The Moral Equivalency Argument, Again! | By Ray Hanania

http://www.hanania.com/col09197.htm

The Moral Equivalency Argument, Again!
Sept. 19, 1997
By Ray Hanania

American leaders have taken the lead from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an attempt to put distance between acts of "Arab terrorism" and Israeli persecution of the Palestinian People.
You see, Arabs rightly argue that Israel is provoking "Arab extremists" into acts of "Arab terrorism." And that argument has enraged Mr. Netanyahu and his supporters.
The condemnation of "Arab terrorism" would not be so strong if one believed that they were provoked into suicide bombings and using violence against Israeli targets.
So Netanyahu has publicly denounced what he calls the "moral equivalency" argument of the Arabs that attempts to link "Arab terrorism" with Israeli aggression against the civilian Palestinian population.
But in doing so, they must misstate the Arab argument.
At meetings I attended sponsored by the Arab American Institute with President Clinton's Adviser on Near East Affairs, Bruce Riedel, and the President's National Security Adviser, Sandy Berger, the argument was wrongly stated by them as follows:
"We do not see a moral equivalency between bombs and bulldozers."
I quickly stood up and challenged that statement and explained that no Arab or Palestinian in his right mind would argue that their is a "moral equivalency" between "bombs and bulldozers."
That, I said, misstates the real point.
You see, there is a moral equivalency between the taking of a person's life and the "destroying" of a person's life.
And while "Arab terrorists" are "taking" the lives of civilians in suicide bomb attacks in Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel, Netanyahu is "destroying" the lives of innocent Palestinians through a sweeping policy of harassment that borders on violence.
Let's look at the facts.
While Israelis argue that there have been more Israeli deaths since the White House peace signing between Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin in September 1993, they fail to point out that as many as 600 Palestinian civilians have been killed at the hands of Israeli soldiers and armed settlers during that same period.
And, the Israelis employ policies of collective punishment that include the closure of the territories, essentially turning the Palestinians into prisoners in their own lands.
Also, the Israelis destroy the homes and properties of family members and friends of individuals accused of being "terrorists." The term "accused" is essential because it clearly states that they have not been proven to be terrorists at all. (In real Democracies, people are innocent until proven guilty.)
The Israelis have arrested thousands of Palestinians and they have refused to allow these Palestinians the right of legal defense or the right to know the charges against them, the laws they are breaking, or the evidence that is being used to justify their arrests.
These detainees are held at maximum security prisons in Israel for periods of up to six months, and the detention can be renewed on the whim of an Israeli magistrate or military administrator without ever giving the prisoner a chance to defend him or herself.
Israelis also are slowly building exclusive Jewish settlements while denying building permits to Palestinians. Netanyahu is actively pushing for the expansion of existing Jewish settlements and the creation of new settlements on Arab land, and on disputed lands.
When you view all of the above actions as a whole, suddenly the argument bombs for bulldozers makes no sense and instead becomes one of "taking" a life and "destroying" a life.
There is a moral equivalency between the actions of "Arab terrorists" and the actions of the Netanyahu government.
And, it becomes especially clear when the Netanyahu government is pursuing policies that feed the terrorism by provoking them into more spectacular actions.

(Ray Hanania is an award winning Palestinian American Journalist and author. His parents are from Jerusalem.)