Posted on 04/21/2002 6:14:01 AM PDT by dennisw
The Slanderer from Oslo
by Amnon Dankner, Maariv, 19.4.2002
Free Translation by Trudy Gefen of article in Hebrew daily, Maariv,
by Leftwing journalist, and former Oslo supporter, Amnon Dankner,
Friday, 19 April, 2002
THE SLANDERER FROM OSLO A tragedy occurred in the Jenin refugee camp. Innocent men, women and children were killed or wounded. Buildings were destroyed and there may even still be people alive under the ruins. This is terrible and every heart fills with pity for these miserable people. But this tragedy is not the fault of Israel nor the IDF. It is entirely the fault of Yasser Arafat, the Tanzim, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and those preachers in mosques whose incitement and glorification of death over life provoke and inspire murderous terrorist attacks. Israel had no option other than to hunt down the terrorists, to seek them out in their hiding places, to flush them out and to attack them.
The terrorists hid, as is their wont, armed with weapons and bombs, amongst the civilian population. We had no alternative but to attack them where we found them. Nevertheless, we acted with restraint and with care; we did not level the camps with missiles, nor did we blow up the houses with cannons, we fought carefully from house to house, from alley to alley. In this type of battle, we lost many soldiers, simply because we were moral and humane and tried not to harm the innocent. We fought because there was no other way to try and free ourselves from the violence which has filled our streets with blood and horror.
Alas, our self-control and all our justifications did not stop the outbreak of an outrageous propaganda campaign against us, based on ignorance and malice and accompanied by the most diabolical hostility and hollow, baseless criticism. Yesterday, a man who should have had the decency to remain silent, joined this sinister campaign. After all, Terje Larsen, the personal envoy of the UN's Secretary General to the region, was one of the main architects of the Oslo agreement, which has brought one tragedy after the other upon us and the palestinians. Larsen, personal friend and an enthusiastic supporter of Yasser Arafat, yesterday toured the Jenin camp and immediately started to deliver serious accusations against Israel. True, the sights, the sounds and also the odors emanating from the camp were hard to bear, but even so it was wrong of him to make such serious charges without first checking up on the facts. However, this is not the first time Larsen has made unfounded allegations, for which he later had to apologize. Last year, during a meeting at the Defence Ministry, Larsen got into a shouting match with General Gabi Ashkenasi, of the Northern Command, who claimed that the UN had in its possession several tapes taken of the Hizbullah's abduction of three IDF soldiers [on the border between Israel and Lebanon]. Larsen raised his voice, vehemently denying that the UN was hiding from Israel the fact that it had these tapes in its possession. Had he checked first, perhaps he would not have reacted so precipitately. Only after this heated exchange did he go and check the facts (in his own words), discovering that he had been misled (again, in his own words) by the Secretary General.
Now he is behaving in exactly the same manner. To accuse the IDF of behaving inhumanely during the Jenin campaign without first checking the facts behind the reasons for the ban on free movement in the area, even for humanitarian and medical supplies, is disgraceful. The IDF lost too many soldiers over there and did not want to take the chance of even more casualties because of uncontrolled traffic. The War on Terror never was and never will be a genteel Tea Party in an Oslo lounge. It will always be a tough, ruthless fight where even innocent people can, inadvertently, also be hurt. Naturally, one can express sorrow and pain, but without being hypocritical and immoral by placing all the blame on the defending side, on the side which does not seek out bloodshed, which does not glorify death, which does not celebrate as it sacrifices its children to Moloch.
Only one spectre hovers over the reek of death in Jenin camp, over the dead bodies, the ruined houses. That spectre is Yasser Arafat's, the man who chose terror, lies and death for his career, for his mission in life. Only Arafat's image wafts over Jenin and Netanya, Jerusalem and Shechem, Afula and Bethlehem, sowing pain and sorrow, fraud and incitement, despair and destruction. From where he stood amongst the ruins of Jenin, Terje Larsen could easily see that loathsome image wherever he turned. He could easily have identified it as the principal guilty party. But Terje Larsen preferred to point the finger of blame in a different direction because he, like certain other Oslo architects including, sadly, a number of Israelis, cannot make the distinction between good and evil at their most basic levels because, like the others, he is ASHAMED to admit that he also fell into the trap laid by that phoney known as Arafat.
Naturally, one can express sorrow and pain, but without being hypocritical and immoral by placing all the blame on the defending side, on the side which does not seek out bloodshed, which does not glorify death, which does not celebrate as it sacrifices its children to Moloch.
Excellent point. Thanks for the article, Dennis.
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