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With the UN calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip an article written by Gary Brecher and first published in 2012 by NSFWCORP (now part of Pando), lessons from Gaza - suggesting that Palestinian durability may beat Israel's high-tech weaponry, remains remarkably relevant today.
What's going on in Gaza is war, but not the kind any commander from the past would understand. On paper, Israel should be winning easily, because they've got the weapons, the numbers, the organization. The weapons Hamas is firing into Israel are primitive things, unguided rocket artillery, the kind that couldn't hit the ground if it wasn't for the law of gravity. On the other side, the Israelis get the best weaponry the US can give them.
But it's not that simple. Israel may win this battle, but it's lost the war already. You see that in the confusion the IDF shows about what to do. They've tried stomping hard on Gaza. In late 2008 through early 2009, "Operation Cast Lead" sent IDF troops and planes smashing into this tiny overpopulated slum. They killed 1400 Palestinians, and it didn't do much but make everybody sick to their stomachs - including even some Israelis, once they got over their initial gloating.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Sunday July 13 2014, @11:14PM
Wait, why is this modded flamebait?
It is a concise statement of the problem.
If Israel responded with indiscriminate random bombardment on a large scale, all of these stupid missile attacks would cease.
Israel isn't fighting a military campaign. It is strictly a Public Relations campaign.
(One, by the way, which has never succeeded in all of history. Its pretty much a fools errand).
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Sunday July 13 2014, @11:24PM
It's modded flamebait because it's not in support of the side winning the PR war. I also see the term "apartheid" being brought up to stir the pot.
Part of Israel's problem is that they are treating the problem as a military conflict in the same way that the US treated Vietnam when it started. They either need to treat it fully as a military problem, or as a PR problem. Or,m both sides could perhaps put religion and history aside and come to a compromise that would help both sides. I have very little confidence that it will happen of course, primarily for the reason that history and religion will *not* be put aside.
(Score: 1) by Arik on Sunday July 13 2014, @11:39PM
A military problem? The existence of indigenous peoples is a military problem? Quite simply, that implies genocide.
A PR problem? It will all go away if we just convince Important People to quit paying any mind? No, that does not work either. The people are real, their suffering is real, and that is the problem. Ignoring the wound only causes it to fester, and that is how we got here. Treating it as a PR problem only makes sense if you define the problem as the prohibitions on genocide, in which case see above.
The problem is that the Israeli national narrative defies reality. It denies the existence of the very people it rules. It denies their past, their present, and their future. No Israeli government will ever be able to negotiate peace until a sufficient portion of the electorate escapes from the myths that have been built up to justify the occupation, and then you have the incumbent government working overtime to reinforce and extend the same myths, to rally the voters behind them.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1) by Techlectica on Monday July 14 2014, @05:21AM
Ha! Both sides should be so lucky. Unfortunately there appears to be no Palestinian claimant to the mantle of Nelson Mandela, (and if there was, AIPAC and Israel-friendly interests in USA media corps would make sure you never heard about them). Israeli right wing fanatics also seem to assassinate any possible P.W. Botha emulators. There might have been a chance to accomplish something lasting in the 80s after the Camp David Accords, but that was deliberately sabotaged. Shamir, Netanyahu, and Arafat are the architects of this Charlie-Foxtrot. One of these days Israel is going to be facing a loony tune who won't care that Israel has nukes (the self-styled Caliph leader of ISIL is the current best bet but it's doubtful he'll be the last), who will tap into a lot of deep-seated anger at Occidental (mainly American) intervention in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East (thanks to W), and who Russia and China will be more than happy to supply with weapons to weaken American Middle Eastern influence.
At this point the best we can hope for is that if it goes biological it won't spread too far beyond the Middle East (a faint hope at best given commercial aviation). OK the real best we can hope for is that something like Polywell will make fusion a practical replacement for oil and result in nobody caring about about the Middle East except for its inhabitants, but there's a lot of entrenched interests who prefer those funds get spent on tax breaks for multinational oil corporations and propping up the Israeli economy.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Monday July 14 2014, @09:09AM
I also see the term "apartheid" being brought up to stir the pot.
Have you ever been to Israel? Have you ever taken a drive from Jerusalem to somewhere like Ramallah? Past the Berlin Wall, used your western passport to get through the military checkpoints, while watching anyone with a Palestinian ID card being forced into metal cages on their walk over the border (no way they're allowed to drive)?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 14 2014, @11:10AM
> used your western passport to get through the military checkpoints, while watching
> anyone with a Palestinian ID card being forced into metal cages on their walk over
> the border (no way they're allowed to drive)?
This is an essay by a former soldier in the israeli defense force who was assigned to work internal checkpoints in palestine. He describes how these sorts of situations destroy the souls of both the people who pass through and the people who man the checkpoints. It is intense and heart-rending and it might help outsiders understand how corrosive the situation is for all involved.
The Checkpoint. [bostonreview.net]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 13 2014, @11:41PM
I asked the same thing when I saw it, which is why I modded it up.
Please, please, moderators, do a better job. The moderation system is not to be used as "+1 Agree" and "-1 Disagree/Fuck You".
(Score: 2) by keplr on Monday July 14 2014, @05:30PM
Exactly. That's why they have their ambassador to the USA telling us on NPR, in perfect Midwestern news-anchor accented English, that this is all about the Israeli government's responsibility to defend their citizens. They made it seem like they had no idea what could possible be angering the Palestinians. It's just brave Israel, beset on all sides by anti-West Islamic enemies, standing alone against unprovoked assaults.
This is going to go on forever until the entire area is split roughly in half. This will require Israel to shrink in size, which isn't acceptable to the Israeli hardliners. They'd rather keep the land and suffering a permanent smoldering conflict. A few scores of people killed every year is acceptable if they get to hold that land. Nothing will change until that attitude changes. It doesn't help that the primary motivation to hold that land is fundamentally irrational: a belief that a supernatural being promised their ancestors exclusive rights to it in perpetuity.
I don't respond to ACs.