The longer vision

Submitted by Rebecca Moulds (United States), Jul 23, 2008 at 08:50

Every victory for Hamas is a not a total defeat for Israel, but it does throw a spanner in the works, whether by prisoner-for-corpses exchanges, or by rockets fired onto its territory. The repercussions may not be apparent or obvious at the outset, but in the long run any incident of a violent nature that prolongs the agony or interferes with the stability of Israel can't be counted as negligible or ignored.

The history of Israel is such that it always had and always will have enemies surrounding it (read the Psalms of David) but the way it deals with these enemies in the 21st Century may be the key to undermining them. If getting close-up and personal isn't the way to go, then the blatant media coverage of devastated families will have to change. However, that doesn't change the fact that Israel is doing something terribly wrong in its approach to destroy her enemies. There is no secret formula for peace; there are only the trials and errors of the powers in charge, and perhaps it's those powers that need to be changed.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".