It’s nice to see someone leveling blame on both sides. It seems as though most of the liberal west is unilaterally blaming Israel (and they deserve blame) without looking at both sides. This is a shitty situation from any angle and has been caused by all parties involved.

squashed:

Charles Krauthammer writes, in his editorial Moral Clarity in Gaza (Thanks, sds)

“Israel is so scrupulous about civilian life that, risking the element of surprise, it contacts enemy noncombatants in advance to warn them of approaching danger. Hamas, which started this conflict with unrelenting rocket and mortar attacks on unarmed Israelis — 6,464 launched from Gaza in the past three years — deliberately places its weapons in and near the homes of its own people….

I hope this clarity helps Krauthammer sleep at night—because that’s the only good that will come of it.

Israel and Hamas are both using the tools available to them. Israel is responding with extreme and direct force. Hamas is lobbing thousands of rockets and, for the most part. Israel is responding to attacks on its civilians. Hamas is responding to lasting and systematic oppression of Palestinian civilians. Both sides say the other deserves what comes to it. Both sides consider themselves wronged. Both sides consider the other wholly illegitimate in their present form. Israel is taking extreme efforts to minimize non-combatant casualties—but it is also killing more non-combatants. Israel has shown some restraint—but is also the side that could afford to show more.

The anger and fear runs deeply on both sides. Does one side somehow have a historical or political legitimacy that means it deserves to have its way, regardless of the cost to the other? There has been too much blood shed for me to think that any sort of enlightened theory is controlling this conflict. There is only cold reality.

• Israel is immensely powerful—and what does Hamas think is going to happen when it antagonizes Israel? Remember when Georgia antagonized Russia? What’s the best possible out come here?
• Hamas has some legitimate grievances—and killing the aggrieved is a poor way to spread peace and good will.
• The United States has also been pretty trigger-happy when it feels its safety is compromised.

My conclusion? Hamas needs to recognize Israel and do what it can to stop the rocket attacks. Israel needs to be a more careful about human rights and civil liberties so the Palestinians have something to lose. The whole thing is a mess—and nobody will get their ideal solution.Perhaps both sides should stop doing whatever they’re doing to exacerbate the problem.