Tim Blair

'On the Palestinian side, the Palestinian Authority has said that it regrets this latest attack but, of course, earlier in the day, the Israeli Army blew up the home of a militant, killing two militants and a 13-year-old boy.'

Of course.

Mm, now this might be a bit unfair, but what, exactly, distinguishes a 'militant' from a 13 year old Palestinian male?

It seems to me that a 13yr old boy living in a house with two 'militants' might be rather militant himself. I'd say it's a pretty fine distinction, and a good indicator why sneer quotes should always be employed when quoting this particular bit of 'Reuters Speak'.

Ah, the constant refrain, because IDF kill killers, then it is reasonable Hamas-PLF-PLO kill more Israelis. Yes, all the Israeli's or, rather, the Jews fault.

The death of the 13-year-old shouldn't have happened. I know the IDF didn't mean to kill him, but I couldn't describe it merely as "Israel kills killers".

Responsible people don't keep innocent children in their house if they know they're at risk of getting a missile up the jacksy from the IDF.

"The death of the 13-year-old shouldn't have happened."

That depends on whether he was a member of Hamas or not, doesn't it? Nobody knows, but unless Hamas has taken to using children as human shields (which is far from unlikely), there is every chance that he was a Hamas member and thus a perfectly legitimate target.

there is every chance that he was a Hamas member and thus a perfectly legitimate target.

Someone that age should be taken away and raised by responsible adults.

I just heard the term "cycle of payback" used on lateline.

You missed your cue Tim. Time to bring back the..(drum roll).. "THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE!" Yes the one with the fat kid.

Is this what they're talking about?

Here it is, Joe Jr; the original Cycle of Violence. Look at the very top of the screen for the link. (By the way, whoever put together the Retro Blair site: thanks.)

Well Hamas said after the killing of those babies on the bus in Jerusalem: "anyway they will grow up and enter the army for national service".
So by extrapolation they have nothing to complain about when their kids get killed. "They will only grow up to be suicide bombers"
By the way several Israeli soldiers were killed in Jenin when they went to see why an 11 year old boy was crying - he was wearing one of those lovely vests so much in fashion in that region.
So much for innocence!

Someone that age should be taken away and raised by responsible adults.

Possibly, but can you even imagine the media reaction to such a thing? Interviews with the despairing parents, psychologists being interviewed about the cruelty of such an action and how it breeds more terrorists, sad photographs, "The Littlest Victims", "Amnesty Condemns Collective Punishment of Palestinian Families"....

"The Israelis are stealing our children" would be the reaction.

I think that in the interests of promoting fair and accurate reporting on Israel, we need to have a "Jane Hutcheon's Monitor". She is quite blase about her anti-semitism. Greg Sheridan, in today's Australian, also mentions a gross error in her reporting on Monday's Lateline.

Marr will be on to her in a trice.

Maybe a definition is needed. It seems perfectly obvious to me that the violence in the middle east is following a cycle. One side attacks, the other attacks, the other attacks, the other attacks. Doesn't seem complex. Also, I've never understood the word 'cycle' to have positive or negative implications. A cycle doesn't presuppose that one side is better than the other, nor does it presuppose that both sides are equal.

It certainly doesn't presuppose that it was all the Jews fault. Such comments are fit for Phillip Adams... crying racism every few moments.

It's amazing that this blog is now dedicated to the idea that incentives don't exist and we should never consider the consequences of our actions.