Khalidi's appointment
Reader comment on item: Rashid Khalidi's Appointment at Columbia University
in response to reader comment: targeting palestinian civilians

Submitted by mo (United States), Jan 22, 2007 at 11:32

Dr. Kaplan has his head in the sands. Yes, terrorism of suicide bombing is a cowardly, vicious act as it has killed scores of innocent civilian men and women, not to mention children. But it is unreal to say Israel does not target civilians. It is well-known they have and continue to do so. Any number of quotes from many PMs and generals have openly stated the Palestinian people will have to pay for whatever the latest insurrection. You can't bomb an apartment bldg to target a known terrorist and pretend one is not responsible for "collateral damage" a euphenism for kill, of many civilians. You can't lob tank motars into a crowded refugee camp without realizing there will be civilians killed. You cannot saturate a civiian area with millions of anti-personnel bomblets over concentrated swaths of area as done in So. Lebanon without specifically understanding it will result in many innocent people being made to suffer, as the daily toll of death and maiming of Lebanese children and farmers to this day make abundantly clear.

The vicious killing of Israeli children by suicide bombing cannot inure us to the fact 3 times as many Palestinian children have been killed and are being killed by IDF ordinance. Look, it is a fairy tale to believe that 5 times as many Palestinian adults and 3 times as many Palestinian children are being killed (IDF figures) and greviouly wounded byasphyxiation, concussive explosion, fire, schrapnel, bullets, crumbling walls and roofs because they just happened to have bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is an inexcusable refusal to face the reality of occupation that can only be accomplished and maintained by violence. It would make better sense to argue it is Palestinian blame for not previously giving up and ceding all their land & towns & villages& farm lands to Israeli lieberstrum; that Israel is only doing what Palestinians have so far refused.

We should be glad for Columbia to have someone of Khalidi's stature. It is quite a responsibility to fulfill the enormous legacy of Ed Said and his scholarly output and reasoned polemic have been without peer. You might have an entirely different opinion of him by reading his latest book, The Iron Cage.

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