Monday, August 04, 2014

The game is rigged


Recently I read a couple of articles about nationalistic youth gangs in Israel. Young men who go around attacking Arabs. 

I don't condone the violence, and I don't know for a fact what motivates them, but it wouldn't surprise me if this represents a predictable backlash. You have Israeli youth who see their leaders trying to fight Muslims terrorists with one hand tied behind their back due to pressure from the "international community." They see that even when the IMF goes out of its way to minimize civilian casualties, Israel gets blamed anyway. They see the foreign press exhibit blatant double standards. They see that no one is going to come to Israel's aid. No one will rescue them. They are on their own in the world. They have to look out for their own interests. The world doesn't care about dead Jews. It only cares about dead Muslims. Even dead Muslim terrorists. That's where all the sympathy leis. 

If you're going to get blamed no matter what, if you're going to get blamed even when you try to minimize collateral damage, then why bother? Why hamstring your military effectiveness with restrictive rules of engagement when the international community will still accuse you of war crimes? 

I can see how, out of frustration and aggravation, some young Israeli men would become extremists. I don't say that to excuse their actions, but to point out that this is a predicable result of how the "international community" has decided to make Israel a pariah. It's the international community that's provoking Israeli youth to realize the futility of self-restraint. When they play by the rules, their side always takes the blame–even when the other side never plays by the rules. At that point, what's the incentive to honor the laws of warfare? The game is rigged against them. The cheaters enjoy all the sympathy. No matter what atrocities the Muslims commit, that doesn't count. That doesn't register. 

Like Dr. Frankenstein, Israel's knee-jerk critics are creating the very monster they then deplore. 

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