Ceasefire in Gaza: Where Things Stand ( Surge in Israeli Nationalism ) Former Director B'Tselem (US)

[Jefferson23]

August 6, 2014

by Mitchell Plitnick- is the former Director of the US Office of B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, and was previously the Director of Education and Policy for Jewish Voice for Peace. He is a widely published and respected policy analyst. Born in New York City, raised an Orthodox Jew and educated in Yeshiva, Mitchell grew up in an extremist environment that passionately supported the radical Israeli settler movement. Plitnick regularly speaks all over the country on current issues. * more bio at link.


With a 72-hour truce apparently holding in Gaza and Israel having ended its ground operation, now seems like a fair time to assess where things stand. Has anyone emerged from this war in a better position? Is there anything that can, at least in a cynical and Machiavellian sense, be called a victory?

Palestine

It goes without saying that the overwhelming majority of the physical destruction was borne by the people of Gaza. At this point, the numbers are just horrifyingly grim: 1,968 dead — 1,626 of whom were civilians — and 7,920 wounded. While we don’t have a precise percentage, we do know that there are at least 2,111 children and 1,415 women among the wounded.

snip* Still, Israel has definitely come out of this appearing more villainous than Hamas. That’s going to make a difference going forward. Israel may no longer be able to bury the issue of the Gaza blockade, a form of collective punishment that has only helped solidify Hamas’ rule in Gaza and has deprived the people while failing to prevent the buildup of Hamas’ rockets. No one bought into the anti-Iran portion of Netanyahu’s rhetoric, another failure for Israel. Even in the US Jewish community, this onslaught shook a lot of pro-Israel faith and sent other Jews out of their living rooms and into the streets.

I see nothing but an illusion of victory here for the Israeli right. And for the rest of the country, the surge in extreme nationalism made Israel look a lot more like a fascist state than the Middle East’s “only democracy.”

http://www.lobelog.com/ceasefire-in-gaza-where-things-stand/

[oberliner]

1. Wow, he really gives it to Obama

The Obama administration has occasionally had some good ideas about the Middle East, but has repeatedly shown it doesn’t have a clue about how to implement them. It paints itself as an advocate for peace, but shows no willingness to back up its words in the face of Israeli resistance. That’s why it’s more important now than ever for Europe or some other outside party to push its way past the US in dealing with this issue.

Ouch.

[Jefferson23]

2. He covers everyone...yes. n/t

[oberliner]

3. He seems keen on Europe

Believing they'd do a better job of bringing peace to the region than the US.

[Jefferson23]

4. I am not sure I agree with him on that, but yea, he recognizes our role will not likely lead the

Palestinians to a viable state.

[oberliner]

6. What mediator would you suggest?

Is there a country or organization whose involvement would be more likely to lead the Palestinians to a viable state?

[Jefferson23]

7. I don't have a suggestion involving any one country, oberliner. Their best hope may rest

within themselves in civil disobedience and the courts simultaneously.

[Scootaloo]

11. More likely than the United States?

Yes. Literally all of them.

it's less about hteir capability than our inability / unwillingness.

[oberliner]

13. Can you provide one?

Or maybe give a few examples?

[Scootaloo]

14. I just provided 191 of them n/t

[Fred Sanders]

5. I also see nothing but the illusion of victory for the Israeli right. And the revelation of fascism.

"I see nothing but an illusion of victory here for the Israeli right. And for the rest of the country, the surge in extreme nationalism made Israel look a lot more like a fascist state than the Middle East’s “only democracy.”

[Jefferson23]

8. It's a subject worthy of examination, I appreciate he has highlighted it...he is a mensch, I hope

more join him on that conversation.

[Fred Sanders]

9. "Mensch" is a great word, the English language has no parallel, derived from Sanskrit that it is.

[Jefferson23]

10. Yep, agreed. n/t

[Scootaloo]

12. Linguistic quibble...

Last edited Sat Aug 9, 2014, 02:52 PM - Edit history (1)

English isn't derived from Sanskrit. English and Sanskrit share a common origin in the Indo-European language family... but... so does Yiddish, from which we get "Mensch." Yiddish is just Jewish colliquial German with some Hebrew (Afro-asiatic) and Slavic (more into-european) loans.

"Mensch" isn't such a loan word, it's straight German. Anf English does have a parralel, though it comes to us from latin rather than German - Luminary.