WHO HAS THE BIGGER STICK?

Arabs, Muslims and Jews always get along. That is until the hate speech takes over. As they should get along as we all come from the same father – Abraham. Yes, we can have sibling spats but that is normal. What is not normal is the fighting that ends in maiming or death. The Jewish faith protects life and values it at all costs. The Islamic faith appears to be opposite but the individuals I have met of the years appear to embrace the thinking  that life is precious. Life is precious. Life must be protected.

Here’s the rub. Especially in the Gaza area, the Israelis pulled out of the area. They left Gazans with the responsibility of electing a government that would protect them, would create jobs, would educate the people, and provide for healthcare. The Gazans elected a group that does not protect them, that does not educate them, that does not create jobs, that does not provide for health care. Is that the fault of the Israelis? No, the responsibility lies within the borders of Gaza.

There is an old expression;  you made your bed now you have to lie in it. That I what is happening now. Why are the Gazans and the world blaming Israel for fighting back? Makes no sense. I hear proportionality. Proportionality, my ass! My dad told me when I was a child if a kid picks up a stick to hit you, get a bigger stick. He was not teaching me violence. Unfortunately violence exists. The best way to repel violence is to create a scenario where the instigator sees a no win situation and backs off. That is why a bigger stick that my father talked about often works. Sometimes without having to swing it.

Hamas does not care. The get their glory from Allah, their god. To die is to martyr yourself. Then there is the politics of it. Start a fight you can’t win then ask for a truce. Hamas wants the blockade lifted – so they can acquire more weapons. Even with the blockade, the missiles that they constantly lob into Israel had to get to Gaza from somewhere. Lift the blockade they can get more and in a short time later they will start it all over again; lobbing missiles, killing Israelis. At this time it is foolhardy to allow the free flow of arms to Gaza. Get another ruling party that is not a terrorist organization and watch the Gazan economy flourish. That is the mission of the population of Gaza. That is the hope of the world.

The current argument against fighting back is not making any sense. If San Diego were being attacked by missiles from Tijuana, or Buffalo from Toronto no American would say hit just hard enough to make a point. Tijuana and Toronto would be rubble in just a few days. That will never happen because Mexicans and Canadians are Americans, North Americans. They value their citizens. They will never place a missile battery on the roof of a hospital as Hamas does. They will never store weapons in schools as Hamas does.

Billions have been poured into the Gaza. No schools, no more hospitals just more weapons. I do not understand the Gazans, their hate for Israel appears to larger than their love for themselves or their families. That hate will destroy them. No one wants that. Hamas is constantly making us look for a bigger stick.

Yes, Hamas is winning the PR war but that will only encourage them to kill and get more Gazans killed. They can proudly point to some of the world’s press and say, see the Israelis are the bad guys. When it comes to self-defense the Israeli’s don’t give a shit. PR won’t stop a grenade or a bullet. Common sense will because common sense says PR does not protect.

What makes this even more stupid is the history since 1948. The Israelis always win! They are a small country by any measurement. Yet, they stood their ground in 1948, the 1967 war, the Yom Kippur War, the intifada, the Lebanese war. There have been at least seven major conflicts in the past 65 years and Israel is still the best functioning country in the Middle East.

Now I read where their detractors are saying that this is a war of choice for Israel. I have been watching Al Jazeera as I had found that news source, till today, to be fair and factual. Now I am lost for actual, factual news. Le Monde also chastises Israel for fighting back. They should be ashamed of themselves. They let the Nazis walk into Paris – not a shot fired.

I hate seeing anyone killed from either side. But the Gazans have to make a choice: Get rid of Hamas, elect a better government and have a better life. Stop screaming for the cameras and start talking to one another so as a society you can talk to your “enemies.”  Make peace, make love. As I have seen on Facebook, there are so many intercultural marriages; Jews and Arabs, Palestinians and Israelis, Islamics and Jews. That is not the problem – the problem is who some of the people chose to be their leaders. Create the conflict and then cry because the other guy, Israel, has a bigger stick. That is not going to give your people security, healthcare, education, just PR. If, as a Gazan you do not have healthcare, or education, or food to eat and no personal security, when it comes to PR you, too, should not give a shit about the PR!

That is my take – you decide.