Israeli civilians are being murdered every day. 
In such circumstances, the primary obligation of any government 
must be to defend its citizens. The government has no choice but 
to intensify its efforts to dispose of all who threaten the lives 
of its populace. 

It is therefore high time that we stopped apologizing for civilians 
killed because they live in proximity to leading terrorists who 
openly plot to kill Israeli civilians. As John Podhoretz noted in 
a recent New York Post article reprinted in these pages on Sunday 
("Living Camouflage," July 28) the Fourth Geneva Convention (Part 3, 
Article 1, Section 28) states explicitly that "The presence of a 
protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas 
immune from military operations." 

Thus, Arab civilian communities should be clearly warned that they 
risk their lives if they choose to live in proximity to those trying 
to kill us. 

They should understand that the days are over when they could, 
without risk, indulge in public demonstrations of embracing martyrs, 
and hold street celebrations every time an Israeli civilian is blown up. 

There are those who claim that our actions will only bring about 
reprisals and intensify the terror. That is not so. The Palestinian 
terror machine has certainly not exercised restraint these past 
three months and it is no secret that if they could kill more of 
us they would do so irrespective of how many terrorists or civilians 
we harmed. It is not as though we have not endeavored with unilateral 
cease-fires and other efforts to "break the cycle of violence." 
We tried again and again and the response was always more terrorism 
and more suicide bombings. 

There are no simple solutions, but the killings could end overnight.
Almost all Israelis are appalled at the thought of indefinitely 
ruling over the Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority has only to 
announce an end to terror, arrest the killers, and make a genuine 
effort to enforce law and order. Israel would respond immediately. 
Negotiations would follow, and the bloodshed would be halted. 

But as long as the murderers carry on business as usual, with the PA
looking on approvingly, Israel has no choice. 

We take pride that despite the provocations and the broad support 
for suicide bombers by the Palestinian people, we have retained our 
humanity and Jewish moral standards. While Palestinians express joy 
at every Israeli civilian killed, we remain genuinely distressed 
whenever innocent Palestinians men, women, or children are harmed in 
a war we do not seek.

But if a mass murderer is killed and innocent civilians die with 
him because they are living in proximity to the area in which he 
plots the killings, then they are the inevitable victims of war. 

This, not apologies, is what Israeli spokesmen should be conveying 
to the world. 
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The writer is senior vice president of the World Jewish Congress.
ileibler@netvision.net.il