World

Gaza offensive flaming anti-Israeli sentiment

by mtippett | January 14, 2009 at 05:29 pm

281 views | 37 Recommendations | 7 comments

If the Israeli objective in Gaza is to reduce the threat of terror then it appears to be failing. While Americans are split in their approval of the Israeli Government and inside Israel the offensive enjoys wide support, the intended targets of the operation are becoming radicalized. This is how the LA Times reports it:

"Everyone around here hates Israel," says Dana Abu Zannnad, the anger rising in her voice. The 31-year-old Jordanian homemaker and her husband, a wealthy businessman, are among the country's new jet set. They speak English, shop at deluxe malls and travel abroad, many on earnings resulting from Jordan's status as a jumping-off point for Iraq reconstruction projects.

"My husband told me that if there was a war with Israel, he would go and fight," she says.

Even among Jordan's elite, advocates of peace are in short supply these days, supplanted by newly radicalized members of the middle and upper-middle classes, wearing Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses, urging the government to take a harder line against Israel, as well as its primary patron, the United States.

Israeli supporters of recent actions argue that the sheer number of rockets coming from Gaza represents a clear and present a danger to Israel. But in truth these rockets, even coming over in their thousands, have only killed several dozen people in the last 7 years. What is really dangerous to Israel in the Middle East is not the low grade weapons but the people who fire them. As a result of their latest actions Israel has created more of these people than it has destroyed. What is the view from Israel? Is there increased apprehension now? What is seen as the end game from within the country?

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158

at 17:39 on January 14th, 2009

Good story.

You have described it well.

Israel today can defeat any Arab state or group of them but in a generation that will not be true and they must come to an agreement, one not based on force.

On the other hand the Hamas rockets, ,while a minor problem, has caused more Israelis to hate Palestinians and to favor stronger force against them.

Both sides need to wake up and talk seriously about the only possible solution, two states living in peace with free flow of commerce.

Paschen

at 17:59 on January 14th, 2009

For the Forest one fails to see the trees.

I am not against the state of Israel or its existence, however I fear that Israel will end up in the History books as a short lived mistake of 70 years. The anger of the Middle east and Minor Asia as well as some parts of Europe is growing to strong with this latest madness done by the IDF, the Hamas Rockets are like fire crackers against Israeli F16, it is some what ridiculous. Israel could have put an end to this a long time ago, by simply allowing U.N. Peacekeeper in like in Cyprus (Greek: Κύπρος, transliterated: Kýpros, IPA: [ˈcipɾo̞s]; Turkish: Kıbrıs), and keep the peace for now, Cyprus is a success even though it took 30 years of U.N. peacekeeping to finally open up the borders again and have normal and respectful relations starting to grow out of this effort. Yet Israel has systematically refused such intervention and even undermined it with the help of the US veto. They will come a point where the anger of the Middle east will grow so strong that they will just over run Israel with their bare hands. And then no weapon will be able to stop them either nor will the rest of the World, for it will be to late by then for hope and justice.

matte

at 01:05 on January 15th, 2009

Yes firecrackers only - an expression of frustration rather than an intention to kill maybe?

nyctuber

at 18:02 on January 14th, 2009

Firing rockets indiscriminately but failing to kill large numbers of Israelis gives the Gaza/Hamas apologists a twisted sense of being right.

Keep firing rockets at Israel and it will be the end of Hamas, period.

The Arabs had their chance at a State but they wanted it all.

This is the result.

cati (not verified)

at 14:11 on April 30th, 2009

DO a little research and find out why they fired those rockets, aside from killing women and children for many many years, those animals also cut off most if not all humanitarian aid coming from the UN and Red-cross.

in a country with the highest number of college degrees (per capita), you'd expect they know other means of resolving their problems than killing small children.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNKIEGzQOtw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKQqItZu4Is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li8objISiNY

Pythiian1

at 18:37 on January 14th, 2009

The piece raises a good point and the Israeli authority needs to think long and hard about its strategies as it 'contributes' to an increasing anti-Israeli sentiments.

gahooch

at 20:03 on January 14th, 2009

Jordan needs Israel more than Israel needs Jordan. A major reason Jordan signed the peace treaty was to acquire Israel's water technology to help them greatly increase its sources of water.