In choosing to attack Hamas, I posit that Israel has placed itself between a rock and a hard place. It’s likely that its current mission is inclined to fail not only because eliminating a permeable, determined foe is difficult, but because the military operation will also further distance these concerned parties from forging a long-lasting, meaningful peace settlement.
The reality is that Israel is truly in a lose-lose situation.
Regardless of where your biases lie, envision this situation: you are the head of state of a country whose citizens are being periodically attacked by a hostile neighbour. You know any military action you take will be intensely criticized by the global community because your response will appear to be disproportionate, yet you also cannot afford to sit by idly and do nothing to prevent these attacks from continuing, particularly when their heads of state are enamored with your destruction. You know failure - the status quo - is not an option; you have a responsibility to protect your citizens. So, you attack. And you aim to hit them hard because even if you don't wipe them out, at least you will have significantly diminished their capabilities.
But there's a catch. Some of your bombs miss and hit targets you didn’t intend to hit. Targets like children, which Gaza is overflowing with (70% of Gaza’s 1.4M inhabitants are under the age of 18 – it is among the youngest countries in the world, as it traditionally has been). These tragedies occur in war because sadly, like us, our technology is imperfect. This collateral damage, however, has significant negative ramifications for the future and potential of a peace accord between these long-time enemies.
I loathe to think what growing up in Gaza is like. I imagine that doing so all your life in the midst of a war with what you consider to be a hostile occupier, engender in you a hate that strengthens with each piercing F16 missile. You become morally consumed by your struggle, and slowly susceptible to propaganda. You might enlist. Maybe one day you will even find yourself strapped in a crowded square in Tel Aviv. What brought you here? At least in some part your historically reinforced disdain for your enemy.
And so the cycle of conflict continues, sustaining momentum through a basic, predisposed human instinct - violence. Both countries simultaneously play the part of hero and villain, as the war continues, as it likely will for decades.
This latest Gazan excursion is only one in a litany of others that litter the pages of history, and Hamas’ attacks – rocket or otherwise – number in the thousands. Casualties continue to mount on both sides as war with a despised and misunderstood enemy becomes your way of life, and perhaps the only thing you live for. Peace cannot be made when people feel that sort of vengence. By attacking and/or defending itself – whichever you believe, Israel is inadvertently developing a future generation of traumatized, new, enemies.
(The purpose of this entry was strictly to comment on Israel’s current military excursion into Gaza. It was not meant to address the validity of longstanding assertions and disagreements.)
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WO
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