| No More Victories Please! |
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| Saturday, 10 January 2009 | |
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It is a routine that we have to come to know by heart. It is a magical routine that turns the loss of many thousands of lives and utter destruction into crisp and undeniable “victories.” Arabs in the Middle East have known many such victories; the most extravagant of which are the first Gulf War, the war on Lebanon in 2006 and pretty soon the victory in the making in Gaza. The magic in all of these routines is that all parties end up satisfied, except the poor masses, that is. The aggressor is satisfied a country is pushed back many decades or even back to the stone age without having to face any accountability for the crime; the victim, or shall we say the partner in crime, is satisfied with the “historic victory.” The Israeli side has perfected the game. They play the region like an accordion. They commit atrocities to make sure the fire keeps burning and the wounds keep getting deeper while inciting the masses through their hired satellite media outlets to keep a healthy supply of extremists. Extremists are an Israeli necessity because they ensure Israel can always play victim. And the cycle continues while more and more Arab lands come under Israeli control. There is no hope that this cycle can be broken if the people of the region do not call Israel’s bluff and remove any excuse Israel may find to justify its perpetual aggression. No one knows what would happen then. Will Israel start recruiting Palestinians to throw those “rockets” or would they start throwing them at their own people to justify continued aggression? We do not know if this will happen but it is likely there will be less bloodshed and destruction. It is worth a try anyway. Cooler heads need to prevail. Evil does not need an excuse but if the excuse is removed, perhaps there will be the critical mass needed to defeat evil. |
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