To
the Editor of the Post Dispatch, It
is time to differentiate between the actions of the IDF (the Israeli Army) and
the Palestinian terrorists where civilians are concerned.It
is true that sometimes civilians are wounded and even killed in the IDF's actions
against Palestinian targets much the same as civilians are killed or wounded in
Afganistan by US efforts there. The basic difference here is that the TARGET of
IDF action is military in nature and for the most part has been directed against
Police Headquarters and
Offices of the same terrorist organizations which
are killing Israelis.
If the IDF were to target civilians, given the
military equipment the Israeli army has, we would be counting the casualties in
the thousands
and not in the hundreds.
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On the other hand,
the prime target of the Palestinian terrorists is civilians, primarily teenagers
and children. One need only look at a few of the recent acts: the beating to death
of two teenagers in a cave a few months ago, the bombing of the Sbarro Pizza parlor,
the Dophinarium Disco bombing and even the two latest ones a Jerusalem mall on
a Saturday night and the middle of Haifa's Hadar district.
All of these actions
have been aimed at killing as many civilians as possible, the younger the better.
Each of the bombs were packed full of nails and
bolts so that those not killed
in the explosion would be wounded or killed with the schrapnel.It
is very important that we not loose site of the difference and not confuse a military
response with out and out terrorist activity. |