How now?

"Israel's tough choices in zero-sum game"
by Fania Oz-Salberger, Prof and chair of Modern Israel studies at Monash University.

I quote, "Imagine your next-door neighbour - with whom you have had a long and bloody feud - pulling out a gun and shooting into your windows, from his own living room, which is densely packed with women and children. In fact, he's holding his daughter on his lap as he tries to target your kids. He claims he will not stop until your family is dead. Police are unavailable. What should you do?"

An article in the Straits times which matches my sentiments exactly. With the Israeli-Gaza conflict robbing the headlines since 27 dec, two global camps have been aroused. Pro and anti Israeli. Yet from what I see, Israel is getting heavy flak for its actions.

On one side, it is argued that this is an unprecedented humanitarian crisis which could shift the status quo in the middle east towards more bloodshed than is needed. On the other side, the view is that Israel is fighting a just war against an unreasonable enemy which only goal is to see the destruction of her. Thus Israel's actions are justified and acceptable.

With all the poignant and heart-wrenching photos and videos captured and put to good propaganda use by media machines worldwide, there seems to be a global consensus that Israel is the aggressor and it should stop. The death toll now hovers around 530 with over 80 children dead as compared to a handful of Israelis. People all over the world have come up in arms baying for Israel's punishment for causing so many deaths and suffering. But who sympathises with the Israeli cause? George Bush definitely, but that doesn't really count as helping things does it?

I'm worried about this war too, outbreaks in the middle east never amount to anything good, yet I'm starting to feel indignant that few, if any, are helping Israel find a solution to its problem. All call for her to stop. None give her a reason to stop.

The humanitarian crisis is caused by a bunch of uncaring gunmen who fire rockets all day to spite their enemy from the midst of its civilians. "Try as Israel might to target militants alone, civilian bodies are being pulled from the rubble, because militants and civilians inhabit the same urban space in Gaza... no regime has ever used its citizens so deliberately as tools to arouse world sympathy, as hostages to modern sensitivities." How can an army defeat an enemy rooted between its people without killing anyone else? What kind of government brings war to its peoples' doorstep so that their deaths can be used as a media weapon against its enemy?

Israel just wants to protect her people from daily rocket fire by crushing Hamas. Yet I fear they may again pull themselves into the losing end of the war. If they pull out before completing their goal, their enemy will gain recognition and standing in defeating her. Of course, Israel can just level out Gaza with its bombs. Like Stalin once famously said during the purges, "Death is the solution to all problems. No man, no problem." But Israel doesn't want that, hence the ground offensive. For those who say that Israel is reacting disproportionately, should they then fight fire with fire by "firing 10 to 80 rockets, indiscriminately aimed against Gazan homes and schools, every day for the next few years?"

Instead of being an unreasonable, short-sighted bunch by calling for yet another temporary ceasefire, the world should start looking for long term peace plans, otherwise Israel has to start taking things into her own hands. Stop getting swayed by pitiful pictures, that is not the issue here. The issue is how do we stop this from reoccurring? Either send in an UN peacekeeping force with a strong mandate of stopping Hamas militants from firing rockets, or somehow broker peace for the long run.

Let not history repeat itself. Truces made, truces broken, fighting restarts. George Santayana puts it succinctly, "Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them." Stop fighting and do something now. Stop protesting like a bunch of infantile monkeys and get down to the crux of the problem.

Work towards peace, not inflame it further. If the world truly was matured enough, they'd find ways to stop things instead of jumping up and down on Israeli's flag.. If people around the world truly cared about others, why not start protesting against crimes in Darfur or deteriorating health conditions in Senegal? That would be much more purposeful..

I'm unsure how this will turn out. Chances are, it will end up like the Lebanon crisis last year, problem still unsolved. So, how now?