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TechnoratiEven yesterday evening, after the IDF already had killed about 50 Palestinians, at least half of them unarmed, and including quite a number of women and children, Jerusalem continued to claim, "At present there will be no major ground operation." It's incredible: The IDF penetrates the heart of a crowded refugee camp, kills in a terrifyingly wholesale manner, with horrible bloodshed, and Israel continues to disseminate the lie of restraint. Two days earlier Israel killed more Palestinians than have been killed by all the Qassams over the past seven years. Among the dead were four children and an infant. The next day Israel killed another five boys. And who is the victim? Israel. And who is cruel? The Palestinians.
This victimhood is not new, nor is our self-deception. The current lie: 'restraint.' Israel is demonstrating 'restraint' in the face of the Qassams; this assertion continues to spur the commentators and security experts to urge it to embark on the anticipated 'major operation.' But this operation began long ago. It reached its peak yesterday.
Our desperate attempt to have our cake and eat it, too, to claim that there is no 'major operation' at a time when the IDF is killing dozens every day, is nothing new. It has existed since the days of the 'enlightened occupation' and 'purity of arms,' through 'the major operation that has yet to begin' - all of them impossible desires. A senior minister who was asked last week about the siege on Gaza replied: 'Occupation of Gaza is less moral.' In this way, we have once again established ourselves a relative and distorted values system, with no absolute morality, only a double standard. Behind every action of ours in Gaza, even the terrible one this weekend, hides an option that is even worse. The fact that we are not yet carrying it out helps us to present ourselves in a positive light, to boast how moral we are.
During the past two years, we have killed almost 900 Gaza residents. About half of them were people who did not take part in the fighting. That is how restraint looks. At a time when we are counting the Qassams and their victims, in Gaza they are counting the dead. Presenting things as though we have not yet entered Gaza or "beaten the hell out of Gaza" is meant to deceive. Yes, more can be done.
Imagine if the Palestinians were to kill dozens of Israelis, including women and children, in one week, as the IDF did. What an international outcry we would raise, and justifiably. Only in our own eyes can we still adhere to our restrained, forbearing image. All the talk about the 'major operation' is designed to achieve only one goal: to show it is possible to be even more violent and cruel.
That is an extremely pathetic consolation. The siege, the assassinations and the raid this weekend are terrifying enough. The claim that as opposed to them, we do not intend to kill children and citizens, is also overused and deceptive. The gun sights of Israeli weaponry are sophisticated. If the Palestinians had Apache helicopters and sophisticated drones like ours, we can assume that they would choose more strategic targets than the yard of a hospital in Ashkelon or a parking lot in Sderot. The Qassam is the weapon of the poor and helpless.
In the South, a war of attrition is taking place between the strong and the weak. It will not be stopped by military means. It is therefore surprising and depressing to see the uniform chorus of the residents of the Western Negev, city dwellers and kibbutzniks, the direct victims, in favor of the IDF's pointless fighting. How is it that in the entire South, not a single different voice can be heard, calling for a change in direction? How is it that no group of Sderot residents, yes, they of all people, is shouting in protest? Demonstrating in the city squares, not in favor of more of the same, but in favor of a different, much more promising approach? After all, they are the ones who are paying the heavy price, and they should be the first to see what the residents of the center of the country cannot see.?
The residents of Sderot, and now Ashkelon as well, have to look and see beyond the fence that is meant to protect them, and is imprisoning their neighbors. To understand that as long as things are so bad there, things will be bitter for them as well. That as long as we don't talk to them, nothing will change. They, who know that every assassination is followed by the 'Color Red' Qassam alert, fear and anxiety, who know that dozens of assassinations have not improved their lives at all, that the present raid will not help either, should be the pioneers who bring about the change we need.?
A large operation is now at its height. It has not helped at all so far; it will never help. Neither will the siege, the assassinations, the raids or the bombings. Perhaps the good will originate from the South, and someone there will call for something else?
--Gideon Levy
© Copyright 2008 Haaretz
29 Comments so far
Show AllThe corrupt Israeli leadership NEEDS a few Israeli deaths on a regular basis to keep the population whipped up and ready for war.
Sound familiar?
Lizard, I agree that Israeli title to Israel has a dubious basis, but it is an accomplished fact. I live on land once "owned" in a sense by the Ohlone tribe. The Ohlone title to my land is probably of at least equal legal merit if not better than that of the Israelis to Israel, but the Ohlones are not going to get my home or neighborhood anytime soon.
The Palestinians are not going to get a unified state of Israel/Palestine with equal rights and standing for all anytime soon either. Maybe after two hundred years of peace between two neighboring states, but not tomorrow and never at the point of a gun. It hasn't worked for 50 years; it is not going to start working tomorrow. The Palestinians need a completely new kind of leadership. Of course so do we here in the US and so does Israel, desperately. My point is that the Palestinians can't change that. They can only change how they resist. The Israelis have shown this time and time again - if you do the Achille Lauro, we'll do Sabra and Shatilla; if you lob a rocket at us, we'll send helicopter gunships to blow up your entire neighborhood and everyone in it; if you blow up a bus full of teens, grandmas and workers in Israel, we will send Mossad agents anywhere in the world you can hide and they'll kill you in your sleep. The Palestinians are not going to win it this way. They are just extending the suffering indefinitely.
David Grayling, March 3rd:
"The only answer that I can see is to modify our genetic mix, get rid of some of the primitive, barbaric instincts that constantly drive us (sex, violence, greed, etc)."
Shit. Get yeself to a more genocidal discussion page. Also, move your mind into the 21st century. Ever hear of socialization? Do you actually believe that there are evil qualities infecting the human race, that we could simply "get rid of"? This is straight-up nazi thinking... maybe you are a nazi?
Lizard:
"Lots of peoples don't have a country. The Armenians, Quebecers, Basque, Kurds, and others. It is also debatable that jews are a people. They think they are, but on what basis? A common religion does not make a people, and there is no unifying jewish culture. What north americans think of as jewish is actually european customs adapted by jews. Jews do not have a common ancestry. many jews are converted and many Muslim palestininas are converted jews descended from Jacob, which many ,if not most ,european jews are not. The only basis for considering jews a separate people is that they consider themselves a separate people. A common history of persecution does not make a people either. African Americans are not a separate people, nor do they merit a separate country on the basis of their suffering. It would be nice, but the earth is entirely occupied, so where would this country come from? Perhaps one of the states? It is the europeans who should have lost land to make Israel, if the creation of Israel were justified, which it is not."
A lot of what you are saying is really good here. The question of whether "the Jews" are a people or not is only somewhat relevant to the Israel/Palestine issue. You claim that "they think they are." First of all, watch what you say as a (presumably) non-jew saying what "Jews think." Certainly, much mainstream 'Jewish' discourse identifies "the jews" as a people. Reform Judaism is based on this notion, (I think). However, there are certainly all kinds of Jews who would disagree, (this of course depends on the interpretation of the idea of a "people" to begin with), and diversity of cultural backgrounds is likely a prime reason.
lizard -
Thanks for correcting my factual error. I was suggesting this merely as a spoof argument by which we might persuade the Israelis to pack up and redisperse. Any such directive would have to resonate with the Zionist mindset, i.e. it would have to affirm their entitlement, and it would have to come from God himself. In a previous post I suggested that God give them the moon. I think the moon would be a dandy place for them, considering the abrasive relations they have always had with their neighbors wherever they have settled. They would be fairly secure there, and in no time at all the place would be a flowering paradise with running rivers and happy, dancing, gentle people.
For another take on Israel's 'restraint'
Remember the USS Liberty!!!!
A good example of their friendship -
http://www.gtr5.com/
On June 8, 1967, US Navy intelligence ship USS Liberty was suddenly and brutally attacked on the high seas in international waters by the air and naval forces of Israel. The Israeli forces attacked with full knowledge that this was an American ship and lied about it. Survivors have been forbidden for 40 years to tell their story under oath to the American public. This USS Liberty Memorial web site tells their story and is dedicated to the memory of the 34 brave men who died.
The Attack
After surveilling USS Liberty for more than nine hours with almost hourly aircraft over flights and radar tracking, the air and naval forces of Israel attacked our ship in international waters without warning. USS Liberty was identified as a US naval ship nine hours before the attack by Israeli reconnaissance aircraft and continuously tracked by Israeli radar and aircraft thereafter. Sailing in international waters at less than five knots, with no offensive armament, our ship was not a military threat to anyone.
The Israeli forces attacked without warning and without attempting to contact us. Thirty four Americans were killed in the attack and another 174 were wounded. The ship, a $40 Million Dollar state of the art signals intelligence platform, was later declared unsalvageable and sold for scrap.
The Cover Up
Despite a near-uniform consensus that the Israeli attack was made with full knowledge that USS Liberty was a US Navy ship, the Johnson administration began an immediate cover-up of this fact. Though individual administration officers continued individually to characterize the attack as deliberate, the Johnson administration never sought the prosecution of the guilty parties or otherwise attempted to seek justice for the victims. They concealed and altered evidence in their effort to downplay the attack. Though they never formally accepted the Israeli explanation that it was an accident, they never pressed for a full investigation either. They simply allowed those responsible literally to get away with murder.
Anti-Semitism and the Anti-American Apologists
.
The USS Liberty Memorial site abhors the racist and ill-informed positions taken by the Liberty Lobby, the American Free Press, and similar anti-Semitic organizations. We repudiate their comments and oppose them in every way. The campaign for accountability for the attack on USS Liberty has no room for hatemongers. We do not seek harmfor any country or people, only accountability for the criminal acts perpetrated against us.
Nonetheless, the legion of pro-Israel, anti-American apologists, while small, makes up for its lack of numbers and inability to mount any kind of legitimate defense by launching loud, vicious ad hominem attacks on anyone who attempts to raise the issue of the attack being deliberate. These anti-American apologists refuse to discuss the facts of the case. Rather they rely on "big lie" propaganda and attack anyone who questions the Israeli position as being "anti-Semitic".
For detailed information about the power of the pro-Israel lobby, please read The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy. See also, The Pro-Israel Lobby.
Hamas suggested a 50 year truce. Israel demanded Hamas recognize the State of Israel. Hamas refused. Why does Israel need this recognition? To erase the illegality of the establishment of Israel? In part. Mostly Israel doesn't want peace, it wants land. A truce doesn't facilitate that.
Jareilly: It seems from your other post that you see Israelis and Palestinians as having equal grievances. I think you will find that Palestinian arabs find this offensive. You are accepting certain assumptions which are not valid. Perhaps one of them is that Israel has a right to exist. Another is that Israel is defending itself. The truth is radically different from that. Look into it.
Jareilly: The fact is that Hamas has tried for a cease fire many times without success, Israel always undermines the process. The rockets are not from hamas anyway, but from Islamic Jihad and they are more recalcitrant. israel's favorite method of ruining negotiations is to assasinate some prominent arab palestinian "terrorist". These few and ineffective rockets are the only thing they have. Its rather pathetic actually, but complaining about being hit by them is even more so.
Why a two state solution? Isn't that already deciding for them? This is not a blood feud, this is an illegal occupation of arab lands after an illegal theft of arab lands. Jews were 6% of the population of Palestine before Israel was established. Why do they get to set the terms? Why not one state with equal rights for everyone? Is there another state that excludes people from other religions? Does the holocaust give them special rights?
jareilly March 3rd, 2008 5:21 pm:
"A reasonable US policy would give both sides 6 months to come up with a provisional two-state solution, with UN oversight and a demilitarized frontier, followed by UN-mediated talks on a long term solution. If both sides failed at this we'd cut off the money and leave them to their appalling bloodfeud."
A reasonable plan, certainly, so when will we hear "reasonable" US/Israeli politicians say something along these lines instead of rejecting similar plans coming from the Arab states and the Hamas government? (check out the Arab peace initiative proposed in 2002, rejected by the US/Israel, then proposed again in 2007)
Maybe it's not so smart to use gmail for political organizing?
Dear Palestinian Alliance,
Please give this a little thought.
Google "guarantees" that they will read your mail at gmail. And unlike the NSA they have the brains and the means to follow up on that.
Google is a publicly owned corporation, so anything the original founders may have said about "doing no evil" is an historical curiosity. The only thing that matters at a publicly held corporation is the bottom line.
Google has rolled in China to protect its bottom line and it will certainly roll, if it hasn't already, to protect its bottom line in the USA.
Don't stab your supporters in the back by using google mail for political organizing. It may be true that others will try to act as google has, but google guarantees that all gmail will be read by "the machine".
Vox Clamantis: Jews are the only people without a country.
Well, not really. Lots of peoples don't have a country. The Armenians, Quebecers, Basque, Kurds, and others. It is also debatable that jews are a people. They think they are, but on what basis? A common religion does not make a people, and there is no unifying jewish culture. What north americans think of as jewish is actually european customs adapted by jews. Jews do not have a common ancestry. many jews are converted and many Muslim palestininas are converted jews descended from Jacob, which many ,if not most ,european jews are not. The only basis for considering jews a separate people is that they consider themselves a separate people. A common history of persecution does not make a people either. African Americans are not a separate people, nor do they merit a separate country on the basis of their suffering. It would be nice, but the earth is entirely occupied, so where would this country come from? Perhaps one of the states? It is the europeans who should have lost land to make Israel, if the creation of Israel were justified, which it is not.
Thank you Gideon Levy. Thank you for this article, your anger, your reasoning, your passion, your hummanity.
Jobson: "Who supports Israel any more? Just the devoted arms dealers and their friends?"
I'm sure we could get our prime minister, Harpo, to declare that Israel's response to the Qassams is "measured." He would probably be glad of the chance to kiss some more US-Israeli ass.
generally I am sympathetic towards Levy's argument and the comments. I just wonder, how is it that this discourse never questions the almost never-ending Qassam missile attacks out of Gaza? Whether there are talks or not, whether Israel is attacking or not, whether the checkpoints and embargoes are tight or not, the rockets just keep coming into Israeli territory. Obviously somebody believes that endlessly hitting Israel with these deadly but relatively primitive weapons will have some desirable effect. So, have they? What have Hamas militants and others firing these rockets brought their own people? Destruction, death, suffering and misery. Militant, armed Palestinian resistance has been one of the worst, most self-destructive failures in history. All the macho preening, the vengeance killing, the tit-for-tat has accomplished essentially nothing of value for the Palestinians, whose situation can fairly be called worse than it was in 1948. Yes, Israel is cynical and ruthless, yes, Israel is by far the greater military power, yes Israel is manipulating the US and the diaspora, yes many of the settlers are outright violent fascists. All true. And only getting worse in the face of violent Palestinian resistance. No doubt some readers are thinking that nobody but Palestinians have any right to determine the nature of their struggle. I don't agree. The Palestinian leadership has an obligation to do what it can to protect and lift up its people, something they have never done since 1948. And anyway, the truth is, I suspect that many people around the world are utterly exhausted with stupid, bloody intransigence on both sides. There is a non-violent path here. True, Palestinians taking the non-violent path would probably still die, but they are dying now by the tens and twenties. True the struggle would still be long and hard, but it's already been long and hard and there is no relief in sight. I would day this to Palestinians and Israelis both: "We are tired of your pointless bloodbath and we are tired of getting sucked into it. Enough! Grow up! If you can't play nice then get out of the sandbox." A reasonable US policy would give both sides 6 months to come up with a provisional two-state solution, with UN oversight and a demilitarized frontier, followed by UN-mediated talks on a long term solution. If both sides failed at this we'd cut off the money and leave them to their appalling bloodfeud.
Israel needs terrorist counter-attacks to support its propaganda claims that Palestinians are inherently evil people and deserve to be killed and their land stolen. In the second intifada, the kill ratio was initially ~10, but Palestinians fought back enough to reduce it to the range of 2-2.5. Israel upped their level of violence to achieve a more comfortable ratio (for them) of ~4 by the end of the this intifada. Lately, Israel seems to insist on a ratio of ~10, although in the last couple of weeks this has increased to ~30. On a logarithmic scale, they are closer to the Heydrich ratio of 100 than what happened in the intifada.
The Heydrich ratio comes from the Nazi response to the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, which was to kill a lot of civilians in the area. I note the actual ratio in his case was several hundred, but 100 makes a good threshold. I note US military in Iraq probably has a ratio of over 50, with far higher total numbers than in the case of Israel/Palestine. However, if the US-Iraq ratio is measured from 1991 (as it should be) the kill ratio significantly increases.
Andrew, the bad seed that allows humans to do the evil that they do (as in Gaza) is within us all. No courses are going to change that.
The only answer that I can see is to modify our genetic mix, get rid of some of the primitive, barbaric instincts that constantly drive us (sex, violence, greed, etc).
Humans can't be anything other than what they are! After all, we don't blame a rattlesnake or a lion for being ornery, do we?
www.dangerouscreation.com
The USA needs to stop supporting the terrorists(Israel)by withholding the yearly BILLIONS to this WELFARE STATE.
Homo sapiens was picked as our species' name to suggest that human beings have wisdom or good judgement
Do we?
Why do we pick fights with eachother as if there was a difference between Jew and nonJew? Black and white? Male and female? High IQ and low IQ? capitalist and socialist?
People are blinded and proud of meaningless attributes that cause most of the suffering in the world.
Isn't there something we can all do to change this?
Humility 101 required before you can leave grade school. Humility 202 to leave middle school. A project proving humility to graduate high school and more in college?
Can we train ourselves not to hate?
America's - er, that's Israel's - definition of a fair fight:
"AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter: The main fixed armament is a 30 mm M230 chain gun, it is also able to carry a mixture of AGM-114 Hellfire and Hydra 70 rockets on four hard points mounted on its stub-wing pylons."
"Merkava MK3 Tank: Main Gun 120mm smooth-bore cannon; Coaxial machinegun 7.62mm; Anti-personnel machinegun 2 x 7.62mm; Commander's machinegun 12.7 mm; Light Mortar 60mm."
"TN 90 Howitzer; Towed Howitzer ATHOS 2052 long range 155mm 52 cal. Gun; Gabriel III/AS Missile; SPIKE-SR Short Range Anti-Tank Weapon; LAR - Light Artillery Rocket System.
Vs.
"Qassam rocket: A simple steel rocket filled with explosives. Three models have been used. They are all free-flying artillery rockets lacking any guidance system."
Clearly, Israel is the victimized underdog peacemongering country.
On Saturday alone, some 60 people were killed, the biggest Palestinian casualty toll since the second intifada broke out more than seven years ago.
Up till today more than 110 have been killed and more than 300 injured, why does Gideon Levy write dozens? Although I respect almost all his writings, the dozens seems a little deceptive..
Who supports Israel?
The two Democratic nomineees for president, that's who.
Unfortunately, in the last debate, both Hillary and Obama were falling all over each other to see who could pledge to continue the Unites States' "special" and even "sacrosanct" relationship with Israel.
Despicable. Israel should be internationally reviled and isolated as the apartheid and criminal state that it is. What is happening in Gaza is an international disgrace.
Who supports Israel any more? Just the devoted arms dealers and their friends?
voxclamantis: Jews are no different than anyone else in this regard. Ask the Chinese about the Japanese, or the Tibetans about the Chinese, or the Jews about the Germans, or the First Nations of our continent about us.
Those nations that are less evil tend to be sparsely populated (Canada) or have fairly natural borders (France). But really, armed nation-states are a nasty relic of our barbaric past.
The diaspora is one of the smartest things God ever permitted. Taken individually, Jews are as intelligent and charitable as the rest of us. As scientists and artists and doctors and businessmen, they are generally an asset to their professions and their institutions. Their religion is no sillier than any other. But when they get together to form a nation, they are like gremlins. Something comes over them. They become a plague.
The problem for progressive diplomacy will be how to extricate the Jewish people from their collective monster. We could perhaps argue that the leavening should be dispersed throughout the bread, not gathered together in a foul clump. That Yahweh had better plans for them than to retrench themselves in a tribal fortress like frightened troglodytes. We could offer them air fare back to Great Neck, back to Europe and Russia, offer them counseling, help them to recognize that being the only people on earth without a country is a good and special thing, a holistic honor reserved for only the Chosen.
Message from Free Palestine Alliance:
Urgent - Call for International Palestine Tribunals
March 2, 2008
Please print and forward widely!
Below is a concise and direct declaration that calls for holding international tribunals for those guilty of the successive campaigns of terror against the Palestinian people. It is unique in that it is the first international public effort to hold guilty Arab regimes, Palestinians, Israelis, and US officials fully responsible for the ongoing Zionist crimes. By signing this declaration and by passing it through as much as possible worldwide, where all signatories are sought and welcomed, we will be initiating the first real steps to holding war tribunals internationally. This is also a tangible step to returning Palestine to its international position as a flagship for justice and self-determination. We urge you to actively support this declaration wherever you are, on every continent. Take it to your protests, ask your organization to sign on, engage everyone about who is responsible, and help build a momentum that will go well beyond protests and temporary reactions into sustained efforts and full accountability. We look forward to forming international tribunal committees soon after.
Please sign and pass it on. Time is critical!
"We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, regard what is taking place against the Palestinian people, particularly those of the Gaza Strip, not only as a war crime but also as a crime against humanity. While we hold the Zionist Israeli government directly responsible for these murderous campaigns, we also hold guilty Arab regimes, including the Palestinian Authority and the office of Mahmud Abbas, as accessory to these crimes in collaboration with the US administration. Through this declaration, we are taking the first steps to begin the process of holding international tribunals for all those guilty, either directly or as an accessory through their deadly silence, irrespective of who they are. The unbelievable and seemingly unending suffering of the Palestinian people requires that those responsible are forthwith brought to justice under international criminal law."
To sign on to this declaration, please send a message to: PalTribunal@gmail.com.
Signatories and updates will be sent out periodically.
jareilly -
Perhaps if the Ohlones lobbed a few rockets into your back yard their claim to your land would at least get into the newspaper. I don't think the Palestinians are thinking strategically or in terms of any short term win. They are simply responding to an occupation in a natural and primitive and completely understandable way. When people are being crushed out of existence they get upset and surley and murderous. They can keep it up for generations. They may never push Israel into the sea, but they have it in their power to make Palestine a dangerous place for Israelis, and they are willing to pay that price. People in that part of the world have an appetite for indefinite suffering and have no apparent need to resolve the differences that constitute their cultural identities.
As much as new leadership would be nice to see, Olmert won his election and Hamas is wildly popular in Gaza despite the added suffering. You can't impose "better" leaders on people who don't want them, as we are proving in Iraq. In Palestine we are dealing with ancient tribes and ancient hatreds, and the European/American template doesn't fit.
Vox, thanks for the thoughtful comment. I am not sure I buy the "ancient hatreds" argument, but the two opponents do seem weirdly content with their grim, unending struggle. Still, their horrendous squabble keeps sucking in the rest of the world, including my little part of it. My oldest boy with be draft age in 4 years for one thing. For another, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is at the root of a whole constellation of big problems that will never be solved until there is something resembling peace between the two. So, the near impossibility of a solution does not let us the hook. Sometimes all you can do is try to say hopeful and constructive things. Common goddamn sense may catch up to mad, murderous passion one day. Unable to apply it practically we can nevertheless keep it alive by speaking it.
Jareilly : Your logic seems to be that as long as Israel has the bigger guns and uses them disproportionately and with extreme prejudice it is wiser for anyone attempting to protect themselves from their criminal action, to desist and surrender unconditionally forsaking any meaningful resistance armed or otherwise.
This Israel is the same country that was formed by a UN resolution, but yet has ignored 66 UNSC resolutions, a liturgy of their aggression, ever since, and that is only in the extreme cases in which a resolution could actually pass the doting protections and filtrations of the US Veto.
Surely you realise you are talking about a nuclear armed country, a non-signatory of the NNPT, known to have shared the beginning of a weapons programme with South Africa's apartheid administration, before the effective inspection and nuclear disarmament of that country quietly done by IAEA. Also Israel is commonly known to posses stocks of banned chemical and biological arms.
This business of an Israel that can do no wrong, and the idea of looking at the Israelis as somehow civilized, while the Palestinians are seen as somehow primitive, "the holder of ancient hatreds"… implied per Vox's comment, is quite absurd.
The two most primitive countries in the world today support each other in the great self delusion that military force and aggression can solve any dispute, hence adding more force, sophisticated weapons systems, and ever increasing the level depravity. As such they have proved their willingness to descend to the depths of the lowest of the low; torture, targeted assassination, collective punishment, ethnic cleansing, or just plain genocide, to IMPOSE THEIR SOLLUTIONS. The simple fact is these methods DO NOT WORK. In the two hundred years of US history, they have not once, on their own, successfully won a war or occupied a country, with the exception of Japan, and that was for very particular and specific reasons, more pertinent to the natore of the Japanese people, and the special conditions of their capitulation. MIGHT IS NEVER RIGHT, at least not on its own and for the wrong reasons.
The long and short of it is America's self delusion of supper power status is very expensive in every way, and is sinking the country and the glob into a morass. If any other country behaved like either Israel or the USA in terms of aggression, threat, or disregard for international law, treaty, and human rights, it would considered a pariah of state terrorism. Then, how else can one see the actions of these countries, be it in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba, and Haiti today (never mind the history now, or the list would be too long)?
We have a delinquent giant who does not know he is bankrupt, and his little Nazi-Zionist side kick, both armed to the teeth telling the world that only THEIR solutions are workable, But the world they need to borrow from to pay for their toys is no longer listening and these bullies have started to grab for what they can.
You said "So, the near impossibility of a solution does not let us (of) the hook." You are right. The solution which you do not realise is the non - American/Israeli solution which requires that America and Israel must stop their tyranny or your son will be drafted and perhaps killed, because the rest of the world has had enough. I would regret that.
If I had been alive in 1935, I would have said to a German, "you can change your country yourself today or I will do whatever is necessary, even die to limit the harm your country does to people tomorrow". I think the millions that marched before the Iraq invasion, and the thousands that daily work as volunteers to help the Palestinians and the millions world wide that boycott Israeli and American goods, must make you start to realise that there are enough non-delusional people, and that their numbers are growing. They need to see justice done and they have sufficient solidarity, patience, and inventiveness to make a different future.