Israel will tell you that it launched massive attacks on Gaza in response to earlier, unprovoked missile attacks into Israel from Gaza.
Hamas will tell you that its missile attacks into Israel were not unprovoked. Rather, they were a response to Israel’s “occupation.”
Before we examine these conflicting claims, we note that President Obama accepts Israel’s version of events.
Now, what is the validity of the “occupation” argument? Surely it is invalid in the normal denotation of occupation, since Israel withdrew all of its settlers, its army presence and its arms from Gaza in 2005. However, Hamas maintains that Israel still occupies Gaza in the sense that Israel does not allow the free flow of items in and out of Gaza.
What Hamas neglects to say is that this Israeli restriction did not begin with its withdrawal in 2005. It began only in 2007 in response to Hamas missile attacks into Israel. Then, as now, the cause of Israel’s action is unprovoked missile attacks.
And don’t forget: What Hamas really means by Israel’s “occupation” is its occupation of any land in the Middle East. To Hamas, the end of the “occupation” means the end of Israel.
Copyright © 2012 by the Intermountain Jewish News
