When great Western nations are saddled with stupid administrations
Monday, August 25th, 2008Israel releases nearly 200 more Palestinian prisoners, this time of the Fatah variety, and including Said al-Atba, who bombed a market in 1977. (He would be this release’s equivalent of Samir Kunta, the child-skull-crusher who was part of the July release).
Condi Rice says this is good because it’s “something that matters a lot to the Palestinians.”
Why are clarity and resolve so easily muddled in this world? Why, in spite of irrefutable evidence that one is dealing with bad actors, does one yet again expect goodwill and civility out of them? We’ve seen it in the utter failure to get Iran and North Korea to give up their nuclear programs. We’ve seen it in the tepid moral equivalency that characterizes the NATO statement about Russia’s war against Georgia. Is it the high stakes involved? Or is it some kind of bureaucratic mindset, along the lines of holding a meeting to discuss the household’s options when fire breaks out in the kitchen, a sense that anything can be solved in a conference setting?
This one, though - appeasing the thugs of Fatah and Hamas - is really puzzling, as it all occurs at such close range. There are no oceans to cross. In fact, prior to the enhanced security measures of the last few years, Israel got a very up-close-and-personal look at many of these vest-and-belt-attired “partners in the search for peace.” They were infiltrating Israel proper and blowing up pizza parlors and bus stops with increasing regularity.
A complete recognition of evil entails acting on that recognition. It means “co-existing” with those who embrace evil in an appropriate way.
It’s often pointed out that suicide is a serious transgression against God. Some argue that it’s on a par with murder. That’s becasue one’s life is not one’s own. One is granted stewardship over it by it Author.
Carelessness has suicidal overtones to it. Certainly, recklessness does. The interesting thing is that an overabundance of caution - known in its extreme form as cowardice - constitutes a type of recklessness. In the case of dealing with evil, this is clearly so. It’s a plain spiritual truth that you can’t interact with those given over to evil the way you can with normal people. You invite your own demise. Seen this way, the folly of negotiating with those known to hate you may qualify as sin.
In any event, it’s a dumb thing to do. To return to my question about how resolve anc clarity get eroded, it may be that what happens is that the principle of habit comes into play. Something done once becomes easier to do a second time, and then even easier subsequent times.
The real answer to this question would come from observation of more instances of it. The problem with that is that we can’t afford any more of such data-gathering.
Then again, maybe all 200 of these prisoners released by Israel today will go home to families, jobs and lives of productive civilization-building, and everything I’ve asserted here will be proven wrong.
Any bets?
