Christian Attitudes

It’s easy to bandy the word “disproportionate” around, isn’t it? Easier than thinking, and may even give the false impression that one does indeed think, because one uses long words like, well, “disproportionate”.

Do those who complain that Israel is giving a disproportionate response mean that Israel should mimic Hezbollah and indiscriminately rain missiles down on the people of Lebanon, with the intention of killing and injuring as many innocents as possible? No, we know what they really mean. They want the number of dead Jews to match exactly the number of dead Arabs. It seems more like a form of entertainment to them, in which two equally matched partners are set to fight one another.

That brings me to the disproportionate use of references to eyes and teeth. Anti-semites like to use “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” to suggest that Jews are vengeful. It really means that any punishment should be – wait for it – proportionate to the crime, and not disproportionate. Not a head for an eye, or an eye for a tooth, in other words.

Israel isn’t being vengeful in this case, anyway, but trying to prevent Hezbollah from continuing its attacks. If Israel wanted to be vengeful, it would be capable of killing thousands, or tens of thousands, instead of which it drops warning leaflets.

Here is a Presbyterian complaint about "disproportionate force" and here the Lebanese patriarch tells Cheney Israel's response is not proportionate

Meanwhile, some ordinary Catholics, who can think for themselves instead of repeating the latest fashionable word, see the situation differently

30 Catholic educators visiting northern Israel as part of the ADL's Advance Bearing Witness program, had a “near-brush” with some Hezbollah missiles, which left them sympathetic to the Israelis.

"It is not easy to be in that situation when you are surrounded by people (who are your enemies)," she said. "We can sit across the ocean and smugly say 'What a mess that is; they don't want peace,' (but) it saddens me that as Americans we don't get a very complete picture of the situation. The situation here is beyond politics; it is much deeper. I wish every American could understand the situation here more clearly and on a deeper level."

Many from the group decided to participate in an emergency blood drive.

"This has given me a much greater empathy for the Israeli people than reading the newspaper would. Being here at this time with the troubles has touched me deeply," said Garcia. "People who are condemning Israel are not considering the whole situation and don't appreciate the position (Israel) is in (with) neighbors putting her in danger."

Israel is doing what it needs to do to protect the country with its strong response against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, said Garcia.

"From my position I wouldn't condemn (Israel)," she said, despite the high number of civilian casualties in Lebanon. "Israelis don't set out to kill civilians."