It’s no more than a coincidence. Osama Bin Laden was killed on this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. But it’s worth noting, given that the man was motivated by one thing above all else: his hatred of Jews.
As I reported in a 2005 blogpost, What Makes Bin Laden Tick?:
Everything he does is motivated by one thing — anti-Semitism. Ditto for his inner circle. So said Peter Bergen, author of The Osama Bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al-Qaeda’s Leader … This may not be surprising to you, but Bergen’s insistence on this point — it was one of the key points of his talk — struck me as astonishing because it sounded like too great a simplification. But there it was.
From everything Bergen knows, and he is no slouch in the Bin Laden department, having interviewed the man and written a previous book about him, Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama Bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader is so obsessed by his hatred of Jews that it colors everything he says and does, not just about Israel but about America and Europe and, frankly, any place on the planet that fails to match his obsession. And even then he may not be placated. …
This is not to equate Bin Laden with Hitler. Hitler was far more thorough. As for the popular American reaction to Bin Laden’s death, his killing is what Glenn Greenwald calls a Litmust Test event that equates the chanting of “USA! USA!” with supposed national greatness. Chris Hedges’s take is also worth reading.
All this gloating about killing people, even mass murderers, is barbaric and sickening. I wonder if we were once different as a nation. The Nuremburg trials were by no means perfect, but after the barbarism of WWII people really learned the importance of dignity when dealing with evil people. They also learned that glorifying violence only leads to more violence. And worst of all, when we gloat about killing, we put ourselves on the level of the terrorists we want to stop.
I couldn’t agree more. I’m glad Obama wasn’t cheering when he announced the death of Bin Laden.