Diplomacy Cannot Solve the Problem of Terrorist Regimes
Diplomacy Cannot Solve the Problem of Terrorist Regimes - Opinion - the Boston Globe
Palestinians have a fierce new song to accompany their intensified conflict with Israel. “Strike a Blow at Tel Aviv,” recorded by Shadi al-Bourini and Qassem al-Najjar, was posted last week on various Palestinian websites, including the Facebook page of the TV show Fenjan Al-Balad, which describes its mission as “trying to influence young Palestinian society for the better.” The video, which features images of wounded Israelis and massed Qassam artillery rockets, opens with these lines:
Strike a blow at Tel Aviv.
Strike a blow at Tel Aviv.
Strike a blow at Tel Aviv and frighten the Zionists.
The more you build it, the more we will destroy it.
Strike a blow at Tel Aviv.
Over a driving beat, the lyrics (translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute) grow increasingly bellicose. “We don’t want no truce or bargain,” they proclaim. They exhort the missiles to “explode in the Knesset” and “terrorize Tel Aviv,” while mocking the Israelis in bomb shelters who “cower with fear.”
There have been many Israeli war songs over the years. Indeed, the endless conflict with the Arabs has engendered some of Israel’s most enduring music. But most of it revolves around a longing for peace and the desire for normality. An Israeli equivalent of “Strike a Blow at Tel Aviv,” ecstatic at the prospect of killing the enemy, is virtually unthinkable.
Other Palestinian videos have also been getting attention this week. Al-Aqsa TV, the official Hamas-run television channel, has been airing messages that extol suicide bombings and advise Israelis to get ready for more of them. “We’ve missed the suicide attacks,” one video jeers. “Expect us soon at bus stations and in cafés.” A second, along with video of rockets being fired into Israel, warns “the Zionists” not to go to bed: “We may get you in your sleep.” In still another, Hamas reiterates the oft-repeated boast of murderous jihadists everywhere: “[We] love death more than you love life.”