Major Issues Remain from the War in Gaza

By Nick Gier, Unfiltered 1-19-09

THE WAR IN GAZA:
"BOMBING 1.5 MILLION PEOPLE IN A CAGE"

By Nick Gier

An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind
--Gandhi

Ever since its founding in 1948, Israel has been fighting enemies who are committed to its destruction. Because of weapons provided by the U.S. and their own grit and determination, the Israelis have won every battle, even though it is now widely believed that it lost, at least politically, the 2006 war in Lebanon.

The Lebanese Shias of Hezbollah are actually stronger than ever--politically as well as militarily--and the Israelis now want to make sure that the same does not happen with the Sunni Hamas in the current Gaza War.

After 23 days of bombing, shelling, and ground assault, Hamas has been weakened but it is definitely not defeated. There are between 15,000-20,000 Hamas fighters, and only about 500 have been killed. Furthermore, 15-20 rockets were launched into Southern Israel every day.

There is world-wide condemnation of Israel’s bombing and shelling in Gaza, one of the densest populations in the world. As the civilian death toll climbs to over 600, the Israelis are being charged with killing a UN driver and attacking four UN schools. Over 4,500 Palestinians have been wounded and doctors in Gaza report that 40 percent of them are women and children.

It is very rare that the Red Cross says anything publicly, but it released a strong statement about not being able to evacuate wounded Palestinians for four days. In this instance the Israeli army relocated over 110 people in one house. Later, for some unknown reason, an Israeli tank attacked the house, and even though the people made their presence known, the shelling continued and 30 were killed.

When Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said that "there is no humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip," she was obviously not helping Israel's already badly tarnished image in the world. Also outrageous was the comment by the Israeli Interior Minister that it is necessary to "break the will of the Palestinians."

Some say that the Palestinians have no excuse because a majority of them voted for Hamas in 2006, and they allow Hamas fighters to hide in their houses, schools, and mosques. Blaming all Palestinians for this war is as absurd as blaming all those who voted for Bush for his incompetence.

The gap between civilians and militants was clear at the Al-Shifa Hospital on January 8. The rooms were filled with badly injured and dying patients. A Hamas fighter came in and demanded to be treated ahead of the civilians. A New York Times reporter tried to make him aware of what his fanaticism had done to his people, but all he could say, while flashing an "incandescent smile," was that they would die as martyrs just as he would.

Just as insensitive as those who blame all Palestinians are those who dismiss the 32 Israeli dead in seven years of rocket attacks as 13 fewer than the average who died on Israel's highways last year.

Israelis still have memories from the Gulf War, when the entire nation wore gas masks awaiting what they thought would be chemically laden Scud missiles from Iraq. The warheads carried conventional explosives, but it was just as terrifying then as it is now.

The Bush administration has been totally inept in its handling of the Palestinian issue. The invasion of Iraq has alienated hundreds of millions of moderate Muslims, and Bush’s nonchalance and tactlessness have also hurt America’s reputation in the area. Particularly outrageous is this confession to King Abdullah of Jordan: "I'm sick of the Palestine-Israeli issue." (The Economist, 8/23/08).

Bush’s naïve ideas about democracy and pushing for elections when people were not ready for them haves had disastrous results. Early elections in Iraq led to the rule of a corrupt Shiite majority and a deadly civil war. Both Israeli and Palestinian leaders wanted to postpone the 2006 elections in which Hamas was the big winner, but Bush insisted that they go ahead.

The Bush administration has now joined Israel in refusing to recognize Hamas’ legislative mandate and has supported Israel’s brutal blockade of Gaza, which has led to the malnourishment of 75 percent of its children. The tunnels have not only been dug for the transport of weapons, but also for basic supplies for survival.

Just as the bombing of Lebanon did not force the Lebanese to disown Hezbollah, so, too, even though with Gaza completely leveled, the Palestinians will not give up their support for Hamas. In fact, Fatah, which has been cooperating with the Israelis in the West Bank, may lose credibility because they are now perceived as not giving sufficient support to their brothers and sisters in Gaza.

Over 80 percent of the residents of Gaza are refugees, 60 years removed from their ancestral homes in present day Israel. Some of the elders still have keys to the original locks on those residences.

In 1978 I met a Christian Palestinian in Denmark and for he first time I learned what it meant to be stateless. Israelis have a right to be safe in their homes, but the Palestinians also have a right to return to the land and houses that were theirs long before the state of Israel was founded.

Nick Gier taught philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. Read or hear his other columns at www.NickGier.com

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