September 11, 2003
GREAT WORK, HAMAS
The Associated Press reports from Jerusalem:
On the eve of his daughter's wedding, Dr. David Applebaum sat with the young woman late into the evening at a coffee house, offering fatherly advice on marriage before her big day.
Father and daughter were killed late Tuesday when a suicide bomber struck the cafe - one of two attacks that left 15 people dead.
Applebaum had just flown back to Israel after giving a talk at a New York terrorism symposium marking the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Dr. Applebaum was the founder and director of Jerusalem’s TEREM emergency medical centres. His daughter's funeral will be held on the day she was to be married.
Posted by Tim Blair at September 11, 2003 09:57 AMBastards.
There not really very much more to say.
Sorry if you don't allow language like that on your comments section, but I really can't think of a better way to express myself, eloquence fails me.
Posted by: Anthony C at September 11, 2003 at 10:10 AMI prefer to call them 'filthy murdering terrorist scum.'
Posted by: Polly at September 11, 2003 at 10:27 AMOne side saves people regardless of nationality/religion, the other blows up Jews. I don't see any moral difference there.
Posted by: Mike G at September 11, 2003 at 11:03 AMInterestingly, there was a piece on the Weekly Standard's website about this very emergency room some month's back by the ever-great Larry Miller, the comedian and actor. (Best part of "Best in Show", so go rent it).
The doctors, nurses and other hospital workers profiled in the place were working long, hard hours, attending to Jews and Arabs alike and not making a distinction between them.
One doctor explained why they adhere to this policy to an incredulous Miller. The doctor admitted that sometimes it is difficult, and he added (and I'm quoting from memory here):
"The hardest part is when they cheer."
The doctor went on to explain to Miller that the Arab patients at the Israeli hospital would cheer when dead or wounded Israelis were brought in from a Palestinian attack.
Bastards, indeed.
Posted by: KevinV at September 11, 2003 at 11:13 AMI couldnt even begin to guess how many Palestinian lives Dr Appelbaum must have saved or improved.
I'm really sickened. Its hard to feel sympathetic to the Palestinians at all.
Posted by: Jono at September 11, 2003 at 11:48 AMI found the link to the Miller piece I cited above. Do yourself a favor and read this; it's an astounding read:
Miller on Israeli Hospital Visit
Posted by: KevinV at September 11, 2003 at 11:51 AM"The doctor went on to explain to Miller that the Arab patients at the Israeli hospital would cheer when dead or wounded Israelis were brought in from a Palestinian attack."
There's no other way around it. They're fucking animals.
Posted by: madne0 at September 11, 2003 at 12:05 PMAnd the Palestinians and their fan club wonder why there is no way in hell that Israel will permit a Hamas-run Somalia next door.
You want "cycle of violence"? Sometimes I think: yeah, Israel really should give them a "cycle of violence". Forget this prissy "Israel apologised yesterday for accidentally killing a 10-year-old bystander during a shootout with armed Hamas militants." Instead: "Israel today refused to apologise for dropping a bomb in the middle of a marketplace full of Palestinian civilians. `We will push the Arabic Entity into the sea!` exulted Shimon Peres, firing his rifle into the air..."
But no, we're not going to do that, because there's a line our side won't cross. We aim at armed killers, and sometimes hit innocent bystanders by mistake, but if we ever started actually aiming at innocent bystanders, then we'd have abdicated our humanity like the Ba'aby Ba'athists of West Bank and Gaza.
Posted by: Uncle Milk at September 11, 2003 at 12:14 PMThanks for the story and the Miller link. I don't have any words to express how sad and revolted I am.
In the US, and my time zone, it's Sept. 11 at 2AM.
I've decided to use this day to think and pray about various peoples, world wide, who are victims of the Islamists. When you think about it, it's quite a lot of nations and peoples.
It's like an undeclared and unacknowledged world war. Last I counted there were around 30 countries where the Islamists were involved in fights and skirmishes with the locals.
Just one country, Sudan ... Christians and Animists are being tortured, enslaved, and killed by the Islamists. Great numbers of them are suffering.
Posted by: Chris Josephson at September 11, 2003 at 05:10 PMyes yes - Hamas bad, Israel good. But is being the nicer killer really a goal worth striving for? What about peace as a goal? Now people will say that Israel is fighting for peace... and maybe it's so - but it doesn't seem to be working so maybe they need to try something different?
Give the Palestinians their own country and get the hell out, settlements and all. If problems continue, then Israel can always re-invade. I reckon it would be easier to intimidate a real country into toeing the line than it is to intimidate a pointless PLO.
I should add that my advice to the Palestinians is that they end their attacks unilaterally, recognise Israel and defy Israeli occupation through non-cooperation and peaceful defiance. Undoubtably the Palestinians would tell me that I'm too much of a pacifist...
By the way - in case some of you hadn't noticed, not all Palestinians are the same. If you assume that a group is the same as any individual, then presumably you accept any US & Israeli civilian as a leglitimate military target?
Posted by: 24601 at September 11, 2003 at 11:13 PM24601, your advice to Israel isn't very feasible. If they gave the Palestinians their own statehood, just what kind of precedent would that set? No, there can be no appeasement of terrorism. Oh sure, if it doesn't work out they can always invade... Decades ago the Jews were forced to make concessions on Egypt and Jordan in the name of peace. That didn't work out, the Arabs are still pushing, so how about the Jews invade now? Sometimes you have to draw the line.
Posted by: Dan at September 12, 2003 at 12:09 AMSure, the Israelis can always invade again... then they can just get ordered to withdraw again by you leftist moonbats because "war is naughty."
Invade again, withdraw again, invade again, withdraw again... seems the left is endorsing the cycle of violence, rather than trying to end it.
Worse, right now Israel has the right to limit the import of items into the pali territories. A big limiting factor on the damage the terrorists can do is their access to explosives - it all has to be smuggled in. Now think of them as a soverign (however it's spelled) nation able to import damn near anything. Sorry, we don't need another Baathist-look alike regime.
Posted by: rabidfox at September 12, 2003 at 03:41 AM24601, you seem to have a very short memory. Barak offered Arafat 97% of the territories and 3% from Israel to make up 100% of the land mass. And what was Arafat's reply?
How many lives will be lost before Israel has to go in again? You going to choose who will "go up against the wall"?
With Egypt abetting the smuggling of arms into Gaza now, can you imagine what they will set up with an independent state? Then it will be war again in the middle east.
Posted by: Barry at September 12, 2003 at 04:51 AMA friend of mine was at that cafe that day, due to meet a friend at 8:30. However, since the last bus left at 8:15, they cancelled instead. The bombing happened a little later, at nine o'clock. As awful as the bombing was, I'm reminded that, at least for some, it could've been worse, and so I thank God for His mercy.
Posted by: Robert Bauer at September 12, 2003 at 06:35 AMIsreal has been fighting for peace? When did I miss something?
Isreal hasn't been fighting at all. These drip-drip drip responses are nothing. It's laughable that people equate the two sides. I can only imagine what the response would be if Isreal were turned loose to follow the doctrine of pre-emption. I can guarantee that the "settlements" would be a heck of a lot bigger than they are.
The Palestinians are lucky that Isreal has been this patient.
Posted by: Jerry at September 12, 2003 at 12:29 PMIf you describe 'left' as somebody who believes in small government - then I'm guilty. Moron.
Someone likens Palestine to Iraq - well Iraqi didn't continue killing Israelis, so that might be an improvement. Dissincentives can work against a country... but less well against terrorists. As you will continue to learn well into the future unless somebody takes a different path.
Barry - no short memory in my part. I remember the deal, and I think it should have been taken. But pointing to the past is no excuse for making the wrong decisions today - so at best your example is irrelevant.
Jerry thinks it laughable that people equate the two sides (israel v palestine). But nobody did. I guess straw men are easier to destory?
Posted by: 24601 at September 12, 2003 at 01:00 PM24601: Just like appeasement worked with Nazi Germany? Just like India giving up Pakistan ended islamic terrorism and territorial ambitions against India? Which part of "slaughter the infidel" don't you understand?
Posted by: Clem Snide at September 12, 2003 at 11:55 PM