Today in class it was discussed whether the jews involved in Etzel and Lehi should be considered terrorists. Although they did commit acts of terror, many suppose that the fact that these groups fought for the creation of a Jewish State made their form of terror defendable. However, even those who believe this have to acknowledge that these organization killed innocent people. By definition, the fact that they committed acts of terror makes them terrorists. But, without them, perhaps there would be no Israel today.
However, some may also argue, just as Isis and Hezbollah murder people in order to prove a point, Etzel and Lehi did as well. If Etzel and Lehi are similar to terrorist groups today, then Arabs at the time of Israel’s founding must have thought that Jews were our of their minds, fighting for an inconceivable cause that only harms people. Terrible events such as the King David Hotel bombing and the massacre in Deir Yassin are examples of how such an optimistic goal can become strikingly negative once people unnecessarily are put at risk or die. I acknowledge that without these organizations, perhaps Israel would not be as it is today, or perhaps would not have even existed. However, that does help buffer the fact that this country was created from death.
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