<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Re: [lbo-talk] A Calculated Provocation</TITLE> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <STYLE type=text/css>BLOCKQUOTE { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } DL { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } UL { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } OL { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } LI { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } </STYLE> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1264" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT color=#010101>Doug wrote:</FONT><BR></DIV> <DIV>> I don't like suicide bombings; they're immoral and ineffective. But: 1) Israel is the oppressor in the relationship; 2) they're doing their oppression with > U.S. money and weapons; and 3) the Palestinians' resort to suicide bombing is a symptom of the absolute desperation of their situation (and if you </DIV> <DIV>> believe otherwise, you have to believe in some primary barbarity of Palestinians that exists prior to political or social circumstances). </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I don't understand 3).  Suicide bombings are a consequence of the political culture of some groups of Palestianians.  As is often the case with terrorism, they're a response to perceived injustice (the perception is often veridical).  The actual terrorists amongst the Palestinians tend to be the least desperate.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>-- Luke</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>