Terrorist, policeman, …

Aside from the NYT shamelessly rewriting this story, this paragraph really bothers me.

Israeli officials said that anyone linked to the Hamas security structure or government was fair game because Hamas was a terrorist group that sought Israel’s destruction. But with work here increasingly scarce because of an international embargo on Hamas, young men are tempted by the steady work of the police force without necessarily fully accepting the Hamas ideology. One of the biggest tolls on Saturday was at a police cadet graduation ceremony in which 15 people were killed.

The justification for killing armed members of Hamas well, that’s “Israel says.” But if you’re a more sophisticated sort, like a reporter for the NYT you know better: those poor blokes have joined Hamas because they need the jobs. Neat, isn’t it? Israel starves the Palestinians, forcing them into Hamas’s arms and then butcher them. Damn impressive planning on Israel’s part. (I’m not going to raise the inconvenient question of how it is that if Israel’s blockade is so awful that Hamas is able to keep its public well-armed but not well-fed.)

Let’s, however play a little game. Can you tell the difference between a Hamas policeman and Hamas terrorist? Again. Policeman. Terrorist. They wear the same uniform. The only difference I see is that the terrorists – I mean militants – wear masks too. If the only difference between the guys who are terrorists and the guys who are just earning an honest living is a mask that can be kept in their back pockets, then even the guys in the latter group lose a presumption of “innocent civilian.”

I fail to understand the lengths the media and other fellow travelers go to defend terrorists.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.