Israel Matzav

Another media lie exposed

The Leftist media loves to tell us how destroying terrorists' homes has no deterrent effect, and therefore is simply cruel collective punishment to the terrorists' family members. The willing western governments - including the United States and all the Europeans as well as the United Nations - have convinced themselves this is so (it must be correct if it's being reported by the media) and routinely condemn Israel every time it demolishes a terrorist's home.

But the media is wrong. A new study shows that destroying terrorists' homes leads to a reduction in terrorism. While the terrorists are ready to be killed themselves, they're not ready to have their wives and children thrown out into the streets. Destroying terrorists' homes actually reduces terrorism.

The study, “Counter-Suicide-Terrorism: Evidence from House Demolitions,” to be published in the January issue of the Journal of Politics, found that Israel’s policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinian terrorists causes “an immediate, significant decrease in the number of suicide attacks.”

The study examines data on punitive house demolitions between 2000 and 2005, and precautionary demolitions — those based on the location of a house but unrelated to the identity of the house’s owner — from 2004 to 2005. The authors found that punitive house demolitions during that time led to “fewer suicide attacks in the month following,” while precautionary demolitions caused “a significant increase in the number of suicide attacks.”

Co-authored by researchers at Northwestern University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the study runs contrary to the widely held belief that punitive house demolitions do not dissuade would-be terrorists.

Hmmm.

Labels: home demolitions, Palestinian terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:10 PM