Sunday, December 13, 2009

12 times as many suicide bombings in Iraq as in Israel

Considering that the Arab nation has been fighting Israel for more than 60 years, and considering that of all political issues the Arabs are most concerned about the conflict in Palestine, I find it shocking that there have been at least 12 times as many suicide bombings in six years in Iraq as the number of suicide bombings during more than half a century of Israeli expansionism. I believe that this statistic, coupled with the fact that Arabs seem to be unconcerned about Arab terrorism in Iraq, shows how little the Arabs care about Iraqis. Judging by their reactions to the war in Iraq, it seems the Arabs in general care only for the Iraqis who fight Americans.

During the 60 years of Israel's existence, Arabs (all Palestinian) carried out 140 suicide bombings inside Israel. Hundreds of innocent Israelis were killed. When Israel kills innocent Palestinians, the Arabs become very angry, understandably.

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam's murderous regime, the Arabs have sent more than 1,700 suicide bombers to Iraq. Many suicide bombers have been Iraqi, but most have been non-Iraqi Arabs. The vast majority of victims have been Iraqi civilians, mostly Arabs and Muslims. But the Arabs don't seem to be as angry about this, except to blame America.

True that the first Palestinian suicide bombing occurred in 1994, so it has actually been 140 suicide bombings during 15 years of Israeli expansionism. Also a Palestinian American woman recently gently reminded me that it's much more difficult for Arab militants to enter Israel than it has been for Arab militants to enter Iraq. This is a good point. Still the fact is that the Arab "resistance", if there is such a thing, have launched 12 times as many suicide attacks in Iraq as they have in Israel, and that is not good for Arab unity.

I am not suggesting that Arab extremists try to carry out more suicide bombings in Israel. I believe that attacking innocent Israelis, civilians or soldiers, is wrong. The killing of women and children is especially disgusting, and in both Israel and Iraq the majority of victims have been civilians. But clearly there is something wrong here, if we are to believe that Iraq is part of the "Arab nation".

I did not expect so many non-Iraqi Arabs to fight in Iraq and I did not expect any bombings of Iraqi markets, universities, government ministries, police stations, restaurants, weddings and funerals. I mean that shows you how much the Arabs really hate Iraq, no?

Some people have tried to justify Palestinian suicide bombings, arguing that Israel has treated the Palestinians terribly and makes Palestinians' lives miserable. So what is the excuse for 1,700 suicide bombings in Iraq? Are the Arabs fighting occupation? Or are they fighting democracy?

1 comment :

Toady said...

Regretfully, this is a typical attitude in the Arab world. It's no big deal when Arabs kill other Arabs. It's only an issue when non-Arabs kill Arabs. Witness all the outrage when the Israelis kill Palestinians but nothing when the Syrian government kills tens of thousands in Hama,or when Saddam sends hundreds of thousands to mass graves, or when thousands die in the Lebanese or Algerian civil wars.

Outrage is very selective in the middle east.