When it Comes to Major Hassan, What About Exodus? [UPDATE]
By Larry Johnson on November 10, 2009 at 1:10 AM in Current Affairs
(Bumped up from Nov. 9th.)
With the rightwing working itself into a froth because Major Nidal Hassan, the murderer of fellow soldiers at Fort Hood last week, allegedly claimed to be a muslim first and an American second, I was reminded of the movie, EXODUS.
If you are 53 years old (or older) I’m sure you remember the Paul Newman propaganda flick, EXODUS. Based on the Leon Uris novel it tells the story of the birth of Israel but uses some clever ploys to whip up public support for Israel. I call it propaganda because of how the diretor, Otto Preminger, uses the beautiful teenage girl, Karen (actress Jill Haworth) to symbolize the threat to Israel. She is sweet, sexy and innocent and is murdered by those dastardly muslims. The film closes with her burial and the Israeli freedom fighters grabbing guns as they head off to kill muslims (even though Paul Newman pays lip service to the Jews and Arabs living together in peace).
When the movie was made in 1960 terrorism was not a big deal. What is really fascinating now, with the benefit of hindsight, is how the film endorses terrorism as an appropriate tactic as long as the cause is perceived just.
Check out this link. Members of the Irgun, a Jewish terrorist group, bombed the King David Hotel and killed 91 people. The movie Exodus celebrates these guys and the link above is the clip of the Irgun’s attack on the prison housing those who planned and carried out the attack.
Why belabor this? I am willing to bet we will get some staunch pro-Israel supporters defending and justifying the Irgun and their attacks because they agree with the cause. But it was terrorism, pure and evil. It was organized and purpose driven. I want to draw your attention to how many Americans embrace a movie that endorses and glorifies terrorism as an appropriate tactic. If we can understand that then we can begin to understand why some muslims can readily endorse violence we find reprehensible because from their perspective it is justified because the cause is righteous (at least from their perspective).
Was Nidal Hassan a terrorist? No. He may have tried to contact Al Qaeda operatives but he acted alone. But he shared the mentality that justifies indiscriminate violence in pursuit of a cause he believed to be just. In this regard he is certainly a terrorist sympathizer and, based on several press reports, made no effort to conceal his devotion to an extreme vision of Islam.
There is not a lot we can do to prevent incidents like Hassan rampage. If Hassan was part of an organization there are things we could do to weaken and hinder their operations. But a lone wolf determined to wreak mayhem is almost impossible to defend.
Regardless of whether or not Hassan was a “terrorist” he has caused horror for hundreds of people who loved and were loved by those murdered by the twisted Army Major. The extremist mindset is not unique to Islam. That’s the point I want us to keep in mind.
UPDATE: I knew it would happen. I point out the indisputable historical fact that some of the folks involved with the creation of the State of Israel were terrorists. The actions of the IRGUN and the STERN GANG are the imaginings of anti-Semites. What is sickening are those people who excuse terrorism by Jews because they support the cause but then have an aneurysm when a Muslim does the same kind of thing. I despise religious extremists of all ilks–Muslim, Christian, Jew and Druid, etc. So here is a typical comment reflecting the crazy mindsent I am talking about:
Halli Casser-Jayne:
Submitted on 2009/11/09 at 3:38pm
Try again, Larry. Apparently, that old brain of yours has forgotten other potent parts of the movie (and it is a movie based on a work of fiction). For instance, the behavior of the Arabs who went on to hang and maim one of their own for wanting to have peace with his Jewish ‘brother.’ Or how about the role of the Brits in refusing to let the nomad Jews find a place to live after they’d been freed from the Nazi death camps and had no place to go. Or the role of the Mufti in terrorizing the Jews and refusing to follow a path to peace but whose focus was to insight the Arabs. Ari, the Paul Newman character, had misgivings of his uncle’s participation in the Irgun, as did his father played by Lee J. Cobb. That’s the movie.
In real life were the Jews terrorists?
The Jews were not out to terrorize the Arabs. They were out to defend themselves. They offered to share a homeland with the people who now call themselves Palestinians, to live in peace with them, and were rebuffed even as they are today. They weren’t new to the land, but the influx was, and the Arabs didn’t want Hitler’s survivors there.
Plus, they had no place else to go. Our lovely America didn’t want Hitler’s refugees anymore than the Arabs or the Brits did.
There’s a big difference between a nascent army and a terrorist organization. You might want to look up the word ‘terror.’
Jeez, Larry, I’m disappointed! Your comments wreak of anti-Semitism! They have no comparative rationale to the story of Major Hassam, whose ultimate definition is yet to be determined because we still are waiting for the FACTS.
Halli Casser-Jayne
Author, A Year in My Pajamas With President Obama, The Politics of Strange Bedfellows, http://www.thecjpoliticalreport.com
Yes Halli, in real life there were Jewish terrorists. In fact, Rahm Emmanuel’s father was part of one of the terrorist groups. Menachem Begin was another. You are as bad as a Hezbollah supporter. You excuse inexcusable behavior. Blowing up hotels and killing indiscriminately is not heroic.
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