Middle East Tension

Well the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is flaring up again as militants continue to fire rockets into Israel from Gaza, an area that Israeli troops occupied for 38 years until pulling out in 2005. The area is now largely controlled by the radical Islamic terrorist group Hamas, which advocates the destruction of Israel. Not surprisingly, Israel is considering an invasion of Gaza. Although such an invasion would inevitably result in the loss of innocent lives (both Israeli soldiers who are obligated to serve in the military to defend their country from people in groups like Hamas and Palestinian civilians who will be stuck in the crossfire) it seems to be the necessary course of action for Israel to take. Let us draw a simple analogy: people in International Falls, Minnesota and Burlington, Vermont are being bombarded by rockets and mortars by a bunch of "peace loving," "tolerant" Canadian socialists who hate Americans for being a bunch of capitalist pigs (fortunately Canadian socialists are just a bunch of well meaning stoned, harmless idiots who do not use violence to spread their vulgar ideas). Obviously Americans would be outraged and demand an immediate invasion to squash those floppy headed bomb throwing Canadian terrorists. The international community (with the exceptions of say Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, and France) would likely support America in acting in its self defense. Now, is the situation in Israel really that different from this hypothetical?

Now I am not going to use this blog entry to go into the arcane details of the age old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both sides have legitimate claims. But the world is as it is, Israel exists as a sovereign nation and an ally to the United States and this sovereign nation and ally has been under constant attack and threat of attack since it was created after World War II. Has Israel responded unduly harshly at times? Absolutely. An obvious example of undue harshness would be Israel's response to the kidnapping of two of its soldiers by Lebanese Hezbollah terrorists a couple years ago. Israel responding by essentially destroying Lebanon's entire infrastructure. The only result was a human rights disaster and terrible international PR for Israel. Obviously a response was necessary but Israel responded too harshly.

Israel must learn from its mistake in that conflict by responding to the current threat from Hamas in Gaza in a measured, practical way that targets the terrorists while leaving intact the necessary civilian infrastructure. The United States must stand by its ally and continue its support of Isrrael. I have nothing but the greatest sympathy for the Israeli people who live under constant threat from their neighbors, many of whom do not recognize the right of their nation to exist. I sympathize equally with the Palestinian people who have suffered incalculably from the conflict. The left would have you believe that the suffering of the Palestinians is entirely due to the cruelty and injustices committed by Israeli troops and the Americans who provide them with financial and technological support. However, instead of placing the blame on the Israeli's, who are doing what they can to defend their country that is constantly under threat, why not blame the terrorists who refuse to peacefully coexist with Israel? If Hamas thugs were not shooting rockets at civilians and Hezbollah scumbags weren't kidnapping the soldiers of a foreign nation, Israel would have no justification in launching military campaigns against its neighbors. However, until the blind anti-semitism and hatred of Israel in the Middle East subsides, Israel will have no choice but to defend itself. Unfortunately, this will result in the loss of innocent lives. But don't let liberals get away with blaming the plight of the Palestinian people on Israel. Blame the terrorists targeting innocent Israeli civilians.