Calling his comments “an attempt at patriotism,” Jerusalem Post columnist and well known political commentator Larry Derfner endorsed the use of violence against Israeli citizens this week in an article posted on the self-described left-wing Zionist blog “Israel Reconsidered.”
Derfner, well known as a staunch advocate for a two-state solution, posted a link to his article on Facebook on Monday, drawing praise from friends for his contention that “Palestinians have the right to resist [the occupation] – to use violence against Israelis, even to kill Israelis.” This is especially the case, Derfner wrote, since “Israel is showing zero willingness to end the occupation, which has been the case since the Netanyahu government took over.”
According to the columnist, Israelis, many of whom he regards as secretly agreeing with him, do not want to come out and say this, however, for “fear of being called a traitor.” However, he asserted, “it’s time to overcome this reticence, even at the cost of enflaming the already enflamed sensitivities of the Israeli public, because this unwillingness to say outright that Palestinians have the right to fight the occupation, especially now, inadvertently helps keep the occupation going.”
Continuing to explain his thesis, Derfner argued that since the continuing Israeli presence in the territories validates Palestinian terrorism, “the Left’s ritual condemnations of terror are translated in the Israeli public’s mind – as justification for the occupation and an iron-fist military policy.”
Categories: Human Rights, Israel, Middle East, Palestine
Terror and violence can never be justified what ever explanation one gives for it. It doesn’t matter who does it and where it takes place under what cause or circumstances.