By Adam Dalgliesh
An Israeli-supervised port to supply Gaza is obviously a really nutty, self-destructive idea. Perhaps it will never happen if the Knesset (on mainly financial grounds) refuses to appropriate money for it. But the UN and EU may well implement the plan, with or without Israeli participation. The Israel government is crazy even to give these hostile powers the idea.
The best possible Israeli policy that is possible under present international conditions: A complete Israeli embargo on all goods originating in Israel from reaching Gaza, and a complete embargo on all Gazan products destined for Israel or transiting Israeli territory.
Banning some products with obvious and very destructive military military uses, such as cement, from entering Gaza from any source, even UN shipments. Allowing some UN food and medical shipments (without any direct Israeli contributions) to go through, but only after very careful and slow Israeli inspections. Refusal to rebuild border crossings destroyed by Hamas. Relentless bombings of all Hamas government buildings, identifiable weapons storage sites, identifiable missiles and and missile launching sites, kite and balloon launching sites, military command and control centers, military training camps, etc., even if these are located in civilian populated areas and cause civilian casualties, at least while attacks on Israel from Gaza continue. Refusal to allow any Israeli currency to be transmitted to Gaza under any circumstances
Possibly the construction of an Israel offensive tunnel network that will allow Israel to reach Hamas bunkers located under Gaza hospitals, and liquidate Hamas personnel who take refuge there in the event of future hostilities.
Not ideal solutions, but probably about the best that can be initiated now without triggering severe international sanctions against Israel . If Israel were ever to launch a long-term, adequately funded and intelligently conducted counter-propaganda campaign, more vigorous measures could be adopted in the future.
Looking on the bright side, even these very limited meaures might be enough to trigger a popular uprising against Hamas in Gaza. If that happens, Israeli secret emissaries might just be able to engineer an armed take-over by Gaza clans and tribes who possess weapons, hate Hamas for its taxation and other repressive measures against their members, and are relatively “apolitical” with respect to Israel. Such a clan and tribal based government could probably be persuaded to end all terror attacks on Israel, perhaps in return for covert Israeli arms shipments. Internal Arab public relations would make it impossible, however, to take a public stance in support of Israel or engage in open negotiations with it. That will have to be left to the future.
@ david melech:
Hey ..so you know Gerry Wilson, the Dr. Jazz guy…… That’s a real coincidence, because I know him very well, and am in very close touch with him. . I think he retired from public performances about….. . I’d say well over 20 years ago.The last time I saw The Medicine Men play was about in the mid 90s. He got fed up with the travelling around with overnight stays etc..
About the email suggestion that’s O.K> and thank you for the suggestion. I actually use Hotmail. . But in this particular case the message I wrote was on a form which was on Arutz, and that kind doesn’t seem to generate a copy on my computer. I looked. So I’m forgetting about it, and don’t expect to be writing to them maybe until next year or the year after if ever…. Not worth the trouble, since it’s censored. I’m not Politically Correct, and don’t want to be.
@ adamdalgliesh:
I know that Martin attaches great importance to it, and I totally agree with his goals, but in the little matter I mention he made a “boo-boo”. No doubt about it.
I think what he really MEANT to say was “…that IRRESPECTIVE of whether Gaza has a Port or not…” This was suggested to me by a friend with whom I correspond, and I believe he is correct.
As for your latest…. as I see, it will take SOME reading, ‘though it’s plainly laid out. It’s just to be able to pull the parts together for to make a coherent and rational comment.
@ Edgar G.:
If I may be so bold as to suggest? Write in something like word or other type of note pad, or even email. All these will save for you. Then you you copy (not cut) then paste, then send. I have mails going back 10-12years from characters who no longer exists e.g. well known musician Gerry Wilson? Their on file…
@ Edgar G.: Edgar,I think that Dr. Sherman attaches great importance to this “Port” idea because he sees it as an especially outrageous example of a trend in Israeli policy that he has been denouncing for some time–namely, that humanitarian aid to the Palestinians can help end the conflict. He thinks that the only acceptable “humanitarian solution” is to move the Palestinians out, and that any other humanitarian aid to them only gets in the way of this goal. Rightly or wrongly, that is his long-standing position. I don’t think there is any secret or esoteric meaning in his choice of language
By the way–I shall be very grateful to get your feedback on my latest column posted on Israpundit, concerning possible ways that Jews can help improve Israel’s image abroad, even without Israeli government help, and ways to pressure the IG into providing the much-needed support.
@ david melech:
No, I sent it through a message slot supplied by Arutz 7. It’s at the top left of some articles and says, I think, “comments”. Then a box opens to the Editor, all controlled by Arutz, so I have no copy of it. I got her letter “out of the blue” and not as an answer to something I emailed HER.
@ Edgar G.:
What did you write this through? If email then its in your outbox. How did you send it? So if she gave you horse manure in an email its still alive. Did she reply in a seperate, mail? Which means you emailed her so you do have a copy.
@ adamdalgliesh:
Thank you Adam for responding; I knew you would. All you say about ms is true, and not in question. …..I’M not concerned about “annoying” the great man.. he “annoys” me too ..sometimes, but it’s all in good fun. My point was that he’s just saying a very obvious thing that everybody knows, in two different, convoluted ways, both meaning the same trite/platitudinous nothing. But surely he, being who he is, wouldn’t say it unless ii was very relevant. So MY concern is that perhaps it really means something profound that I’ve stupidly missed. If so, I’d like it explained to me.
I don’t understand why it’s placed in such a HEADLINER position, indeed why it’s even there, especially as it has been said and repeated a dozen times recently by other writers. So it HAS to mean something…?? It bothers me that I don’t understand what…
And maybe I should have just ignored it and said nothing. but……
@ david melech:
Firstly Chit Chat is closed according to my trying it a couple of days ago. Secondly, I didn’t keep a copy of it so can’t properly reproduce it. But be assured that it was temeprate in tone, with not a single lewd word or connotation.
Edgar, somehow I didn’t want to mention Dr. Sherman by name in the article, because I was afraid it might annoy him. I am always annoying him by arguing with him. But I don’t enjoy doing that because he is both an excellent writer, a true Israeli patriot and a gentleman.
Of course I agree with him, and you, 1,000 per cent, that the terrorists do what they do because they want to. They hate Israel and Jews. There is no way they can be appeased. It is possible that their leaders might be terrified into surrendering to the Israelis, though, if they knew that they and members of their family would be killed if htey refuse to surrender. The top leadership are basically cowards, happy to sacrifice the lives of their deluded, brainwashed followers, but no their own or their children. That’s why they all send their own sons to study abroad.
If Israel were to target them, “without worrying too much about the collateral damage,” bu then let those who survived bombing attacks, tunnel raids, etc., to flee the country and take their families with them, they will certainly accept. Most likely, they will head to Europe, which deserves them and will have difficulty refusing to accept them–along with all the Syrians they are taking in. That will reduce the Arab population of Gaza somewhat, and at least bring about the evacuation of its most dangerous elements–paving the way, perhaps, for a gradual de facto implementation of Dr. Sherman’s “humanitarian solution.” I don’t believe that his “solution” can be implemented all at once, and certainly it can never be an admitted objective of Israeli policy, because that would be a public relations-propaganda disaster. But this “solution” might “evolve ” in time as a byproduct of the military measures that Israel will have no choice but to carry out, over a period of many years, to protect its people and territory from terrorist attacks. A major operation targeting the terrorist leaders in Gaza in the near future (if the Israeli public can shame or bully the government into ordering the IDF to undertake it) might be at least a beginning of this process.
@ Edgar G.:
So why not put your offending letter here, or in chit chat. Let joe public decide. No good complaining to the blind man.
Would you believ it…I just got a reprimanding email from Rochel Sylvetsky, whom you often see as translator on Arutz 7. She objected to the tone of a letter I sent the editor and decided not to give it to him…..Da puir laddie..his feelin’s might be hoited…and this brave girlie stands between him and all criticism .
She said the second one I sent was not as bad so she decided that she would send it. In other words she was following the example of the Supreme Court, setting herself up as Judge and jury……. over free speech…
You can all guess EXACTLY to a letter, what I replied to her….. ?? She’ll get over it.
Perhaps Adam, you can explain this to me…Maybe I’m getting soft-headed…because something is not making sense to me, i think I already it posted here, without response. I’m sure you’ll explain..
In Arutz, you will see Martin Sherman’s article about the supposed Gaza Port. The very first headliner goes like this, paraphrased..
“Gaza terrorists are not making tunnels, flying fire kites and shooting rockets, because they have no port. They are doing it in spite of the fact that they have no port”.
To me both are the same point; that Gaza has no port., and an inference that the terrorists are doing their wicked work because they want to. This always has been self-evident.
Is it supposed to mean something..?.. He obviously attaches great importance to it because it’s his opening explanatory Headline.
As usual another good article from Adam Dalgliesh. A port for the terrorists is too crazy to even bother thinking about, and should get Lieberman a severe reprimand from the Security Committee. It also should lose him votes in the next election..
In this too-short account, the writer brought out a suggestion which, with all my fertile imagination was new to me.,, That Israel should make it’s own attack tunnel, to the core of Hamas’ bunker complex and nab the sheltering leaders there.
(they could go further and drench the whole area with sleeping gas,and fan out to destroy already marked depots, training camps, etc). In fact a complete take-over invasion could be conducted through say 3-4 of these.
Except they don’t want to.
It’s so obvious that naturally none of us had thought of it, least of all the IDF “machers”. If they have, it never leaked through to us, at least, to me. I’m not that bright anyway.
I HAD thought of entering their tunnels from the Israel side , and the training of our own “tunnel rats” many years ago, even before the nebuchil Shalit was netted -though this may just be an imaginary projection of my thoughts.
(Then forgot about it-until just now.).. I used to imagine myself as a tunnel rat making my way along the most dangerous strip in the world. expecting the unexpected erratic sudden or slow lingering death every second.. Even dreamed about it a few times. My recollection is that I didn’t like it.
The Vietnam sort, just big enough to take a human body, able to contort myself like Houdini. Not the Grande Hotel kind of Hamas,