Israeli forces are in Gaza again. If making Gazans' lives a living hell will convince Corporal Gilad Shalit's captors to give him back to Israel alive and well, then it is the right thing to do. The problem is that it only makes the Palestinians angrier and more steadfast in their unreasonable demands. However, going into Gaza to stop the Kassam rockets was long overdue. The F-16's over Syrian President Bashar Assad's head was pure foolishness. The only good move Israel has done has been the arrest of Hamas leaders on terrorism charges. That's even greater pressure than taking out Gaza's electricity (and if it doesn't get the soldier back - they're in prison, which is good in itself).
Tags: Israel, Palestine, Palestinians, Hamas, Terrorism
A Great Day for *The Atlantic*
3 weeks ago
The problem with your piece is a classical one: you consider "the Palestinians" as some kind of a monolythic block, which they aren't, no social group is ever that internally coherent. Israeli society isn't either.
ReplyDeleteOlmert has really muddied the waters by using young Gilad's abduction as an excuse for going after Hamas. Very hypocritical and of couse designed to appease world opinion re. the terrorism issue.
The Kassam strikers could have been combatted effectively with fast, short term "search and destroy" missions. Instead the IDF used 155 mm artillery fire, a weapon that's not even remotely designed for this kind of military operation.
A heavy handed approach in Gaza will lead to suffering and radicalisation of the Gazans, nothing else.
And yes, flapping wings over Damascus: "What were they thinking?"