What's with the blockade?
Some say the latest Israel-Hamas ceasefire ended because Hamas was forced to act as a result of the Israeli blockade of Gaza. Let's see why such a blockade was justified.
As a result of a short civil war between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza in summer 2007 Fatah was ousted. Hamas, a terrorist group built on the idea that the Jewish state should be destroyed, has ever since the civil war been in charge of security in Gaza. They also found and are now using weapons supplied to Fatah by the United States. The whole security apparatus of Gaza is now in the hands of Hamas. This includes intelligence information provided to Fatah by the West.
If this is not a proper reason to seal Gaza then I don't know what is. If Gazans suffer as a result of this, one only needs to ask who told them to vote for Hamas who, after their election victory, violently ousted a rival party.
Israel is still taking laudable measures to protect the Gazan civilian population from harm. They're dropping fliers from planes, calling Gazans to warn them in advance, using sound bombs to clear civilians from buildings designated as targets, supplying humanitarian aid and so on. Only about a fifth of all casualties so far are civilians. This is a tragedy of course but as I argued previously, Hamas is responsible for every single casualty. Israel has every right and reason to protect its borders and population.
Meanwhile, I'd like to see editorials like this or this in Finnish newspapers. Instead, we get crap like this and this.
(See Israellycool for more detailed information on the past day of the conflict.)
As a result of a short civil war between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza in summer 2007 Fatah was ousted. Hamas, a terrorist group built on the idea that the Jewish state should be destroyed, has ever since the civil war been in charge of security in Gaza. They also found and are now using weapons supplied to Fatah by the United States. The whole security apparatus of Gaza is now in the hands of Hamas. This includes intelligence information provided to Fatah by the West.
If this is not a proper reason to seal Gaza then I don't know what is. If Gazans suffer as a result of this, one only needs to ask who told them to vote for Hamas who, after their election victory, violently ousted a rival party.
Israel is still taking laudable measures to protect the Gazan civilian population from harm. They're dropping fliers from planes, calling Gazans to warn them in advance, using sound bombs to clear civilians from buildings designated as targets, supplying humanitarian aid and so on. Only about a fifth of all casualties so far are civilians. This is a tragedy of course but as I argued previously, Hamas is responsible for every single casualty. Israel has every right and reason to protect its borders and population.
Meanwhile, I'd like to see editorials like this or this in Finnish newspapers. Instead, we get crap like this and this.
(See Israellycool for more detailed information on the past day of the conflict.)
posted by MSandt at 12:31 AM
3 Comments:
Hi Mikko!
Thanks for the link, and regards from Israel! (And I've even been been to Turku, once...)
Regards,
Jameel.
Sinänsä olen jonkinlaisten Hamasin vastaisten aseellisten vastatoimien kannalla, mutta ihmettelen kyllä noita antamiasi tulitaukosopimuksen vastaisen saarron perusteita. Mitenkä se saarto vaikutti Gaza:ssa jo oleviin länsimaiden fatah:lle toimittamiin aseisiin? Tai toisaalta mitä tiedustelutietoa Hamasilla oli ja mitenkä se olisi voinut sitä kovin tuhoisasti käyttää.
Thanks for the link, and regards from Israel! (And I've even been been to Turku, once...)
Thanks and no problem! Cool that you've been to our ugly little town;)
Mitenkä se saarto vaikutti Gaza:ssa jo oleviin länsimaiden fatah:lle toimittamiin aseisiin? Tai toisaalta mitä tiedustelutietoa Hamasilla oli ja mitenkä se olisi voinut sitä kovin tuhoisasti käyttää.
Kaikki Fatahille kuulunut päätyi tietenkin Hamasin käsiin. Tiedustelutiedon koostumuksesta en tiedä.
Sinänsä en ymmärrä kysymyksesi pointtia. Hamasin Israeliin kohdistama uhka on ehkä jopa lisääntynyt sen jälkeen, kun Israel vetäytyi Gazasta. Se, että koko Gaza päätyi Israelin olemassaoloa vastustavan Hamasin hallintaan on aika pirun hyvä syy pistää rajat kiinni.
Post a Comment
<< Home