There Was A Choice? Then This Is Wrong.

No, nobody is obliged to put up with rocket barrages aimed randomly at civilians.  Nobody could watch as their children are traumatized daily, or live with one’s own growing anger and anxiety when just commuting to work or going to the store becomes an act of steely resolve, and not demand concrete action to make it stop.

That bit of obviousness doesn’t license the current Israeli government to be irresponsibly callous about the loss of human life.  Haaretz has “> reminds us that, like Operation Cast Lead which also preceded elections, choosing war among other available options is an old electoral strategy in Israel. (Sorry couldn’t find a translation, and this is beyond what I could do quickly.)

The residents of Sdorot and Tel Aviv are indeed right to call for action.  But what action?  If, as reports now indicate, there was a credible chance for a cease-fire to stop the rockets, and to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza, then this is a war of choice.  A grossly irresponsible and immoral choice.  Is southern Israel secure today?  Will the Gazan child injured in this bombing feel obliged to forgive as an adult?  Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights, Israel “> documents the economic devastation in Gaza—and, yes the misrule of Hamas only makes it worse, but that doesn’t lessen Israeli responsibility.  Rabbi Ascherman argues, “Our message can not be to ignore the rockets on our fellow Israelis.  However, when we hear “There would be no attacks on Gaza if their would be no rockets on the Western Negev,” we must both join the demand that the rockets stop and remind our fellow Israelis that we can best help ourselves if we stop using our overwhelming power to make life miserable for most Gazans.  With our greater power comes greater responsibility.”

Reminders that life for most Gazans has not deteriorated into outright starvation ignore the effect of grinding hardship on bodies, hearts and minds.  The situation will not change for the better until there is a truce and, in the longer term, a peace agreement.  Right now, it seems as though Israel’s current government has chosen to escalate hostilities when it had other options.  This means that people on both sides will die who might have lived.