Soccer Dad

The media should be considered enemy combatants and targeted by the IDF. There can be no question that the western media are complicit with hamas and other islamic terrorists everywhere.

Solution to the situation in Gaza ? Jan 2009

The multiple news coverages from virtually every news and TV outlet across the world, including many Arab as well as Canadian news media, all seem to miss the point. Why are rockets being fired from Gaza in the first place?
The impression both the news media ? and now the official Canadian stand ? is short-sighted enough to think that the only issues on the table are 1) rocket fire from Gaza into Israel vs. 2) Israel?s bombardment of Gaza. Tit for tat.
The following paragraphs assesses the situation cause and effect; in summary:
? Media outlets in North America don?t give the right perspective.
? Objective of this attack on Gaza has little to do with rockets.
? Consequences hurts Jews.
? Key problems: opportunity and assets.
? Solution: to start to negotiate a fair distribution of assets.
? 1948 was not a good year for Palestinians.
? There are a couple of hard choices to make.
? Education should be shared.
? The Canadian position.

Media outlets in North America don?t give the right perspective

Although the Middle East provides exciting fodder, the large majority of us living in North America are not really aware of the history over the past 100 years that is at the root cause of the fighting that is taking place now, last year, and with frequent periodicity. For that reason, the media, while implying that they want to resolve the Middle East issues as much as anyone, either feel forced to simplify the news stories to only the current most recent first stage cause-effect equation (BBC, CBC) or are blatantly pro-Israel (CNN, Global, Fox).
For example, CNN seems to interview people on the Arab side whose English communication skills are limited. Asking them pointed questions about rocket fire and casualties, keeping them on the defensive. Even though key Israeli leaders rarely give interviews to U.S. and other media outlets, letting their subordinates do so in their stead, those subordinates come across as authorities and are all fluent in English. Even though Arab sources being interviewed are more directly the prime minister and the actual leaders, these people are often not videotaped, but speak in the background while the media shows pictures and videos of actual happenings in Gaza. The Israeli speakers are given full-face video real-time coverage. Any Israeli action that may have negative connotations is frequently followed by interviews and commentary on the ?war of terror? and ?terrorism?.
The BBC is a little bit less biased. However, they still refer to the Arab side as ?armed gunmen? and such vs. Israeli ?settlers? and ?soldiers?. The entire vocabulary used for representing the situation to the West is slanted, intentionally and otherwise, to represent the Palestinians as in the wrong and the Israelis as fighting for the right.

Objective of this attack on Gaza has little to do with rockets

The logic of Israel using this bombardment and invasion as an attempt to target and remove the ability, the sources, of Gaza to shoot rockets into Israel is incredibly weak. Israel does not need to send men and artillery into Gaza to attack and destroy the sources of the rockets. Israeli intelligence can pinpoint the exact location of each rocket source before it is fired. Current military hardware, if properly used, can take out any such source with pinpoint accuracy. However, Israel chooses not to do such pinpoint locate and destroys.
This current conflict is not about rockets. Rockets are only media PR, and very successful at that, because the feeling I get from both Israelis and Arabs is that the West is stupid and will swallow anything. Yes we are stupid indeed.
This conflict is about: 1) revenge (it gives the hardline and young Jews an outlet for years of frustration); and 2) damaging Hamas so much that hopefully the ?war? will result in a new government that is not Hamas. Kill all major Hamas players. Kill their families if the Hamas leaders are stupid enough to stay with their families. Kill everyone.
Do those young Israeli soldiers care about accuracy, about collateral damage? In public Israel says it is taking as much care as possible to avoid collateral damage. We, the West, blindly accept the statements as an example of Israel?s good faith. Wow, we think: aren?t the Israelis good. In fact, the Israeli soldier pressing the trigger doesn?t care a whit whether the bomb or artillery takes out surrounding houses and destroys infrastructure and families. It only takes a second. A mistake? The more the better.

Consequences hurts Jews

And in the end, actions like this war in Gaza hurt everyone. Ironically, especially the Jews. Any violent action on Israel?s part degrades Israeli security around the world. All Jews are victims.
Over the past decade, each such violent ?10 Palestinians killed for every Israeli?, contributes to hurting Jews. These actions cheapen all the great achievements and richness Jewish people have contributed over the centuries. The music. The literature. The science. The discoveries. All become suspect. All are less respected. Such a treasure trove, simply being thrown away. And by whom? By the Israeli hardliners who are like 2-year-olds throwing temper tantrums and destroying the goodness that is Jewish.
The sadness of it all. When almost 40 percent of Jews around the world are moderates wishing and hoping, and capable of offering, peaceful and real solutions to this Arab-Israeli conflict ? all this common sense is thrown away. Fear and evil win. With each careless and deadly over-reaction, more people respect and like Israel that much less. The greatest asset anyone can have is the attention and good will of others. Israel apparently doesn?t think so. And, with each ?tempter tantrum? Israel loses the hearts and minds of the rest of the world and by catering to this formula, we in the ?West? decrease the possibility of democracy and true balance in that part of the world. Israel has so much to offer, and because of hardline politics, throws away the good with the bad. Shame.
Gaza
The consequences of this action in Gaza is already becoming evident. It will do what peace was unable to do: unite the various feuding families and factions in Gaza. All those angry young men (and women) who were previously on the fence are now going to become organized into one unit with one purpose. If the IDF were first cautious and now afraid to go street to street in Gaza, the future will be even worse. Israel is concerned about tunnels in the south between Egypt. What will they say when tunnels will appear on the east and north with ?terrorists? sneaking out nightly into Israel.
Further, the situation is weakening the government and stability in the West Bank, reducing Abbas? power even further. The West Bank is another Gaza about to happen, or could, and the ?settlements? there could become just little Gazas in reverse.
Talk about kicking yourself in the butt.

Key problems: opportunity and assets

The solution begins with a statement of the problem.
The problem is that all people (Palestinians and the Jews) in the Middle East ? in lands controlled by ?Israel? ? are not born equal. Ironically, the U.S. should be the first to pick up on this.
A Palestinian is not born with the same rights as his/her Jewish counterpart. From the very moment of birth, the Jew is born with a feeling that he/she is right where they belong. The Palestinian is usually born as a refugee already removed from the land/town/village/infrastructure/roots that should historically be their birthright. And their life is spent in a tedious and hopeless attempt to extract some kind of quality of life from a system controlled by people whose self-interest excludes them from the start.
So the first issue is opportunity. And opportunity is based on assets.
The assets offered by the Middle East, meaning Israel/West Bank and area, are not divided equally between Jews and Palestinians. There is no will, as demonstrated again and again, on the Jewish side to promote, plan, schedule, offer anything near a fair deal to the Palestinians.
Surprisingly enough, after decades of frustration, the Palestinians have grown to accept this unfair status quo.
However, to add insult to injury, the Jews continue to whittle away the assets that remain to the Palestinians. I?m talking mainly about settlements. Still referred to as ?settlements? by the Western media. How dare we acknowledge the persistent theft of land and resources as ?settlements?! As if the West Bank were the ?wild west? of the American continent. What ?settlements?? This word implies and educates our children to accepting the Jewish ?right? of settlement. So of course our kids grow up thinking that those Palestinian ?gunmen? are simply stupid angry dangerous people who at best can?t be trusted to think straight and at worst are terrorists that may even endanger our own Western security.
A prime example of this lack of concern on the Israeli side is that the wall that forms the green line ?to protect Israeli settlements? is being built not on the Israeli side of the Palestinian border, but on the Palestinian side. So the settlement activity continues, and continues to be funded by the U.S. More land, more water, more resources, taken away from the Palestinians. Yearly, monthly, daily.
Don?t you think that the 4 million people most directly affected by this atrocity don?t notice what is happening?
That is the problem.
Rockets? Hah!
The rockets are only a symbol of the frustration that in spite of ceasefires that Israel is pressed to justify as simply rockets vs. freedom, there is no ceasefire in the larger picture. Israel has never and does not intend ever to stop the theft of resources from the Palestinians ? until they are all somehow removed and there are no more assets to subdivide and share.

Solution: to start to negotiate a fair distribution of assets

For true peace to happen ? to even hope for ? Israel MUST start to negotiate a fair division of ALL assets that land has to offer. Otherwise violence like this current altercation will never stop, and each altercation will only worsen future chances, increase the hatred, threaten the security of all, especially the Jewish people, and cheapen all things Jewish in the eyes of the world.

1948 was not a good year for Palestinians

I was already born when Israel managed to become a nation in the eyes of the world, in 1948. As a young adult, I was excited by this and hoped for it with all my heart. Whenever I saw a documentary or story about that massive effort to become real, by Israel, I cheered and danced along with all of them.
It is only now, with great sadness, that I listened to a friend of mine as he stated with passion that ?we should never have allowed Israel to become a nation?.
Not so, I thought to myself. Never.
But then I began to think.
Not allowing Israel to become a nation is not the same as denying Jews a right to live in Palestine. Not the same as supporting the death of all Jews; their expulsion once more from that land.
In a way, the general moderate Arab view also is not about killing Jews, or imposing impossible living conditions onto them (swimming, for one).
The problem is not about Jews, but about Israel.
And now I, too, agree that it was a mistake to have allowed Israel to be recognized as a nation. Any country that is composed of various ethnic groups should never be officially recognized as a country if dominated by one of those ethnic groups.
Israel is not the only country in this situation. However, we can at least start with Israel, since it is the country making the most noise right now.

There are a couple of hard choices to make

The Israeli (Jewish) government can take it upon itself to ensure that all Palestinians under its control, including those in the occupied territories (i.e., under Israeli control), are really and truly born with equal rights. This way, Israel can reform itself and not have to step back and cease to be a true nation.
Israel and/or the United Nations can withdraw Israel?s status as part of the world community until it demonstrates that such human rights reforms are made, much like the European Union requires from the states that want to become its members.
With each passing year, and with each new atrocity, Israel?s bargaining position lessens. If this continues, then the Jewish people will indeed have to start teaching their children how to swim.

Education should be shared

The other main solution that would work is to combine and normalize the educational systems in Israel.
One major problem is how the children, who become adults and decision makers, are educated. On both sides, they are brought up with prejudice.
There are two separate educational curricula in Israel and the Occupied Territories: on the Jewish side, young Jews are taught their side of the story; and on the Palestinian side, vice versa. Black spy white spy.
The conflict will never end until both sets of children are taught the same history and given a balanced perspective. One single school effort on the dividing line is NOT enough. ALL curricula must be normalized.
Yes, there will be resistance. Yes, there will be some internal conflict. Refer to the racial integration history of the U.S. Finally the U.S. can really offer their experience as something substantive and useful towards resolving the Middle East conflict.

The Canadian position

With its simplistic quid pro quo attitude, Canada shows itself too weak, or too short-sighted, to stand for what is right and what would be a true solution.