An Israeli on Why Israel Should Stop What They're Doing in Gaza Now

[Hissyspit]

http://972mag.com/how-can-you-possibly-oppose-this-war/93924/

By Dahlia Scheindlin |Published July 19, 2014

How can you possibly oppose this war?

Someone asked me an innocent question: “What is the position of Israelis who are against the war?”

There are obvious answers.

First, this is a disproportionate war that harms huge numbers of civilians. The IDF is bombarding an area that it has already imprisoned by occupation from 1967, and then through suffocating border, movement, import and export control since 2007. Its residents have been stateless since 1948. It is attacking by air, land and sea, while Hamas attacks civilians in Israel through rockets and now through terrorist infiltration, at an increasingly frenzied pace.

Second, escalation breeds escalation. The south of Israel has not been at peace for a decade, but in this war, the whole country is under attack. And “Protective Edge” made things even worse for the south; all the Israel casualties so far – as of today two civilian deaths, numerous wounded (including children) and one soldier killed – have been in the south. “Code Red” warnings in Sderot all these years were awful, but death is worse. On a good day, there is suffering in Gaza; now the death and destruction there is indescribable.

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Fourth, the political and social consequences of the war will be a disaster in the short, medium and long term. In the short term, Hamas could easily become stronger, having become the defiant face of military resistance against Israel as diplomacy crumbles.

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Here is my extremely unpopular answer. There is no such thing as today devoid of yesterday and tomorrow; it is a fiction. The measures of the last ten days grow directly out of the measures in recent years. They will have devastating consequences in years to come. My criticism of this war is not “I told you so,” because some of us have warned for years that the status quo is illusory. Opposition to this war means finding a different response to predictable situations, so that there won’t be a next time, and in two years Israelis won’t have to say “this is no time to analyze the past.’”

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In the long term, I shudder to think about the souls of people who lost two, three, or 18 family members to Israeli bombs. The sobbing father who begged his child to wake up because he had brought new toys; the woman who told her sister in England to stay away and live, so that at least one of the family members would survive. I see what national trauma has done to the Jewish people more than 60 years following their darkest moments. The manifestations of Palestinian suffering in future generations will be terrible.

The fifth and final reason to oppose the operation is that previous wars have failed. Operation Cast Lead in 2008/9 begat Pillar of Defense in 2012, begat Protective Edge in 2014. Hamas was not toppled, Gaza was not disarmed. The only thing changing is the accelerating pace of the wars.

MORE AT LINK

[Cha]

1. Excellent!

[DeSwiss]

2. K&R

"How many does it take to metamorphose wickedness into righteousness? One man must not kill. If he does it is murder. But a state or nation may kill as many as they please, and it is not murder... Only get enough people to agree to it, and the butchery of myriads of human beings is perfectly innocent. But how many does it take?" ~Adin Ballou, 1845

[Katashi_itto]

3. K&R!

[countryjake]

4. The very end of that piece...

Finally, what do those opposed to the war propose instead? Israel already agreed to a ceasefire that was rejected.

With humility, because I simply don’t have perfect answers – find me someone who does – here are two observations:

First, Cast Lead ended with a unilateral, not agreed upon, ceasefire. The idea has already been raised by some commentators, as well as Meretz leader Zehava Gal-on, but has so far been ignored.

Second, like in 2012, there was another way: the reconciliation deal could have been cautiously welcomed; rewards and incentives could have encouraged Hamas pragmatism. The murder of three Israeli teens did not have to be disguised as a hostage-rescue effort for three weeks and leveraged to provoke the predictable violence of Hamas. Wrongful escalation from both sides could have been contained – of course, a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement would be the best mechanism for that. Eventually Palestinian elections could have been held; stabilization could have followed.

They say the best treatment is prevention. But nobody seems to care.

How can you possibly oppose this war? By Dahlia Scheindlin
http://972mag.com/how-can-you-possibly-oppose-this-war/93924/

The reference that Scheindlin makes to that reconciliation deal, the agreement made between Fatah and Hamas that was signed on April 23, is further explored in this Democracy Now interview with author Norman Finkelstein and Palestinian political analyst Mouin Rabbani.

After Palestinian Unity Deal, Did Israel Spark Violence to Prevent a New "Peace Offensive"? July 15, 2014
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/7/15/after_palestinian_unity_deal_did_israel

[Hissyspit]

5. Kick nt

[Pisces]

6. K& R !!!!!

[Uncle Joe]

7. Kicked and recommended.

It's been such a festering mess over there.

Thanks for the thread, Hissyspit.

[countryjake]

8. kickety

[Douglas Carpenter]

9. knr