It's the oldest trick in the book -- somehow regard the "enemy" as something less than human. Rationalize that there is somehow a "greater good" to be achieved by the other's death and you can justify anything in the book. Avika Eldar writes this in Haaretz:
The right does not consider the opinion of the moderate collective an authentic Arab voice. For them, the acts of the murderous exceptions are the determining factor. Their ears are attuned to the voice of an extremist minority and deaf to conciliatory notes, such as the Arab peace initiative of March 2002 - which proposes replacing the hostile relations with good neighborly ones. (The Arab League ambassador to Washington, Hussein Hassouna, said this week at a conference in Costa Rica that the organization is still committed to the initiative. )
Netanyahu, who complains about "the delegitimization of Israel," did not miss the opportunity to use the Itamar attack to breathe life into the destructive campaign that says "there is no Palestinian partner." "Moderate" Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who froze plans for peace education, added fuel to the fire when at the Jerusalem Conference this week he spoke of "our neighbors," who educate their children to hatred, violence and death.
The Haaretz op-ed notes that in Israel's book, there is a different Germany, a different Egypt, and a different Jordan to the point where 14 years ago, the assassination of several Jewish schoolgirls did not result in the condemnation of Jordan -- ironically, Bibi himself was Prime Minister at the time. But Bibi is following a double standard here -- in response to the tragic murders of Itamar, Bibi is using that as an excuse to excoriate the entire Palestinian leadership even though we don't know who the murderer was.
But this is a typical tactic of Israel's government in their continuing policy of perpetual warfare against the Palestinian people -- dehumanize and delegitimize. ASSume that there is no moderate voice in the Middle East or in Palestine, the recent protests to the contrary. It gives cover to settlers to riot -- after all, the Palestinians are not human:
Jewish settlers on Thursday set fire to cars and sabotaged water tanks during attacks running rampant around the nothern West Bank city of Nablus after settlers were found stabbed to death in nearby Itamar settlement less than a week back.
Settlers from Itamar southeast of Nablus vandalized olive trees east of the Awarta village, where the majority of attacks took place.
Israeli bulldozers razed private land there, witnesses reported, adding that a road was being built and tents were pitched east of the city.
Bibi himself decried reprisal attacks by settlers in response to the tragic Itamar murders. So the fact that they are carrying out these reprisal raids aided and abetted by the Israeli military means that Bibi has lost control of his own government. He is no longer calling the shots; his far-right allies are.
And Bibi's far-right allies are the same ones who have totally hijacked the peace process with their ever-expanding settlements, their racism with impunity, their dream of a "Greater Israel." With all the fanaticism, it is small wonder that there are numerous children who are killed on the Palestinian side. After all, if the enemy is not human, anything, including the killing of children is permissible. That goes for the killers of the Itamar family as well as the killers of these children here.
Here is just a partial listing of children who have been killed by the Israeli government:
Angham Rafat Atallah al-Masri, 10, of Beit Hanoun, Gaza, killed by an IDF missile in Beit Hanoun.
Isa Muhammad Iyada Rimeliat, 12, of Rafah refugee camp, Gaza, killed by the IDF in Rafah refugee camp's al-Shaboura section.
Abdullah Nasr Abdullah al-Sdoudi, 7, of Nuseirat, Gaza, died of wounds sustained in an IDF attack on Nuseirat.
Nancy Said Muhammad Waked, 6 months, of Gaza City, Gaza, died of wounds sustained in an IDF attack on Gaza City's al-Zaytoun neighborhood.
Muhammad Yahya Said Baba, 11, of Beit Lahya, Gaza, died of wounds sustained in an IDF attack on Beit Lahya.
Sundus Said Hasan abu-Sultan, 4, of Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza, died of wounds sustained in an IDF attack on Jabalya refugee camp.
Dima Said Ahmad al-Zahal, 5, of Beit Lahya, Gaza, died of wounds sustained in an IDF attack on Beit Lahya.
Zaynaldeen Muhammad Zurub, 7 months, died of a lung infection in the Gaza Strip's European Hospital after Israel denied him permission to leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment. His parents tried for several weeks prior to his death to obtain a permit from Israel to take him to Jerusalem for treatment.
Muhammad Taysir Muhammad Zumlot, 11, of Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza, died in al-Amal Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza, of head wounds sustained Jan. 6 from IDF bombing while at home in Block 2 of Jabalya refugee camp. His grandmother and father were also killed in the attack.
Hamza Samar Muhanna abu-Maria, 7 months, of Beit Omar, Near Hebron, died of IDF tear gas inhalation while in her home during a demonstration.
The tragic thing about these deaths is not one of these were ever, to my knowledge, reported by the mainstream media. It is no different than a referee who will not call things fairly and equitably. And by the same token, the media violates the Journalist's Creed by not reporting fairly and equitably on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Here is the creed:
I believe in the profession of journalism.
I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the full measure of their responsibility, trustees for the public; that acceptance of a lesser service than the public service is betrayal of this trust.
I believe that clear thinking and clear statement, accuracy and fairness are fundamental to good journalism.
I believe that a journalist should write only what he holds in his heart to be true.
I believe that suppression of the news, for any consideration other than the welfare of society, is indefensible.
I believe that no one should write as a journalist what he would not say as a gentleman; that bribery by one's own pocketbook is as much to be avoided as bribery by the pocketbook of another; that individual responsibility may not be escaped by pleading another's instructions or another's dividends.
I believe that advertising, news and editorial columns should alike serve the best interests of readers; that a single standard of helpful truth and cleanness should prevail for all; that the supreme test of good journalism is the measure of its public service.
I believe that the journalism which succeeds best -- and best deserves success -- fears God and honors Man; is stoutly independent, unmoved by pride of opinion or greed of power, constructive, tolerant but never careless, self-controlled, patient, always respectful of its readers but always unafraid, is quickly indignant at injustice; is unswayed by the appeal of privilege or the clamor of the mob; seeks to give every man a chance and, as far as law and honest wage and recognition of human brotherhood can make it so, an equal chance; is profoundly patriotic while sincerely promoting international good will and cementing world-comradeship; is a journalism of humanity, of and for today's world.
The problem is that too many journalists are violating the public trust by not reporting on these Palestinian deaths. Instead, they are betraying the public trust by only reporting on the Israeli side. Instead of showing independence by calling it both ways, they display graphic headlines when the family of Itamar is murdered, but they pass by in silence whenever one of the hundreds of Palestinian children are murdered. Where is the fairness in that? How does that uphold the public trust that journalists are supposed to uphold? What we are seeing here is a willful suppression of the news here by the so-called "official" media for the benefit of the Israeli government and a blatant betrayal of the public trust. This is the same sort of thing that led us to Judith Miller.