By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Israel lost the worldwide public relations battle with its overwhelming recent attacks in Gaza. So the ceasefire reported Saturday is the logical next step in the embattled Middle East.
European countries had pressured Israel to halt its incursion into Gaza. Israeli attacks reportedly killed hundreds of civilians, upset the United Nations and damaged Israel's standing in parts of the world.
But Israel also had significant gains the past few weeks: the destruction of much of the arsenal used by Hamas.
So this is the right time for a ceasefire, to see whether Israel, Egypt, the United States and other interested nations can work out more than a shaky peace for Gaza's future.
If it can be pulled off, the ceasefire must include a U.S.-backed plan to stop Hamas from re-arming with the help of Iran.
The ceasefire also should be used to pressure the good-minded people among the Palestinians to reject the violence of Hamas in moving forward.
Israel used the right to protect itself from the Hamas-aimed rockets to launch an all-out offensive against the terrorist group.
Israel did make gains in recent weeks in its battle to survive. But those gains were costly in terms of public support around the world.
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thinking in time
Yael,
I enjoy how you keep this blog site active with your controversial and insightful opinions. Thanks for your thoughts each day.
Perhaps this ceasefire is a matter of timing. In fact the whole recent timeline of this crescendo of conflict is a matter of timing as well. With our blurred administrations, the transition, an outgoing president’s inability to orchestrate a long term solution and our incoming president’s gracious choice to remain subtle, Israel and Hamas knew that there was time for a concerted fight in the streets, cross borders, and in the media. And they knew that having a ceasefire overture near the inauguration would ensure that their struggles would remain at the top of the Oval Office’s inbox. However, I appreciate that other countries, for example France, have attempted to broker an enduring ceasefire strategy. Both sides appreciate timing and I’m sure you see this trend as well in light of the 2006/2007 invasion of Lebanon.
Hamas and Israel, intelligent and cunning adversaries, possess strategists and tacticians with experience and will. I’m not sure who won or lost the public relations battle for the time being, but both sides are mindful that this struggle is part of a long-term campaign, with future battles for certain. A book called “Thinking In Time: The Uses of History for Decision Makers” (1986) by Richard E. Neustadt and Ernest R. May, encourages decision makers to think of time as a stream. Seeing events in time as a continuum, a linked series of events, and crafting scenarios for the future plus more lessons and ways of thinking abound in this volumn. I believe that Hamas and Israeli strategists have read this book and perhaps some have attended the course offered (since the 70s) at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. I think you’d enjoy the read immensely, Yael.
Tom Ryan
The Crossroads
Kansas City, MO
Oh come on Yael, the rest of
Oh come on Yael, the rest of the world is not just a big United States where they talk funny.
Other parts of the world are places that are really different from us, they have their own attitudes and moral values. Israel lost any public relations battle it was in a long time ago, because most European, Asian, and Mid-East countries are full of people who just don't like Jews.
I agree that the Israeli's
I agree that the Israeli's lost public support around the world. The reason for that is is that new organizations such as the AP, MCClatchy, and all the news networks never mentioned that during the cease-fire Hamas had been lobbing rockets into Israel.
If the general public knew this, they wouldn't look down on Israel. Of course, the UN coming out at the beginning saying the Israelis are using dispurportionate force in dealing with Hamas.