The Israeli - Hamas war is now in full tilt. A week ago Jay H. Ell postulated in a blog, in the light of the unprovoked Hamas attack, “What was Israel supposed to do”. This offensive started following the reckless revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager which had been predicated by the murder and kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers. Hamas reigned its rockets within a day, July 2, 2014, of the tragic and senseless murder of the East Jerusalem Palestinian. Israel waited almost a week, to respond and this they did with air power. A day earlier 6 Israeli arrests had been made in relation to the vigilante murder. That and Netanyahu’s unaccustomed reticence in immediate retaliation made no impact on Hamas. Hamas then, a week later, July 15, ignored an Egyptian call, backed by the Arab countries and the rest of the world, for a ceasefire. At that stage the casualty figures were not that high and the Egyptian ceasefire accepted by the Israelis even included some face saving clauses for Hamas.
So as the rockets increased and the air intervention seemed incapable of stopping it, Israel launched a ground offensive on July, 20. Hamas had yet another opportunity to attain a ceasefire when Israel stopped their incursion for 5 hours to allow UNO humanitarian aid in. This was accompanied by feverish, behind the scenes, attempts to halt this insanity with its senseless slaughter. Hamas’s response was to fire rockets after the humanitarian pause was initiated and before it officially ended. Hamas’s agenda is propaganda - not peace or even a two state solution. It is sacrifice of its own citizens especially women and children and trying to kidnap an Israeli because they know that their enemy’s value system is life and they will do anything to get one of their own back. They also need an assymetry of those killed so that the inescapable conclusion everyone derives is that the Israeli response was disproportionate, punitive on innocent citizens and reckless. You see Hamas is not part of the true Palestinians, who have already been thrown under the bus by their fellow Arab States, they are part of the fundamentalist Jihad. They up there with Al Qaeda, ISIS , their Irani spawned twin, Hezbollah and the rest. They are a foreign body in the area.
THE SICK SCORE SHEET
As of July 22 there are nearly 600 Palestinians dead. As Hamas announces,with feigned indignation, most of these are civilians. Seventy - two are, pathetically, children, hundreds are women and at least a 100 are, according to the Israelis, “terrorists”. There are 27 Israeli Defense Force, (IDF), members that have died and two civilians. There are thousands injured, mostly Palestinians. The Israelis have hit over 2000 “targets” including a large munitions warehouse that was provided by Sudan. They have blasted 13 tunnels. The IDF also killed scores of militia emerging from tunnels that have been built between Gaza and Israel. Israel has had 2000 rockets rained on it most of which have been interrupted by the Iron Dome or landed in empty fields. Two - thirds of Israel's population at any point in time of this engagement are in shelters. There are estimated 40,000 to 60,000 Palestinians that have been displaced and Israelis live in a permanent state of fear having 60 to 90 seconds to rush into shelters.
The Israeli objectives are clearly defined. They need to blast all the tunnels that represent a major threat for daily suicide bombing to resume. In addition they need to take out all the rocket launching sights cynically placed in schools, homes, mosques and hospitals. They are prepared to freeze it all if Hamas accepts a cease fire. So much for the warmongering Israelis.
Hamas is unclear as to its objectives other than the political capital it hopes to receive from a gullible world. All with an objective to wipe Israel of the face of the earth. They don’t recognize Israel’s right to exist. If asked to list what would settle this once and for all, Jay H. Ell guarantees that their response would be ludicrous and nothing short of a one state solution - Hamasstan. Guess what rights the citizens of such a state would have - none. At best it would be a totalitarian theocracy like Iran or a caliphate like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria with women and children having no protection under Sharia law.
RESPONSE TO WHAT ISRAEL IS DOING
The response to Israel’s invasion has been different and more nuanced than previously. There are in effect four groups that have usually been highly critical:
THE LEFT
The usual vitriol is piled on by small groups of influential activists, including jews, that have labelled Israel, warmongers, fascists, nazis, occupiers and the like. They are from the left and see Israel as Imperialist exploiters. They purport to be human rights supporters but Jay H. Ell just cannot understand why they believe Israelis should have none. They also don’t follow their own logic that the philosophy of those they are championing is totalitarian and generally deprive women and children of rights. Jay H. Ell has de ja vu for the well meaning believers of the twentieth century that rationalized anything the Soviet Union and its leaders did, from the murder of millions of their own, forming a pact with Hitler to their post war imperialism and denial of human rights.
These individuals are joined by certain non governmental organizations who also view human rights with a jaundiced eye. For example 20 rockets were found in a UNO Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees school. That agency has been accused by the Israelis as being hopelessly biased. The organization then handed the rockets to the local police who are in Hamas’s control.
THE RIGHT
The next group include the real nazis, fascists and anti semites. These have combined with Islamic activists, whom they also detest, and hold protests. With the rise of anti semitism these protests have taken place in more and more towns across the world. Houston and Toronto, for example, which are hardly bastions of anti semitism are two towns in addition to the usual major cities where demonstrations were held. In general, in Europe, where anti semitism has grown the protests are more frequent especially in France.
So the far right and the far left have a common hatred - Israel
MEDIA
Then there is the media. Generally, the media have been extremely sympathetic to the Hamas cause regardless of whether or not they precipitated the chaos. For whatever reasons, media networks, that previously were charged with anti Israel bias, have been accused of being pro Israeli in their reportage. These include National Public Radio in America, the BBC and CNN for example. A fascinating dialogue took place on Al Jazeera that went viral on YouTube. One of the interviewees maintained that Hamas and the Syrian army were amoral and needed to take their cue from the Israeli Defense Force who were the epitome of morality doing whatever they can to protect civilian life.
A reporter for MSNBC television claims that his company is hopelessly biased towards Israel. He was recalled from Israel. He was witness to an incident where he saw four Palestinian youths, who were playing football on the beach killed by Israeli fire. Instead of asking who was responsible for this tragedy in the first place he lashed out at the Israelis. Even if he assumed Hamas was right in starting this war what in hades were 4 Palestinians youths doing playing outside in a war zone. Does Hamas not at least warn, provide protection for those who they have placed in harms way? As Bill Clinton wrote they build concrete bunkers for themselves and leave the women and children to face the music. But this should not surprise because their narrative is the more women and children killed the better for their cause.
Notwithstanding what is considered a more restrained attitude by the media to the Israeli position the news always leads off with the Hamas narrative, “…. and most of those killed were women and children”
NATION STATES
Nation States have been far more supportive of Israel than in previous wars and vocally so. No more is this evident than the reaction of the Arab States. Hamas has formally complained that they have had no backing from those who should be the cheerleaders in their war with Israel. Led by Egypt there has been annoyance reflected at the Hamas cavalier attitude to human life. Outside of Iraq and Turkey, who has joined the brigade that call Israel Nazis and Netanyahu Hitler, there is virtually no support. Not even a United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning the Zionist racists. The European and former Commonwealth Nations have been rock solid behind Israel.
From Netanyahu’s world America is his most important constituency. In many ways it is his constituency. He functions best in that milieu. His powerful oratory is honed for American audiences where he had his formative political years. He has repeatedly hammered home his talking points with the theme of that this is a war between two paradigms - those that value life and those that don’t. The morality of Israel versus the alleged callousness of Hamas is a feature of his message. Israel’s humanitarian efforts are enumerated and it all resonates. For the first time in one of these tragic confrontations Israel has taken the Public Relations initiative. In Netanyahu they have a highly effective communicator. He may not be Israel’s choice to negotiate a compromise but he certainly is the man for this task.
His normal bullying, overbearing demeanor has made his relationship with Obama rocky on a personal level but even Jimmy Carter knew it would be political suicide for an incumbent President to go against Israel. Obama and Kerry have not been the most effective foreign policy team. Kerry appears to run around in ever increasing circles telegraphing his objectives and Obama is finding it difficult to accept the foreign policy limitations of his avowed non interventionist policy. He is most effective where he can use his control of the world’s financial levers to effect policy. However, the USA has Israel’s back. They have clearly stated that the Israeli response to the barrage of rockets is appropriate. While they obviously would like to be the brokers and even the guarantors of a peace deal it appears unlikely at this very moment.
HAMAS’S POOR STANDING AMONGST THE PALESTINIANS
For the obvious reasons there is not a free and vigorous press questioning the government in power in Gaza so the true feelings of the Palestinians in Gaza are not on display. A poll conducted on June 15 - 17, 2014 in Gaza produced some very illuminating results. As reported by David Pollock of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, in the Business Insider, the poll was administered by a respected Palestinian pollster on the basis of face to face interviews. These polls were conducted after the kidnappings of the Israeli teenagers. Even as the rocket firing begun and Israel had not as yet responded over 70% of respondents maintained that their should be a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian territories. Fifty - seven percent believed that a new unity Government under Abbas of the West Bank and Gaza should renounce violence against Israel.
The poll showed an astonishing 80% and more that were disillusioned with the Hamas governance and their leadership. Eighty- two percent stated that they would be willing to look for work in Israel. So apparently the Palestinians, on the basis of this poll, are not in favor of the fight Hamas is waging on their behalf. Not really on their behalf as they are just cannon fodder for Hamas, especially the women and children. The author concludes that the war may have hardened attitudes but the anecdotal evidence is against it.
HAMAS’S WAR CRIMES
When Arik Sharon unilaterally handed Gaza over to the Palestinians in 2005 he could not have envisaged the Hamas takeover where all that infrastructure would be left to rot by Hamas with their suicidal propaganda agenda. Jewish Settlements were abandoned in the land return. Hamas has frittered away everything with their political objectives foremost. To this day they are still getting their electricity free from Israel.
Besides Hamas’s obvious lack of morality in indiscriminately bombing Israeli citizens, their callousness to their own citizenry leaves Jay H. Ell stone cold. Starting a war and making no provisions for their own citizens has to be the height of sociopathy. There are no shelters or warning sirens. No medicines or intravenous fluids for their wounded. They threaten Palestinians that want to leave a war zone, having been warned by Israeli flyers, text messages and even phone calls.They refuse to allow the wounded to go to the Israeli field hospital. They grudgingly accepted a 100 tons of medicines from Israel during this war.
Most of all, their narrative that women and children are first, first to die that is, and that they run up a disproportionate number of casaulties for political purposes, is revolting.
THIS HAS TO STOP.
This calamitous cycle has to stop. Both sides have to realize that there has to be a two state solution. Leadership is needed for the task. Abbas should not allow the Palestinians to be used as proxies in a Jihadist orgy of hate. Netanyahu has to realize that he has to stop building settlements and get ready to carve out a chunk of land so that the Palestinians can finally have a life. It appears that that is what the majority of them want and that should not surprise. They for 66 years have been used as pawns first by the Arab states and now by the Jihadists. For the sake of the women and children not to mention the men let there be peace!
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