The title of this post is a proverb that keeps proving its wisdom over and over again, in large things and small, but in this particular case it has taken on a despicable hue. The Israelis agreed to admit a Palestinian woman to its country in order to treat her for severe burns after a kitchen explosion left her scarred and in great pain. What did they get for their compassion and generosity? A suicide bomber -- but fortunately, an incompetent one:

A badly burned Palestinian woman was alternately defiant and tearful Monday after Israeli soldiers caught her trying to enter Israel with 22 pounds of explosives hidden on her body.

The woman, who suffered serious burns on her hands, feet and neck in a kitchen explosion five months ago, had been granted permission to cross into Israel from the Gaza Strip for medical treatment when she raised the suspicion of soldiers at the Erez checkpoint. ...

At the Shikma Prison in Israel's Negev Desert, where the Shin Bet security service allowed Israeli TV reporters to interview her, al-Biss said she was determined to carry out a suicide attack against Israel because of its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

"My dream was to be a martyr," she said, adding that she was recruited by the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a violent offshoot of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement. "I believe in death."

Biss later changed her story, claiming that she had no idea that she carried 22 pounds of explosives until she was asked to undress for a security inspection at the border. Perhaps she thought she had put on weight, or maybe she likes to lift weights 22 pounds at a time. Either through her incompetence or that of her dressmaker, the Israelis discovered and dismantled the explosives before she could detonate them, sparing the lives of the people who had opened their arms to her to relieve her pain.

In its twisted way, it provides a perfect microcosm of the entire Palestinian conflict. No matter what happens, no matter how much the Israelis and the West work to get the Palestinians what they need to heal and live peacefully, the Palestinians only appear interested in killing everyone involved, including themselves. They have sold themselves on death instead of life, and reason and compassion hold no attraction for them. (via the Corner, and Power Line also addresses this story)

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» A Palestinian's Response to Compassion--"I Believe from Bird of Paradise
Captain Ed's post and personal comments on this story cannot be improved upon. Accordingly, I am reproducing them in full. (Read it....and weep...) [Read More]

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» Treatment at Israeli Hospital from Don Singleton
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» Medium-Rare Terrorist from The Waterglass
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Tracked on July 3, 2005 7:25 PM