According to Beinart, the ongoing attempts to damage and breach the border security fence to attack Israel, the rocks and firebombs hurled and shots fired at Israeli soldiers, the firebomb-bearing kites that torment Israeli farmers trying to grow crops, the widespread presence of swastikas at the demonstrations, the anti-Semitic threats against Jews, the horrible ecological effects caused by burning tires to blind Israeli border guards—all actions carried out by Gazans—are reactions of victims motivated by resistance against their oppressors. The fact that most of the rioters who Israelis have killed were terrorist operatives, or individuals affiliated with terrorist organizations, is irrelevant, because it gets in the way of this narrative.
And contra Beinart, the fence is not made to "enclose" Gaza. It is there to protect Israelis. As the ongoing border assault by Hamas shows is quite necessary.
In my last weekend data dump, I noticed that kind of misinformed narrative:
Palestinians continue their border assault on Israel, this time destroying infrastructure used to import goods and supplies into Gaza. No doubt this problem will be described as part of the mythical Israeli "blockade" of Gaza.
But it is all our fault. With "our" being the international community. Uniquely in the history of refugees, the UN deemed Palestinians able to pass down refugee status to their as-yet unborn offspring:
The Palestinian refugees’ worst catastrophe wasn’t displacement, a fate they have shared with much of mankind. It was being fed a lie — that the clock will be turned back, and the last 70 years undone. The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the 1948 refugees, whether they live in Lebanon or Jordan, in America or the West Bank, are not refugees. They are at home. That is how they should think of themselves. That is how they should insist that the world think of them. No one is going back to the 1940s. Once Palestinians stop believing otherwise, the “nakba” will be at an end.
The UN made the Palestinians the Queen of the Victims Prom. Only now are the first efforts being made to remove the crown and make possible an actual solution that doesn't involve the destruction of Israel.
UPDATE: Will the Palestinians seize the opportunity for actual peace that America will offer?
The United States is in the "late phases" of finalizing its Israeli-Palestinian peace plan that will be presented to both parties for consideration, according to a senior White House official, who discussed progress on the matter ahead of a massive celebration in Israel to open the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.
I suspect this will be a serious offer:
A real plan with Israel's agreement that Arab states can get behind will provide cover for Arab states to mute their response to an Israeli attack on Iran's proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Will the Palestinians continue in their circular firing squad or will they try for peace short of destroying Israel?
Tough call.
UPDATE: People are complaining about what Israel is doing while defending their border. Despite the death toll, with a 46:1 wounded-to-killed ratio, the Israelis clearly aren't trying to kill Palestinian human shields who are screening Hamas gunmen charging the border fences. I guarantee that if Israeli troops were trying to kill those human wave attacks, the ratio would be closer to 3:1.
Also, it is a war crime to use human shields--and particularly scummy to use children in that role.
All blame should rightly fall on the Hamas thugs who are waging this assault. The Israelis are under no obligation to ease off and risk the attackers getting through the fence in their hundreds or thousands while trusting that the "protesters" will only brandish giant puppets when inside Israeli territory.
UPDATE: It is very sad that civilians and especially children have been killed during these Palestinian operations. But the blame for their deaths lies with Hamas who uses civilians as cannon fodder. Children should not be sent to war. And that is what Hamas is waging on the border, have no doubt.
UPDATE: Huh. If true, of course. But this is certainly consistent with past behavior.
UPDATE: Did Egypt pressure Hamas to scale back their border operation?
