January 12, 2009

Who is to blame for Gaza?

“Israel hasn’t killed a single civilian in the Gaza Strip. Over a hundred civilians have died, and Israeli bombs or shells may have ended their lives. But Israel didn't kill them.
Hamas did.”


This is a must read, in my view: Ralph Peters, a retired U.S. Army officer and the author of Looking For Trouble, in the New York Post: (thanks: Sandra)

There is no moral equivalence between Hamas terrorists and Israeli soldiers. There is no gray area. There is no point in negotiations.

Hamas is a Jew-killing machine. It exists to destroy Israel. What is there to negotiate?

When Hamas can't kill Jews, it's perfectly willing to drive Palestinian civilians into the line of fire - old men, women and children. Hamas herds the innocent into "shelters," then draws Israeli fire on them. And the headline-greedy media cheer them on.

Hamas isn't fighting for political goals. "Brokered agreements" are purely means to an end. And the envisioned end is the complete destruction of Israel in the name of a terrorist god. Safe in hidden bunkers or in Damascus, the Hamas leadership is willing to watch an unlimited number of civilians and even street-level terrorists die.

[...]

All Israel can do is to fight for time and buy intervals of relative calm with the blood of its sons and daughters. By demanding premature cease-fires and insisting that we can find a diplomatic solution, we strengthen monsters and undercut our defenders.

And don't believe the propaganda about this conflict rallying Gaza's Palestinians behind Hamas. That's more little-brown-brother condescension, assuming all Arabs are so stupid they don't know who started this and who's dragging it out at their expense.

Gaza's people may not care much for Israelis, but they rue the day they cast their votes for Hamas. Hamas is killing them.


The 2008 Weblog Awards

Do you like this blog? Vote for me for BEST EUROPEAN BLOG (Non UK) 2008. Voting ends Monday, January 12 at 22h00 GMT
(11 pm in Rome, 5 pm in New York, 2 pm in LA)

1 comment:

  1. > When Hamas can't kill Jews,
    > it's perfectly willing to drive
    > Palestinian civilians into the
    > line of fire - old men, women
    > and children. Hamas herds the
    > innocent into "shelters," then
    > draws Israeli fire on them.

    It is clear to me what Hamas' game has been: to provoke Israel into killing civilians, and in this way Hamas' would gain support from their hard-line position.

    It is also clear what Israel could have done to foil this plan: refuse to be provoked. Which she didn't. So Hamas is winning the propaganda war, and its win will be greater the longer the operations and higher the body count.

    ReplyDelete