By MARTIN SHERMAN
Denying—or delaying—the inevitable does not make it any less inevitable, only more costly
To remain at peace when you should be going to war may be often very dangerous….Let us attack and subdue…that we may ourselves live safely for the future. – Thucydides (c. 460–395 BCE)
No government, if it regards war as inevitable, even if it does not want it, would be so foolish as to wait for the moment which is most convenient for the enemy .– Otto von Bismarck (1815–1890)
If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against – Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
This week, Gaza was once again simmering on the brink of largescale military conflict, the fourth in just under a decade.
Yet, even as the specter of recurring tragedy looms ever closer, the discourse (even—indeed especially—in Israel) on how to avoid “another round of violence” remained mired in a rehashed potpourri of previously disproven formulae—which ranged from the patently puerile to the positively preposterous; and from the blatantly inane to the borderline insane.
They are all doomed to fail—just as they did in the past. Indeed, even if the current efforts to sustain the current fragile calm succeed, it is only a matter of time until the inherent volatility reasserts itself and erupts once again. And again. And again.
Misunderstanding Palestinian pathology
Last week, I referred to a 2016 article in “Commentary”, by Prof. Michael Mandelbaum, of Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, entitled, The Peace Process is an Obstacle to Peace. In it, the author attributes the failure of the effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to“…an inadequate understanding of the pathology it attempted to cure…[Accordingly], it did not solve the problem it was intended to fix, and it sometimes made it substantially worse.”
This is precisely the syndrome that we are witnessing right now.
None of the prescribed remedies address effectively the underlying causes of the malaise, which are being mistakenly imputed, by misinterpreting its symptoms.
Worse! What we are seeing is more than a mere misdiagnosis. It is nothing less than an utter reversal of causality; a complete inversion of cause and effect.
This is particularly disturbing when it comes from within much of the Israeli leadership. For although, overall, there is little disagreement that Hamas, and its even more radical Islamist offshoots, are responsible for the current outburst of violence, the dominant theme advanced for restoring and maintaining calm is through the improvement of the humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
This is a grave error! For, it is—demonstrably—both untrue factually and detrimental strategically.
Indeed, to base any policy initiative on such a tenet would, to paraphrase Mandelbaum, reflect a hopelessly “inadequate understanding of Palestinian pathology”. Accordingly, it would “not solve the problem it was intended to fix”, but, in all likelihood, will make “it substantially worse.”
Complicit with the enemy
To attribute the hostility toward Israel to the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza plays directly into the hands of Israel’s detractors. Indeed, it is, in effect, to be complicit with the enemy—endorsing its mendacious and malevolent narrative.
After all, it necessarily implies that if only Israel would somehow initiate/facilitate an improvement in Gaza’s living conditions, the violence would subside. This not only reinforces the false claims that Palestinian terrorism is driven by Israeli-induced economic privation, but also that Israel bears the responsibility for such terror, which is, therefore, no more than an understandable reaction to hardship and despair, externally imposed by an alien power.
But this, as mentioned previously, is a malicious inversion of causality.
For, the penury in Gaza is not the cause of Arab enmity towards the Jewish state. Quite the opposite! It is Arab enmity towards the Jewish state that is the cause of penury in Gaza.
The current conditions in Gaza are the result of neither a lack of international humanitarian aid, nor of Israeli largesse. Gaza has enjoyed an abundance of both, only to squander them on efforts to harm Israel by diverting massive resources to the construction of a vast military infrastructure with which to assault the Jewish state.
Indeed, for anyone with even a smidgeon of familiarity with Israeli society and its basic impulses, must know that, had there been any genuine desire for peaceful coexistence with its Jewish neighbors, Gaza would have flourished. Israeli enterprise and expertise, which transformed Israel from a struggling agricultural-based country to a super-charged post-industrial powerhouse in a few decades, would have flooded into the enclave, providing opportunity and employment for its impoverished residents.
Gaza: “Cutting its nose to spite its face”
So, in effect, the only thing that the Gazans need to do to extricate themselves from their current predicament is…nothing! All they need to do is stop what they are doing now—attacking Israel. Indeed, the only thing that needs to happen for Gaza to thrive is for them to convincingly foreswear hostility and embrace peaceful coexistence with Israel.
But of course, that will not happen! For that is not in the nature of the Gazan populace, who overwhelmingly (70%) endorse a return to armed intifada and who prefer “armed resistance” by a factor of two to one over “nonviolent resistance” or “negotiations”.
Nothing could symbolize the Gazan’s willingness to “cut one’s nose to spite one’s face” better than the destruction of the hi-tech greenhouses left behind by the Jewish farmers in the 2005 Disengagement. Rather than operate them for their own benefit, a frenzied mob trampled them into mangled ruin the moment the IDF left the area.
It should therefore be clear that the priorities of the Gazan people, as a collective, are not to improve their socio-economic lot, but to inflict harm on the Jewish state, whose sovereign existence they obdurately refuse to accept—except as a temporary tactic to allow them to enhance their offensive capabilities to pursue a later endeavor to destroy it.
In this equation of enmity, resolving the conflict has nothing to do with what the Jewish state does (or does not do). It has everything to do with what the Palestinian-Arabs are—and what they are not!
Greatly enhanced military capabilities
Of course, the Gazans have shown considerable initiative, innovation and ingenuity—none of which has been directed towards developing socio-economic realities in the enclave.
If one surveys the enhancement of Gaza’s military capabilities since Israel withdrew in 2005, it is impressive indeed. In fact, had such progress been envisaged before the pullout, it is doubtful whether it would have been undertaken at all!
After all, back then, the most formidable weapon the terror organizations had at their disposal was a primitive rocket with a 5 kg explosive charge and 5 km range. Today, not only do they have an arsenal of missiles with a range of 100 km (possibly more) and a warhead of 100 kg (possibly more), but in December 2016, Hamas Political Bureau Member, Fathi Hammad, proudly informed Al Aksa TV: “If you look into the missile or weapon industries of developed countries, you will find that Gaza has become the leading manufacturer of missiles among Arab countries…”
To this must be added the huge investment in the maze of underground terror tunnels (the last one discovered reaching almost a kilometer into pre-1967 Israel), the development of naval forces and of drone capabilities.
Significantly, after each round of fighting, despite the heavy damage inflicted by the IDF, the Gazan-based terror groups have ypically emerged with vastly enhanced military capabilities and political standing.
Soon drones with biological/chemical payload??
They have shown that they can transform everyday children’s playthings, such as kites, into instruments of extensive destruction, and forced Israel to develop hugely expensive defenses (such as Iron-Dome interceptors) to deal will risibly cheap weapons of attack (such as mortar shells).
Indeed, it is hardly beyond the limits of plausibility that Israel might soon have to face incoming missiles with multiple warheads, which disperse just before being intercepted, greatly challenging its missile defense capabilities. Or the development of some kind of anti-aircraft capabilities that could restrict—or at least hamper—Israel’s present unlimited freedom of action over the skies of Gaza.
Or worse, will Israel have to contend with the specter of a swarm of drones, armed with biological or chemical payloads, directed at nearby Israeli communities—rendering the billion dollar anti-tunnel barrier entirely moot? For those who might dismiss this as implausible scaremongering – see here, here, and here.
Israel’s decade long policy of ceasing fire whenever the other side ceases fire has allowed Hamas, and its terror affiliates, to launch repeated rounds of aggression, determining not only when they are launched and when they end, but also largely controlling the cost incurred for such aggression –ensuring it remains within the range of the “acceptable”.
This is clearly a recipe of unending and escalating violence—and must be abandoned before it culminates in unintended, but inevitable, tragedy.
Over 180 cases of attempted murder
Earlier this week, over 180 rockets and mortar shells were launched at Israeli civilian targets in a 24 hours period.
Each one of those projectiles was intended to take the lives of innocent Israeli civilians. As such, each launch was a clear case of attempted murder—and Israel should relate to them with commensurate severity. Poor aim on the part of the would-be murderers can—and should—not be a mitigating factor. The fact that, fortunately, no Israeli lives were lost is hardly the point here. Indeed, in the case of a shell landing in a kindergarten, terrible tragedy was averted only by happenstance—and a few minutes.
Persisting with the same policy as in the past will produce precisely the same results it produced in the past: Continued attempts at mass murder!
After all, there is not a shred of evidence that the Palestinian-Arabs will morph into anything that they have not been for over a hundred years, nor that they are likely to do so within any foreseeable time horizon. Indeed, as time progresses, such an outcome seems increasingly remote.
Accordingly, any policy paradigm based on the assumption that, somehow, they can be coaxed or coerced into doing just that, is hopelessly fanciful and fraught with grave perils.
Gaza: The “simple” solution
To formulate an effective policy regarding Gaza, we need to understand the pathology of what we are attempting to address. The source of the conflict is the physical presence of a large, implacably hostile Arab population on Israel’s southern border. Simple logic therefore dictates that to remove the source of conflict, that hostile population must be removed.
Israel will not be able to indefinitely endure recurring bouts of fighting—whenever the enemy on the other side feels sufficiently bold to launch an attack or sufficiently desperate not to be able to refrain from one.
Accordingly, the solution for Gaza is not, and cannot be, its reconstruction, but its deconstruction and the generously funded humanitarian relocation and rehabilitation of the non-belligerent Gazans to third party countries, outside the “circle of violence”.
To achieve this, the IDF cannot content itself with periodic punitive sorties, followed by a limited interbellum, in which the enemy regroups, rearms and redeploys, ready for the next round. It must conquer the entire Gaza Strip, apprehend (otherwise dispose of) the current Gazan leadership, dismantle the current mechanism of governance and begin a vigorous program of incentivized emigration of the non-belligerent population.
This is the “simple” solution for Gaza—and the only durable one. Of course, to say that it is “simple” does not imply that it is “easy”. Indeed, the great difficulty it entails is rooted in its brutal simplicity of “Them or Us”.
Clearly, the fact that it is relatively easy to propose such a harsh policy prescription in the air-conditioned comfort of my study does not make it any less imperative or less inevitable.
After all, denying or delaying the inevitable does not make it any less inevitable, only more costly when it inevitably comes about.
Martin Sherman is the founder and executive director of the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies
@ Edgar G.:
Hi, Edgar
Considering the past history of the ‘Aza Pals, they probably would leave some “Shirley Termper” type in a home, plus Pallywood reporters with cameras rolling. There’s no nice way out of this, short of blockading the area, killing the reporters with potassium to the heart, buldozing the houses on top of them and accidentally setting it all aflame at nighttime; or the like. Israel would, of course, be instantly blamed and UNSC resolutions passed against it. Oh, yeah — shoot the witnesses, with AK-47s. The Italians will be watching these events closely, using Mob observers, no doubt, to see how they can get rid of their own 500,000-1,000,000 Arab interlopers.
Naw, forget it. As I said, Ted seems to have the best idea here — simply defund UNWRA — and, I might add, sanction those countries and individuals who try to stand in the gap. Give them all passports and send them to Sweden.
@ adamdalgliesh:
If you are right in your surmises, then it’s possible, but to me not probable.There’s a huge difference between the Serbian situation, aggravated by fake news, and Israel versus the Arabs, who for generations have openly been murdering and slaughtering.
I still can’t see that the US would turn completely against Israel so as to allow and take part in an embargo, thus leading to our destruction. We are their very treasured political soulmates and “hand-fasted” allies. (as the old Vikings used to say about marriage)
I didn’t write anything which would have offended you, not consciously, I have considerable respect for your views and posts. My apology was because of my own foolishness in stating clearly that the embargo discussion was made on a different page and article. I was a little embarrassed that although I’d read over preceding posts, I missed the vital few words in yours.
If that had been ms instead of you, he’d have pointed it out in about 250 well chosen words.
@ Edgar G.: Edgar–no need to apologize. You have never posted anything that offended me. I don’t even understand what it is that you posted that you think might have offended me.
I contunue to be more pessimistic than you about the results of Israel’s attempting to expel or even openly encourage the emigration of people as ameans of changing the ethnic composition of a country. The international media, the UN Security Council, and two international courts of justice have defined such policies, even when undertaken nonviolently, as a “war crime,” as a result of their alleged use by the Serbs in the Yugoslav wars of 1992-99. As a result, Israel would lose all public support, even from Jews, in the West, if it ever openly pursued such a policy. And I don’t think it could survive a complete loss of public support abroad.Israel would lose
@ Edgar G.:
Sorry Adam, I was unsure, but have rechecked and find that it was you who mentioned the embargo, and on this page, so profound apologies. But my views remain the same.
If we all agreed the same way on the same item we’d have no posting and answering, nor debate about interesting speculations. Again, apologies.
@ adamdalgliesh:
Adam, I did not expect that there would be a complete break with the US. I don’t believe that the US would ever allow Israel to “go down”. An embargo was mentioned -on a different article (and I think it projected US support)- and I suggested that even if the US did join in, Israel had made sufficient major connections with other great powers, who might be able to help out. Also that Israel’s intellectual and devious methods would contribute. In saying this, I was thinking about the variety of subterfuges that Jewish, and some non-Jewish allies concocted to supply the newly formed State of Israel in 1948-9. I also recall saying that Israel, even half -armed, could deal with any Arabs.
I even believe that some European States would chip in, as the discontent in the EU with the EU, is daily growing, and many countries are finding an affinity with Israel that they want to mature into something greater.
@ Michael S:
Yes I also expect that the Arabs will still be in Gaza in a year, because my recommendation will not even be looked at. I have no influence in “high places”. You are wrong in one point about my post. I did NOT envision that Israel would “bomb the “Palestinians” (so-called) out of their homes”. I’m surprised that you assume this in the face of my plainly visible … ” Ample warning that THIS IS IT, should be given” and then the rolling barrage begun. The Arabs might defy Israeli warnings because of Hamas threats, but the beginning of the barrage much heavier than anything they ever experienced before, will quickly break their ardour.
I don’t suppose that you believe yourself, that Arabs would stay in their homes to be blasted to building mixture. Their homes would be EMPTY, and they would be moving south in advance. There is NO WAY that the Egyptian Army would shoot down unarmed and non-threatening civilians fleeing for their lives. They would open the gates and allow them into safety, expecting that they would eventually filter back to Gaza. To do otherwise would be a historic scandal that they would never live down, and the anarchic street would pull down the govt.
@ Edgar G.:Edgar, I agree heartily with you that Israel should not give the Palestinians” humanitarian” aid, since they abuse it and have no interet in peace. I also agree that Turkey is one of our main enemies. I am less confident than you that Israel could survive a complete break with the United States and western Europe, which would probably happen in the (extremely unlikely) event that Israel ever acted on Dr. Sherman’s expulsion scenario.An eviction of the Palestinian Arabs is completely anathema to Western public opinion.
@ Edgar G.:
Hi, Edgar.
I live in a US Pacific Coast state; so I have just gotten up to a new day (the sunny part of Shabbos). I’m sorry, for leaving you wondering in my latest post to you; but you seem to have pieced it together well enough. You had said,
“Giving the maximum warning that THIS IS IT… begin a rolling artillery, or carpet bombing fire, beginning at North Gaza,and flatten everything, all the way down to the Sinai border. The people will have ample time to prepare and move to Sinai. Never allow those people back in again. Push the rubble into the sea, creating divers’ paradise, and tourist attractions, plus extra land that can be used by the returning Jews. The Arabs can disperse throughout Egypt, which is where they came from originally,”
and I said,
“IMHO, Edgar, it won’t happen.”
What “won’t happen”, is Israel laying down a nonstop artillery barrage, carpet bombing, what have you, and squeezing the Pals out of Gaza and into Egypt like so much toothpaste out of a tube. I went on in a later post, to say that
“Egypt will not allow the Pals to migrate en masse into Sinai (even with carpet bombing on their tails),”
That is what I said, and you seem to have understand it, though I can’t be sure. You went on here, to say,
“To stop them rushing into the Sinai, close to the border outlet, they’d have to shoot them down, and they would not do that.”
You seem to be saying here, that the Egyptians would not dare to shoot at the fleeing Pals; yet you think the Israelis should bomb them out of their homes. You seem to be equating the Egyptians, morally, with the Italians, Greeks and Germans, who are letting hostile Arabs flow throught their border crossings like water through a sieve. This is a moot point, because I do not believe it will ever come to this: The Israelis will not put the squeeze that you suggest on the Pals. The Israeli Jews are simply too nice, and the Arabs know it.
Therefore, I believe both of us understand what the other is saying. If what I said is true, and I am reasonably sure that it is, a year from now the Pals will still be in Gaza.
Of all the contributors here, Ted Belman seems to have indicated the best solution: The US should stop funding UNWRA. That would certainly cause the Arabs of Gaza to pack their bags and flee to Sweden — certainly, that is, unless the Germans or Canadians or Saudis or someone do not stand in the gap financially. They might do that for a while, but not forever. Even Erdogan might throw some worthless lira after the worthless cause; but ultimately, I think they will abandon the Palestinian leeches if the US does not prop them up.
That MIGHT work; but I’m afraid that even if Trump and Congress cut off aid to UNWRA completely cut off aid to the buggers, and even if our European “allies” don’t work overtime to thwart us, enough Americans would heed the cry of the Pallywood Propaganda Productions to restore the money; and if we don;t restore it, the Israeli Jews themselves will; because they seem to be softer in the head than even the Americans.
The bottom line is, “Expect the Pals to still be in Gaza a year from now, two years from now, and so forth, until an earthquaking change happens in the world. I believe such a change will happen; and I think it will have something to do with Turkey, Iran and allies militarily attacking Israel Just how that will unfold, I don’t know.
@ Ted Belman: I see no sign that the left is losing its power, Ted. They control the courts, the government’s unelected and unremovable bureaucracy, the military, the press, including the government-funded press, and the cultural establishment. For my recommendations as to how to orchestrate their nonviolent overthrow, see my reply to Dr. Sherman. As for Trump, while he has somehow managed to do some good for Israel, he is being thwarted at every turn by the “deep state,” including his own appointees, and by the press and celebrities, who incessantly incite his assassination. He refuses to take care of his health, exercise, improve his diet, etc., which makes it unlikely he willbe able to withstand the physical pressures of his office even if his enemies do not succeed in killing him or forcing his resignation. As a result, the improvements in America’s Mideast policies that he has somehow succeeded in pushing through are likely to soon be replaced by the “same old jazz” that been playing in Foggy Bottom sine 1945.
@ ms: Thanks for your reply, Dr. Sherman. I have wanted this dialogue with you for some time. The way to oust the current elites would be to a) relentlessly expose, in great detail, the personal identities of the troublemakers, and above all, the institutional mechanisms,little-known unelected governmental committees, laws, accepted governmental practices (even in some cases illegal), that they employ to maintain their power and to disenfranchise the knesset and cabinet. The next steps could include forming a political party devoted to advancing this agenda, or better still, taking over an existing one and refocing it to relentlessly advance this agenda; organizingmassive demonstrations outside the offices and private homes of the troublemakers, and monkey-wrench-throwers, complete with passionate oratory; similar demonstrations in the diaspora of known ilraeli emigres who engage in antistatic “law fare” and propaganda; civil disobedience, such as holding unauthorized demonstrations and blocking traffic, especially after arranging for sympathetic journalists (the Jewish press? Arutz Sheva? The Bedeins?) to cover these demonstrations and surruptiously videorecord them for broadcast; proposing and and then pushing through changes in the Basic Laws to enable the Knesset and/or cabinet heads to remove judges, prosecutors, government lawyers, civil servants, and high-ranking military officers who have been sabotaging Israel’s national defense efforts and disenfranchising the electorate. This agenda will attract sufficient public support to eventually enact these changes, because if there is anything that can arouse the somewhat cynical and war-weary Israeli public, it is learning that they have been disenfranchised by semi-hidden conspirators who have made them “friers.” Your present advocacy campaign is ineffective because the Israeli public, while most probably agree with you in private, believe as I do that it is impractical given “diplomatic realities.” Once they know just how Israel’s domestic political realities are an even more powerful reason for the appeasement policy, they will be angered enough to force a domestic political revolution. That, in turn, will empower the government to confront our external enemies as well as our false “friends” abroad, and to inform the international public of the true character of Israel’s enemies, and the true nature of the threats we face and need to overcome, by both military force and economic sanctions. There is obviously much , much more that needs to be said to elaborate this program in detail and answer pertinet questions such as the ones you have just asked. I must somehow find the time and energy (I am old and burdened with many health issues) to write the necessary articles for publication. Thanks again for your attention and interest, Dr. Sherman.
@ Michael S:
To stop them rushing into the Sinai, close to the border outlet, they’d havr to shoot them down, and they would not do that.@ Michael S:
I specifically mentioned Erdogan’s ambitions. Perhaps this is one of the scenarios you say won’t happen. But no, I realise that if this were so, you would not be cautioning against him. So it must be the others.
@ Michael S:
To stop them rushing into the Sinai, close to the border outlet, they’d havr to shoot them down, and they would not do that.
@ Michael S:
What won’t happen?? I mention more than one scenario……
@ ms:
ms
I’ve seen this problem before on Israpundit: lots of complaining, but no workable solutions. I am very confident that a year from now, Gaza will still be Pal territory, Egypt will not allow the Pals to migrate en masse into Sinai (even with carpet bombing on their tails), Jordan will either still be under an obstructionist monarch or in a state of chaos — either way, in no mood to accept a flood of Pal migrants, and Israel will still be ruled by a three-way tug of war between Left, Right and Religious.
I agree with Ted, that the next moves of importance in the region will come from President Trump. I also am pretty excited about the possibility of real progress in the Korea talks. If The Donald has a success there, it will pull the carpet from under the Iranians, and get a whole new chemistry happening in the ME. This would take some time to really unfold, just as the results of the Rejkyavik summit took some time to materialize; but it has the prospect of setting huge wheels in motion that cannot be stopped.
Russia has also been making some interesting moves. I’ll withhold comment on them, though — just waiting and watching to see what will happen.
Keep your eye on Turkey. Erdogan can do the craziest things, at the drop of a hat.
@ Edgar G.:
IMHO, Edgar, it won’t happen.
@ adamdalgliesh:You incessantly call for the replacement of today’s unelected civil society elites (” unelected lawyers, civil servants and military officers who are leftists and highly sympathetic to the enemy”) . While I might agree, you never advance any operational formula as how this should be accomplished
What you seemingly fail to grasp that the only way to oust them is to promote an alternative agenda–particularly on the Palestinian issue, which is the “flagship” element in their leftist agenda. Indeed, nothing could undermine their hold on power more than refuting and replacing their current credo on this matter
Moreover, are you suggesting that NO policy prescription be advanced on the Palestinian issue?? And if you are not – what “practical” alternative do you suggest???
And if the leftist elites are eventually replaced by some unspecified process, will the incentivized emigration of Palestinian Arab then become more palatable to the international community??
The whole point of keeping the discussion of this prescription alive is to eventually force its consideration as a legitimate policy option.
@ Ted Belman:
Not really a different solution – but a specific application of my proposed general principle to given location.
While I have no objection to Jordan as a relocation/rehabilitation destination for the Palestinian Arabs in Gaza and Judea-Samaria, I am not sure I see the value in restricting potential destination to one country
@ adamdalgliesh:
The strict arms embargo would have to be enacted and totally supported by the US, and I just can’t see that happening. Besides, Israel has broadened it’s trading partners to take in other countries who could and likely would supply arms despite an embargo. And Jewish subterfuge and intelligence would work something out. Israel, even half armed, would wipe up any Arab challenge.
And again, I am totally against enticing these barbarians with money which should be spent on our poor, besides, it would give the terrorist entity a “moral” victory…if such creatures could be mentioned in the same sentence as “moral”. They and their sycophantic EU trash would revel as if they’d won the lottery. In this matter the big problem would be Turkey, which has a good and large army, good weaponry and a fanatically Islamist leader with large ambitions.
@ adamdalgliesh:
The left in Israel is losing its power. Slowly but surely the right is asserting itself. You are much too pessimistic for me. Especially with Trump in power. He is quite prepared to take on the stablishment, both domestically or internationally.
As usual, Dr. Sherman’s analysis of the problem is absolutely accurate. But also as usual, his solution is totally unrealistic, and has no chance whatever of being implemented. Two problems make it impossible: Israel’s defacto government is dominated by unelected lawyers, civil servants and military officers who are leftists and highly sympathetic to the enemy. They will never countenance anything even remotely resembling the policies recommended by Dr. Sherman. As Carolyn Glick has now repeatedly pointed out, only the ouster of this unelected ruling establishment and the restoration of sovereignty to the Knesset and Cabinet offers any hope of ending the government’s long-standing appeasement and collaborationist policies. This will to be sure be an extraordinarily difficult task. But it is still the only task that offers a way forward. b) the entire international community is absolutely opposed to any displacement of the Palestinians, and would impose, at the very least, a strict arms embargo harsh economic sanctions and complete diplomatic isolation if Israel attempted anything remotely like what Dr. Sherman proposes. It is deeply dismaying that Dr. Sherman constantly repeats his brilliantly accurate analyses of the nature of Israel’s illness, while at the same time repeatedly proposing only a quack’s treatment for it.
@ greenrobot:
You’ve hit on exactly that which gives me the gripe…( maybe the double-gripe-if there is such a thing) time after time. I complained about it vehemently in the past, which only resulted in a series of acrimonious exchanges with the writer, which eventually eased off.
The Arabs are interlopers, squatters, devious criminals, low-mentality barbarians and terrorists, in an eternal War against the Jews….and much more. They deserve nothing from the Jews, except what they have given the Jews for centuries until this day.
Of course Martin is right but I have a different solution. Of the 1.6 million residents of Gaza, 1.3 million are registered with UNRWA. It provides them with education, healthcare and social security. Trump is well on the way to cutting off their funding thereby killing the organization. If Jordan aggrees to provide the same services at a lower cost, Trump will be encouraged to cut off the funding entirely and tell the refugees to emigrate to Jordan which is only 100 miles away .
It is exhausting to glean the message from the writings of Dr. Sherman. While I agree with the entire message, can it be written in a direct way instead of with lines like this “None of the prescribed remedies address effectively the underlying causes of the malaise, which are being mistakenly imputed, by misinterpreting its symptoms.” Demonstrating mastery of the language is great , and it distracts from the message. I get the impression that you get from a college essay that has a minimum word requirement.
Martin Sherman is absolutely right. Only transfer of rats will bring peace.
Cruise ships off the coast of Gaza. Voluntarily board and get off in Libya, Turkey, Tunsia or Algeria.
This does NOT include terrorists who will need to be dealt with.
Is this happening now. No obviously. Does it need to happen as Martin says the cost is less sooner than later if they obtain lethal weapons of a nature they do not currently posses.
@ Scott S:
What took Martin 40 paragraphs to say, (although correct in almost every way) brought him to the same conclusion that I produced in my living room, on my laptop, with no air conditioning at all. I posted it-for about the 15th time, the day before yesterday. It’s about 4-5-6 lines long. to Let me paraphrase with perhaps a little expansion. for post clearance possibilities..
Giving the maximum warning that THIS IS IT… begin a rolling artillery, or carpet bombing fire, beginning at North Gaza,and flatten everything, all the way down to the Sinai border. The people will have ample time to prepare and move to Sinai. Never allow those people back in again. Push the rubble into the sea, creating divers’ paradise, and tourist attractions, plus extra land that can be used by the returning Jews. The Arabs can disperse throughout Egypt, which is where they came from originally,
Game, Set and Match. No payments, unless Israel again wants to throw away hard earned money that should be given to Israel’s poor. Permanent solution in 6 lines.
As for the “International Community”, you can tell them that the constant rocketing caused temporary derangement and they grew a backbone. The Goyim hate us anyway, just like the Arabs although in more sophisticated terms. It doesn’t matter.
As I’ve pointed out on another occasion Thucydides’ quote does not give his own opinion, but rather purports to quote from Pericles, the Athenian leader who led Athens into the Peloponesian War. Modern historian believe that the quotation from Pericles is not word for word, but Thucydides did paraphrase Pericles opinion. However, Pericles proved completely wrong in his assessment of the desireability of war for Athens. The Peloponnesian war went on for twenty-seven years, and resulted in the destruction of Athens and nearly all the other Greek city states.
As for Bismarck, his aggressive wars paved the way for German aggression on a much wider scale in World Wars I and II, with terrible consequences for all of Europe, including Germany, and of course total disaster for the Jewish people. Neither Pericles nor Bismarck should be cited as providing guidance for Israel.
Dr. Sherman is correct. But the simple as he states isn’t easy.
The world will fight Israel tooth and nail if they try to displace their Arab population, but it IS the only solution.
Buy them out and escort them out. It’s the ONLY way.