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I Like It!
North Miami Beach, FL May 13, 2002
A.H. Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on Issues, Ideas and Reflections on the Times. Published now and
then. Opinions pro or con are welcome.
I LIKE IT!
It is not quite like "Send your tempest tossed to me". It does
not solve any problems at home in Israel. It may only provide a precious
bit of breathing space and perhaps makes it possible for the Israeli Army
NOT to invade the Gaza Strip - an act that will not win Israel much. Even
if the Israeli Army sitting at the border of Gaza could invade and look for
more terrorist leaders, these leaders, like Osama bin Laden, would be able
to slip away. They most probably will not choose to seek Christian sanctuary
in an Italian or Cyprus church as they did in the Church of the Nativity
built over the spot where Jesus was born. There are many countries in the
Moslem world that would greet them as heroes. Europe, however, is uneasy.
Sanctuary is a great idea. It gives good people who are
beleaguered a safe spot to wait out the storm outside. Sanctuary for Moslem
terrorists in the Christian Church in Bethlehem proved to the world that
Israel was not interested in massacres. Sanctuary in a European country for
Moslem men hiding in that Church adds a new dimension and, I like it. I
thought at first that it was a bad idea to let them get away since the main
idea for invading the West Bank of the Palestinian nation was to kill or
arrest these very same men. The Palestinian Authority proved to be of the
same feckless stuff as Arafat's power to rule the Palestinian People - there
was nothing there to satisfy world opinion although anything there was
enough to electrify the Arab world and get them to fire guns in the air and
dance in the streets.
One problem in letting them out was that no country was asked and
no country wanted them. Sending the men who hid in the Church to Cyprus will
focus Europeans' attention on the "heroes" who have been deported there
because they were afraid of retaliation for planning and carrying out
terrorist attacks that killed helpless Israeli civilians. In Europe they
will be an embarrassment to their hosts (some were set up in expensive
sea-side hotels in Gaza) where they have the status of celebrities. They
certainly are heroes in Palestine. In Israel they were considered detritus
that Israel needed to clean from the streets. I like it that they are now a
problem for Europeans who are plainly unhappy to have their noses rubbed in
the bloody mess these men left behind. I like that. Carol's Evaluation: 10
out of 10
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