Now we have the comparison; which of the new governments is the terror state? Hamas has no army, no air force, no navy, no military ordinance, and no means of bringing weaponry of any serious kind to Palestine since they do not control their air space or water access nor can they leave or enter their homeland (read occupied territory) without the permission of the IDF. Words written in 1988 cannot destroy Israel. The only weapon the Palestinian people have to wage war against Israel is a moral one: they are the oppressed and the oppressed cannot remain oppressed forever; they are the victims of injustice, and injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere; and they had no hand in designing or implementing the “laws” that Israel uses to incarcerate them like cattle behind Walls and fences that deny them the basic rights of all humans as stated in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Israel on the other hand uses its military might to subdue, humiliate, imprison, torture and assassinate Palestinians when it wants to, whenever it wants to, defying in the process more than 160 UNGA Resolutions demanding that it cease and desist, and more than 30 UNSC Resolutions, not counting those vetoed by the US. It is Israel that breaks international law with impunity not the Palestinians. It is Israel’s Knesset members that include those who have as determined a desire to eradicate the Palestinians as anything stated by Hamas. Indeed, Goldhagen’s reference to Nazi behavior as quoted above can be made justifiably about these right-wing Zionist parties as well as about Hamas’ charter, the only difference being that they are in a position to impose their will on Palestinians not vice versa. That conclusion Americans will not hear or read about in their main stream media; that’s why they must take control of the production of truth. 

      What justification exists for the harsh comparison made above that places Israel in the terror seat? We’ll focus on the current intifada, 2000-2006. According to B’tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the occupied territories, Israeli security forces (note even here the use of the word “security” instead of “armed” or “defense” forces) killed 3377 Palestinians in the occupied territories and 58 in Israel; in addition Israeli civilians killed 41 Palestinians in the occupied territories for a total of 3418. By contrast Palestinians killed 233 Israelis in the occupied territories and 462 in Israel; in addition 225 IDF were killed by Palestinians in the occupied territories and another 84 in Israel for a total of 1004. Looked at another way, Israel manages to kill slightly more than 47 Palestinians a month while Palestinians kill 1.4 Israelis per month, a horrible way to view slaughter of this kind. Consider the children lost to this carnage: Israeli forces killed 692 minors in the occupied territories and 1 in Israel; Palestinians killed 39 minors in the occupied territories and 80 in Israel. B’tselem makes a point of noting that 348 Palestinians were killed as a result of Israel’s assassination policy, called euphemistically “targeted killings.” They also note that 120 of these were innocent civilians. If we assume that Israel does not have a policy of wanton killing of children, than the number of “accidental” deaths of minors and “bystanders” (both terms the euphemistic replacement for more horrific words), reaches 813.

      But the above statistics do not tell the whole story. Once Arafat was replaced by Mahmoud Abbas, a significant decline in Israelis killed by Palestinians can be noted: in 2003, 129 Israelis were killed, 20 of them minors under the age of 18; in 2004 the number drops to 68 killed, 4 of them minors; in 2005, 41 with 3 of them minors; and in 2006, ending April 30, 12 were killed. These numbers reflect Hamas’ self-imposed moratorium. By contrast, Israeli forces killed 582 Palestinians in 2003, 119 of them minors; 819 in 2004, 178 minors; 190 in 2005 with 52 of them minors; and in the 4 months of 2006, 90 killed, 23 of them minors. Which of these states is the terror state? Why is it that Americans know so little about the facts? Here’s why.

      “In 2004, there were 141 reports in AP headlines or first paragraphs of Israeli deaths. During that time, there had actually been 108 Israelis killed (the discrepancy is due to the fact that a number of Israeli deaths were reported multiple times). During the same period, 543 Palestinian deaths were reported in headlines or first paragraphs. During this time 821 Palestinians had actually been killed. In other words, 131% of Israeli deaths and 66% of Palestinian deaths were reported in AP headlines or first paragraphs. That is, AP reported prominently on Israeli deaths at a rate 2.0 times greater than Palestinian deaths. In reality, 7.6 times more Palestinians were killed than Israelis in 2004.” (ifamericaknew.org, 5/1/2006). Now let’s consider how the deaths of children were reported. “9 Israeli children’s deaths were reported in the headlines or first paragraphs of AP articles on the Israel/Palestine conflict in 2004, when 8 had actually occurred. During the same period only 27 out of 179 Palestinian children’s deaths were reported.… Additionally, Palestinian children made up a disproportionately large number of Palestinian deaths in general. Children’s deaths accounted for 21.8% of the Palestinians killed, while children’s deaths accounted for only 7.4% of Israelis killed during this period.” (ifamericaknew).

      Such reporting is not confined to AP news reports. Alison Weir’s research at www.ifamericaknew.org shows that all major newspapers in the US carried similar reports. A six-month study of the San Francisco Chronicle showed a 30:1 differential of Israeli deaths to Palestinian children’s deaths reported and another study of The Oregonian showed headlines at a ratio of 44:1. What do these statistics tell us? They confirm what Mearsheimer and Walt concluded in their recent study, that Israeli interests dominate US news coverage at a rate that is, to be polite, discriminatory and, to be caustic, racist. That’s why Americans must take control of the production of truth if we are to know the true state of terrorism.

...it’s the people of the world, in Norway, Denmark, Germany, France, England and America who decry the horrific behavior of Israel against the Palestinians with US support and the US against the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.

      Consider the day to day reality that the people in the West Bank and Gaza endure. “90% of two year olds have witnessed soldiers bursting through the door of their home, rifles pointed at their mother or father, pushed against walls, beaten perhaps, shouted at certainly, cursed we might assume, and left in fear knowing another raid is imminent. What torture is here? This is intentional, calculated, psychological torture…” (Cook, 1/7-8/06, Counterpunch)The Defense for Children International published this report: “The process of arrest and detention of Palestinian children is a process of systematic abuse and mistreatment which flouts international legal standards and denies the basic human rights of detainees first as children and secondly as prisoners … [children are] handcuffed and blindfolded, humiliated and threatened and often beaten and kicked from the moment they are arrested up to and often throughout their interrogation and detention. They are deprived of sleep, food and access to the bathroom until so-called confessions are coerced out of them…” These are the children prisoners; there are 9,400 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, most detained without charge, without counsel, without rights to trial by jury and many of them tortured according to human rights reports. What is this but systematic, universal, collective punishment … indiscriminate, illegal, and inhumane. And it is done in my name through this administration that allows such terrorism to exist in a state we ironically term democratic and in sync with American values. Which is the true state of terrorism?

      Consider just three days in April, that cruelest of months: the 19th, “tear gas grenades fired at school children, suicide bomber’s parents house demolished, Israeli troops hold mothers of occupation resisters, Israeli troops beat up and hospitalize man at work on his land, Israeli troops desecrate mosque, 3 children injured during Israeli incursions, journalist beaten up and hospitalized by occupation troops, 322 shells hit northern Gaza in 24-hour day and night blitz, Israeli shelling wounds child and 2 adults”; the 18th, boy aged 14 killed in Israeli shelling, 1 air raid, 18 attacks, 36 raids, 26 wounded, schoolboy injured and school principal beaten up, village school and homes occupied by Israeli army, many homes invaded and 10 occupied by Israeli military, Jenin 10 children and 10 adults wounded in Israeli incursion, settlers beat up shepherd and steal 20 sheep, refugee girl (6) and another child wounded in Israeli raid, man beaten up and hospitalized during Israeli incursion”; the 17th, “9 killed in Tel Aviv bombing, Israeli army invades Gaza, Nablus, Jenin, Qalqilya, Israeli aircraft fires missile at Gaza, continued military operations conducted by Israel in the northern Gaza Strip-many casualties, Palestinian child killed and two injured by artillery shell near a playground in Beit Lahia, artillery shells fired at Sheikh Zayed town, Gaza near a playground, Mamdouh ‘Obaid, died on the way to a hospital, wounded, Mohammed Abu Tabaq, 14, and ‘Ammar al-Kas, 15.” (Palestine Commission for Human Rights, 4/26/06). Recall, if you will, the comments made by Professor Goldhagen at the beginning of this article: “Imagine if a territory next to the United States … were governed by a political party that had repeatedly terrorized and murdered citizens of its neighbor … would people in that country accept the threatening political party as a fit partner for peace?” How ironic in light of the truth that prevails in Palestine. Which is the true state of terrorism?