15 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

1. I wonder if there is (or ever was) one addressed to the Government of Gaza – i.e. Hamas. I mean since that’s who “the negotiations” would presumably be with. Although it doesn’t say.
   At least they bothered to pay lip service to the pesky rocket problem before getting down the brass tacks of nebulous negotiation and the solution/mega-burn of another international force to stand around watching the terrorists re-arm.

   This part is my favourite:

   “We are concerned that rather than bringing security to Israel, a continued military offensive could strengthen extremists, destabilise the region and exacerbate tensions inside Israel with its one million Arab citizens.”

   It reminds me of that scene from The Life of Brian where the old guy is about to be stoned and they tell him “you’re only making it worse for yourself” to which he replies “Worse? How could it be worse?”

   This letter is actually a case in point of why this awful war was necessary. Everyone had 8 years to write letters and wring their hands and be horrified and involve the international community. But they didn’t – because the bottom line is that rockets at Israeli civilians is livable, a war in Gaza against Hamas is not. And since that’s our basic premise for the negotiations, I really don’t see what other options Israel has right now than to dispose of Hamas.

   

   1. tagraffiti
   on January 12th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
   

2. This letter shows a deep lack of understanding of the conflict, as well as international law. Lisa, you need to do more research before espousing this belief *which harms Am Yisrael.* I know for a fact that you already have had a negative influence upon Sandmonkey.

   Now, let’s get to the facts. Firstly, Hamas refuses any offer of a ‘ceasefire.’ Secondly, should Hamas accept a UN-imposed ‘ceasefire,’ they would ironically not be bound by it according to international law. I am an attorney, but any common sense person would realize that the UN can only ‘bind’ (to the extent they bind!) MEMBER STATES. Hamas is not a member state! As such, a ‘ceasefire’ would only mean what it has meant since the dawn of the conflict: we cease, they fire.

   Lisa, you appear to believe in ‘negotiations.’ I recently went to a Hamas rally (counter-demonstrated) where genocidal chants were said. Do you not know the history of the Israeli-Arab conflict, wherein ‘negotiations’ have only led to hudnas with the Palestinians – i.e., reloading. Why do you want to impose such a horror upon the people of Sderot and Southern Israel? Honestly, what are you thinking? Are you even thinking?

   Finally, I realize the people of Gaza are suffering. Yet it is a self-induced trauma. The Palestinians receive more aid per capita than anyone else on earth. Yet they continue to suffer because Hamas squanders this aid on guns and bombs. There are hundreds of tunnels between Gaza, Israel, and Egypt. Yet these tunnels are not used for food smuggling, but rather solely weapons smuggling. This shows the priorities of Hamas. Furthermore, as you must know, 100% of all deaths in Gaza are Hamas’s fault. They started this war and are firing from civilian locations and using women and children as human shields. Moreover, there even have been cases of women and children running to be ‘shahids.’

   Israel has every right to defend itself, and yet you, as an Israeli, are waging a public relations campaign against your very country in this hour of need. Shonda, is all I can say.

   In short, short, your support for this letter, as well as your previous article, deeply disappoint me. They show me that you are not the interesting and informative writer I thought you were. I used to be a big fan, and now I am not. With the past two columns, I see you are part of the problem.

   

   2. Red Tulips
   on January 12th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
   

3. Amazing how that observer can talk out of both sides of its mouth
   at the same time without tripping over its own tongue.

   

   3. jfrancis
   on January 12th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
   

4. I would easily add my name to this letter!

   

   4. Halla
   on January 12th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
   

5. Would the real Sabras please stand up? Why is it that every time a major news outlet or even Democracy Now interview an Israeli scholar or commentator, it happens do be some schlepp with an American accent who hasn’t served in the army and probably got off the Brooklyn-Tel Aviv Aliya plane just a few months ago.

   Where are the real Israelis, of the Rabin mold?

   

   5. igor
   on January 12th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
   

6. Seen to the comments on the letter there is a lot of fright to open up and repair the damage being done.

   

   6. Mongrel
   on January 12th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
   

7. Let me correct a glaring mistake in this article.

   Doing a half-assed job and not eliminating Hamas, will strengthen the extremists. Therefore if we go with the advice advocated in this article, we would end up strengthening Hamas.

   Doing a full job and eliminating Hamas, will eliminate the extremists ability to act – and therefore weaken them operationally. Anyone who doesn’t think that eliminating the operational capacity of an openly genocidal terrorist network is a positive thing needs to check themselves into a ward.

   The article demands “an immediate and permanent ceasefire”, but if we have an immediate ceasefire it will not be permanent. Hamas has no interest in ceasing in its goals of annihilating Israel. Any declared ceasefire will only be bound to Israel. Advocating this immediate ceasefire is simply an attempt to limit Israel’s ability to act against Hamas and will enable Hamas to grow in strength. Furthermore, calling for an immediate ceasefire at this point shows complete hypocracy. Where was this call while Hamas was repeatedly firing at Israeli civilians? It was nowhere.

   I also want to mark out the elephant: this article equates Israeli and Palestinian deaths – not noting the fact that Hamas instigated this round of fighting by attacking Israeli civilians, not noting the fact that Hamas is an opnely genocidal terrorist network, and not noting that Israel may have made history in its efforts to avoid civilian casualties through its warning of population centers of attack through leafleting and the phone (despite the fact this alerts Hamas to Israeli targets), and its utilization of precision attacks that reduce collateral damage as much as humanly possible.

   “We look upon the increasing loss of life on both sides of the Gaza conflict with horror”

   I look at loss of life as a terrible thing, however I understand quite clearly that responsibility for lost life on all sides rests with Hamas as demonstrated by their refusal to distinguish their forces from any non-combatants, their refusal to renounce their [founding] exterminationist charter, and their constant attacks which coincide with their exterminationist agenda… for starters.

   Lisa Goldman, by advocating that Israel stop military efforts in Gaza you are leading Israel towards being a failed state – for what is a nation that is unable to defend its own people?

   

   7. Steven
   on January 13th, 2009 at 12:23 am
   

8. Ps. Where is the letter addressed to Hamas?

   Answer: Of course there is no letter addressed to Hamas because we are hypocrites.

   

   8. Steven
   on January 13th, 2009 at 12:50 am
   

9. A well written letter. In the meantime, our government is boosted with the war’s “success” and pushing deeper into Gaza.

   

   9. Yohay
   on January 13th, 2009 at 10:32 am
   

10. To Steven’s comment above:

    I don’t quite see how Israel can do a “full job of eliminating Hamas” short of butchering anything that moves in Gaza.

    You gotta be realistic here. What is the best the Israel can hope to accomplish in Gaza? Emphasis on “REALISTIC”. Hamas is not specific group of people, in a specific location, where you can say “ok, i’ve eliminated all of them. so now i’m done.” It is not as discrete a task as that, and it is naive to think otherwise.

    It’s about as silly as thinking that Israel can cease to exist, short of tossing the entire population to sea (ironically enough, that seems to be the equally naive belief on the Hamas side).

    The letter’s authors have their heart in the right place. REALISTICALLY speaking, the only solution is a negotiated solution.
    What the letter overlooks, perhaps, is the fact that to get a negotiated solution, you need to have two sides willing to negotiate. And unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case.

    

    10. Bad Vilbel
    on January 14th, 2009 at 3:20 am
    

11. @jfrancis,

    I second your sentiments completely.

    

    11. Adam Daniel Mezei
    on January 14th, 2009 at 6:28 am
    

12. My friend, Lisa.

    I noticed on the side of your new-look blog that you can translate into Hebrew, French, German, Spanish and Italian.

    Add Arabic, please. Then maybe, just maybe, you can enlighten one more blind hate-filled person. Then maybe, just maybe, we’ll be one step further from the hell we are already living.

    

    12. Gilbert
    on January 14th, 2009 at 7:26 am
    

13. To Bad Vilbel,

    “I don’t quite see how Israel can do a “full job of eliminating Hamas” short of butchering anything that moves in Gaza.”

    It is extremely simple – to Eliminate Hamas you need to strangle their capacity to attack Israel. This can be done by cutting off all supplies of weaponry and targeting their power structure until they are no longer operationally capable of launching any attacks against Israel.

    “You gotta be realistic here. What is the best the Israel can hope to accomplish in Gaza? Emphasis on “REALISTIC”. Hamas is not specific group of people, in a specific location, where you can say “ok, i’ve eliminated all of them. so now i’m done.” It is not as discrete a task as that, and it is naive to think otherwise.”

    Your approach is to say the goal is impossible – thats ridiculous. Of course it is possible to eliminate Hamas – you just need to be aware that such a goal is going to take time to achieve. The extremely unrealistic alternative is to allow Hamas to maintain power and therefore invite further confrontation further down the line.

    “It’s about as silly as thinking that Israel can cease to exist, short of tossing the entire population to sea (ironically enough, that seems to be the equally naive belief on the Hamas side).”

    Thats pretty low equating me to Hamas and claiming that I am advocating mass genocide. It is long past the time to be realistic. This is a war – and we are fighting against a very dangerous ideology which must be defeated resolutely. Leaving Hamas in power will perpetuate conflict. The only solution is to eliminate Hamas in Gaza, and this is completely feasible.

    “The letter’s authors have their heart in the right place.”

    Even if that is so, their minds are not in the right place.

    “REALISTICALLY speaking, the only solution is a negotiated solution.”

    Go to a Hamas rally, try and “negotiate” with the people there who call for open genocide against the Jewish people – then come back to me.

    “What the letter overlooks, perhaps, is the fact that to get a negotiated solution, you need to have two sides willing to negotiate. And unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case.”

    Finally, you are beginning to get it.

    

    13. Steven
    on January 14th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
    

14. I always read these “open letters” (usually published on the front page of Haaretz in Israel) with an alternating mixture of admiration and stupefaction.

    First, I admire the oh-so-sensible contents of the letter, with which more than 90% of Israelis would agree with anyway as it says nothing new. Then, I am stupefied at the naiveté of those who believe there is a realistic chance for their high-browed ideas to actually work.

    Then again I admire them. Then again I’m stupefied. And so on and so forth, my soul torn between these two emotions, until I am ready to flip the page of the newspaper (or click to another page) and continue reading. The entire process usually takes me no more than 0.2 seconds.

    

    14. sharvul
    on January 14th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
    

15. It is very easy to agree with every single word of their open letter. But this unbearable easiness is totally refuted by the everyday reality, see the today (January 27, 2009) incident at the Gaza border where one Israeli soldier was killed and other where wounded by the Hamas.

    So what in fact is at stake here: this unbearable Utopian letter addressed to whom, the Israelis, the Hamas, to the writers themselves in some unpredictable loop ? Or the suicidal Hamas- Gaza ideology not taking into account open letters if their bottom line is not the annihilation of the Jewish state.

    So, I suppose the people signing the above letter showed their good will but they lack the 10000 hours of expertise every Israeli has gained trough the innumerable broken ceasefires, talks and agreements with the Hamas leading to nothing.

    

    15. Korzac
    on January 27th, 2009 at 11:59 pm