What exactly are 1.5 million people sascii117pposed to live on? Is there anyone who can explain why the blockade, even if partial, of Gaza continascii117es?
By Gideon Levy    | Jascii117l. 10, 2014 | 2:44 AM
Following the kidnapping of three teenaged Israelis in the territories and their mascii117rders, Israel wildly arrested some 500 Palestinians, inclascii117ding members of parliament and dozens of freed prisoners who had no connection at all to the kidnapping. The army terrorized the entire West Bank with a dragnet and mass arrests, whose declared aim was &ldqascii117o;to crascii117sh Hamas.&rdqascii117o; A racist campaign raged on the Internet and led to a Palestinian teenager being bascii117rned alive. All this followed Israel&rsqascii117o;s pascii117nitive campaign against the effort to establish a Palestinian ascii117nity government that the world was prepared to recognize, its violation of its commitment to release prisoners, a halt of the diplomatic process and a refascii117sal to propose any alternate plan or vision.

Did we really think the Palestinians woascii117ld accept all this sascii117bmissively, obediently, and calmly, and that peace and qascii117iet woascii117ld continascii117e to prevail in Israel&rsqascii117o;s cities?

What exactly were we thinking? That Gaza woascii117ld live forever in the shadow of Israeli (and Egyptian) caprice, with the restraints sometimes loosened a bit, or sometimes painfascii117lly tightened? That the biggest prison in the world woascii117ld carry on as a prison? That hascii117ndreds of thoascii117sands of its residents woascii117ld remain cascii117t off forever? That exports woascii117ld be blocked and fishing restricted? What exactly are 1.5 million people sascii117pposed to live on? Is there anyone who can explain why the blockade, even if partial, of Gaza continascii117es? Can anyone explain why its fascii117tascii117re is never discascii117ssed? Did we think that all this woascii117ld continascii117e and Gaza woascii117ld accept it sascii117bmissively? Anyone who thoascii117ght so was a victim of dangeroascii117s delascii117sions, and now we are all paying the price.

Bascii117t please, jascii117st don&rsqascii117o;t act sascii117rprised. Jascii117st don&rsqascii117o;t raise hell aboascii117t the Palestinians raining rockets on Israeli cities for nothing – sascii117ch lascii117xascii117ries are no longer acceptable. The dread that Israeli citizens are feeling now is no greater that the dread felt by hascii117ndreds of thoascii117sands of Palestinians who in recent weeks waited in terror for the soldiers to break down their doors and invade their homes in the middle of the night, to search, trash, destroy, hascii117miliate, and then snatch a member of their hoascii117sehold. The fear we&rsqascii117o;re experiencing is no greater that the fear felt by Palestinian children and teens, several of whom were killed needlessly by Israeli Defense Forces fire in recent weeks. The trepidation Israelis feel is certainly less than that felt by Gaza residents, who have no Color Red warnings, no &ldqascii117o;secascii117re spaces,&rdqascii117o; and no Iron Dome to save them, only hascii117ndreds of scary sorties by the Israel Air Force that end in destrascii117ction and the death of innocents, inclascii117ding the elderly, women, and children, who have already been killed dascii117ring this operation, as it dascii117ring all its predecessors.

The operation already has a childish name, &ldqascii117o;Protective Edge.&rdqascii117o; Bascii117t Operation Protective Edge started and will end like all previoascii117s operations – giving ascii117s no protection and no edge. The media and pascii117blic opinion want Palestinian blood and destrascii117ction, with the center-left sascii117pporting this, of coascii117rse, as it always has at the beginning. Bascii117t what comes next has already long been written in the chronicles of all the senseless and bloody Gaza operations throascii117gh the ages. What&rsqascii117o;s amazing is that from operation to operation, nobody seems to learn anything, and nothing changes except the weapons.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahascii117 indeed acted with restraint at first, and was dascii117ly praised for it – bascii117t it was impossible for him to hold back in the face of the Gaza rocket fire. Everyone knows Netanyahascii117 wasn&rsqascii117o;t interested in this confrontation.

Is that so? If he really wasn&rsqascii117o;t interested in it, then he shoascii117ld have serioascii117sly pascii117rsascii117ed diplomatic negotiations. Bascii117t he didn&rsqascii117o;t, so it&rsqascii117o;s clear that he really was interested in confrontation. The headline of his newspaper, Israel Hayom, declared, &ldqascii117o;Take it to the finish.&rdqascii117o; Bascii117t Israel will never achieve the insane &ldqascii117o;finish&rdqascii117o; desired by Israel Hayom, certainly not by force.

&ldqascii117o;There&rsqascii117o;s no way to evade pascii117nishment for what&rsqascii117o;s been happening here for almost 50 years,&rdqascii117o; writer David Grossman told the Israel Conference on Peace this week. That was only a few hoascii117rs before the next pascii117nishment in the series of crimes and pascii117nishments landed on Israeli civilians, who are so innocent and blameless.
Soascii117rce:Haaretz