Grumble grumble
I'm getting annoyed at the automated Facebook statuses that chronicle Hamas rocket launches or Gaza deaths. They are far too one-sided and they strip the deaths and events of context.
I've been spending the last few days listening to NPR and the BBC's "Have Your Say" while driving, and two things above all have angered me:
1. Talking about the right of Palestinians to defend themselves in response to the blockade. Yes, of course, everyone has the right to defend themselves. Trouble is, the blockade was imposed BECAUSE Hamas started firing rockets at Israel immediately after the withdrawal.
2. The one caller on the radio - and there are others out there - who blame Israel and others for not engaging Hamas when it was elected into power, for not, in the caller's words, giving Hamas "the benefit of the doubt." Right. The benefit of the doubt. The entire organization is built around the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state! They carried out suicide bombings and other attacks! Why should Israel try to negotiate with that agenda?
Now, to make it clear, I feel horrible for ordinary Gazans. They're caught in between a fundamentalist regime that provokes Israel to make itself look like a victim for PR benefit on the one hand and one of the world's most powerful militaries on the other. I also want to make clear that I understand that just as Israel withdrew from Gaza, they also set about expanding illegal settlements in the West Bank. I just really wish people would take time to understand the history and see that Israel has really been forced into doing what it is now doing, and that it is also unlikely any good will come of it, either.
I've been spending the last few days listening to NPR and the BBC's "Have Your Say" while driving, and two things above all have angered me:
1. Talking about the right of Palestinians to defend themselves in response to the blockade. Yes, of course, everyone has the right to defend themselves. Trouble is, the blockade was imposed BECAUSE Hamas started firing rockets at Israel immediately after the withdrawal.
2. The one caller on the radio - and there are others out there - who blame Israel and others for not engaging Hamas when it was elected into power, for not, in the caller's words, giving Hamas "the benefit of the doubt." Right. The benefit of the doubt. The entire organization is built around the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state! They carried out suicide bombings and other attacks! Why should Israel try to negotiate with that agenda?
Now, to make it clear, I feel horrible for ordinary Gazans. They're caught in between a fundamentalist regime that provokes Israel to make itself look like a victim for PR benefit on the one hand and one of the world's most powerful militaries on the other. I also want to make clear that I understand that just as Israel withdrew from Gaza, they also set about expanding illegal settlements in the West Bank. I just really wish people would take time to understand the history and see that Israel has really been forced into doing what it is now doing, and that it is also unlikely any good will come of it, either.