Collective Punishment

Or, "Racism & Brutality CAN be fun!"

Paul Eidelberg on Arutz Sheva:

Obscured in the terror war against Israel is the collective responsibility of Israel's enemy - the so-called Palestinians - and the genocidal hatred that animates them. We abhor collective punishment because we do not like to think of collective, national responsibility for the perpetration of evil. Yet, historian Daniel Goldhagen's Hitler's Willing Executioners confirms, with abundant evidence, Albert Einstein's contention, "The Germans as an entire people are responsible for the mass murders [which occurred in the Holocaust]." Einstein maintained that the Germans "must be punished as a people..."

Did I miss something? Has Einstein become Judaism's moral compass? Did we crown him Chief Rabbi? (I guess he can't be any worse than Eliyahu, or Metzger.) Funny, I bet Eidelberg didn't like old Bert so much when he was advocating passifism...

Incidentally, Eidelberg is also playing fast-and-loose with Goldhagen, whose thesis of "genocidal determinism" being somehow inherent to German culture or society was far from widely accepted by Holocaust scholars. I seem to recall him actually being fairly excoriated in several issues of the Yad Vashem Journal by Yehuda Bauer and Raul Hillberg. But, as already demonstrated, this article isn't about analysis, it's about Eidelberg finding someone- anyone- whom he can name-drop in order to support his lame attempt at thought. "It's like Ulysses. S. Grant once said- 'I have a friend named Paul.' There you go!"

More from the professor:

The PLO and Hamas have their own Mein Kampf, whose genocidal intentions vis-a-vis Israel are also clear beyond the possibility of misunderstanding. Hence, the Arabs who elected the leaders of the Palestinian Authority are collectively responsible for the murder of Jews. This being so, the reluctance of Israel's government or defense forces to destroy terrorists in Gaza lest "innocent civilians" be killed is criminally irresponsible.

What about the people who didn't vote for Hamas? What about the people who didn't vote in the first place (like, say, kids)? I mean, I guess the logic that Hamas supporters are responsible for what Hamas does flows pretty well, but saying that every Palestinian is responsible for what their government does seems a bit of a stretch. It would already be a stretch to say it in countries that actually HAVE more-or-less functioning democracies, such as the U.S. or Israel, much less the Palestinian territories. When your leaders are elected once every ten years, I think that individual citizens' ability to control their leaders' behavior is probably slightly curtailed. Just ask all the people who "voted" for Abu Ala, aka "Mr. Concrete".

Now we get to the kicker:

The government and the IDF's first and paramount responsibility is to protect the lives of Jews. Arab "civilians" who do not flee from Arab terrorists, or who allow themselves to be used as human shields, are wholly responsible for whatever befalls them in the anti-terrorist attacks of the IDF. Let us not succumb to maudlin sentimentality about these poor-little-people. Just as they rejoiced when Muslims flew aircraft into the Twin Towers, so they danced on their rooftops when Scud missiles fell on Israel. There is utterly no reason to risk the life or limb of a single Jew for the Arabs in the PA - so many of whom use, or applaud the use of, women and children as human bombs.

Got that? If you "allow" yourself to be taken hostage by a terrorist, it's YOUR fault. Brilliant, prof. We should extend this logic to other situations, I think. You're captive in a bank stand-off? Not the police's problem. You went ahead and got a brain tumor? You should have thought of that when you allowed your cells to metasticize, stupid. Don't be coming to us surgeons for help. That's not our job.

In fact, I think this explains Eidelberg's utter indifference to bad-mouthing the brain-dead Ariel Sharon at the beginning of this little screed- after all, his stroke is probably his own fault, anyway.

Unless it was the pulsa denura.