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Last update - 00:00 15/01/2008 The Qassam rocket as collective punishment By Bradley Burston, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Burston, Jews, Israel  Imagine a situation in which thousands and thousands of people, many of them children and the elderly, are plunged into a situation in which they must fear for their lives day in and day out, their livelihoods crippled, their schools and even pre-schools under siege. Entire communities are trapped, paralyzed. Whole childhoods are spent in a state of post-traumatic stress. Occasions which should be high points in a lifetime are routinely curtailed or cancelled. The people of this place are forced to bear the burden of the whole of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They are the unarmed proxy warriors of their side, victimized by the tactical cruelty of the other. They are the victims of collective punishment. And they live in Israel. The world is unsympathetic. The world does not think highly enough of Hamas to hold it accountable for the actions of the gunners who use the launchers produced by Hamas and the rockets produced by Hamas. The world believes that if Israel outguns Hamas with an arsenal that includes the most advanced fighter bombers and even nuclear weapons, the people of Sderot are somehow protected from the rockets that strike them day in and day out, year after agonizing year. The people of Sderot have nothing but miracles to depend on. And even miracles betray them. Because if they are spared from death by one miracle after another, the world cannot be bothered to care about them. Even their fellow Israelis concede that they would do more to defend the people of Sderot, if more of them were being killed - yet another form of collective punishment. When Israel cut fuel shipments to Gaza this month, the same defense establishment which had been given weeks and months to plan for the step, found itself taken aback that water and sewage pumps stopped working ? not because of Hamas subterfuge or Hamas hyperbole, but because Israel stopped supplying fuel to Palestinian power plants. Many Gazans, non-combatants, were left without water in a public health crisis akin to a natural disaster. There's a certain perverse justice to how this works. When it comes to terrorism, the Palestinians practice intentional killing of civilians. When we kill civilians in the context of military activity, we view it as incidental, the regrettable by-product of necessary self-defense. In the case of collective punishment, the opposite situation obtains. We practice collective punishment as an intentional tactic, believing it to be more humane than outright invasion and carpet bombing ? holding, as we do, to the preposterous hope that after 40 years of failing at it, we will persuade the people of Gaza to bring their own militants to heel. The Palestinians who fire Qassams, meanwhile, see them not as collective punishment but as legitimate self-defense, employed because they have no other alternative. They are wrong. Dead wrong. And so are we. Collective punishment is abhorrent. It is morally reprehensible. It is functionally self-defeating. It destroys the moral fiber of those who order it, practice it, countenance it, turn a blind eye to it. This may explain why the victims of collective punishment may find themselves resorting to its use. We are guilty of it. The Palestinians are guilty no less. Crimes against humanity are crimes against humanity. The victims of crimes against humanity never "had it coming to them" as we might persuade ourselves to believe. We're going to have to find some other way to stop Qassams. After an eternity in which both sides resist it, we may have to talk to Hamas, which can actually get the job done. In the meanwhile, it is time to think long and hard about what we gain and what we lose by practicing collective punishment in Gaza. The Israeli airwaves have been awash in recent days with learned, intelligent people arguing that no one who has a healthy mind supplies his enemies with the tools and the fuels of war. Their point is understandable. But it assumes that there is logic to this conflict. It assumes that the target of Palestinian anger over collective punishment will be Hamas and not Israel. It assumes that the world is ready to change its rotation. It also assumes that the world is ready to accept collective punishment. God help us all when that happens. ______________ Previous blogs: Sharon, savior of the settler, killer of Palestine Mr. Bush, you were born to make peace Here's to the '67 borders, the new middle of the road Hamas - If we can kill them, we can talk to them Self Test: Are you a fanatic on the Middle East? Bookmark to del.icio.us   Officer convicted A military court convicts an IDF officer who led troops in a West Bank rampage. A different Anne Frank A Dutch Jewish condemns the distribution of a postcard of Anne Frank wearing kaffiyeh.   1.   It is better to be humane thatn to be alive 19:58  |  Robert 22/01/08   2.   Bradley you got the labels wrong 21:24  |  Don Camillo 22/01/08   3.   It is the occupation stupid 23:15  |  Bandar Michaels 22/01/08   4.   "Poor Palestinians" 23:26  |  Tim R 22/01/08   5.   Qassams-Bradley version 23:55  |  David Gershon 22/01/08   6.   #5 David Gershon 02:32  |  Dawid 23/01/08   7.   More Gibberish - Big Surprise 03:44  |  Tod Zuckerman 23/01/08   8.   Samuel B.Clemens world famous writer from the USA , 04:42  |  Joseph E . 23/01/08   9.   Gaza "Blackout" and the Laws of War 06:16  |  Joseph E . post 1 23/01/08   10.   D.CAMILLO WRONG collective punishment Qassems,suicide-bombers or 06:19  |  PETER SM 23/01/08   11.   Comments 06:20  |  Joseph E . post 2 23/01/08   12.   Comments 06:21  |  Joseph E . Post 3 23/01/08   13.   Comments from Ceren Article 06:25  |  Joseph E . 23/01/08   14.   BANDAR MICHAELS"occupation" what was your excuse in 1830,1920, 06:28  |  PETER SM 23/01/08   15.   Collective Punishment by Hamas: Hamas closes Gaza bakeries 06:42  |  Joseph E . post 1 23/01/08   16.   Collective Punishment by Hamas: Hamas seizes fuel from hospitals 06:45  |  Joseph E . post 2 23/01/08   17.   "The World" ?? Not READY ? 08:50  |  Rick and TC 23/01/08   18.   ONLY ONE PURPOSE OF QASSAMS 10:49  |  indrajaya 23/01/08   19.   more illogical crap from the don 10:59  |  v hardman 23/01/08   20.   Jews as Invaders or Refugees - Peter SM 11:06  |  Bandar Michaels 23/01/08   21.   I`m not sure the term "collective punishment" is accurate here 11:44  |  Outsider 23/01/08   22.   To Bandar Michaels: "We Palestinians have received" 11:54  |  AA 23/01/08   23.   AA AND RECEIVING 12:44  |  Bandar Michaels 23/01/08   24.   Bradely is half right 12:50  |  pal- 23/01/08   25.   There`s a difference between a nation and a terrorist group 12:59  |  Natallie Durson 23/01/08   26.   Because they have no other alternative... 13:35  |  Mladen Andrijasevic 23/01/08   27.   #25 Nattalie Durson 13:56  |  Sarah 23/01/08   28.   ethnic cleansing--apartheid 14:00  |  Hilda 23/01/08   29.   # 27 - Sarah 14:17  |  Natallie Durson 23/01/08   30.   carpet bombing and nuclear options 14:31  |  akiva (zionist) 23/01/08   31.   #29 Natallie Durson 14:43  |  Sarah 23/01/08   32.   BANDAR MICHAELS There were NO "invaders" in 1830 in Safed 14:43  |  PETER SM 23/01/08   33.   Bradley Compass Off the Mark 14:53  |  B 23/01/08   34.   Goody-goody Jews wring their hands,leave dirty work to other Jews 15:16  |  Sam 23/01/08   35.   collective punishment 15:42  |  Tidi 23/01/08   36.   Natallie #25 working overtime 15:46  |  Tom C 23/01/08   37.   Natallie #25 working overtime 16:03  |  Simone 23/01/08   38.   How years did it take Mr. Burston? 16:37  |  Gee 23/01/08   39.   How years did it take Mr. Burston? 16:37  |  Gee 23/01/08   40.   Peter SM 1830 and 1920 don`t don`t have Historic relevance 16:38  |  Bandar Michaels 23/01/08   41.   We are no better than you, Jews. 16:38  |  CHICAG0 FamilyGuy 23/01/08   42.   Burston Switches Sides ...Again! 16:38  |  Tony Anthony 23/01/08   43.   # 37 - Simone (any relation to Tom?) 17:31  |  Natallie Durson 23/01/08   44.   Comparison of who kills more civilians 18:02  |  Rich 23/01/08   45.   Natallie 18:37  |  Simone 23/01/08   46.   Bradley misses the entire operating logic 18:38  |  Tosefta 23/01/08   47.   Rich re comparisons 18:41  |  Simone 23/01/08   48.   Tosefta 18:57  |  Da Nang 23/01/08   49.   Qassams are not a collective punishment 18:58  |  Boris 23/01/08   50.   Is Gaza occupied 19:01  |  Marco P 23/01/08   51.   worst article Burston has ever written 19:30  |  McQueen 23/01/08   52.   GAwd Bradley, you have lost the plot 19:51  |  Marilyn 23/01/08   53.   Bandar Michaels, I agree with your point with reservations 19:52  |  Yaakov Sullivan 23/01/08   54.   Is Gaza occupied? (Marco #50) 20:19  |  Tosefta 23/01/08   55.   Lifting of a siege is a fine military objective (Da Nang #48) 20:28  |  Tosefta 23/01/08   56.   On one point Bradly is right,assuming Palis 20:52  |  TOMY 23/01/08   57.   indrayaja,genital mitilations in Indonegea 21:00  |  TOMY 23/01/08   58.   #41 As a Catholic I understand your feelings toward Israel 21:52  |  Yaakov Sullivan 23/01/08   59.   Hey, move! 22:21  |  hollingsworth 23/01/08   60.   Mr. Burston`s opening paragraph 22:24  |  hollingsworth 23/01/08   61.   " collective punishment "? Gaza is now EGYPT 22:34  |  Rick and TC 23/01/08   62.   A history lesson for Bandar Michaels #3 22:47  |  dovvod 23/01/08   63.   Tosefta #46 23:06  |  TonyL 23/01/08   64.   Collective reward vs collective punishment 23:13  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 23/01/08   65.   a drama set into motion by the directors 23:42  |  rising suspicions 23/01/08   66.   "we`re going to have to find some other way" 23:43  |  David Howard 23/01/08   67.   Putting and End on Qassams 23:45  |  Igor Kogan 23/01/08   68.   war sucks 00:06  |  rickibobbi 24/01/08   69.   Tosefta 00:41  |  Da Nang 24/01/08   70.   Israel acting as rogue nation 00:44  |  Lance Thruster 24/01/08