Show Tough Love Toward Israel? Not.
There is one thing that I am thankful for through all this and that is that Obama has no plans to name New York Times columnist, Nicholas D. Kristof, as his foreign policy advisor. Because then we'd all be in trouble.
Take his editorial in the 1/11/09 opinion section of this paper, "Show Tough Love Towards Israel" where he outlines how the Obama administration should shore up the tough love towards Israel's in the aftermath of the government's latest retaliation against Hamas. Kristof opines:
"So what could Israel reasonably have done? Bombing the tunnels through which Gazans smuggle weapons would have been a proportionate response."
But he is forgetting one thing. What about all the bombs and rockets that Hamas has already extradited from the tunnels? After all, these tunnels are not like refrigerators with cake in them where people go back for just one more taste. These are weapons that have probably been stashed away within their homes and businesses.
In another section, he quotes Sari Bashi, the director of Gisha, an Israeli human rights group that monitors Gaza issues.
"The trauma that 1.5 million people have been undergoing in Gaza," said Bashi, "is going to have long-term effects for our ability to live together"
If Hamas would quit launching rockets into Israel then hiding amongst the civilians, then perhaps less people would be traumatized.
And last but not least he rests the judgment of Israel's actions in the hands of the six year-old nephew of (an apparently Palestinian) friend of his who works for an Israeli organization when the boy witnesses another bomb exploding, becomes frightened then brightens up and says, "Maybe the Qassam Bridges will now fire rockets at the Israelis."
Three guesses what he's been hearing at home.
"Let's show tough love to Israel," opines Nicholas D. Kristol. Maybe he would change his tune if he were living there.
Hamas fights for the Palestinians who are brutalized by Israel's psychological warfare, racism, encroaching on their land, and terrorism. Israel created Hamas; the Palestinian men had no other choice but to oppose a brutal Israeli Zionist regime that had come in during the late 19 century and pushed these people around just so there could be a homeland for the Jews.
Sure there's no problem with the existence of Israel and the Jews having a homeland but at the cost of the Palestinian people?
This recent reactionary rocket strike is only Hamas' way of opposing this guileful Israeli regime. Israel has these Palestinians come in and build settlements on Palestinian land, then the IDF comes in and burns their makeshift huts that they're living in while they build these beautiful homes! They give them a small strip of land in Gaza to live on when the Palestinians outnumbered the Jews prior to this whole thing!
And the worst thing is we as an American country take Israel's side every time. The last time Israel went into Lebanon we told them not to use our cluster bombs that we sold them and they did, killing innocent civilians. They got a slap on the wrist. An official of Israel just the other day said we'll attack and deal with international repercussions later.
It's time to mediate a proper deal and for Israel to give a considerable amount of Palestinian territory back. They've suffered long enough and Obama needs to take a balanced view and strongly consider the Palestinian pain and fate. The only problem is Israelis and Palestinians were getting along way before Zionism so splitting up territories would be unnatural. Split up a north and south and put Jerusalem under UN control so they can worship.
Listen here, Underdog, your handle says it all, only those with a limited imagination would think that firing rockets is the only way to make a point. In terms of the Palestinian people, they weren't even an entity until 1968. For starters, all Hamas has to do is stop firing rockets into Israel and there will be some sense of peace, or at least the beginning of it.
Oh, ok Gail, my handle is unimaginative. You took all day to come up with just that? Who's the one with the limited imagination. Maybe it's symbolic?
People like you with your brainwashed head by the AIPAC are so slanted towards Israel's side that no one speaks for the Palestinians. Firing rockets is the only way to make a point when your adversary has the 4th largest air force in the world, sabotages your water supply, crams you into small plots of land with pathetic living circumstances, has support everywhere in the world community, won't allow you to get anywhere, restricts the peace process too much every time and looks down on you.
Your writing says more about your bias towards Israel than my handle says about my "limited imagination." Good one.
It's not the handle I am talking about; it is the solution.