Reply to What should Israel do with Gaza?

Forum Index » Political Discussion

Reply to "What should Israel do with Gaza?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Do you honestly believe that Hamas would stop aggression against Israel - rockets and tunnels - if Israel dropped the blockade? On what basis other than hope?[/quote]

This sentence presupposes that Hamas cannot abide by an agreement, or that they are some sort of irrational actor.  What is *your* basis for that?[/quote]

1. Having a charter that lists the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews as their primary goal.
2. Starting a war that they cannot win and knowingly puts their own civilians in danger
3. The fact that Hamas continued to shoot rockets and dig tunnels after the last 2 ceasefires.[/quote]

How is this NOT obvious to others?!?!  I sincerely don't understand how there are people out there who think Hamas will stop their aggression!!![/quote]

Yeah, they just started a war out of nowhere.  Just because, they just started firing missiles.

In Haaretz:  http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.606791

[quote]The short answer is that I’d treat the rockets as military symptoms of a political problem. That doesn’t mean Israel shouldn’t return fire. If Hamas and Islamic Jihad can attack Israel with impunity, they may never stop. But returning fire—or even invading Gaza—will never make Israel safe.  Israel can destroy Hamas’ rockets, but Hamas will eventually rebuild them bigger and better, as it did after the last war, and the one before that[/quote]

So what is this political problem?

[quote]Since 2010, Israel has made it easier for goods to enter Gaza. But it still makes it extremely difficult for goods to leave. According to the Israeli human rights group Gisha, only two percent as many truckloads leave the Strip as did in 2007. If Israel wants to check those trucks to ensure they’re not carrying weapons, fine. (Last December, the Netherlands tried to donate a high-tech scanner for exactly that purpose).

But essentially barring Gazan exports to Israel and the West Bank — historically Gaza’s biggest markets — is both inhumane and stupid. It’s helped destroy the independent business class that could have been a check on Hamas’ power, and left many in Gaza with the choice of working for Hamas or receiving food aid.

In addition to goods, Israel should make it easier for people to leave Gaza, too. A quarter of Gazans have family in the West Bank. Yet even before this war, Israel allowed Gazans to travel to the West Bank only in “exceptional humanitarian cases.” Yes, Israel can restrict the travel of terrorists. But preventing young Gazans from studying in the West Bank - like preventing Gazan businessmen from exporting there - is self-defeating and inhumane. It feeds the isolation and despair that Hamas exploits.[/quote]

What about recognition?

[quote]Israel wants Hamas barred from any Palestinian unity government, and any Palestinian election, until it accepts the two-state solution and past peace agreements. But as I’ve suggested before, the current Israeli government probably couldn’t meet those conditions....What’s crucial is not that Hamas as a party endorse the two-state solution. After all, Likud as a party has not endorsed the two state-solution, either. What’s crucial is that Hamas promise to respect a two-state agreement if endorsed by the Palestinian people in a referendum. In the past, Hamas leaders have told the media they would. [/quote]

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics