Richard at Good Richard’s Almanac links to an incredible interview conducted by Pierre Heumann of the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche with Al-Jazeera Editor-in-Chief Ahmed Sheikh (as published in World Politics Watch).  Heumann’s questions are in boldface:

Mr. Sheikh, as the Editor in Chief of Al-Jazeera, you are one of the most important opinion-makers in the Arab world. What do you call suicide bombers?

For what is happening in Palestine, we never use the expression “suicide bombing.”

What do you call it then?

In English, I would describe it as “bombings.”

And in Arabic?

Literally translated, we would speak of “commando attacks.” In our culture, it is precisely not suicide.

But instead a praiseworthy act?

When the country is occupied and the people are being killed by the enemy, everyone must take action, even if he sacrifices himself in so doing.

Even if in so doing he kills innocent civilians?

That is not a Palestinian problem, but a problem of the Israelis.

You’re avoiding the question.

Not at all. When the Israeli Army attacks, it kills civilians. An army should be able to distinguish between military and civilian targets. But how many innocent people did it kill in Beit Hanoun? And then they justify this in saying that the grenade went astray, that there was a technical problem or something. But who believes that?

There’s a difference between Palestinian “commando actions” and Israeli military operations. In the one case, the aim is to kill as many civilians as possible; in the other, it is exclusively a matter of military targets.

Oh really? If the Israelis made such mistakes only once or twice a year, I would agree with you and say that it didn’t happen intentionally. But such mistakes happen every week. There are three possible explanations for this: either the military equipment is not up to date or the soldiers are badly trained and do not know how to use their weapons or they do it intentionally. Now, we know that the Israelis get the best weaponry from the American arsenal and that the soldiers are well trained. That leaves, then, only one conclusion: they do it intentionally.

I’ll stop it there.  The interview drags on ad nauseum, and you already get the gist.  Anyway, the point of Richard’s post is the difference in the language used to describe that peculiar type of behavior in which a person straps explosives around his body and, having immersed himself in a crowd of innocents, detonates himself.  Richard points out that the descriptive terms used include commando action, bombing, suicide bombing, and homicide bombing.  I’d like to add that it seems your choice of words depends, apparently, on who you are and where you come from.

Please note that the only place you’re likely to see the use of the expression “homicide bombing” is on Fox News.  Those guys are from a completely different planet altogether, after all….

Technorati Tags: Pierre Heumann, Swiss, weekly, Die Weltwoche, Al-Jazeera, Editor-in-Chief, Ahmed Sheikh, World Politics Watch, suicide bombers, Palestine, suicide bombing, English, bombings, Arabic, commando attacks, culture, suicide, praiseworthy act, occupied, killed, enemy, sacrifice, kills, innocent civilians, Palestinian problem, Israelis, Israeli Army, military, civilian targets, grenade, technical problem, military targets, American arsenal, Fox News

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