"The assault brings new risks and the prospect of many new casualties on both sides in a confrontation that, before this phase began, had already cost the lives of more than 430 Palestinians and 4 Israelis. ...While a ground war in densely populated Gaza is likely to increase the civilian toll there, the Israeli Army also faces new threats...World leaders called on Hamas and Israel to accept an immediate cease-fire, and in several European cities tens of thousands of protesters demanded that Israel end its campaign..A mosque in northern Gaza was also hit, during evening prayer time, in what witnesses said was an Israeli airstrike. At least 11 worshipers were killed and about 30 wounded, according to Palestinian hospital officials. The Israeli military had no immediate comment."
http://www.nytimes.com/200
"As noted, the US-Israeli alliance was firmed up precisely when Israel performed a huge service to the US-Saudis-Energy corporations by smashing secular Arab nationalism, which threatened to divert resources to domestic needs. That's also when the Lobby takes off (apart from the Christian evangelical component, by far the most numerous and arguably the most influential part, but that's mostly the 90s). And it's also when the intellectual-political class began their love affair with Israel, previously of little interest to them. They are a very influential part of the Lobby because of their role in media, scholarship, etc..” -Noam Chomsky
http://www.zmag.org/znet/v
"United States blocked a security council resolution calling for 'an immediate Israeli-Hamas cease-fire in Gaza and southern Israel and expressing serious concern at the escalation of violence.' The United States...said that Israel's attack was a result of the Hamas bombing and that it condemned the attacks by Hamas..."
-wikipedia
"Hamas to 'fight to the last breath.'"
www.cnn.com
"The IDF warned that terrorists using civilians as human shields would bear full responsibility for their fate. Israeli prime minister's spokesman, Mark Regev, said this operation will stop. How many more before this ends?"
http://firedoglake.com/200
This old conflict is making use of new technologies, but the results are the same:
"Israel's consulate in New York began holding online press conferences on Twitter, a microbloggin website, and the IDF Spokesperson's Unit opened a channel on the website YouTube to diffuse video of airstrikes against Hamas targets."
-wikipedia
1 comment:
Jonathan Jones made the comment:
As a pseudo-pacifist I believe there are always better options than war, as a humanist I believe that even in an age of smart bombs, artillary bombardment should be a last resort because civillian casualties are inevitable.
However the issue is far more complex than Israel being a proxy for American consumer-driven Imperialism, so here are three points that we need to bear in mind when examining the rights and wrongs of this conflict:
1. It's legal. Under international law, if one country fires missiles across it's border at another country, that is considered an act of war. (However, in War you can still be Criminal; I'm not letting anyone off the hook there)
2. Hamas is not Palestine. I remain dubious about the intentions and goals of Hamas, as their priority has always been the destruction of Israel (as a Jewish-dominated country, at least), rather than the creation of a Palestinian state. I worry that they see Gaza as a pawn to be sacrificed in a gambit to galvanize apathetic or neutral arab countries like Egypt and Syria against Israel.
3. We don't actually know anything. Israel hasn't been letting the international media or observers in, and will obviously play down the casualty rates, so all we've got to go on is Hamas statements, which will obviously inflate them. We don't even know how many of those 420 Palestinian casualties were actually "legitimate targets". The UN says 75%, Israel says 80%, and I don't think Hamas have said anything. To be honest, we don't even know how accurate that figure of 420 is.
There is, in fact, a fourth dynamic here. This year Israelis will go to the polls to vote on who should lead the Knesset after the comparatively moderate Tzipi Livni failed to form a coalition of moderate parties. Early indicators suggested that the right-wing Benjamin Netanyahu would gain a significant number of seats, leading to a right-ways shift in Israeli politics.
With Livni showing that she too can talk and act tough when the need arises, Kadima (her party) may be able to halt the right-wing slide among Israeli voters, and even increase the power of the moderate parties. With a more moderate Israel offering large concessions to Hamas and Fatah, this generation might just be the one to break the circle of violence.
But what now? Now is too early to be taking sides. Hamas enjoys enormous support within Gaza, and the offensive enjoys near-total approval within Israel, and neither look ready to heed ceasefire calls anytime soon. Barring millitary intervention from a third party, very little can be done. All we can do is pray, support the Red Cross/Crescent, and wait for the dust to settle.
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