Yesterday, a Palestinian missile struck an Israeli school bus injuring the driver and seriously wounding a child. The Palestinian group Hamas claimed credit for the attack. In response, Israel launched attacks of its own on Palestinians in Gaza. Hamas has launched numerous rockets at Israel recently. While the attacks have done little damage and caused few casualties, they have infuriated Israel. It has run out of patience.
Fourteen Palestinians have been killed so far as a result of Israeli retaliation. Seven of those killed were Palestinian militants. One was a policeman. Six were civilians. Three of the civilians killed were killed by tank fire. Two of the Palestinian civilians, one an 11 year old boy, were killed at a cemetery while attending a funeral. More Israeli attacks can be expected. No one in Gaza is safe. That some of those killed were Hamas fighters should not really make much of a difference. Israel makes no distinction between its soldiers and civilians. A soldier killed by Palestinians is no more tolerable to Israel than a civilian being killed. It would not be a surprise if Hamas does not make that distinction either.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu growled that "whoever tries to harm and murder children will pay with their life", and he meant it. Well, he meant it in a sense. No Israeli is going to pay with their life for the 11 year old boy killed at the funeral. No Israeli will even pay a shekel for that. That is because the deaths of Palestinians have to be placed in perspective. Circumstances need to be taken into account. If a Palestinian child is injured or killed in an Israeli raid it is unfortunate, but it has to be placed in the context of the larger struggle. Israel may not deliberately kill children, but it still kills them. Every Israeli death on the other hand, whether deliberate or incidental, whether man, woman, child, civilian, or soldier, is a crime and must be avenged.There are no mitigating circumstances. There never are and there never will be.
Palestinians who kill Israeli children will have to pay with their lives. Israelis who kill Palestinian children will be excused. You can say that there is a difference between the deliberate killing of a child and an incidental killing of a child. You would be right. But that difference is only observed where Israeli forces are concerned. Palestinians receive no credit if a rocket they fired at a military target veered off course or if a group of Israeli soldiers they fired upon turned out to be civilians. An Israeli tank firing an errant round (I would assume it was an errant round but one can never be sure), and kills Palestinian children is at best an unfortunate incident. At worst, it is "justice". Just as you cannot fire rockets and missiles at cities and not expect to kill civilians, you cannot fire tank cannons or drop bombs on cities and not expect to kill civilians.
Netanyahu was correct when he asserted that anyone who kills or harms a child should be punished. He is in error if he believes that only the deaths of Jewish children merit retribution. It should not matter whether the child is Jewish or Arab. Palestinians deserve justice as much as Israelis do.
The problem is that Palestinians cannot bring Israelis to justice. All they have is vengeance. Until an Israeli appears in a Palestinian court, the only recourse for Palestinians is violence. Six Palestinian civilians including an 11 year old boy have so far died in Israel's retaliation to Hamas' missile attack. It is certain more will die. The Palestinians will want justice as well. It is unlikely they will get it. Because they will not get it, neither for the lives they have lost nor the property they have had seized or destroyed, future violence is assured. Some say the Palestinians deserve what they get because they started it, but that is a matter of perspective. It greatly depends on where you draw the start line.
Israel commonly misconstrues justice with vengeance. It should not be a surprise that Palestinians do so as well.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Sleight of Hand
News reports are coming out of Libya daily. Each day there are accounts of the fighting between loyalists and rebels. Some days, the reports reads like a box score: this town has changed hands, this many tanks were destroyed, this much land has been gained or lost. More often than not, where the Libyan Army is competently led and not decimated by allied air forces, it triumphs.
What is interesting about the reports is that government forces are rarely referred to as the Libyan Army. They are commonly referred to as Gaddafi's troops. They are not Gaddafi's troops. They are the Libyan Army. In an AP report this morning nine paragraphs were written on the fighting in Libya. Not once was the Libyan Army referred to by name. Perhaps it is because an army is a legitimate institution authorized to act in defense of a nation. "Troops" lack that legitimacy because they are typically construed acting at the behest of whoever is leading them, not the nation. An army is made up of troops. An army serves a nation. An army does what it is told to do. We are not bombing and killing Ghadaffi's troops, we are bombing and killing Libyan troops.
While there are armed militias fighting along side the Libyan Army, the army is the main force in the field. Those with allegiance to the government of Libya are not described as loyal to the government or the country, but loyal to Qaddafi. Qadaffi may be in charge of the army and command its loyalty but it is not his army, it is the Libyan army.
By many accounts, Libya does not even have a government. It has a "regime". "Government" implies established and legitimate authority. "Regime" connotes a capricious and authoritarian rule. A rebellion against a "regime" is a much less problematic cause to support than a rebellion against a legitimate government. But this is a sleight of hand. All governments are regimes. A regime is simply a system of rule or government. (If you don't believe me you can look it up in Webster's Dictionary). All governments seek to preserve themselves and their authority against rebellion. Most governments will use force if necessary to put a rebellion down.
The United States has had its own experience with rebellion. In 1861 the South rebelled against the Union. The North was not interested in negotiating with the rebels. It did not seek compromise. It waged war. We should be grateful that the British were not more aggressive in their support of the rebels. Had the British been more active in their support of the Confederacy chances are the rebels would have won. Americans should also be grateful there was no U.N. when the Civil War was fought. The brutality of that war, particularly by the North, would surely have prompted U.N. intervention.
Qaddafi is the internationally recognized leader of Libya. He is not a usurper or a conqueror. The forces aligned against Qaddafi are rebelling against the government of Libya. You can support Qaddafi, although I suspect you won't, or you can oppose him. You can cheer for him, although I suspect you won't, or you can jeer. Either way you are taking a side with or against the legitimate authority of the Libyan government.
What is interesting about the reports is that government forces are rarely referred to as the Libyan Army. They are commonly referred to as Gaddafi's troops. They are not Gaddafi's troops. They are the Libyan Army. In an AP report this morning nine paragraphs were written on the fighting in Libya. Not once was the Libyan Army referred to by name. Perhaps it is because an army is a legitimate institution authorized to act in defense of a nation. "Troops" lack that legitimacy because they are typically construed acting at the behest of whoever is leading them, not the nation. An army is made up of troops. An army serves a nation. An army does what it is told to do. We are not bombing and killing Ghadaffi's troops, we are bombing and killing Libyan troops.
While there are armed militias fighting along side the Libyan Army, the army is the main force in the field. Those with allegiance to the government of Libya are not described as loyal to the government or the country, but loyal to Qaddafi. Qadaffi may be in charge of the army and command its loyalty but it is not his army, it is the Libyan army.
By many accounts, Libya does not even have a government. It has a "regime". "Government" implies established and legitimate authority. "Regime" connotes a capricious and authoritarian rule. A rebellion against a "regime" is a much less problematic cause to support than a rebellion against a legitimate government. But this is a sleight of hand. All governments are regimes. A regime is simply a system of rule or government. (If you don't believe me you can look it up in Webster's Dictionary). All governments seek to preserve themselves and their authority against rebellion. Most governments will use force if necessary to put a rebellion down.
The United States has had its own experience with rebellion. In 1861 the South rebelled against the Union. The North was not interested in negotiating with the rebels. It did not seek compromise. It waged war. We should be grateful that the British were not more aggressive in their support of the rebels. Had the British been more active in their support of the Confederacy chances are the rebels would have won. Americans should also be grateful there was no U.N. when the Civil War was fought. The brutality of that war, particularly by the North, would surely have prompted U.N. intervention.
Qaddafi is the internationally recognized leader of Libya. He is not a usurper or a conqueror. The forces aligned against Qaddafi are rebelling against the government of Libya. You can support Qaddafi, although I suspect you won't, or you can oppose him. You can cheer for him, although I suspect you won't, or you can jeer. Either way you are taking a side with or against the legitimate authority of the Libyan government.
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