The Arab haters who frequent this site are fond of throwing around cliches and racist prejudice about Arab religious and cultural attitudes. According to the haters, Arabs are bloodthirsty for revenge against Israel. They are certainly liars and totally untrustworthy. Even when Arabs say something conciliatory they are only saying it for the benefit of western media.
Well, this passage will throw a wrench in the works of those shallow thought processes of theirs. A Haaretz reporter visited the Atamnas family, which lost 18 members to errant IDF shells which killed them as they lay sleeping. The victims must be crying blood curdling calls for revenge, right? Hardly.
At the mourning tent erected by the Atamna family, which lost 18 members when errant IDF shells hit the family’s house, the stream of visitors has ebbed, and only some 20 people were there Tuesday.
Tahani Atamna, whose son Mahmoud, 12, was killed in the shelling, clutched her son’s geometry book. “He was number one in his class. The best student,” she said.
Three of her other children – Khaled, 7, Khalil, 9, and Khulud, 13 – are unwilling to return home, she added. “Yesterday, we brought them here with two psychologists. But they started to cry and said that they don’t want to die. The whole family went. All those who remain are wounded in body or soul.”
“I don’t wish any Jewish mother to go through what I’m going through, this disaster of seeing her son die before her eyes,” she continued. “I only hope that we will be the last victims of this war.”
Nor did other family members sound hungry for revenge. “I don’t want this to happen to anyone in the world,” said Riad Atamna. “Not to Jews, not to Christians and not to Muslims. Enough blood. Enough.”
Does Israel deserve such empathy especially from victims who have suffered so much due to the unconscionable mistakes of an incompetent IDF? I only applaud the victims for being able to muster such humanity in the face of such horrid brutality.
Perhaps, one day the IDF will become the kind of fighting force that does not make such mistakes, or if it does it confronts the mistake directly and honestly. And perhaps someday when it makes one of these mistakes it will actually do everything in its power to ensure it is never made again. Can we really believe that the current IDF will not make this mistake again next week, next month or next year?
I linked to and quoted from this post over here.
Just letting you know under your Terms of Use.
Oy, what a chnyuk. My Terms of Use do not ask anyone to inform me when they’ve quoted (or in yr. case, misquoted) from my posts. Can’t you read? I only ask this if you post one of my images. It’s all there clear as day. What you’re really doing is attempting to goad me with an immature Nyah, Nyah & saying: “I gave you the wingnut onceover in my blog. Now come & see.” Pretty pathetic.
But I would encourage my readers to go visit your shmatta & put in a good word for my/our perspective on these issues. Rightist pro-Israel hacks like this guy shouldn’t get away w. “murder” through their lying & other distortions of truth & reality. And, hey thanks for linking to my post. I always like having new readers no matter what their political stripe. Even those who embrace your Palestinian hatemongering will have an opportunity to read a different perspective; though if they’re like you they’ll probably only find their prejudices confirmed.
Actually, I had no intention of starting any sort of argument with you. Your terms say:
“2. You may use my material as long as you link to, and credit it. If you use any of my images or other material in ways I deem inappropriate (including but not limited to disparaging, insulting or defaming me) you are violating my terms of use and infringing on my copyright.”
“Material” in normal English includes text.
Perhaps your command of English is not what I had hoped, as you accuse me of “misquoting” you when I quoted your entire entry above verbatim.
At any rate, I appreciate the plug, as well.
I re-read my Terms of Use and though the passage fr. my Terms of Use you quote above in no way requests, as you claim it does, that you notify me that you are quoting my post, there is another later passage that is ambiguous. I have changed that to indicate I want to be notified only when people use images of mine. Pls. in the future when you decide to do a hit job on me do not bother to notify me in advance. I’d rather sleep peacefully than know that you have butchered my ideas and beliefs.
By “misquote” I did not mean that you quoted me incorrectly, but rather than you deliberately misread my MEANING. Either you are carelessly ignorant or a willful liar and distorter of the truth. Either way, it makes you one mean SOB.
It was a lovely piece, Richard, thank you for posting this.