What To Do About Hamas? 1
Firstly, what is Hamas and what do they believe in? So read the Hamas Covenant. Tell us what you think of this document. Did they write it as a prank or are they serious? Are they radical or just out-and-out insane? I’d like to know your opinion.
Hamas believes in suicide, at least for it’s members. Not so much for it’s leaders though. They believe that killing Israelis is a positive virtue. And they seem to be wishing for their supplies from Israel to be cut off, so that they can have a crisis, and get in the news. The way this thinking seems to go is that if they can have a war with Israel, and lose it on television, they can get sympathy. Especially, sympathy from the Europeans. This is kind of the opposite of the “Strong Horse” theory. It’s more of a “Dead Horse” theory.
The Israelis have also adopted a version of the “Death Point” system. If they can get Hamas to kill enough kids in Sderot, they’ll have the justification they need to launch a big counterattack. So how many Death Points does Israel need to launch 100 tanks? Do you need twice as many Death Points to launch 200 tanks? And how many Death Points for each aircraft? Israeli Defense Minister Barak is continually going on about the “Big Operation” he’s going to do in Gaza. But I don’t think he means it; Israel is doing okay with a steady drumbeat of low-level operations.
Of course, it’s not okay for the Israelis who live in Sderot. They get to be the sacrifice for their country. The attacks on Sderot are politically ideal, though; they get sympathy from the world for Israel, without being a strategic or existential threat.
I’ve come around to the point of view that the most effective anti-Hamas measures, at least for Gaza, are essentially passive methods. The “Wall” is working pretty well. If Israel can seal off the border between Egypt and Israel, they should be able to stop the smuggling of rockets into Gaza. This could, in theory, eliminate the need for the IDF to enter Gaza at all. This would be a very desirable result.
In terms of the much vaunted ”Humanitarian Crisis” in Gaza, the Israeli approach should basically be to “Boil the Frog”. That is, turn the heat up slowly. But each time the Gazans complain, point to the new statistics showing the number of Palestinians being killed is going down. Hence, the importance of passive measures over kinetic operations. This approach has the possibility of taking Gaza out of the news, which would be to Israel’s advantage. It also should lead to a reduction or elimination of weapons firing against Israel. Gaza could be sealed off and forgotten. Later on, when skinny Gazans come to offer peace, hat in hand, Israel can make a better deal.
As a side benefit, putting the Gazans on a diet will probably help them live longer and reduce Global Warming. For the story on the benefits of a Calorie Restricted diet, check out this article from the New York Times.
Update. Here’s another article on Calorie Restriction, this time from Science Daily.
For those of you who don’t get the point, it isn’t that Israel should help Gazans live longer against their will, it’s just that a little pressure doesn’t have to be a true Humanitarian Crisis, just some appropriate discomfort.
Thank you for linking the Hamas charter, as I’ve never read it before. They are, as you know quite serious, and believe wholeheartedly in what they are doing. The only similar paradigm we have seen in recent history would be Hitler. Stalin too, but he was a more equal opportunity killer, whereas Hamas, like Hitler has a particlular fixation on Jews. It was interesting how they used Jews and not Israelis, or settlers, or Zionists most often as enemies. Heads up to my brothers and sisters in America. Yocheved in J-town