Comments about the Israel-Hamas War

I'm reading lots of thoughtful items about the Israel-Hamas War so I wanted to share them. 

By the way, one thing I have noticed is that posters on Twitter who say "Israel-Hamas War" are generally supportive of Israel while those who say "Israel-Palestinian Conflict" are generally not. Israel is trying to maintain a distinction between making war against "Hamas" but not against "Palestinians" but I am afraid this definition will be increasingly difficult to maintain as the suffering of the Palestinian people increases. 

This is well said:

An important message for the world to hear from the IDF International Spokesperson, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht. pic.twitter.com/e9rmcgLgex

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 15, 2023

Yes, I can understand why people around the world are angry and terrified about what is happening in Gaza to the Palestinians. 

But remember, Hamas can stop this any time they want. They can release the innocent men, women and children they are now holding hostage, and they can abandon their war against Israel. 

There will be a ceasefire when Hamas unconditionally surrenders. If you hear your legislators ask for a ceasefire, tell them to pressure Hamas to surrender.

— Ethan Wolf 🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@ethanmwolf) October 14, 2023

I was amazed today at the size and vigor of the marches around the world this weekend -- I don't know whether they are pro-Palestinian or pro-Hamas or anti-Israel but it was upsetting to see this:

For those wondering what “from the river to the sea!” actually means, it’s a genocidal call for the elimination of all Jews between the river Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. This, on the streets of London today, and every day in universities and cities across the West. 🤢 https://t.co/WNVTLQcp7H

— Ben Goldsmith (@BenGoldsmith) October 14, 2023

Our political leadership has been silent on addressing the social cleavages within our own society, and how we figure in to a newly unstable global order where slogans no longer cut it. The next decade will be utterly transformational. https://t.co/95mMKl4nBf

— Michael Kempa (@MichaelKempa1) October 14, 2023

Even writers I respect greatly, like Hamilton Nolan, are writing things like this - Young Morality and Old Morality. 

 Yesterday, I was in Times Square for a rally in support of the endangered citizens of Palestine. Most of the people there were young. But there were also quite a few elderly people, some hobbling on canes, who had painfully dragged themselves out to stand and be a part off the supportive crowd. Because they knew it was important. Because they understood what is at stake. They were not there to compete with the young, to mutter snide takedowns of the speakers, to talk about why the rally should have been framed differently in order to attract the support of more moderate figures in Washington. They were there because people are dying. They had perspective. They had wisdom. I hope that we can all get there, one day. 

But yes, of course people are dying. Ukrainians are dying in Ukraine, too, and millions died in World War II etc etc etc. That doesn't mean that everyone who is unjustly attacked must immediately surrender or else be blamed for all the subsequent deaths.

Here's another tweet that made me go "hmmm.....":

thousands of Americans in Texas, Arizona, and California—slaughtering babies, raping women, and taking hundreds of hostages back to Mexico. What lwould do? Would we give Mexico electricity if the group accidentally blew up its power plants trying to fire rockets at us?

— Trinity Votes 🇺🇦🇮🇱🇺🇸 (@TrinityMustache) October 14, 2023

There will always be a balancing act between keeping your soldiers safe and complying with international norms/the Geneva convention/basic moral decency

Nobody is perfect, but some countries try a lot harder than others. 2/2

— Angry Staffer 🌻 (@Angry_Staffer) October 15, 2023

Finally, Wesley Wark has written an enormously insightful piece about how the Israel-Hamas War of 2023 will compare to Israel's previous wars against Hamas - The Ground War in Gaza 

 ... there is the altered military and political context. While Hamas has long been Israel’s sworn enemy, in previous wars with Hamas Israel sought to target and eliminate Hamas leaders, degrade Hamas military capabilities, and punish it so that it would be deterred from launching future strikes. It did not seek to destroy Hamas, fearing what might emerge in its place. 

This time, stung by the unprecedented brutality of the Hamas cross-border attacks, the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, now supported by a “war cabinet” including opposition politicians, has vowed the complete elimination of Hamas. The Israelis have also mobilised on a much larger scale, calling up some 360,000 reservists, compared to the 57,000 involved in 2014. The Israel demand that Gazans leave the northern half of the Gaza strip and flee to the south for protection, suggests a far more wide-ranging military incursion than took place in 2014. 

Wark goes on to discuss several specific aspects of this war that make it difficult to predict the outcome. He concludes: 

 A ground war in the Gaza Strip will test the will not just of Israelis and of Hamas; but of the world. It will certainly test the willingness of Gazans and Palestinians living outside Gaza to continue to support the war aims of an unelected regime that has brought hell down on their heads, not for the first time, but perhaps for the last.