Brad,
My apologies for not looking up the Chomsky reference I used in my last post. I'm making a note to myself to do it tonight.
>Which means that you have to do it over and over again. It take a long
time.
>
>And it doesn't work if other people on your "side" are shooting
>Olympic athletes at the same time. That news tends to crowd your
>demonstrations out of the news cycle...
I'm sympathetic to your viewpoint. I would prefer to see non-violent protests to terrorist activity.
However, you have to bear in mind that the Israelis also use terror. The same disgust you have for people who shoot Olympic athletes should be shown those who use rockets against civilian homes, torture prisoners and bomb neighboring countries.
But the Palestinians are the ones portrayed in the western media as terrorists and instigators of violence, while the Israelis are trying to maintain "stability" and "achieve security." The Western press has always slanted its coverage in favor of the Israelis in the face of violence perpetuated by both sides (and historically Israel has been by far the more belligerent party).
Why do you believe a sudden pledge of non-violence on the part of the Palestinians would somehow eliminate the pro-Israel bias in the Western press? Why should the Palestinians believe this will help them achieve their goals, rather than be an effective capitulation to Israeli domination?
Brett