Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Was Israel's Gaza offensive worth it?

Was Israel's Gaza offensive worth it?
Domenica 27 Dicembre 2009 21:53 Gideon Levy
Haaretz, 27/12/2009
 Gaza during Operation Cast Lead.
(Reuters)
The world saw the Israeli Goliath strike mercilessly at the
Palestinian David. It saw the balance of killing: one Israeli to every
100 Palestinians, and the Israel Defense Forces' new and terrifying
doctrine by which almost everything goes if it prevents casualties on
our side. The world knew that in this case a democracy was striking a
region that does not enjoy self-determination, whose inhabitants lack
basic human rights - refugees and the children of refugees living
under siege. (...)
The world also saw Israel wrap itself in sick apathy despite what was
happening. It saw the town squares almost empty of protesters, the
cafes in Tel Aviv full of people having a good time. It even saw
Israeli families who went to visit the hills around Gaza to show their
children the bomb strikes. (...)
And the world also quickly forgot. A year later, with $4.5 billion
collected to rehabilitate Gaza lying in banks' basement vaults because
Israel refuses to open Gaza's gates to let in supplies, the world is
silent, leaving Gaza to its fate, to its ruins. But Gaza has not
forgotten its wounds - it cannot forget them. The 325,000 people whose
homes were destroyed, 1,300 bereaved families and thousands of injured
and disabled, debilitated by anxiety and terror, remain in Gaza.
Today offers us an ironic conjuncture of commemorations: the fast of
the 10th of the Hebrew month of Tevet and the first anniversary of
Operation Cast Lead. On the day of the fast, which commemorates the
Babylonian siege on Jerusalem, few Israelis are thinking about Gaza,
under Israeli blockade for twice the time ancient Jerusalem was
besieged. On the anniversary of the attack on Gaza, few people are
doing any real soul-searching.
One way or another, the year since December 27 was a year of shame for
Israel, greater shame than any other time. It is shameful to be
Israeli today, much more than it was a year ago. In the final tally of
the war, which was not a war but a brutal assault, Israel's
international status was dealt a severe blow, in addition to Israeli
indifference and public blindness to what happened in Gaza.
Even those who still believe that the attack was justified and
necessary, that the firing of Qassam rockets would not have been
halted except by such a cruel attack, cannot ignore the political and
moral price extracted from Israel because of its violence. Its image
in the world, not in the eyes of its citizens, is much uglier than a
year ago.
Today it is more shameful to be an Israeli because the world, as
opposed to Israelis, saw the scenes. It saw thousands of dead and
injured taken in the trunks of cars to something between a clinic and
a primitive hospital in an imprisoned and weakened region one hour
from flourishing Tel Aviv, a region where the helpless had nowhere to
run from Israel's arsenal. The world saw schools, hospitals, flour
mills and small factories mercilessly bombed and blown up. It saw
clouds of white-sulphur bombs billowing over population centers, and
it saw burned children.
The world refused to accept the excuses and lies of Israel's
propaganda. It was not prepared to compare Sderot's suffering to
Gaza's suffering; it did not agree that the sulphur mushroom clouds
were for self-defense, that the killing of dozens of police on a
parade ground was legitimate, that telephoned warnings for people to
leave their homes cleared Israel of criminal responsibility for the
bombing of those homes.
The world saw the Israeli Goliath strike mercilessly at the
Palestinian David. It saw the balance of killing: one Israeli to every
100 Palestinians, and the Israel Defense Forces' new and terrifying
doctrine by which almost everything goes if it prevents casualties on
our side. The world knew that in this case a democracy was striking a
region that does not enjoy self-determination, whose inhabitants lack
basic human rights - refugees and the children of refugees living
under siege. So the world responded with justifiable severity toward
us; it refused to forgive and be silent.
The world also saw Israel wrap itself in sick apathy despite what was
happening. It saw the town squares almost empty of protesters, the
cafes in Tel Aviv full of people having a good time. It even saw
Israeli families who went to visit the hills around Gaza to show their
children the bomb strikes. Later, it also saw that Israel was not even
prepared to investigate what it had done, but rather lashed out at all
its detractors.
And the world also quickly forgot. A year later, with $4.5 billion
collected to rehabilitate Gaza lying in banks' basement vaults because
Israel refuses to open Gaza's gates to let in supplies, the world is
silent, leaving Gaza to its fate, to its ruins. But Gaza has not
forgotten its wounds - it cannot forget them. The 325,000 people whose
homes were destroyed, 1,300 bereaved families and thousands of injured
and disabled, debilitated by anxiety and terror, remain in Gaza. Their
suffering has not dissipated.
On the first anniversary of the attack, in the face of such a negative
political and moral balance, Israelis must at least ask themselves if
all this was worth it. But on the first anniversary, Israel is much
busier with the political future of MK Eli Aflalo than its political
and moral future. Shame or no shame - what counts is that we feel so
good about ourselves.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1137840.html

 wrote in message 
news:a6705e07-6510-4923...@c34g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...

#_Non so se molti leggono quello che posti, anche se generalmente si tratta 
soltanto dell' articolo di un ottimo giornale; allora lo *quoto* nella sua 
totalita`...forse non sono ancora considerato un appestato o e` appestato 
anche l'Haaretz!
Ciao! 

 wrote in message

beh a parte i soliti abituè del ng, tra cui anche falsi compagni alla
whiplash e MMAX, io mi rivolgo a chi è lettore solamente del ng.
quelli , stai tranquillo, i miei post li leggono. lo vedo dalle
valutazioni positive che ricevo.
Alla faccia di nazicarogne orfani di crocefrecciate che ora trattano i
palestinesi come i nazisti trattavano gli ebrei durante la guerra.