A greek tragedy about ordinary people

Each time it seems like it’s the worst ever. For the people who live it – this is, I believe, unending re-run of hell. The same arguments, on both – and more – sides, are sounded each time as if we had never seen this before. But who am I to complain?

However, unlike many other commentators, I’m not pretending to know what will happen next. I think this region’s recent history has already proved that the track of things here doesn’t really obey any logics. I do believe, though, that I could guess what’s not going to happen. The Hamas regime in Gaza will not collapse, and probably not even stop firing rockets at Israeli cities.

But maybe this is the source for this frustration. Trying to view things from an Israeli perspective I simply can’t understand what good this operation will bring for anyone. I think it’s quite clear that sooner or later, Israel will anyway have to remove the siege, and “even” free scores of Palestinian prisoners – probably “the carrot” in Olmert and Barak’s perception.

Desperately coming to understand they don’t have what it takes to bring a long-term solution, leaders on both sides simply act irrationally, according to populist demands by people who are desperate themselves. It would already be a sad cliché to argue that each of the leaderships practically gains internal legitimacy when the other side strikes. But for the time being, that’s exactly what it looks like.

The last five bloody days only emphasized the things that were conveniently put aside during these months of Hudnah, truce. Constantly trying to tackle the “Gaza issue”, both the Israeli government in Jerusalem and the Hamas leadership in Gaza are busy arm wrestling, while successfully repressing one factor in the equation: humans. Yes, these are humans, real people, that we’re talking about in between the formal offices. These are the people who live in Gaza and in Sderot, in Beit Lahiyeh and in Nativ HaAsara, in Khan Yunis and in Nir Oz. And wherever it is they equally deserve descent life.

There’s no reason for the Israeli government to not provide the residents of the western Negev with protection. Failing to guarantee for their security, their lives, for the past eight years, very few houses – if at all – were shielded during the recent so-called truce. If the government isn’t capable of allowing its citizens – ordinary people, real persons – live in peace, and not even willing to protect them when they’re under attack, it’d better step down.

On the other side of the border, it’s actually about the same principle. A leadership is chosen by the people in order to allow them run normal life. The Hamas leadership apparently has something else in mind. The numbers of the dead and injured in Gaza keep rising as I’m writing, and hopefully not by the time you’re reading. But who are actually these people? So far the media reported only very few Hamas officials down. Although almost no media bother itself with the names of those dead, I’m only left with assuming that at least the majority of them are innocent civilians – those who don’t really have the well-protected shelters that now host Haniyah and his terror ensemble. [Well, I might be wrong. Without underestimating the loss of at least 98 innocent lives - a huge unjustified number in itself, 292 Hamas militants killed could, in a way, be regarded as victory by the IDF.]

But what do I know? As pessimistic as I usually am, I draw some hope from knowing there are some sane people out there (who are as pessimist as I am – hooray!). So here are some other members of the choir:

 Take Lisa Goldman, for example, or Naseem Tarawnah – both implying the mountain Sisyphus was climbing and descending was actually Mt. Gaza. Check out Raviv Drucker [H] and Danny Rubinstein [H] as they claim that after trying the military option and the economic siege with not much success, maybe one bizarre new idea could work – letting people live. And there’s Daoud Kuttab who’s actually optimistic.