Update on the Israel-Gaza Conflict

[Valin]

A Parent’s Pride and Fear: My Three IDF Reservists

Being an Israeli soldier is a lot easier than being the parent of one, or more.

Michael Widlanski

11/20/12

 

Soldiers wait to be called, and their parents die a little bit inside during this wait.

 

Our three sons are infantrymen, reserve soldiers who expect to be called to active duty to finish the business of putting the Palestinian terrorists out of business. They are ready, literally, to answer the call. They left their cell phones within easy reach on the Sabbath so their unit commanders would have no trouble reaching them

 

Sara and I are proud parents who did our national service a while back, but we both know a few things about speaking to and/or fighting with Arabs. We know defeating Hamas and jihad is not something you can accomplish from the air. But going in on the ground means exposing your soldiers — especially your infantry — to risk.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

[SrWoodchuck]

It's the UN thing to do:

 

H/T:TheoSpark

[Valin]

It's the UN thing to do:

 

H/T:TheoSpark

 

Take away the canapes and this is straight news.

[Valin]

Washpo: With Hillary Clinton’s dash to Middle East, Obama signals a shift in his approach

Anne Gearan

11/20/12

 

President Obama’s decision to send his top diplomat on an emergency Middle East peacemaking mission Tuesday marked an administration shift to a more activist role in the region’s affairs and offered clues to how he may use the political elbow room afforded by a second term.

 

(Snip)

 

Clinton’s peacemaking trip is Obama’s clearest signal yet to Israel that it should begin to pull back its campaign against militants in the Gaza Strip. The administration knows that with Clinton on the ground trying to resolve the crisis, it will be harder for Netanyahu to make good on his threat to invade Gaza.

 

Obama and his administration have expressed full support for Israel since the conflict began last week, but diplomatic pressure is building for a cease-fire that would end Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket attacks, both of which are killing civilians.

 

(Snip)

 

 

 

That didn't take long

[Valin]

Hamas fires rocket from hospital and blows up bus

William A. Jacobson

November 21, 2012 7:54am

 

Some important developments.

 

Two journalists have confirmed that Palestinians have fired a long-range rocket at Israel from next to Al Shifa hospital in Gaza. Neither journalist, of course, made it the headline, it was just mentioned in passing. The first was Jodi Rudgren of The New York Times who, in writing a lengthy article about Palestinians suffering at the hospital, noted in passing:

 

Suddenly, just after 2 p.m., the crowd was startled as militants near the hospital fired a missile — most likely one that landed near Jerusalem. In an instant, anticipation gave way to fear, and horror, as Israel fired back, explosion after explosion in the distance.

 

The second was Phoebe Greenwood, a reporter for the London Daily Telegraph, who in a report on Canadian television mentioned a similar incident, as reported at Israel Matzav yesterday. She said a rocket was fired from “very nearby here” just “two blocks away” from the hospital. The video is here, it starts at 1:50. It apparently was the same rocket reported by Rudgren, as both mentioned it was the rocket which landed near Jerusalem.

 

(Snip)

 

 

If only those darn Jews would just line up in an orderly manner and wait to be killed, those whole situation could be resolved and we could go back to taking about how bad evil and stupid Sarah Palin is!

 

[Valin]

Israel and Hamas reach ceasefire agreement after 8 days of fighting

Hamas to halt attacks on Israel in exchange for ease on Gaza blockade

Mohammed Daraghmeh and Sarah El Deeb

November 21, 2012, 9:07 pm

 

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel and the Hamas militant group agreed to a cease-fire Wednesday to end eight days of the fiercest fighting in nearly four years, promising to halt air strikes and rocket attacks that have killed scores and to discuss easing an Israeli blockade constricting the Gaza Strip.

 

Gazans emerged from their homes after a week, cheering and chanting. Gunmen fired in the air, and chants of “God is Great” echoed from mosque loudspeakers. Residents hugged and kissed in celebration, while others distributed candy and waved Hamas flags.

 

“I just hope they commit to peace,” said Abdel-Nasser al-Tom, from northern Gaza.

 

(Snip)

 

Someone didn't get the memo

[Valin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nff_1AMaxTg&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN0dllPATrA&feature=plcp

So the question is when does Hamas start killing Jews again?

[clearvision]

Maybe the 100th cease fire is the charm?

[Valin]

Maybe the 100th cease fire is the charm?

 

Thoughts on Israel-Hamas Ceasefire

Aaron Goldstein

11.21.12 @ 5:41PM

 

I wish I could share John Tabin's optimism about the ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas.

 

There are three reasons for my pessimism.

 

The first reason is that we should never confuse a ceasefire for a meaningful peace. OK, the fighting stops today and maybe tomorrow. But Hamas will be back whether its next week, next month or next year. Hamas' raison d'etre is the destruction of Israel. Hamas will stop shooting but only so it can regroup, relock and reload. It is not interested in peace with Israel and never will be.

 

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Explaning the uneasiness about the ceasefire

11/22/12

 

In my previous post I spelled out quite clearly my own, very negative and suspicious, feelings on the subject of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. I am not alone in these sentiments. I bring you here a couple of articles that support my thesis that the ceasefire is either dangerous, short-sighted, untenable, or any combination of these and more.

 

[Valin]

Power Line: Why did Obama broker a victory for Hamas?

Paul Mirengoff

11/25/12

 

With unusual candor, the Washington Post declares in its top headline that “Hamas’ tactics garner support” and that “Palestinians see path to victory through fighting.” This strengthening of Hamas is the entirely predictable consequence of the cease fire that the Obama administration worked to impose on Israel. Because Hamas waged war against Israel and the Israelis backed down, it is (to quote) the Post “the commonly held view in both territories (the West Bank and Gaza) that the Islamist militants of Hamas — who refuse to recognize Israel — defeated their enemy, and that they did it with weapons, not words.”

 

Since this consequence flows so naturally from he U.S. arranged cease fire, it is very difficult to believe that the U.S. did not intend it. But the Post does not even consider this possibility (its candor has limits). Instead the Post suggests that Israel wanted to strengthen Hamas at the expense of the Palestinian Authority, which looks increasingly irrelevant following Hamas’ victory. The notion is that Israel will find it easier to avoid making peace with Hamas.

 

(Snip)

 

So through the cease fire Obama was, I think, trying to give history (as he sees it) a nudge. He did so by (1) pushing a used up force (the PA) off of the stage and (2) giving Hamas the boost it needs to treated by Israel as an entity with whom peace needs to be made.

 

(Snip)

 

 

Like Hamas is interested in peace.

[Valin]

AH Tolerance!

[Valin]

Who Won The Latest Israel-Hamas War?

Barry Rubin

11/25/12

 

Naturally the question of who won any given war preoccupies people’s minds. And I’m amused by those who think that Hamas won the recent conflict. Winning has to mean something real, not just bragging to reassure oneself.

 

Let’s begin by examining the causes and goals of each side. Hamas’s goal was to be able to attack Israel as much as it wanted without significant retaliation. This time, as in late 2008, the war began because Hamas escalated the level of its attacks on Israel to unacceptable levels (more on that phrase in a moment). The same might be said of Hizballah in 2006.

 

Israel’s goal was to force Hamas to the lowest possible level of attacks and to make such attacks as ineffective as possible. Incidentally, that was also Israel’s strategy in dealing with the PLO. Attempts to “solve” the problem once and for all, varying from the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to the Oslo peace process of the 1990s didn’t work too well.

 

(Snip)