I don't know what to think, honestly. Or, at least, I don't know what one thing to think.
Israel is killing innocent civilians, yes. And yes, Hamas started this latest battle by firing unguided rockets into Israel--likely to kill innocents close to 100% of the time (if they managed to hit anything, that is). Is Israel justified? I would say yes. Have they gone overboard? Likely yes when the scope is narrowed to this one battle, but what else does a country do when its neighbor has, as a central tenant of it's platform, the destruction of your country? When your neighbor fires rockets indiscriminately into your country's innocents?
Was the creation of Israel a mistake to begin with? Perhaps, but I don't know. Nor does it really matter. They are there, they aren't going to leave, and I support them in the end. Nor does my support matter--Israel is supported by the world's remaining superpower and (though to a much lessor degree) much of Europe. Militarily, Israel almost--note, almost--cannot lose to any Arab enemy.
What makes me most despair about the situation isn't just the latest round of violence, but that reasonable, moderate diplomacy can only happen if religion is largely (if not completely) removed from the discussion and, with Israel, religion is inseparable from any discussion regarding her existence or future.
There may come a time when more moderate voices on both sides come to power and broker an agreement that grants Palestinian statehood and stops the more grotesque violence. It is not impossible. But I fear that whatever agreement is reached will be a glorified cease-fire for generations after them and that, hundreds of years from now (if there still is an Israel), the call for Israel's destruction will still find voice. I hope I'm wrong but, in the end, there really is no solution to this--only a point of exhaustion that is far, far away from us now.
Israel is killing innocent civilians, yes. And yes, Hamas started this latest battle by firing unguided rockets into Israel--likely to kill innocents close to 100% of the time (if they managed to hit anything, that is). Is Israel justified? I would say yes. Have they gone overboard? Likely yes when the scope is narrowed to this one battle, but what else does a country do when its neighbor has, as a central tenant of it's platform, the destruction of your country? When your neighbor fires rockets indiscriminately into your country's innocents?
Was the creation of Israel a mistake to begin with? Perhaps, but I don't know. Nor does it really matter. They are there, they aren't going to leave, and I support them in the end. Nor does my support matter--Israel is supported by the world's remaining superpower and (though to a much lessor degree) much of Europe. Militarily, Israel almost--note, almost--cannot lose to any Arab enemy.
What makes me most despair about the situation isn't just the latest round of violence, but that reasonable, moderate diplomacy can only happen if religion is largely (if not completely) removed from the discussion and, with Israel, religion is inseparable from any discussion regarding her existence or future.
There may come a time when more moderate voices on both sides come to power and broker an agreement that grants Palestinian statehood and stops the more grotesque violence. It is not impossible. But I fear that whatever agreement is reached will be a glorified cease-fire for generations after them and that, hundreds of years from now (if there still is an Israel), the call for Israel's destruction will still find voice. I hope I'm wrong but, in the end, there really is no solution to this--only a point of exhaustion that is far, far away from us now.
