The agony of Gaza

[Englander]

GLOBE EDITORIAL

The agony of Gaza

July 7, 2006

THERE ARE various reasons and justifications for Israel's current military operations in Gaza, for the Palestinian raid into Israel that culminated in the abduction of an Israeli soldier, and for the constant firing of Palestinian rockets from Gaza into communities inside Israel. One need not posit a moral equivalency between the two sides to recognize, however, that the deliberate targeting or punishing of civilians cannot be justified -- neither in international humanitarian law nor by common standards of human compassion.

>snip

So Israel has the right to try to deter suicide bombings and the launching of missiles at Israeli towns. And in the current case of the Israeli soldier abducted by Palestinian militant factions, Israel's government is justified in seeking to obtain his release without making concessions that create incentives for the seizure of more hostages in the future.

But there can be no justification for Israel's collective punishment of at least half of the civilian population in Gaza. The worst of that punishment comes not from the firing of missiles and artillery, nor from the sonic booms that frighten children at night and keep their parents from sleeping. The worst has been Israel's bombing of the one power plant that supplies electricity to some 700,000 of Gaza's 1.3 million people.

Without power, people in Gaza are deprived of air conditioners, fans, and refrigerators on stifling days and nights. Worse yet, Gaza's water supply must be pumped and purified by electricity. An already poor sewage system has ceased to function. If nothing is done to remedy the situation, families in Gaza will soon be without electricity or gas to boil unpurified water. They will be unable to refrigerate or cook what food they have been able to hoard for an emergency. If they ingest unpurified water, they risk an outbreak of diseases, including cholera. And without electricity, Gaza's hospitals and clinics cannot treat the sick.

It is ethically indefensible to impose such conditions on the confined population of Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of civilians should not be made hostage to obtain the release of one Israeli soldier. If Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert believes this is the right way to turn the Palestinian public against Hamas and the other factions firing rockets into Israel, he is making a political as well as a moral blunder.

Link;
Boston Globe

[cantstandbush]

1. An occupying soldier is taken prisoner (not kidnapped)

and this is justification for the massacre that Israel is conducting against the Palestinians?
In every other war soldiers are taken prisoner and it's not called "kidnapped" Israel continues to get away with reframing and renaming shit to justify their atrocities and the rest of the world sits by while the US actively supports this terrorism. Give me a break!!

If you are an occupying force in any land or territory you deserve whatever comes your way. It's always been that way. We hailed EU resisters and insurgents as heros when they fought against occupying Germany and Italy. Now because these are not EU people they become terrorists or "militants" for fighting to defend themselves and their families.

[papau]

2. An occupying soldier is anyone on "his own" side of a border that's in

dispute not because it is a new border - it has been the border for 55 years - but because the other side wants to destroy the soldier's country as a Jewish State? Indeed it is finally post the 68-73 war occupation and is a real border now that Israeli had withdrawn all troops from the other side.

Interesting logic.