An Armchair Joshua

"And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, even in the wilderness wherein they pursued them, and when they were all fallen by the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all Israel returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword. And all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand... For Joshua drew not back his hand, wherewith he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey unto themselves, according unto the word of the Lord which He commanded Joshua... So Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a heap for ever, even a desolation..."

One of our armchair Joshuas, no doubt vexed at his tribe's less-than-successful smoting of the accursed Gazans in January, and indignant that other tribes, further afield, had misguidedly decided to send them succour (albeit to their collaborationist 'brothers' in Judea and Samaria), could do little more than rail against such foolishness: "The Gaza Hamastan now apparently has thousands of men under arms and they are in possession of weapons so sophisticated that they can reach cities as far away as Be'er Sheva, Ashkelon and Ashdod. These weapons don't come cheap. So if they can afford them, why can't they afford to feed and clothe their own people? By perpetuating the handout culure, the West - including Australia - is unwittingly prolonging the conflict. Giving the Palestinians money for nothing means that they can divert their own resources into building up their armaments factories and terrorist capabilities. It means that their young people have no need or motivation to work, leaving them free to direct their energies to violent endeavours against our brothers in Israel. As an Australian taxpayer, I am outraged that my tax dollars are indirectly going to fund the Palestinian war machine." (Letter of Arthur Hurwitz, Randwick, NSW, The Australian Jewish News, 20/2/09)

Poor Arthur. But lo, what's this? The steely glint that had disappeared from his eye following the less-than-successful smoting of the accursed Gazans in January has finally reappeared! There's a whole lot of what looks like very successful smoting going on across the waters somewhere and the Lord has commanded him to draw it to our attention:

"Sri Lanka has taught the world a lesson. With perseverance and determination and a resolve to ignore the bleeding hearts of world public opinion, Sri Lanka has shown that it is possible to defeat a terrorist army. The crushing of the Tamil Tigers, a group whose contribution to the world includes pioneering the use of the suicide bomber and the child soldier and whose cadres have killed and injured thousands of civilians over the past 25 years, is to be welcomed. It is a victory for peace and reconciliation, because a resolution of the conflict was never possible while the Tigers took it upon themselves to represent Sri Lanka's Tamils." (Letter of Arthur Hurwitz, Randwick, NSW, The Australian, 1/5/09)