Incitement is a problem, or it isn’t.
The alleged gunman was steeped in an outlook that cast Muslims — all Muslims — as enemy warriors.
The terrorists who fire rockets into civilian areas, who strap on suicide vests and stride toward crowds peppered with children, are steeped in an outlook that casts Jews — all Jews — as enemy warriors.
The folks who obsessed about the latter can’t write off what happened over the weekend as an anomaly.
The folks who for years downplayed the latter should consider letting others make the case about the dangers of militant Christianism — their credibility needs a stay in rehab.
Extremists have a point, or they don’t.
Much has been made of this Jerusalem Post editorial that decries the violence, but warns that its repudiation should not obscure the dangers of multiculturalism that were ostensibly the target of the alleged gunman.
It is an appalling editorial. But it reads like a parody of countless editorials that have decried acts of terrorism against Israelis but urge consideration of the "underlying factors."
You can launch a million sentences with the subordinate clause "While there is absolutely no justification for the sort of heinous act," but that subordinate clause inevitably is and will always be a justification of heinous acts.
And the justice of the cause espoused by the terrorist, or the lack of it, is entirely beside the point. Conceding terrorism to terrorists because they are disenfranchised is pernicious.
Innocence is a value, or it is not: The felled child is not less sacred — or less dead — because his murderer is able to articulate a real grievance.
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