Strategies to Combat Suicide Bombing in Israel

Here is some news from our “peace loving friends” in the Middle East—Iran and its proxies: Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthies. It is that they will once again take up the ancient and honorable practice of suicide bombing leveled upon the evil Zionist entity, Israel.

Iran and its proxies: Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthies, will once again take up the ancient and honorable practice of suicide bombing.

According to The Wall Street Journal: “Hamas Claims Attempted Suicide Bombing as Cease-Fire Diplomacy Resumes. A failed attack on Tel Aviv threatens to open a new dimension of violence amid efforts to de-escalate tensions.”

In the view of the British Broadcasting Corporation: “Hamas claims Tel Aviv bomb explosion as suicide attack.”

Why the resumption of this level of brutality? The terrorists are willing to learn from their mistakes. (Who says they never learn? Not I! Not I!). Recently, they had eschewed such murderous rampages in favor of drones, missiles, rocketry, all utilized at relatively long range. The result? For Israel, not much. Gaza, however, has justifiably been reduced almost to complete rubble, and southern Lebanon bodes well to follow suit. Even the gang leaders in Iran have felt a bit of the “terrible swift sword” of the Jewish State, thank goodness (although I greatly regret their oil fields and nuclear development sites were left untouched).

It may seem that there is a benefit of this close and personal approach to mass murder. Every time it takes place, whether successful or not, and one of these maniacs blows himself up, there is at least that one fewer terrorist around to commit further mayhem. Yes, he may kill some innocent Israelis, but at the very least he himself is no longer around to again plague civilized people.

Many Jews and other citizens will die and there are many more of them than there are of us.

However, there are two problems with this from the point of view of justice—that is, of protecting innocent victims in Israel. One, many Jews and other citizens will die; and two, there are many more of them than there are of us. So, we are not here to welcome and rejoice in the possible radical Islamic adoption of this heinous scheme. Rather, the present goal is to think about how to combat it.

One possibility is to shoot on sight any person wearing a belt composed of dynamite sticks, or any person similarly accoutered. There can be no legitimate purpose in being so adorned. Another is to boost indoor temperatures to a slight degree and require relatively minimal clothing. During winter, everyone will be required to store their outerwear in big closets, set up for the purpose of derailing such deranged activity. That will make it far easier to spot, and deal with, those intent upon mass murder of this sort.

A logical implication of the foregoing is that wearing of burkas, chadors, veils, etc., will have to be strictly banned. This type of attire, as we know all too well, can be used to hide explosives.

Wearing of burkas, chadors, veils, etc., will have to be strictly banned.

Unhappily, such a policy will heavily and disproportionately disaccommodate Muslim women. Their religion calls upon them to don such clothing. Will forbidding this constitute a violation of their human rights? Certainly not, at least not regarding privately owned places of business. It will hardly be necessary for the Knesset to mandate skimpy clothing styles for everyone. Self-interest ought to suffice. No one in his right mind would patronize an establishment that does not impose exactly that situation, and private property rights will counter any complaint of rights violations.

What about roads, sidewalks, parks, museums, libraries, or other such public spaces owned by government? A radical solution would be to privatize them all, in which case, once again, and for the same reason, there could be no violation of rights. Less extreme would be for the government to prohibit by law any outerwear that can hide explosives.

What about during winter? The Middle East is no Siberia or Alberta (where on rare occasions the temperature drops below that experienced on Mars). But, still, it does get chilly there. The solution? Pocket heaters and hand warmers. Not allowing innocent Jews to die due to suicide bombing is surely more important than creature comforts.

But we have barely scratched the surface. Recently, it was arranged, many people think, by Israel to have Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies blow up while they were in the pockets of, or located close to, their owners. Their power was limited to harming only those, and perhaps just a few others, who were nearby. However, suicide bombers, with modern technology, need not limit themselves in this manner, nor fit themselves with more powerful but easy-to-see dynamite sticks. Presumably, they could do their evil deeds with explosives as small as a cigarette pack, a cell phone, a pager or walkie-talkie. Then, the only solution would be to simply ban all Arabs from places frequented by Jews.

One can imagine the howls of outrage that will be hurled at Israel should it follow any of these practices. Discrimination, sexism, fascism, ethnic cleansing, etc., will be the least of it. But all’s fair in love, war, and self-defense against suicide bombing. The people who engage in such dastardly practices are precisely those who arm themselves in this manner. Does Israel wish to be woke and politically correct, or safe? Obviously, the latter.

Will this country have to go so far as to treat every grocery, night club, shopping mall, akin to the way we board airlines?

Will this country have to go so far as to treat every grocery, night club, shopping mall, akin to the way we board airlines? Western countries already do so with regard to football games, baseball games, concerts, and other such large gatherings of people. To compel everyone to pass through metal or explosive detectors does not really appear to be any great divergence from this system.

The doctrine of human rights is not a suicide pact. Yes, the rights of some, many, people will be violated by any or all of the defense mechanisms discussed above. But if these are not implemented, far greater and far more serious rights will have been violated—by successful suicide bombings.

Here is yet another rights violation: gun control. Every adult Israeli should be required by law to own and carry such a weapon and take lessons regarding its use, and, also, to practice firing from time to time. We do not need or want any Old West “shoot ups,” but we do not want to suffer a suicide bomber to go unscathed either.

The author wishes to thank Vinay Kolhatkar, Roger E. Bissell, and Donna F. Paris for excellent editing.

Pegs:

1. WSJ: Middle Eastern terrorists to take up suicide bombing (8/19/24)

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/hamas-claims-attempted-suicide-bombing-as-cease-fire-diplomacy-resumes-f13b4f0f

2. Hamas claims Tel Aviv bomb explosion as suicide attack

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg58zqgle9ro

3. Martian weather: Does it ever get colder in Alberta, Canada, than on Mars? Yes.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Does+it+ever+get+colder+in+Alberta%2C+Canada%2C+than+on+Mars%3F

Related Posts:

1. Addressing the Gaps in Libertarian Theory
2. Australian Libertarianism: Transcript of the John Ruddick Interview
3. Common Myths and Historical Truths about Israel

   

About the Author: Walter Block

Walter Block is the Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Economics at Loyola University, senior fellow of the Mises Institute, and regular columnist for LewRockwell.com.