(Jewish Journal of Los Angeles) Arthur Cohn - The Palestinian film, "Paradise Now," which describes in an understanding way the lives of two Palestinian terrorists, won a string of important awards from major film festivals, culminating in this month's Oscar nomination as best foreign film. How is it possible that such a film is acclaimed by many people of culture and art, after all the tragic events caused by brutal terror? Why the double standard for terrorism? The main reason is that suicide terrorists (we should call them "genocide terrorists") are, when active in Israel, regarded by many not as murderers but as freedom fighters whose motives should be understood. There is one word that is the basis for the acceptance of Palestinian terrorists: "occupation." All land that was not part of Israel until 1967 is termed "occupied territory." By that definition, it is stolen land, and all means seem to be justified to force Israel to return the theft. The use of the term "occupied territories" is dangerous, irresponsible, and fully unjustified. Israel didn't take any land from a sovereign state. The "occupied territories" were in 1967 illegally in the hands of Jordan and Egypt. The areas captured in 1967 were promised for Jewish settlements by the League of Nations in 1922, and all the resolutions of this international body were transferred to the United Nations. If Israel's demand for security lacks a basis of law, justice and morals, if we don't stress our rights in the Land of Israel, if we basically justify the Arab position that large parts of Israel belong only to them and are forcefully stolen, we cannot wonder when we see so many young students on American university campuses accepting the Palestinian propaganda against Israel. The writer is the Academy-Award-winning producer of numerous films, including "The Garden of the Finzi-Continis" and "One Day in September."
2006-03-24 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive