Soccer Dad

Kind to the cruel is not the right measure

A collection of quotes and attitudes from a group of Israel haters.
Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah:This is why I do not think that this divergence of opinions has led to any tension. In fact, I support many of Iran’s political stances against the US and Israel and its support for the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine.

Saeb Erekat:"That´s absolutely unacceptable," Erekat told the Associated Press. "Our children should have hope and a future and should not be suicide bombers. We want them to be doctors and engineers."

The great hypocrisy of Erekat's statement is that he and the PA leadership have been the driving force indoctrinating PA children to aspire to Shahada - Death for Allah. As PMW has reported, it was only a few months ago that Erekat and other top PA leaders, including Yasser Arafat, sponsored a soccer tournament honoring 24 Shahids ("Islamic Martyrs"), including such arch-terrorists as Yechya Ayash, the first Hamas suicide-bomb maker, who masterminded the Palestinian suicide bombings; Adin Al Kassam, the name of the suicide terrorist wing of the Hamas; Raid Carmi, a regional head of a suicide terrorist unit; Jamal Mansour of Hamas; and Salah Drowza of Hamas.

As a sponsor, Saeb Erekat was present at the tournament honoring the terrorists, and personally distributed the trophies. [Al Ayyam, Sept. 21, 2003, Al Quds, Sept. 29, 2003]

Al-Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Mohammad Sayyed Tantawi, Sunni cleric: However, an Egyptian law professor, Tawfiq Al-Shawi, recalled that Tantawi had issued in the past an opposite religious ruling, namely, that the suicide attacks are acceptable in the Shari'a: "On August 4, 1998, in an interview in the Al-Hayat daily, Sheik Tantawi described suicide operations as a legitimate defense against the enemy who attacks the Palestinian people, and who has no mercy on the elderly, women or children... On a previous occasion, on May 27, 1998, Sheik Tantawi stated: 'It is every Muslim, Palestinian and Arab's right to blow himself up in the heart of Israel, an honorable death is better than a life of humiliation. All religious laws have demanded the use of force against the enemy and fighting against those who stand by Israel; there is no escape from fighting, from Jihad, and from [self-]defense, and whoever refrains from such things is not a believer.'"

These guys might be capable of making moderate comments when called upon to do so. And they're smart enough to know that no one's going to spend a lot of time seeking out how they really feel.

To present the rehearsed but insincere concilliatory comments of these guys is to make a statement. That statement is that you're willing to whitewash the evil of their views. When you usually construe (or more likely misconstrue) the statements of people you disagree with to show that they are extreme beyond redemption; to promote the few non-offensive words of people who hate you is to give them cover.
Crossposted on Israpundit and Soccer Dad.