24 January 2009
The Terror in Gaza
6:00 PM | 
Posted by
Brady
[A Hamas militant.]
Israel's recent incursion into the Gaza Strip is the latest in 
a series of conflicts involving the Islamic Resistance Movement, better known as Hamas. After 22 days of fighting, Israeli forces declared that they had achieved their objectives and agreed to a unilateral cease-fire. Hamas also declared victory and agreed to a cease-fire, provided that Israel completely withdraws its forces from the Gaza Strip. It is no coincidence that this cease-fire was declared the same week of President Obama's inauguration.
a series of conflicts involving the Islamic Resistance Movement, better known as Hamas. After 22 days of fighting, Israeli forces declared that they had achieved their objectives and agreed to a unilateral cease-fire. Hamas also declared victory and agreed to a cease-fire, provided that Israel completely withdraws its forces from the Gaza Strip. It is no coincidence that this cease-fire was declared the same week of President Obama's inauguration.What was the result of this recent escalation of violence? More than 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed. Thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed, mosques were attacked, a UN school was bombed, and many lives were ruined. It is unlikely that this event will bring the two sides any closer toward an agreement for peace. Rather than initiate a blame-game, I think it is more useful to point out the persistent problem in this conflict; that the Palestinian people do not speak with one voice.
The official representative of the Palestinian people in their territories is the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), of which the Palestinian Authority is a subsidiary. The PLO was established after the 1993 Oslo Accords and is based in the West Bank. In 2006, a group of radical Palestinians known as Hamas won elections in one of the Palestinian territories, the Gaza Strip. Hamas gained popularity by building schools and hospitals in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is described as a terrorist organization by the United States, the EU, Canada, Israel, and Japan. In 2007, Israel withdrew its forces from the Gaza Strip as a gesture to get negotiations going again, though it kept some restrictions such as jurisdiction over air space. Hamas was now fully in control. Hamas has not recognize Israel (like the PLO does) and calls the PLO, Fatah (the largest political party of the PLO), and the late Yasser Arafat (chairman of the PLO) betrayers of the Palestinian cause. This division between the Palestinian people in two camps makes negotiation with Israel near impossible.
Since the takeover by Hamas, Israel closed its border with Gaza and the militant organization has been caught smuggling explosives and arms from Egypt through tunnels. This has caused Egypt to close its border with Gaza as well. Amnesty International has reported that Hamas has trampled upon many civil liberties by closing down newspapers, harassing journalists, and forbidding peaceful demonstrations. It is important to note that Hamas is supported by Syria and Iran, and possibly funded and trained by the latter. Also, there is a militant wing of Hamas that arguably acts independently of Hamas at times. This group is known as the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and is the only polity within Hamas that Australia and the UK designate as terrorists. Lastly, it should be noted that there are also some radical elements within Israel who would like to see Hamas destroyed.
The record shows that Hamas militants have fired hundreds of home-made Qassam rockets from the Strip into Israeli towns, causing massive destruction to Israeli property and killing some Israelis. Hamas claims these attacks were warranted because Israel was planning to attack Gaza and because Israel halted humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza. There is no evidence to definitively prove which violation of the Geneva Conventions came first, but many believe Hamas initiated attacks on Israel. Israel has responded by periodically cutting fuel and electricity to Gaza. In January of 2008, Hamas breached the Gaza-Egyptian border. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was faced with hundreds of thousands of Gazans seeking food and supplies. The border was eventually sealed again after minor violence between Egyptian forces and Hamas militants.
More recently, Israel began to attack targets in Gaza with F-16 fighters as rocket attacks into Israel intensified. There is no doubt that both sides have committed atrocious acts in the fighting, with Hamas hiding weapons in schools and Israel bombing them. In some cases, many Palestinian children were killed and no weapons were found in the schools bombed. The conflict boils down to Hamas launching rockets into Israel because it denounces Israel's existence, Israel blocking some humanitarian aid into Gaza along with the UN for fear of attack, the Palestinians in Gaza collectively suffering because of all of this, and Hamas using this suffering as a vehicle for further rocket attacks. The humanitarian suffering in Gaza is real and has caused tensions between the legitimate PLO and Israel as well as between Israel and the international community.
For a cease-fire to last and negotiations to really begin, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and leaders of Hamas need to reconcile their differences. With one voice, Palestinian leaders and Israelis can meet to alleviate the humanitarian suffering in Gaza while keeping Israel safe from further attacks.
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- Brady
- I am a graduate of Boston University. I majored in political science and minored in history.
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5 comments:
When Israel withdrew from Gaza several summers ago, it gave the Palestinian people a chance to flourish on their own in a territory that is surprisingly rich in natural resources. Hamas took power in Gaza forcefully and ever since then this terrorist group has initiated terrorist activity. While firing rockets in one example, they also hid weapons and soldiers in mosques (and when they got destroyed Israel looked inhumane), used their own civilians as human shields, and most importantly Hamas failed to protect the Palestinian people. The invasion of Gaza was unfortunately neccesary. Most Israelis would have been thrilled if the Palestinian people could have found away to live peacefully side by side with the Israelis. But because Israeli lives were endangered, it was the right choice. Israel went through precautions to try to spare many Palestinian lives. They called and dropped fliers in the areas that were going to be bombed to spare civilian casualties. Something that is quite offensive to me in your blog is that you neglected to mention that the vast majority of Palestinian casualties were soldiers of Hamas who were a threat to Israel's existence. I believe that Israel must do whatever it can under the need for self preservation. While surrounded by Arab countries who would push the Jews into the sea if they could, Israel needs to protect its land and citizens. Unfortunately it is hard to do so in humane and "right" ways.
If most Israelis would be thrilled if the Palestinian people could have found a way to live peacefully side by side with the Israelis, why not give them their own state?
Although, Israel may have underwent precautions to “spare many Palestinian lives” look at the number dead on each side. Israel I believe was a whopping total of 13, while in retrospect over 1330 Palestinians were killed.
When Israel was created, they subsequently proceeded to expand their borders beyond the realms of the UN partition plan, in the process naturally angering the Arab countries around them. Hamas power in the Gaza area was achieved through the Palestinian elections. Indeed Hamas did exert violence, in the form of a war over the Futah to further strengthen their position. But is this violence any different from what Israel did when it expanded its borders through violence beyond its UN mandated partitions?
Israel has also initiated terrorist activity, along with the US, by training and arming Fatah. From the eyes of Hamas, this is terrorism.
I am not justifying the actions of either side. Each side has acted moronically. Often in the interpretation of history, we tend to see history through only one side. From the standpoint of Hamas it is also hard to protect its land and citizens in human and “right” ways. Something to think about.
good article....
y dont people blog on such issues..
very few people blof on terror because they dnt get enough clicks here
In reaction to chris's comment. I believe that the Palestinians have been offered their own state repeatedly. It was the Palestinians who rejected the partition plan that would have split Israel into a Jewish state and an Arab state. More recently, the Palestinians were given Gaza by the Israelis who fully withdrew. Although, it wasn't a territory and not a country, it was there own state, with it's own government that was quickly controlled by Hamas. I think the numbers of casualties need to be classified into two categories. Civilians and militants. The VAST majority of Palestinian casualties were militants who pose a great threat and risk to the Israeli people. Unfortunately there was no "right" way to go about this, but Israel tried to protect all civilians, however unfortunately some died.
I think Chris also gave a very biased view of the Israel's expanding their own border. The Israelis expanded there border in reaction to be attacked. In the 6 day war Israel expanded it's border to take the Golan Heights after fending off a Syrian attack. They realized due to the Golan's location that it was a strategic point to control as it overlooks Northern Israel. So they expanded their border to protect itself. The other border Israel axpanded was the Sinai peninsula. The Sinai Penisula was Egyptian territory until the Yom Kippur war when then Egyptians tried to enter Israel from the South. They failed and for 6 Years the Israelis controlled the Penisula but in 1979 they gave back part of it to the Egyptians. I am biased as well, being sympathetic to Israel as Jew. The preservation of Israel in vastly important to me as it is a homeland for the Jewish people. Any Jew can go there to live. And for a religion with a small population compared to other religions, that over the years has been prosecuted relentlessly, it is vital to sustain the territory.
I was presenting the other side. Everyone is biased is some regard that is the beauty of humans. Our biases form a mindset and this mindset makes each one of us unique. What I was trying to do was the other side to the story present.
Hamas is fighting with bottle rockets and Irsael is retaliating with airplanes and military invasions. Regardless of if Israel tried to protect all civilians, look at the number dead! 1330 to 13. Now that is fair right?
I understand that the preservation of Israel is important to your jewness but that doesn't mean that reason should be pushed aside while you identify with your cause. Common sense says 1330 to 13 is a mind-boggling disproportion.
Good point on how the Jews have been prosecuted relentlessly. I am sympathetic to that notion, but the policies that Israel has engaged inself in, essentially prosecutes others.
The reason why the Palestinians have declined statehood is because the offer was one that would not make Palestine a true state. The inclination of Israel to maintain control of all borders, airspace, electronic traffic, etc. does not grant Palestine the common charecterisitcs of a state.
Like the United States, Israel has very few allies. Can you name any, other than the United States? Sadly, U.S foregin policy and suppresion mirrors the policies of Israel. You can justify the expansion of the Israeli state all you want. But the second Israel kills an innocent civilization and destroys communitites, that justification is no longer their and replaced with the war crimes of a cruel and unjust nation.
Also, in the 6-day war, Syria attacked after appealing to the UN that Israel was opening fire on Syrian military positions in the Demilitarized Zone. Israel then launched a pre-emptive strike on Egypt. I’m not sure where you’re getting your facts from but a suggestion would be maybe to lay off Wikipedia and read a book or something. Again just an idea.
The Palestinians have also been prosecuted relentlessly. As such, shouldn’t all that you want for Israel be apply to the Palestinians as well?
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