A Few More Thoughts on Gaza

A few days ago, the Jerusalem Post reported that Simon Peres said that one of the objectives of the Gaza campaign “was to provide a strong blow to the people of Gaza so that they would lose their appetite for shooting at Israel.” This is a clear indication of a strategy of collective punishment, which is illegal as far as the UN is concerned, and is morally reprehensible according to most everyone’s idea of morality. It shows a clear disregard for Palestinian life. Because of this kind of callous attitude, more and more people are waking up to, and speaking out about, the unacceptable nature of Israel’s actions towards the Palestinians. People feel in their guts that terrible, yet unnecessary, suffering is taking place in Gaza. They know what disregard for human life looks like when they see it, and no amount of rationalization or justification can change that.

Of course, Hamas and other Palestinian political actors deserve their own heavy dose of disdain for years of suicide bombing and other atrocities. But citing all the reprehensible, gut-churning acts of Palestinians does not make Peres’ endorsement of collective punishment any more palatable. He cannot be forgiven simply by saying: “the other side is just as bad.” Add the blatantly calculating political motivations of Ehud Barak and Tsipi Livni to the equation, and the Israeli government’s actions look even more heartless.

Israeli officials may end up feeling good about the results of this Gaza operation, but they shouldn’t. Israel has suffered yet another large setback in the arena of world public opinion—an arena that will only become more important as this conflict drags on ad infinitum. American public opinion, which has been the sole pillar of support for the Israeli government, is slowing beginning to shift as more and more people seek news from alternative sources of media. I think the Israeli government will look back at this episode in Gaza, which they will hail as a military “victory” of sorts, and realize that this was the beginning of the end of America’s unconditional and unquestioning support for Israel.

For more on Gaza, I recommend reading: “Another War, Another Defeat: The Gaza offensive has succeeded in punishing the Palestinians but not in making Israel more secure,” by John J. Mearsheimer.

And I highly recommend watching this bloggingheads video featuring Amjad Atallah and David Frum. Note that Mr. Atallah is focused squarely on achieving peace and he has some imaginative and bold ideas about how to work towards that end. Mr. Frum, on the other hand, seems more interested in picking apart Atallah’s argument and thinking about how to “destroy” Hamas, while losing sight of the larger, more important objective of achieving lasting security for Israel along side a free and independent state for Palestinians.