Thoughts from my blog

It took me 10 days of extreme anguish, some sleepless nights and terrible back pains to figure out where I stand with regard to the war in Gaza. I have been exposed to Israeli television, Internet and radio, to CNN and Fox, and to "The Real News," whom to those who never heard of it, I'll say it is a non-profit left-wing American web site whose accuracy in reporting the news matches that of Fox News, only from the other political slant.
I oppose the Israeli incursion into Gaza. But among Jewish-Israelis, I am rather unique, and belong to a very small minority. My opposition to the actions of the Israeli government stems from the fact that I believe this attack on Gaza will lead nowhere. It is an act of frustration, maybe even desperation, and as a smart Israeli politician said many years ago: "desperation is not a strategy" (or something like that). Mark my words, and I will leave this post on as long as its relevant, nothing will change when the fire dies. Only hundreds of people, among them innocent civilians, wil lose their lives. But that is a very big change in my eyes. Israel is not Hamas, it is a democratic nation that sees itself as part of the international community of nations. Nations don't kill out of frustration and desperation. Indeed, sometimes war is justified. The American invasion of Europe in 1944 was justified. But there are very few wars that can be justified and that occur under similar circumstances. The attack on Gaza is not justified.
The reason I oppose the Israeli attack on Gaza is because it cannot be justified as a means to an end, because it cannot bring about the end it promises. The Israeli soldiers are instructed to stay out of the densely populated parts of Gaza and the Prime Minister has declared that the goal is not to re-occupy Gaza (and both tactics are right). Under those circumstances there is no way to stop the firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel but by an agreement. So why kill hundreds of people and sacrifice the lives of young Israeli soldiers, if in the end the only way to reach an end to the rocket launching is to negotiate a cease fire?
People ask me: what would you do? Well, I did not promise Israelis what cannot be promised, and I cannot limit the historical debate regarding the conflict over Israel to the number of rockets fired out of a besieged Gaza into Israeli territory. There is so much cynicism in trying to sell Israelis this war as a solution to everything - starting from the poverty in Sderot and the ignorance in Netivot and ending with the right to live a life of peace and "traquility" (as Ehud Barak said on TV yesterday.
The truth is that peace to Israel cannot be achieved with gun power. For too long we have learned that truth. The only peace Israel has ever achieved was through peaceful negotiations with both Egypt and Jordan. In both cases all the land that was occupied in war time was returned. That maxim is true for Syria as well, which is why there will be no peace with Syria in the near future. The reason no peace has emerged between Israel and the Palestinians is because there is no agreement on a fair partition of the land west of the Jordan River that will provide the Palestinians a liveable and viable state. The blame? It falls on both sides, each in its turn has contributed to its failure.
The same is true with regard to the war in Gaza. Only if Israel stops the blame game and takes the high ground (I don't believe Hamas is capable of the same), will there be a chance for peace for Israeli citizens. Violence will only lead to more violence.