Olmert declared victory in Gaza. Can someone explain to me what victory means? Beside the horrific war crimes and the massacre of hundreds of armless civilians, what has Israel achieved?
Stop Hamas rockets? This was the main declared objective of the Israeli attack. Even while Olmert was giving his cease-fire press conference, rockets were still flying into Israel. During the war, Hamas rockets have reached deeper targets inside Israel than ever before. The Israeli "Defense" Forces brag about their success in reducing the number of rockets by more than 50 percent (from about 70 a day to 20-30 now). How impressive! How long will it take before Hamas is able to fire 70 of those homemade rockets again? A week maybe? Do people in south Israel really feel safer today? Haaretz reported today that only 41% of Israelis think the operation in Gaza succeeded; an equal number think it failed.
Kill Hamas men? Two thirds of the people killed in Gaza were unarmed civilians. More than 300 were children. Tens of those counted as non-civilians are actually young officers in Gaza's civilians police force, not militiamen, and were not necessarily affiliated with Hamas. Many were in the police force long before Hamas rose to power in Gaza. The policemen were killed on day one when numerous police stations were hit by the Israelis before they were evacuated.
Take Hamas fighters prisoner? Read this interesting report from Yedioth Ahronot, in which Israeli officials express "disappointment" at the low number of Hamas men who were taken prisoner during the invasion. According those officials, 200 Palestinians were kidnapped by Israel during the first 10 days of the offensive. Only 30 had "connections to Hamas".
Assassinate Hamas leaders? Israel indeed killed Said Siam and Nizar Rayyan, both prominent Hamas leaders. This was probably a strong blow to Hamas, but how significant is it in the long term? This is not the first time Israel targets Hamas leaders. Yahya Ayyash was assassinated in 1996, Salah Shehadeh in 2002, Abdel Aziz Ar-Rantissi, Adnan El-Ghool and Hamas founder Ahmad Yassin in 2004. Hamas recovered after each blow and actually gained more support and popularity after the 2004 assassinations.
Strengthen Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas? I think the result was quite the contrary. Hamas now has more support in the Arab World and Palestine than it ever had. It is much more difficult today for Fatah to regain any power or influence in Gaza. Read this report about injured Palestinians who have never been Hamas members vowing, from their hospital beds in Cairo, to go back to Gaza and fight with Hamas.
Subdue the Palestinians and kill the spirit of resistance? Good try. But this had failed before, in Deir Yassin in 1948, in Beirut in 1982 and in Genin in 2002. Will Israel ever learn? After almost a month of barbaric bombing and despite the heavy toll of death and carnage, Gazans still stand defiant.
Promote the Israel/Bush version of the lame "peace process"? Yeah, peace. Ask the people in Gaza about peace. Ask the four children who laid for days beside their mothers' corpses while ambulances were being turned back by the Israelis. Ask the parents who lost their children and the boys and girls who were orphaned. Ask those who lost a leg, an arm, or an eye, and those who were burned with white phosphorus. Ask people all across the Arab world who watched this on TV in agony and anger. In the hearts of millions, Israel has planted seeds of hate that it will continue to sow for generations to come.
May the souls of those massacred in Gaza rest in peace. We will never forget. We will never forgive.
Recent Comments