The Israeli War in Gaza

I have been reading the things those on the Israeli side have been sending me about how horrible Hamas is, and I have been reading such people as Glenn Greenwald about the Israeli atrocities against the innocent civilian population of Gaza.

I can't take a side right now.

First: I know the Israelis have committed crimes against humanity by cutting off food and medicine against the Gaza civilian population in the name of cutting off their supply of weapons. I also remember how the Israeli government used to demonize Yasser Arafat's al-Fatah organization, calling them terrorists. So they suppressed them and Hamas rose to take its place. Now they want Fatah back to be the moderate force in Palestinian government. That leads me to believe that if they are successful in suppressing Hamas, something more dangerous and radical is likely to arise to take its place. In fact, I have already read of such groups standing by to take over.

I also know how bad it is that Hamas fires rockets into Israel, even though there were no Israeli casualties from them till Israel started hitting back. I know there is no excuse for bomb-throwing, anyway. But I also understand human nature enough to know people who feel so frustrated are likely to take any action that feels good at the time to try to strike back, even if it doesn't do what one expects. Witness the death penalty in the U. S. for an example.

So my take on the subject is what I have said before: I sincerely believe that if the Palestinians had adopted the tactics of Ghandi instead of the tactics of violence, they would have had their own state already, with East Jerusalem as its capital.