November 26, 2012: Things could have been so very different in Gaza

By Michael Regenstreif

As I write, on the morning of November 16, just before this issue of the Bulletin goes to press, the attention of the Jewish community here in Ottawa, and in Jewish communities around the world, is nervously focussed on Israel and its latest conflict with Hamas, the terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip.

Hopefully, by the time you read this column a week or so after it was written, Operation Pillar of Defense will be finished and Israel will have accomplished its goal of ending the ongoing barrage of rocket fire from Gaza aimed at Israeli civilians with minimal loss of life.

As I write, the conflict is in its third day. Rockets continue to fly out of Gaza and have reached as far as Rishon Lezion, just south of the Tel Aviv area, and three civilians were killed when a Hamas rocket hit an apartment building in Kiryat Malachi.

So far, Israel has been conducting the operation from the air. But 30,000 reservists were called up and troops have been massed near Gaza. Whether or not there will be a ground operation like Operation Cast Lead almost four years ago remains, at this writing, to be seen.

Operation Pillar of Defense was launched in response to a severe escalation of rocket attacks on Israel, which have recently reached levels not seen since before Operation Cast Lead – more than 120 attacks just in the three days prior to the operation.

As then-U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama stated during his 2008 visit to Sderot, “If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop that. I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.”

The operation began with an amazingly precise hit on Ahmed Jabri, the head of Hamas’ military wing. Jabri, who was behind the recent escalation of rocket fire from Gaza, was a leader of the Hamas forces in its violent overthrow of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza and was the mastermind behind the kidnapping and long imprisonment of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit. The air operation then continued, targeting rocket launchers and other military installations belonging to Hamas and other terrorist groups.

It should be stressed that, while Hamas specifically targets Israeli civilians, Israel has acted with restraint in this operation and the loss of life by Palestinian civilians, while tragic, has been minimal (and stands in great contrast to the massive loss of civilian life almost every day in the Syrian regime’s war against its own people).

And, while there has been great outrage towaard Israel from much of the Arab world, democracies like the United States, Great Britain and Canada have stood solidly behind her right to self-defence in the wake of the ongoing attacks.

“We fundamentally believe that Israel has the right to defend itself and its citizens from terrorist threats,” said Foreign Minister John Baird in a statement released after the first day of the operation.

“Far too often, the Jewish people find themselves on the front lines in the struggle against terrorism, the great struggle of our generation. Just last weekend, more than 100 rockets rained down on civilians in southern Israel from positions in the Gaza Strip.

“Canada condemns the terrorist group Hamas and stands with Israel as it deals with regional threats to peace and security.”

I yearn for peace in the Middle East and am convinced the two-state solution is the only way it can be achieved. The two-state solution is the key to both Israel’s long-term future as a Jewish and democratic country, and to the long-term future of a democratic and prosperous Palestine. But, to be sure, Hamas is an enemy of peace. Its terrorist acts are aimed at preventing peace and provoking Israel into conflict.

Israel, in a move that many – including, I believe, its top leadership of the day – hoped would help pave the road to peace, unilaterally ended its occupation of Gaza in 2005. It was an incredible opportunity for the Palestinian people to show the world they, too, were ready for peace, for statehood, for the future. Instead, Gaza has been the launching pad for thousands of rockets and other terrorist attacks.

Things could have been so very different in Gaza. Hopefully, someday sooner than later, they will be.