Palestinian Madness

I was raised in a home where rational thought was seen as a good thing. Taught to recognize the thousand shades of gray, taught to respect opinions different than my own, and of course taught to condemn the slaughter of the innocent.

As a product of a world of "Sanity" it is difficult for me to truly understand the rationality of madness.



Andrea Stone, AOL News, Senior Washington Correspondent; wrote about the controversy surrounding Palestinian's recent choices for the naming of prominent locations. Clearly one would not expect the Palestinians to name a street after Jerry Seinfield, or a school Einstein High School; I would even expect them to select some names that would never find their way to a building in any U.S. city; but I was surprised by the following list of names.


The Dalal Mughrabi Girls' High School, named for a 19-year-old woman who carried out the deadliest terrorist attack in Israeli history.

Yihyeh Ayyash Street, the address of the future Palestinian presidential compound, named for the terrorist dubbed the "engineer" for a series of bombings that includes a bus attack in Tel Aviv that killed 20 people.

The new Fathi Shaqaqi Gymnasium in Gaza, inaugurated two weeks ago in honor of the founder of Islamic Jihad, which has carried out more than 1,000 attacks that have killed and wounded more than 1,000 people.

I fully realize that life for the average Palestinian is hard and devoid of most of the opportunities we take for granted. I also understand that Israel has produced individuals that have killed innocents. There us a major difference; when Allen Goodman, in 1982 went on a shooting rampage on the Temple Mount, Israeli police called him "Deranged," arrested him and after being found guilty sentenced him to life imprisonment. What Israel did not do was name a school after him.


Imagine for a moment if we in America decided to name a park after John Wayne Gacy, or a hospital after Charles Manson. Is there not a Palestinian soccer star, or musician worthy of "Naming rights"?


I would love to believe that there will come a day when the sane, yet silent majority of Palestinians will toss aside these terrorists, and work to build a better life for their own people.



Larry Lubell