Two Jewish youths were hospitalized Saturday afternoon after being stabbed in Paris by individuals who had taken part in an anti-war demonstration. . . .
One young man was stabbed and lightly wounded after a group of men noticed his yarmulke. He was taken to the hospital for treatment. The attackers are believed to have been immigrants from North Africa.
They’re just the enemy.
UPDATE: Reader Khalid Yukub emails from Britain and sends this link, with the suggestion that it somehow parallels the story above. I can’t read the Arabic, but it has a picture of what I assume is supposed to be a dead Iraqi civilian killed by Americans. After the Baby Milk Factory episode in the last war, I can hardly swear to its accuracy — and, statistically, a dead Iraqi civilian is far more likely to have been killed by Saddam than by Americans. But assume it’s what it purports to be, a dead Iraqi civilian.
War is hell. Civilians get killed. The United States is trying hard — far, far harder than any Arab nation ever has — to avoid killing civilians in the course of war. Nonetheless, it still happens. To suggest that somehow that sort of thing is the same as deliberately targeting someone for stabbing because of his religion is — well, it’s typical, is what it is.
UPDATE: Khalid emails:
I’m not suggesting that there is a direct parallel between the attack on the Jewish youth and the killing of the Iraqi civilian, although both attacks are on innocent people and are indeed illegal and immoral. I’m suggesting that your coverage, in general, focuses more on the suffering (or jubilation) of some people more than others. Violence you agree with is downplayed and/or justified, while violence you (often rightly) disagree with is highlighted to bolster your black-and-white view of the world.
Uh, no. “Both attacks” are not illegal and immoral. Collateral damage in a war is neither, though it is unfortunate and the United States has made unprecedented efforts to avoid it — far more than against Germany in World War II despite lame claims that this is a “racist” war. It’s not remotely comparable to deliberately stabbing someone because he’s wearing a Yarmulke. (And the original email sure seemed to suggest that to me).
As to whether my presentation reflect my beliefs — you bet it does. I also go out of my way to offset the biases of mainstream media, who swallow Iraqi propaganda rather uncritically (as with the “Baby Milk Factory” episode).
What I find interesting is that any act of violence by the United States seems always to be condemned, while almost any act of violence by third world thugocracies is excused. If recognizing that is a “black and white view” then so be it.
If Saddam, or Osama, had the power that the United States enjoys, how would they be exercising it? And yet that difference is seldom recognized.
UPDATE: Meryl Yourish thinks I’m giving Khalid too much credit here:
It’s Jew-hatred, plain and simple, Glenn. Don’t let him distract you with trying to get you into moral arguments. These two young Jewish men did nothing. “Immigrants from North Africa” stabbed one, tried to break into a Jewish building to stab more, and instead beat the hell out of the next Jew to exit the building.
She goes on to say that Khalid’s guilty of the same kind of sentiments. Well, I don’t know Khalid. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt here. The war has everyone on edge, and his comments may reflect that. I don’t want to see innocent people killed, and I don’t see any evidence that Khalid does, either. I think it’s worth making clear, however, that although some Muslims seem determined to see this as a war against Islam, it’s not. I don’t want it to be, and I don’t think anyone much in America does. Certainly Bush has gone out of his way to make that clear, as he did with his visit to a mosque right after 9/11. And those Muslims who want to turn it into one don’t have the best interests of Muslims, or anyone else besides themselves, at heart.
Anyway, for more on civilian casualties, etc., read this lengthy and thorough post by Jacob Levy.
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Another email from Khalid makes clear that he condemns the stabbing above, as I thought. Unlike rather a lot of my anti-war emailers, he has managed to be quite civil, too, which I appreciate. The email from the “peace” movement has never been especially pacific, and it’s gotten a lot worse lately.