Quote of the day
“David Miliband may not be prepared to say it, but the Israeli reaction is utterly disproportionate. From the standpoint of ordinary people in Gaza this is a full-scale attack, which is leaving women and children dead and thousands of innocent people suffering. The rocket attacks by Hamas are totally unacceptable, but Israel ought to have learnt from its attack on Lebanon which only served to strengthen the cause of extremism.”
- Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesman
“The rocket attacks by Hamas are totally unacceptable, but…”
Why is there always a ‘but’? Does anyone think for a second that if Hamas had the capability they would not be launching much more destructive ordnance into Israel to kill more people? The only thing that is disproportionate is the body count. Would Ed Davey feel better if more Israelis were being killed and injured by Hamas rockets?
Any loss of civilian life is appalling. But while Hamas is going out of its way to kill Israeli civilians, the Israelis are doing their best to only hit Hamas targets where terrorists are planning or launching their rockets. More than 60 civilians have been killed according to reports. It is a terrible toll. But it means that around 300 Hamas terrorists who have also been killed. That tells its own story about who is trying to be civilised.
Just suppose for one moment the governments of Scotland and Wales wanted England wiped out. Imagine if you will that a six month ceasefire has ended and over 300 rockets have been fired over the border into Carlisle and Shrewsbury respectively.
The military in England are tasked with countering the threat and launch strikes against launch sites and buildings used by those who planned and executed the rocket attacks. Still rockets are fired. Would we listen if the Netherlands demanded a permanent ceasefire even though we knew at the first opportunity the attacks would continue?
Perhaps Ed Davey should go and live in Sderot for a few months and experience the daily terror visited upon that and many other towns. When his life has consisted of running for shelters each time the alarm sounds and he has suffered the psychological damage inflicted on those who have to put up with Hamas (or Hezbollah for that matter) terror, maybe he will understand why the Israeli government is taking a justified stand.
Why is there always a ‘but’? Does anyone think for a second that if Hamas had the capability they would not be launching much more destructive ordnance into Israel to kill more people?
In all fairness, the ‘but’ from Davey is a perfectly reasonable one. The mishandled (and I’m being polite) Israeli attack on Lebanon did 2 things that were totally counter-productive for Israel. Firstly it destroyed the notion of IDF infallibility as assault troops and heavy tanks were repulsed by Hezbollah fighters. Then, as Davey points out, it increased support for extremists (‘We are all Hezbollah now’) rather than driving a wedge between them and ‘the people’. It seems very likely that the current actions against Hamas will have a similar effect.
This is not to say Israel should sit there and take rocket fire. Of course not. But (as you probably saw coming) it is to say that this kind of action will have unintended (though not unforeseeable) consequences which may well strengthen the domestic position of Hamas while pushing notions of Peace back off the table.