Opinion: Whether on the right or on the left, those who sympathize and justify bloodshed and terror, be it Jewish or Palestinian, are no better than the ones they claim to abhor, and those cheering on the Gilboa fugitives are no better
Israel’s fascist right-wing has thrown around a lot of serious accusations in recent days following the escape of six Palestinian security prisoners from Gilboa Prison last week.
Some accused the entire Palestinian nation of being bloodthirsty. Are some of them bloodthirsty? Probably. Are all of them bloodthirsty? Of course not. How are we supposed to treat a person who utters such racist bile?
Despicable as it may be, those who voice their support for the six fugitives, who all have blood on their hands, are even worse.
One example is a left-wing activist — with whom I am actually acquainted — who wrote about “the surprising joy” he felt after reading about the six terrorists’ escape.
As much as I tried, I could not fathom the joy that this person feels about the escape of six murderers, who would have most likely continued on their path of vioence had four of them not been caught so soon.
According to this activist and his ilk, the Palestinian struggle is a righteous one. It is not that they crave bloodshed but simply have to fight out of necessity in order to defeat the occupation.
“It is impossible not to sympathize with the determination and creativity of those people who dug in the soil of Gilboa prison to win their freedom,” wrote one agitator who received thousands of likes on social media.
“The Palestinian people are oppressed, devastated, enslaved and at the mercy of our children and our leaders who hold them by the neck,” the agitator added in a post that was written as if came straight from Hamas’ own PR machine.
A struggle for freedom, for liberation, for independence, can certainly evoke empathy, even when it comes to one’s opponent.
The problem is that the struggle of Zakaria Zubeidi and his compatriots was and remains a murderous one meant to eliminate the Jewish entity from Israel.
Let us not forget that the Palestinians continuously rejected any and all offers for independence. They always said no to any repeated proposal that would have granted them freedom.
They could have easily established a state in the two decades between the War of Independence (1948) and the Six-Day War (1967).
Back then there was no such thing as the Israeli “occupation”. And yet, the Palestinians did nothing to establish a state for themselves. Instead, they always fought against the Jewish entity and the very existence of the State of Israel.
This is not to say that everything Israel does is wonderful. Far from it. But the Palestinian struggle is not against something Israel is doing, it is a struggle against the very existence of Israel.
Another recurring motif in the justification of these “freedom fighters” is the prevalence of Jewish terrorism during the British occupation of the country.
There is a fundamental difference between Jewish terrorism — which was part of the struggle for a Jewish state — and Palestinian terrorism though.
Jewish terrorism was carried out by the Etzel and the Lehi, two Zionist paramilitary organizations who were unequivocally condemned by the Jewish leadership at the time. No one was handing out candies on the streets when Arabs were injured or killed.
It is true that we have fascists on both the right and the left.
Anyone who shows sympathy for Jewish terrorism, whoever encourages and justifies it, is a fascist. Anyone who shows sympathy for Arab terrorism, encourages it and justifies it, is also a fascist.
What’s puzzling is that when it comes to terrorists on the Jewish side, we know how to call them — racists.
So now is time to put those who sympathize and justify Palestinian terrorism in their place. They are fascists. Not unlike their counterparts on the right.
As reported by Ynetnews