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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: 2) by monster on Thursday July 31 2014, @05:21PM
I know this can easily turn into flamewars, so I'll try to show a different viewpoint just for playing devil's advocate.
If you just look at some facts, Israel has laws against israeli-palestinian marriages, laws restricting sales to palestinian people and laws against palestinian free movement. You may argue about the reasons, but the facts are that those laws exist and are enforced solely on a race basis. That looks pretty apartheidy to me, but I guess other people may see it different.
Now, about the hate, one could ask if that hate is the cause of the israeli treatment, a consequence of it or part of both. Let's do an experiment: Do you hate canadians? I guess you probably don't, since although it's a neighbouring country to yours, there haven't been recent conflicts between both of you. Now, suppose that instead of that situation, there have been skirmishes at the border for several years, you have been launching rockets in their direction and they have been doing airstrikes in yours. A lot of people have already died in both countries, maybe even some direct family of yours, or friends. Would you hate canucks now? Would you teach your kids to hate them? Would you understand people who did?
I think there is no easy way out of the current situation, because both parts have real grievances and feel entitled to their positions.