Originally posted by Black Wolf
Right, I realize this is seriously OT, and somewhat at risk of becoming personally offensive to some people, but, as an Israeli, do you agree with what your government is doing? (No I'm not condoning suicide attacks by Palestinians, I'm just curious about how he, as an Israeli, fells about the actions of his government, who are at least as much to blame as the Palestineans.)
Ohhh - don't get me started!!! Grrr...!
Just kidding.
Well, just last week I finished a month-long stint in the army reserves here, near Ramallah. I'll be brutally honest: I really do feel for the truly innocent Palestinians; the PA is
not a pleasant regieme to live under. In the paper I saw a picture of the public lynching and hanging of a palestinian who was suspected of collaborating with Israel.
I've been positioned at checkpoints where hundreds, if not thousands, of Palestinians pass through en route to work or school - I've helped cause some of the horrific traffic jams that simply cause many to turn around and stay home that day. It's truly a bad situation.
But don't get me wrong: I'm hardly rooting for the palestinians. I realize that among them are a bit more than a few who actively participate in terrorisim against Israel. And although these terrorists hide and operate literally from amongst the masses, the masses -
in general - cheer them on.
My neighborhood, Gilo, has been repeatedly shot at and mortared by terrorists operating among the Arab-Christian village of Beit Jala. The people of the village don't want them there, as it's their houses that get shot back at, but they can't exactly kick out men with guns who don't want to be kicked out.
Now, realize that I am also a Christian, and I see the cause of this conflict rooted in religion, but I'll try to keep my response away from that.
I see the cause of this violence in the educational system of the PA, who teach their children that becoming a suicide bomber to take out some Zionist scum is the greatest honor in the world, and into the afterlife. The PA media constantly broadcasts (or they did, until we took out some of their radio stations) perversive material against Israel.
So to answer your question, I feel that my government only recently, when it moved into Area A (Tul-Karem, Ramallah, etc), has been doing enough. We are fighting a war against terrorisim, terrorisim which is deeply rooted in a supportive and encouraging regeime (sp?). Such a war cannot be won defensively. And unfortunately, the terrorists use hapless civillians as human shields, which makes it
impossible to avoid collateral damage.
Israel has never targeted innocent civillians, only known terrorists. When we bomb a relevant building, we provide the PA with warning so they can get their people out of there. We are fighting a just as much of a war in the world media as we are here on the ground, a war in which the Palestinians have the upper hand and a pitying eye. What the world needs to realize is that our war is against terrorisim and the government that supports it.
Anyways, sorry for the rant, but I guess I've been waiting for someone to ask me something like that for a long time.
Maybe we should start a politics board here...
