Today is the fourteenth day of the war in Gaza. Most bloggers around here have been posting furiously about the day-to-day events but I have been hesitant to write, mostly out of a sense that there is nothing new to be said. It's the same, old broken record about terrorist rockets on Israeli civilians, the straw that broke the camel's back, the national consensus behind the decision to go to war, the inevitable accidental bomb on innocent Palestinian non-combatants, the international pressure to end it and the scramble to find an exit strategy. It's hard to come up with something new, but here are a few of my thoughts:
On the positive side, the Israeli professionals running the war are the Jewish people's finest. The measured, well-thought out direction of the war by Ehud Barak and Gabi Ashkenazi is in striking contrast to the fiasco of the second Lebanon war in 2006. At this stage of the game it's still too early to know if we will achieve our objectives in the end but it's clear that the mistakes of 2006 were carefully studied and the recommendations of the commission of inquiry have been internalized by the army. The dedication and motivation of the soldiers is inspiring. The families who have lost soldiers have displayed extraordinary strength and stoicism. It's been a while since we were this united.
On the other hand, it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. A Palestinian friend of mine asked me, "did you have to go in there with F16s?" I find this simple, ostensibly legitimate question to be indicative of the Arab perspective in general vis a vis the Palestinian quandry. Beneath it lies the acknowledgement of Israeli military superiority and the inevitable conclusion that a war against Israel can never be won. Western logic would say, then let's cut our losses and take the best deal we can get. Establish a state. Give our children normal lives. Move on. The whole world is waiting with open arms to welcome the state of Palestine to the family of nations. Whatever resources they need to develop economic infrastructure, educational institutions, mass transit, leadership training, etc. will be donated with love from any number of countries standing on line to help, including Israel. These are the best possible conditions in which to be the loser.
But no one on their side is capable of admitting defeat. Their lost honor must be restored, the injustice must be rectified. The most charismatic Palestinian leaders rise to the top of the heap spouting nationalist rhetoric about marching to Al Aktsa but none has ever spoken the truth: that it's not going to happen. The emperor has no clothes on but the Palestinians refuse to acknowledge his nakedness. The other Arab countries are willing partners to the deception. None of them is happy about the establishment of an Islamic republic by Hamas in Gaza, perhaps the most ominous threat to regional stability at the moment. However, while they have all privately given Israel the go-ahead to smash Hamas none of them will publicly admit it. Hamas is a menace and the suffering of Palestinian civilians furthers their cause.
The Palestinians who live in Israel express outrage over what is happening but none of them is willing to relinquish what they are entitled to as citizens of the the State of Israel. The right to protest publicly, health care, education, the rule of law and order, good roads and welfare benefits are not available in the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinian Israelis hate us with a passion but none of them has any plans to leave for the kingdom of Abu Mazen and Ismail Haniyeh. Their vociferous protests (to which they are legally and morally entitled) are a fig leaf for the real truth: self-interest, the engine that powers Palestinian politics. The main thing is to take care of my family, my clan, my organization, my ideology. It's hard to believe that anyone in the Palestinian leadership truly represents the interests of the Palestinian people.
Hamas' choice to wage war means Palestinian suffering will continue and any semblance of normalcy will remain beyond their reach. In Israel we will continue to shoot and weep. How tragic to see, over and over again, miserable families in Gaza who've lost their homes and loved ones used as cannon fodder for the "greater Palestinian cause." Would those families really choose the option of provocation and belligerence over a viable independent entity and a chance to live in dignity? A telling anecdote in an article by the Israeli journalist Amira Hass writing in Haaretz noted that despite the terrible tension, a group of Gazan businessmen she met recently had been gathering weekly to learn Hebrew. To me, that says it all: that somewhere in the future these men envision themselves living in peace alongside Israel.
So why keep fighting? Let's put down the guns and talk, work it out. We can do great things for everybody here. Is anyone on that side listening?
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1 comment:
Kein y'hi ratzon
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