Much ado has been made in the press about people from Europe and the USA volunteering to become “human shields”. Most of them have now left Iraq because of the looming threats of actual bombs falling…go figure…
If they are actually interested in stopping the murder of innocents, why have we not heard of human shields on the buses and in the eateries of Jerusalem and other targeted Israeli towns?
You just don’t get it, do you Newcrasher? Things shift and change. “Human Shields” must know their markets. In today’s world the cowardly murder of innocents in Israel is no longer the vogue.
What’s the use of being a compassionate"Human Shield" if you don’t get good press.
The cowardly murder of Palestinians, is however, in vogue with the IDF, apparently. I know of at least one peace protester still at work there.
Those who went to Iraq were just silly, though.
One could argue that in Iraq, the “aggressor” would be the US, and the US is adverse to bombing innocents, if it can be avoided. The Palestinians don’t give a damn who they blow up, so the existence of human shields there would have no effect.
Of course, the real reason is that the human shields never had any intention of putting themselves in harm’s way, and just wanted the publicity. If they went to Israel, there’s a real possibility they may get hurt. Also, the US is evil, while the Palestinians are just misunderstood, or something.
Jeff
Well, for more logical answers, there’s the fact that there’s no way of telling where the bombers will strike next, or even “if”. So how patient would a Human Shield[sup]TM[/sup] have to be, to set up shop outside, say, Benny’s Cafeteria and hope that a bomber showed up?
And second, there’s the fact that I doubt whether a bomber would really care if there were a self-appointed Human Shield[sup]TM[/sup] sitting right where he was all set to blow himself, and a bunch of Israelis, up. So what good would it do? Headline—“Bomber Blows Up Self, 15 Israelis, and One Human Shield[sup]TM[/sup]”.
And third, there’s the fact that the point of being a Human Shield[sup]TM[/sup] is that you’re supposed to be a deterrent–you’re not intending to get killed. The Person-Threatening-Violence is supposed to see you standing in the way, and he’s supposed to go, “Oh no! I can’t shoot! I’ll hit an innocent Human Shield[sup]TM[/sup]…” and he’s supposed to put his weapon down. Manifestly, this won’t work with a bomber who only cares about setting off his bomb. So you’re gonna have a lot of dead Human Shields[sup]TM[/sup], and I wonder how long the program would last. “We’re gonna need another Timmy…”
And fourth, there’s the fact that the bombers don’t usually advertise the fact that they’re wired to blow at any minute, and since the purpose of the Human Shield[sup]TM[/sup] is that he’s supposed to be a deterrent–“Stop! I will now shame you into putting down your weapon…”–how is the Human Shield[sup]TM[/sup] supposed to know, as he sits there in front of Benny’s Cafeteria reading the paper, that that particular customer is the Bomber?
And fifth, everyone knows that Israel is in the wrong over the Palestinian issue. Well, except the US government bankrolling it and the US citizens fed the Israeli-smoothed news reports.
Here in Europe we just get the blunt reports and the terribly empty rhetoric from EU politicians saying “stop it, or else we’ll say ‘stop it’ again.”
I think you people are not fair. You have logical arguments, but I know only peace and good feelings. I say we send hundreds of Human Shields to Isreal. We need to give them more time to do thier job. I know you say they can’t absorb all of the bomb fragments, but give them more time. With enough Human Shields on the job I feel there soft hippy bodies can absorb enough bomb fragments to contain the Palestinian bombers to where they are not a threat to Isreal. Give human shield pieces a chance.
There were a couple of Arabs on that bus in Haifa a few days ago, I think. I don’t know if they were Palestinians or Israeli Arabs. The point is that these suicide bombers really don’t care who else they get as long as they get some Israelis. I mean, they can sit next to tiny children, look at their innocent smiles, and still push the button. A self-righteous European yuppie ain’t gonna stop them.
[John Lennon]All we are saying is give pieces a chance![/JL] (I’m probably going to hell for that.)
What might work is if we used someone or something they really cared about as a shield. Say OBL? If he’s captured, his punishment could be forced to be bound and gagged and locked in a bullet-proof box on the back of a Israeli bus which travels a different randomly selected route every day. He gets to eat, shit, and sleep in the thing. Plus, he’s got nothing to stare at, other than Jews all day long. I really can’t think of a more fitting punishment for the man.
Personally, there’s a simple reason why there are no human shields in Israel, and it has nothing to do with opposition to Israel:
In Iraq, the human shields tried to be placed in hospitals, schools, and the like, where it is unlikely that bombs will be dropped. (Of course, Saddam wanted to position them where they would be useful, and the shields responded by 1) going home, if they had arrived in Iraq, or 2) not going, if they hadn’t reached it yet.)
In Israel, odds are, there’s no safe place to be a shield.