War (What Is It Good For?) (Absolutely nothing!)

Elsewhere I said to JS that I recognize that there's no one in Hamas with whom Israel can negotiate, and I've said here that Gaza needs to be the last concession -- no further withdrawals, no further dismantlement of homes and towns until after Fatah and Hamas make similar sacrifices for peace. But it's no contradiction to also say that this week's war is doing more harm than good, as I argue two posts down.

On his own blog, my friend and fellow travler, the artist formally known as the Godol Hador has added an additional wrinkle. He says - correctly in my view - that Israel is behaving immorally. Money quote:

If killing civilians is immoral (hence Hamas's indiscriminate rocket attacks are immoral and must be stopped), how is Israel's response any more moral? Sure, they try and target legitimate military targets, but everyone knows that's not possible. And even the 'policemen' they killed on Shabbat, were they truly evil? Probably just some poor sods who were trying to earn a living, not truly evil people deserving of a death sentence.I just don't see how bombing Gaza is morally acceptable, when civilians will certainly get killed. Two wrongs don't make a right. So you'll say, what else is Israel supposed to do? Just sit back and take it? And the answer of course is yes, because bombing them back is not morally acceptable.

Related

Note: The title quotes Edwin Star's famous anti-war song, but I don't really agree with his premise. Some wars should be fought. Some wars are noble. I'm just not certain if this can be said about the war on Hamas.

Here's the thing: I agree that Israel should destroy the rockets, and the crews who launch them. I'm prepared to accept some collateral damage among ordinary Arabs in order to achieve this aim. I support the right of a sovereign nation to protect its citizens which is why I supported the war on Afghanistan, and also the war in Iraq before it became common knowledge that Bush had lied to the country about Iraq's capacity to harm us. My support for the war on Hamas only falters when I consider the likely results of Israel's action: More furious, impoverished Arabs; more anger; more intractibility; less international support; the increased liklihood that Hezbollah, Iran or Israel's own Arab citizens will throw in their lot with Hamas. If any of that happens, the war was a step backwards, not forward.

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