I am touching upon this subject with mixed feelings. There is no doubt that what happened is a tragedy, no matter who caused the death of the family: IDF shell or Hamas mine.
The subject of an independent inquiry into the facts of the Gaza beach killings is bandied as a central to the whole issue. Judy of Adloyada analyses the issue, making a strong case against such inquiry. Norm has another opinion on this.
I am not at all sure that IDF report is of value. Military all over the world are past masters of whitewashing, and the famous “omerta” of Sicilian mafia has nothing on the unwritten military code of sudden mental paralysis of all parties involved in an investigation of a wrongdoing by their own. On the other hand, the myth of the “independent” inquiry is no less absurd, as Judy has shown in that post. But the crucial point is that, no matter what the conclusions of the inquiry (any inquiry) will be, they will be summarily rejected by the party the accusing finger will point to.
I am listening to the heated discussions on Israeli TV and radio, with politicians of different ilk saying precisely what is expected of them, reading/watching foreign media with politicians and other interested parties blaming or defending this or other side. The strange thing is that the intensity of the discussion and its focus on the issue of guilt assignment are such that an outside observer may deduce that an extraordinary event occurred between two generally friendly countries, and the moment this event comes to a conclusion and the facts are established, peace and calm shall return to reign again.
This self-delusion is worthy of an in-depth psychiatric research, but how about looking the truth in the eyes for a few seconds? Gaza was vacated by IDF in the hope that, as a model of a newly hatched independent Palestinian society it will be also a model of the neighborhood relationships and peaceful co-existence of the two states.
Unfortunately, our neighbors are intent on proving the opposite, and instead of peaceful co-existence we have a war on our hands. And if anyone has a hope that the Gaza beach tragedy is the last of its kind, that anyone is either seriously deluded or trying to delude.
Instead of wasting UN time and money on this investigation, Koffi Anan will do more good trying to explain this to our Gazan neighbors and to their supporters. No sham ceasefire will be enough, and while the steady rain of Qassams, border attacks and other attempts to kill more Jooz continue, the war will continue. And the tragic stories of the kind we are discussing here will happen again and again.
As it happens, I have just received a link (hat tip to Andrew Ian Dodge) to an article by Perry de Havilland that I completely agree with.
Cross-posted on SimplyJews
As it happens there now is serious doubt that the IDF had anything to do with those deaths:
German paper doubts Gaza beach reports
The article at ynet refers to this article from the Süddeutsche Zeitung:
Der Krieg der Bilder
(‘The war of the images’, in English).
The German article contains what ynet claims, and also makes a reference to ‘Pallywood’ and mentions the numerous previous hoaxes by the Palestinans.
In my personal experience in relations between the army and the press, I can say that I have much greater level of trust to the army.
I was aware of 3 army related incidents, where the press, intentionally or not, have corrupted the truth, giving out a totally different picture.
A perfect example is Carmella Menashe. When you get to read something about the army by her hand, expect for less than 50% to be true.
Yes, Ralph, I have already read the article you mention. However, is IDF right or not is not the main issue of my post.
And, of course, I will be happy if IDF is exonerated.
That must be some powerful weed you’re smoking.
Views differ as to the “true” rationale for disengagement from Gaza, but I don’t think that anyone involved entertained the serious hope that this would germinate into peaceful coexistence. That kind of claptrap was coming from the Quartet, which wanted to frame disengagement as a means for rejuvenating the Roadmap. PM Sharon made crystal clear that it was undertaken in response to and recognition of the failure of the Roadmap.
Surrendering control of the Gaza-Egypt border was not Israel’s preference; Foggy Bottom forced Sharon into it, and now more arms have poured into Gaza over that boundary than were smuggled from 1967 through 2005. This was not unforeseen by the IDF.
Let’s just say, Ben, that “in the hope” does not reflect the IDF hopes. Suffice to agree that Gazans have had a chance and they blew it.
Re the weed – let me have the postal address and I shall take care of the rest ;-)
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