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Last update - 01:55 21/04/2008
Like gang warfare
By Gideon Levy
Tags: Gaza Strip, Hamas

On both sides of the fence locking in the Gaza Strip, there is a war of desperation going on. Hamas is fighting against the insufferable siege that the Gaza Strip has been under for many months, and the Israel Defense Forces is mostly preoccupied with avenging Hamas' actions. Both sides are busy with displays of power and retaliation. It was sufficient to hear last week the commander of an IDF company, which lost three of its men, who called on his troops to kill as many terrorists as possible and to destroy the area from which the attacks came, to understand that the differences between the two opposing sides are increasingly becoming distorted.

The ethical differences are also being blurred. For example, if the B'tselem report is correct, and the IDF has resumed using flechette tank shells, then killing is being done without distinction, precisely as Hamas does. Both sides avoid any dialogue with the other, Israel conducts the scandalous international boycott of Hamas and anyone who tries to end this unbearable cycle, such as former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, is immediately and shamefully condemned by Israel.

The balance between the two sides is far from equal. All the scare tactics of the Israeli defense establishment - the statements that Hamas is growing stronger, is acquiring arms and equipment and the (exaggerated) descriptions that it is organizing along the lines of Hezbollah - do not alter the unequivocal fact that a war of attrition is taking place in the south between a regular army, with nearly every weapon possible in its arsenal, and a primitive organization, with few arms and a ridiculous order of battle. This must not be forgotten. The combined attack Saturday at Kerem Shalom, which was both sophisticated and daring, does not alter the fact that the the balance of power is far from even. This is expressed, in part, in the numbers of dead: The Palestinians managed to killed three soldiers in an ambush near the border fence? In response, Israel killed 20 Palestinians soon after, including a reporter and several youths. This is how gang warfare is fought.
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This cycle of despair can never be broken by force. We will kill and be killed, and our security will suffer, and the chances for reaching a settlement will grow more distant than ever. The belief that the siege of the Gaza Strip will cause the support for Hamas to drop is crazy: Our experience has shown us that the opposite is true. Whenever the threat of increased terrorist attacks rose, Israeli public opinion moved to the right. Every attack only intensified our nationalism and hatred for Palestinians, so why should we believe that the siege and the killing will affect the other side differently? The thought that if we starve 1.5 million civilians, and we prevent them from having enough water, medical treatment and a livelihood, we shall influence their views in our favor, has already proved to be silly. Since the siege was put in place, there are no signs that Hamas has weakened.

However, world history is replete with examples in which moderation and compromise were the result of negotiations alone. When the sides talk to each other, they strip themselves of all the slogans of the past, the deep hatred and the extremism, and in their place emerges the willingness to compromise - even among the most extreme and violent freedom fighters or terrorists. In Ireland, and South Africa, but also here, extreme nationalist terrorists were transformed when they sat at the negotiating table. Menachem Begin, Yasser Arafat, Nelson Mandela or the IRA leadership - they did not resemble their past selves when they sat down to talk. The terrorists of yesterday all became the statesmen of tomorrow, once they came to power or became partners in negotiations.

It is a fair guess that most of us know that this will also be the case here. The question is when? Or, in other words, how many more cycles of bloodshed will we see? Hamas will not let up, the Palestinians will not disappear, they will only become more extremist if we continue to talk to them only in he language of force, as is done in gang warfare.

If the prime minister really wanted to secure quiet for the residents of the Negev; if he really wanted to achieve a significant breakthrough, Ehud Olmert would call Carter this morning and ask him about what Khaled Meshal told him. He would tell Carter that he is ready to meet with Meshal at any time, unconditionally, and in the meantime he would prepare for a mutual cease-fire in the West Bank and the Strip. Israel has nothing to fear except for the wish of gang members to avenge the loss of their comrades. One day it will happen, as it did with the PLO, and it will, in any case, be much too late.
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  1.   Thank you 09:47  |  Angel 21/04/08
  2.   Difference 10:09  |  Ralph 21/04/08
  3.   The difference between a "terror" group and a terrorist nation 10:10  |  Natallie Durson 21/04/08
  4.   Compared to the Zionist state, Hamas is purity itself 10:25  |  Chanalau, Tova 21/04/08
  5.   When? Never 10:30  |  Clickfool 21/04/08
  6.   Who cares? 10:32  |  Dr Nat 21/04/08
  7.   THE IDF HAS NEWER MORE LETHAL WEAPONS STANDING BY READY TO GO... 10:46  |  REMAIN DILIGENT 21/04/08
  8.   Gideon Levy I challenge you to respond to this posing 10:55  |  Proud Israeli 21/04/08
  9.   What then? 11:16  |  Esther 21/04/08
  10.   Keep on 11:16  |  Angel 21/04/08
  11.   WHAT A CRIMINAL ARMY 11:22  |  Indrajaya 21/04/08
  12.   #1 is correct, Hamas formed in reponse to Israel`s Occupation 11:22  |  Johan Odin 21/04/08
  13.   Kapo Levy`s Dad urged accomodation with Hitler and `d never 11:29  |  Absolute Sweden 21/04/08
  14.   Hamas must be reduced to size, not elevated... 11:36  |  Esther 21/04/08
  15.   Proud Israeli # 8 11:40  |  Moshe BenTov 21/04/08
  16.   The difference between in # 3 11:46  |  Antonietta 21/04/08
  17.   Levy " a true member of the gang warfare 11:59  |  Miriam from Holon 21/04/08
  18.   Re Natallie #3 11:59  |  Esther 21/04/08
  19.   My name is right-wing (mainstream ??) Israel and I would like.... 12:03  |  Swiss (Dino) 21/04/08
  20.   @ Swiss (Dino) 12:42  |  Ralph 21/04/08
  21.   let the world know 13:08  |  Carol 21/04/08
  22.   #14 Esther, you have gotten too big for your boots 13:13  |  Dutch 21/04/08
  23.   # 8 Proud Israeli / I 14:10  |  Bob 21/04/08
  24.   # 8 Proud Israeli / II 14:12  |  Bob 21/04/08
  25.   14:14  |  ajrolaf 21/04/08
  26.   Bob, apologizes for Hate! 14:29  |  FOX 21/04/08
  27.   Terror nation and terror organization 14:29  |  El-Birawi 21/04/08
  28.   Dear Esther # 18 14:37  |  North American 21/04/08
  29.   Gideon Levy is wrong as usual 14:38  |  Frank 21/04/08
  30.   The claim-to-fame of Hamas... 14:47  |  Esther 21/04/08
  31.   Like the difference between Amalek and Yacov 15:04  |  Yosef 21/04/08
  32.   Jumping Ugly when needed. 15:22  |  Gideon Reader 21/04/08
  33.   Gideon Levy, Israel is a doomed state 15:23  |  Dutch 21/04/08
  34.   My name is SWISS D the HYPOCRITE and I would like.... 15:24  |  CK Tan 21/04/08
  35.   The P.L.O. goals haven`t changed one iota. 15:35  |  Chaim 21/04/08
  36.   Difference for natalie 15:45  |  Al 21/04/08
  37.   #27 why we condem the other? 15:46  |  Abdul Aziz Higazi 21/04/08
  38.   war crimes for the IDF 15:51  |  sam i am 21/04/08
  39.   # 18 Esther .. nonsense 15:55  |  Natallie Durson 21/04/08
  40.   # 26 FOX 16:06  |  Bob 21/04/08
  41.   swiss dino plenty of right wingers in switzerland 16:11  |  toblerone 21/04/08
  42.   Israel wants slaves 16:29  |  Joe blow 21/04/08
  43.   #35 It`s Israel that hasn`t changed one iota 16:30  |  Dutch 21/04/08
  44.   Maybe Mr Levy wants the terrorists to run freely into Israel 16:43  |  KUTW 21/04/08
  45.   I support the IDF 16:46  |  KUTW 21/04/08
  46.   That commander is right 16:47  |  KUTW 21/04/08
  47.   The ethical differences 16:50  |  KUTW 21/04/08
  48.   The dialogue 16:52  |  KUTW 21/04/08
  49.   Here`s the assinine thing about Gideon Levy`s article 16:53  |  Jacob Blues 21/04/08
  50.   # 26 FOX / II 16:53  |  Bob 21/04/08
  51.   As for the call to Carter, PM Olmert should save the dime 16:55  |  Jacob Blues 21/04/08
  52.   I support Hamas, no matter what she does will be less than Israel 16:56  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 21/04/08
  53.   hamas has right for any crime, Israel`s credit is over 16:57  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 21/04/08
  54.   one million hamas cant reach to one israeli crime 16:58  |  atilla karagözoğlu 21/04/08
  55.   #35 Chaim and "homicide" bombings?? 16:59  |  Phil 21/04/08
  56.   HAMAS IS DESPERATE; ISRAEL IS MAD 17:07  |  Mohamed MALLECK 21/04/08
  57.   #39 Natalie talks nonsense 17:09  |  Solomon 21/04/08
  58.   Abdul Aziz Higazi in #37 17:16  |  Arthur G 21/04/08
  59.   The question of moral and legal equivalency 17:20  |  Tosefta 21/04/08
  60.   Moshe BenTov # 15 17:22  |  Gabi from Brent 21/04/08
  61.   Solomon and US Aid 17:25  |  Phil 21/04/08
  62.   Hamas and Gideon Levy - how different are they? Good question 17:43  |  Genuine Tosefta 21/04/08
  63.   tosefta this is a given: 17:43  |  harzion 21/04/08
  64.   I support PKK, no matter what they do they are better than 100 mi 17:47  |  Genuine Tosefta 21/04/08
  65.   #8 Proud Israeli 17:48  |  Jesse 21/04/08
  66.   A conflict of understanding 17:48  |  Rozz 21/04/08
  67.   Here`s the assinine thing about Jacob Blues 17:54  |  Ibrahim 21/04/08
  68.   # 57 Natalie talks nonsense as usual 17:57  |  Paul 21/04/08
  69.   GOD KNOWS HOW TRULY I SEE THE DIRTS ON YOUR HEARTS 17:59  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 21/04/08
  70.   Re North American #28 (2nd. try...) 18:08  |  Esther 21/04/08
  71.   Durson now wants PA to outkill Israel? 18:13  |  Joe Sittizen