The events in Gaza are a trying time for everyone. It’s not politics. It’s unrestrained actions with full military might versus unarmed civilians caught in the feud between two opposite ideologies.
When civilized negotiations fail, there is room for bloody actions which resolve nothing but just increase the enmity between the two sides.
It’s sad to see that only atrocities can unite the Israelis and the Palestinians against each other when it is hard for them to achieve lasting peace.
From what it is seen, Israel is facing criticism from the international community over its attacks in Gaza, not because of siding with Hamas but because of the casualties that were caught in its fires intended for Hamas locations and fighters.
When there are attacks, the Palestinians are sure to stand against Israel. What can decide the popularity of Hamas are free and fair elections within the Palestinian territories to see if people in Gaza want to be ruled by Hamas or to have a new leadership.
Hamas can be a news star during the Israeli attacks. But the question that remains if Hamas policies are the only possible ones to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If not the Palestinians should have had the chance to have their say about Hamas’s stay in power before things developed into bloody actions.
What can solve the Palestinian problem is democracy among the Palestinians and fruitful negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
There are many questions that should be answered vis-à-vis these attacks:
1- In such a situation who should be accused of crime against humanity: is it Israel who is making much more casualties among the civilians than the armed groups or is it Hamas who has its weapons and weapon factories in densely populate areas?
2- Should Egypt be accountable for turning a blind eye to the tunnels from which weapons are smuggled or for closing its borders with Gaza, making it easy for Israel to impose its total blockade on Gaza?
3- Wouldn’t it have been better for Israel to mount a ground invasion of Gaza and arrest Hamas leaders and armed factions instead of mounting air strikes that randomly killed innocent civilians?
4- How will such attacks in Gaza affect Israel relations with moderate Arab countries and will this mean its contact with them will be low-key?
Hamas can be strengthened only by the desperate Palestinians, especially those living in Gaza. These have nothing to lose as they feel they’re living in a collective prison under blockade. Their life can have meaning by fighting and dying for the Hamas cause.
But Hamas getting strength from despair can’t solve the Palestinian problem which is politically very complex. There must be political solutions through negotiations and not by Hamas Qassam rockets and Israeli destructive and deadly air attacks.
3 comments:
Happy new year to you
I agree with what you write. In my view when we look at the overall conflict then Israel has much work to do before it is to be seen as acting justly.
In a shorter term view and looking at the present escalation, then Hamas was ether foolish or calculating in not renewing the ceasefire and then firing rockets.
I think they were calculating. I think they wanted an escalation and hoped to use it to gain sympathy against Israel and possibly to have the borders opened as an end result. I think they were calculating in that direction.
Until both sides release themselves from their trapped modes of thinking then neither will know peace.
Thanks Bill for your comment. We both agree that both parties should agree on how to reach peace without bloodshed or encroaching on each other's right.
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