Tag: palestine

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I generally support Israel. I want to continue to do so but the behavior of the Netanyahu government is troubling.

Here is what I am grappling with:

The Palestinians want to wipe Israel off the map. Or, at least, remove them from their present location. This is impossible. There are close to 10 million Israelis who don’t want to be moved. The Palestinians believe the 1948 partition of Palestine was wrong. The problem is it did happen. Israel is now a fact of life. Removing 10 million people isn’t going to be easy or peaceful so the Palestinians who oppose Israel are at choice here.

Sadly, they have chosen terribly. They are still trying to scare the Israelis out of the region. It isn’t working. Everything they have done has caused the Palestinians to loose more lives, to loose more land, and to loose more autonomy. They are worse off now than they were in 1948, 1967, 1971, and will you get the point. They keep coming out of each confrontation with Israel in worse shape. The definition of insanity is to continue to do the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Killing Israelis is clearly not working to change the dynamics in Palestine. The only thing that has occurred is a growing list of Palestinian martyrs to a seemingly hopeless cause.

Israel doesn’t care about world opinion. Or, at least, they care more about their own survival than world opinion. And the world doesn’t appear inclined to help the Palestinians much more than utter some rather meek criticisms of Israeli actions. Israel continues to bomb away while Palestinians continue to die. The world is standing by, waiting to see what happens but don’t count on much more.

The side getting the shit kicked out of them normally surrenders their army and their weapons in order to stop their children from being killed. Hamas isn’t willing to do this so Israelis continue to bomb the shit out of Gaza. The sad fact is Hamas is more than willing to let these children die rather than surrender. Killing children will not change anyone’s mind (see Sandy Hook shooting).

Why Israel continues their campaign is beyond me. The idea that they will eliminate every bit of Palestinian resistance is just as foolish as the Palestinians believing that sacrificing their children to Israeli will somehow change World Public opinion. It just isn’t going to happen. Adding extra Hamas hit men to an already high body count has reached a point of no return, Israel has won all that it can win and they continue to hold the upper hand in the region. Yes there is a danger of Hamas regrouping and staging another attack. But then that is always going to be a danger, given the animus Palestinians hold against Israel. They are as safe from Hamas as they possibly can be, why not see what diplomacy can do now.

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I don’t know why Hamas thought attacking Israel on October 7 was a good idea but they were wrong. What a disaster. It has failed utterly to do anything of value for the Palestinian people. All they are getting from it is more martyrs. A whole population ruined again by this ill thought out attack.

And I don’t blame the Israelis for kicking the shit out of the Palestinians. Hamas attacked the civilian population of Israel — killing men, women and children. Did they really expect the Israelis to do nothing? Anyone watching the Middle East for the past 70 years knew they were going to retaliate. Unsurprisingly they did with the full might of their military.

Maybe Hamas thought that they could change world opinion which might have worked if October 7 had not been so vicious. But it was so much so that whenever I try to get mad at the Israelis, I remember October 7 and I no longer can muster the requisite anger to actually change my mind.

The modern world doesn’t work in a way that matches the Hamas’ strategy. The news is everywhere. What you do is seen and once it has been seen, it can’t be unseen. Terrorism still scares the shit out people. The more repellant the terrorism, the less likely that any positive message you have will be heard. October 7 was truly repellant.

What about the Israeli merciless attack on Gaza. Yes it was bad but, again, I keep coming back to Hamas. Israel wanted the perpetrators of the October 7 attack. They were hiding in Gaza. If Hamas truly wanted to stop the Israeli counter attack, they could do what any losing army does when their civilian population is getting the shit kicked out them — they can surrender. They refused to do it, so then who is responsible for the long bloody war in Gaza? To my mind, Hamas.

Unfortunately for the Palestinians, it looks like the world agrees or, at least, they aren’t willing to do much to save them outside of street demonstrations. So, Hamas allowed its civilian population to take the brunt of Israelis justified anger after a pointless, but savage, attack of Israeli citizens. How has it helped the Palestinians in any way? I mean fucking Donald Trump wants to take over Gaza, kick out the Palestinians and put up resort hotels.

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I was more sympathetic to Palestinian arguments regarding Israel before October 7. They got a raw deal in 1948. Jewish, Muslim and Christians all lived in the same area. To carve out a country which was wholly one religion would be impossible. Divvying up this land was going to leave some Muslims in the new Jewish state. This should have put a pause on the creation of Israel and, by pause I mean, come up with a better solution than the one proposed.

That did not happen. Some people will argue that it was a fair settlement. Others will say it was unfair. It doesn’t really matter because the result has been 76 years of war with intermittent periods of an uneasy peace. The Palestinians have been on the losing side of all of these wars. Despite these humiliating losses and the attendant carnage these wars cause, the Palestinians cling to a violent strategy that has brought them absolutely nothing but misery.

On October 7, Hamas launched an attack on Israel. A questionable move given that Israel has the best and most successful military in the region. Hamas had a day of victorious celebrations and then the hammer went down.

Why Hamas attacked is unclear. They wanted hostages to exchange for Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails. They managed to get some but they also angered the Israelis into a counter attack which, to my mind, was the real reason for the attack. To make the Israelis look bad. If I am correct, Hamas has succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

Here in lies the problem for me and why I have lost sympathy for the Palestinian position. When an army is getting the shit kicked out of them and there is no hope of winning, the losing side usually surrenders to the stronger power. Most losing armies do this because they want to protect their civilian population from further bloodshed. Hamas is apparently happy to sacrifice their civilian population to a losing cause. So the bloodshed continues.

But this is collective punishment. The children in Palestine have nothing to do with Hamas. Why should they be paying the price for Hamas. Hamas has chosen to hide in Gaza among children. It is a terrible situation. But no more terrible than the October 7 attack. They attacked a rock concert. They raped women. Children died in their incursion into Israel. Hamas has no trouble hurting civilian populations when they are the aggressor. It may not have been their intention to do this but it did happen. How can they complain about the Israelis doing the same?

Well, then the Israeli counter attack is disproportionately excessive to the Hamas attack. Again, yes, it is. But why shouldn’t it be if a country wants to protect itself against future aggression/ Why wouldn’t the Israelis put their focus on destroying Hamas and making sure that Hamas is unable to attack Israel again? Hamas is more interested in attacking Israel again than protecting its own civilian population. Hamas wants Israel to stop the war, a war Hamas is losing, without actually surrendering their troops. What winning army would accept that?

I do not know how to right the wrongs of the 1948 settlement but the present Hamas strategy has done little to help the Palestinian people. Israel keeps winning, and as is the wont of winners in war, taking more and more Palestinian land. I think it is time for Hamas and all the leaders in Palestine to take a realistic look at what they can get. Ask for the moon, by all means, but settle for what you can get. Tomorrow is another day and you can continue to work, hopefully peacefully, to get a better deal.

Blaming the Israelis for the present spat of violence is disingenuous. Hamas knew what they were doing, knew how the Israelis would respond and attacked any way. They did this all without worrying about the horrors their actions would unleash on the people in Gaza. They can end the war today simply by surrendering like any other losing army.


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There are times when there are only bad options on the table. That doesn’t mean you can opt out of the choice. Bad options still require a decision.

I this is where we are with Israel and Gaza. What exactly will a ceasefire do? There was a ceasefire in place before Hamas attacked on October 7. Hamas eventually broke that ceasefire. So, 2 weeks, months, years, decades from now the ceasefire will be broken. In the interim, is there any possible peace plan that both sides will accept? I am not hearing any.

Everything I hear is more war without anyone actually saying the word war. Palestinians want the river to the sea or all of Israel. How is that going to happen peacefully? There are 9 million Israelis. They are just going to pack up their things and move. Is that the idea? Where? The West, particularly North America and Europe, is already antagonistic towards immigration. It isn’t likely that pushing even more migrants onto the Western World is going to make them more receptive to mass immigration on this large a scale. With no place to go, and everything they have in Israel, it is a pretty safe bet the Israelis will fight.

Some say a truce would allow for the evacuation of women and children in Gaza. This would be good if somebody would take them but nobody wants them. What country has said that they would take Palestinian refugees? Particularly when many of these refugees are committed to waging war with Israel. What country wants to become a target for Israel’s revenge against the Palestinians?Let’s face it, the Palestinians aren’t going anywhere. So, then, there is no place to evacuate them to. A ceasefire is only delaying the next war not stopping it.

What Hamas gained from their attack on Israel is a mystery. Surely an aggressive military response from Israel must have occurred to them. Yet, they still went ahead with an attack of a superior military force with no plan to protect the civilian population of Gaza. Indeed, it looks very much like they wanted an Israeli counter attack of Hamas which, of course, would include civilians. Well, Hamas got what they wanted. For their efforts, Hamas got one day of unseemly celebrations for killing Israelis and then the relentless hammer of the Israeli military. This hardly seems worth the beating that the people of Gaza are experiencing presently.

The Israelis are getting bad publicity but then this doesn’t seem to bother the Israelis. They expect it. The Israelis, however, are united in their commitment for the survival of Israel. If this calls for bombing Gaza into submission, so be it. It is a horrible thing to happen, but then we used similar tactics during World War II. German and Japanese civilians suffered terribly during the Allied bombing of their cities. But then war is terrible.

So who gets the nod.

Hamas is antagonistic towards women’s rights and gay rights. They also stopped having elections in Gaza once they took control, so not particularly committed to democratic institutions. The atrocities that Hamas committed on October 7 further undermined their reputation as a civilized fighting force. The leaders of Hamas either don’t want to control their fighters or can’t control them. None of this speaks well of their ability to govern reasonably.

Netanyahu, on the other hand, is corrupt and dangerously self-serving. He wants to bend Israeli law in such a way that he can retain power. He also leads a government that is hostile to any Palestinian grievances. He opposes the two state solution which is the only peaceful solution even remotely considered as possible by both sides. Not much hope for peace while Netanyahu is in power. The Israelis do continue to have elections so there is some possibility that Netanyahu will be dismissed at some future date.

So two really bad options. But, it doesn’t take much thinking on my part, I would much rather take my chances with a government led by Netanyahu than one led by Hamas.

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Anti-Israel Protesters blocked the Golden Gate Bridge causing a traffic snarl in the Bay area. Google employees who disagreed with their company’s contracts with Israel stormed and occupied the suites of top executives. Other than bringing publicity to their cause, these demonstrations seem largely ineffective at changing minds. The major sentiment for people on the other side of the protest is irritation. Why are these people fucking with my day?

There is this notion, particularly on the left, that these brave souls are sacrificing themselves for the greater good. Take it to the streets and when the people see this massive show of popular sentiment, they will join the fight. That this rarely happens is beside the point. There is always the dream that this time it will work.

Demonstrations, contrary to popular thinking, are anti-democratic. Just because I can get 100,000 people marching for my cause, everyone else who isn’t marching must agree and you must do whatever I ask. The problem is that there was million or more people who failed to show up. What exactly is their position? At best, they might agree but don’t think it is important enough to take it to the streets or, at worst, they disagree and find you an irritation. Their opinion is unknown. The only way, at least in a country with democratic processes, is an election. Until then,why should any government change their position based on a couple thousand people stopping traffic.

The underlying fear in large demonstrations is the threat of violence. There are many people in the streets, some of them might be willing to resort to violence, governments might then decide to pacify the crowd by changing their position. This is an incredibly dangerous precedent for any government, left or right, to take.

For example, January 6. A small number of angry demonstrators occupied the congress because they were disappointed in how the democratic processes turned out. They too felt that their numbers had to be acknowledged, that by showing their numbers to legislators that the government will change its position and give the protesters what they want because if you don’t, there are millions of other Americans just waiting for the word from these patriots and this could mean violence all over the country. Indeed, I think the January 6 rioters actually thought they were going to ignite a revolution and were genuinely surprised when nothing happened. Instead, the vast majority of Americans decided to stay home.

Demonstrations are also exercises in moral superiority. You bastards aren’t listening to me so I am going to annoy you until you change your mind. Yelling at people, I have found, rarely gets people to change their minds. In fact, I would bet, it makes a lot of people stand firm on whatever position they have, particularly if that opinion differs from the demonstrators.

Take to the streets if you like. It is your right but I think a better way to spend your time, energy and money is peacefully changing people’s minds and winning elections. I know it isn’t as satisfying as storming the barricades and being joined by the masses you have inspired but, let’s face it, is much more likely to happen through elections than demonstrations.