My take on Gaza

I’ve been avoiding this topic like the plague here for various reasons. But I’m sick of arguing about it in personal forums, and feel I should bring it out to the public sphere instead of continuing to repeat the same circular arguments elsewhere.

 

Everyone seems to have taken a side in this conflict. Either Israel is not responsible for the attacks since it’s all in self defense, or the Palestinians are being unjustly attacked by an U.S. ally and was supplied with American funds and weaponry that have now been put towards killing innocent lives in Gaza.

 

I think both of these assertions are utterly false. Both carry a fairly equal amount of the blame. Hamas brought it on by letting the cease-fire lapse and firing rocket after rocket as Israel, killing sixteen Israelis since 2002. Israel is to blame for the deaths of hundreds civilians. Yes, they may have called ahead to say they would soon be under fire, but what is that to people who have nowhere to go? It’s essentially a phone call saying “We’re going to be bombing your area shortly. If you’re a civilian we wish you the best of luck, and hope you survive.” It’s absolutely ludicrous to say that because Hamas is hiding out in populated areas, Israel is not to blame for civilian deaths. Yes, Hamas shoulders a certain burden for being there, but it was ultimately the government of Israel who pulled the trigger and decided all those lives were worth the death of an Hamas operative. I don’t quite get how that conclusion is reached. I mean, Israel obviously can, and has proven, they can crush Hamas in a ground assault. Bombing the area may make it simpler work, but suddenly killing hundreds of civilians is worth ending rocket attacks that killed less than two dozen Israeli civilians? It seems to me that Israel has essentially implied through this action that Palestinian civilians are worth less than Israelis. I certainly hope I’m wrong in this, but that’s what their actions seem to imply.

 

Personally I don’t think Israel invading Gaza was really all that necessary. The invasion is going to do to Hamas what the ’06 war did for Hezbollah- give them more political clout in a troubled region. If Israel had instead gone to neighbors who they had cease-fire agreements with, or perhaps begun peace talks with, and ask for them to go in and pressure Hamas to cease the rocket attacks, Israel would not be in this situation. The strategy has been employed already by Syria of its own volition, trying to get Hamas to agree to a new ceasefire. Perhaps Israel could have approached Syria earlier and asked for their influence, rather than going right in, or perhaps try and get some U.N. help, seeing as how the U.N. recognizes Hamas as a terrorist organization. Then Israel could have at least claimed all other avenues had been exhausted before going into Gaza. Of course, I’m an idealist, and believe in the concept of war as a complete and utter last resort.

 

There is obviously no easy solution to the conflict between the two cultures. It has lasted thousands of years, and is bound to last until Israel is able to finish peace negotiations with its surrounding neighbors, and for that each must recognize they have done undeserved harm to the other over these past few thousand years, to the current day. Hopefully a solution will present itself sometime soon, without the bloodshed current and past level of bloodshed. Perhaps you’ll realize part of the reason I’ve avoided discussing this is the complex nature of the problem, and another part being the passions that this arouses in people. I’ve already been accused of being ignorant and anti-Semitic. But I know this can be discussed civilly. I have seen it these past few days on my personal Facebook page, and on the Facebook pages of friends. Hopefully you all will be able to do the same. Please treat each other with respect. I realize this arouses various passions in individuals. But I ask you please debate with some manners, and not strike out in anger. Read the different perspectives, and try to wrap your head around where people are coming from before responding. Maybe you’ll see the issue in a whole new way.

 

 

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