What's the right perspective on Gaza?

There is no end to the number of perspectives you can choose from, of course, on this issue or any other.Most people tend to go looking for those perspectives that will confirm what they already think.

I go looking for as many perspectives as I can get. I think John Cole of Balloon Juice is right:

I can not say this enough- it is untenable for Israel to live under constant rocket and mortar attack, and it is undeniable that the attacks have skyrocketed in recent months. It is also morally reprehensible for these attacks to be launched from schools, mosques, and hospitals, and the use of human shields is disgusting, and Hamas is now reported to be urging the continuation of suicide bombings. Having said that, I can not figure out how the answer is to just blow up said human shields and make dismissive comments about the suffering of innocents and snide remarks about their tennis shoes. [The last remark referred to this Martin Peretz post.]

Me True Ann-Sister links to a well-written blog out of Israel, where the rockets falling randomly on civilians, and posturing and positioning by ambitious politicians, have combined to create visions of a no-win situation. The writer shows the human cost the bombardment with painful clarity. (See the comments to Amba's post for an example of how a discussion on the topic can be animated and still civil.)

Andrew Sullivan culls views from many observers; quite a few of them are Jewish, but not all of them are sympathetic to Israel. Sullivan also gives his own take on the matter. He makes the critical point that screamers miss: each side has and has acted according to its own particular logic. Each side's logic has the tragic flaw of interlocking with the other in a death spiral. In sum: he doesn't see how Israel can win.

Muslim and Palestinian blogs decry the Israeli offensive; they also report on the human toll. There's this searing blog from Gaza. And this one, by a woman who says in her sidebar, "I am a Palestinian from Gaza. I am a Muslim. I am a journalist. I am a mother."

Google "Muslim blogs" and you'll find the winners of the "brass crescent awards," which leads to this winner for best group blog. It's an instant education, and not just on Gaza. If you care about Israel, some of these perspectives make for hard reading. As well they should.

Hamas is dedicated to, among other things, the destruction of Israel. Its charter says so. The charter also says that "death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes." According to this logic -- both absurd and undeniable -- every death in the conflict, be it the death of an Israeli pensioner in an apartment in Ashdod, or a Gaza child on her way to school, makes Hamas stronger and Israel weaker.

I don't know what else to say. 

--T.A.

Comments

[Steve Yastrow]

I'm serious about this: What would Spinozza say?