As I see it

I hate discussing anything akin to politics and I hate using this blog to put forward my view of significant world events, but I'm going to anyway.

Just putting this all out there so I can keep it straight.

First off, Israel pulled out of Gaza. There is no Israeli force in Gaza, but Gaza is its own political and geographical unit which has, much like many entities, borders separating it from surrounding nations. Gaza has a border with Israel and Egypt. Trucks and people go in and out, but only if they pass through borders -- not “check points” but borders, because we are talking about entering and exiting another sovereign nation. Forget about the trucks with aid that Israel sends in unilaterally. Forget about the Arab decision not to send goods in to Israel for sale so as not to do business with Israel. Forget about the tunnels that have been dug starting from the Gaza side as an attempt to cross the border. Just focus on the fact that there is a border.

Recently, and especially on Fridays, Arabs in the Gaza strip have been protesting at the border. They mass there because they, it seems, don’t want there to be a border. They want the right to enter Israel whenever they want. But the thing is, this is a border. I can’t saunter into another country whenever I want. That’s what borders do. These protests have been less than peaceful with video evidence showing gun fire, burning tires and attempts to snip the wires of the border in order (and this has been stated for the record) for Arabs to infiltrate and kill Jews. [note – all of these things I reference can be found online in articles, videos and other sources. If you wish to read up on it, here is one article -- pay attention to the time line]

On a most recent Friday, during a “peaceful” protest, Arabs shot and injured two Israeli soldiers who were on the Israeli side of the border. This is called an act of war, firing on the soldiers of another nation. This is not “peaceful.” The Arabs are unhappy – their autonomous political entity is struggling and they have decided that the best option is to shoot at Israeli soldiers who are standing in another country. This border, they see, is a way to keep them OUT. But borders serve a variety of purposes – keeping those who belong IN and those who are of another nation OUT. No one has the innate right to come IN whenever he sees fit. Nations exist and often, they have borders and the right to determine who crosses them.

Israel retaliates because, you know, most countries frown on having their soldiers shot. Now, if you think that this retaliation is uncalled for, just imagine that the soldier shot was your son or daughter or was protecting your house from your neighbors on the other side of the street who want to wander in and raid your fridge and have stated that after drinking the milk, they want to kill your children. The soldiers were just standing there. Not shooting anyone. Just making sure that the border remains the border and people stay on their sides of the border. If borders bother you then ask yourself why they exist ANYWHERE and whether the proper approach to them in ALL cases is to shoot people on the other side. Do you endorse that happening anywhere else?

The response to the Israeli response is to indiscriminately fire over 700 rockets into Israel. These devices comprise a double war crime – they are fired towards civilian targets from the cover of non-military sites (yes, all claims can be documented…did you see the picture of the rocket firing mechanism in the minaret?) Seven hundred rockets that claim to be a response to Israel but which ignore that two soldiers were shot on Friday. This is not a “cycle” – it has a definite beginning. Each round does. Once it gets started then, sure, you can claim that it is a cycle, but it doesn’t come into being ex nihilo.

So, to sum up, there is no occupation of Gaza. Israel and Egypt maintain their borders with Gaza. There are no Israeli settlements there and, unless one claims that all of Israel shouldn’t exist, the cities on the Israel side of the border are not settlements. There is no cycle of violence – there is a repeated attempt to breach a fence and cross a border illegally (with stated nefarious aims) and there is violence demonstrated against a sovereign nation. This is not about the political corruption scandals in Israel, the high cost of housing or anything else. This is about the choice to use violence across an international border and then having to deal with the consequences. Again, I can provide video, documentation and other substantiation for my claims. I haven’t because right now, I’m just typing stuff, but it is all out there, plus more stuff. I find it frustrating that many people (including US politicians) want to look at this with an eye towards “equivalence” and refusing to see the actual cause of the problem. This isn’t some constant back-and-forth. This is a timed and calculated escalation after a period of relative calm. If you want to defend the Arab position, you will have to start by defending the decision to shoot two soldiers across a border during a peaceful protest.