Reply #68: It took a long time and many deaths to get here [View All]

[magellan]

It'll take a long time and many more deaths to correct the situation. Hear me out.

Hezbollah and Hamas weren't born spontaneously from nothing. The hatred that brings them new followers every day didn't just appear for no reason. Like it or not, Israel's brutal actions against civilians during its occupation of Lebanon and against the Palestinians over many decades are responsible for the existence of these extremist groups. And Israel's continued tit-for-tat brutality will only help these groups to continue to grow. That's why the situation is only getting worse in the long run, not better, despite short relatively quiet periods.

The real path to peace requires Israel to stop these heavy-handed tactics and take the moral high road. That isn't to say they should just sit back and wait to be hit. But they really should start considering whether striking back is worth wreaking the usual injury, death and general destruction that makes life hell for those affected...because that outcome always -- always -- radicalizes more of the population against Israel.

If Israel make an effort to stop their tactics of collective punishment, if they remove from the equation all the many bloody reasons they give youths to seethe with hatred and the desire for revenge, then over time Hezbollah and Hamas will not be able to recruit new members. Imagine it. Nasrallah speaks to a crowd one day, says, "Israel is a terrorist nation and must be destroyed!" The people listening think, "Israel hasn't done anything except kill and arrest the Hezbollah who keep bombing them. Sure, they used to kill and destroy anyone and anything in their path, but that was long ago. What's he on about?" AND THEY WALK AWAY, thinking him the madman he certainly is.

This may seem idealistic because it requires time and restraint. But it's the only way to stop terrorism -- apart from flattening the entire ME and killing everyone. (And then Israel would have to contend with an armed international response.) It won't happen overnight, and Israel will suffer while the process works it's way through a generation or two. But in the end, real peace will result.

btw, I believe this is also the only way for the US to achieve lasting peace without further tumbling down the rabbit hole of a police state to protect itself against terrorism. You can't kill an idea. You can, however, be smart and decent and completely undermine the reasoning that leads groups of people to kill.