war

Some of the Israeli actions in Gaza these past weeks have been unconscionable; of that, there is no doubt. But let's not let Hamas off the hook entirely either. The civilians in Gaza are trapped between two intractable foes and suffer the consequences.

I mean, come on! Who hides weapons in a mosque? Crap like this is why Hamas shouldn't be let off the hook either.

All I can say is that I'm glad it's not just Al-Jazeera English talking about this sort of thing any more...

The following videos are a pretty good summary, from Al-Jazeera English, on the Gaza conflict.

Part 1

Part 2

... when an IDF officer says you're screwing up.

[Fmr] Captain Yonotan Shapira: "We are patriots. We want our people to continue to exist, and we see our leaders' actions as a self destruction policy that puts, in great danger, all of us."

What took me by surprise was this quote: "We have no other legitimate action but sitting and negotiating with Hamas and the Arab world."

Call me crazy, call me an optimist, but I think this was crazy awesome, brave and insightful.

Echoes of Sabra and Shatilla?

The key here is this quote, asked by a reporter of a Norwegian doctor working in a Gaza hospital:

Reporter: Are you also getting casualties that are Hamas fighters?
Dr. Mads Gilbert: To be honest, we came on New Year's Eve, in the morning. I've seen one military person among the tens - I mean, hundreds - we have seen and treated.

Israel, are you becoming your enemy?

Richard Silverstein writes:

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Haaretz reports in its Hebrew edition that after a thorough internal investigation UNWRA–which operated the Gaza school hit by Israeli shell fire earlier today resulting in the deaths of at least 42 civilian refugees–finds no evidence there were militants firing mortars from the school’s grounds. In fact, UNWRA notes that video the IDF disseminated yesterday seeking to verify the army’s claim were actually shot in 2007. Either the IDF intelligence apparatus is so incompetent it dredges up video from nearly two years ago to prove something happened yesterday or…it is so malign that it brazenly attempts to pass off this claim to the world in a desperate attempt to lower a smokescreen over what actually happened. If UNWRA’s claim is correct, then what actually happened appears to be something close to a cold-blooded massacre of refugee civilians.

From MSNBC:

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's military has ordered its forces to open fire if U.S. troops launch another air or ground raid across the Afghan border, an army spokesman said Tuesday.

I don't know what it is about wartime prayers, but something about them makes me shudder.

These are Israeli gunners at prayer near the Lebanese border early today, right beside their artillery piece. When I saw this picture, it reminded me of three pictures I remember seeing in a newspaper during the 1980's, under the title, "Let Us Pray:"

The first one was of an orthodox Jewish soldier wearing a prayer-shawl and praying with a prayer-book.

The second was a PLO fighter in sujud (prostration), with his machine-gun propped up on the wall in front of him.

The third showed a Lebanese member of the Phalangist militia kneeling in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary in a church, his gun lying beside him on the steps.

At the time, I was struck by the irony of it all---the three Western monotheisms, Abrahamic kissing-cousins, all turning to God, perhaps within a few miles of one another. Yet if they were to meet, they would probably kill one another if they could. And think that by doing so, God would be pleased.