Here is more evidence of why the reaction to the Israeli actions in Gaza from the UN, the EU, and the other usual suspects is so hypocritical and reeking of a double standard. Did Hamas call people in southern Israel to warn them to get away, before shooting Kassam rockets into civilian areas? "Israel phones in warning to flee Gaza Strip strikes," by Abraham Rabinovich for The Australian, December 30 (thanks to all who sent this in):
RESIDENTS at certain addresses in the Gaza Strip have been receiving unusual phone calls since the Israeli air assault began on Saturday - a request that they and their families leave their homes as soon as possible for their own safety.More unusual than the recorded message is the Arabic-speaking caller, who identifies himself as being from the Israeli defence forces, The Australian reports.
Dipping into their bag of tricks for the updated Gaza telephone numbers, Israel's intelligence services are warning Palestinian civilians in Gaza living close to Hamas facilities that they may be hurt unless they distance themselves from those targets.
In some cases, the warning comes not by telephone but from leaflets dropped from aircraft on selected districts.
Such warnings clearly eliminate the element of surprise, but for Israel it is of cardinal importance to minimise civilian casualties, and not just for humanitarian reasons.
The principal calculation is fear that a stray bomb hitting a school or any collection of innocent civilians could bring down the wrath of the international community on Israel, as has happened more than once in the past, and force it to halt its campaign before it has achieved its objectives.
Israel Radio reported that leaflets had been dropped at the beginning of the operation in the Rafah area near the border with Egypt, warning residents that the tunnels to Egypt through which weapons and civilian products were smuggled would be bombed....
Gaza is one of the most densely built-up areas in the world, making it extremely difficult to pinpoint targets without collateral damage.
Israeli officials say that the small percentage of civilians killed so far is due to precise intelligence regarding the location of Hamas targets and accurate bombing and rocketing.
I think this just adds to the humiliation of the 'occupation'. Like the nutty Israeli leftist who suggested Israeli soldiers should rape Palestinians to show they consider them equals, I guess the Israelis should cause more collateral damage in order to protect Arab honor. Or something...
But seriously, I'm positive this won't make a bit of difference in the EU (UK especially), UN, or mainstream media, where Israel = bad.
Beagle, I agree that Israel's informing residents in the area of impending bombardment might not make much difference in the UE, UN or mainstream media. But neither does is probably adversely affect other aspects of the military operation. The decision to provide warning was almost certainly undertaken after much deliberation that included humanitarian as well as military considerations. This is one of the things that sets Israel apart from the Muslims, who make no effort to spare innocents, and illustrates yet again why Israel deserves our unswerving support. I salute them for it.
Eastview,
I'm less optimistic that those who got warnings didn't immediately warn their HAMAS neighbors.
Pamela is unimpressed:
LATHER, RINSE, REPEAT ......
Looks Like Mega NAILED it in the comments section ................... he has the situation in Israel down to a T. I want Mega to be wrong, but he's not. It's .......... perfect.
Is it just me, or does it look like Israel is starting to fall back on hitting empty buildings, sports stadiums, etc.? Seems like we've been down this road before in 2006.
The pattern:
1) Israel starts out with an aggressive military response to the terrorists - the goals are somewhat fuzzy, but it does feel cathartic
2) The terrorists go to ground quickly after taking a minor hit to key forces and weaponry
3) The Arabs riot in the streets of Europe and across the middle east
4) Western govts get nervous and turn the screws on Israel to pull back and negotiate and make peace
5) The media reports it as a humanitarian tragedy story, complete with the pathetic pictures of Palestinian kids, leading to massive pressure on Israel to call it quits
6) Israel gets nervous and starts doing non-strategic things like flattening empty buildings, to avoid civilian casualties, while trying to figure out what to do next in the face of strong and (to them) unexpected international condemnation
7) The enemy, seeing that Israel has no real war plan, starts claiming victory, i.e. "survival" in the face of the onslaught of the world's 4th largest army blah blah blah, and uses some of its mostly-untouched forces and armaments, which were, of course, hidden beyond the IDF's reach
8) Israel calls it off and tells its citizens it won. Everyone knows otherwise.
We seem to be roughly at stage 6 right now.
The key ingredient in this repetitive mobius strip of failure is the inability of Israel's government to correctly anticipate the global pressure it will be under to call it off before a successful conclusion. Israel keeps expecting the world to be sympathetic and supportive. Israel is delusional.
Sorry to take the wind out of the sails of anyone who's pumped up and thinking Israel is on the way to a grand victory. I see Lebanon II unfolding, rapidly.
That nails it, doesn't it?
From Atlas Shrugs
Sheik,
Debbie Schlussel has expressed pretty much the same opinion here:
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2008/12/dont_get_too_ex.html
The piece is titled
"Don't Get Too Excited About the Phony Baloney, Temporary Israeli "War" vs. HAMAS
"
It is sad to watch Isreal emasculate itself; Isreal used to be a bad-ass mofo.
"I'm less optimistic that those who got warnings didn't immediately warn their HAMAS neighbors."
Posted by: Beagle
They undoubtedly did, but I'm sure the Israelis also thought of this. I know all the arguments for not yielding an inch to Hamas, but I still think it significant that the Israelis make a determined effort to minimize collateral damage in this way. Whether the rest of the world takes note or not is a separate question.
Does Israel really have the 4th largest army? I cannot wrap my head around how that's possible, even with the conscription of every man and woman. Egypt has several times the population, conscripts every young male, and has considerably more young people proportionally, since Egyptians have something like 38 kids apiece. Plus so much of their military is tied up in their air force. I would believe that they have the 4th bigeest air force. Wow.
This was a tactless move on Israel's part, not just because, as Beagle said, all the Gazans support Hamas and will run and tell Hamas where the Israelis will bomb. They're basically all Hamas anyway, since they're a bunch of unemployed jihadis for the most part, plus Hamas likes to pick off Fatah members, so any of them who remain do so under taqiyya and outwardly support Hamas. This was also tactless because Hamas, like Saddam Hussein, likes to sacrifice civilians, although in Hamas' case, they really do it just for show. Oh, the Israelis are bombing here later today? Let's put a whole class of kindergartners in there, you know, just like we always throw a few children under 10 in a trench with us whenever we lob Qassams at Israel so that when they fire back they pick off some kids and we can portray them as 'child-killers' even though we were the ones who intentionally threw our own children right in the line of fire, as if in a sick caricature of the term 'projection.'
Israel's at the hand-wringing stage right now, assembling troops at the border. Oh...now the humaitarian aid. Uh-huh. Who decided that when one is at war, one should feed the enemy and give him the best medical care in the world, knowing full-well that he would never reciprocate, and would either let you starve, bleed to death, or end up Gilad Shalit, like Jon McCain in the Hanoi Hilton, but with much sicker captors? Russian Roulette, Hamas-style, consists of homicide bombing and celebrations for the killer. "Bravery in war" consists of bashing in the skull of a four-year-old girl.
They should flatten Gaza, drive everyone into Egypt, and take it back. Egypt created those monsters and they should take them. They are their problem their responsibility, the liability that they are. It may very well come down to the fact that "Palestinians," this generation in particular, are too much of a liability for anyone, which is why an Arab nation should take them. The world yawns at inter-Arab ethnic cleansing and human rights violations, and on the world stage Arab Muslims are the only people who are somehow never held to any standard whatsoever, be it moral, ethical, legal, or intellectual. How can anyone take issue with human rights violations when Arabs commit them? If you did, where would you even start? Who are we to judge? I hope this is the intention of this ceasefire: to make Egypt take the Gazans. they have to. That is the only answer. It is simply too much for Israel to have to live side-by-side with them.
Greetings:
Quoting: "Gaza is one of the most densely built-up areas in the world, making it extremely difficult to pinpoint targets without collateral damage."
Another interesting bit of unchallenged propaganda. I don't know if they are confusing Gaza with Gaza City but I think this is just so much nonsense. Gaza is mostly desert, so unless they're counting grains of sand, they are wrong. Even Gaza City, from the film reports (distorts) that I have seen doesn't seem to have very many large buildings and, thankfully, fewer by the moment. This isn't Manhattan or Mumbai by any means. Balderdash.
Smite them hip and thigh.
Even if it were true, Israelis are the masters of pinpoint bombing. They really do have the best air force in the world.
"...to make Egypt take the Gazans. they have to. That is the only answer."
Posted by: jdamn
Agreed. Then Gaza should be absorbed into Israel proper, as should the West Bank and the Golan Heights.
There is a difference this time around. Were talking the Holy Grail of western tears now. Unfortunately, Hamas let their intentions be known well ahead of time.
Hamas has small arms and rockets in an area generally conidered small with no place to hide.
I would expect Israel to enter Gaza looking to eliminate rocket inventories. Squeezing Hamas in the direction of the Egyptian Border in the process.
Israel will clear it's western flank and seal the Egyptian border with it's own forces.
i hear a lot of calls being made.
"hello,hello, this is Israel calling. You have Rocket in house? time to leave-yes." "We take picture for all to see. This Candid Camera episode is one you wish to miss. Time to go- many calls to make, by-by."
So, what's anyone's call? Will Israel put men on the ground in Gaza? Will Israel have learned its lesson from its half-hearted fight against Hezbollah over two years ago and seek total victory (by this I mean virtual oblilteration of Hamas' military infrastructure, not expulsion of all Arabs from Gaza, though that would arguably be a long-term optimum result)? For myself, I hope it's "yes' to both these questions, though I very much fear that may not end up being the case.
Israelis are the masters of pinpoint bombing. They really do have the best air force in the world.
Posted by: jdamn at December 30, 2008 12:46 PM
"...to make Egypt take the Gazans. they have to. That is the only answer."
Posted by: jdamn
Agreed. Then Gaza should be absorbed into Israel proper, as should the West Bank and the Golan Heights.
Posted by: Eastview at December 30, 2008 12:46 PM
jdamn,Eastview! may we one day be able to visit a muslim-free Gaza, & Judaea and Samaria.
Now I see what the Greek-Israeli joint exercise back in May I think, codenamed "Glorious Spartan" was about.
I am so proud of Hellenic Air Forces standing by IAF to prepare for this counterattack.
Kol Hagavod tsahal, kol hagavod Javan.
May the True God stand by our beloved Israel. And may she understand that no islamic country can be true friend to anyone outside the mob called Ummah.
"The key ingredient in this repetitive mobius strip of failure is the inability of Israel's government to correctly anticipate the global pressure it will be under to call it off before a successful conclusion. Israel keeps expecting the world to be sympathetic and supportive. Israel is delusional."
I don't share your pessimism on that particular point.
First, the timing should be noted: the sacro-saint Christmas vacation when most UN diplomats and Western politicians are away on vacation and probably won't be back at their posts until next Monday at the earliest. This in itself suggests careful planning, nothing like the spur-of-the-moment decision to go to war against Hizballah in 2006.
Second, you see the Israeli viewpoint more aptly presented than in the past. It still leaves a lot to be desired, but this also suggests that they have anticipated a media backlash and that the world is not going to be sympathetic.
Third, Hudna is a two-way street.Hamas used the six months "truce" to build up strength -and has often bragged about it - and we are seeing that in the long-range missiles it has been using lately. They also spent those six months building a labyrinth of underground tunnels, which, by the way, are the target of Israeli airplanes at the moment.
But Israel has used those six months as well, gathering intelligence and training for an operation such as this.
Fourth, the lessons of 2006, compiled in the so-called Vinograd report, have been learned. Barak and Livni don't want to end up like Olmert, and Ashkenazi doesn't want to lose his job and leave in shame like his predecessor. So if
only for these reasons, I believe they'll stay the course.
Fifth, new elements have modified the global political picture. The conflict between Fath and Hamas as well as the wider intra-Muslim conflict are making an impact. Gulf and other countries with a sunni Muslim majority, threatened by the prospect of a nuclear Iran, against the axis Iran/Hizb/Syria/Gaza and their sunni allies, the Muslim Brotherhood of which Hamas is part. This is to say that I expect the largest Muslim protest to take place in places with a high concentration of Shias and Ikhwan. Other Muslim agitators and their Western allies will soon realize what is at stake so I expect they will wait it out.
Sixth, as far as supplies are concerned, trucks full of goods are making their waysinto Gaza while they are being shot at. Apparently, they thought about that too and are keeping the border crossings open despite the difficulties.
So,I wouldn't say that Israel hasn't anticipated correctly the global pressure. It seems to me that the above examples point exactly to the contrary.
Gaza is about 3 times the square mileage as New York City.
NYC has about 8 million residents.
Gaza has about 1.5 million in 3 times the area. Dunno, math seems pretty simple that NYC is much more dense, about 15 times as dense, right (8/1.5 means 5.3 times as much population then, divide by 3 since it is 1/3 the size to get about 15 times).
the Arab street will rise against the Arab State. the Arab states cannot afford to get involved with direct action against Israel. They will find themselve dealing with a monster of their own making. Israel pushing Hamas to the Egyptian border is a good thing.
How could the press possibly cover the level of violence Egypt will use to keep Palistinians from crossing the border, without making Israel looking good, and right?
Eastview, then the Sinai. Egypt has done nothing but violate the terms of that agreement. Israel needs that land, earned it fair and square, and Arabs have never used it for anything but duplicitous purposes. But first Gaza.
I would really love to see the Egyptians reap what they sow but taking in and keeping all of their Ikhwani spawn, including the millions of "youth" who they assume we'll let them export over here and in Europe. Egypt needs to take care of its Mohammed Attas, the whole generation of them. Under no circumstances is it reasonable to inflict those monsters upon the rest of the world.