In giving a presentation on the AMIA bombing a certain person I know quoted from the "Jewish Gauchos of the Pampas" and a story of a Rabbi who was accused of stealing a horse. He didn't steal the horse, but that didn't matter to the accuser. It was a busy and hectic time and in order to settle with his accuser he paid the accuser for the horse, noting that the accuser depended on that horse for his living. Instead of this settling the problem, the story was only moderated to say "they're thieves those Jews-- but I'll say one thing for them -- they'll confess right away." This person quoted from the book and the Rabbi's foreboding that "the eternal condemnation of the Jews had somehow been transplanted to Argentina." Both form a set piece for how perceptions and prejudices often influence our thinking before we even consider any facts.
For that reason, the AMIA bombing is instructive on a lot of levels. Aside from it being an atrocity comparable with any other atrocity. It is also an example of how atrocities come to happen and maybe what it takes to prevent them. Before the bombing Argentina was warned repeatedly of Terrorist Activity (in this case Hezbollah and Iranian). They chose to look the other way, or even to help the bombers. At the time Carlos Menem was President, and as a converted Arab, he felt great love and affection for both his former religion and his place of birth. With money from the Saudis he built one of the largest mosques in the world. And in 1992, the Isreali Embassy was bombed. And in 1994 the AMIA was bombed. And to this day the investigation of that bombing has been hampered on all quarters.
Now someone said, "this is because of the Palestinians." No it wasn't. In 1994 the dispute with the Palestinians was in negotiation. Someone else has suggested that this was a punishment to Argentina for helping the World Coalition in Desert Storm. Maybe, but like most such loopy logic, that doesn't constitute any kind of justification. Anymore than the behavior of the World Financial community justifies attacking the twin towers in New York and killing 2000 people. Terrorism is simply not an appropriate response to troubles.
And this witness of mine, went to the AMIA the day it was bombed. And heard people on the street claiming that the Jews had blown their own building up. At such times a peculiar gleeful hate comes out of some people. They can dance in the street with joy as people are burned to death and die. I've seen it in my own country too. Only it was directed at Arabs. This kind of perversity is a deep sickness.
And after my first article on this subject. Someone took issue with me noting that the world has not asked for justice and instead condemned Isreal for building it's wall to try to stop similar bombings in it's own country the same week. Indeed not only the two World Trade Center bombings. The bombings in North Africa, Turkey, France, and dozens of other places, all have gotten about the amount of notice in the General Assembly that you'd give a cock fight on the Mexican border. You don't see daily general assembly tirades against terrorism. You don't see the Mullahs and Emirs getting up on the Podium and preaching against Moslem extremism. They take their cue from the prophet instead. Maybe soon they'll decide to quote a different chapter. One of the questions the folks marking the 10th anniversary of the AMIA was to ask the Argentine President to at least not sign off on the regular condemnations of Isreali perfidy. He was ignored. No plowshares yet.
Generally the US, and to a lesser extent our allies will make such statements in a watered down generalized form. We've learned the bitter way what it's like to be on the receiving end of "Islamic-Extremist" hate. But the rest of the world tends to condemn us for arresting these people or trying to stop them. Our intervention in Pakistan and Iraq has met universal condemnation not for the facts, but simply because the world is afraid of offending Arabs, and because many Arabs see any efforts to end their Jihad as "crusades" many Europeans seem to try to find a symmetry in the situation. They see the propaganda pictures coming out of the West Bank and read in some kind of equivalence there. The logic is that, if the Palestinians really want peace with jews, it won't be that hard to get it, and then they'll be able to live and do what they want -- as long as it doesn't involve killing Jews with bombs, guns, knives, rocks, rockets, and who knows what else.
It is getting nearly easy to condemnt the US as they have done for 60 years now with Isreal. We pursue our interests, and it becomes easy to blame the "usual suspects." We are a "superpower" for now, and so it seems we can invade a country like Iraq and try to take it's oil. Nevermind that we really aren't getting a whole lot of "oil" for the effort. The US and Isreal have become the "Usual suspects" of the world. And like with that Rabbi, no amount of facts is going to change their minds. And while I give Bush exaggerating the links between Saddam and Osama for part of that. The real problem is something called "religious prejudice." Like the Goucho whose horse was stolen. Isreal didn't "steal" the Palestinians land. Is willing to give it back and pay them to boot. And the Palestinians are still going to consider them thieves and keep trying to kill them for revenge. Unless this underlying cause is addressed. A similar incident is recounted in the Koran. And Mohammed used it as a pretext to expell or exterminate all the Jewish tribes who lived in his lands.
Posted by cholte at August 1, 2004 06:00 PM