The True Story Behind This War is Not the One Israel is Telling

The world isn't just watching the Israeli government commit a crime in Gaza; we are watching it self-harm. This morning, and tomorrow morning, and every morning until this punishment-beating ends, the young people of the Gaza Strip are going to be more filled with hate, and more determined to fight back, with stones or suicide-vests or rockets. Israel's leaders have convinced themselves the harder you beat the Palestinians, the softer they will become. But when this is over, the rage against Israelis will have hardened, and the same old compromises will still be waiting by the roadside of history, untended and unmade.

To understand how frightening it is to be a Gazan this morning, you need to have stood in that small slab of concrete by the Mediterranean and smelled the claustrophobia. The Gaza Strip is smaller than the Isle of Wight, but it is crammed with 1.5 million people who can never leave. They live out their lives on top of each other in vast sagging tower blocks, jobless and hungry. From the top floor, you can often see the borders of their world: the Mediterranean Sea, and the Israeli barbed wire. When bombs begin to fall -- as they are doing now with more deadly force than on any day since 1967 -- there is nowhere to hide.

There will now be a war over the story of this war. The Israeli government says: we withdrew from Gaza in 2005, and in return we got Hamas and Qassam rockets being rained on our cities. Some 16 civilians have been murdered. How many more are we supposed to sacrifice? It is a plausible narrative, and there are shards of truth in it - but it is also filled with holes. If we want to understand the reality and really stop the rockets, we need to rewind a few years, and view the runway to this war dispassionately.

The Israeli government did indeed withdraw from the Gaza Strip in 2005 - in order to be able to intensify control of the West Bank. Ariel Sharon's senior advisor Dov Weisglass was unequivocal about this, explaining: "The disengagement [from Gaza] is actually formaldehyde. It supplies the amount of formaldehyde that's necessary so that there will not be a political process with the Palestinians... Effectively, this whole package that is called the Palestinian state has been removed from our agenda indefinitely."

Ordinary Palestinians were horrified by this, and by the fetid corruption of their own Fatah leaders - so they voted for Hamas. It certainly wouldn't have been my choice - an Islamist party is antithetical to all my convictions - but we have to be honest. It was a free and democratic election, and it was not a rejection of a two-state solution. The most detailed polling of Palestinians, by the University of Maryland, found that 72 percent want a two-state solution on the 1967 borders, while fewer than 20 percent want to reclaim the whole of historic Palestine. So, partly in response to this pressure, Hamas offered Israel a long ceasefire and a de facto acceptance of two states, if only Israel would return to its legal borders.

Rather than seize this opportunity and test their sincerity, the Israeli government reacted by punishing the entire civilian population. They announced they were blockading the Gaza Strip in order to "pressure" its people to reverse the democratic process. They surrounded the Strip and refused to let anyone or anything out. They let in a small trickle of food, fuel and medicine - but not enough for survival.

Weisglass quipped the Gazans were being "put on a diet." According to Oxfam, this November only 137 trucks of food were allowed into Gaza this November - to feed 1.5 million people. The UN says poverty has reached an "unprecedented level." When I was last in besieged Gaza, I saw hospitals turning away the sick because their machinery and medicine was running out. I met hungry children stumbling around the streets, scavenging for food.

It was in this context - under collective punishment designed to topple a democracy - that some forces within Gaza did something immoral: they fired Qassam rockets indiscriminately at Israeli cities. These rockets have killed 16 ordinary Israeli citizens. This is abhorrent: targeting civilians is always murder. But it is hypocritical for the Israeli government to claim now to speak out for the safety of civilians when they have been terrorising civilians as a matter of state policy.

European and American governments are responding with a lop-sidedness that ignores these realities. They say that Israel cannot be expected to negotiate under rocket-fire, but they demand the Palestinians do so under siege in Gaza and violent military occupation in the West Bank.

Before it falls down the memory hole, we should remember that last week, Hamas offered a ceasefire in return for basic and achievable compromises. Don't take my word for it. According to the Israeli press, Yuval Diskin, the current head of the Israeli security services Shin Bet, "told the Israeli cabinet [on the 23rd] that Hamas is interested in continuing the truce, but wants to improve its terms." Diskin explained Hamas was requesting two things: an end to the blockade, and an Israeli ceasefire on the West Bank. The cabinet - high with election-fever, and eager to appear tough - rejected these terms.

The core of the situation has been starkly laid out by Ephraim Halevy, the former head of Mossad. He says that while Hamas - like much of the Israeli right - dreams of driving their opponents away, "they have recognized this ideological goal is not attainable, and will not be in the foreseeable future." Instead, "they are ready and willing to see the establishment of a Palestinian state in the temporary borders of 1967." They are aware this means they "will have to adopt a path that could lead them far from their original goals" - and towards a long-term peace based on compromise. The rejectionists on both sides - from Mahmoud Ahmadinejadh to Bibi Netanyahu - would then be marginalised. It is the only path that could yet end in peace - but it is the Israeli government who refused to choose it. Halevy explains: "Israel, for reasons of its own, did not want to turn the ceasefire into the start of a diplomatic process with Hamas."

Why would Israel act this way? The Israeli government wants peace, but only one imposed on its own terms, based on the acceptance of defeat by the Palestinians. It means they can keep the slabs of the West Bank on 'their' side of the wall. It means they keep the largest settlements, and control of the water supply. And it means a divided Palestine, with responsibility for Gaza hived off to Egypt, and the broken-up West Bank standing alone. Negotiations threaten this vision: they would require Israel to give up more than it wants to. But an imposed peace will be no peace at all: it will not stop the rockets or the rage. For real safety, Israel will have to talk to the people it is blockading and bombing today - and compromise with them.

The sound of Gaza burning should be drowned out by the words of the Israeli writer Larry Derfner. He says: "Israel's war with Gaza has to be the most one-sided on earth.... If the point is to end it, or at least begin to end it, the ball is not in Hamas' court - it's in ours."

Johann Hari is a writer for the Independent newspaper. To read more of his articles, click here or here.

You can read his article about why it is dangerous - and dishonest - to say all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic here. There's a good blog debunking one of the most toxic smear-machines here.

Comments

[oldmanof63]

How sad to view these comments and realize that pro-Israel comments will always cloud the truth. Too many Israelis have no intention of giving up land to establish a contiguous and economically feasible Palestinian State. No rehashing of the history of the last 60 years will prove anything. The plain truth is that Israel wants the Palestinians to be absorbed by the Arab neighbors so Israelis can live in the land promised them by God. I feel sorry for the Jews persecuted by the Christian west for 2,000 years and I feel sorry for the Palestinians, a once proud people living their lives in the land of their ancestors and victimized also by the Christian west.

[MirrorEditor]

You might want to revisit a bit of RECENT history: The Israelis offered Arafat the West Bank, Gaza, and $40 BILLION to jump-start the Palestinian economy in order to secure a lasting peace. Arafat's fellow Arabs all begged him to take the deal. He refused. Why, when he was given everything he wanted, and more? Because Arafat, and Hamas, and Hezbollah and the rest of the terrorists do not want peace with Israel. They want Israel obliterated and every Jew wiped off the face of the planet. Period.

How much more should the Israelis be willing to give? How long should they stand idly by while their people are murdered? What kind of INSANITY would dictate a nation not defend itself from terrorism? And I'm not talking about Bush & Co's hysterical and breathless lies about terrorism to sucker the American people...that's another story...I'm talking about terrorism that on a daily basis spills Jewish blood. Israel's actions have nothing to do with Biblical promises. It has to do with SURVIVAL. Enough is enough.

[MirrorEditor]

ANY OTHER NATION on this earth, when faced with the consistent, unrelenting, unprovoked violence Israel has endured at the hands of Fatah and now Hamas, would have risen swiftly and decisively to protect its borders and its people. Yet somehow, the Jewish people are not afforded those same basic human rights. The "Palestinians" freely elected Hamas, an organization OPENLY DEDICATED to the destruction of the state of Israel (read its Charter). Maybe the residents of Gaza should have considered the consequences of that choice before casting their votes. Did they truly believe Hamas would be a force for peace and reconciliation? Or were the "Palestinians" perhaps hoping that Hamas would use its new-found political leverage to finish the job on the Jews? And as for this high-minded rhetoric about sitting down and talking to Hamas...um­mm...didn'­t Israel do that already? Did it not agree to (and abide by) a cease-fire? And true to form, didn't HAMAS break their word on that agreement, as the "Palestinians" have every time Israel have gone to the table with them? Perhaps if the "Palestinian" leadership would, for once, negotiate ANYTHING in good faith with the Israelis, real progress might be made. But the time is long past to stop blaming Israel for defending itself.

[Prokofy]

This is a war unfolding very much in the view of the whole world, with all the social media tools deployed on all sides, and it is getting harder and harder to keep flogging the pro-Palestinian line, especially so soon after the devastating terrorists attacks in India, where we saw terrorists wantonly murder in cold blood a Jewish couple merely for being Jewish. You can't start the clock running on the scenes of death and devastation in a politically-correct and morally-blind vacuum, when the public record shows how this round began, with Hamas' constantly lobbing missiles into Israel, killing civilians.

As for maps, and territories, and all the rest of the usual line being flogged here, zoom out further. Look at the map of the entire region. And ask yourself why all these heavily armed and wealthy Arab states can't end this -- if they decide to -- by honestly recognizing the state of Israel and negotiating in good faith, and ending the arming and incitement of suicide bombers.

[cobobs]

Talk about painting yourself into a corner.

[Michale32086]

@chaos4700

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LOL! Just... LOL! Give us a call when you find your way out of the spin zone and back to reality again.
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You have yet to specify ONE act that was terrorism...

Michale....

[klmebane]

bombing civilians is terrorism, regardless of which side is doing it.

[clenchner]

Where is the progressive Jewish community on this?
http://middleeast.change.org/blog/view/where_is_the_progressive_jewish_community_right_now

[TangoCharlie]

That being the case, who fires the first shot - EACH and EVERY time - there is a cessation of hostility broken? Why, wouldn't that be the Jew-hating mongrels living in their hovels built upon lands given - in the hopes of fomenting peace - BY ISRAEL. Get your facts straight and look beyond the media spin. Who would have our back over there, Israel or Iran? Maybe Syria? Since you obviously don't suffer from intellectual honesty, try going back to when the Gaza Strip was given to the Palestinians... Do you remember the PLO and what they stood (stand) for? Aren't they still a terrorist organization that was until recently presided over by the hate-monger known as Yasser Arafat - a person (loose use of the word) that spoke out of both sides of his face depending upon who was greasing his palm at the time?

[FairTalk]

Who fired the first shots?

Who broke the most recent cease fire?

Are you telling me that Israel didn't shell Gaza during this most recent truce and before this past week/

It is you that needs to get your facts straight. I suggest you broaden your information pipeline to include sources that don't parrot Israel's talking points.

By the way, the last time I looked gaza was under siege for 1 1/5 years. A blockade is an act of war. In the past few weeks only 150 trucks of food and supplies were allowed by Israel into the Gaza Ghetto, for 1.5 million people. There was no food for their holiday celebrations, and their markets and banks had to close. (Israel had also halted money to the banks in Gaza)

Know ye not right from wrong?

Your point about Arafat illustrates the futility of this current massacre by Israel: even if Israel exterminates Hamas, another will replace it. Until all outstanding grievences are resolved this will continue. The problem isn't Arafat, Abbas, Hamas, etc, the problem is Israel refuses to negotiate in good faith. Israel believes the final solution is to punish the Plaestineans for electing Hamas.

That is the REAL reason bombs are being droped into an urban population. And it is not OK.

[Michale32086]

Egypt is also "blockading" Gaza...

Why isn't Hamas firing missile there??

Michale.....

[mommamia526]

As Michale states NOTHING JUSTIFIES TERRORISM! It also does not accomplish anything, as has been shown for over 60 years. The people who are suffering are NOT Hezbullah, Hamas, or the Iranian government, nor are they Al Qaeda leaders, or Fatah. Arabs are suffering, be they in Iran, in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Bethlehem, or even in Europe or the U.S. I met a Palestinian woman some time ago whose father was murdered right here in the U.S., according to her statements. I know of Lebanese families split up, with some members living in Lebanon and others in the U.S. They are christian Arabs. The terrorist organizations should let the Arab hostages in their tenements go free. Arabs, and everyone else, should be able to practice their religion and live their own culture in Peace. That applies to christian arabs, jewish arabs, bahai, and muslims too. No one, nor any government, holds a right to dictate to another how or what to believe. Terrorism and genocide a.o. in Darfur are wrong. Murder is murder. Acts of war are acts of war and are responded to, or should be. The psychological fun and game scenarios of the terrorist outlaw crowds should be called by name. NO, we DO NOT HAVE TO UNDERSTAND YOUR VERSION OF THE TRUTH. I advise reading *Games People Play* and *Transactional Analysis* by Eric Berne. Games are up. Terrorists and Outlaws are not legitimate parties governments can negotiate with.

[chaos4700]

What about Irgun? I'd say they were a pretty good example of how terrorism can get you something.

[Michale32086]

As has already been established, Irgun is much like the Iraqi insurgency..

For the most part, non terroristic..

Michale....

[Thirdpower2]

Lets roll back a few more years to the foundation of Hamas and their very charter.

It states:

"Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement."

"The Zionist invasion is a vicious invasion. It does not refrain from resorting to all methods, using all evil and contemptible ways to achieve its end. It relies greatly in its infiltration and espionage operations on the secret organizations it gave rise to, such as the Freemasons, The Rotary and Lions clubs, and other sabotage groups. All these organizations, whether secret or open, work in the interest of Zionism and according to its instructions. "

"After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying."

So only world control under Sharia through war can bring peace. Do these sound like people that can be reasoned w/?

[chaos4700]

Speaking of people we can reason with, can you name the last UN resolution or treaty that Israel respected in its entirety?

[Michale32086]

Why should Israel respect the UN when the UN is a joke?? When the UN is more corrupt than the most corrupt US corporation..

"The best thing for the UN to do is go condo."
-Robin Williams

Michale.....

[Thirdpower2]

That's nice. So you compare ignoring 'resolutions' from nations that don't even recognize Israel right to exist to an organization that thinks the "Protocols" were real, FreeMasons are Zionist puppets, and who openly state the only way to peace is through Jihad?

You have no problems w/ those stances?

[Michale32086]

@Tituba

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No Michale, is not that simple. Those of you that REALLY, REALLY want to know what the problem is between Israel and the Palestinians is really about will do very good by going to this website and take a look at how much territory the Palestinians had back in 1947, and how much they have today.
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Ancient history..

I am more concerned about with the here and now..

Rightly or wrongly, the Palestinian people were conquered... Whether it be by Israelis, Arabs or who have you...

They are a conquered people. Just as the American Indians were a conquered people. It's a shame, but right or wrong, it's the way things are..

But that doesn't excuse, mitigate or justify terrorism..

Let me repeat that, because it's the point that ya'all who whine and cry just cannot seem to come to grips with.

NOTHING JUSTIFIES TERRORISM....

Anyone employing terrorism immediately negates ANY legitimacy of their cause..

These are the facts...

Michale.....

[chaos4700]

"Anyone employing terrorism immediately negates ANY legitimacy of their cause."

Then what is your opinion of Ollie North and the Iran-Contra Scandal? You've already pardoned Irgun of their crimes, let's see what other terrorists you sympathize with.

[Michale32086]

OK, I'll bite..

What acts committed by Ollie North do you consider "terrorism"..

Wha?? Did he piss on someone's shoes or something?? :^/

Just a hint for you. Somebody doing something you don't like is NOT terrorism, no matter how much you want it to be...

Michale...

[Michale32086]

@chaos4700

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Yeah. /part/ of the hotel. The other part was a HOTEL!
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So, it's the British's fault for putting a military HQ inside a civilian structure.

Just as it's Hamas's fault for putting military hardware inside civilian areasll..

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By your logic, the attack on the Pentagon wasn't a terrorist attack -- the target was a military target, after all!
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The Pentagon attack WAS a terrorist attack. Not for it's choice of targets, which is clearly a military target, but rather because it's choice of weapons. An airliner filled with innocent civilians..

Now, if terrorists had hijacked a KC135 with military personnel on board, then the Pentagon attack would have been purely a military attack and not terrorism...

You really need to stop being so emotional and hysterical about things and look at things logically and rationally..

Michale.....

[chaos4700]

Logically and rationally? You just justified a terrorist attack on a US ally! I'm glad you're not in our military anymore. I'm guessing it was an honorable discharge due to extenuating medical circumstances? I have a guess.

[Michale32086]

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You just justified a terrorist attack on a US ally!
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You really are around the bend over this, ain'tcha..

How did you get there from here??

Like I said, you really need to calm down and think things thru rationally and calmly...

Michale....

[moonwatcher]

I still wonder why our tax dollars are going to support Israel a country that is quite able to defend itself.

[viper234]

Yes, Isreal is a major nuclear power in the region and could wipe out any and all countries that threaten its existence. In fact, Irasrel could wipe out Gaza in the blink of an eye. Isreal could wipe out Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt, given reason to. Isreal is in no danger of being wiped off the face of the earth because Isreal is quite able to defend itself.

On another note, let's not kid ourselves: So called "nuclear powers" who use sophisticated military weapons during operations and kill innocent civilians "by mistake," are terrorizing civilian populations no matter how they characterize their intentions. War is terrorism. Just ask innocent civilians who've suvived attacks where bombs were made using homemade material, or mass produced by the largest, wealthiest weapons manufacturers in the world. No matter the scenario, innocent people who are lucky enough to survive in either case wouldn't know the difference between a homemade bomb or a sophisticated, smart bomb but each suvivor, in either case could surely describe their terror during and after the event. Terrorism is the backbone of war.

[Michale32086]

@chaos4700

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That enough details for you?
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None of the acts listed in those links constitutes terrorism..

Brutal and unforgiving attacks, to be sure.. But they were ALL directed at military targets, installations, outposts and headquarters..

None constitutes terrorism..

Michale.....

[chaos4700]

The King David hotel was a military target?! Apologist much?

[Michale32086]

From your OWN link...

"Operating in disguise, Irgun members planted a bomb in the basement of the main building of the hotel, part of which housed the Mandate Secretariat and the British military headquarters. Telephoned warnings were sent to the main switchboard of the hotel, the Palestine Post newspaper and the French consulate[1][2], but no evacuation was carried out, giving rise to much controversy over the reasons why people were not cleared from the building."

As I said.. The hotel was housing "British Military HQ"....

It is a legitimate military target. It was even WARNED of the impending bombing.

This is clearly NOT a terrorist attack, no matter how much your hysterical bias wants it to be..

You aren't really good at this, are you??

Michale.....

[Michale32086]

@DMGMD

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Wow...you really don't have any clue as to what is happening there? I'm wondering why you even bother to comment. How do you expect the Palestinians to feed and clothe themselves if there is a BLOCKADE!!
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And yet, Hamas has been able to mass THOUSANDS of TONS of weapons, missiles and other military hardware..

How did that happen?? Did the Klingons beam down all that hardware??

The simple fact is Hamas chose to import weapons and other hardware to continue their terrorism instead of importing foodstuffs and medicine...

In short, Hamas chose to continue to kill Israelis over feeding, clothing and providing for their own people.

How is this Israel's fault???

Michale.....

[DMGMD]

I was wondering where you went. How is that Israels fault you ask? You call yourself informed? Surely you weren't ACTUALLY in the intelligence community. Do you expect the Gazans to eat dirtcakes like the residents of Port Au Prince, Haiti? How do you expect them to survive? Rainwater? I think they get about 2.5-4 inches per year....so there goes crops. They essentially live in an open air prison...no legal way to get anything IN or OUT. And how long do you expect them to be patient with Is raeli government sanctioned apartheid? Smuggling cows, food, medicine or whatever was a lifeline. Supply and demand. By the way when was the first rocket fired? Was it before or after Israel blew up the tunnels? So yes it is the fault of the current Is raeli government. Many of my friends in Is rael happen to agree with me. You still haven't addressed the issue of herding people into an almost barren wasteland, and not allowing them access the the water beneath their feet. Of course you deny their basic humanity and right of self determination, and right to resist an oppressor.

[Michale32086]

You have yet to explain why Hamas insists on importing weapons and military hardware instead of foodstuffs and medicine to feed their people...

Why is that??

Michale.....

[DMGMD]

"And yet, Hamas has been able to mass THOUSANDS of TONS of weapons, missiles and other military hardware..". H amas could have imported 10 times what you quoted. They still are no match for what we've shipped to I srael since September alone. All this current military incursion is doing is rallying more and more people behind H amas. What do you think happens when hungry, desperate people have nowhere left to turn? Hell, our American Revolution was started over less tyranny that what is happening to the people of P alestine. Who do you think the G azans consider the good guys: The guy raining down hellfire and damnation on their heads, who by the way is also the guy who has blocked food, water, medicine, and is the same guy who bulldozes their homes and won't let them leave the hell hole in which they live...or the guy fighting back who uses murderous tactics? H amas can be called many horrible things, and I DON'T agree with their methods, but I'd rather die on my feet then live on my knees. Maybe that sounds familiar?

[Michale32086]

@AZ_AF_VET

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Aren't boycotting and starvation terrorist acts?
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No.

"Terrorism is defined as ongoing and systematic attacks of violence specifically targeted against innocent civilian persons or property for the purpose of furthering a political, economical or ideological agenda."

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Wouldn't Israel be better off feeding, clothing, and healing them. Oh that's right forgiveness is not part of the religeon.
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Why is it Israel's responsibility to feed, clothe and heal Palestinians? Shouldn't that be the responsibility of their elected leaders, Hamas??

But Hamas has made it clear that they are more interested in killing Israelis than they are feeding, clothing and healing their own people.

Michale....

[chaos4700]

Funny, you seem to have forgotten my having brought up Irgun/Likud. Allow me to remind you.

[Michale32086]

Details?? Cite???

Michale.....

[DMGMD]

Wow...you really don't have any clue as to what is happening there? I'm wondering why you even bother to comment. How do you expect the Palestinians to feed and clothe themselves if there is a BLOCKADE!! I believe there are less than 10 understaffed and chronically undersupplied hospitals with taking care of greater than 1,500 casualties in under 3 days. That would overwhelm the 10 or so WELL EQUIPPED Level 1Trauma centers in Chicago. They are illegally prevented from fishing beyond a 6 mile limit. The list continues. Whatever, it's useless to argue with you if you are going to be so willfully ignorant of facts.

[chaos4700]

Michale is claimed, in previous posts, to be an ex-military "intel liason." That would be short hand for "propaganda specialist."

[lakat]

How can Israel, a country born from the defeat of Nazi genocide, forget the German, Polish, Austrian ghettos and the sub-human treatment of their not so distant ancestors? How can they impose this monstrosity on others now? "Never Forget", Israel, really? Gaza is a death camp, SHAME!