Last week, I wrote an article in which I referred to my father — a peaceful, liberal man who taught me about the struggles of the powerless and oppressed. I said:
It was, he taught me, because the people who are fighting in this way have no other recourse; they’re powerless and lashing out the only way they can. They are terrorists because they have to be; sticks against guns, or David against Goliath.
I was writing at the time about Iraq, but the people my father was referring to all those years ago were the Palestinians.
My father’s words haunted my sleep last night, evoked by images of dirt mounds and barbed wire erected in Gaza to slow the advance of the IDF.
What, I wanted to ask him, is Goliath to do when David has graduated from throwing rocks to rockets? When David has elected, by overwhelming popular vote, a government that is sworn to attack Goliath? When negotiations are accompanied — endlessly — by the sound of bombs and guns?
David has long-since outgrown the sandals of an innocent fighting against oppression, and Polimom’s sympathy for the Palestinians is exhausted.
An editorial in this morning’s NY Times says:
Contrary to the hopes of many outsiders, five months in government has failed to educate Hamas to the reality of the world the Palestinians live in. Hamas has merely assumed the political privileges of power without accepting the minimal responsibilities that go with it.
If things go on like this, Palestinians can look forward to endless rounds of reckless Hamas provocations and inexorable Israeli responses. That is why things must not be allowed to go on like this. It is not just Israel that needs to be delivering that message to Hamas.
Unlike many, Polimom was not hopeful about the future in Israel / Palestine after the Hamas election in January. They were — and are — quite clear about their inflexible position toward Israel. Unfortunately for the Palestinian people, however, Hamas was more naive than even I thought.
Hamas and the Palestinians seem to have been reassured by Goliath’s extreme restraint over the decades, evidently not understanding that there’s a world of difference between the actions of a militant “group”, and activities on behalf of a government.
When governments fire rockets and shoot civilians, it is called war.
Hamas has brought war upon itself, and we can only hope that their stupidiy won’t engulf the surrounding region — and ultimately the world — in a wider conflagration.
I was living in Europe during the 1967 “six-day” war – and in South America during the “Yom Kippur” war. During both of these, I remember the concerns about the conflict spreading – espially during the latter, as it was presumed that the IDF had nuclear weapons – and wouldn’t hesitate to use them if it was clear they were about to lose the war.
In the case of the 1967 war, many of our neighbors/friends in Europe had lived through the Nazi occupation, and the “relocation” of the Jews. So, they watched that particular conflict with utter horror, as they could imagine this being the realization of Hitler’s dream for a “final solution.” Unfortunately, the rhetoric spouted by the PLO/Hamas has done little to assuage such fears, what with talk of “driving the Jews into the sea” and such.
While I don’t expect this war will result in WWIII/Armageddon, I also don’t expect it will do the rest of the world a whole lot of good, either.
~EdT.
When governments fire rockets and shoot civilians, it is called war.
Well put. It’s in the fine print of ‘what happens when you become a legitimized power’ handbook, too bad Hamas doesn’t tend to read their memos.
What has been so striking to me in the media coverage (after having read a few bits from Palestinian news sources) is that the media is attempting to spin Israel’s action as attempted ethnic cleansing–which strikes me as utterly absurd, considering the Six-Day War was started because the neighboring nations wanted to push the Zionists into the sea (like Ed.T just mentioned.)
But seeing Hamas calling for international sympathy because “Israel is going to come kill us all” when the principal belief of Hamas is that the nation of Israel should be destroyed and the Jews pushed into the sea is laughable.
Again-Polimom said it well: “Hamas was more naive than even I thought.”
There’s a bit more involved, of course… like the interminable “saving face” issue. Nobody can afford to back down, making this unbelievably dangerous.
There’s the additional problem of who the heck is running the show for Palestine? Cuz I really don’t think the Hamas leadership is calling the shots. They cannot control the madmen within their party.
All of which leaves me – as ever – sad for the people caught in the middle… but I agree with you, Bloogist, in that I don’t see Israel as the boogeyman. I do, however, think they’ve put their backs against a wall somewhat.
Just a comment. This post is a bit confusing due to your role reversal: you’ve got David the Jew representing the Palestinians, and Goliath the Palestinian representing the Jews.
forester –
Hunh. Hadn’t even thought of it. How funny…. To me, the story of David and Goliath has long-since moved beyond any ethnic or religious demarkations into the status of fable – the classic conflict of the little guy against the big guy.
I thought she was going for a symbolic commentary 😉
Yes, it made for ironic reading … but gosh, was it throwing me off! I had to keep checking my equations.