MEASURE ISRAEL BY THE SAME YARDSTICK

During the last several days Israel has invaded the Gaza area, and bombarded it with artillery and air strikes. Sadly, many people were killed, among them women and children. More evidence of a seemingly unresolvable Middle East conflict.I have lived through several wars and even more military actions. Vietnam, the two Iraq wars, Afghanistan, and many, many others. In that entire time I cannot recall a military intervention that was covered in as much detail as the recent Israeli action against Hamas. In America, we saw and heard vivid details of damaged buildings, bodies in the street, daily reports of the numbers of "civilians" killed, and heart-wrenching tales of children who had lost limbs, mothers whose children died in their arms, and many, many stories of people who had lost family members. Tales of great human suffering. In all a very stirring collection of reportage, often reinforced by comments from humanitarian workers about how intolerable the situation was, what horrors were unfolding, and how Israel was doing too little to help the people of Gaza.

I ask you, for a moment, to set aside the emotional impact of all of this, and consider what is happening in that situation as a problem in human and international relations. Despite the fact that Hamas has won some elections in Gaza, Hamas is a terrorist organization that is dedicated to the destruction of the State of Israel. Hamas has historically not kept agreements, and generally "cease-fire" agreements* only mean that Israel will not launch a major operation while Hamas operatives continue to shoot rockets at Israeli territory and citizens. Being terrorists, they are in the business terrorizing the Israeli populace, and do so generally with impunity. Hamas doesn't have an army, doesn't have a unified government with identifiable leaders who can make agreements and (have those who are ruled) keep to them. During the Gaza action, even as (Gaza) Hamas members were talking of some kind of cease-fire, Hamas leaders in Damascus were calling for continued resistance—that is, for those in Gaza to fight on against the Israelis. So trying to make a deal with Hamas is like trying to herd cats. Even if one could reach an agreement with one faction, other more radical factions would ignore the agreement and continue their terrorism. There simply is no one with whom to actually negotiate any kind of agreement as long as Hamas is in power in Gaza.

Then there is the Israeli aspect of the story. Can you imagine what the U.S. would do if a radical group wanting to take over American territory—or destroy America--was firing rockets from Mexico into California and Arizona? And did so for years. Would we listen to world super-powers who advised us to restrain ourselves? Would Americans just remake their lifestyles and spend hours in bomb shelters every time an alarm went off warning of an incoming missile or rocket? In truth, we would do none of these things. We might try diplomacy, what but if there were no one reliable to negotiate with, or if diplomacy failed? We would attack, invade, and do everything necessary to stop the bombardment of our sovereign territory and ensure the safety of our people.

After 9/11 we, the United States of America, attacked and invaded two nations halfway around the world, because (we were told) this was necessary to ensure our safety. I am not justifying what the U.S. has done in Iraq and Afghanistan, I am simply pointing out what nations generally do when they are attacked.

These wars we started are ongoing. So, do we get daily reports of casualties, of civilians killed, or parents who have lost children, or of children who have lost limbs? No we don’t. Have we ever gotten that kind of coverage, in all of your memories of the wars and military actions America has undertaken in a dozen countries in the last few decades? No, never.

How about the genocide going on in Africa? The internecine fighting in countries all over the world that result in families being disrupted, children being uprooted, innocents killed, and all the horror that such fighting brings—is this being reported to us in any way approaching the daily, detailed and horrific reports from Gaza? No, no, no.

Once again, I am not justifying ANY military action, nor am I minimizing the human tragedies that they cause. I am however, posing a question. And that question is simply—Why is Israel placed under a microscope that is never focused on any other nation in the world? Why is Israel, measured against, judged and evaluated by a standard that isn’t applied to any other sovereign nation on this planet?

I assume if you are reading this then you follow the news. Reconsider the news that has been reported to you during the last several weeks. Israel attacked an area that has no military, where gangs of men, some of them barely more than boys, take up arms against Israel and its army. A land where young women may strap powerful explosives to their bodies and blow themselves up in an effort to kill Israelis. So in that situation, when Israel causes the deaths of people, who are “civilians”? How would one even know? And if Israel is fighting an enemy that stores weapons and fires missiles from mosques, schools, clinics, hospitals, U.N. compounds and civilian neighborhoods, what is Israel to do to stop the bombardment of its land and its people? Nothing?

Israel is not the Great Satan. (I think that phrase was and is used to describe the U.S.) It is not a fascist state bent on genocide, although that is a common characterization. It is country of people who sought a home in the land of their ancient ancestors, a democracy, with a free press, a state influenced by religion, but in the truest sense not a “religious state” such as Iran, where religious leaders actually rule. Israel has been under attack since its very inception. A country where no café, no pizzeria, no dance club, no Bar Mitzvah celebration or Passover Seder, no shopping mall, no public bus is free from the threat of a bomb that may kill or maim dozens of innocent people at any time. This has been true for decades. So, if you were a citizen of such a country, and knew people who had been killed or injured by such bombs, or rockets, mortars or missiles, what would you want your government to do? Bring humanitarian aide to your attackers?

Today over 180 trucks filled with humanitarian supplies were sent by Israel into Gaza. The Israelis are not monsters. Israel has the right to protect its people. And in so doing, to use the only methods available to a nation to stop the harassment and murder of its people. Israel, like any other nation, has the right to be judged by the reality of its situation, and not by a yardstick that is never applied to anyone else—not even its enemies.

* Within 48-hours of the recent unilateral Israeli cease-fire, Hamas was firing mortar shells into Israel--again.