Spring Break
Israeli Defense Force not offensive to me
Nick Carlson
Issue date: 1/28/09 Section: Opinion
During the past several years Hamas has fired numerous rockets into Israel killing 15 Israeli civilians since 2002 and putting 750,000 Israeli civilians under a constant 24 threat of death from the sky by Hamas launched rockets. Despite all of this in 2008 Israel attempted to make peace with Hamas and lifted the blockade of Gaza. This cease fire was contingent on Hamas ending both its rocket attacks and weapons smuggling. Hamas did neither of these things but pretended to and when Israel discovered the truth and raided a Hamas weapons smuggling tunnel Hamas responded with a barrage of rocket fire into southern Israel.
No nation can long persist in continuing with normal activities while constantly watching the sky hoping that a rocket isn't about to blow them to pieces. If Israel is unable to put a stop to the Hamas rocket fire then normal life in southern Israel will have to cease. Already school attendance in southern Israel stands at 25% primarily due to parents concerns about exposing children to the risk of rocket attack. A sovereign nation should not have to stand for such treatment and Israel has decided that it won't. In accordance with this stance Israel launched offensive operations into the Gaza strip in an attempt to locate and eliminate the persons responsible for the rocket attacks.
I don't want to stand before you say that I am glad that Israel did this, like all decent persons I am disgusted and disheartened by war. However it is far better to have a war than to have to submit to terrorist demands of an outside aggressor. It is for this reason that I have to regretfully support Israel's use of force against Hamas. It would be far better if both parties could come to a peaceful agreement but Hamas has repeatedly and clearly rejected the idea of peace with Israel. To this day Hamas does not even accept the idea of Israel's right to exist as a nation. It seems obvious that a successful long term peace agreement would require at the very least this but Hamas has repeatedly refused to change its stance.
This leads one to the conclusion that Hamas does not truly desire peace for the people of Gaza but instead desires the continuation of the conflict forever. This analysis makes some sense when you consider that if a permanent peace were to break out Hamas would not need to exist. The ability to smuggle weapons into Gaza and fire rockets at Israel would no longer be in demand and the members of Hamas would find themselves out of a job. Until this state of affairs changes and the members of Hamas reevaluate their goals and aims conflict is inevitable. Israel having learned that they cannot rely upon treaties and deals to protect themselves from rocket fire has taken the only logical remaining step: military action.
It is for these reasons that despite my distaste for violence that I support Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip. If this action brings a lasting peace by destroying Hamas then it will have been worth whatever it costs.
No nation can long persist in continuing with normal activities while constantly watching the sky hoping that a rocket isn't about to blow them to pieces. If Israel is unable to put a stop to the Hamas rocket fire then normal life in southern Israel will have to cease. Already school attendance in southern Israel stands at 25% primarily due to parents concerns about exposing children to the risk of rocket attack. A sovereign nation should not have to stand for such treatment and Israel has decided that it won't. In accordance with this stance Israel launched offensive operations into the Gaza strip in an attempt to locate and eliminate the persons responsible for the rocket attacks.
I don't want to stand before you say that I am glad that Israel did this, like all decent persons I am disgusted and disheartened by war. However it is far better to have a war than to have to submit to terrorist demands of an outside aggressor. It is for this reason that I have to regretfully support Israel's use of force against Hamas. It would be far better if both parties could come to a peaceful agreement but Hamas has repeatedly and clearly rejected the idea of peace with Israel. To this day Hamas does not even accept the idea of Israel's right to exist as a nation. It seems obvious that a successful long term peace agreement would require at the very least this but Hamas has repeatedly refused to change its stance.
This leads one to the conclusion that Hamas does not truly desire peace for the people of Gaza but instead desires the continuation of the conflict forever. This analysis makes some sense when you consider that if a permanent peace were to break out Hamas would not need to exist. The ability to smuggle weapons into Gaza and fire rockets at Israel would no longer be in demand and the members of Hamas would find themselves out of a job. Until this state of affairs changes and the members of Hamas reevaluate their goals and aims conflict is inevitable. Israel having learned that they cannot rely upon treaties and deals to protect themselves from rocket fire has taken the only logical remaining step: military action.
It is for these reasons that despite my distaste for violence that I support Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip. If this action brings a lasting peace by destroying Hamas then it will have been worth whatever it costs.
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