The conflict in the Middle East is once again on the rise with Israel engaged in bombing raids, rocket and ground assaults in Gaza and now in Lebanon. This renewed cycle of violence brings to mind once again the prediction of Nostradamus that the war to end all wars, the apocalypse, would begin in the Middle East. All sides of the conflict claim to be engaged in justifiable actions of "self defense." Some of theses rationalizations are far fetched at best. To sidestep the polemics, however, we need to examine some hard cold facts that define the current situation and provide useful information in moving toward a resolution.
The most recent actions by Israel were provoked by incursions into what the international community generally accepts as Israeli territory, and the capture or killing of Israeli soldiers. It is pointless to engage in debate about whether the Palestinian or Hezbollah raids were justified by past transgressions by Israel and imprisonment of Palestinians. The fact remains that the incursions have prompted the resulting invasions by Israel. Another issue which need not be debated on moral grounds is whether the Israeli response is “proportional” in the eyes of the international community and humanitarian organization. Israel has demonstrated that disapproval of its decimation of infrastructure and killing of innocent civilians is unlikely to change its actions, although it may cause Israel to provide a modified public justification or rationale for its actions. The important fact is that Israel has the resources and the capability to send overwhelming military force against the Palestinians. When you decide to pick a fight, it is useful to take into account the size and capability of the one you plan to attack. David vs. Goliath is an interesting parable, but we must remember that it took a miracle for David to succeed.
The Israeli government and people’s goal of being able to live in peace within secure borders is both reasonable and justified. The decades of conflict must be something that Israelis long to be free from. Going to the market should not be the equivalent of a reconnaissance mission involving threat to life and limb. Surveys show that the majority of Israelis would welcome peace with the Palestinians and are willing to give back land seized by Israel to achieve that objective. What is less clear is whether the Israeli government and officials have the same goals and objectives. The policies and actions by Israel, especially since the departure of Sharon, have been more likely to promote continued violence and bloodshed than achieve peace. Indeed, since the democratic election of Hamas, Israel has turned disappointment into petulance and refused to even engage in peace talks with the legitimate government of the Palestinian people. I support the Israeli position that it need not establish official peace agreements with a terrorist organization. But one man’s “terrorist” is another man’s “freedom fighter.” It depends upon your perspective, which goes a long way toward explaining the Palestinian election results. Israel ought to recognize that hard reality rather than continue denial that their actions are oppressing the Palestinian people. It costs nothing to talk to your opponent. Self defense is legitimate only when it is, in fact, self defense.
In the face of overwhelming odds and resources against them, Palestinian militants and politicians need to recognize those types of actions and responses that could bring the support of the international community to their aid. Those acts may not involve steps to invoke sympathy, but may also have to include leverage. In many ways, the Israel Lobby in the US is more driven by a corporate mentality than morality. That is why Israel can engage in the types of extreme reactive measures and other police and military based oppressive actions without any move by the US government to restrain it ally. Israel can engage in arms sales and maintain nuclear capability while watching the US threaten Iran for trying to acquire the same capability. The relationship is based upon economic advantage and strategic geopolitical advantage for the US government. Turkey, for example, would provide the same or better strategic benefits, but there is no Turkish Lobby in the US of any significance. The strategic location of Iraq, with oil reserves and an educated populace, provides a more realistic explanation for the US invasion than any fantasy notion about the “need” to depose Saddam Hussein for "self defense" purposes. The Palestinians need to focus attention on building alliances that counter the proclivity of such outrageous reactions by Israel with US support. Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia are the most likely candidates. But to gain their support, the Palestinian leadership and government must show that it can act in a coordinated and
disciplined manner in governing the Palestinians. In addition, the Palestinian government needs to reach out to and embrace Palestinians and their supporters all over the world.
As for the sides currently engaged in the combat and violence, a hard look at what is happening quickly explodes the myth of the “self defense” justification. The Palestinian raids were an attempt to gain a political advantage that might enable them to humble Israel and obtain freedom for some long imprisoned Palestinians. They have not asked, at least initially, for release of persons who were engaged in military or violent actions. Instead, the Palestinian militants asked for release of women and children imprisoned by Israel. The odds of successfully negotiating a prisoner swap were marginal, but it may be the only leverage the Palestinian militants believed could work under the circumstances. It was not, however, an action of "self defense."
Nothing that Israel has done in response to the Palestinian raids seems well calculated to recapture of the Israeli soldiers. Nor are these action consistent with any reasonable concept of "self defense." Of course, if your mission is to annihilate the Palestinians as a way to make sure than no Palestinian will ever attack Israel or its people, then the current approach might be the path to take. But that is madness. You have not converted an opponent just because you have silenced him. And placing the Palestinians in a similar position that European Jews faced after the holocaust should be a lesson that Israel ought not forget and might take to heart. Isreal's current actiona are reminiscent of the psychological theory that, if your parents beat you as a child, you are prone to violence against your children and others when you grow up.
Besides, in a fight where the 6’ 4” bully is standing over the 5’5” and weak opponent with a baseball bat and beating the #%@$ out of the smaller guy, who is already down, it is hard to evoke much sympathy for the big guy who is claiming to be acting in “self-defense.” In addition, the actions Israel is taking are not directed at or calculated to directly punish the persons who engaged in the raids and capture of Israeli soldiers. Israel is punishing and subjugating the entire Palestinian population, and now waging war on all of Lebanon. The aggressor must put down the club and act with temperate and rational steps calculated to end violence and unprovoked attacks. All sides know very well that the current approach leads only to continuing violence and bloodshed that can last for generations.
And for the Palestinian militants who refuse to follow their political leaders and support their efforts to obtain a peaceful solution, we can only say that, if you truly desire peace, then act like you deserve it. Stop picking fights that you cannot win, particularly at times when your leadership is nearing a breakthrough that might well have revitalized the peace process and brought many to the side of Palestinians in the struggle for a separate state homeland. Your cause is hopeless only if you believe that it is. Ultimately, it is for the Palestinian people who want peace and who suffer from Israeli bombardment and oppression to reign in the militants who would destroy the last vestiges of hope for peace.
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