slow-dog.entry30.03.2002: "More Middle East"

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Several people have remarked on the increased number of people on the web writing about Israel and the Palestinians. Count me, in. It's not that the Israeli propaganda sleeper cells have been called in to action by the "Zionist controlled American media" (although I'm sure someone's advancing that theory over at indymedia). Rather, we're fed up with suicide bombing as a political tactic and the pathological convulsions of logic which supporters use to justify it. That's why, when I see things like this, it (to use an Americanism) chaps my hide:

Question: "Is this [ed. Israeli action]a specific response to the Netanya operation?"
Arafat: "Great! All this in response to the Netanya operation?..."

Now perhaps it's just a muddled translation, but it seems like a word which might be mistakenly translated as "operation" could not also be translated as "event", or "unfortunate occurrence", or "suicide bombing". So, if Arafat calls it an "operation", then he apparently doesn't think it's an abberation. Now why should we make any effort to keep him in power?

11:39 AM PST