The Tragedy of Fighting Terror with Terror.

These words are not easy for me to write, and still, they should be written. This post walks a fine line, but one that should be walked. It crosses bridges that should be crossed and reveals truths that should be discussed. Its purpose is to show that Israel is using increasingly alarming terror techniques in its fight against the Palestinians.
I further argue that at this point the state terror used by Israel imposes by far a greater risk to Israel itself than the Palestinian terror.

Some parallels between the Hamas and the Isareli government:

- Both do not acknowledge each other, even though they both were elected democratically by their own people. Furthermore, both choose violence in order to attempt to destroy the other. By doing so, both only strengthen their partner to this bloody dance.

- Both kill hundreds of civilians, on purpose. Yes, even Israel. For example, Israel used artillery and other inaccurate weapons during the last war. One cannot use these weapons in the most densely populated place on earth and hope that no civilians get killed. There is one difference between the Hamas and Israel, and Israel should not be proud of it: more Palestinians (overall and civilians) were killed during the 3 weeks of Israeli operation in Gaza compared with Israelis who got killed by Palestinians in the 9 years since the Second Intifada broke. 3 weeks vs. 9 years.

- Both kidnap soldiers and put them in inhumane conditions. Again, only one tiny difference: while the Hamas kidnapped one member of the Israeli army, Israel holds thousands of Hamas members.

- Both do so in the name of religion.

- Both need the other to exist in order to justify their own ideology of hatred and racism.

- This is a key point: they both hide behind civilians. One of the most common criticism towards the Hamas is that it operates from civic centers, and its soldiers use human shields to protect themselves. For example, the Jewish Chronicle published the following caricature last week:

Here is another similar caricature.

However, also Israel uses human shields. First, its biggest military bases are in the middle of civilian concentrations (HaKirya in Tel Aviv, Pikud Darom in Beer Sheva, etc). But I am not talking about this. I am talking about the Neighbor Procedure (נהל שכן).
Bear with me, this is tricky.
When searching for suspects from house to house, Israeli soldiers take local people and make them knock on the doors and open them, so that if the suspects open fire, the locals will get hurt and not the soldiers. This was declared illegal by the Israeli supreme court, yet nonetheless, the army still uses this procedure and ignores the court order.
More can be found here. Testimonials from the recent Gaza war can be found here: "soldiers had made them, at gun point, open doors and enter houses to search for Hamas members". And if you believe only Jews, here Israeli soldiers talk about using this procedure.
So again, both sides use human shields. Again, one difference - while Hamas uses its own people, Israel uses Palestinians to protect its soldiers.

- Both declare that their goals are to terrorize the other side. Israel calls it 'so they learn a lesson', but I am not sure how this is different.

- Both parties took advantage of the truce to prepare for the next war...

There are also differences, of course. Naturally, I do not defend the Hamas. It is a terror organization and Israel should protect itself against its violence.
However, Israel cannot - - - well, it can, it does, but it should not - become a terror organization itself.

Furthremore, I argue that this imposes a greater risk to Israel compared with the Palestinian terror. Why is it dangerous?
- First and foremost, we loose the moral ground and the basis to our existence.
- Second, it creates emotional scars also in the soldiers, that lead, so I believe, to increasing domestic violence - in home, on the road, between individuals, etc.
- Security wise - it gives legitimacy to the worst terror against Israel. For example, what can Israel claim now when Iranian missiles will start falling on Tel Aviv?
- It puts our democracy at risk. For example, in the recent war, there were many cases of pro-peace demonstrators being attacked by security forces and dehumanized. One example for such story was told by a friend of mine to the Guardian. Another example - the Israeli parliament voted for disqualifying the Arab parties from participating in the elections. (who said democracy is for all? Also in Iran the government can choose who will run in the 'democratic' process...). Luckily, this miserable decision was later overturned by court.

But my main point is not that this is not a smart move. My main point is that this simply should not be done.

Luckily, Jon Stewart found a better way to say it.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Gitmo's World - Death to America

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

The roots of evil - what is the middle-east conflict all about?

Image via WikipediaIn our daily effort to keep track of the violence, counter violence, preemptive-defensive-aggressive-protective-violence, or simply the news, we often forget to ask one simple question:
What do we fight over?
And this question has one simple answer:
Land.

Now why is this controversial? Why is there a need to write a post about it? Because there is a common misconception that this conflict is much more complicated, that religions, gods, and racism are involved, that its roots are deeper than a 100 years argument. Some parties have interest in spreading that belief, though the answer is simpler. Here are three key facts to explain the origins of the conflict.

1. There is no historical conflict or hostility between Muslims and Jews.
Actually, the history of the two peoples is pretty promising. The Islamic empire ruled over large portions of the middle east, including Israel, for over 500 years (starting at the 7th century). Jews lived prosperous lives in that empire. They weren't equal citizens, since no one was. But they had better lives than most other minorities, second only to the ruling Muslims. A fine example was Maimonides (Ha-Ramba"m), one of the most important Jewish scholars and philosophers, who migrated to Egypt and chose to spend his life there, well respected and admired by the authorities, until he passed away on 1204.

If anything, the threat to Jews came mainly from the christians at that period and beyond - whether during the crusades, the Spanish inquisition, and of course, the Holocaust during World War II. This was documented very well by Mel Brookes in the History of the World Part 1 (start watching at 1:30 :-)

2. Hostility between Jews and Muslims began when Jews started migrating to Israel.

Until the end of the 1800's Jews were a tiny minority in the land of Israel. Actually, amongst the 400,000 inhabitants of the area now called Israel, less than 10% were Jewish, most of them lived in Jerusalem.

When anti-semitism in Europe rose, Jews started cultivating nationalistic aspirations and began migrating to Israel. Don't get me wrong- I fully support that movement. The dilemma was between migrating to Israel and getting killed in Europe. At the same time, I understand the Arab majority, who did not like that. They saw their jobs and land taken over by the new immigrants.

This is not a new phenomena. Look at the xenophobia in Europe today.

Furthermore, hostilities between the Arab majority and Jewish minorities throughout the middle east were rear before the establishment of Israel. Jews played important roles in the cultures and economies of many Muslim countries, especially Egypt and Iraq, but also Morocco and others. It is only when Israel was established and half a million Arabs were expelled from it that Jews were persecuted in Arab countries. As a result, a Israel experienced a huge wave of immigration of Jews form Muslim countries during the early 1950's.

Another great documentary, this time from Israel - Lul, about immigration to Israel.

3. The war between Israel and the Arabs includes many Christian Arabs.

Many of the Arabs throughout the middle east, and especially in the land that is today Israel, were Christians. Simply put, this war is not between Jews and Muslims.

Okay, this post is getting long. So you can stop reading here and still get full credit for this post, or engage with me in the following question: Why do certain groups convey this as a religious war?

There are many reasons. First, it is by far more simplistic and easy to understand. It makes clear distinction between 'good' and 'bad' - where actually, both sides are the good, the bad, and the ugly. Second, it allows us to be the victims - and the rest of the world can pity us and see how right and poor we are. Third, and this is true for the Israeli side only, it allows us to connect it to the holocaust. We suffered then, we suffer now.

Last, it allows us to avoid the simple solution.

This war is a hundred years old conflict about land, and it will be solved either by dividing or by sharing the land. As simple as that.

Now, that it is over, we can ask. Who began the Gaza war and why?

The views from Gaza were horrible, where hundreds of children were killed during the Israeli assault. Devastating stories come also from the Israeli side, where kids in Sderot have lived under fire for the last 8 years.

Was this war really necessary? In the last six months before the war there had been a cease fire between Israel and the Hamas. This was a peaceful solution for both problems. No dead Palestinians, no rockets on Israel. Who ended the truce?

The views are conflicting (obviously). Israel argues that the Hamas ended the truce, while the Palestinians argue that it was Israel.

The Hamas was the first to declare the truce was over. Certainly, they made the political mistake. More accurately, they announced that they are not renewing it after 6 months.
What is less known is that this was a result of an Israeli attack in Gaza, and thus de facto, it was Israel who broke the truce.

Here is the full story:



And for those who need more references, here they are.

Notice that the Israeli attack took place on November 4th, the day of elections in America. A coincidence or an attempt to avoid the media? (surprisingly, the current war ended right before inauguration, not to upset the new boss).

Anyhow, as an Israeli, I found the whole thing quite disturbing. Was Israel really the first to break the cease fire? So I asked a friend of mine who lives in Sderot. Yes, she is one of those who were attacked almost daily for the last eight years, until the cease fire broke. Surely, she knows when rockets were falling and when not. And here is what she said (Hebrew followed by my translation):

"זה נכון, נורו טילים בודדים פה ושם, אבל לא של החמאס. אנחנו יודעים גם מחברינו בעזה שהחמאס אכף את הפסקת האש ביד ברזל. גם את הפסקת האש שברה ישראל עם סיפור המנהרה ואחר כך סיפור המוקשים. הרגו 20 פלסטינים ואז הם החזירו, וההמשך ידוע.
בינתיים צה"ל ממשיך לכתוש גם הלילה, בשביל האגו של מנהיגנו שלא מסוגלים לסיים את הפרשה ורבים על הקרדיט. פשוט נורא."

Translation: "This is true. Several missiles were fired here and there, but not by the Hamas. We know from our friends in Gaza that the Hamas indeed enforced the cease fire with an iron fist. Israel broke the truce first with the tunnel story and then with the mines. Israeli killed 20 Palestinians, so then they took their turn, and the rest is known. Meanwhile, the Israeli army continues to pound this night too, for the ego of our leaders that cannot end the story and fight over the credit. Simply horrible."
(January 14, 2009)

We heard similar things during an event we held here in Pittsburgh. On the line is Eric Yellin, another friend form Sderot (his blog is certainly worth reading).



Btw, also the main-stream Israeli media acknowledges it. Only that according to Israeli estimates, the Israeli attacks should not have caused the Hamas to break the truce (Hebrew only, sorry).

Let me make several things clear:
- No Hamas rockets on civilians in Israel are legitimate, of course, even if Israel was the first to break the truce.
- Hamas wanted to continue the truce not to work on its flower garden, but to rebuild its army.
- Perhaps the Israeli attack on November 4th was necessary.

Still, there was a truce, no people were hurt on either side of the border, Israel broke it, and now it is lying. If these facts are wrong, please show me where.

So I went on to study this issue. How do truces between Israel and the Palestinians end? This post examines who was the first to kill after days of non-violence. It found that "it is overwhelmingly Israel that kills first after a pause in the conflict: 79% of all conflict pauses were interrupted when Israel killed a Palestinian, while only 8% were interrupted by Palestinian attacks (the remaining 13% were interrupted by both sides on the same day)."
In other words, after quiet days, it is usually Israel that is the first to reignite violence. This is even clearer when looking at longer periods of no violence:
"of the 25 periods of nonviolence lasting longer than a week, Israel unilaterally interrupted 24, or 96%, and it unilaterally interrupted 100% of the 14 periods of nonviolence lasting longer than 9 days."

I certainly do not justify the rockets on Israel. As said earlier, I have friends with children that live under these attacks. The Hamas is a terror organization. I simply examines the deeds of my people, looking at myself in the mirror. Is Israel much better?

But why does Israel do that? Unlike the facts written above, these are speculations. I will address these some other time. May we all have a quiet year.

I Speak to You Today in the Name of Many.

I want to share with you things I said today at the protest against the war in Gaza. (January 17 2009, Pittsburgh PA).
-----------------

My name is Ido Roll, and I am an Israeli.

I speak to you today in the name of hundreds of Israelis who refuse to join the Israeli army because it is committing war crimes against people who should be free.
I speak to you in the name of thousands of people in Sderot, Beer Sheva, and southern Israel, who have lived under the attacks of deadly rockets for 8 years, and still oppose the war and killing in Gaza.
I speak to you in the name of tens of thousands of Israelis, in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Sachnin, who go out to the streets and protest the war every day, though their voices are ignored by the media.

I am speaking in the name of all these, begging, asking: please, stop the killing. Stop the war NOW.

Two days ago we held an Jewish pro-peace event at the Jewish Community Center. We heard these unheard voices. We also talked with Dr. Izzadin Abouleish, a physician from Gebalya refugee camp in Gaza. Izzadin, in his loud and clear voice, called for peace. He described how he sits on the floor, looks at the eyes of his kids, and cannot tell them where he will be tomorrow, or where they will be the day after. He described how his life would no longer be called life if his children get hurt.
12 hours later an Israeli tank hit his home. 3 of his daughters were killed. His brothers and two more sons were critically wounded or killed. This war spares no-one. No one is immune to this crazy violence.

This is not about being pro-Israeli vs. pro-Palestinian. This is about being pro the living. Pro common sense. Pro people. We must all do what we can to stop the killing.

We need a ceasefire now. But we should not stop there. This war is only the symptom of a much deeper disease. As long as there is an occupation, there is violence. We should continue, until all people in the Middle East can live freely, peacefully, life of dignity and prosperity.

I am calling on all Americans to stand for what they believe. This conflict will not be solved by watching it on CNN. We have the responsibility, the moral obligation, to act. Every day in which we do not act is a day in which we let the killing go on.
I can't stop thinking about the daughters of Dr. Aboueleish. I can't stop praying for my own daughter, never to know these things.
The killing must end now.

Thank you.

In commemoration of the children of Dr. Abuleish

* On Thursday I talked with Dr. Abuleish at a pro-peace event at the Jewish Community Center.
* On Friday three of his kids were killed by the Israeli army.
* On Saturday I am sitting down to write this, my eyes covered with tears and my thoughts overwhelmed by the voices.
Let me try to put some sense in these 36 hours.

Dr. Abuleish is a unique person. He is everything I want to be. The only thing bigger than his mind is his soul. The only thing more powerful than his love to humanity is his love to his kids.
Dr. Abuleish, a Palestinian refugee, has worked for years in Israeli hospitals as an OB/GYN, helping everyone in need. He has delivered pregnant settlers women, who opposed his right to exist. Dr. Abuleish is one of the most charming and lovable people I have talked with. You cannot hear him without feeling that he has been here for ever, and has always been your best friend.

Exaxctly 36 hours ago we held a pro-peace event at the Jewish Community Center. The goals of the event were simple - to hear pro-peace voices from Israel, not commonly heard in the main-stream media (and especially in the Jewish community). And, to show that to support Israel means to oppose the war. We asked Dr. Abuleish to speak with us via Skype. He sent us all a clear message - we should stop killing each other and start behaving like neighbors. He told us about an event the other day when a tank targeted his home and was stopped in the last moment. He shared with us earlier that Israel has refused his request to leave his home and find a shelter in a Mosque.
And even in the middle of the war, when tanks threatening his home, his voice for peace was loud and clear.
You can read the event coverage in the local newspaper here. I will try to upload all recordings from it later.
Here are several highlights from the conversation with Abuleish (2 minutes long).

And here is the full version (21 minutes).

As Abouleish said, we all prayed for peace.
On Friday, only few hours later, the soldiers at the IDF fired direct artillery at the Abuleish home. Three of his daughters were killed on the spot. Other relatives, including two of his brothers and two more of his kids, were either severely injured or died, it is not clear to me at this point. This was done while Abouleish was talking on the Israeli TV. Live killing.
(if you cna't see the English captions, click the small triangle on the bottom-right corner and choose the 'cc' option).



You can also read about this here.

And now, Saturday morning, I sit and try to write. My daughter is sound asleep in the arms of her amazing mom and my beloved wife. She is safe in our arms. Abuleish couldn't give even that to his children. As he told us on Thursday night, "I am sitting helpless, looking in my children's eyes, while they're wondering which one of us will be lost"

And the news keep coming. Dr. Abuleish's injured kids were transferred to an Israeli hospital, to get the best treatment they can. "This is the only time it happened this war", Israeli resources say with pride.
I wonder why they don't say it with shame.
The number are still not finite, but at least 300 kids were killed by the Israeli army during this war. Kids. Children. Babies. The net is full of their photos. Estimates say that thousands more were injured. Where are they? Who takes care of them?
Meanwhile, Israel has bombed a hospital in Gaza.

Just so the proportions are clear, Israel has killed in two week of mass murder in Gaza more than the Hamas has killed since the breaking of the second Intifada, at 2000.
We can't say we didn't know. Please, do what you can to stop that. Do what you can to stop any war.

From the Net: Alternative Voices from Israel

The dimensions of opposition within Israel to the war are striking. וֹUnfortunately, undoubtedly, vast majority still supports it. However, more and more voices are beginning to be heard.
Here are a couple of especially interesting examples:

A fascinating blog by two friends from Sderot (Israel) and Sajaia refugee camp (Gaza): "Both sides were blaming each other. Israel claiming that the Hamas is not abiding to the ceasefire since there were occasional rockets and the arms smuggling continued, and Hamas claiming that Israel is not fulfilling its part since the siege continued."

Israeli soldiers who refuse to participate in the war:


A public letter from Israelis: "We are calling on the world to stop Israeli violence and not allow the continuation of the brutal occupation. We call on the world to Condemn and not become an accomplice in Israel's crimes."

Facebook groups:
- Israelis Say NO to the attack on Gazza!
- B'Tselem
- Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies

Protests:
- Die-in Against War in Gaza
- Protest in Tel-Aviv

This is in addition to tens of op-eds in the main-stream media that criticize the Israeli attacks and call for immediate withdraw.

* Bonus track (geographically related, but much less violent) - a beautiful project documenting the lives on both sides of the fence in 80 two-minute video clips.

A Hanukkah Tale

The days are dark days in Israel. The so-called progressive Greeks are ruling the country, and their influence is everywhere: people eat Dolmathes, listen to Hadjidakis, and go to Toga parties every Friday.



The year is 167 B.C., exactly 2,176 years and two weeks ago.

Something is missing. The Jews living in Israel call it: Freedom. Simply put, they are not independent.

One of the elderly of Mode'in, a Jewish town, is a simple guy named Mattathias (or Ma-Tit-Ya-Hu). A very respected person, and a man of peace. But even he have had enough:

(apologies for the anachronistic English; a Hebrew version of the story can be found here, ch. 2, 1-26)

"6 He saw the evils being committed in Judah and Jerusalem, and said:7 Alas! Why was I born to see this, the ruin of my people, the ruin of the holy city, and to dwell there when it was given over to the enemy, the sanctuary given over to aliens? 8 Her temple has become like a man without honor" (The First Book of Maccabees, ch. 2).

Seeing this injustice was too much for Mattathias and his sons. The worst happened when "15 ...the king's officers who were enforcing the apostasy came to the city of Mode'in to make them offer sacrifice. 16 Many from Israel came to them; and Mattathias and his sons were assembled."

'Are they crazy?' wondered Mattathias, 'forcing us to work their gods?'. And then, to his greatest astonishment, "23 ...a Jew came forward in the sight of all to offer sacrifice upon the altar in Mode'in, according to the king's command."

Mattethias did not have to think twice. "24 When Mattathias saw it, be burned with zeal and his heart was stirred. He gave vent to righteous anger; he ran and killed him upon the altar. 25 At the same time he killed the king's officer who was forcing them to sacrifice, and he tore down the altar."

So basically, one of the Israelis collaborated with the occupying regime. Mattathias, jealous to the Jewish God, hurried up and killed him, killed the soldier who was merely broadcasting the command, and destroyed what he could have.

T H E - E N D

Or is it? Does this ring a bell?
Many Palestinians collaborate with Israel. "Collaborators", they are called, or "Mashtapim" in Hebrew. When Palestinians reveal such collaborators, they simply kill them. This phenomena is more common than you may think. During the first Intifada (1987-1993), according to Palestinian resources, about a 1,000 were murdered by other Palestinians in the guilt of collaboration, Mattathias style (just to get some proportions, Israel killed about 1,100 Palestinians during the same period).

Actually, this is one of the main points Israelis use to show how un-democratic the Palestinians are.

What does this parallel to Hanukkah tell us? What is the lesson to be learned?
Does it justify the killing of brothers in the name of God?

Of course not.

For a while, I interpreted this story too literally. I hated Hanukah, just like I hate the killing of Palestinian collaborators. But then Naftali taught me an important lesson, and here it is: What this story comes to tell us is that living under occupation can make people do horrible things. It did it to Mattathias 2,000 years ago, and it does it to Palestinians now. When living under occupation, people learn to use excessive violence to resolve all problems.
Losing morality is only half of the damage that occupation causes. The other half is that it causes the occupier to loose its morality too. But this is for a different post.

Fun Trivia for Days of War: Who is the Following Organization?

Image via Wikipedia Question 1: Which terror organization am I?
Our mystery organization was a militant group that operated in Palestine/Israel in order to free the land that had been promised to its people by the lord.

It argued that only fighting and terror could free their land from the evil occupier. No person is immune, and every killing is justified. I think the picture is clear, but just to be sure, a couple of examples:

• It blew up a hotel (and killed 91 people).
• It attacked a settlement (and killed 110 civilians)
• After 3 of its members were killed by the ruling army, it kidnapped two soldiers (and executed them).

Hint - the photo on the top right is of its leader.
Okay, who is our mysterious organization?

1. The Hamas, of course, what is the question?
2. Hmmm... not Hamas? Perhaps the Fatah
3. I know, I know! it's Al-Qaeda!
4. All of the above, these guys can't be trusted.
   

Well, here is a slight surprise for you. The organization is actually a Jewish terror organization. It was called the Irgun, and it operated against the local Arab population and the British Army during the late 30s and 40s (before the establishment of Israel). Here is a summary of its ideology: "every Jew had the right to enter Palestine; only active retaliation would deter the Arabs and the British; only Jewish armed force would ensure the Jewish state" (Howard Sachar: ''A History of the State of Israel, p. 265-266). Substiute 'Jew' for 'Muslim', and you get the instant version of the Hamas ideology.

The parallels are astonishing. A terror organization, attacks civilians, kidnaps soldiers, and all in the name of freedom and justice.

Lesson 1 - Israelis should at least understand where the Hamas is coming from. It is part of our (hi)story as well. We did the same 70 years ago. People under occupation do crazy stuff.

Question 2: How did the main Jewish establishment respond?
You may think that the Irgun was a tangent phenomena in the Zionist story. But it wasn't. Actually, the parallels are pretty striking also here. Today the Palestinians have the moderate PLO, and back then the Jewish population under the British had the Hagana. But look what the Israeli government had to say about the massacre in the village I mentioned above, 20 years later:
"In 1969, the Israeli Foreign Ministry published a pamphlet “Background Notes on Current Themes: Deir Yassin” in English denying that there had been a massacre at Deir Yassin, and calling the story "part of a package of fairy tales, for export and home consumption"." (all-knowing Wikipedia). Just to be clear about the facts: there is no doubt that the massacre took place. This is why the Israeli Foreign Minstery did not publish this in Hebrew. But it did deny it in English.

Lesson #2: We should be tolerant towards the Palestinian response to the Hamas terror attacks. In times of war, people are willing to tweak reality and justify the most horrible actions. This is part of our (hi)story as well. We did the same only 40 years ago.

Question 3: How did this whole fiasco end? Justice was made with the people in charge, right? After all, the famous Jewish moral is aImage via Wikipediabove all.
How can I put it gently... well... not exactly. The person who head the Irgun during the events mentioned above was Menachem Begin, the person and the legend.
Rings a bell? Begin was later elected to become the prime minster of Israel. It also did some good - Mr. Begin gave up 2/3 of the Israeli territory, the Sinai peninsula, in exchange for peace with Arabs.


View Larger Map

Lesson 3: It makes sense that a head of a terror organization is democratically elected to head a country. This is not a good enough reason to boycott him. What are we, in kindergarten? Talking to him may actually do some good. We should know it, since it is part of our (hi)story too. We did it only 30 years ago.


Arye Mekel, who used to be the Israel’s Consul General in New York, said the following (and I am sure he was not the first): “A people that does not know where it is coming from, does not know where it is going."
It is time we take a closer look at our deeds. Where ARE we going?

From the Net: The Last Israeli and the Last Palestinian

What do we do when we finish digging?



Mike Luckovich, copyright 2009 Creators Syndicate

Okay, we stopped the killing, now what?

Let me get into the head of the Israeli policy makers: "Now, that we exported our successful line of Lebanon Wars to Gaza, it is time to evaluate our competitors in the market. Is there an alternative to a good old war?"

Well, apparently there is, and we know it, but we don't tell ourselves that we know it. Or actually we tell ourselves, but not at the right time. Here is what I mean:
Israel has very simple demands right now - an international peace-keeping force that will take over the security in Gaza ("Israel wants a ceasefire deal to include a specialized international force" (Jan 7, 2009, reuters, among many other sources)
It is so unfortunate that the very same idea was rejected by Israel 10 years ago. "Israel is opposed to the idea because such a force would reward Palestinian violence, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said" (somewhere back in 2000,CNN)

on the left - Barak opposes international force. on the right - Barak begs for one.

Funny, huh? Barak, the same guy who demands it now, refused it 10 years ago. Let's see if there are any more historical ideas:
"Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, told a news conference that his country has ''no intention of accepting any kind of United Nations observer force'' to protect the Palestinians".(1990, NYTimes).

Yes, Netanyahu. Familiar names strike again.

On the left - Netanyahu before thousands, on both sides, were killed. On the right - Netanyahu after thousands were killed (he hasn't changed much).





And I have only two simple questions, one hypothetical and one realistic.

Where were we today if the Israeli government, my government, would have accepted the international force idea back in the 1990's?
What should the Mahmoud Abbas do in order to convince Israel to allow international peace-keeping forces in the West Bank? Should he fire rockets on Tel-Aviv?

STOP THE KILLING IN GAZA NOW, and here is why.

The assault on Gaza and the missiles to south Israel must be stopped immediately. But is there a connection between these two? Does the Israeli attack on Gaza reduce the attacks on Southern Israel?
To evaluate the Israeli attack on Gaza we should examine three aspects:

• Is it moral?
• Is it legal?
• Is it helpful?
  

:~:~:

Unfortunately, the moral question is the easiest to answer. No, of course it is not. You shall not kill hundreds of civilians, including children, like that. Not if you pretend, or aspire, to be a democratic humanistic country.

:~:~:

Though I am no expert, the legal situation seems pretty clear too. The answer is simply no, even though this is a war, this is definitely illegal.

:~:~:

Now is it helpful? Common, was it helpful 2 years ago in Lebanon? And in 2002 in Jenin? And in 1982 or 1978 in Lebanon? Of course not. If it were helpful, how come I keep adding years in front of Lebanon?
Terror cannot be fought against with army. Terror can only be reduced by treating its causes. I hoped that 42 years of occupation and countless wars and operations have taught us this simple lesson.

In addition, being immoral gives the legitimacy for others to be immoral. How do the Hammas rockets differ from the Israeli rockets? Can Iran fire rockets on civilians in Israel too, now? By conducting this war the way we do, we loose our biggest asset - being right.

The killing must be stopped as soon as possible. Of course that something should be done to stop the rockets on Israel, but that's a different post. We should put no conditions on lives, the most basic human right.

Jerusalem Syndrome

"The best known, although not the most prevalent, manifestation of the Jerusalem syndrome is the phenomenon whereby a person who seems previously balanced and devoid of any signs of psychopathology becomes psychotic after arriving in Jerusalem." (from Wikipedia)

In other words - reasonable people do wacko things when it comes to Jerusalem. Not that this comes as a surprise to us.

This blog is about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The combination of being in control and being the victim never ceases to amaze me. When both sides of the conflict hold this contradiction, this becomes another psychopathology miracle. Or a nightmare.

In this blog I share my thoughts, emotions, personal stories and knowledge regarding the conflict. It attempts to be reliable, that is, all information is validated, and conclusions are based, surprise surprise, on facts.
I would LOVE this to become an open discussion, so please comment.
* If you would like to publish a guest post, just let me know.

Talking politics too often makes me dizzy. Hope we'll survive this one.

Happy reading!