Some geopolitical conflicts are morally complicated. The Israel-Gaza war is not. It possesses a moral clarity not only rare but excruciating.
Israel is so scrupulous about civilian life that, risking the element of surprise, it contacts enemynoncombatants in advance to warn them of approaching danger.
Hamas, which started this conflict with unrelenting rocket and mortar attacks on unarmed Israelis -- 6,464 launched from Gaza in the past three years -- deliberately places its weapons in and near the homes of its own people.
This has two purposes. First, counting on the moral scrupulousness of Israel, Hamas figures civilian proximity might help protect at least part of its arsenal. Second, knowing that Israelis have new precision weapons that may allow them to attack nonetheless, Hamas hopes that inevitable collateral damage -- or, if it is really fortunate, an errant Israeli bomb -- will kill large numbers of its own people for which, of course, the world will blame Israel.
For Hamas, the only thing more prized than dead Jews are dead Palestinians. The religion of Jew-murder and self-martyrdom is ubiquitous. And deeply perverse, such as the Hamas TV children's program in which an adorable live-action Palestinian Mickey Mouse is beaten to death by an Israeli (then replaced by his more militant cousin, Nahoul the Bee, who vows to continue on Mickey's path to martyrdom).
At war today in Gaza, one combatant is committed to causing the most civilian pain and suffering on both sides. The other combatant is committed to saving as many lives as possible -- also on both sides.
Friday, January 02, 2009
Israel's Moral Superiority In Gaza
Israel is morally superior to its enemies, plain and simple.
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3 comments:
Nazir Rayan was called by the Israelis to let him know they were about to attack. HE CHOSE TO STAY AND ALLOW HIMSELF AND HIS FAMILY BE KILLED. Here's an excerpt fro The Mugata (live blogging the conflict on just how far Israel will go to avoid civilian casualties:
5:05 PM Just to give people an idea of how the Israeli Air Force works, they use a method called "Knocking On The Roof". There are several steps...
1. The AF calls the house they're about to hit that they are about to bomb it.
2. The residents send all the women and children to the roof of the building with the understanding that the AF won't strike civilians.
3. The AF has developed a small missile that creates a small non-lethal explosion without shrapnel to scare off all the civilians.
4. When they have left the area the building is hit with the big guns.
5:01 PM IDF called Nazir Rayan to tell him that they were about to bomb the site. He decided to stay in the house with his family and people. 10-16 killed in the attack.
Mugata's site: http://muqata.blogspot.com/
• Israel lets Palestinians with foreign passports flee
At first glance, this report would indicate that Israel is giving 'innocent civilians' an opportunity to flee. Upon further consideration, one cannot help but wonder if they are fleeing a danger not imminently clear to the Israeli's. . . considering Iran's nuclear/biological terror ambitions.
A very good point Anonymous. I wonder, though, whether they would be given that kind of warning from Iranian sources given Iran's penchant for bringing on the end of the world. Or maybe they just assume it's coming, which would be my bet.
Either way a very good point.
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