by Brian T. Lynch, MSW
Let’s first set the stage for this latest Middle East conflict.
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Yes, Hamas is a terrorist organization that pledges to destroy Israel. It has about 40,000 members, many of whom are strategically embedded within Gaza. Gaza is effectively a small containment area for two million indigenous Palestinians. Most are the offspring of ancestors displaced from Palestine territory after World War II when Winston Churchill and the West recreated a Jewish homeland. This new Jewish homeland hadn’t existed in the Middle East for well over a thousand years.
The forced exodus of Palestine residents to make way for a new Israel was fundamentally unfair, and it imposed enormous generational hardships. The world did not respond as it should with plans to help build and provision a viable, self-governing Palestinian nation. It still does not provide sufficient resources to set up a new and productive homeland for the displaced Palestinian families today, and the anticipated “two-state” solution has faded.
These manufactured circumstances (of course) resulted in several brutal wars funded in part by American Taxpayers in support of Israel’s right to exist. Death and destruction created trauma, deprivation, chaos, and disorder for all families living in the region, including families in Israel. It also produced generational enmity and a hardening of hearts on all sides of the conflict that decades of peace negotiation have not overcome. Just as surely as night follows day, hatred has led to corruption and the dissipation of hope. For decades Hamas has ruled over the people of Gaza with a heavy hand for their own self-serving interests. At the same time, Israel has been treating all Gazans as hostile enemies, which adds to their depravations and despair.
This is the morass within which the brutal attack on innocent Israeli civilians took place on October 7th. It came at a time when the Netanyahu government in Israel is radically rightwing, anti-Palestinian, and out of step with the majority of Israelis. The Netanyahu government has pledged to eradicate Hamas. Hamas knew such an intensely brutal surprise attack over Israel’s border would drive Israel's leadership crazy and force unrestrained military retribution. Hamas strategically embedded its fighters/martyrs within the most populous and sensitive civilian areas to use its innocent people as human shields. This move maximizes the civilian casualties that would follow an unrestrained counter-attack. They knew this would inflame passions, destabilize the whole region, and foment Jewish hatred around the globe.
The plan is working. Israel is bombing civilian areas to reach the Hamas fighters hiding among the people. Almost half of the casualties are children. Despite a kill ratio estimated to be 50 civilians killed for every Hamas leader who dies, the Netanyahu government will not show any restraint. They say they need to keep pressure on Hamas for the return of the 240 hostages taken during the October 7th raid. But ask yourself, what do you call a person forced to act as a human shield for a bad guy holding a weapon?
The answer: A HOSTAGE!
Innocent civilians in Gaza are being held hostage by Hamas. The terrorists wanted to show the world the extent of Israel's disregard for human life in Gaza. For its part, Israeli leaders are accommodating that wish. The necessary military response to the October 7th attack required discernment and strategic restraint by Israel’s leaders. That isn’t happening. Even the Biden Administration, which unequivocally supported Israel’s right to defend itself, is starting to recoil from the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza. Anti-Semitic hate crimes are now breaking out in the United States and across the globe. Israel’s intervention strategies need to be completely turned around in order to defeat Hamas, prevent a greater conflict in the region, free ALL the hostages in Gaza, both Israeli and Gaza’s, and show the world that Israel is ready and worthy of pursuing peace with its neighbors.
The forced exodus of Palestine residents to make way for a new Israel was fundamentally unfair, and it imposed enormous generational hardships. The world did not respond as it should with plans to help build and provision a viable, self-governing Palestinian nation. It still does not provide sufficient resources to set up a new and productive homeland for the displaced Palestinian families today, and the anticipated “two-state” solution has faded.
These manufactured circumstances (of course) resulted in several brutal wars funded in part by American Taxpayers in support of Israel’s right to exist. Death and destruction created trauma, deprivation, chaos, and disorder for all families living in the region, including families in Israel. It also produced generational enmity and a hardening of hearts on all sides of the conflict that decades of peace negotiation have not overcome. Just as surely as night follows day, hatred has led to corruption and the dissipation of hope. For decades Hamas has ruled over the people of Gaza with a heavy hand for their own self-serving interests. At the same time, Israel has been treating all Gazans as hostile enemies, which adds to their depravations and despair.
This is the morass within which the brutal attack on innocent Israeli civilians took place on October 7th. It came at a time when the Netanyahu government in Israel is radically rightwing, anti-Palestinian, and out of step with the majority of Israelis. The Netanyahu government has pledged to eradicate Hamas. Hamas knew such an intensely brutal surprise attack over Israel’s border would drive Israel's leadership crazy and force unrestrained military retribution. Hamas strategically embedded its fighters/martyrs within the most populous and sensitive civilian areas to use its innocent people as human shields. This move maximizes the civilian casualties that would follow an unrestrained counter-attack. They knew this would inflame passions, destabilize the whole region, and foment Jewish hatred around the globe.
The plan is working. Israel is bombing civilian areas to reach the Hamas fighters hiding among the people. Almost half of the casualties are children. Despite a kill ratio estimated to be 50 civilians killed for every Hamas leader who dies, the Netanyahu government will not show any restraint. They say they need to keep pressure on Hamas for the return of the 240 hostages taken during the October 7th raid. But ask yourself, what do you call a person forced to act as a human shield for a bad guy holding a weapon?
The answer: A HOSTAGE!
Innocent civilians in Gaza are being held hostage by Hamas. The terrorists wanted to show the world the extent of Israel's disregard for human life in Gaza. For its part, Israeli leaders are accommodating that wish. The necessary military response to the October 7th attack required discernment and strategic restraint by Israel’s leaders. That isn’t happening. Even the Biden Administration, which unequivocally supported Israel’s right to defend itself, is starting to recoil from the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza. Anti-Semitic hate crimes are now breaking out in the United States and across the globe. Israel’s intervention strategies need to be completely turned around in order to defeat Hamas, prevent a greater conflict in the region, free ALL the hostages in Gaza, both Israeli and Gaza’s, and show the world that Israel is ready and worthy of pursuing peace with its neighbors.
PREQUEL: https://aseyeseesit.blogspot.com/2023/10/israel-and-palestine-at-war-what-side.html
To quote Bob Dylan, " Yes, and how many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died." The answer is blowing in the wind.
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