Israel Hamas Conflict - An update Part 1 of 2

First, lets rewind to 1985-87 and what happened to the Indian army on its “Peace Mission” in Sri Lanka (termed as India’s Vietnam) as the Indian Peace Keeping Force. For the only time in its long history, they got “clobbered” and returned with a bloody nose, they failed, no peace was achieved. The army deployed close to 100,000 soldiers which was far more than what they deployed in the Kargil war. India officially lost 1,165 soldiers, 3,009 wounded and the body count of LTTE, never known. What is however known is that about 5,000 Sri Lankan’s were killed. The balance sheet reads as 4,174 – 5,000. This would be unacceptable to any army anywhere globally.

The strategy of LTTE was to have a large group of women and children in front as they confronted the Indian army and it is common knowledge that the Indian army was ordered to fight with one hand tied behind its back so to speak. Read this account by a senior commander who was in the operations to know how churches, temples, children, were used to target the Indian Army. With love or fear, the civilian population supported and helped the LTTE.

A Soldier Remembers

Odyssey in Sri Lanka

The army finally returned with body bags and a dignity held high that they “preferred to get killed” by terrorists but refused to harm the civilians. There were the odd incidents which were used to make the Indian Army look bad. Go talk to the families of these 4,174 soldiers and see how they feel.

The Sri Lankan army which also attracted significant criticism by the liberal elite, lost 28,708 soldiers, 40,107 permanently disabled, 111,655 wounded against an LTTE which lost 27,000 and 40,000 civilians. The balance sheet again doesn’t look good.

The result? Indian Army played nice, rightfully so, but what did we get? Rajiv Gandhi the former PM of India was brutally assassinated by the same LTTE within 4 years.

Finally in January 2008, after more than 20 years of bloodshed when an intransigent LTTE refused to play nice, a Sri Lanka Govt under Rajapaksha, gave the liberal elite the middle finger, abandoned the peace & goodwill understanding, went after the LTTE hammer and tongs with little or no regard for any human life. The liberal elite called him names, but by May 2009, he ended the terrorist operation and today 15 years later, peace reigns in Sri Lanka and terrorists do not rule. Civilian life was a collateral damage, more because the terrorists used them as a shield, mingled and lived with them and thanks to the innate goodness of others, the LTTE had the run of the place for decades. That this resulted in India’s economic and defence security getting compromised seriously because it was the Chinese who helped Sri Lanka, and they now have a very strong foothold and public goodwill in the nation. 

Cut to the present.

Not too long ago was the first-year anniversary of the day when Hamas swooped in from the skies and massacred hundreds and took hostage 200+ Israeli youngsters. In this last one-year Israel has been unrelenting in its bombing on Gaza, Lebanon, etc.

In any terrorist incident globally, the first incident that triggers outrage and anger happens in a matter of minutes if not hours and invariably catches the victim nation by surprise. The retribution by the victim nation can take many forms but when it involves a direct fight, it invariably takes days, weeks and like in this case one year and counting. The body count on day 1 however large becomes insignificant when the body count of the other side is disproportionately high and over a sustained period. In such situations the emotional fatigue backed by political narratives creates a scenario where the victim becomes the aggressor and the aggressor the victim. Day 1 is totally forgotten, and 364 days is what everybody remembers. This is understandable since the victims, going by media reports seem to be that only innocent civilians are being killed.

However correct this premise, one must never forget a sage advice – Something can be fact, but not true. Without meaning to whitewash or justify, it is essential to have some uncomfortable, politically incorrect analysis.

Evidentiary fact is that Hamas built tunnels, safe havens across large areas which ended under schools, hospitals and such locations. The fundamental strategy of Hamas was to use the civilian population (willingly or unwillingly) as their human shield and the only option in such a situation is to either let them win or accept collateral damage. Both options are equally dangerous and ugly as a decision especially when human lives are at stake. The Sri Lanka experience as shared above shows that terrorists don’t change, don’t play by the rules, and whatever the liberal elite may say, this cancer needs surgery, however ugly.

The argument of the liberal elite protesting against Israel for killing thousands, would stand scrutiny but for the following.

1. In the last one year, there have been high decibel criticisms from many a political leader of different nations, furious op-eds in every leading publication, protests against Israel across the world, on university campuses, across cities, actively supported by the Govts of these nations – and all this rightfully so – however, there has NOT been one word, one protest, one op-ed where these same folks have unequivocally demanded that Hamas release the hostages. The silence is deafening.
2. The Muslim Arab states neighbouring Gaza, who loath Israel, closed their borders within hours and refused to allow even a single civilian from Palestine enter their country while the same nations have actively collaborated in building the tunnels.
3. The EU, UK and to a certain extent USA have generally been welcoming “refugees” to a point where even the wellbeing of the local citizens is getting sacrificed. After a while this is bound to create a backlash in these nations and worsen the situation, rather than improve anything.
4. Not one hostage has been released, most found dead, mutilated and this only increases the anger of those fighting on the ground.
5. Historically the Muslim Arab states have never really supported the Palestinian cause and if various reports over time are read, it appears the civilian population in Gaza is highly supportive of the Hamas.
6. The Hamas have more than 500 kms of tunnels across Gaza which are sophisticated, built strongly and at a depth of 30 to 50 mtrs. These were not built by digging with bare hands but sophisticated equipment. The width of the Gaza strip is about 40 kms long and 10 kms wide, means, these 500 kms of tunnels logically end up getting connected to every building – hospitals, schools, houses, etc. The following make very educative reading.

The Middle east

The Gaza Tunnels

Funding of Hamas

The uncomfortable fact is that Christian nations have opened their doors, but Muslim nations have closed their doors for Muslim refugees in general.

Fact is that civilians have been killed, but truth is that the terrorists have embedded themselves with the civilians, anybody seeking to take them out will cause collateral damage and turning the other cheek and playing nice will not yield any dividends in the next 100 years.

In every such situation, small or big, the liberal elite with the well-meaning NGO’s and powerful media in tow, end up willy nilly supporting the perpetrators of the crime with convoluted logic, protest for them in the name of civilians & Human Rights, but rarely if ever are heard whispering even one word against the criminals and terrorists. We do not see candlelight marches when civilians and men in uniform are wantonly killed by terrorists, we don’t see the high flatulence HR organisations condemning such acts. But these very same folks are out in large numbers when security forces respond to the terrorists with force or a terrorist is punished after being found guilty in a court of law following all due procedures and even when there is no collateral damage.

The ugly tragedy is that this one-sided sympathy has a reason. Without these collateral damages, all liberal elite, the NGO’s, media have no role to play, no opinion to express, no outrage to protest, and above all, rather cynically being said – no money to collect and no job to do. However noble their work on the ground, they will dare not protest against such terrorists, since that is like shooting their own purpose in life. It is like the Indian poverty tourism of the pre-liberalisation 1991 era – without poverty, those fighting against poverty have no job, no role and no purpose in life.

Readers can argue and showcase how, many have demanded the release of the hostages, but a cursory reading of each such comment shows how they are hyphenated with the Palestinian issue, which like it or not, ends up looking as a “support” for Hamas. But when the very same folks criticise Israel, rightly so again, they never ever hyphenate THAT criticism with the plight of the hostages. Such demands must be clear, to the point, no hyphenation, no ifs and buts and 100% focused on only one issue – release of hostages or criticizing Israel and there needs to be a balance. THAT is how pressure is created.

Enough said about the hypocrisy, since the situation, as everybody knows is all about Money, selling arms, security footholds in the area, keeping nations under check, energy, etc and all other chatter is just that – chatter.

The more concerning aspect is the future as elaborated in Part 2.

Israel Hamas Conflict - Part 2