Brett Stephens: Terrorism Is Terrorism Whether It Involves Gays In Orlando, Travelers in Turkey--Or a Young Jewish Girl Whose Throat Is Slit in the West Bank

Stephens has no patience (nor do I) for those who claim that terrorism aimed at Israelis, especially at "settlers," is somehow different than terrorist acts committed elsewhere:

It’s depressing to think that the only way the world might understand the truth about terrorism is to have some experience of it. Still, it’s worth stressing that terrorism is not the continuation of politics but the negation of it, and that the murder of a 13-year-old “settler” has no more a rationale than what ISIS did in Orlando, Istanbul and Dhaka. Terrorism can be defeated, but only once that lesson is learned.

I'd like to think that, sooner rather than later, the world will figure that out. At the moment, however, there is next to no indication that that epiphany is anywhere on the horizon. Indeed, current thinking holds that terrorism in Israel is a problem that's solvable--if only the Israelis would buckle down and give the Palestinians what they want; no--what they deserve. The reality that Israel is in the crosshairs of jihadi terrorism because of what it is (i.e. Jewish) and where it is (i.e. on land claimed in perpetuity for Allah, "Al Quds" included) doesn't enter into it.