Soccer Dad

Nicholas kristof: child abuser

By his latest column, I have to designate NYT columnist a child abuser.

I brought my family with me on this trip, and my kids experienced the gamut: we were stoned by Palestinian kids in East Jerusalem, and tear-gassed by Israeli security forces in the West Bank.

So he goes on a family vacation and puts his family at risk. That is not responsible.

But then again he didn't take his family to protest for Kurdish nationalism. That would have been dangerous (via memeorandum).

On March 21, 2010, the Syrian security forces opened fire with live ammunition on a crowd of 5,000 in the northern Syrian town of al-Raqqah. The crowd had gathered to celebrate the Kurdish festival of Nowruz. Three people, including a 15-year-old girl, were killed. Over 50 were injured. Dozens of injured civilians were held incommunicado by the authorities following the events. Some remain incarcerated. This incident was just one example of the repression taking place of the largest national minority in Syria - namely, the Syrian Kurdish population.

My Right Word makes two other points regarding Kristof's column.

UPDATE: Legal Insurrection in the brilliantly titled Everybody must get stoned:

This is an improvement, though. Before the security barrier was constructed, Kristoff and his family would not have been able to eat in a restaurant, or ride a bus, or attend a Bar Mitzvah ceremony in Israel without fear of an imminent explosion.

I've cited the statistics before. From 452 Israelis killed in 2002, terror attacks within Israel are down almost to nothing as a result of the security barrier and Israeli military actions in the West Bank and along the Gaza border.

If a true non-violent Palestinian movement arises, it will be only because the alternative no longer is available.