Gaza

So now the dust is beginning to settle and we can start to assess the results of the war in Gaza. This post offers a collection of perspectives and thoughts about that.

The video above was made by the Libi fund which helps support IDF soldiers.

From the traditional media we have:

NY Times: Obama Sends Special Envoy to Mideast and Europe

CNN: Week-old Gaza cease-fire is breached

WAPO: Obama Voices Hope for Mideast Peace in Talk With Al-Arabiya TV

Fox: The Smuggling Tunnels are Open for Business!

AFP: Shalit should not be part of Gaza truce deal: Hamas

The Spectator: A British soldier’s view of Operation Cast Lead

The Spectator: The ugly face of bigoted Britain

Financial Times: Saudi warning (is it rude to say Bite Me Limey)

The Australian: Israeli troops were told to kill themselves to avoid capture

YNET: Carter: Hamas can be trusted

YNET: Time to take responsibility

JPost: EU official: Hamas responsible for Gaza

JPost: Israel hits back at war crimes charges

JPost: Caroline Glick Our World: Defending freedom’s defenders

Haaretz: ANALYSIS / Recognizing that Israel’s effort to topple Hamas has failed

Haaretz: Summit on Holocaust: Gaza war legitimized equating Jews with Nazis

Haaretz: Egypt to Hamas: Take Gaza truce before Netanyahu is voted PM

Commentary: A Gaza Post-Mortem

Commentary: Michael Totten writes The Mood in Israel Now

From the blogosphere:

Seraphic Secret shared And the Ladies of Gaza. The FP has How badly did Gaza poison the well?

At Solomonia you should read A Pragmatic Voice and Video: War Protests or Pro-Hamas Hate Rallies?.

Weasel Zippers Red Crescent Says Hamas, not Israel Prevented Their Ambulances From Picking up Wounded Gazans….

Gateway Pundit shared Pro-Hamas Thugs Attack Pro-Israel Protest in Sweden with Eggs, Rocks, Bottles & Tear Gas Grenades.

At the Augean Stables take a look at HRW and Israel: Ken Roth vs. Gerald Steinberg and Jenin Redux: Casualty Figures Reconsidered.

Daled Amos blogged Europe May Finally Catching On To Hamas and Sharansky: Neither Hamas Nor PA Can Be In Charge Of Rebuilding Gaza.

EOZ offers World press ignores Hamas’ media intimidation. I covered Saudi Arabian Hypocrisy.

At Yourish Jimmy Carter: Stooping to new [moronic] lows. Yaacov Lozowick shared So What was Achieved?

Soccer Dad discussed Israel’s legitimacy is debatable; hamas’s is not. At Adloyada read UK govt minister claims Israel cowed BBC into turning down Gaza appeal.

Mere Rhetoric blogged Palestinians Blow The Lid Off Cover Up Of Glorious Hamas Victory and UN Chief: Yeah, I Guess It Sucks That We’ve Been Helping Hamas Shell Israeli Civilians For Eight Years.

Check out Joshuapundit’s ’60 Minutes’ Libels Jews And Israel.

That is all for now folks. Stay tuned for a resumption of light hearted posts about college life, raising kids and assorted odds and ends.

There is so much that could and should be said about the situation in Gaza and the hypocrisy exhibited by so many. We could go round and round in circles about the nonsense. We could ask why those who protest the war are not protesting the brutal treament of Palestinians by Palestinians, but what fun would that be.

Instead we’ll share a collection of links that you might find to be of interest:

CNN: Palestinians: 1,300 killed, 22,000 buildings destroyed in Gaza (What this story doesn’t say is how many of those who were killed were terrorists and how many buildings housed weapons or were used as launching pads.

It also doesn’t talk about how Egypt turned a blind eye while allowing tons of weapons to be smuggled into Gaza.

WSJ: Israel Scored a Tactical Victory

Telegraph: Analysis: Hamas did not win conflict but did Israel? (Good questions here. It remains to be seen.)

JPost:‘Hamas torturing Fatah members in Gaza’ (You just had your ass kicked up and down the street, so what do you do. Oh, I know, let’s go terrorize other Palestinians and see if it makes us feel better.)

JPost: Iran renews efforts to supply weaponry to bruised Hamas (Will the world just watch as the leader fomenters of terror continue to try and wreak havoc. My guess is the answer will be yes.)

And now for some blog posts to review:

Mere Rhetoric: Opps! Al Arabiya Accidentally Airs Description Of Hamas Firing Rockets From Al Arabiya’s Own Studio

Yourish: More threats, lies from Saudis

Seraphic Secret: Chaos

Solomonia: Hamas children’s propaganda film reinforces illusion of war victory

Forgive me for using an antiwar lyric for a war I supported, it just seemed fitting. Fitting because like so many others I have been trying to determine what was accomplished. What sort of benefits have been derived by three weeks or so of bloodshed.

We can start with the obvious and ask if Israel was truly able to stop the rockets and re-establish some deterrence. Have they put the fear of God into Hamas and made them rethink their positions on little things like not recognizing the state. Was Gilad Shalit rescued and returned from what Seraphic Secret rightfully calls cruel captivity.

There is an obvious answer to the question of what happened to Gilad. The answer is that he has not yet been rescued and that there have been reports that he was killed by Israeli artillery fire. Until proven otherwise I refuse to accept this as anything more than Hamas propaganda designed and intended to demoralize.

But I will again add my voice to the chorus of those who find it unacceptable that he is still in captivity.

As for whether deterrence has been established, well that is a question that we can’t answer overnight. I tend to adopt a similar position to Yaacov Lozowick who says

“Now we’ve got to wait till the morning after the morning after (I liked Thomas Friedman’s formulation) to see if Hamas has reached a stage similar to the one Hezbullah reached the morning after their morning after their “victory” in 2006. If this morning’s rockets cause no casualties and cease by the afternoon, not to be renewed for years, that’s fine. If they continue, however, even if only in a drizzle, we have to keep on hitting, inaugural parties in Washington or not.”

He is correct. If the rockets continue Israel needs to resume pounding them.

Back on the topic of identifying accomplishments from the war it is also clear that the war provided antisemites from around the world with another excuse to commit barbaric and hateful acts of their own. Just look at this post from Zombietime for a list of events in the global intifada.

In a side note to my Israeli family and friends, this is why you sometimes hear from us about having a voice in what happens. My personal perspective is that I prefer to have the bigots out in the open. I’d rather know exactly who I am dealing with. Not to mention that the sort of scum bag that engages in this behavior would do so regardless of what Israel does. But this does serve as a sort of beard for his/her behavior.

The war made it apparent that we need to work harder on educating the ignorant masses about international law, moral relativism and what disproportionate force means. We also need to be cognizant of how many people are choosing to question Israel’s existence. It used to be that we heard discussions about occupied territory and we knew that part of Israel was being discussed. Now the tune is changing and we’re having more talk about the entire state.

Don’t believe me or want a source for this. Go read this post and report back to me. In the meantime here is are links to all of the roundup and some more posts to read:

1* 2 *3* 3.5* 4* 4.5* 5* 5.5* 6*6.5 *7* 7.5* 8* 8.5.*9, *9.5, *10, *10.5, *11, *11.5, *12, *12.5, *13, *13.5, *14, *14.5, *15, *16, *17, *18, *18.5, *19 and ceasefire edition.

From the traditional media:

CNN: Bodies dug from rubble during Gaza cease-fire (Who else was in there.)
CNN: Hamas, Israel set independent cease-fires
NY Times: Rebuilding Begins Upon a Wobbly Truce
The Spine: Reviving the Oldest Hatred
WSJ: Defeating Terrorists (Sometimes force works)
Boston.com: The violence network
JPost: Yadlin: Hamas likely to keep attacking
JPost: Analysis: The operation is over but the war continues
JPost: Analysis: Europe’s plea for peace ignores the Gaza reality
Mark Steyn: Jew-baiting, then and now

From the blogosphere:

Yaacov Lozowick’s Inventing Your Own Reality.
Omri says CAIR: Complaining About The Anti-Semitic Attacks We’re Inciting Is A “Distraction”
EOZ: I must be much dumber than Olmert
Solomonia: Big Gas Field Discovered Off Haifa
Solomonia: The MSM is the Enemy
Soccer Dad: Report from the front
Soccer Dad: Shiny happy dhimmi – #9

Crossposted on Yourish.

Welcome to the War in Gaza Update #19.

Previous editions of the round up can be found below:1* 2 *3* 3.5* 4* 4.5* 5* 5.5* 6*6.5 *7* 7.5* 8* 8.5.*9, *9.5, *10, *10.5, *11, *11.5, *12, *12.5, *13, *13.5, *14, *14.5, *15, *16, *17, *18, *18.5 and 19.

As a side note Haveil Havalim, the weekly blog carnival of the Jewish/Israeli Blogosphere can be found here. Go check it out as you can be certain that it also contains valuable posts about the war.

From the traditional media we have:

CNN: Israel declares unilateral cease-fire in Gaza
NY Times: Israel Declares Cease-Fire; Hamas Says It Will Fight On
WSJ: Israel to Halt Offensive in Gaza Strip
Reuters: Israel to cease fire in Gaza, no deal for Hamas
JPost: PM says all Israel’s goals in Cast Lead have been attained
JPost: Hamas vows to keep fighting Israel
JPost: Mubarak calls for IDF to leave Gaza (Maybe he’ll see about shutting down the tunnels.)
Haaretz: An open letter to Gideon Levy
Haaretz: ANALYSIS / Israel declares victory in Gaza, but at what cost?
Haaretz: ANALYSIS / The ball is now in Hamas’ court in Gaza
TNR The Things They Carried
Commentary: Thoughts On The Cease-Fire

From the blogosphere:

Aussie Dave and The Muqata continued live-blogging the war.

The Rebbitzin’s Husband: Gaza, Wounded Children and the Tyranny of Liberal/Conservative Labels

At Yourish read the following posts:
British academics: Israel must be destroyed
IDF concludes deterrence has been achieved
Religion of peace and tolerance closes only synagogue left in Indonesia

Omri provides these posts that I encourage you to read:

Breaking: Hamas Launches Last-Second Barrages As Israel Prepares To Declare Ceasefire (UPDATE: Israel Declares Ceasefire)

Israel To Call Unilateral Ceasefire, Declare Partial Victory (Plus: Has Operation Cast Lead Achieved Anything?)

Iranian Cleric: Put A Bullet In Livni’s Head (Plus: Smug Liberal Sophistication Unperturbed By Spectacularly Wrong Iran Predictions, Failed Anti-Iran Efforts)

Firedoglake offers Breaking: Israel Declares “Ceasefire”, cue Rod Serling. At Crittenden read World Gone Gaza.

Surber posts Cease-fire. Shrinkwrapped has an interesting piece called Inverted Cowardice.

Go read Some comments on the “Israel must lose” letter – David Hirsh.

At Israel Matzav Liveblog: Olmert announces Israel to surrender to ‘public opinion’ , Did Israel cave to Mubarak? and IDF opposed cease fire.

From Treppenwitz you have Betrayed. The Occidental Israeli asks Truce? What Truce?

Daled Amos wants to know Did Mony Python Negotiate Israel’s Ceasefire?

At EOZ read Why diplomats don’t get it and British anti-semitism roundup.

WestBankMama has A Gift for the New President. Judeopundit says Iran Gloats.

And from Shiloh Musings The Government’s Statement re: Unilateral Cease Fire.

This will be updated later tonight.

As a prelude to this I want to link to this post ‘He who cannot defend Liberty does not deserve Liberty’ which is still Well Worth Reading .

Welcome to the War in Gaza Update #19.

Previous editions of the round up can be found below:1* 2 *3* 3.5* 4* 4.5* 5* 5.5* 6*6.5 *7* 7.5* 8* 8.5.*9, *9.5, *10, *10.5, *11, *11.5, *12, *12.5, *13, *13.5, *14, *14.5, *15, *16, *17, *18 and 18.5.

From the traditional media we have:

CNN: Israelis edging closer to cease-fire agreement in Gaza.
CNN: Israel, U.S. target Hamas arms smuggling
WAPO: Diplomatic Efforts Toward Gaza Truce Intensify
WAPO: On Day of Heavy Fighting, Moves Toward Gaza Peace
Associated Press: Turkish PM: Israel should be barred from UN
Guardian: Syria urges full Arab boycott of Israel as divisions deepen over Gaza
Guardian: US backs deal to reopen Gaza-Egypt border
JPost:’Solidarity during war is Israel’s finest hour’
JPost: ‘We reject Israel’s truce conditions’
JPost: Reporter’s Notebook: An emotional disconnect
Arutz Sheva: “Iranian Unit” Destroyed, Hamas was Surprised
Arutz Sheva: Hamas Offers Ceasefire, Threatens Revenge

From the blogosphere:

Aussie Dave and The Muqata continue live-blogging the war. The IDF blog shared Summary of IDF Operations, 16 Jan 2009, 22:00 IST.

Seraphic Secret says Goodbye (Elite?) Iran Unit. The Augean Stables offers BBC Silent about being Terrorized in Gaza: Discretion or Cowardice?

Go to Soccer Dad and read Is the media losing the credibility war? and MacLeod-ing the issue.

Daled Amos asks Will Israel Negotiate Defeat From The Jaws of Victory?

Weasel Zippers has Hamas Storms BBC Offices in Gaza and Uses Them to Fire Rockets at Israel….Says Nothing…..

and

Washington: Reporters Call Israeli FM Tzipi Livni a “Terrorist” and a “Murderer” During DC Press Conference…..

Israel at Level Ground has a video that shows the downside of firing mortars at Israel.

At Planck’s Constant What is Really Happening in Gaza and Why There can be No Truce with Hamas.

The Atheist Jew Disproportionate Response: By The Media, Protesters, Bloggers, Etc.

Joshuapundit provides The Root Causes Of the Gaza War in Less Than 6 Minutes. Flopping Aces discusses Civilian Casualties in Assymetric Warfare.

Counterterrorism blog provides the low down on Who was Said Mohammad Siyam?

Gateway Pundit has the sad story of Masked Thugs Repeatedly Stab Man For Wearing Jewish Symbol in France. Zombieblog relates to this with January 10, 2009: The Intifada is globalized as the Gaza War becomes a world war.

At Harry’s Place it is Downright weird. At Winds of Jihad Hamas fires rockets from BBC building in Gaza, staff used as human shields, BBC keeps silent…

This concludes the round up.

Welcome to the War in Gaza Update #18.5.

Previous editions of the round up can be found below:1* 2 *3* 3.5* 4* 4.5* 5* 5.5* 6*6.5 *7* 7.5* 8* 8.5.*9, *9.5, *10, *10.5, *11, *11.5, *12, *12.5, *13, *13.5, *14, *14.5, *15, *16, *17 and 18.

From the traditional media we have:

CNN: Airstrikes continue to target Hamas leaders
Economist: But is it a crime?
BBC: Q&A: Gaza conflict
USA Today: Israel intent on razing Gaza tunnels
YNET: Report: Israel, Hamas agree on 2-week truce
YNET: Farmers claim UK, Jordan boycotting Israeli fruit
JPost: UK Muslims call to curb anti-Semitism
JPost: Analysis: Security kingpin held Gaza in iron grip
JPost: Obama: Syria, Iran must be involved in talks
JPost: Aerial evacuation time reduced by 50%
Commentary: Is The Gaza War Ending?
Mark Steyn: THE PUBLIC SQUARE

From the blogosphere:

Aussie Dave and The Muqata continue live-blogging the war. The IDF blog has Paratroopers Operate in Gaza, 16 Jan 2009, 10:26 IST.

From A Soldier’s Mom US Warning – Avoid the Situation.

At Yourish Gaza briefs, with snark and The Egyptian truce: Hamas wins.

Israel Matzav demonstrates How Hamas educates gifted children and discusses whether there is food in Gaza.

Snapped Shot has An Image, An Analysis. From Yid With Lid OMG !!! British MP Says Hamas is Like WARSAW GHETTO FIGHERS and UNRWA is the United Nations In-house Terror Group.

My Right Word has his own post of links. Amity Shlaes: Israel’s Gaza Venture Hits Chord in Wounded India

I found the following at Solomonia Natan Sharansky: Save Gaza by destroying the heart of terror.

At The Augean Stables you can read Sounds of Sanity I: AB Yehoshua Rebukes Gideon Levy.

Elder of Ziyon shared Muslims pray to destroy Jews, Christians and The list of Hamas war crimes.
This ends the round up. Stay tuned for more.