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January 3, 2009
The Bush administration is once gain shielding Israel, as the Jewish state carries out its seige of Gaza and brings its military campaign in Gaza to its conclusion. The form of words used is 'backing Israel’s “right to self-defense ”'; even though there is no equivalence between the unguided projectiles of Hamas, illegitimate and ill-considered as they are, and the might and technological sophistication of the Israeli air force and army.
According to the editors of the Middle East Report Online:
The most compelling explanation for the scope of the assault on Gaza is that militarist interpretations of the failed war in Lebanon have prevailed inside the Israeli establishment. As one general told the New York Times, the problem then was not that the Israelis hit Lebanon too hard and too indiscriminately, but rather that “we were not decisive enough.” Mark Heller of Tel Aviv University completed the thought: “This operation is an attempt to reestablish the perception that if you provoke or attack you are going to pay a disproportionate price.” Leave aside that the linchpin of Israel’s strategy is therefore the very lack of proportionality that Israeli spokespeople so bristle at being accused of by proponents of the laws of war. If this explanation for Israel’s actions is accurate, then Gaza will suffer considerably more punishment before Israel is satisfied that its “deterrence capability” is adequately acknowledged.
That phrase backing Israel’s “right to self-defense” overlooks that Gaza remains Israeli-occupied, both in the eyes of the UN and in the practical sense that Israel has near complete control over exit and egress of persons and goods. These are the tactics of colonial settler strategy of domination and crushing resistance by turrning Gaza into a prison. Hence the systematic destruction of holy places, schools, universities and the killing of Palestinian civilians.
The editors say:
There is political purpose behind the bombing of the Islamist party’s “civilian infrastructure” and the closure of border crossings to needed shipments of food, fuel, medicine and cash -- closures, again, that long preceded Cast Lead. It is the same motive underlying the December 30 ramming of an activist boat carrying emergency supplies (and a CNN reporter -- oops) and the repulsion of a Libyan relief vessel on December 1. The purpose is to render Hamas totally unprepared to deal with humanitarian crisis in the hope of undercutting support for the party as it fails to deliver basic services.
Israeli policy is to separate Gaza and the West Bank and to deepen the Hamas-Fatah divide to ensure that no peace process involving the Israeli concessions in a comprehensive settlement can gain traction.
However, the Israeli military tactics are flawed. They assume that if they hit Gaza (or Lebanon) hard enough, the local population will blame Hamas (for bringing tragedy upon them. But it doesn't work like that. Instead, Gazans blame Israel - and close ranks with Hamas.
An invasion, whose real objective was the toppling of Hamas, would require the permanent military reoccupation of Gaza. Instead Israel is using the current slaughter in Gaza as a big stick with which to beat Hamas into compliance --ie., Hamas being made to collude with the occupation.
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ok so ive got a question hamas has been sending rockets targeted at civilians agreed?
so now wat is isreal to do should they use diplomacy or military force ?
well since agreements have always fallen through in the past so it seems a military campaign is the only possible option to properly protect isreali citizens. now we get to my point you say in your paper or wtvr you call it that the use of force that isreal uses is greater than the force that hamas has been using therfore making the isreal campaign illegitamite but we clearly see that a military operation is necassary so why in the hell would isreal send in (hamas style ) rockets that damage civilians at random if they could take out militants more precicly why must isreal be chastized for protecting palestinians (by being more precise in they attacks ) when if the isrealis really wanted genocide they could carpet bomb the whole 12 km of gaza and have no problem
so think before you tell us all your views !!!