The Difference

When extremist Islamists flew planes into our buildings on 9/11, Palestinians in the streets of East Jerusalem cheered.   But when extremist Israelis murdered a Palestinian teenager in revenge for earlier murders (by Palestinians) of three Israeli teenagers, here is how Israel reacted:

Israel reckoned with rising homegrown extremism Sunday as it arrested six Jewish suspects who are believed to have burned to death an Arab teenager in revenge for the killing of three Israeli teens.

The arrests shocked those on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide — Palestinians because many had assumed Israel would never act against its own, and Israelis because there had been widespread doubt that Jews could have carried out such a heinous crime. 

Sunday’s action could help defuse what has been seen as a dangerous swelling of Palestinian anger, with violent protests in East Jerusalem and Arab towns in northern Israel feeding fears of a budding intifada.

That's the difference between the two cultures.   And that's why the culture of Israel -- the culture of the West -- must prevail.