Greenwald vs. Goldfarb

by Robert Stacy McCain | January 4, 2009 2:03 pm

Glenn Greenwald[1] today accuses Michael Goldfarb of bloodthirstiness in the death of Nizar Ghayan[2] (or Nizar Rayan, as some have it). Goldfarb’s offending post was not a mindless advocacy of violence, but rather a reflection on the fundamental difficulty of fighting a fanatical enemy[3]:

The fight against Islamic radicals always seems to come around to whether or not they can, in fact, be deterred, because it’s not clear that they are rational, at least not like us. But to wipe out a man’s entire family, it’s hard to imagine that doesn’t give his colleagues at least a moment’s pause. Perhaps it will make the leadership of Hamas rethink the wisdom of sparking an open confrontation with Israel under the current conditions. Or maybe not, and the only way to stop Hamas is to eliminate its capacity for violence entirely. Or Israeli leaders can just try to find a diplomatic solution — as a majority of Democrats apparently favor[4]. It worked so well with the last cease fire.

The notion that the obliteration of Ghayan’s entire family might “give his colleagues at least a moment’s pause” is enough to inspire 1,500 words of Greenwaldian gibberish, including a shot at Glenn Reynolds for displaying a “wretched mindset” by suggesting that the Israelis are “civilized people and not barbarians.”[5] One mercifully brief slice of moonbat pie[6]:

If you see Palestinians as something less than civilized human beings: as “barbarians” — just as if you see Americans as infidels warring with God or Jews as sub-human rats — then it naturally follows that civilian deaths are irrelevant, perhaps even something to cheer. For people who think that way, arguments about “proportionality” won’t even begin to resonate — such concepts can’t even be understood — because the core premise, that excessive civilian deaths are horrible and should be avoided at all costs, isn’t accepted. Why should a superior, civilized, peaceful society allow the welfare of violent, hateful barbarians to interfere with its objectives? How can the deaths or suffering of thousands of barbarians ever be weighed against the death of even a single civilized person?

Wait a minute: Who is ultimately responsible for the plight of Gazans? Has it been non-stop misery since 1967? Or at some point over the past four decades, did the Palestinians in Gaza actually have a better life under Israeli occupation than they have had under Hamas rule?

This war was not caused by any genocidal ambition of the Israelis, but by the genocidal ambition of Hamas. Excuse me for repeating myself[7]:

You cannot negotiate with a shark. To the extent that Hamas represents any coherent political philosophy, that philosophy can be summed up in two words: Kill Jews.

And, to further repeat myself, the Palestinians in Gaza elected Hamas by a landslide majority[8]. The Gazans fully intended that there should be consequences to their election of genocidal terrorist leaders and their only disappointment is that the consequences are not (yet) what they intended, namely the death of every Jew in Israel.

You will perhaps be surprised (or perhaps not) that Greenwald imagines it is supporters of Israel who need a lecture about “excessive tribalistic identification.” Sending suicide bombers to obliterate Shiri Negari and 18 other passengers on bus 32A[9] — that’s not “excessive,” eh?

UPDATE: “Jihad to its maximum degree”[10] — Right. Like they haven’t been trying hard enough to slaughter the infidels. There is kind of a “Black Knight”[11] quality to this.

UPDATE II: Fausta Wertz has a post[12] showing how the genocidal Hamas mentality has spread to the streets of America. “Death To All Juice!”[13]

UPDATE III: At NRO, Gregory McNeal[14] notes that IAF is delivering phone warnings to targets, compared to the 15 seconds[15] of “Code Red” warnings for Israeli civilians targeted by Hamas:

Dan Collins at Protein Wisdom[16] has related thoughts.

(Cross-posted at The Other McCain[17].)

Endnotes:
  1. Glenn Greenwald: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/04/terrorism/
  2. death of Nizar Ghayan: http://rsmccain.blogspot.com/2009/01/death-of-killer.html
  3. fundamental difficulty of fighting a fanatical enemy: http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/01/overkill.asp
  4. majority of Democrats apparently favor: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/americans_closely_divided_over_israel_s_gaza_attacks
  5. suggesting that the Israelis are “civilized people and not barbarians.”: http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/64863/
  6. moonbat pie: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/04/terrorism/
  7. repeating myself: http://rsmccain.blogspot.com/2008/12/appeal-against-thunderstorm.html
  8. elected Hamas by a landslide majority: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8FCLKE80&show_article=1
  9. Shiri Negari and 18 other passengers on bus 32A: http://video1.washingtontimes.com/culture/2007/09/haunting_beauty.html
  10. “Jihad to its maximum degree”: http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/12619.htm
  11. “Black Knight”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eMkth8FWno
  12. Fausta Wertz has a post: http://faustasblog.com/?p=8957
  13. “Death To All Juice!”: http://rsmccain.blogspot.com/2008/12/worth-thousand-words.html
  14. At NRO, Gregory McNeal: http://tank.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZjEyMTM1ZTRlZDQ5ZWE2MDhkYjhmNjk5NjNlOGNhYzY=
  15. 15 seconds: http://sderot.aish.com/SderotPetitions/15Seconds.php
  16. Dan Collins at Protein Wisdom: http://proteinwisdom.com/?p=14037
  17. The Other McCain: http://rsmccain.blogspot.com/

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