[paranoid]

Originally posted by glatt
Terrorists should never be admired or looked up to. They should not be respected. But there is nothing wrong with understanding a terrorist.

Thank you for complimenting my English (I am Russian and English is my second language) and you are correct about the reason for disagreement. Yes, "respect" is not the right word to convey my attitude towards the suicide bombers. I think "appreciate" and "recognize" are better choices. The reason for my mistake was to first think about the attitude of terrorist's compatriots. Palestinians respect terrorists and rightly so. Soviets have long respected people like Vera Zasulich, Alersandr Ulianov (Vladimir Lenin's older brother), Sergej Kravchinsky, Aleksandr Soloviev, Sofia Perovskaya, Dmitry Karakozov and others (all of them successful terrorists in Czarist Russia). When we are on the receiving end of the terror, though, we tend to despise and hate terrorists. But although they do not deserve our compassion or respect, they at least deserve to be heard.

Another point to consider is that in the modern world politicians tend to protect themselves so much as to make any assasination attempt futile. With the exception of relatively safe countries in Northern Europe, the leaders usually drive in bulletproof limos and emply hundreds, if not thousands of bodyguards. I am reasonably sure that Hamas would prefer killing Israeli PM or defence minister, but what chances do they have? Killing civilians remains the only feasible option, and (in a wicked sense) the effectiveness of Israel army, police and special services (in protecting the Israeli leaders) are responsible for deaths of innocents.

You call for the murder of Jewish spiritual leaders, and then in the same sentence claim that you are not hostile or prejudiced toward Jews. Of course that statement is anti-semitic.

I am against them because they are spiritual leaders, not because they are Jewish. I hate Pope and Russian Orthodox Church only slightly less than I hate Jewish rabbies and this has nothing to do with my attitude to Italians, Poles, Russians or Jews. I did not even become aware of the whole "Jewish Question" until I was about eighteen. My two best childhood friends were Jews, so I don't think I am capable of being anti-semitic. And neither is my statement, the call for murder. I think that organised religions today are so harmful for the humankind that advantages of destroying them would compensate the disadvantages of killing thousands of people in the process. You can call that brutal, barbarous, bizarre or just plain bad, but anti-semitic it is not.