1. Murdering people
makes you a killer or a terrorist. But if those
murdered are Jews
then you are an activist. You might also be a
militant.
2. Crashing jet planes
into buildings makes you a terrorist. But
attempting to shoot
down civilian planes landing in Israel makes you
an activist.
3. Placing large
bombs on trains in Madrid makes you a terrorist,
but placing bombs
on Israeli buses full of children makes you an
activist.
4. Blowing up a nightclub
in Indonesia full of Australians makes you
a terrorist. But
mass murdering Israeli children makes you an
activist.
5. Snipers shooting
innocent people in Virginia are terrorists.
Snipers shooting
Jews in the West Bank are activists.
6. People trying
to ram soldiers with trucks and cars are generally
terrorists unless
the soldiers in question are Jews.
7. Throwing rocks
at civilians makes you a criminal and maybe even a
terrorist, and if
you do so off a California overpass you will get
jailed. But throwing
the same rocks at Jews in Israel makes you an
activist and maybe
even a professor at Columbia University.
8. Denying the Holocaust
makes you a racist and a fascist bigot,
unless you are an
Arab, in which case it makes you a moderate, at
least if you deny
the Holocaust in grammatically correct English.
9. Hiding behind
children when you shoot weapons at soldiers makes
you a coward and
a villain, unless you are a Palestinian or an Iraqi
Baathist.
10. Murdering children
makes you a fiend and maybe a nazi unless the
children are Jews,
in which case you are an activist with legitimate
grievances.
11. 9-11 and 3-11
terrorism has no underlying causes or root
grievances, but Middle
East activism in which Israelis get mass
murdered does - because
of Israeli insensitivity and because
Palestinians feel
occupied.
12. When Bosnians
or Albanians in Kosova get mass murdered, that is
a war crime. When
Jews get mass murdered, this is their comeuppance
for their insensitivity,
and of course it is reactive activism.
13. When Americans
assassinate al-Qaida or Taliban leaders anywhere
they find them, this
is part of the war against global terrorism.
When Israel shoots
terrorist leaders, it is an obstacle to peace and
is unjustifiably
deactivating activism.
14. When the US jails
hundreds of terrorists in Guantanamo Bay
without trial, this
is because the jailed are terrorists. When
Israel jails people
who have mass murdered Jews, this is undermining
the peace process
and antagonizing activists.
15. Firing mortars
and rockets into civilian areas in the Balkans
makes you a war criminal.
Firing them from Gaza into Jewish homes
makes you a militant.
Russian version
An introduction to MAOF
Haim Goldman
Haim Goldman
Dear Friends,
Would you believe that the undersigned has anything in common with
-- Professor Victor Davis Hanson (Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University),
-- Dr Charles Krauthammer, (Washington Post, Time, The Weekly Standard),
-- Caroline Glick (Deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post),
-- Jonathan Tobin (Executive Editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent).
Amazingly, the editors of the MAOF website decided that the missives of the undersigned are worthy of translation and posting along the articles written by these distinguished authors.
The first letter was published without the consent of the undersigned.
However, after thorough examination of the laudable attitude of MAOF and of the excellent contents of the website, the undersigned had most graciously granted his permission for publication of his missives in both English and Russian.
“Analytical Group MAOF” [1] is an organisation founded about ten years ago by Russian-speaking Jewish intellectuals. The attitude of MAOF is definitely pro-Zionist -- unambiguously and unapologetically.
One of MAOF’s primary purposes is providing information and analysis about Middle-Eastern and world affairs as well as about Israel’s history, values and dilemmas. In addition to extensive publication activity in various media, MAOF also organises excursions and seminars. While the vast majority of the contents of the MAOF website is in Russian, texts originally written in English are provided in the original [2] as well as in Russian.
There are arguably about 250 millions of Russian-speakers worldwide and many of them do not read English. The indisputable motivation for the author’s permission was to grant those millions of disadvantaged people the grand benefit of reading the author’s ruminations. If the author is ever maliciously accused that his tacit motivation for authorising the publication was his craving to be listed along with the above-mentioned distinguished writers, his plea will definitely be “nolo contendere”.
The editors of MAOF expressed their gratitude by granting the undersigned a privilege that no other author got – the opportunity to review and correct the Russian translation before publication. The original letters of the undersigned are at [3] and their Russian version is at [4]. At of today, only two letters are posted but several other letters are pending translation.
You are kindly ENCOURAGED TO RECOMMEND the MAOF website to your friends and colleagues worldwide, particularly those who speak Russian. Those who do not enjoy the benefit of proficiency in the exquisite Russian language can find many thought-provoking and inspiring articles about Middle-Eastern and world affairs in the English section [2].
Sincerely,
Haim Goldman
28.10.2006
REFERENCES:
[1] http://maof.rjews.net
[2] section.php3? sid=37&num=25
[3] authorg.php3? id=2107&type=a
[4] authorg.php3? id=2166&type=a