Hamza Hendawi of the Associated Press reports, rather weirdly, on a visit to the old folks' home for retired terrorists in Damascus:

Visited by The Associated Press in Damascus, the Syrian capital, these graying grandfathers radiate nostalgia and bitterness. They speak of wasted opportunities, perceived successes, failures and divisions.

The AP recalls the good old days of Arab terrorism:

Hawatmeh and others of his generation—Ahmed Jibril, George Habash, the shadowy Black September movement, woman hijacker Leila Khaled—exploded onto the world stage in the 1960s and 1970s with deadly raids into Israel, the attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics, and a string of airline hijackings and assaults on passenger lines at foreign airports.

Even then, of course, freedom fighters were unappreciated by the small-minded:

Branded as terrorists in Israel and the West, they saw themselves more in the Che Guevara mold, inspired by Cuba and Algeria and the Viet Cong. They say their goal, steeped in Marxist and Arab nationalist ideology, was to liberate Palestine from an "imperialist" Israel and draw attention to the Palestinians' plight.

One might expect some of the old-timers to have regrets about the disastrous consequences of their attempt to imitate Che and the Vietcong. But the AP found no signs of remorse:

While the leaders interviewed say they have no regrets, and insist they will ultimately prevail over Israel, some of them wonder aloud whether things might have been different.

"Would you believe me if I tell you that if I had to do it all over, I would?" said Mohammed Oudeh, architect of Black September's 1972 Olympics attack that left 11 Israeli athletes dead.

"But maybe, just maybe, we should have shown some flexibility. Back in our days, it was 'the whole of Palestine or nothing,' but we should have accepted a Palestinian state next to Israel."

If the AP piece has a theme, other than nostalgia for the golden age of terrorism, it appears to be that Israel made a mistake by not surrendering to Yasir Arafat and Black September when they had the chance:

Among Israelis too there is a recognition that the Palestinian leadership they cold-shouldered in the 1970s has been supplanted by a much more formidable foe, Islamic militancy.

"Of course it's better to deal with secular nationalists than religious extremists," Yossi Melman, a veteran Israeli intelligence analyst, said in an interview. "It was better back then because along with the violence there was hope for talks, and negotiations did happen and agreements were made.

"But with Hamas there is nobody to talk to. After Hamas, Israel will face al-Qaida."

So I guess it's the Israelis who are supposed to regret that they gave the "cold shoulder" to those who carried out "deadly raids into Israel, the attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics, and a string of airline hijackings and assaults on passenger lines at foreign airports."

Posted by John at 6:22 PM  |    |