Eyeless in Gaza: The March of Folly II

Ask for this great deliverer now, and find him
Eyeless in Gaza at the mill
with slaves ……
O impotence of mind in body strong!
But what is strength
without a double share
Of wisdom…
John Milton, Samson Agonistes, 1671

Like Samson, deliverers in Gaza have little wisdom and no vision. Both Israel and Hamas knew that they would retaliate against one another if attacked or limited in any way. Thus, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert knew that when he stopped all shipments of food and medical supplies into Gaza, Hamas would react violently. Khaled Meshal, leader of Hamas, knew that when he ordered rockets fired into Israel, Gaza would be invaded. Both knew that civilians would be killed.

They also knew that the news media would be flooded with images of bloody corpses and overworked paramedics in underequipped hospitals. Which would be followed by pictures of wailing mourners at funerals and protests outside embassies. Then Israelis shouting "This is total war!" followed by videos of masked militiamen and women shouting "We welcome Jew-invaders to Gaza with death!" Then a UN statement, acknowledging a nation’s right to defend itself, yet condemning both sides for their reckless attacks.

This is followed by Israelis condemning Hamas for its smuggling arms and rockets into Gaza though tunnels whose southern terminus is in Egypt. Which is followed by Palestinians slapping their chests and waving infants’ corpses above their heads like battle flags. Then interviews with Israeli and Arab moderates calling for a cease fire. Then more Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza, then Israeli airstrikes, and finally an Israeli invasion of Gaza.

Followed by other spokespersons for various groups restating the accusations which simply restate the banal words, "They started it." Political leaders acting like kids who tell their parents, "Well he hit me first!"

By now adults would have asked Hamas, "Instead of arms and rockets, why didn’t you smuggle food and medical supplies into Gaza through those tunnels?" They would have asked Israel, "Why didn’t you call on Egypt to block the smuggling of arms from Sinai, which is the southern terminus of the tunnels?"

Adults would have also asked the Bush administration, "If Israel is our major ally in the Middle East, why don’t you obtain permission to send troops into Sinai to close down the tunnel?" They also would have asked, "Why don’t Israel and the US ship food and medicine into Gaza?"

No one, particularly the leaders of Hamas, Israel, and the US, asked these questions because they are politicians who seek power, not the resolution of conflict. The energizer of power is hate, which is easier to achieve than respect. The leaders tell us to hate the enemy, the enemy’s religion and culture. They want us to ignore the enemy’s needs, and ignore the enemy’s accomplishments. We can shoot, stab or bomb our enemy easily, if we know nothing except that the enemy is the enemy. As Orwell put it, "Ignorance is strength."

As a result, Hamas, Israel and the US do not care about food and medicine, because they do not care about the health and welfare of the people in Gaza. They seek control over the land that is a vital strategic interest in the international game of hegemony. Israel and Hamas each want the other to yield to their demands, and the US wants to control the winner of the conflict. Do the Israeli leaders believe that by killing members of Hamas, they will attract the love of the Palestinian people? Do Hamas leaders believe that rocket attacks will force Israel to relent and give Palestinians everything they want? Do Americans believe that they can gain control the Middle East? Yes, they do. And they are all wrong.

Time for more adult questions: Why doesn’t the government of Israel grant all Palestinians full citizenship of Israel with all rights and privileges of other Israelis? The reasons for not doing so are founded on the childish principle: "They hit us first."

Why don’t Israeli and Palestinian businessmen form partnerships and build factories to make products that will bring economic well-being to the region. They won’t because, "They (the other) hit us first."

Will it eliminate the hatred between Jewish and Islamic citizens and turn them into peace-loving citizens ready to live in harmony with their fellow Israelis? Not immediately. But eventually, businessmen learn they need each other to make profits and compete in the world market. Parents learn that watching their children play on the same soccer team is better than training them to be suicide bombers.

We know that Samson did not regain his sight, but we can hope that wisdom among Israelis and Palestinians grows before their blindness pulls down the pillars of life.