Does Israel commit terrorism?

Question

If we're going to be consistent with the definition of terrorism, then isn't it about time that we acknowledge that what Israel does falls under the rubric of terrorism?

In British common law, the legal definition of unintentional murder is called mens rea. If a building was blown up without the intention of killing anyone but did so, the perpetrators would still be charged under murder. With Israel's persistence with these military acts in Lebanon last summer and the Palestinians territories, why isn't Israle labelled as terrorist. And why does the US and UK support Israel?

to Thumbe...whatever..

I actually agree many Muslim nations commit terrorism, however we have to be consistent---my question is does Israel commit it? Stop trying to take the focus away from Israel by introducing lame fallacies.

To those who believe that Israel fights back, that argument would be valid if it weren't for the fact that Israel uses pre-emptive methods on many innocents as well as creating climates for terrorism to happen within territories economically.

Answer 1

Israel is illegally occupying much of the West Bank and has been since 1967, in contravention of UN resolution 242. They claim that the land was "won" in the war they fought with Egypt, Jordan and Syria that year. However, international law prohibits countries from keeping lands which were conquered during war - for very good reasons. The borders which were drawn up in 1948 are still the only legally recognised borders.

Since 1967, Israel has violated international rules of engagement in countless ways. Among these violations are displacing tens of thousands of Palestinian families; destroying their homes and agricultural plantations; denying them the right of free passage in their own lands; and committing random kidnappings and assassinations. The list is far too long to catalogue here.

However, these violations form part of a policy of "collective punishment" against the Palestinian people for acts of terrorism carried out by Hamas and Hizbollah. Whilst one has to feel sympathy for the victims of Palestinian terrorism (or anybody else's for that matter), it is illegal to resort to collective punishment as a means of retribution for that terrorism.

So yes, Israel does commit acts of terrorism. And very openly and flagrantly too.

They are able to get away with it simply because the USA, which is heavily influenced by a powerful Jewish lobby, obstructs any UN attempts to rein in Israel.

Answer 2

Israel has committed acts of terror against Arabs in the past by randomly bombing suspected houses of resistance fighters. In the process, hundreds of innocent peole have been killed. It's true that Hezbollah instigated this recent fight, but Israel has no right to barge into Lebanon and started blowing the hell out of any suspected location. Many more Lebanese have died and been injured by the Israeli's indiscriminate firing. I recently saw a haunting picture on Future televison ( a Lebanese channel) of a young infant blown to smithereens, leaving behind a greyish corpse lacking a lower body and arms. This is the horro that Israel, the great butcher, has spread throughout Lebanon for decades. Oh, and Jim B, I've been to Lebanon and I can assure you that its still suffering from Israel's invasion in the past. It will also suffer from Israel blowing up the airports, numerous roads, many bridges, blockading ports, killing civilians, and destroying the three runways of Beirut's airport. My friend is in Beirut now and he can't leave the country for a while now because the road to Syria has been blown up, and the airport is burned up bad. By the way Jim B, the palestinians have suffered much more than the Israelis in the past - just look at the statistics. Israel fires missiles and artillery into Palestine daily and if you weren't so brainwashed, you could see all the pictures on Arab TV of people that have been mutilated by shrapnel. Maybe then you would realize the suffering that the poor people of Palestine go through daily. At least Israelis have proper homes with lectricity and constantly flowing water. Israel has luxurious cafes and clubs while Palestine has nothing but blown up apartments. Suck on that Jim B.

Answer 3

You really need to look up some definitions. What you're taking about is collateral damage and NOT terrorism. You might call it homicide or manslaughter as well.

Is Israel doing what they are doing with the intention of causing terror among civilian populations and causing maximum possible civilian casualties???

When was the last time Israel took an airline hostage? Put suicide bombers in a marketplace or night club? Pronounced that they wouldn't rest till one of her neighboring countries had been annihilated?

As I recall, Brittan wasn't too concerned about German civilian casualties during world war two were they? Did that make them terrorists? Israel is surrounded by countries that want them destroyed. Many other countries in the world claim that the Holocaust was a terrible event, yet their apathetic actions promote another one.

What I want to know is why people like you make the Arabs out to be fun-loving countries and Israel to be the evil one. Can you explain that???

Answer 4

There are no good guys; there are no bad guys. There's just a very difficult problem to be worked out by two very stubborn peoples. The UK essentially created the problem nearly a century ago (look up The Balfour Declaration, and Lord Kirchner), and the US has championed the Israeli cause because the Jews are still the little guys, here. The interesting part, I find, is that the other Arab states could absorb the Palestinians in a heartbeat, but have refused to do so for 60 years. It's not just Israel vs the Palestinians. So the US is supporting the underdogs, which is something we often do.

Answer 5

I have often wondered why the Jewish nation, with the full support of the Israely government, constantly remind us of the attrocities commited against them during the second world war.
Year after year we are subjected to interviews, film footage, and documentaries depicting the horrors commited against this race.
It was tottaly and utterly wrong and unforgiveable what happened to them.
Yet, the state of Israel, the homeland of the Jewish faith, has and does commit attrocities against their neighbours. I dont say their actions are any worse than the actions of say the Palestinian Millitants but what gives them the right to remind the world of suffering whilst at the same time dishing out suffering to others.

Answer 6

As they say one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter.
The US and UK obviously view them as freedom fighters for there actions on the Palestinian territories and not as acts of terrorism like the Palestinians would have you believe.
It all depends what side of the fence you stand on to define what they are doing is terrorism :)

Answer 7

Israel commits orgenised terrorism aided by the US.
* Terrifying all the original nation of Palestine, daily killing , demolition of their houses.
* in Lebanon last year , they flattened it!
** Israelies are all outsiders derived & deprived the Palestinians from their homes & land.
* Israel never complied with any UN resolution since 1948.
* Israel didn't comply with any peace agreement signed with the Palestinians, & this is the cause of the continuing conflict!!
* Israel only understand the language of weapon & power.

Answer 8

Terrorist of not depends on who answers the question.

From what is happening now, it is clear that those people who considered Israel a terrorist won't be able connect her with her offence.

Answer 9

If we were consistent with the definition of terrorism, every government would qualify.

The main difference between western societies and non-western societies is that western societies cannot terrorize their own people (usually, though there are exceptions, such as Hitler or Dubya) so they terrorize foreigners.

What we need is for the people of every country to reject terrorism. For the most part, terrorism is perpetrated by governments under the guise of War or by religions under the guise of Jihad or Crusade. If everybody would immediately oppose wars which their governments want to wage and reject religious fanatics, we would be able to stamp out terrorism. This War on Terrorism is going to do just the opposite.

Take not. When governments declare wars on something other than other governments, they usually make the problem worse. The War on Poverty made poverty worse. The War on Drugs made drug abuse worse and destroyed the economy by flooding jails with otherwise productive people. The War on Crime made crime worse by disarming the victims so that they couldn't defend themselves. I forgot, they haven't decided to fight that one yet, at least in America.

If you look at government closely, its easy to see why government doesn't work.

Answer 10

International law and British common laws are different.
Furthermore, who could enforce that? The UN barely issues a reprimand at the harshest.
That being said, I think Israel is an illegal nation set up on stolen land. They also practice forms of economic terrorism which affect far more people than suicide bombers.