NJDC on Bush Administration Statements Regarding Middle East Violence
Listed in: Israel, Other Foreign Policy, NJDC News, Press Releases
"There is no moral equivalency between the violence of terrorism and the violence used against terrorists"
Washington, DC: On Tuesday, the Bush administration reacted to Israel's attack on Hamas offices in the West Bank. According to The Washington Post, State Department Spokesman Charles Hunter termed the attack "excessive" and a "new and dangerous escalation." The Associated Press reported on Tuesday, "Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer, conveyed the president's views to reporters, saying, 'Violence is violence, and the president has deplored the violence in the region.'" The same article noted, "The State Department has identified Hamas as a terrorist organization."
National Jewish Democratic Council Executive Director Ira N. Forman issued the following statement in response:
"The National Jewish Democratic Council - like most of the American Jewish community - is concerned by the administration's strong condemnation of Israel's actions against the terrorist leaders of Hamas. But we were surprised and especially concerned by the language used by White House spokesman Ari Fleischer - on behalf of the president - that 'violence is violence,' connoting some moral equivalency between the violence of terrorism and the violence used against terrorists. Language matters, and the language used by our government's top officials either reflects a current mindset or, over time, it creates one. Neither of these is appropriate when it comes to analyzing the events surrounding the recent violence. To use rhetoric that equates the violence necessary for self-defense with the violence of aggressive terrorism is a grave mistake. Like all Americans, we yearn for peace in the Middle East. But President Bush and his spokesmen must not allow that hope to decline into moral equivalency when commenting on violence in the Middle East."
