Israel has no choice but to defend itself

by Steve Hunegs
published Jan. 5, 09

In August 2005, the Israeli government decided to completely disengage from the entire Gaza Strip and turned the area over to Palestinian Authority (PA) control. At that point, Israeli civilian and military presence in Gaza ended completely. The hope was that this action toward peaceful co-existence would restore stability and open up opportunities for advancing the peace process.

However, this was not to be. In the summer of 2007, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip. Widely viewed throughout the world as a terrorist organization, Hamas, funded and backed by Iran, openly seeks Israel’s destruction. Hamas’ continued assault against Israel is terrorism, plain and simple. Despite Hamas’ intent, Israel continues to acknowledge that the residents of Gaza have humanitarian needs that must be met. Israel has continued to supply fuel, food, medical supplies and other humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, despite Hamas’ attacks on Israeli civilians. During the past six months, Israel has facilitated more than 14,624 truckloads of humanitarian assistance, including more than 185,000 tons of supplies and 39 million liters of fuel. Furthermore, there have been more than 4,130 medical evacuations.

Other Arab leaders have expressed the view that Hamas is a danger to the stability of the Middle East. Mustafa el-Fiqi, who heads the Egyptian Parliament’s foreign relations committee, recently said that Egypt would not tolerate Hamas setting up an Islamic state in Gaza. Recently, Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah have accused Hamas of staging blackouts in the Gaza Strip in an effort to win sympathy and incite the Palestinian public against Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Israel has the responsibility to defend her innocent civilian population from terrorist attack—as any sovereign country would be expected to do. Since Israel completely disengaged from Gaza it has been bombarded by over 6,300 missiles. These missiles are increasing in quantity, quality and range and now have over 700,000 Israeli civilians in its range. As President-Elect Barack Obama said, in July, when he visited Sderot, a village close to the Gaza border that has suffered greatly under Hamas terrorists, “Israelis must not suffer a threat to their lives, to their schools,” adding that “if missiles were falling where my two daughters sleep, I would do everything in order to stop that.” Israel is reacting just like any other nation under constant attack. If Minneapolis was hit by Canada or San Antonio was hit by Mexico with 50 rockets in 50 hours, we would expect the United States to act decisively to end the threat. We should not apply a double standard to Israel.

Hamas continued to strike Israel, with 3,000 missiles in 2008 alone, despite repeated appeals by the Israeli government, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the leaders of Egypt and Jordan and the international community to cease. Moreover, Hamas is masterful at intentionally using civilian locations for weapons manufacturing, ammunition bunkers, and the storage and use of rocket launchers.

We are deeply concerned about the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians.  We want peace and an end to suffering on both sides.  It is difficult not to confront these horrific scenes with pure emotional paralysis. Innocent lives have been lost in both Israel and Gaza. But the loss of lives on each side does not mean that each side is equally to blame. The way to achieve this is to have the terrorists lay down their weapons, recognize Israel, and negotiate a two-state solution. Since Israel declared independence, in 1948, it has never known a day of peace. Israel longs for normal relations with all of its neighbors and has proven, in the past with Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinians in 2000 at Camp David, that it is willing to make painful sacrifices to achieve peace.

We must support continued work toward a viable two-state solution. Israel must rid itself of the constant threat of missiles posed by Hamas rule in Gaza. Hamas is not a partner for peace, but a terrorist organization with the expressed goal of the destruction of the State of Israel. Hopefully out of this will come a partner seriously willing to negotiate a lasting peace between two peoples.

Steve Hunegs
Executive Director
Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas