And before you remind me, I'm aware that Hamas kills civilians as well, even their own, because their best propaganda tool is a dead Palestinian. But if Israel wants to wear the white hat in this never-ending conflict, they are the ones who need to show some restraint. If they don't want to wear the white hat, I personally don't give a damn if they slaughter or maim every man, woman, and child currently residing in Gaza. I'm just tired of the hypocrisy, the untouchability, the saintly attitude most Israelis expect the rest of the world to view them with.
In my experience most Israelis are used to the rest of the world seeing them as evil.
There are too many threads on this issue to keep track of, but I recall you stating somewhere that the Israeli response has "only" generated a 15% civilian casualty rate.
Only? That's an obscene figure given the diminuative size of the territory involved and Israel's obvious military superiority in every way, from size to technology to financial backing. They could (if they had a mind to) surround the entire Gaza strip, put boots on the ground, and literally go door to door, rooting out the enemy.
Only 15% indeed. I'm also aware that both sides skew the numbers in their favor, so it's probably closer to 25%.
The number reported came from Hamas, not Israel. Maybe it is closer to 25%. I don't know.
However, given the size of the territory, even 25% is low. The smaller the territory the more difficult it is to hit only combatants.
What I'd like to know is this, Leauki---let's say you're just a poor olive farmer, trying to live in peace and put bread on the table for your children. You're stuck in Gaza, having no resources to leave the area and even if you did, you're boxed in by Israeli roadblocks. YOU CANT GO ANYWHERE.
Over the weekend, a group of Hamas militants start setting up rockets in the school nearby.
What the hell can you do? Oppose Hamas? They're going to kill you if you do. Sooner rather than later, too.
Yet their mere presence in your neighborhood almost assures you're going to be killed by the Israelis. But later rather than sooner. Maybe. (Probably.)
I think I can answer that question, actually both of them.
Let me answer the second first:
If opposing Hamas results in violence, that is obviously Hamas' fault. If by not opposing Hamas the violence can be directed at Jews instead, it is still Hamas' fault. And if finally the violence arrives back at Hamas and those who didn't oppose them at first, it remains Hamas' fault.
Perhaps you misunderstand Israel's motives still. Israel's motives are not to be the good guys. The motive is winning and surviving. Better them than us. Let them decide whether there will be a war and let us decide who is going to die in it. It's not about good or evil, it's about making it clear that opposing Hamas BEFORE they start a war is cheaper than waiting for Israel to respond.
As for the first question, I can answer that too; because it is exactly (except for the olive trees) what happened to my father's family in Germany in 1945.
The Nazis started a war and the vast majority of Germans didn't oppose them, out of fear, probably. And the Germans paid for it, including my father's parents. They were stuck there, and like the rest of Germany (and especially Berlin), they were victims of allied bombing raids.
They, like all Germans, SHOULD have spoken up against the Nazis before the war. But they didn't. And SOMEONE was going to pay the price for what the Nazis did.
I remain convinced that the only way to stop these things from happening is to make sure that people are more afraid of not speaking up than they are of speaking up. And it isn't a moral dilemma for me, because I have seen the alternative.
Someone will pay for Hamas' violence. And the IDF will make sure that it won't be Israelis.
I wish no harm on Gaza's civilians just like I wished no harm on my grand parents in 1945. I would prefer it if nobody died in Gaza and if nobody had died in Berlin in 1945. But I do realise that SOMEONE was going to pay. And I have no doubt that Germans, including my own family, were better candidates for it than the Polish/Americans/British/etc. that the Germans attacked. The allies had to make a decision, and they had to make the decision that IF someone must die, it MUST be the enemy, not your own people.
The fact that those decisions have to be made is caused by evil, but making those decisions is not.
You're doomed no matter how you look at it, and there's NO WHERE TO GO if you do not wish to be involved in or exposed to the killing. The Israeli military is not allowing refugees to leave, (and lets not even start talking about the slaughters that have happened at *some* refugee camps in the past, mmmk? wink-wink.)
The "massacre" of Jenin was exposed as a hoax even by the UN.
And the massacre in the "camp" in Lebanon was perpetrated by Catholic Lebanese under the command of Elie Hobeika (I think his name was) who fled to Syria afterwards. I don't know if he is still alive, but I guess both the Christians in Lebanon and all of Israel would like to have a word with him. (The rest of the world doesn't care about him and blames Israel.)
If there is another massacre I have overlooked, please tell me about it.
The latest massacre in a "Palestinian refugee camp" (does anybody ever refer to HaTikvah, Tel Aviv as a "refugee camp" given that it houses Jewish refugees from Yemen?) was perpetrated by the regular Lebanese army in northern Lebanon.
I fail to see why any of these have to be ignored for the sake of Israel.
