I know this diary will, like all I-P diaries, be one that many here do not agree with, which is totally okay. This is dailykos, not redstate, and all (sane and informed) opinions about all relevant topics should be and generally are allowed.
Nevertheless, it seems that I-P diaries strike a cord among everyone here. Most on this site seem to sympathize with the Palestinians (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/1/3/14135/07870/566/679809, http://www.dailykos.com/... http://www.dailykos.com/... which is understandable: as liberals, we like to look out for the underdog, which is great. Israel has a very strong and organized military, and the Palestinians certainly do not.
However, it seems that many here have adopted an "us vs. them" mentality which essentially states that the oppressed Palestinians are ALWAYS right and the Israeli military is ALWAYS wrong.
As progressives, I think this does us a disservice: we oversimplify this issue without looking at the entire problem. We need to accept that there is wrong, and right, on both sides of this issue.
I am very liberal on social issues, and on almost all foreign policy issues. However, like most in this country, and even the majority in the Democratic Party, I sympathize with Israel in many ways. I think this Gaza operation was somewhat necessary, while I am saddened by the massive number of innocents that have died.
Again--- I am not some 'wingnut', and put off schooling for three months to volunteer with the Obama Campaign. I am much more socially liberal than most in this country, and even in our party. I am also from a Jewish home, and spent considerable time in Israel (but I have also visited the Palestinian territories, and I have seen the poverty and destruction there). I just wanted to present a bit of the Israelis side, one that perhaps is overlooked by some.
About ten people have died from rocket fire in Israel, over a period of about half a decade.
This, while obviously innocent life, is not a huge total, and is nowhere near the number of Palestinians that have been killed, even in the past hour alone. I, along with most other thinking and (hopefully) rational Israel supporters, see this and recognize it. However, in our opinion, Israel's problem, and what has led it to take these steps (including today's invasion), is not the death toll but the psychological and economic implications from the rocket fire.
Sderot, the city that has been the target of the most rockets, had a population of about 20,000 people as of a few years ago. This is a city within the 1948 Israel borders, and one that was seen as a model developing city, one whose residents were certainly not wealthy, but were mainly "middle class".
Then came the rocket fire, mainly after Israel took its ground troops out of Gaza. This has totally destroyed the city, as about 15-20% (some say 25%) of its residents (pretty much the ones that could afford it), have left the city and moved north, because of the rockets. Rockets fell, for a time, at an average of many a day, and whenever a rocket is on its way, all citizens run to bomb shelters. "Tzevah Adom" (code red) sirens blare through the city, and everyone takes shelter for a period of ten to fifteen minutes (or more). When I visited Sderot last year, I experienced just one of these sirens, and it was a very, very scary thing.
These people experience these hundreds of times a year. This is no way for a city to function. The Israeli Trauma Center says that over half of the residents of Sderot have suffered psychologically from these attacks (Link).
In the past several months, the rockets have been going farther and farther. Ashkelon, a larger city, was hit. Now Ashdod and Be'er Sheva were also hit. Same result. Same effects.
So Israel felt it had to do something. After repeatedly pleading with Hamas, and then the Palestinian People, using different mediums (and eventually in Arabic), to get the rockets to stop, Israel, as a functioning country, felt it had to do something. And came this war/invasion etc.
Does this justify all of Israel's actions? Is this a valid explanation for civilians being killed? Of course not. But does this explain why Israel is in Gaza in the first place? I think so.
If you disagree, I can totally understand. But rather than issuing blind criticism of Israel, let me ask you: what should Israel do to stop the rockets? Constructive criticism and ideas would be great.
Shalom, Peace, Salaam.