Jeff, What do you think about Helen Thomas' comments?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which makes keeping Gilad Shalit right? Why do Palestinians expect the Israelis to behave any differently than they do?

I have sympathies for Israel, but the attitude that one Israeli is somehow the equivalent of dozens (or hundreds?) of Palestinians is infuriating. It feeds the idea that Zionism is racism -- I don't think that's true, but the disdain that so many Israelis feel for Arabs makes it hard to argue otherwise.

[Anonymous]

How about Hamas launching rockets indiscriminately into civilian zones? How many Israelis does that take into account? I have sympathy for both--but when I've seen Israel make political gestures (like recently easing the embargo) I wait for Palestinian political leadership to validate that by making its own gestures. This is how peace-or detente- begins. Instead, the Palestians seem to come up with further lists of grievances or demands or outright scorn for the Israeli action. That might feel good emotionally, but how does it get either side towards resolution if the gestures are one-way?

[Anonymous]

I think you will find there is a shocking disparity between the number of Israeli and Palestinian deaths in the overall conflict:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli–Palestinian_conflict#Casualties

As for the number of deaths specifically due to the Hamas rocket attacks, there have been 28 deaths in the last ten years.

Year Total
2001 1
2004 5
2005 6
2006 4
2007 2
2008 8
2009 0
2010 1

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel

You will note that Israel beat the worst year of rocket attacks with the raid on the aid ship alone. They have also taken out a lot of civilians in rocket attacks into Gaza.


I'm not saying that the Israeli deaths are meaningless. I know people who have family in the midst of these attacks, and it is unacceptable. But there is a misperception that Israelis are being killed in larger numbers, or that the Gazans who are killed are militants. But clearly the numbers tell a different story.

Israel has openly declared that they use a disproportionate response to any aggressive act. This is not the imagination of Israel's opponents. The term was coined by David Ben Gurion and Moshe Dayan decades ago.

[Anonymous]

Again, this mentality of comparing 'deaths' is tit for tat. It is a mentality that goes no-where--just a death lock. Break free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Again, this mentality of comparing 'deaths' is tit for tat. It is a mentality that goes no-where--just a death lock. Break free.

While a tit for tat comparison is not helpful, it is important to know that there has been a severe imbalance.

I'm a Jew and have an emotional attachment to Israel, but just as I was sickened by GWB's obsession with Sadam, I am distraught by Israel's unwillingness to rely on means other than military strength to achieve security -- or better yet, real peace.

[Anonymous]

Which means would you suggest?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about Hamas launching rockets indiscriminately into civilian zones? How many Israelis does that take into account? I have sympathy for both--but when I've seen Israel make political gestures (like recently easing the embargo) I wait for Palestinian political leadership to validate that by making its own gestures. This is how peace-or detente- begins. Instead, the Palestians seem to come up with further lists of grievances or demands or outright scorn for the Israeli action. That might feel good emotionally, but how does it get either side towards resolution if the gestures are one-way?

The number of rocket attacks has been reduced in the last year to a very small number. Basically Hamas is ordering all such attacks ceased, and the ones that go off are dissident groups that they are unable to stop. So Hamas has been doing substantially what the Israelis want ever since the cease-fire, without much back from Israel until this latest debacle over the aid flotilla.

Here is a direct quote from the Economist:

So far this year 34 rockets have landed in Israel, none launched by Hamas. “Hamas is defending Israel,” chuckles an Israeli foreign ministry official.

So when people say Hamas is doing nothing, it is a bit ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which means would you suggest?

Negotiation, economic aid, and most of all a recognition of what their policies look like to the rest of the world.

[Anonymous]

Is that realistic to expect from a country whose civilians have been bombed with rockets and whose soldier held in captivity for four years? I can see negotiation with some gestures like easing the embargo. Economic development would follow. 'Acknowledgment' is a matter of perspective, no? Seems a bit rich.

[Anonymous]

Even better stated (Today's Post):

"Hamas is a threat to the Palestinian cause

By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, June 29, 2010

It's a pity that Israel, while substantially loosening its grip on Gaza, will continue to enforce a blockade when, with just a little imagination, it could insist on a deal with the activists once again steaming its way: You can proceed to Gaza if, once you get there, you demand that Hamas cease the persecution of women, institute freedom of religion, halt the continuing rocketing of Israel, release an Israeli hostage, ban torture and rescind an official charter that could have made soothing bedtime reading for Adolf Hitler. This may take some time."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/28/AR2010062803753.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns