Israel: Attacks on Gaza will Likely Backfire

There is no sugar coating Israel's latest assault on Gaza. It's wrong and likely to backfire on Israel -- similar to the 2006 Lebanon War.

My uneducated guess is that the Israelis notified Washington prior to their bombardment of Gaza. But then again, what does it matter? Even if Washington didn't give Israel the green light, their government is so arrogant they would have attacked anyway.

I hear many calls for diplomacy between the Israelis and the Palestinians. President Bush believes the first step necessary for a cease-fire is for Hamas to simmer down and stop firing rockets into Israel. At the same time it appears as if the Israeli government will accept nothing short of complete submission to Israel from Hamas and the Palestinians inhabiting Gaza -- a non-starter.

I don't want to sound as if I'm blaming everything on the Israelis. But a reasonable response to a small number of rogue Hamas fighters firing rockets isn't a gargantuan bombing campaign leveling Gaza resulting in mass murder of the Palestinian civilian population. I guess just simply viewed as collateral damage.

Collateral damage (in my opinion) is better defined as the unintentional murder of innocent civilians in order to achieve the annihilation of an enemy target. However, it has been the main generator of hatred and resistance to the state of Israel from their neighboring countries since before 1948 -- as well as an intolerant Arab world to the Jewish faith.

Israel has every right to defend itself, but they knew when they fired missiles and dropped bombs on an area inhabited both by Hamas militants and Palestinian civilians that many innocent people would be killed.

It's hard for us here in the U.S. to sympathize with the plight of innocent Arab people because we don't see the appalling slaughter of their women and children. It's so simple it's complicated -- if that even makes sense.

If you're a civilian living in Gaza and an Israeli missile strikes your home killing your family what are you to do? Sit by and blame Hamas -- not likely. Chances are you're going to take up arms and attack anyone and everyone you feel is responsible for the death of your loved ones. In that specific scenario it would be the Israelis.

Americans, for the most part, view any resistance by the Arab world to Israel as terrorism. Is it easier that way?

My simple analysis follows: If any nation were to attack or invade the U.S. killing my family I would fight back in such a way I would put a brand new meaning to the word vengeance. As would every red blooded American.

Unfortunately most Americans don't take enough time to look at both sides and place themselves in the shoes of those currently on the receiving end of Israel's wrath.

Because the casualties are a half a world away Americans are afforded the convenience of having a cavalier opinion regarding the body count of Palestinians stacked up by Israel. But just keep in mind that the entire Arab world's resentment of the U.S. stems from our "unconditional" and "undying" support of Israel and their actions -- good or bad.

Yesterday I saw Israel's EMT services in action on CNN, but there wasn't much action. If those cameras were to cross over into Gaza you'd see a lot more action where wounded Palestinians are filling up hospitals that are running out of medical supplies -- total inhumanity.

I have no personal or situational awareness regarding the tensions between Israel and Hamas that led to this flare-up. It has been reported that Hamas militants started this ordeal by firing rockets into Israel. But there were no reports (to my knowledge) that the actual leaders of Hamas, a democratically elected organization, ordered the rocket attacks.

Israel knows better than any nation on earth that there are many guerrilla fighters who operate independently of their organization's command structure. There is no way for Hamas to have total control over their entire membership from top to bottom.

Israel has sent tanks and troops to the Gaza border signaling an imminent ground invasion. How terrifying it must be for those in Gaza who are just waiting for more death and destruction to be inflicted upon them.

Before taking this any further the Israeli government should understand that the unconditional support from the U.S. they've enjoyed over the last 8 years of the Bush administration may be running out. More importantly, the Israelis should understand the deadly blows they're administering on the Palestinian people are not being viewed favorably in the world community -- not that the Israelis seem to care. They're on the warpath, but every action has a reaction.

Comments

[maddie0001]

08:39 PM on 01/20/2009

Excellent piece. I don't think anybody that lost someone in 9/11 thought to themselves "Maybe Bin Ladin's right about America's foreign policy." They wanted vengeance. Somehow we can't understand that same reaction in a Palestinian.

I think the invasion backfired because Hamas survived. And even if Hamas doesn't survive it will be replaced with something Israel will like even less.

[LizM]

05:41 PM on 01/05/2009

I just came across another excellent report from the International Crisis Group (my most favorite think-tank!) on the latest Israeli incursion into Gaza with ground forces.

Here is the link but, if it doesn't work, you can go to the main site www.crisisgroup.org and follow the links from there...

http://www.crisisgroup.org/library/documents/middle_east___north_africa/arab_israeli_conflict/b26_ending_the_war_in_gaza.pdf

[sammyscout]

08:40 PM on 01/01/2009

Good work, john, an idea I've been communication for 5+ years now. Very nice. Candy coated news to direct public opinion is why we are facing todays issues.

[John Bruhns]

07:22 AM on 01/02/2009

sammyscout,

Thanks. I agree, for the most part we here in the U.S. don't get the full scoop. For example, we were not even allowed to view the coffins coming home from Iraq.

V/R
John

[daisydewdrops]

07:49 PM on 01/01/2009

I'm wondering if you, John Bruhns, use any of the international news sources, like Al Jazeera, to help you form your opinions?

[chamberslee]

08:33 PM on 01/01/2009

His opinion stems from actually being in war and understanding there are two sides to every story.

[alexa07]

07:49 PM on 01/01/2009

I want to thank you for having the courage to come forward with your commentary. We need more thoughtful & reasoned commentary such as yours. After more than 60 yrs. of messes in the region, we need a new approach. How can we get there if we are always accusing one side of doing ALL the good things imaginable & the other of doing only the ugly? Please continue to provide your insight on this difficult topic. Unfortunately, most Americans have their ideas about Arabs shaped by the relentless depiction of them in our print & film media. Jack Shaheen has written on this subject related to American movies, (Reel Bad Arabs) & Edward Said, among others. A new study of how the New York Times portrays the conflict:
Israel-Palestine Record (2007) by Friel & Falk is also excellent. Marda Dunsky's Pens and Swords (2008) also. The Journal of Palestine Studies, published by the University of Calif. Press is also an excellent source for anyone who is interested in learning something about the other side.

[John Bruhns]

07:24 AM on 01/02/2009

alexa07,

I will surely look into the information you provided. Thank you for the encouraging and informative comment.

V/R
John

[daisydewdrops]

07:18 PM on 01/01/2009

You mentioned that we, Americans, are not seeing photographs of the civilian carnage in Gaza as a result of the Israeli attacks. U.S. news programs don't get everything that happens. I just returned from a visit to Istanbul, where I had the opportunity to watch Al Jazeera News (English version) every day.
Well, if Al Jazeera News was more readily available in the U.S. we would see plenty of images of the plight of the people in Gaza. My two teenage boys and myself were impressed with the unbiased and comprehensive reporting by Al Jazeera. I only wish that Americans had, readily available, more varied sources (such as PressTV from Tehran, Iran and Russia Today, from Moscow and Al Jazeera News from Qatar) for their world news. My visit to Istanbul and having the opportunity to watch TV there, taught me more about our(U.S.) limited view of what goes on in the world.

[John Bruhns]

07:26 PM on 01/01/2009

I too share your desire for the most accurate news reporting possible here in the U.S. Thanks for the comment and information. V/R John

[xxnounxx]

05:12 AM on 01/02/2009

you can watch it live on your computer..unless thats banned in america..you can watch it on abu dhabi tv,dubai tv,al manar as accurate as al jazeera in showing 100% whats going on,as they have reporters in gaza..

[likeobama]

06:36 PM on 01/01/2009

Thank you so much, John Bruhns, some are going to call you a hamas sympathizer or otherwise but you showed true integrity in speaking the truth while most of the other articles on the web are skewed towards Israel.

First of all, one poster claimed that Palestinians are to blame because they elected Hamas, well we elected Bush twice in the U.S should we be killed and bombed because of his actions?

Some have suggested that the blame lies with both sides of the conflict, problem is this is not a conflict at all its a massacre while the Israelis who are by the way the fourth most powerful country in the world, a nuclear power and suported by the U.S the most powerful country in the world, are using the best technology to bomb and kill civilians in Palestine. And ask yourself what would you do if u were the palestinian woman whose 5 kids were killed by Israeli millitary using American made weapons? Would you want to see Israel continue to exist? Would it make you love the U.S more? How can you blame Hamas when they dont have power to control even the West Bank? The area is controlled by Israel they control who goes in and who doesn't they have ensured that the Palestinians barely have food to eat and live under the worst conditions imaginable. Israel should follow U.S's lead and appease the Palestinians like we did for the Native Indians.

[John Bruhns]

07:14 PM on 01/01/2009

likeobama,

Thank you kindly for your words of wisdom and your encouraging comment.

V/R
John

[xxnounxx]

05:15 AM on 01/02/2009

Dear john this is the best report i have read in deffence of right frtom wrong,i agree with all what you said..
but dissagreed with the last paragraph,of america changing it policy towards isreal..my dear obama would never see the white house if isreal did not want him to,and i have a gut feeling obama willl be worse than the crazy bush in mid-east policy.

[BubbaC33]

03:21 PM on 01/01/2009

Despite what Bruhns seems to believe Israel does not display arrogance with the attack on Gaza. We are under no obligation to tell the US what the IDA plans to do, it would be suicidal in a lot of cases to share the info.
It does not matter if the Israeli response to rocket and missle attacks is disproportionate, the best strategy in any military situation is to get there firstest with the mostest. Israel has two obligations. Stop Hamas, a terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state, from firing missles and rockets into eretz Israel. The other obligation is to accomplish its goal with as little loss of life in the IDA and the IDF. If Hamas wants to surrround its installations with civilians any collateral damage is on them, not Israel.

[politricking]

06:50 PM on 01/01/2009

Perhaps we should give $3 billion dollars in military aid to the Palestianians, at least then this would be fair fight.

[politricking]

06:57 PM on 01/01/2009

Perhaps we should give $3 billion dollars in military aid to the Palestinians, at least then maybe this would be fair fight.

[xxnounxx]

05:16 AM on 01/02/2009

i agree with you politricking

[Whinger]

03:14 PM on 01/01/2009

The only innocents in this conflict are the children, just as in Iraq or Afghanistan or Pakistan!

These self same Palestinian adults danced in the streets celebrating the 9/11 attacks!
Why don't they protest when Hamas attack Israel endangering little children, as they do?

Those nations who are calling for ceasefires are only encouraging cyclical Hamas attacks, as we have seen, once a truce ends Hamas resume rocket attacks as a means to their end!
Were these rockets raining down on European cities they would be singing from a different hymn sheet and would in fact be doing what we see in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Gaza!.

[texasrodeoqueen]

06:43 PM on 01/01/2009

Whinger you forgot the women. The women and children are always the ones who suffer the most while men and their war adoration blow them up.

[yorkville7]

07:51 PM on 01/01/2009

all lies

[ReasonableVoice]

03:02 PM on 01/01/2009

Also in my view the next administration will have to establish some private channels to Hamas and their likes if success is to be acheived. After all even Israel has private channels to Hamas through Jordan and Egypt. Blindly supporting Israel does not make a Middle East Policy that works for us. After all Bill Clinton and former Israeli Prime Ministers did negotiate with Yasser Arafat even though he was called a terrorist at various times.

Hamas also needs to be more thoughtful - attacking Israel with rockets at such a time close to the elections was not a wise choice for their people who are already suffering. Instead international pressure could have been put on Israel to remove the blockade they opposed. After all they had a humane argument as Israel was blocking essential items to women and children including electricity.

Also America needs to accept the results of promoting democracy. If the outcome of an election means Hamas has formed a government then we need to be prepared to recognize them and negotiate with them.

[ReasonableVoice]

03:02 PM on 01/01/2009

A very good article. Having followed this conflict and the history of the region for more than 20 years since my school days, I can offer you some analysis. In my humble view the current action has a lot to do with internal Israeli politics. Elections are on Feb 10 and all polls show that Likud's candidate Benjamin Netanyahu is ahead. The remaining contenders Labor's candidate and current Defense minister Ehud Barack and Kadima's candiate and foreign minister Tzipi Livni have to show they are tough. It also helps the current Prime Minister Ehud Olmert by giving him a chance to exit with some glory instead of a legacy of scandal.

I do not like to be cynical but I also refuse to be blind. I will never dispute Israel's right to self protection but it is this kind of response to missile attacks that did not kill a single Israeli person before the war erupted and America's blind support of Israel that renders reasonable voices in the Arab world and also within Hamas and Palestine to be interpreted by the Arab Street as appeasement. It gives the militants within Hamas an upper hand.

[John Bruhns]

03:07 PM on 01/01/2009

ReasonableVoice,

Thank you for your wonderful analysis. Especially this part:

"I will never dispute Israel's right to self protection but it is this kind of response to missile attacks that did not kill a single Israeli person before the war erupted and America's blind support of Israel that renders reasonable voices in the Arab world and also within Hamas and Palestine to be interpreted by the Arab Street as appeasement. It gives the militants within Hamas an upper hand"

Pure truth to power.

V/R
John

[MauriceBendix]

02:53 PM on 01/01/2009

Thank you. This is a faith-restoring post from my p.o.v. to see this article in a MSM site. Surprised to see an honest evaluation of the situation. There are not two sides to Israel's response, especially since it's cynically timed before an election.

[John Bruhns]

03:03 PM on 01/01/2009

Thank you Maurice. This is such a touchy area to write on -- so I very much appreciate the encouragement. V/R John

[LizM]

02:50 PM on 01/01/2009

Happy New Year, John!

Here we go again. The enduring problem in this sad state of affairs is the continuing lack of even a modicum of intelligent leadership, from all corners - from the Palestinian territories, from the Israelis, from the regional Arab governments, the so-called quartet, and certainly from the US. In fact, I would go so far as to say that with friends like President Bush and his crack foreign policy team, Israel doesn’t need any enemies.

I’m guessing that Israel didn’t learn any lessons from their recent fiasco in Lebanon. And, neither did the Bush administration. As the IDF exerts its force in this way, I would be surprised if any citizen of Gaza or of the wider Arab community doesn’t see it as just another extension of US power.

...continued...

[John Bruhns]

02:59 PM on 01/01/2009

Liz,

Great to hear from you. Happy New Year. Your comment hit the nail on the head ... I look forward to your continuation.

V/R
John

[LizM]

02:48 PM on 01/01/2009

...continued...

As far as the Hamas government is concerned, if they are not in full control of the rockets being fired ever deeper into Israel, then they damn sure could stop it if they were so inclined. There may be no way for Hamas to have total control over their entire membership but I would be interested in learning what they have done since taking the reins of power to move the Middle East peace process forward. What steps have they taken to make the two-state solution a reality, at long last. As wiseapple implied in their comment here, time is not on our side for a two-state solution. Demographics alone - in Israel, in Gaza and in the West Bank - will soon dictate an entirely different scenario and one which will not likely be conducive to the state of Israel, as we know it.

I can’t imagine the consequences if the IDF are actually directed to begin a ground invasion of Gaza. Let’s hope the build-up on the border is nothing more than a show of force and a chip to use in negotiations. Which brings me back to the leadership question...and who will be the first to demonstrate any semblance of it.

[John Bruhns]

03:05 PM on 01/01/2009

Liz,

I hope that's all it is: a show of force. I was hoping the same thing back in March 2003 when I was on the border of Kuwait / Iraq -- we see how that turned out.

V/R
John

[LizM]

10:28 PM on 01/01/2009

I hear ya...you know, during the lead up to the Iraq invasion I really thought - up to the last hours before it actually began - that it would be averted somehow or other...it just seemed too dangerously unpredictable to go ahead with. But, after it was underway I can distinctly remember coming to the conclusion that, after 9/11 and then this invasion, we now live in a world where absolutely anything was possible - no matter how outrageous or lacking in common sense - and nothing was out of the question. We have lost the right to be shocked and surprised...or, it seems, to expect sound leadership.

But, I still hope that this latest Israeli escalation will prove me wrong and end in a cease-fire of some sort...and some breathing room, literally...and, that Obama/Biden can at least test what a little US leadership can achieve.

[T Pol]

02:28 PM on 01/01/2009

Your article shows that you do not understand Hamas nor the nature of the continued shelling of Israel.

This was not a few "rogues."

Israel DID give warning to stop. Hamas did not heed, but stepped up its efforts.

You forget that there is a legitimate president of the Palestinians.

I do have reservations about the weight of Israel's response and am concerned about backlash, but I have tired and by sickened by "the world community's" (including HuffPo writers and commenters) calling it a "disproportionate" response simply because Hamas has not succeeded in killing more Israelis!

What is the matter with you people? Hamas just shelled an Israeli school. Had Israel not taken strategic precautions, Hamas with one shell could have killed as many Israeli civilians and children as have been killed in Gaza.

Then it wouldn't be disproportionate. Would THAT make you happy?

Let's see some articles from HuffPo and some "world community" pressure for Palestinians to support their moderate leaders and start a life in Peace with Israel rather continued condemnations of Israel being too heavy handed when dealing with militants and terrorists who send their OWN children to their deaths as suicide bombers.

Peace to the Palestinians. Try it. You'll like it. When Arab and Jewish children have met at a peace camp, they have learned to know each other as human beings. THAT is how you will bring peace to the Middle East.

[John Bruhns]

02:51 PM on 01/01/2009

Maybe you're right. After all, this isn't a thesis for a P.H.D. in Middle Easten Studies. If you click on the blue highlighted words you'll see I did a little homework. But I have not seen anything that validates this came from the political wing of Hamas in Gaza -- if you have something to prove I'm wrong, by all means please share it, because I am searching for any information I can get to better understand the situation. As I stated:

"I have no personal or situational awareness regarding the tensions between Israel and Hamas that led to this flare-up. It has been reported that Hamas militants started this ordeal by firing rockets into Israel. But there were no reports (to my knowledge) that the actual leaders of Hamas, a democratically elected organization, ordered the rocket attacks."

This isn't an anti-Israel piece or a pro-Hamas piece. I'm no fan or sympathyzer of Hamas. This piece is meant to sympathyize with innocent people being killed in Gaza, hence creating more resistance to Israel.

I've been extremely critical of the U.S. involvement in Iraq as well.

[yorkville7]

07:54 PM on 01/01/2009

their vis no fight it is nothing more than shooting fish in a barrel, the only fight is against american media propaganda