We are now into the fifth day of the conflict in Gaza. So far, 4 Israelis are dead and over 360 Palestinians are dead (many of them civilians). Israel says it is only defending itself from rocket attacks -- supposedly by Hamas, but it certainly looks like they are overreacting. Gaza is trying to defend itself by the only means they have -- shooting rockets at Israel. The rockets are not very effective militarily, but seem to be very effective politically.
In addition to the bombing and rocket attacks, the Israelis are threatening to move into Gaza with tanks and ground troops. I can't believe they actually think this will be an effective move. They have occupied Gaza, and they've tried to starve Gaza into submission by cutting off food and medical supplies. Now they are resorting to bombs and tanks.
This is all in a futile effort to eliminate Hamas. I say futile because no military action short of outright genocide could possibly accomplish that. And that is no more acceptable now than it was when Hitler tried it in the 30's and 40's. If the Israelis think they can defeat Hamas by killing off its leaders, then they are sadly mistaken.
Hamas could lose every one of its current leaders, and it would not kill the organization. All it would do is create a new batch of Hamas leaders, because the conditions that created Hamas are still there and still creating more revolutionaries (or terrorists, if you prefer).
But there is one thing that has not been tried -- negotiating. That's because Israel has bought into Bush's neocon argument that you cannot negotiate with Hamas because they are terrorists, and the only thing terrorists understand is military might. What nonsense! The Israelis seem to have forgotten that the British negotiated with them in the 40's, even though they were committing terrorist acts against the British -- and it worked.
Yes, Hamas has committed terrorist acts, but they are also the legitimate and elected leaders of Gaza. And if you held another election today, they would be re-elected. Bush and the Israelis want only to negotiate with Abbas who leads the West Bank, but he has no authority in Gaza. You simply cannot talk with the enemy you want. You must talk with the people that actually hold the power, and in Gaza that is Hamas.
A ceasefire is needed, but it would only be a temporary halt to an unnecessary war as long as Bush and Israel refuse to negotiate with Hamas.
The situation in Gaza is beyond belief. Israel's response is way out of proportion to the attacks by Hamas.
ReplyDeleteWhy either side thinks continued violence will result in anything but death and destruction is beyond me. They both are behaving like very dangerous children, the problem is their armed and deadly. Not a good combination for peace!