The worthless Nobel Prize

Well, it’s almost Peace Prize season once again. In the middle of October, the Nobel Committee will announce the recipient of the most prestigious award on the planet, The Alfred Nobel Prize for Peace. A little while back, I decided to send in my nomination and show my support for the individual whom I feel is most deserving of this year’s award – none other than the recently executed Oklahoma City Bomber, Timothy McVeigh.

Shocked? Appalled? Mortified by my selection? I figured that if in 1994 the Nobel Prize Selection Committee could rationalize giving the award to terrorist and murderer Yassir Arafat, then why shouldn’t fellow terrorist and murderer Timothy McVeigh be included in this year’s contest?

There are a few strikingly eerie similarities between these two madmen. Arafat can be directly linked to the 1983 bombing of the United States Marines barracks in Beirut that took the lives of 241 servicemen. That was one of the worst terrorist incidents ever against an American establishment outside of the United States. McVeigh was found guilty of blowing up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 Americans. That was the worst terrorist attack in history on United States soil.

Arafat and his militant followers strongly despise the values of the democratic western world, arguing that they were created as a slap in the face to Islam and its teachings. Recent Palestinian rallies have featured the burning of United States flags alongside Israeli ones. Instead of choosing democracy, Arafat’s cohorts prefer living under an oppressive totalitarian regime where speaking out against the authority often leads to death without trial.

McVeigh had a beef with the United States as well, specifically against the government. One theory surrounding his motive for the bombing was that he was convinced that there was a government-led conspiracy in the works that would feature a new world order in which McVeigh would be excluded. Hence, he took it upon himself to teach the United States government a lesson that it would never forget.

Both Arafat and McVeigh can also include the murder of children on their respective resumes. Arafat’s organization was responsible for the 1974 attack on a school in Maalot, Israel in which 28 people – mostly children – were killed. And who will ever forget the images of childrens’ bodies being pulled out of the rubble from the day-care center on the first floor of the Oklahoma federal building as a result of McVeigh’s explosion?

So what had McVeigh done in the pursuit of peace that he should be considered on this year’s ballot? Nothing at all – but neither did Arafat in 1994 when he was nominated and actually won the award.

That year, the Committee decided that since Arafat signed the Oslo Accords and was apparently committed to the peace process, he was deserving of the honor. Seven years later, the world has not yet seen the process bearing any fruits of peace. Arafat remains committed to the destruction of the Jewish State and her western-style democracy. Hundreds of Israelis and scores of Americans have been murdered by Arafat-sponsored terrorism since the 1993 handshake on the White House lawn.

If Arafat’s atrocities against humanity can be ignored to the point where he was bestowed with the Nobel Peace Prize, then its time to honor McVeigh’s memory with this meaningless award as well.

As long as the Nobel is still on Arafat’s mantle, McVeigh still has a chance of winning one himself.

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Joshua Hasten is the editor of Jewishindy.com, an online community to help Jews learn more about Judaism by supporting local outreach and educational programs, as well as promoting online discussion of news, education, events, Torah, holidays and food.