Israeli troops have dug into positions in south Gaza, having crossed the border overnight following air strikes on three bridges and a power station...
The attack followed sporadic air strikes throughout the day...
The overnight raid destroyed Gaza's main power station and nervous civilians in northern Gaza stockpiled batteries and candles, as well as food and water...
Israeli warplanes flew warning sorties over the summer residence of Syrian President Bashar-al Assad early on Wednesday morning.
Syria said it had responded with anti-aircraft fire.
Don't get me wrong, the attack on Israeli troops was horrible and the captured soldier should be released. Israel is well within her rights to do whatever possible to extract the soldier and return him to his family. However, the Israel government's response constitutes a complete overreaction that threatens to descend the entire region into war. As callous as it may seem, Israel must put this one soldier into perspective and act in a measured way. What we are witnessing now effectively plays into the hands of extremists and alienates moderate Palestinians. The price paid to revenge this attack will obviously outweigh any temporary resolution. The Israeli philosophy of striking back ten times harder has never worked, in fact it has led to more Israeli deaths. Does anyone believe these Palestinians that hold this soldier will simply acquiesce and release him? History and common sense would suggest otherwise.
It was just yesterday that we heard talk of a breakthrough between the various Palestinian factions that allowed for a move to moderation. In fact, there was much discussion that Hamas may have actually recognized Israel for the first time. Mahmoud Abbas has now lost his leverage to weaken the hardline elements of Hamas, as surely we will now see Palestinian casualties that feed extremism. Israel's reaction is completely shortsighted and fails to acknowledge the bigger picture. Is it really worth risking everything over one isolated act, that is relatively minor in a region where bloodshed is commonplace? It would seem that revenge trumps perspective in this instance, with the added irony of guaranteed future Israeli deaths- the vicious cycle continues.
2 comments:
A few things you need to get before commenting on the conflict:
1) To Israelis, unlike their Arab opponents, life is sacred. Everything must and will be done to get the soldier back. Not doing so would constitute a huge break to morale. And frankly, what Israelis think about each other is what they need to care about, not whether they can leave one of their own to the wolves and thus hope to appease the enemy.
2) Retaliation has succesfully deterred Israel's enemies in the past.
3) The area already is in a war, in case you didn't notice, and Syria is supporting the terrorists. The Israelis are not doing anything unreasonable given the circumstances.
4) The true problem here is the initial action. If Hamas were dedicated to peace, they wouldn't be kidnapping and attacking Israelis, now would they?
Besides, you can say what you want about appeasing them, Hamas has the eradication of Israel in its founding charter. It's not about having their own country ... it's about having, there, ONE country. In case you didn't understand the intentionally duplicitous "freedom for Palestine" statements...
Oh, and moderation? That's an oxymoron. In fact, you've been misled by the media, because there is no 'implicit recognition, moderation' or other such bullshit.
It's the Mediocre Media tricking you.
5) This "overreacts" stuff is a double standard, because there is not a single other country in the world told to "exert restraint" when attacked by terrorists. Not even the Arabs exert restraint when fighting their fellow Arabs. Or do you not know about Algeria's civil war, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, etc.?
---So...---
The fact of the matter is, responsibility for that man's safety rests squarely with the terrorists who kidnapped them. Israel is not the problem here. The problem is with Hamas' terrorists (and the other factions, though they hide it) who literally won't recognize Israel's right to exist. It's that right that is important, not some diplomatically wrangled nonsense recognition of Israel by Hamas because obviously Hamas recognizes Israel's existence if they want to destroy it.
You may want to read abbagav.blogspot.com or contact him for more info. Ditto soccerdad.baltiblogs.com
"To Israelis, unlike their Arab opponents, life is sacred."
How many Palestinian civilians have died since the soldier was taken? So the entire Gaza strip should go without power, bridges should be blown up, people can't go to work because of the actions of a few? It's a vicious circle, and both parties share equal blame. Hamas rise is a direct response to repressive Israeli tactics, so to say retailation has been effective is entirely wrong.
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