Gaza Strategies
While there is no shortage of venom heaped on Israel’s Gaza incursion, and plenty of chicken vs egg discussion of who started this mess, there is scant acknowledgement of one basic truth: that this war, with its civilian deaths and horrible infrastructure damage, is the desired outcome of carefully thought out strategies by both Hamas and the Israelis. The two sides are fighting two different wars, which happen to intersect in the streets and alleys of Gaza.
Hamas: The Picture War
In studying guerrilla groups and strategies for my novel, The Army of the Republic, it became apparent that guerrilla or terrorists groups are not usually fighting a war of conquest or military victory, but rather, a propaganda war, designed to discredit their enemy and to polarize the population. Hamas’ quixotic launching of rockets is decried either as the desperate gesture of a captive people or as the suicidal expression of hatred by irrational religious fanatics. In fact, it’s a pre-meditated strategy with defined political ends.
Hamas does not launch rockets because it hopes to defeat Israel militarily or to improve conditions in the Gaza Strip. It launches rockets for the purpose of provoking a reaction. Hamas is telling a story, and they are using bullets and bodies to tell that story. Their narrative is that Israelis are blood-thirsty child-killers who blow up mosques and schools, engaging in sadistic “collective punishment.” For this reason they intentionally store explosives in mosques and launch mortar rounds without regard to the civilian casualties that return fire will cause. With Israel blocking foreign journalists, Hamas controls the picture war. You will rarely see an image of a Hamas militant holding a weapon or launching a rocket. Instead, the media is full of images of dead and bleeding children, the blame for which falls heavily on the Israelis, especially in the Arab world. We may know it’s a complex situation, but a horrific image of a dead child provokes revulsion towards whoever fired the shot. In the war between words and pictures, pictures usually win.
In the short term, Hamas’ purpose is to isolate Israel diplomatically, turn world opinion against it and to further polarize Middle Eastern opinion against Israel and against moderate Arab regimes. They also want to raise their profile as heroic defenders of the Palestinian cause. Their long-term goal is to weaken Israel enough diplomatically so that it can eventually be defeated and destroyed militarily. Thus, in the twisted logic of jihad and martyrdom, every dead child is a victory for Hamas, bitter as it may be.
Not that Hamas is composed of inhuman monsters. Certainly their own family members are among the dead and wounded, and their own homes are being destroyed. But for an absolutist mindset locked in a Great Struggle against Pure Evil, such sacrifices, or even death, are part of a stirring narrative in which they are the heroic protagonists, paving the way for future victory. For those who have no hope of anything else, this is the struggle which gives life meaning.
Israel: The Memory War
From the Israeli side, the desire is to implant in the memory of present and future border states that they will not tolerate harassment by irregular forces who operate under cover of civilian populations. While Israel is often portrayed as the bully, a country of 7 million beating up on a poverty-stricken Palestinian population of nearly 4 million (including the Gaza Strip), the Israelis see themselves as being surrounded by much larger hostile nations such as Syria (pop. 20 million) and Iran (pop. 66 million) who have been inveterately opposed to Israel since its creation and who now use the Gaza Strip and Lebanese border area as forward beachheads in a war of harassment, attrition and, potentially, invasion. For this reason, and others, Israel is loathe to give up its grip on either Gaza or the West Bank, and has walled, partitioned and controlled them to the point where they can’t function as states. If Israel is going to live cheek by jowl with their enemies, as any ultimate settlement with the Palestinian Authority will necessitate, they want it crystal-clear what the consequences of trying to harass the Israeli state with terrorism and irregular forces will be. This war is both to deal with the present harassment of Hamas, and with any harassment that future enemies may consider.
The paradox is that as the world laments the loss of life in Gaza, both sides are successfully pursuing their respective strategies. It’s hard to tell which strategy, if either, will be the ultimate winner. It is, however, easy to see who the losers are.
GAZA GHETTO
FOLKS..............FOLKS
WHEN WE SPEAK OF GAZA ...LETS REFER TO IT AS...
THE GAZA GHETTO
FAIR IS FAIR
IN EVERY SENSE OF THE TERM GAZA IS INDEED A GHETTO
JUST AS WARSAW WAS
zionism
for heavens sakes, it was the Germans who slaughtered the Jews et al, so why didn't the western powers give a chunk of Germany to the Jews for their homeland. Given the current mess 60-years later, bombing the Palestinians into submission won't work, never has worked. Until we stop treating Israel as our 51st State, they will continue their policy of violating the rule of law & human rights. It's all about the oil & the powerful Israeli lobby. In the mean time, Palestinian children, women and old people will pay the price for the lousy rocketeers in Gaza.
But then how could the middle east be destabilized?
Without Israel they'd have nothing to fight about and that wouldn't sell a lot of weapons. It's important to keep as many people fighting as possible and a state within a nation that may actually accept it or give an area without a current population, why that would never sell a single nuke.
Explore Orthodox Christianity
Mercenaries and War Profiteers~Chaos and Destruction
Is what they want!! Peace is very bad for business ya know!
See this video Mercenaries and War Profiteers
http://www.wimp.com/videobanned/
"U.S. policies in the Middle East to have been wildly successful, so successful that the gains they have produced for the movers and shakers in the petrochemical, financial, and weapons industries (which is approximately to say, for those who have the greatest influence in determining U.S. foreign policies) must surely be counted in the hundreds of billions of dollars." ~ Robert Higgs
"Endless war, an increasingly oppressive surveillance state, the evisceration of individual freedom and civil liberties, and ongoing chaos and destruction are all what they want.
None of this is an "error," or a "mistake in judgment," or "good intentions" gone awry. This is what they want.
Never, ever forget it."~ arthur Silber
http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/2007/08/chaos-war-murde...
*****
"I truly wish that real life would no longer surpass the worst excesses of my nightmarish imaginings... Arthur Silber **
"I think we are living in a world of lies: lies that don't even know they are lies, because they are the children and grandchildren of lies." ~ Chris Floyd
NY/MIAMI JEWS
along with EUROPEAN......RUSSIAN jews......have no right to ancient Arab lands
"before israel we had no arab enemies"
We need to fix America...
We need to fix America... and remove the international bankers and the terrorist in white collars! Help the cause!
http://thenoz.wordpress.com/noz-to-change-america/
Cohen...
Who cares? As far as I am concerned they are both on their own and can beat each other up as much as they want. Just leave Americans out of it. This back and forth of "he started it", no "he did" is pure insanity that has been going on for centuries. Dragging people into the blame game isn't going to solve AMERICA's problems and furthers the rhetoric on the Zionist/Arab issues. "Entangling alliances with none.............
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" Einstein.
"I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.." Ali.
Palestine was known as Trans-Jordan
Before it independently declared itself Palestine. Lets get facts straight. All those countries over there--who supported Germany in WWI and the Nazis in WWWII were made by the conquering Nations. Facts always get in the way of the truth.
Sheldon Waxman
sheldonw72@gmail.com
www.thelawyer.info
www.independentcontractor.info
Sheldon Waxman
sheldonw72@gmail.com
www.independentcontractor.info
www.thelawyer.info
FACT:The Zionist stole Palestine
Nobody ever answers the question why the Palestinians have to lose THEIR nation to Eastern Europe Jews.
Zionist are thieves, they are terrorist, they are invaders and occupiers of Palestine...period.
This crappy article belongs on FOX News, not the Daily Paul.
Fantastic Analysis
I couldn't agree with it more. At last some fairness when it comes to Israel--a country that is part of the Nations of the world for 60 years. They could have driven the Palestinians into Jordan many times but didn't--to their loss.
The Palestinians (really Canonites) are known trouble makers. Why do you think that none of the other states want to take them? Lebanon learned its lesson and kicked them out and so did Jordan, who killed 100 time more of them than Israel has. And they plot to kill Mubarik like they did his predecessor.
C'mon, let's get real here.
Sheldon Waxman
sheldonw72@gmail.com
www.thelawyer.info
www.independentcontractor.info
Sheldon Waxman
sheldonw72@gmail.com
www.independentcontractor.info
www.thelawyer.info
What?
You're a liar. Jordan killed some Palestinians but nothing compared to Israel. In fact 70% of Jordanians identify themselves as Palestinians. The fear of the Christian minority (~45%) in Lebanon of becoming a smaller minority lead to the persecution (not giving them any basic rights e.g. private property rights and starting a business) of the Palestinian refugees there. Inside Syria, Palestinians have the same rights as Syrians citizens except issuing passports. 99% of Egyptians would love to see Mubarak killed, so if a Palestinian did it he/she will become their hero. My point is you don't know what the fuck you're talking about.
Wow, a great piece of propaganda!
I wonder how did this one made it to the DP frontpage!? Seriously, read between the lines
All I read is that Israel is strugling to survive in a hostile neighborhood and Hamas is not the palestinian resistance but rather an ideological propagandist entity provoking and trying to blame Israel for killing civilians, who wouldn't die in the first place, if Hamas wouldn't use them as human shields!!!
Hamas are Theocratic Oppressors
Hamas oppresses Palestinians -- -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_OGhj43GAE
Hamas wants to establish an Islamic Sharia state in present day Israel
and Palestine, not just dismantle the Jewish state. Hamas charter
relevant section --
http://middleeast.about.com/od/palestinepalestinians/a/me080...
Here are some quotes,
"*Article Six: Peculiarity and Independence.* The Islamic Resistance
Movement is a distinct Palestinian Movement which owes its loyalty to
Allah, derives from Islam its way of life and strives to raise the
banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine...."
"Part II - Objectives
* Article Nine: Motives and Objectives:* .... As to the objectives:
discarding the evil, crushing it and defeating it, so that truth may
prevail, homelands revert [to their owners], calls for prayer be heard
from their mosques, announcing the reinstitution of the Muslim state."
(Note to anarchists: that says "reinstitution of the Muslim
STATE(!!!)")
"Part III - Strategies and Methods
Article Eleven: The Strategy of Hamas: Palestine is an Islamic Waqf The
Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine has been
an Islamic Waqf throughout the generations and until the Day of
Resurrection, no one can renounce it or part of it, or abandon it or
part of it. No Arab country nor the aggregate of all Arab countries, and
no Arab King or President nor all of them in the aggregate, have that
right, nor has that right any organization or the aggregate of all
organizations, be they Palestinian or Arab, because Palestine is an
Islamic Waqf throughout all generations and to the Day of Resurrection.
Who can presume to speak for all Islamic Generations to the Day of
Resurrection? This is the status [of the land] in Islamic Shari'a, and
it is similar to all lands conquered by Islam by force, and made thereby
Waqf lands upon their conquest, for all generations of Muslims until the
Day of Resurrection. "
See- http://middleeast.about.com/od/palestinepalestinians/a/me080...
"...but the control of the land and the land itself ought to be endowed
as a Waqf [in perpetuity] for all generations of Muslims until the Day
of Resurrection. The ownership of the land by its owners is only one of
usufruct, and this Waqf will endure as long as Heaven and earth last.
Any demarche in violation of this law of Islam, with regard to
Palestine, is baseless and reflects on its perpetrators."
So Hamas wants to implement a Sharia state throughout the whole Levant
-- all of current Palestine and Israel. The document seems rather
uncompromising about it. Here is Hamas policy regarding "Peaceful
Solutions, [Peace] Initiatives and International Conferences"
Again see-
http://middleeast.about.com/od/palestinepalestinians/a/me080...
"* Article Thirteen: Peaceful Solutions, [Peace] Initiatives and
International Conferences:* [Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful
solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian
problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance
Movement. For renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of
the religion; the nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part
of its faith, the movement educates its members to adhere to its
principles and to raise the banner of Allah over their homeland as they
fight their Jihad: "Allah is the all-powerful, but most people are not
aware." From time to time a clamoring is voiced, to hold an
International Conference in search for a solution to the problem. Some
accept the idea, others reject it, for one reason or another, demanding
the implementation of this or that condition, as a prerequisite for
agreeing to convene the Conference or for participating in it. But the
Islamic Resistance Movement, which is aware of the [prospective] parties
to this conference, and of their past and present positions towards the
problems of the Muslims, does not believe that those conferences are
capable of responding to demands, or of restoring rights or doing
justice to the oppressed. Those conferences are no more than a means to
appoint the nonbelievers as arbitrators in the lands of Islam. Since
when did the Unbelievers do justice to the Believers? "And the Jews will
not be pleased with thee, nor will the Christians, till thou follow
their creed. Say: Lo! the guidance of Allah [himself] is the Guidance.
And if you should follow their desires after the knowledge which has
come unto thee, then you would have from Allah no protecting friend nor
helper." Sura 2 (the Cow), verse 120 There is no solution to the
Palestinian problem except by Jihad. The initiatives, proposals and
International Conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in
futility. The Palestinian people are too noble to have their future,
their right and their destiny submitted to a vain game. As the hadith
has it: "The people of Syria are Allah's whip on this land; He takes
revenge by their intermediary from whoever he wished among his
worshipers. The Hypocrites among them are forbidden from vanquishing the
true believers, and they will die in anxiety and sorrow." (Told by
Tabarani, who is traceable in ascending order of traditionaries to
Muhammad, and by Ahmed whose chain of transmission is incomplete. But it
is bound to be a true hadith, for both story tellers are reliable. Allah
knows best.)"
So there will not be any kind of negotiated solution short of giving
Hamas everything it demands. As long as Hamas retains the above section
in its charter, all negotiations with Hamas will be suspect. Now we
understand why the Israelis assassinate these guys. It doesn't seem like
there is any bargaining with them. There doesn't seem to be any way
there will be any type of libertarian or libertarianish solution until
these guys are all eliminated.
One could contend that Hamas was formed out of Israeli Zionist
oppression, hence takes such a radical Islamist stand, and that if
Zionism and Israel were abolished, they would revert back to a more
rational, less theocratic Islam. However, that would not be true.
Hamas was formed as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. "*Article Two:
The Link between Hamas and the Association of Muslim Brothers.* The
Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of the Muslim Brothers
in Palestine. The Muslim Brotherhood Movement is a world organization,
the largest Islamic Movement in the modern era." --
http://middleeast.about.com/od/palestinepalestinians/a/me080...
But the Muslim Brotherhood was not formed in response to Israel. From
Wikipedia, "Hassan al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood in the city
of Ismailia in March 1928 .... According to him, contemporary Islam had
lost its social dominance, because most Muslims had been corrupted by
Western influences. Sharia law based on the Qur'an and the Sunnah were
seen as laws passed down by Allah that should be applied to all parts of
life, including the organization of the government and the handling of
everyday problems.
"
--
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Brotherhood#Muslim_Broth...
Since it doesn't seem that the Muslim Brotherhood founding had anything
to do with Israel, therefore, even if Israel is abolished, the
objectives of Hamas, as part of the Muslim Brotherhood, would still
remain the same -- the establishment of an Islamic state in present day
Israel and Palestine, not a secular one.
As a libertarian, I oppose U.S. involvement, militarily and financially.
But as far as morally evaluating one side or another from a libertarian
standpoint, the Zionists are more right than Hamas, Hamas is more wrong than the Zionists. On libertarian grounds, it seems pretty useless to try to defend Hamas or to criticize Israel for attacking it.
Another choice tidbit --
"*Article Five: Dimensions of Time and Space of the Hamas.* ...Its
special dimension extends wherever on earth there are Muslims, who adopt
Islam as their way of life; thus, it penetrates to the deepest reaches
of the land and to the highest spheres of Heavens." --
http://middleeast.about.com/od/palestinepalestinians/a/me080....
Please note there are practicing Muslims in every country including the
U.S. So while Hamas is currently an Israeli problem, if they ever did
have success, they could well attempt to extend their reach to the U.S.,
at which point it would be our job, as libertarians who value the 1st
Amendment, to martyr them.But it does not have to come to that. We are
in the enviable position of having someone else who is willing to it for
us -- Israel. We should not attack Israel for doing so. Diplomatically
and morally, we should support Israel in its war against Hamas and
fundamentalist Islamic oppression.
Israeli Propaganda Article
Palestinians had their own nation of 'Palestine' stolen from them by Europeans.
One day the Palestinians had a country called 'Palestine', and the next day the Jews had 'Palestine' to changed to 'Israel'.
Why do the Palestinians have to lose their nation for Europeans?
Germans(Europeans) killed and mistreated Jews(Europeans)...what part did the Palestinians play, other than losing their nation?
Jews lived in Palestine continuosly since ancient times
Jews lived in Palestine continuously since ancient times. They were oppressed by the Muslim majority, but it was originally their land, stolen from them by the invading Arabs in the 7th century. If it was OK for the Muslims to steal the Jews' land, oppress them and forcibly convert them, what's wrong with Jews returning home to aid their oppressed brethren? Exactly when did the Palestinians have a country named "Palestine"? The Ottoman Turks controlled the land before Israel, not "Palestinians".
No Proof of Booby Trapps in Schools???
Pick a source of your choice, even Al jeezera is reporting on this FACT!
Gaza: IDF uncovers booby-trapped school, zoo
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3654407,00.html
Every item is a potential booby trap in the Gaza Strip
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24903347-...
Hamas "booby-trapped the school".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/07/gaza-israel-obama
Avital Liebowitz, an Israeli military spokesperson, told Al Jazeera that Hamas had "booby-trapped" installations in Gaza
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/2009172...
Your sources are BS. Just
Your sources are BS. Just because the IDF said something doesn't mean it is accurate. You know the official Israeli story of bombing the UNRWA school in Gaza is constantly changing. They admit now that there were no fighters in the school.
http://news.antiwar.com/2009/01/11/israels-re-revised-story-...
I suggest you read Phil Weiss blog (based on your other comments in DP you don't seem like you care about knowing the truth)
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/
HA ...
I will happily and gleefully admit that I was wrong about this.
You made the front page!!!!
This was too good to take a pass on.
Very valuable article.
Well worth reading three or four times.
WAHOR!!
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/48994
WAHOR!!
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/48994
But alas ... how could I be no niave ...
It was done in such a way that it can not be bumped on the active forum topics.
LOL.
WAHOR!!
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/48994
WAHOR!!
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/48994
True but
There isn't any proof that the Palestinian fighters are hiding rockets in mosques and between civilians. What Israel is trying to accomplish by attacking mosques, hospitals, UN workers and schools is making people hate hamas and end their support for it. Without public support for those fighters they won't stand a chance.
------------
http://www.ifamericansknew.com
Amazingly insightful
This has to be the most intelligent, insightful post I have read in a long time.
I confess that it was the first of your work I have experienced.
I feel blessed for having read it.
Really shines light onto the media coverage (or lack thereof).
Thank you!