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Mark C. N. Sullivan is an editor at a Massachusetts university. He is married and the father of three children. Email
Not the Holy Land post one would wish after Christmas.
But such is the state of the world.
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QassamCount carries updates on rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel.
Bookmark that site, writes JG Thayer at the Commentary blog.
Keep it handy should you find yourself discussing the current fighting in the Gaza Strip. And always remember that the disproportionate numbers of casualties are not because the Israelis are more bloodthirsty, but because they have a greater respect for civilians (both protecting their own and minimizing those they injure) and Hamas is so utterly incompetent. The latter party rejoices in civilian casualties — dead and injured Israelis are signs of victory, dead and injured Palestinians are martyrs they can avenge.
Hamas is getting a very harsh lesson — Israel doesn’t bluff. And it is getting it in the only language it has ever truly understood — blood and violence.
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Worth noting:
Between 2001 and November 2007, 2,383 Qassam rockets hit Israel, and more than 2,500 mortar shells were fired.
This statistic doesn't take into account the rockets fired this past year.
There was one commenter at FireDogLake who felt that instead of striking militarily, Israel should have “negotiated in good faith.”
Just how would that happen?
Negotiations are how civilized people settle their disagreements. But for negotiations to succeed, there have to be two parties interested in settling their differences peacefully. And Hamas has — by word and deed — consistently asserted its utter disinterest in settling its differences with Israel peacefully.
The recent events are no aberration, but affirmation of that policy. They unilaterally declared a “truce” that was merely a diminution of attacks. Then, they declared an end to the truce and escalated the attacks.
Hamas has also repeatedly affirmed their commitment to their charter:
* Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.
* Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement.
* There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.
These are the words and deeds of Hamas. They offer no reasonable hope for negotiations or compromise. #
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