October 12, 2004
The other day it was the second anniversary of the Bali nightclub bombing in Indonesia that killed 202 innocent people. I heard an interview on BBC radio with the sister of one of the bombing victims. Her grief was palpable and touching.
She expressed anger at certain Western governments and their involvement in Middle Eastern politics. She connected the behavior of the U.S., Britain, and Australia with the bombing. The interviewer inquired, as well one might, whether she was also angry with the people who had perpetrated the bombing. She admitted to being very angry with them as well but then she went on to explain, in a confused and rather unconvincing manner, that she "understood" why they did what they did. They have a cause, though she does not agree with their methods. Nor did she seem all that clear as to what the "cause" was.
One could comment on the BBC's selection of people to interview, but I'll leave that for another time. I am sorry for this person's loss but I am myself at a loss to understand how anyone can excuse people who perpetrated such an atrocity. It's not unlike Susan Sontag, who basically praised the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks as courageous fighters for their cause.
For some reason this all reminds me of a column I once read in the Boston Globe by a Boston University professor who got beaten up one night by two or three thugs and was moved to write about it. He made some reference to their "underprivileged minority" status and then publicly forgave them for their actions. It's society's fault they behave the way they do, he concluded.
Excuse me? It's sure not my society that condones such behavior. Maybe in his little world where personal responsibility doesn't count.
In the attitudes of these people even when they get beaten up or lose loved ones to bombings we begin to see a pattern. It's all about a greater cause, a big perspective, and it's never about the obvious thing right in front of their nose. The thugs are not truly thugs, they're freedom fighters, advocates for a cause, romantic heroes in a way.