Author: Alan M. Dershowitz
Publication: Jewish World Review
Date: March 2, 2004
How should democracies like the
U.S. and Israel respond to terrorist attacks that use ambulances loaded
with explosives?
Terrorists deliberately employ these
protected vehicles for two reasons: to fool those whose job it is to prevent
acts of terrorism and - the more long-range reason - to provoke the democracies
into violating human rights laws by stopping real ambulances and people
in medical need.
This pattern appears to be spreading.
In October, an ambulance was used to blow up a Red Cross headquarters in
Iraq. In January, an ambulance blew up a Baghdad hotel. Also in January,
a woman feigning injury blew up four Israelis at a checkpoint. In several
other instances, ambulances carrying explosives were stopped by Israeli
officials before they could do any damage.
These ploys exploit the sympathy
of decent security guards toward sick civilians. Equally cruel and cynical,
the terrorists deliberately seek to increase the suffering of their own
people by having them subjected to cumbersome security checks during real
medical emergencies.
Human rights groups and international
organizations play into the terrorists' hands by condemning democracies
for violating international law whenever they delay real ambulances. In
this so-called cycle of violence, the interference with medical care generates
more resentment and more suicide bombings.
But in reality, it is anything but
an actual cycle. It is a deliberate ploy. The terrorists increase the suffering
of their own people and then exploit it to encourage more terrorists and
more condemnation of the victims of terrorism. It is a cycle, but it is
caused entirely by the calculated actions of the terrorists.
Some who sympathize with the terrorists
are outraged (or at least pretend outrage) at the suggestion that terrorist
leaders would deliberately devise a strategy that subjects their own people
- especially sick people and children - to delays and searches. But that
is the reality of terrorism.
Why then do the democracies fall
into this trap? What else could they do but subject all suspicious ambulances,
people seeking medical assistance and children to searches? Even when the
net is cast narrowly, it will inevitably catch innocent people.
In 2002, the Supreme Court of Israel
confronted the issue of how a democracy deals with terrorists who use ambulances
and hospitals to facilitate terrorism. It ruled that the Israeli military
must abide by the letter of the law, even though it will increase Israel's
casualties.
Terrorist leaders have exploited
this humane ruling and similar ones by American authorities by increasing
their use of ambulances. This exploitation will end only when human rights
groups focus their criticism on terrorists rather than on democracies that
properly stop ambulances that may well contain explosives.
