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Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-747319
Israelis, Palestinians Are Not Morally Equal Now
(Jerusalem Post) David M. Weinberg - What is missing from the glib reporting of international media from the West Bank is any reference to the political and moral implications of Palestinian terrorism. Nobody has remarked upon the death-glorifying political culture of the Palestinians that repeatedly chooses violence over negotiations. Few are prepared to recognize the distinction between child-murdering Palestinian terrorists and Israeli soldiers conducting anti-terrorist operations who must arrest or eliminate Palestinian combatants and who occasionally hit a bystander too. Few acknowledge that Palestinian society celebrates the kidnapping and murder of Israeli men, women, and children, while the IDF does its utmost to avoid civilian casualties. Instead, too many Western diplomats and journalists who should know better outrageously plug symmetry, presenting Israel as a violent society, not particularly different from its Palestinian neighbor. There is no moral equivalence between Israelis and Palestinians in the current struggle. In Israeli society, moral standards are clear. Israel is not planting bombs in Palestinian markets or kidnapping Palestinian children. Israelis seek conflict resolution, not the annihilation of the enemy. Israel has put eight far-reaching compromise proposals on the diplomatic table over the past 20 years. In 2022 there were more than 5,000 Palestinian terror attacks against Israeli Jews, including car rammings, shootings, stabbings, and fire-bombings of innocent men, women and children. Over the past few months, Palestinian terrorists have slaughtered close to 40 Israelis. The contrasting viciousness of much of Palestinian society is repeatedly laid bare by atrocious terrorism; the glorification of terrorists by Palestinian leadership; the financial support of Palestinian governments for such terrorism; and repeated rejection of any and all compromise peace proposals. The writer is a senior fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy.