patton
2009-01-14, 02:04
I had to write this for school
I figured I'd post it here, and get some feedback
In the past few weeks, Israel has initiated "Operation Cast Lead", a military action in response to the barrage of rockets coming from Hamas militants from Gaza into southern Israel. Israel has bombarded hundreds of targets in the Gaza Strip with explosives, and has invaded Gaza to destroy Hamas and stop the flow of rockets into Southern Israel. These actions by Israel have caused an extremely unfortunate high number of civilian casualties, and while this is horrible, it is a reality in the hell that is war. And Hamas could avoid these casualties to the people they say they stand for, if they stopped hiding themselves among civilians in the city, and came out and fought their jihad like real men. But they won't do this, they disguise themselves as civilians, fire their rockets into Israel and hide. When Israel goes after them, civilians die in the process. Again a horrible thing that everyone should deeply regret, but a reality in war.
One thing people need to know is that this war will not achieve peace. It simply will not, Israel will defeat Hamas in 2008 as they defeated Hezbollah in 2006, but they still will not have peace. Peace in such a disputed region will not be as simple as Israel winning this war.
I strongly believe in the "peace through superior firepower" mindset. It almost always works, as it did in the civil war, WWI, WWII and many other conflicts. But it simply will not work in Israel. This land has been fiercely fought over even since before the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. One could make an argument that it's been fought over since biblical times. And in the last 2000 years, peace through superior firepower hasn't worked. The only way to have peace in the middle east is through diplomacy. We need a 2 state solution that is brokered through a lot of negotiations. We need 2 sides that are willing to negotiate and compromise their demands in order to have peace. One side simply defeating the other in a war will not bring us peace.
So far I've told you that the war has caused an extremely unfortunate number of civilian casualties, and will not bring about peace. So what I'm about to say next might surprise you. I support Israel 100%. Now before you start thinking I'm some crazy war-loving lunatic, just hear me out. I want peace as much as anyone in that region. And that peace has to come through negotiations as I've said. However, Hamas is not willing to negotiate. Hamas was formed with one ideological goal, the destruction of Israel. How can Israel negotiate with someone who's not only unwilling to compromise, but calls for their destruction? They simply can't. Even though I think peace is ultimately achievable, and I think it needs to happen through talks, it can't happen through talks with Hamas. They are unwilling to compromise, so they must be outed.
Until both Israel and the Palestinians are willing to compromise, peace can not be achieved. And right now, the Palestinians are not willing to compromise. Peace is virtually impossible, and therefore Israel has a right, and a duty to defend its citizens from the rockets launched by Hamas into their borders. These rockets are acts of terrorism, and must be stopped.
I do truly hope that one day, peace will be achieved. Palestine will need to take a moderate approach, like the one Mahmoud Abbas and the Fatah party have. And Israel will need to be willing to compromise just as much as the Palestinians. I don't think this day is too far off. But until then, Israel must defend itself from its enemies, just as any other nation on earth would.
I figured I'd post it here, and get some feedback
In the past few weeks, Israel has initiated "Operation Cast Lead", a military action in response to the barrage of rockets coming from Hamas militants from Gaza into southern Israel. Israel has bombarded hundreds of targets in the Gaza Strip with explosives, and has invaded Gaza to destroy Hamas and stop the flow of rockets into Southern Israel. These actions by Israel have caused an extremely unfortunate high number of civilian casualties, and while this is horrible, it is a reality in the hell that is war. And Hamas could avoid these casualties to the people they say they stand for, if they stopped hiding themselves among civilians in the city, and came out and fought their jihad like real men. But they won't do this, they disguise themselves as civilians, fire their rockets into Israel and hide. When Israel goes after them, civilians die in the process. Again a horrible thing that everyone should deeply regret, but a reality in war.
One thing people need to know is that this war will not achieve peace. It simply will not, Israel will defeat Hamas in 2008 as they defeated Hezbollah in 2006, but they still will not have peace. Peace in such a disputed region will not be as simple as Israel winning this war.
I strongly believe in the "peace through superior firepower" mindset. It almost always works, as it did in the civil war, WWI, WWII and many other conflicts. But it simply will not work in Israel. This land has been fiercely fought over even since before the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. One could make an argument that it's been fought over since biblical times. And in the last 2000 years, peace through superior firepower hasn't worked. The only way to have peace in the middle east is through diplomacy. We need a 2 state solution that is brokered through a lot of negotiations. We need 2 sides that are willing to negotiate and compromise their demands in order to have peace. One side simply defeating the other in a war will not bring us peace.
So far I've told you that the war has caused an extremely unfortunate number of civilian casualties, and will not bring about peace. So what I'm about to say next might surprise you. I support Israel 100%. Now before you start thinking I'm some crazy war-loving lunatic, just hear me out. I want peace as much as anyone in that region. And that peace has to come through negotiations as I've said. However, Hamas is not willing to negotiate. Hamas was formed with one ideological goal, the destruction of Israel. How can Israel negotiate with someone who's not only unwilling to compromise, but calls for their destruction? They simply can't. Even though I think peace is ultimately achievable, and I think it needs to happen through talks, it can't happen through talks with Hamas. They are unwilling to compromise, so they must be outed.
Until both Israel and the Palestinians are willing to compromise, peace can not be achieved. And right now, the Palestinians are not willing to compromise. Peace is virtually impossible, and therefore Israel has a right, and a duty to defend its citizens from the rockets launched by Hamas into their borders. These rockets are acts of terrorism, and must be stopped.
I do truly hope that one day, peace will be achieved. Palestine will need to take a moderate approach, like the one Mahmoud Abbas and the Fatah party have. And Israel will need to be willing to compromise just as much as the Palestinians. I don't think this day is too far off. But until then, Israel must defend itself from its enemies, just as any other nation on earth would.