Comparing Japan In WWII With Hamas

From Arutz Sheva:

...US Congressman David Weldon (R., Florida), who visited Israel last week, said Israel should strike back at Gaza in one fell swoop. "During World War II," Weldon told the Makor Rishon newspaper, "the U.S. attacked Japan mercilessly. Despite the ethical problems, everyone now agrees that this caused Japan to surrender, thus saving many lives, including Japanese lives. This is the reason I think Israel should hit the Palestinians with one fell swoop, thus defeating them. Otherwise, this cruel situation of today will continue year after year, decade after decade."

"Just like parents have to protect their children," Weldon said, "a state must protect its citizens, especially those who are threatened such as those in Sderot. If a country would attack the U.S., I would support turning that country into dust. If it’s right for the U.S., it's right for Israel."

Congressman Weldon does not make the connection explicitly, but the fact remains that Japan in WWII also relied on suicide bombings.

Interestingly, last year Fox News had an article on how Kamikaze pilots were being looked at as role models for Japanese Youth:

No one is publicly calling for young Japanese to kill themselves for the nation these days. But the renewed hero-worship of the kamikazes coincides with a general trend in Japanese society toward seeing the country's war effort as noble, and mourning the fading of the ethic of self-sacrifice amid today's wealth.

...Despite the pilots' reputation abroad as suicidal fanatics, Japanese hearts have always had a soft spot for the kamikazes. Long celebrated in movies, books and comic books, the pilots are seen as innocent young men forced by a desperate military into sacrificing their lives to protect their country.

The Japanese reject the comparison of the kamikaze with terrorists, and perhaps they are more accurately compared with Lehi:

Museum director Takanobu Kikunaga said the pilots gave their lives for their families, not the emperor, and they were attacking military targets, not civilians. He also argued that it was hypocritical of Europeans and Americans to compare kamikazes with terrorists after colonizing wide swaths of the world, including Asia.

Another distinction is that for the Japanese, the Kamikaze represent an ethic of commitment and self-sacrifice. The same cannot be said for the culture of self-destruction upon which terrorist suicide bombers are weaned. The cultures of the Japan and Palestinian Arabs could not be more different.

In his book The Arab Mind, Raphael Patai recalls:

As a widely read Arab friend of mine once remarked in a critical vein, both the Japanese and the Arabs are ready to kill in order to regain their lost honor; but the Japanese will kill himself, while the Arab will kill somebody else. [p.224]

Crossposted at Soccer Dad

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