It was with great sadness that I saw the news from an hour or so ago: Israeli “defense” forces started a ground war campaign into Gaza.  I try to look at as many opinions as possible when it comes to foreign policy.  I’ll read the New York Times, I’ll read Al-Jazeera.  I’ll scope out the blogosphere using Google Blog Search.

To me, ALL States are inefficient monsters of death, theft and destruction.  Israel and Palestine are not safe from my definition.  Terrorism comes from the State, not from those against the State.  Yet in this case, the truly innocent civilians will lose, from both sides of the border:

“There is absolute fear and terror, it is pitch black, power lines have been cut throughout the strip, more than 250,000 people in northern Gaza are without electricity,” said Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza.  ”

The bloodshed will not be limited to Gazans, but they will likely have the most severe losses.  During the truce for the past 18 months or so, I have no doubt that Hamas, the democratically elected party of Palestine, has planted their own spy and offense network within Israel.  Hamas, being the underdog, will likely wait until the most aggressive portion of the ground war finishes in Gaza.  In my opinion, the response by Palestine won’t happen for a few weeks, but when it does, it will happen in direct proportion to the civilian death count in Gaza.  It’s going to be a terribly sad and horrible time, made worse as Israel has refused to let the media into Gaza to make note of what happens there.

The Palestinian death toll from the air strikes up until today (Saturday, January 3, 2009) is about 450.  Earlier this morning, an Israeli air strike blew up a Mosque where people were praying, including at least one child.  While I detest using religion as a defense against aggression, this is one area where a murderous act can really create a larger scale hatred by opposing religious groups.  Remember: it is my opinion that the Jewish people of the world have little to do with the government of Israel.  Israel was founded to be a Jewish homeland, run by Jewish scholars and religious figures.  Over time, though, it was taken over by a mad neoconservative fringe group within the Israeli circle.  They forced out the peaceful and defensive Jews, and are now run by a non-religious wing that cares little for the Torah (Jewish Bible) and the peace initiative.  It always saddens me when the Average Joe equates Israel with Judaism, when they have slowly bifurcated over decades, little by little.

The vengeance of the militants on both sides will end up harming civilians on both sides.  I detest slaughter, I detest genocide in any form, but yet here we have it.  I’ll continue to read the opinions of the old media and the new media on all sides, and I hope that in the end true diplomacy comes from those who realize it is the governments, the States of the world that are the true demons in this entire situation.  The individual citizens are never the problem, it is the liars of the States that are — the U.S. government (both Democrat and Republican), the Israeli government, and the Palestinian government (both Hamas and Fatah).  The fault is with those in power who wish to expand their power, ignorant of the loss of innocent life on both sides.

 

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4. Israel rebuffs call for Gaza truce
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6. Heroic Jewish-British MP Gerald Kaufman denounces Israel
7. Bush is only stupid, but his old media openly lies
8. Glenn Greenwald on the American political consensus on Israel
9. Israel versus Palestine: What the State fights grows stronger
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