Israeli terrorists? Aaron Klein is almost killed by 'CNN mentality'

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Friday, February 8, 2002 | Aaron Klein

[JohnHuang2]

It's a beautiful day in Jerusalem. I'm on Jaffa Street shopping for souvenirs, taking some time off from a business trip, when a Palestinian terrorist opens fire at a crowded intersection several feet away.

I run when I hear the gunfire. Behind me, bodies are being shot down, blood spewed across the cobblestone walkway. Sirens wail, people run in all directions. I turn down a nearby alley and hide.

Several automatic weapons join in the symphony of horror. The terrorist is chased down a road and killed by Israeli policemen. But not before he murders two women and injures over 30 others.

And then I get back to my hotel room and turn on CNN. The gunman is labeled an "activist" from Islamic Jihad, and a story is broadcast against the backdrop of the IDF's killing of a Hamas activist two days earlier, as if there were some sort of moral equivalence between the two events.

The CNN correspondent reminds her viewers of the "Israeli occupation, which creates despair in the territories that many say leads to such suicide attacks."

I just witnessed the systematic murder of civilians simply for shopping or going to a restaurant, or waiting for a bus. The absolute gall of some CNN journalist to compare this tragedy to the preemptive killing of a terrorist responsible for the deaths of at least 10 Israelis and who was reportedly in the middle of planning still more attacks.

Pardon me, Miss CNN, but if Israeli intelligence learns the whereabouts of a member of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Popular Front or whatever other terrorist organization-of-the-day, who is actively engaged in the planning of civilian murders and who is not being restrained by the Palestinian Authority despite numerous ceasefires and other agreements, then Israel has the responsibility to ensure that the terrorist is stopped at all costs. Any country would act similarly. In fact, America has and still does. Don't dare compare this to the killing of innocents on a crowded street.

And what of the occupation, the checkpoints, the surrounding of cities to prevent infiltration by terrorists? Are these things – all of which certainly lower morale – primarily causing Palestinians to become suicide bombers, as the CNN reporter suggests?

I don't buy that old party line for a second. And I am shocked that CNN would. There is no historic precedent for any Western nation to resort to terrorism in response to "foreign occupation," humiliation, or poor living conditions.

Even the French, who during Nazi occupation were living under far worse conditions than any current inhabitant of the West Bank or Gaza, never once resorted to terrorism. And the wives and children of German soldiers were exposed and could have been easily targeted. But the French didn't do this because it is simply inconceivable for any nation or group with a democratic mindset to kill civilians.

The Palestinian Authority on the other hand is a military dictatorship with no free speech, elections, or bill of rights. Dissent is immediately squashed. Palestinian media outlets openly hail suicide bombers as national heroes; children are sent to Jihad camp and are taught in elementary school that Israelis are subhuman devils who must be eliminated; the PLO pays the families of "martyrs," and gives the killer a full-scale national funeral; Arafat himself now says he'd like to become a Jerusalem martyr, "the holiest fate of all."

Duh, CNN, maybe, just maybe these things have a bit more to do with Palestinians becoming suicide bombers?

There is no justification for terrorism. Ever. The CNN mentality – that the Israeli response is morally equivalent to Palestinian terrorism, and that desperation causes suicide bombers – encourages more terrorism. This is the kind of reporting that many in the Palestinian establishment crave. It lets them off the hook, and seems to legitimize their actions.

Since Sept. 11, the American government has pronounced all terrorism unacceptable, and has altered its policy accordingly. It's high time for viewers to demand that CNN does the same.

[JohnHuang2]

Quote of the Day by dead

[JohnHuang2]

[backhoe]

The anti-Israeli prejudice of most of the media is well-known to most of us here... for further info on the Middle East:

Why Israel Is The Victim And The Arabs Are The Indefensible Aggressors In the Middle East

The Big Lie

"The Arabs Are Responsible"

The Myth Of The Palestinian People

-Ariel Sharon & Israel-- The myths of Sabra and Shatilla and the war in Lebanon --

-Online book debunking the "Sharon Terror story--

-Israel Arabs Palestinians THE BATTLE FOR TRUTH--

-Crash Course in Middle East History--

-Setting the Historical Record Straight--

Why Europe Hates Israel

A History of Terror in Israel

---

Here are sources for Media bias:

-Media Research-free e-letter--

-Reed Irvine's Accuracy in Media--

-the Ben Franklin Foundation--

-Citizen's Coalition for Responsible Media--

---

[LarryM]

CNN is simply evil.

[Sabramerican]

Before 9/11, before many decent people were paying attention to the terrorism, I asked a question here about "desperation".

"Desperation" is the all purpose excuse for the barbarians. But what is it?

We hear about Israeli checkpoints. Oh, the horror. If traffic jams are an excuse, many of us would have strapped bombs to ourselves long ago. Ask New Yorkers about traffic after- and before- 9/11.

You readers tell me. Picture a scenario that would cause you such "desperation" that you would relieve it by going out to murder innocent men, women and children.

Does anyone believe Arab "desperation" compares with real suffering? Places in the world where children need work at hard labor, prostitute themselves. I don't need to tell you about the horrors people live under.

Does Arab "desperation" compare to the lives of African Americans under segregation? Did American Blacks indiscriminately- as a group, with hero status- murder white Americans? Under their worst circumstances they did not. That was real humiliation, real desperation.

And where Arabs are "suffering", who is at fault? Are Arabs not suffering in Syria, Egypt,...?

Bin Ladin became a terrorist from "desperation". The educated bums who flew into the WTC were "desperate" too.

Arab "desperation"- excuse for murder. But what excuses the Media a**holes?

I would the Governemnt of Israel would become a little "desperate" at the daily murder of its citizens.