16
PARTISAN REVIEW
incarnations of the enemy. They certainly do not encourage tolerance
toward the infidel. Furthermore, the allure of sacred martyrdom is a
religious notion, not one invented by the individuals in question. More–
over, the families of suicide bombers are very well taken care of by var–
ious Arab states and organizations and enjoy a privileged status in their
community. Thus, both moral and material incentives are in place to
motivate terrorists.
In the days following September
I
Ith I spent much time watching
CNN and Hungarian television, reading the whole spectrum of news–
papers, and reflecting on the disturbing questions these events raised.
After my return to the u.S. on September 22nd I continued to ponder
both the Hungarian and American responses.
In Hungary, as in this country, the vast majority condemned the
atrocities without reservations. There was astonishment that this pow–
erful country could have proven to be so vulnerable. Some intellectuals
could not resist the notion that if the United States inspired such mur–
derous hatred there must have been sound reasons for it. One Hungar–
ian columnist wrote:
We must reflect on the causes. Behind the irrational, unrestrained
evil there must be rational reasons.. .It is impossible to overlook
that this world is unjust and lacking in solidarity; that there are
intolerable differences between the free and rich world and the
starving millions who live like pariahs...
When someone is impoverished for years and decades, his chil–
dren dying of hunger or the diseases of poverty, in despair he
can reach for violence looking for scapegoats...
We must scrutinize our evi l, our selfishness. The civi li zed world
also destroys, both people and nature . ..
Not unlike some of his American colleagues this author makes an
exceedingly dubious connection between destitution and the suicide pilots
(and their organizers) who were in fact well-educated, prosperous indi–
viduals of middle- or upper-middle-class backgrounds. Their hatred had
little discernible connection with the bitterness that poverty generates.
The most determined attribution of American responsibility for the
terrorist acts came from the radical right wing party MIEP (the Hun–
garian Party of Justice and Life) and its leader Istvan Csurka who said :
" ...this [event] was not unexpected, it had to happen. The oppressed
people of the world could not tolerate without a counter blow the
