Israel Back in Gaza: The Right of Self-Defense
Audio Only
Mark discusses Israel’s decision, finally, to take decisive action to protect its citizens who have been under bombardment by 7694 missiles.
Here’s why Palestinian Arabs and the world should encourage Israel to reoccupy Gaza. Let’s face it, they had greater economic prosperity and were far more secure under Israeli rule than under the Hamas dictatorship.
A senior Israeli official described the situation bluntly:
This very limited (Gaza) operation was intended to show Hamas what could happen, what you may call a ‘prequel’,” the senior Israeli official said.
“If they decide they’ve seen enough and stop the rockets, if they get the message, then we may get into a period of quiet. If they continue to fire the rockets, then there will be more operations like this one or worse,” the official said.
Those that support a Greater Israel have no greater friend than Hamas, which will eventually force Israel to reoccupy the Gaza Strip. They are lucky that Palestinians have never discovered their secret weapon, the one weapon that would crush support for a Greater Israel worldwide and in Israel proper and that would immediately lead to the creation of a viable Palestinian State.
That secret weapon is…..non-violence. Lucky for Israeli hawks, the Arabs will never think to try it.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Tonia March 4, 2008 10:32 am
Dear Mark:
Your advocacy on a non violent approach for the Palestinian people resonated with me during the broadcast. I was transported back to 2006 when I recalled an intense discussion between my graduating colleagues on Hamas violating the will of the people right after they were elected. One of our colleagues was from Gaza and she was shaking in rage and tearing with sadness at what mistake her people had made in electing Hamas to office.
In terms of Europe, I would argue that it has way too many complex problems such as Turkey and the EU; ramifications of the end of the cold war in transforming former communist states to “european states;” fear of terrorism – subway anthrax, losing election (Spain); spinning heads over phoenix rising (Russia) just to name a few things in addition to what you have already pointed out on Europe’s reluctance to engage in the Middle East. Europe just won’t be able to handle it!
The US has made so many blunders that we are no longer a credible bully, ally or peace broker in the Middle East. Asia is busy amassing wealth and Africa is bleeding. So that leaves us with Australia and that would just mean we will have to surf them off …
Egypt is not a viable option either because of the baggage it carries of being a non-actor on African issues in recent memory. Plus, it is flagged between Libya and Sudan – go figure!
Now that I have made excuses for the rest of the world on why they are not successful in engaging as peace brokers in the Middle East, I am a firm beliver that true change occurs from within. The people must rise from within. However, as long as the world mucks things up for the people of Palestine and Israel – Palestine will not be able to rise from within and Israel will keep wondering what the rest of the world thinks and never get its peace.
Mayanmar and Pakistan are examples of people rising because outside interference at that point in time was minimal. South Africa is another example of people rising. And then there are the Kurds and Kurdistan – indeed people are very adaptable creatures and the war theater can also become a stage for us.
Also, I think that people do not just fight to anihalate another group of people for no reason as ridiculous the reason might be to a bystander. Every society lives in their own reality. People fight to survive. Control over the Jordon River is key to the survival of the people living in Gaza. If people are content, they tend not to fight over the basics such as water in their kitchen and passage to the market. Water politics is very tricky and very ‘under the radar’ as can be observed with the Assam Dam to the Jordon River to the Black Sea.
Well, this email has become very long but that is because I really enjoyed your show and came away with many things to think about. Thank you for allowing me to share some of them with you.
On that note, just in case you have not already come across the Conciliation Resources, I thought you would be interested in their work
http://www.c-r.org/about/approach.php
and especially the Northern Ireland case study (locked up weapons that starts the peace process) as pertains to this topic of discussion
http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/northern-ireland/index.php
Thank you for your time and keep up the good debates – we are listening.
Sincerely,
Tania