The Gaza operation continues. In snark and brief:
Hamas stands pat on its blackmail: Free prisoners or you don’t get Cpl. Gilad. I should like to point out that Hamas isn’t even trying to hide its participation in the attack against Israel. That’s right, folks, the government of the palestinians sent its “military wing” into Israel to kill and kidnap soldiers, and yet, the world is still insisting that Hamas is ready for a two-state solution.
IAF hits terrorist training camp in Rafah: Too bad they didn’t get a few dozen terrorists while they were at it.
Maybe this will make reporters think differently:
Five minutes after the press conference, a Kassam rocket landed a few hundred meters from where reporters were standing.
Nah. They’d just blame Israel for not protecting them from the kassam hit.
THis, however, is an utter waste of time and resources:
At around 2 p.m. Wednesday, Israeli fighter jets struck the northern Gaza Strip, firing missiles at open areas. The strike is part of the army’s “pressure pot” tactic, meant to turn up pressure on Gaza by placement of troops and weapons fire with a minimum of casualties.
And gee, it’s working. Because the PRC presented the ID card of the missing Israeli teen, and threatened to kill him if the IDF does not withdraw from Gaza. Why does Israel think that not killing terrorists is the way to cow them, when they have already seen the result of killing terrorists when they gutted the Hamas ranks two years ago?
Let’s listen to the impotent president of the Palestinian Authority speak:
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described the operation as a crime. “This is an attack against our infrastructure and civilian targets,” he said.
Abbas said the operation is an act of collective punishment, but made it clear that the Palestinian Authority is doing all it can to convince the kidnappers to free Shalit.
“We were surprised by the violent Israeli escalation, which doesn’t serve a purpose but to destroy Palestinian lives,” he said.
Abu Merang, methinks you need a shot of Viagra. Go talk to Rush about getting some.
Say, this isn’t a biased headline at all: Israeli Forces Attack Gaza Power Station. What did that poor, defenseless power station do to the Israelis?
Quick, put on the Groucho nose and glasses! Khaled Meshal, the leader of Hamas currently hiding in Damascus, has been declared a target by the Israeli Justice Minister.
And that’s all for now. More later.
The main problem is that terrorism has worked for the Pallies. Israeli and American governments have negotiated and given both real concessions (establishing the PA, not killing Arafat, etc.) and at least perceived concessions (retreat from Lebanon and withdrawal from Gaza*) as a result of terrorism.
Why should they give it up? It works.
Answer: if there’s been a real paradigm shift — I want there to be one, but I don’t believe it — that will, eventually, persuade the Pallies that terrorism doesn’t work, by punishing, rather than rewarding it.
A good start would be for Olmert to green light every Hamas official at least on a target of opportunity basis, and for the IDF to take a bunch of them out.
Threats won’t persuade these people; killing enough of the terrorists will have an influence on the survivors.
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*My own take on Gaza is idiosyncratic: I think that it was a strategic albatross around Israel’s neck, which nevertheless shouldn’t have been handed over to the Pallies; the land was paid for in far too much blood.
“a Kassam rocket landed a few hundred meters from where reporters were standing”…it was probably one of those rockets that is both “home-made” and “symbolic,” so nothing for any reporters to worry about.