Gaza: Why I think Israel is right

Writing about the middle-east is about as wise as walking into a pub filled with Harley-Davidson bikers and telling them that only babies drive their crap bikes – However, here I am.

Let me state firstly that this post is not meant to piss people off (yet I’m sure it will) nor do I want to create a war on my personal blog however there are things about the whole middle-east conflict that I’d like to get off my chest.

Secondly I’d like to make a point that this middle-east crisis is as a result of a small quota of militant Palestinian militia who have continuously tried to disrupt peace in the region. I don’t believe that innocent Palestinians deserve to die nor do I believe that Muslims are the cause of the problem.

While it is easy to look at the current fact that Israel have killed 750 Palestinians in just 13 days of attacks we are all quick to forget the history, and ultimately the reasons, that lead to Operation Cast Lead. Let’s look at some of the facts.

Iran-backed Hamas Rocket and Mortar Attacks

• 9,400+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2003. [1]
• 3,200+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza in 2008 alone. [2]
• 6,500+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. [3]
• 543+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israeli territory during the ceasefire from June 19 to Dec. 19, 2008. [4]
• 28 deaths caused by rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israel since 2001. The dead include Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. [5]
• 1,000+ people in Israel injured from rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2001, including Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. Since the ceasefire, 44 Israelis have been injured and 200 have been treated for shock. [6]

The critical point here is that despite a ceasefire militants continued their onslaught and in my mind it is impossible for any country, not just Israel, to continue avoiding attacks on your people when a handful of extremists keep disregarding the peace.

Condemned by South Africa

Closer to home though I am extremely upset with the ANC and SACP who have outright condemned the attacks by Israel. They’ve setup meetings with Israeli ministers to try and get them to stop and just yesterday former Congress of South African Trade Unions president and Congress of the People National Executive Committee member, Willy Madisha, has called on the government to condemn Israel over the ongoing war in Palestine.

The SABC reports that:

Madisha says Israel has for decades been killing thousands of Palestinians in a war that has been condemned internationally. He says hundreds of people are being killed, children are being stopped from going to school and people have no food at all.

“This is a major problem and we are calling the government of South Africa to rise and say to Israel that this is wrong and that it has got to be stopped. South Africa should echo other countries’ sentiments so that the Israeli onslaught on Gaza should cease,” Madisha said.

Now the only reason all of this upsets me is because our leaders are quick to jump on this political band-wagon while they’ve done absolutely nothing about the bigger problem just outside our borders – Zimbabwe. Why they’ve chosen to pick sides in this conflict and done nothing about the epidemic in Zimbabwe baffles me.

Fair and Just?

While I can see the facts and merits of Israel’s motivation to protect their nation I’m still undecided as to whether or not Operation Cast Lead is actually the right way of executing their rights.

Either way, let’s not forget that the middle-east is not unique in this scenario as all around the world we have Muslim extremists causing havoc and inflicting Holy Wars. There really is no place in the world for people like this.

Right, I’ve had my say, and I thought that I’d like to end with this cool comic I found which I believe sums the whole situation up.

~~~ Footnotes: ~~~

[1] IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Dec. 19, 2008; “Iran-backed Terrorists in Gaza Kill 3, Wound Others in Continuing Rocket Attacks on Israel,” The Israel Project press release, Dec. 29, 2008; Barzak, Ibrahim and Friedman, Matti, “Israel rejects truce call, pursues bombing Gaza,” Associated Press, Dec. 31, 2008

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] “Presentation to Military Attaches,” Israel Ministry of Defense, Dec. 2008

[5] “Rocket and Mortar Fatalities in Israel,” The Israel Project backgrounder; Kershner, Isabel, “Despite Strikes, Israelis Vow to Soldier On,” The New York Times, Dec. 30, 2008, “Iran-backed Terrorists in Gaza Kill 3, Wound Others in Continuing Rocket Attacks on Israel,” The Israel Project press release, Dec. 29, 2008

[6] “Rocket and Mortar Fatalities in Israel,” The Israel Project backgrounder, Israeli Police Spokesman in a conversation with The Israel Project, Dec. 31, 2008

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