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V

If our own still-incomplete ef-
forts to cope with the violent ex-
tremists in our midst are a
model, leaders in Jerusalem are
in for a rough ride.

The Free Speech Quandary

The Oklahoma City bombing,
and the alleged involvement of
right-wing militia groups, belat-
edly focused attention on ultra-
conservative talk-show hosts who
promote outlandish conspiracy
theories pointing to the federal
government as the ultimate vil-
lain, and on the para-military
"patriot" groups that take such
vitriol to the next logical level by
preparing for insurrection, pre-
tending all the while that it is
self-defense in the face of ma-
rauding federal bureaucrats.
The Oklahoma City disaster
also focused attention on the
right-wing Christian preachers
who have directly or indirectly
supported these groups, largely
because of the millennial prophe-
cies that drive their ideology —
the same religious leaders whose
rhetoric has been a factor in mur-
ders at abortion clinics.
But we shrink from dealing di-
rectly with these threats because
of our commitment to free speech
and our reluctance to start draw-
ing lines about where religion
ends and political incitement be-
gins.
As extreme as they are, the
militias enjoy the protection of
powerful groups like the gun lob-
by. We are intimidated by that
power, and by their ability to cre-
ate far more trouble than their
sheer numbers would suggest.
Fighting communist subver-
sives who once called for an end
to American democracy was
easy; we find it far more unset-
tling to combat extremism that
lays claim to our own patriotic
and religious heritage, but dis-
torts it with rage and intolerance.
So anti-terrorism legislation,
promised by House and Senate
leaders in the days after the Ok-
lahoma City disaster, lies mori-
bund in Congress. Congressional
leaders have steadfastly refused
to seriously investigate the mili-
tia movement, while spending
months scrutinizing government
misdeeds at Waco and Ruby
Ridge, thus reinforcing some of
the central claims of the ex-
tremists.
Mainstream political leaders
have not even started to discov-
er how to deal with evangelical
groups that do not advocate vi-
. olence, but provide indirect sup-
port for the militias by wrapping
a bitter, conspiracy-oriented anti-
government ideology in a pack-
age of religious righteousness.

Willful Ignorance

The parallels between our own
anguished awakening and Is-
rael's situation today are not per-
fect, but they are striking.

LLYN STRONG

Political free speech has come
precariously close to incitement
to violence in Israel, especially
since the signing of the first Is-
raeli-PLO accords in 1993.
Anti-peace process groups and
leaders of Israel's settlements
movement labeled Mr. Rabin a
traitor and likened him to a Nazi
collaborator. His policies were
not merely wrong, some said, but
malevolent — intended to de-
stroy the state he was leading,
justifying the most extreme op-
position.
Religion adds layers of com-
plexity and emotion to the de-
bate.
Yigal Amir, the confessed as-
sassin, is a product of a religious
system that sees clear and direct
links between absolute religious
mandates and national policy,
especially West Bank policy.
That system has been tolerat-
ed in Israeli society because of
the much broader acceptance of
the idea of Israel as a Jewish
state, not just a nation with a lot
of Jews, and because of a fear of
standing up against wrathful re-
ligious authorities.

JEWELRY

Israel should have
known that the
blend of political
ideology and
religious extremism
was a disaster
waiting to happen.

Israeli officials ignored the
growing likelihood of violence by
religious zealots; the same fac-
tors that caused that blindness
will make it emotionally and po-
litically difficult for them to ag-
gressively fight the extremists,
once the grief and anger of the
Rabin assassination fade.
Israel should have known that
the blend of political ideology and
religious extremism was a dis-
aster waiting to happen; Ameri-
ca should have known the same
about the militias and the ex-
panding network of far-right
groups that have succeeded in al-
tering the national agenda de-
spite their minuscule size.
The willful ignorance of both
nations, understandable as it is,
produced terrible consequences.
And now that the internal
threat has been revealed in the
starkest possible terms, the lead-
ers of both nations will have to
do a much better job of seeking
the proper balance between the
free-speech demands of a democ-
racy and the need to defend po-
litical institutions against the
extremists who are increasingly
successful in bending democra-
cy to their ends.

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