Opinion

Disproportionate force in Gaza

The myriad political and social forces at work in the Israel-Gaza conflict are almost too complex to comprehend, but anyone can understand that a death ratio of 1 to 100 means something is terribly wrong.

Posted on Jan. 22, 2009, at 12:00 a.m.

The recent outbreak of violence in Gaza has done nothing to further a peaceful resolution in the Middle East and has only resulted in devastating casualties. However, Israel succeeded in once again proving itself to be a clear aggressor, and the case for peace has become urgent. As if President Obama doesn’t have enough on his plate, he will be charged with the near-impossible task of mediating a long-lasting agreement between the two parties.

The numbers are astounding. In 23 days, more than 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed. Nearly 60,000 residents of Gaza los t their homes, and more than 400,000 have no running water.

None of this should insinuate that Hamas is without fault. They have been party to countless numbers of deplorable acts. Neither are the Israelis blameless, and they shown with their latest offensive just how harmful they can be. Of the 1,300 Palestinian casualties, 900 were civilians and 400 of those were children. The disproportionate numbers show a willingness on the part of the Israelis to terrorize the Palestinians by killing civilians.

Hamas provides a wide range of support services to the Palestinians. While they clearly aren’t your grandmother’s government, they also aren’t simply the blood-thirsty terrorists they are often portrayed as. I’ll draw heat for saying this, but a large part of the negative stigma the American media and state department puts on Palestine has to do with its Muslim faith. America and its citizens have never been too cozy with Muslims, but since Sept. 11, favor has dropped even more. As much as I hate to admit it, President Obama probably won’t be able to do much to correct the stereotype that all Muslims are terrorists, and he may not even try. Thirty-five percent of Texas already thinks he’s a Muslim-loving, Jew-hating heretic.

Back to the issue at hand, Israel is also a nuclear power, and – as we all learned from Spiderman’s uncle – with great power comes great responsibility. When Israel developed nuclear weapons, it effectively lost its ability to act as a whining child. Not only did the Israelis prove they possess greater technological ability than the Palestinians, they also accepted a moral responsibility to act with an air of decency. Again, not to diminish the deplorable acts by Hamas, but when the body count is a ratio of 100-to-1 there is obviously no contest between the two parties.

I am by no means an expert on this topic. The Israel-Palestine conflict is complex should not be over-simplified – which I am certainly doing here. But the same tired line we always hear from Israel about defending their sovereignty does not justify the disproportionate force they use to do so.

William P. Davis is Web editor for The Maine Campus.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 22nd, 2009, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.