Terrorist/Prime Minister

This is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article on David Ben-Gurion,

Palestinian Arabs

Nahum Goldman, former president of the World Jewish Congress, wrote of Ben-Gurion: "I have often asked myself why this clever, brilliant man, ... why a man like that failed to see that without an agreement with the Arabs, Israel would have no long-term future"[2]. Goldman wrote that "Ben-Gurion is the man principally responsible for the anti-Arab policy, because it was he who moulded the thinking of generations of Israelis"[2].

Ben-Gurion recognized the strong attachment of Palestinian Arabs to the land but hoped that this would be overcome in time. In a conversation about "the Arab problem" in 1956, Goldman wrote that Ben-Gurion stated: "Why should the Arabs make peace? If I was an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country ... There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that? They may perhaps forget in one or two generations' time, but for the moment there is no chance. So it is simple: we have to stay strong and maintain a powerful army"[2]

The view that Ben-Gurion's assessment of Arab feelings led him to emphasize the need to build up Jewish military strength is supported by Simha Flapan, who quoted Ben-Gurion as stating in 1938: "I believe in our power, in our power which will grow, and if it will grow agreement will come...".[3]
[2] Nahum Goldman, 'The Jewish Paradox', translated by Steve Cox, 1978, ISBN 0-448-15166-9, p. 98, p. 100, p. 99
[3] Simha Flapan, 'Zionism and the Palestinians', 1979, ISBN 0-85664-499-4, p. 142-144


What's interesting is that, a few years ago when I read the wikipedia article about the Bombing of the King David Hotel, it clearly mentioned that Ben-Gurion was involved with the attacks, but the article has been revised and now it just says he condemned the attacks. So I did a little research and found another website that has the original wikipedia entry which states:

The attack was initially ordered by David Ben Gurion, who was in the United States, but he later changed his mind and ordered the bombing to be cancelled. But Menachem Begin, the head of Irgun, went ahead anyway. Both Ben Gurion and Begin would later become Israeli Prime Ministers. The attack was commanded by Yosef Avni and Yisrael Levi .
Source: http://www.fact-archive.com/encyclopedia/King_David_Hotel

Now, it's clear that Ben-Gurion did not approve of the attack, while he did know about it, he did end up condemning it, but what's frightening is that the man who did carry out the attack, Menachem Begin, who at the time was head of the Irgun, went on to become the 6th prime minister of Israel.

The Irgun was a zionist group, that is listed as a terrorist organization by countless media sources and the by the British government. Fast forward to July 2006, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a former member of the Irgun, actually attended a celebration of the King David Hotel Bombing.

Now, one could argue in defense of the Zionists saying that terrorism is subjective, these were freedom fighters, just like the American founding fathers, they fought the British in whatever manner they could. But the gaping hole in that argument is that the Americans were fighting for their freedom on their land, they were in a war with the British, they were fighting off British tyranny however they could. Whereas the zionists were not in a war with anybody, instead they were part of a movement that really only affected them and the Palestinian people whose country they were living in. They wantonly carried out a barrage of "terrorist" attacks to reach the goal of their movement. So comparing them to our founding fathers would be drawing a very weak connection.

The Irgun was responsible for over 60 terrorist attacks (list link) and they are recognized as a terrorist organization. What's alarming is that their members, which are called terrorists, are, till this day, being elected into public office in the state of Israel. This reminds me of the story of Alexander the Great, when Alexander captured a very notorious pirate, the pirate told him, I am called a pirate because I steal, pillage and kill with one boat and a crew, while you are called an emperor because you do it with an entire army.

Which side am I on? The side of peace, I don't want to turn on the news and see anymore Israeli children blown up at a mall, I don't want to get in my car and hear about Palestinians not being given access to medical equipment. I genuinely pray for peace everyday, because in this bloodshed we lose who we really are. I truly believe both the Palestinians and the Israelis have lost touch with who they are, to the point that both sides are electing terrorists to public office. Of course we can no longer call them terrorists because they are the elected government, but the underlying truth is still there. The people who are in control are the same people who do not care about peace, or the loss of life, they care about getting what they want through whatever means possible, even if it means completely forgetting what really matters.