Five more comments on the situation

1. Normally, even those opposed to Israeli attacks will attempt to distinguish between civilians and combatants. Today, that no longer seems to be the case. I’ve already noted the attempt to ‘civilianise’ the victims of Operation Cast Lead, specifically the graduating policemen who – had Hamas not been so naive – wouldn’t have been so exposed.  But how many civilians have been killed? Writing in the Guardian, Andrea Becker relates the experiences of a colleague in Gaza. “Several major attacks were near her home. One of the worst – with reports of 40 dead – was a mere 50m from her children’s school.” In other words, not at her children’s school. Much has been made of the fact that the attack started while children were leaving school, but is there such a thing as a good time to launch an operation such as this? Furthermore, shouldn’t the timing be of Israel’s choosing? According to figures I have read, estimates suggest that 20 children and 10 women have been killed, out of around 300 fatalities thus far. While this is awful, it is important to note that a vast majority of those killed were members of the Hamas infrastructure, and hence the responsibility of Hamas. Those why cry for proportionality  might like to imagine what would have happened if Israel had lobbed Qassams back at Gaza’s densely populated cities. I suspect that the civilian casualty rate would have been much higher. In any event, the primary responsibility lies with Hamas. 

2. Writing in the American Prospect, Ezra Klein can’t get out of his head the idea that seven years of constant rockets from Gaza meant that Israel had to use military action. “No Death and no injuries,” he writes, as if life in Sderot was a picnic. Even the Binge Trader, no supporter of Israeli policy, tells me that “nothing I experienced when serving in the army compared to the fear of those in Sderot.” If you’ll forgive the irony of the analogy, life in Sderot is like something out of a Saramago novel: rockets falling randomly from the sky, an ever-present threat despite their ineffectiveness, only luck preventing tragedy. Should Israel have waited until a rocket wiped out a class of kindergarten children? According to Klein, it should have waited even longer – until the cows come home. ”But sometimes, Israel is simply wrong.” True indeed, but not today.  

3. Here’s some pre-emptive blogging. Soon, some will argue that Israel’s attack was “pre-planned”, that it has “nothing to do with the rockets launched on Sderot” but is part of a broader plan to “destroy Hamas and the Palestinian people”. Some are already moving in that direction. Feasting like vultures on the Haaretz analysis regarding the genesis of the operation, Ian Black reveals to the world Israel’s ”six months of secret planning”. He points out that plans for the current operation began soon after the ceasefire with Hamas kicked in six months ago. It’s clear that – in the absence of peace – enemies use ceasefires to regather their forces. Hamas did so by increasing the range and quality of its rockets, amongst other measures, while Israel did so by gathering vast amounts of intelligence regarding Hamas control over Gaza. This seems pretty sensible to me. A government that does not plan for all eventualities is remiss in its duties. As it became clear that Hamas did not intend to continue the truce, putting the plan into action became the only reasonable thing to do.

4. More on Israeli militarism: today’s Yediot Ahranot reports on the jostling between the elite Golani and Paratrooper units regarding who (in the event of a ground invasion) will get to go into Gaza. I understand that soldiers want to “do stuff”, but the idea of a rhetorical bloodbath over who gets the difficult task of entering the Gaza swamp is tasteless in the extreme. Israeli militarism is an unfortunate reality; it should not be heralded as an positive aspect of our culture.

5. Apart from – surprise surprise – Hezbollah in 2006, is there any example in history of a resistance/terrorist movement succeeding to liberate territory from the occupier, only to do all it can to invite the occupier back in again? This seems to be what Hamas wants. Hummus in the vineyard on me to anyone who can point to another time when this has happened.