For the record … if your thoughts on Middle East policy don’t go farther than “Israel is good,” then please stop reading this post, now.
I’m going to open with an 18-year-old story. In January of 1991, while the opening attacks from Operation: Desert Storm were being shown, there was talk about anti-aircraft fire coming from the rooftops of many buildings in Baghdad, including hospitals. I turned to my father to ask him a question. His credentials, by the way, are pretty solid to answer my question. He was about to retire from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel. He had flown B-52’s over Vietnam, and later the FB-111’s. He had worked at the Intelligence desk for the Strategic Air Command’s 45th Air Division. Yes, I was raised by someone genuinely qualified as an expert in military ethics.
I asked him, “If Hussein is putting AA guns on top of a hospital, does that make it into a legitimate target?”
I still remember the look on Dad’s face as he began to answer. At that time, I was a pretty faithful right-winger, and had the world very much divided into “us” and “them.” I think he knew that I was just about ready to blame Saddam Hussein if a hospital was bombed. However, he answered very levelly, “No. It is a war crime to use a hospital as a gun site, but it doesn’t justify bombing a hospital. It’s a hospital.”
For years, rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, that means about 8,000 rockets have been fired, for a death toll of about 22 Israelis.
I don’t think that there is any reasonable way to deny that Israel has some right to defend itself, and that that might include the use of force to prevent future attacks. That the death tolls don’t match up doesn’t necessarily bother me — if five men threaten a lone man, but he draws a gun and kills all five, the death tolls don’t match, but there is no crime because he was acting in legitimate defense.
More than 600 Palestinians have been killed, and that could be tolerable, if they were involved in the attacks.
However, that isn’t exactly the kind of situation we face here. In my example of the mugging, imagine the defender now shooting into a crowd of people because the muggers tried to get away. This time, he kills six people. The five muggers are still dead, as is one person who just happened to be in the way.
Is he still justified?
According to health officials in Gaza, at least 111 children have been killed since the Israeli offensive was launched. That’s more than five times the number of Israelis that have been killed. If killing 22 civilians means that Hamas is involved in terrorism, what does 111 dead children mean about Israel?
The Israeli military has attacked refugee centers, health care facilities, and schools in Gaza. They excuse these actions, saying that they have been taking fire from these sites. If you accept this claim, I still have to fall back to my father’s comment about the hospitals in Baghdad. Moreover, it’s worth noting that the Israelis aren’t taking enough casualties to make the claim that extreme measures are necessary. Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed, including four from friendly fire.
If the Palestinians have killed three Israeli soldiers during this offensive, it seems impossible to make any kind of credible argument in favor of attacking refugee sites identified by the United Nations as protected locations.
It is long since time that the US stop coddling Israel. This offensive is no less a terrorist act than the rocket attacks being used to excuse it. Hundreds of innocent people are being killed by Israel.
The argument that Hamas is hiding behind civilians, and so it isn’t Israel’s fault, makes absolutely no sense at all. No doubt, Hamas bears a measure of blame. However, someone is issuing the orders to drop those bombs, and those people are also liable. If Israel believes that Hamas is hiding its forces in designated refuge centers, then the correct thing to do is secure the area and bring this to the world’s attention. Instead, the Israeli Defense Force is simply committing its own war crime on top of the one they allege.
Since Israel has prevented foreign press from entering Gaza since the offensive has begun, there is no way to verify any information being put out by Israel or Hamas.
So, who’s right?
No one.
Hamas has no business launching rockets into Israel. I understand the reason that they’ll site — the Israeli treatment of Gaza’s population has been horrible. However, indiscriminate attacks are unacceptable.
Israel, though, has no business killing many times as many civilians in Gaza as Hamas has killed in Israel, just to make a point. Committing acts of terrorism in response to acts of terrorism doesn’t improve anything.
Many of Israel’s backers are people who call themselves pro-life. This is one of those matters that makes the difference between being pro-life and just anti-abortion. More than 100 children have been killed by the Israeli military. Reconcile that with being pro-life if you can.
I can’t.
Some other time, I’ll look at the Evangelical relationship with Israel. To sum it up quickly — the modern state of Israel is NOT King David’s Israel. We should stop acting like it is.
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Related: Jesus and Israel at Listening to the Wind and Whose Truth Do You Trust at God’s Politics
January 8, 2009 at 12:42 am
Well, I know you have been reading some of my posts about the conflict between Israel and Hamas, so I know you probably realize I have been fairly hard on Hamas. Simply put, they can raise their voices in protest all they want, but peace could be had so easily, if they would stop the rocket attacks and choose to live peacefully with Israel.
Both Israel and the Palestinians share some responsibility for what has and is happening in Gaza. The amount of civilian casualties is certainly a bad thing and something I wish was not happening. The most recent truce didn’t even last a year, with Hamas breaking it by continuing to launch the rockets. Israel surely has to respond in some manner and the previous excursions into Gaza have not been able to stop the attacks. The question I have is this. What should Israel be doing in response to the rocket attacks from Hamas? If Hamas continues to live by it’s charter and to seek the destruction of Israel, then what other recourse does Israel have?
January 8, 2009 at 9:27 am
Hamas might want to destroy Israel, but Hamas doesn’t have the resources to destroy Israel. 8000 rockets, and 22 people killed over nine years. At that rate, it will take Hamas roughly ten eternities to destroy Israel.
Israel is simply not in mortal peril as a country, and so it isn’t a credible argument to say that they are forced to ignore standards of decency just to survive.
If my neighbor wants to kill me, and so he throws a butter knife out of his window every day to try to stab me, it doesn’t justify blowing up his house in self-defense, just because he fervently wants to kill me.
I’m no fan of Hamas, but Gaza is not Hamas. Hundreds of innocent people have been killed by Israel. The innocent people in Gaza do not deserve to die for the crime of being somewhere in the general vicinity of where Hamas might be.
As for recourse — Israel has some of the most sophisticated intelligence and commando units in the world. The Mossad is just about on the level of MI-6 or the CIA. They can pursue actual bad guys with precision, rather than using F-16’s to bomb refugee centers full of children.
The truth is, Israel seeks the destruction of the Palestinians. Let’s flip your question around — In light of the fact that Israel has, for years, been oppressing the Palestinians, what recourse do they have except terrorism, given that they don’t have a major military?
Israel is hardly an innocent in this whole affair.
January 8, 2009 at 12:05 pm
[...] Read the rest….here [...]
January 8, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Not sure if anyone goes with the notion that the House of Esau (from the book of Obadiah) represents the present day Palestinians…but if this is so then maybe we are seeing exactly what we should expect. Doesn’t that prophecy state that they will be wiped out as a people? Hamas doesn’t want to share the land, for them it’s all or none. Palestinian President Abbas is waiting for Hamas to lose so that he can rule over the Palestinians within Israel. Once Hamas is removed and a Palestinian state can be created there would be a true separation of the Jewish and Palestinian people. History has shown us that Palestinians will not be content with this but will continue to push for more and more territory…I think that their lack of contentment and increased aggression will eventually lead to their complete demise. Eventually enough will be enough.
To the points about the killing of civilians I must agree, it is horrible…but how much worse have the U.S. efforts been against the civilians of Iraq and Afghanistan…we can be quick to point fingers at Israel but our military has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in Iraq and our use of DU munitions will lead to countless more deaths by radioactive poisoning…it’s a nuclear war without the mushroom clouds over there.
January 8, 2009 at 1:12 pm
I would disagree that Israel seeks the destruction of the Palestinians. While it may seem they have been extraordinarily rough on them, we need to keep in mind that Israel’s existence has been threatened ever since the nation was formed. They have had to fight for every gain they have made to date. If the Palestinians would stop the attacks, then Israel has shown that they are willing to live alongside them in peace.
No Hamas isn’t Gaza, but they are in authority in Gaza and they certainly used that authority and control to launch attacks into Israel. These attacks not only included the rockets, but the suicide bombers as well. The blockade Israel has applied to Gaza has helped stop the suicide attacks, at the cost of destroying the Palestinian economy.
Yes, Israel has a very good intelligence apparatus and at times, has given the United States the intelligence it needed in it’s own efforts. If you will recall, the Mossad used to go after those bad guys and take them out in precision strikes. The world threw a fit about that as well.
No, Hamas doesn’t really have the resources to destroy Israel, but what about those citizens who have to live in fear because of the rockets that are fired into Israel indiscriminately? They are certainly in danger and Israel has a right and an obligation to defend them. Should they respond by dropping bombs at random? No, they shouldn’t and I don’t believe they have. Yes, civilians have been killed in Gaza and that is not a good thing, but it is not because Israel is shooting at anything that moves.
The fact is, Israel is in a no win situation here. No matter which way they respond, the rest of the world is upset with them. They can not win for losing, but I still say Israel has a right to defend itself and it’s citizens.
January 9, 2009 at 12:16 am
Clark, I think that the Edomites (Esau was also known as Edom, and the Edomites were his descendants) are long since extinct. I don’t think that the Palestinians are really descended from the Edomites.
As to the comments about US actions … I’m not sure if that was meant to be a defense of Israel. It’s not with me. I’m not a supporter of the use of “depleted” uranium weapons, as I’ve written about in other posts.
January 9, 2009 at 12:20 am
Larry, I think you’re oversimplifying the question.
Yes, Israel has a right to defend itself. I didn’t say otherwise.
But the right to defend oneself doesn’t include the right to kill more innocent people than the first bad guys did.
Neither Hamas nor Israel is in the right.
As to the desire to exterminate the Palestinians, there is an entire history here into which I’m not going to get. However, look into house demolitions, the forced relocations, etc..
The Vatican has recently compared Gaza to a concentration camp. I can’t disagree with that comment — and I realize that one doesn’t make such references in a context relating to Israel casually.
January 9, 2009 at 1:36 am
I think comparing Pro-life with children killed in a way is comparing apples to oranges.
I, personally, believe that Israel has a right to defend herself. If we were be attacked here, we would kick but and rightly so. No less should be granted Israel.
What I don’t like is this cat and mouse type of war-fare. If you are in need to defend yourself, go in, get the job done, and get out. It sends a very confusing message otherwise.
As for Hamas, I think their behavior is despicable. Hiding behind women and children. Come on.
I love the fact that your father was a LTC in the Air Force! WooHoo! I was a Sergeant when I got out. Air Force Rocks!
As far as the hospitals, I agree with you. I also think that mosques should be off limits as well.
One question for you? How do you line up your assessment of Israel with the Bible? It talks about how all nations will come against Israel but that God will protect her. How do you balance that with your perspective on the current situation over there?
January 9, 2009 at 1:37 am
sorry – very tired. “way” should have been “war”
January 9, 2009 at 1:38 am
Geez – too many mistakes
If we were “to” be attacked. My bad.
January 9, 2009 at 9:41 am
Wickle,
I am aware of the demolitions and forced relocations in the past. However, in recent years, Israel has shown it is willing to live side by side with the Palestinians, if they suicide and rocket attacks would only cease. They have tried to do so, but groups like Hamas and Hezbollah refuse to stop the attacks.
January 9, 2009 at 12:05 pm
You said that Israel should be taking this to the rest of the world. The rest of the world allready knows about it. And they don’t care. Only the U.S. is willing to support the U.S. everyone else hates them.
January 9, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Dominique,
The question about Biblical Israel is worth its own post, but to be quick about it … I’m not convinced that the current Republic of Israel is Israel in any Biblical sense.
Biblically, Israel is always restored after a spiritual return, repentance, and then the land is given back. The current state of Israel is as secular a nation as anything in Europe.
I’m not certain that a nation calling itself Israel and placed in the historical location of Israel is, necessarily, Israel.
In terms of prophecy, that’s always a tricky area. The world might gang up against Israel, but that doesn’t make Israel right.
As for just getting the job done — Israel has attacked UN relief convoys. The Red Cross reports that its workers have come under fire from the IDF, and they have been refused access to the dead and wounded.
As for the pro-life argument, I think it comes down to a consistency of life ethic. Innocent children don’t deserve to be killed — whether they’re in or out of the womb, in the US, Gaza, or Israel.
Larry, we might simply have to agree to disagree. There is a lot of history, and as far as I’m concerned there are precious few people who have ever been right in the area.
On the one hand, Israel says some good words relating to agreements, but as soon as they start fighting, they’re killing a lot of people who shouldn’t be. Bear in mind the denial by Israel that there was any kind of humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Israel was attacked. They should respond. That doesn’t mean that they have carte blanche to do anything they want.
January 9, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Wickle – If America was attacked like this, would we have carte blanche?
January 9, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Dominique,
To answer your question …
No.
I’m applying a Just War Standard to what’s going on, and this just doesn’t cut it. I use the same standard, by the way, for everyone, because morality isn’t dependent on nationality.
The IDF is firing on relief workers, denying emergency response units access to those in need, and killing many times as many civilians as Hamas can possibly manage.
If that was the US, then I’d be saying that the US was guilty of war crimes.
January 10, 2009 at 4:15 am
[...] point of how incredibly careful we had to be as Air Force intelligence analysts. That’s why Ken Wickle’s blog post on this topic caught my eye. Ken takes what I see as the level headed position on the issue, which is to say [...]
January 10, 2009 at 2:54 pm
I do think that Israel has made it’s share of mistakes in the way it has handled the Palestinian people and Gaza and the West Bank. Lot’s of things have happened that should not have happened. I really think Israel is in a no win situation. No matter what they do, international opinion is going to be against them.
January 10, 2009 at 11:21 pm
[...] about Israel’s actions in Gaza by my friend, Ken, at A True Believer. In an article entitled Regarding Israel, Ken set about explaining why he thought Israel was taking the wrong course of action against the [...]
January 11, 2009 at 12:32 am
I have to say that Clark has a point about the Book of Obadiah, and the prophecy that states that God will punish the House of Esau. Whether God is punishing this old House right now, is too soon to tell. But if the nations of Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon join the fight against the nation of Israel, then the possibility would exist. Since some think that the House of Esau does not exist at this time, I refer to the prophecies of Genesis 36, Ezekiel 25 & 35, Isaiah 34, and Psalm 83, you will note that the prophecies state a punishment upon the lands of Idumea, Mt. Se’ir ect: because God knew that the House of Esau would eventually reside in those modern nations. Further, this punishment was decreed for the latter days: Numbers 24, Jeremiah 23, 30, 48 & 49. This would present a serious turn in God’s relationship to the world, and should encourage all people to seek the LORD their God. I do not hold with the shed blood of anyone, but this is God’s promise, and only He is righteous enough to make this decision, when the time comes. Further, I am not a supporter of Israeli politics or beliefs, because true Israel are those whom are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.
If the war becomes a regional conflict between the Muslim nations and the Jews, then things are going to get much worse, as the prophecies for the latter days also include the attack by Gog in Ezekiel 38 & 39. i pray that all will turn to the Lord Jesus Christ before these things come to pass. Amen.
January 11, 2009 at 6:51 am
Larry,
International opinion aside … I’m talking about absolute moral standards of right and wrong, and (I suppose) my opinion.
There is a strong streak of anti-Semitism in much of the world, and there are strategic allies of Arab states who will be reliably anti-Israel. I don’t expect the Arab League or Russia to be happy with anything that Israel does short of mass suicide. I’m not trying to win them over.
However, I’m speaking to the Christian Church and the people of our country about how we react. I think that we should continue to support Israel, much of the time. That doesn’t include, though, turning a blind eye to what they do wrong; nor should it include pretending to be powerless to stop them.
January 12, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Wickle, I applaud your courage in addressing the issue. One difficulty in America is that anyone who criticizes Israel runs the risk of being labeled an antisemite.
The question you do not address and perhaps it is off topic is the role that collective guilt plays in our relationship with Israel. Had the holocaust not occurred, would we have this seemingly unconditional attachment to Israel?
I am not anti-Israel by any stretch but I do wonder by what measure do we figure out when and if Israel has gone too far?
I’ll be posting my own take on this in the near future from an entirely different perspective.
January 13, 2009 at 9:28 am
Rutherford, you have a point. Guilt probably does factor into it somewhere.
I think that there’s also something to be said for Americans in general simplifying issues — Arabs are terrorists, terrorists are bad, Israel is against the Arabs, so Israel is good.
And as much as I wish it weren’t so, I’m afraid that Evangelicals have something to do with this. Israel factors quite prominently into Revelation, and there are people who think that we can speed up Jesus’ return, and others who simply want to remain on God’s good side by supporting Israel, right or wrong.
I’m not sure just what the mixture ratio is.