In 2007 Isi Leibler wrote a comment in israeli newspaper YNet and required a tough response after a Qassam rocket attack.
Beside all of his cruel points like:
punish the civilian population,
maintain and intensify targeted assasinations,
deploy a wide-scale operation in the Gaza strip
he offered an argument which in the meantime seems to be standard not only within the ranks of politicians and the military in Israel, but also in the streets:
It is very simple and constructive:
Stop directing missiles on our civilians or your civilians may also be harmed.In fact, a tough Israeli response could actually encourage Palestinians to bring pressure onto their leaders and may in the long run even save Palestinian lives.
Sounds plausible, doesn’t it?
Wait a second. Lets’s read the same text as if it was written by Hamas:
The message to the Israelis is neither brutal nor heartless.
It is very simple and constructive:
Stop the occupation,
stop the shelling our homes,
stop the indiscriminate shooting of our people,
stop the humiliation of our people at the countless checkpointsor your civilians may also be harmed
In fact, a tough Hamas response could actually encourage Israelis to apply pressure on their leaders for negotiations, and thus will in the long run save Israeli lives.
Strange. Sounds as plausible as the first one.
Conclusion: There are no alternatives for political solutions instead of further inhumane military actions.
Only those like Leibler who won’t see the other side and who are willing to accept an ongoing bloodshed do ask for more toughness.
Most often, the Leiblers do not belong to the parties who pay the price.
Lessons have not been learned.
Operation Cast Lead just shed more blood.
The next bloodshed already lurks around the corner.
— Schlesinger
Photo: Edi Israel (Wiki CC Lizenz).
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