The nerve of Israel.
Attacking the peace-loving, innocent people of Gaza. Don't they know that Hamas only wants peace on Earth and for everyone to treat the Palestinian people as well as they have historically treated the rest of the world?
Those poor 300+ Palestinians who have been killed over the past three days by Israeli aggression are heroes of the innocent struggle for Palestinian statehood. Surely, Israel's behavior is deplorable, and these awful attacks should be cause for Israel to be destroyed.
How awful.
This, of course, seems to be the tone I encounter when I read about this latest episode between Israel and one of its neighbors. The last time, it was Sadr's militia in Lebanon that was targeted, and this time, it's Hamas. The pattern is always the same: attacks on Israel are regarded as commonplace and almost acceptable, and the media only wakes up and begins its reporting when Israel defends herself from rockets randomly fired into Israeli territory.
Invariably, people will decry Israel's actions as deplorable and disgusting, and the Hamas/Palestinian PR machine will go into full effect, showing bloodied elderly women and children and bodybags showing the death of the innocent.
The problem, of course, is that Hamas -- an admitted terrorist organization, which has participated in the bombing schools, buses, cafes and civilian airliners -- is now the ruling class of the Palestinian people. Known terrorists running a government -- and they, somehow, seem apathetic when their constituents randomly fire rockets into their neighbor. The only time they seem to react in any adverse way is when the country which their brothers in arms have targeted fight back.
About five or six years ago, a business associate of ours, in an off-hand way, suggested that he thought Israel was, in effect, a terrorist country. Being that said associate wasn't addressing me directly with said commentary, I didn't respond. However, I frequently regret not responding. I wanted to advise said associate that he is a perfect example of why the Palestinian people spend as much time lobbying their cause to the internation media -- CNN, in particular -- as they do building bombs and suicide vests. The reason why is that anyone with any unbiased view of the situation -- this one, as well as Lebanon, et al -- would surmise that Israel is defending itself from being the target of random rocket attacks with these attacks on Gaza, and that if the Palestinian people don't realize that Israel was provoked into defending itself -- which is their right as a nation -- they shouldn't be entitled to their own nation or their own land. Further, it would seem that if the Palestinian people are satisfied with Hamas's treatment of other nations -- condoning or ignoring attacks on neighboring countries -- they should expect similar treatment from their neighbors. Essentially, the next time some shitbird with a rocket launcher decides to point it at Israel and let fly a bunch of rockets, that attack will result in the deaths of 20 Palestinians. As those attacks escalate -- whether with Hamas's blessing or not -- the Israeli response will increase exponentially.
Is this wrong? Is this mentality inappropriate? Is it appropriate for some random assholes in Gaza to fire randomly into Israel and then decry the Israelis' response thereto?
If you're part of -- or believe -- the Palestinian lobby, then yes, Israel has absolutely no right to respond militarily. Israel should instead talk to Hamas -- an organization that talks out of both sides of its mouth -- and Israel should allow Hamas and the other terrorist entities operating in the Middle East to attack it without response. After all, Israel has no right to declare "all-out war" on Hamas or the terrorists in the region; the right of "all-out war" only applies to Palestinians and other Arabs intent on wiping Israel from the map.
Shame on the Israelis for not playing by the rules.
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5 comments:
Boogs...what if someone takes you seriously?...oy
LOL...I actually had a moment where I considered that very question. Thing is, anyone who reads from top to bottom will get the sarcasm and realize what I'm doing.
The truth is that Israel isn't a perfect entity, so I'm hoping that anyone who reads this is either a) trying to better understand exactly what's happening in the Middle East, like I am, or b) is just looking to hook onto someone who is angrier and more full of hate than themselves.
Put another way, I hope people learn to think before they act and not after.
Nothing like optimism ;-)
*Shrugs*
Why so sarcastic? Your first commenter was right--glo, people MIGHT take him seriously.
And if they do, well, then more power to them. Three hundred dead Palestinians later, and the dialogue here is sarcastic? It's your blog, I know. I know the rules.
Hamas was elected democratically, and the United States helped that happen, and our President admitted such, and claims that "free" people are free to make mistakes.
Also, do you consider this comment to be from "someone who is angrier and more full of hate" than you are? Because I don't think of it that way. I am full of sadness. This is sad all around, indefensible all around. Happy new year, indeed.
First and foremost, the updated casualties have listed 500 Palestinians dead; I'm not sure if that number reflects the ground incursion or if it's just fallout from the overall numbers of everything up to or including the invasion, but, essentially, numbers are somewhat secondary.
The reason for the sarcasm is because I, like many people, are beyond sad that this type of news recurs and will continue to recur. What's really troublesome, at least for me, is that people think Israel is the cause of these problems. The definition of "people" in the prior statement is the UN, sans the US, the UK and Israel. The bulk of the nations in the Middle East, and that powerhouse of international diplomacy, Nicaragua, decried Israel's actions. And yet, there was little, if any, mention of the fact that Hamas absolves itself of responsibility for the situation and for these casualties and instead simply suggests that Israel has no right to exist.
The fact is that we could simply mourn the deaths of the civilians that have been caught in this situation like we did in 1967, 1973, or even two summers ago in Lebanon; however, I'm beyond mourning and beyond sadness when it comes to this regular cycle of attack Israel, blame Israel, let Israel attack us to protect herself and then roll out lots of photos of innocent civilians -- mostly women, children and the elderly -- and then let everything dissipate for a couple of years and then start over again.
I would much prefer -- even from behind the cloak of anonymity -- that instead of people lamenting this sad situation that they instead take Israel to task for this latest of situations in this space. Clearly, most people fault Israel in one way or another; if the US was the target of rocket attacks by a band of militants in Mexico or Canada and neither of those governments did anything to stop this activity, would anyone tsk-tsk the US if they went after the people responsible for those attacks? Doesn't a nation -- no matter which, and no matter where -- have a right to defend itself from foreign attack? Or is it just that this, like all the previous examples of "Zionist Aggression" demonstrate that the Palestinian people are being victimized by a terrorist state?
I'm beyond sad because I'm tired of the bullshit and double-speak that pervades this debate. I'm tired of the fact that Hamas is proud that they're building suicide vests for children, I'm tired of the fact that Israel is regularly labeled the aggressor despite the fact that they make every legitimate attempt at avoiding civilian casualties while Hamas threatens to renew suicide attacks in Israel, and I'm tired of the fact that Israel continues to respect human life, even if militants that follow Hamas are anything but human.
I'm also tired of the fact that Israel is, with regularity, blamed for the unrest that has pervaded the Islamic world for thousands of years.
I could keep expressing sadness, I could ignore and/or otherwise not address these situations, or I can simply suggest, through sarcasm, that I -- like many others -- have heard and seen enough and hope -- dare I be optimistic -- that some day, things will change. Since the first and second options aren't happening anytime soon, it looks like door number three is it.
Put another way, it may not be the best way to convince others of the veracity of my opinions, but the majority of who I'm addressing are the mindless drones who support suicide bombing, who want Israel wiped from the map, and/or those who believe Hamas is doing the right thing. I would rather be sarcastic than to respond to those people and suggest that the feeling is mutual.
But why be honest when we can be polite instead?
ooops...I think I may have misunderstood Boogie's sarcasm and Kelly may have misunderstood my response.
I'm a peacenik...but I also believe in fairness and the truth.
Let's pray for peace.
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