Reflecting On the War in Gaza
The war in Gaza has
been a terrible event, terrible for the Palestinians and terrible for
Israel. It has been terrible for Hamas and for Fatah, for Gaza and for
the West Bank. It has been terrible for those trying to help, the
NGO's, the UN and Egypt.
The loss of life has been astonishingly asymmetrical. And the loss of innocent lives has been just heartbreaking. As a result protest has broken out all over the world, including in Israel. The nation of Israel cannot justify its actions as defensive. Hamas has been shortsighted and stubborn in maintaining its rocket attacks on Israel. And the United Nations has, once again shown that it is ineffectual at its most basic work.
The timing of the war was chosen because of the transition of power in the United States, and because the Bush administration lost credibility as honest brokers for peace a long time ago. "United States interests" have not been in what is best for the Middle East, but myopic and misguided. The timing took terrible advantage of President-elect Obama's lack of authority in the situation, knowing that he would respect the principle of one president for foreign policy at a time. Congress is out of touch with how widespread the dissatisfaction with what our friend Israel has done in Gaza. It is an unfortunate and unrealistic situation. The timing also has to do with Israel's political calendar. With the current Prime Minister having lost credibility and standing in his country and with elections coming in February, the war inevitably looks like it was fought for political gain at home for the Israelis.
The news about the war has been bad. And it has been badly reported, biased against the Palestinian people who lost their lives as innocents. Opinion makers ignore the astounding loss of life in the Gaza strip, they ignore the politics of the situation in the U.S., Israel and the West Bank. And they ignore the failures of the Bush administration regarding a long-awaited peace agreement in lands that have tried to settle it with violence for many decades.
Terrorists get to their views because of grievances, either real or perceived. Their terrorized adversaries will never be able to kill them fast enough or in enough numbers to attain peace. Because others look on, see what is happening, and take up the cause as soon as they are old enough. Terrorism is a tactic that is not confined to merely those who fit the stereotypical model.
Nations can find themselves getting into vengance-driven responses or aggression that puts them at risk of losing their souls. If nations had such things as "souls." Individuals have souls, nations have values and histories and constitutions and norms and good will to throw away. If they lose their way, as has the U.S., Israel, and Palestine (both parts). People in authority need to step back, take a breath and open their eyes to a larger reality.
The loss of life has been astonishingly asymmetrical. And the loss of innocent lives has been just heartbreaking. As a result protest has broken out all over the world, including in Israel. The nation of Israel cannot justify its actions as defensive. Hamas has been shortsighted and stubborn in maintaining its rocket attacks on Israel. And the United Nations has, once again shown that it is ineffectual at its most basic work.
The timing of the war was chosen because of the transition of power in the United States, and because the Bush administration lost credibility as honest brokers for peace a long time ago. "United States interests" have not been in what is best for the Middle East, but myopic and misguided. The timing took terrible advantage of President-elect Obama's lack of authority in the situation, knowing that he would respect the principle of one president for foreign policy at a time. Congress is out of touch with how widespread the dissatisfaction with what our friend Israel has done in Gaza. It is an unfortunate and unrealistic situation. The timing also has to do with Israel's political calendar. With the current Prime Minister having lost credibility and standing in his country and with elections coming in February, the war inevitably looks like it was fought for political gain at home for the Israelis.
The news about the war has been bad. And it has been badly reported, biased against the Palestinian people who lost their lives as innocents. Opinion makers ignore the astounding loss of life in the Gaza strip, they ignore the politics of the situation in the U.S., Israel and the West Bank. And they ignore the failures of the Bush administration regarding a long-awaited peace agreement in lands that have tried to settle it with violence for many decades.
Terrorists get to their views because of grievances, either real or perceived. Their terrorized adversaries will never be able to kill them fast enough or in enough numbers to attain peace. Because others look on, see what is happening, and take up the cause as soon as they are old enough. Terrorism is a tactic that is not confined to merely those who fit the stereotypical model.
Nations can find themselves getting into vengance-driven responses or aggression that puts them at risk of losing their souls. If nations had such things as "souls." Individuals have souls, nations have values and histories and constitutions and norms and good will to throw away. If they lose their way, as has the U.S., Israel, and Palestine (both parts). People in authority need to step back, take a breath and open their eyes to a larger reality.
(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)
My "creativity and dreaming" post today is at Making Good Mondays.
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Well done, Carole! It is heart-breaking situation, where tempers flare so fiercely that all reason and all concern for the humanity of those on all sides gets lost by the ones who are most affected.
Depriving both sides of arms and insisting that a negotiated solution is all that the world will allow may force cooler, more compassionate, heads to emerge. That's all I can think of. That, and camps for children of both sides. Mandatory summer camp where children grow up together.
January 16, 2009 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
My apology for the extra "e" on your name. "E" for excellence!
January 16, 2009 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
TheraP, excellent recovery :-)
I like your idea of summer camps. Kids don't come down the birth canal full of hate. But they are taught early. Perhaps they must unlearn and relearn peace -- what their parents seem incapable of doing.
January 16, 2009 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
If they can mandate military service, they can mandate summer camps. Your post inspired that thought!
January 16, 2009 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The timing of the war was chosen because of the transition of power in the United States, and because the Bush administration lost credibility as honest brokers for peace a long time ago. "United States interests" have not been in what is best for the Middle East, but myopic and misguided."
I think so too. That is the timing issue. It sounds so conspiratorial but this cannot be serendipity. Experts I have seen on CNN and MSNBC have no love for how w handled this problem over eight years. People like TheraP were so angry about how the mess was handled in 2006.
As always Carol, good post and I do check on your Monday post.
January 16, 2009 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
DD,
Whether it was a conspiracy or not, Israel's PM took advantage.
Thanks, by the way, for reading my little attempts at engaging my creative side at Making Good Mondays.
January 16, 2009 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
There is a great, brief article over on The Atlantic by Ta-Nehshi Coates about his conversation with Aaron David Milller who was an advisor to six SoSs about the ramifications of the Gaza war.
One of the many money quotes:
January 16, 2009 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for this quote. It distills the U.S. diplomatic dilemma perfectly.
January 17, 2009 8:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
>With the current Prime Minister having lost credibility and standing in his country and with elections coming in February, the war inevitably looks like it was fought for political gain at home for the Israelis
That's a real nice way of putting it.
In fact, Olmert is stepping down because he is being investigated on serious corruption charges - which is an unfortunate occupational hazard of presidents in that part of the world. That the war and the timing of it has more to do with the forthcoming elections than of the largely ineffective rockets being fired by Hamas, is indisputable. It's also to do with self-image, power-hungry politicians and money - and not only in the Knesset. I thought that when those two obstacles to peace, Arafat and Sharon, had finally left the stage - wiser counsels would prevail. But no. Just more of the same, ad infinitum. It needs heads banging hard together and a complete ban on arms sales to both sides.
January 16, 2009 6:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm all for head banging and arms bans. It is like with with my children when they were little: "You kids go sit in a chair until you can get along. And no toys while you're sitting there."
I say this not to diminish the seriousness of the situation but to illustrate severe national immaturity.
January 17, 2009 8:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
I never did time-outs. I made them walk a circuit in the neighborhood until they cooled off. They always ended up finding something they were interested in and ended up playing together outside. Time-outs only isolate children (and contribute to obesity in my opinion).
TheraP's idea of summer camps is kind of the same thing as what I did; distraction and eventually finding out that there is more to agree about than disagree is critical.
Unfortunately, the problem that is the hardest to overcome is the religious aspect, which poisons the well for mutual respect. Get rid of religion and there might be hope.
January 17, 2009 9:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
CVille Dem, you have named yourself well. You were, indeed a civil parent, and wise.
Religion has some awful aspects when it comes to politics. Shouldn't mix religion and politics. Our founding fathers knew it was a volatile combo. Thanks for your comment.
January 17, 2009 11:50 AM | Reply | Permalink