HistoPol (#HP) 🥥 🌴
(1/n)
#WarInGaza - an insightful perspective
Yesterday, I posted a reply to the, IMHO, unbalanced view of respected German philosopher, #JurgenHabermas*.
As he chiefly saw the #Jewish side of the conflict, I tried to balance this, taking all sides legitimate interests into account, while adding the civilian Palestinian perspective.
Today, I came across an excellent recent op'ed in the #NYT by #ThomasLFriedman, who--while seeing...
HistoPol (#HP) 🥥 🌴
(2/n)
...while seeing things from a #Jewish perspective, too--has an excellent knowlege of the region, its players, and its history.
Some of my takeaways from his piece [hashtags and emojis, as always are mine]:
"#Israel is in real danger — more danger than at any other time since its War of Independence in 1948...for three key reasons:"
1) "Israel is facing threats from a set of enemies who combine medieval #theocratic worldviews with 21st-century weaponry — and...
HistoPol (#HP) 🥥 🌴
(3/n)
...are no longer organized as small bands of militiamen but as modern armies with brigades, battalions, cybercapabilities, long-range rockets, drones and technical support...#Hamas, #Hezbollah, #Islamic militias in #Iraq and the #Houthis in #Yemen...and #VladimirPutin."
2) "...the only conceivable way that #Israel can generate the legitimacy, resources, time and allies to fight such a difficult war with so many enemies is if it has unwavering...
HistoPol (#HP) 🥥 🌴
(4/n)
... partners abroad, led by the #UnitedStates.
"But #Biden can sustainably generate the support Israel needs only if #Israel is ready to engage in some kind of a wartime diplomatic initiative directed at the #Palestinians in the #WestBank — and hopefully in a post-#Hamas #Gaza — that indicates Israel will discuss some kind of two-state solutions #if Palestinian officials can get their political house unified and in order."
3) "...Israel has the worst leader in its history — ...
HistoPol (#HP) 🥥 🌴
(5/n)
...maybe in all of #Jewish history — who has no will or ability to produce such an initiative...Worse...Prime Minister #BenjaminNetanyahu, continues to put the interests of holding on to the support of his far-right base...ahead of maintaining national solidarity or doing some of the basic things that #Biden needs."
Hamas' and their allies' strategy is becoming clearer:
"...#Israelis to begin driving up real estate prices in seemingly safer central #Israeli...
HistoPol (#HP) 🥥 🌴
(6/n)
...towns. For #Hezbollah, that alone is mission accomplished, without even invading like #Hamas. Together, #Hezbollah and Hamas are managing to shrink Israel."
The #Hamas terrorists are instilling fear in the hearts of #Israelis:
"This kind of chilling exuberance — #Israel was built so that such a thing could never happen — explains the homemade sign I saw [...in] #Jerusalem: “It’s either us or them.
The euphoric rampage of Oct. 7 that killed some 1,400 soldiers and...
HistoPol (#HP) 🥥 🌴
(7/n)
...civilians has not only hardened #Israeli hearts toward the suffering of #Gaza civilians. It has also inflicted a deep sense of humiliation and guilt on the Israeli #Army and defense establishment..."
"...[The] conviction in the army [is] that it must demonstrate to the entire neighborhood [see enemies above...] that it will stop at nothing to re-establish the security of the borders...it wants to show that no one can outcrazy #Israel..."
HistoPol (#HP) 🥥 🌴
(8/n)
...To all this, "...#Netanyahu is saying that seven million Jews are going to indefinitely control the lives of five million #Palestinians in the #WestBank and #Gaza — while offering them no political horizon, nothing, by way of statehood one day on any demilitarized conditions...Really?"
A very explosive combination.
Before that, he had made a huge mistake: After "...being slammed by the public for digitally stabbing his army and intelligence chiefs in the back...
HistoPol (#HP) 🥥 🌴
(9/n)
... in the middle of a war, #Netanyahu published a new post. “I was wrong,” ...But the damage was done."
The essential first step for a solution coincides with what I wrote last week:
"The sooner #Israel replaces Netanyahu and his far-right allies with a true center-left-center-right national unity government, the better chance it has to hold together during...
HistoPol (#HP) 🥥 🌴
(10/n)
...what is going to be a hellish war and aftermath. And the better chance that #Biden...will not have hitched his credibility and ours to a #Netanyahu #Israel that will never be able to fully help us to help it.
This society is so much better than its leader."
//
HistoPol (#HP) 🥥 🌴
I'd like to contradict you, but I, very sadly, have to agree with your stance, Mina. :(
Mina
This analysis actually makes very much sense to me, and yet I fear, everything will take the worst possible way:
As long as Netanyahu's coalition holds, he won't resign.
Dead bodies will continue to pile up and there will be no step towards a political solution, I fear, and all this plays into the hands of Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran etc.
GNU social JP is a social network, courtesy of GNU social JP管理人. It runs on GNU social, version 2.0.2-dev, available under the GNU Affero General Public License.
All GNU social JP content and data are available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.