Israel Just Says NO to a Just Peace - Part 3 - The GOI is SO Predictable

Today is Day 14,327 of the Maintenance of the Immoral (and Illegal) West Bank Settlements and more than 40 years since the start of the immoral (and illegal) occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

Rabbi Akiva - “ ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18) - this is the major principle of the Torah.”

The actions that the Government of Israel (GOI) takes to block efforts aimed at effecting a just peace are getting to be SO predictable.

Yesterday, the major news item was the release of Alan Johnson, the BBC journalist held hostage in Gaza for 114 days. From the July 4, 2007, Boston Globe "Khaled Meshall, the exiled leader of Hamas, said Johnson's release showed his Islamist movement was bringing order to the coastal enclave .... Hamas fighters had surrounded the area of Gaza City that is the base of the powerful Doghmush clan .... Meshaal told Reuters by phone: 'The efforts by Hamas have produced the freedom of Alan Johnson.' " In an accompanying picture in the Boston Globe Alan Johnson is seen with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City.

That should have been seen as an opening for the GOI to enter into discussions with Hamas.

I, on the other hand, showed the article to my wife and said, "You know what that means, don't you."

"What?" she said.

"The government of Israel will now go into Gaza and kill some Hamas militants."

She gave me that look - the one that says "You are just so negative, always making cynical comments about the government of Israel."

So imagine my reaction when I saw this morning's article.

Quelle surprise - NOT

"8 Hamas militants killed in Gaza clashes By Ibrahim Barzak, Associated Press Writer July 5, 2007 GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip --Israel clashed with Hamas militants inside the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing eight in a fierce gunbattle that drew in Israeli aircraft, tanks and bulldozers.
The army said airmen on a routine patrol about half a mile inside the Gaza Strip saw militants approaching the soldiers and opened fire with machine guns. The militants then fired at the patrol, leading to a shootout on the ground, the army said. Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida said its fighters started the clash by opening fire at an Israeli undercover unit. Witnesses reported heavy fire as Israeli tanks and bulldozers moved in, and soldiers took positions on rooftops. Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants, meanwhile, laid mines against the soldiers. Hamas officials said some 15 tanks and three bulldozers had moved into Palestinian farms, near the town of Jebaliya, and were leveling the land. The army would not comment."

And in a related story, Alan Johnson was quoted as saying about his release: "Suddenly they were worried that Hamas had them in their sights. I'm pretty sure that if Hamas hadn't come in and turned the heat on in a big way, I'd still be in that room." The story continued, "For Hamas, which has vowed to bring order to the violence-plagued strip, Johnston's release marked an opportunity to win credibility in the face of international efforts to isolate the movement in Gaza." And this response from a Fatah Abbas ally, Yasser Abed Rabbo, who "accused Hamas of staging Johnston's release in coordination with the captors as part of a bid to gain international legitimacy."

And the predictable attack by the GOI had the same purpose - to try to blunt any possible positive reaction and potential support for Hamas by other governments and organizations. Such a response could lead to intense presure on the GOI to agree to something unacceptable - a viable, contiguous, independent Palestinian state.

My son said I made a tactical error - I should have written my prediction here yesterday morning BEFORE the Israeli attacks inside Gaza (from which the GOI withdrew, didn't it?).

OK, then, here's what I predict will happen in the future - Shortly rockets will be launched from Gaza by someone belonging to some group and they will land in or near Sderot. The Government of Israel will immediately attribute this action to Hamas and will attack inside Gaza with missiles, helicopters, tanks, IDF ground forces and bulldozers and will kill at least four "suspected" Hamas militants. There will then be an article in which the reporter will refer to the action by the GOI as "retaliation" and, describe Hamas as the organization which "refuses to recognizeIsrael" and "refuses to renounce violence against Israel."

This situation cannot be considered, as so many say, hopeless. There is too much at stake.

Yesterday I posted a copy of the e-mail that I sent to Countdown asking Keith Olbermann to consider suggesting to the public that they "shun" George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

Perhaps we should add to Mr. Olmert to the appropriate-to-be-shunned list.

What do you think?

Deuteronomy 16:20 – “Justice, justice shall you pursue that you may live and inherit the land which God gave you” and the footnote in the 1980 Hertz Edition “(T)here is international justice, which demands respect for the personality of every national group, and proclaims that no people can of right be robbed of its national life or territory, its language or spiritual heritage.