history is replete with examples of
terrorists becoming statesmen, even within the early ranks of Jews
fighting to establish the state of Israel.
One of those was Menachem Begin, who went
on to be an elected leader of the new state. But before Begin attained
that respectability, back in 1948 when he visited the United States, a
group of prominent Jewish intellectuals including Albert Einstein,
Sidney Hook and Hannah Arendt wrote a letter to The New York Times
warning that Begin was a former leader of the “Irgun Zvai Leumi, a
terrorist, right-wing, chauvinist organization in Palestine.” The
letter urged Jews to shun Begin, arguing, “It is inconceivable that
those who oppose fascism throughout the world, if correctly informed as
to Mr. Begin’s political record and perspectives, could add their names
and support to the movement he represents.”
…[That record] included the systematic terrorizing of innocent
Palestinian men, women and children in an effort to force them to flee
the territory that Begin’s party claimed for the new state of Israel.
Clearly Begin and his political heirs, who
include Benjamin Netanyahu, the most likely victor in the next Israeli
election, evolved in their behavior. But I bring it up now to highlight
the one-sided reporting of the current phase of this interminable
conflict
