Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Al Aqsa didn’t get the Abbas Memo

I have to hand it to the various politico-terroristas of the Palestinians. They have brought a new nuance to word “overkill”. After the IAF strike of yesterday that went horribly astray, Al-Aqsa has declared all out war on Sderot reports Ynet News:
The al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Fatah’s military wing, called on all its active cells to declare a retaliatory alert following the Israel Air Force strike on northern Gaza Tuesday, which targeted al-Aqsa operatives but killed three Palestinian children.

We call on all our fighters to act and hit the enemy so that it hurts, in every place, so that it knows that the blood of our martyrs is dear. We declare war on Sderot and on all the Zionist settlements. The Zionists won’t have peace on our land,” an announcement stated.

“We call on all the Palestinian organizations to accelerate activities against the occupier,” the statement said. Abu Ahmad, an al-Aqsa commander, told Ynet that his organization was determined to continue firing Qassams towards Sderot and was completing preparations for an inclusive attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip using rockets, inside the West Bank and suicide bombings in Israel.

Abu Ahmad said members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and other Palestinian organizations would make every effort to set all of occupied Palestine aflame. “God willing we will cause the Zionists to feel what the Ghalia family and the other Palestinian families felt in the last few days. No directive to stop firing rockets or stop attacks will convince us before we respond to the enemy’s crimes,” Ahmad said. He denied reports that his organization was working to smuggle suicide bombers into Israel through Sinai, saying this was “Israeli propaganda meant to justify its assassination attempt.”

I am sorry that 3 Palestinian children were killed and 15 others were wounded in the IAF air strike yesterday that went horribly awry, but I am more sorry that the IAF missed their intended target. I have zero sympathy and cannot even pretend to shed crocodile tears for those who feel that the deliberate targeting of school children on a school bus is a legitimate target for political assassination. If the daily shelling of Sderot for nearly the last year is not a declaration of war on Sderot what exactly is?

I can understand the reluctance of the Israeli government to launch an all-out ground assault and re-take the control of the Gaza Strip. For one thing, the Kadima government would be publicly forced to admit that the disengagement from Gaza was an umitigated disaster for the Israelis, and any further disengagements without a comprehensive peace agreement would never see the light of day, hence, there goes the entire policy platform for Kadima.

But what I cannot understand, is why Israel is so reluctant to use all the resources available to them? For example, the Israelis control the flow of electricity and water into the Gaza Strip. Cut them off until the rockets stop. I realize that there are many who will say that it will only be the ordinary Palestinians who will pay for the sins of a few but that is merely infantizing the Palestinians. The various terrorists fractions live within the communities and get by on the good will of their neighbors. A man’s ability to fight is limited by his need for substance. If you think my response is overly harsh; just what course of action would you demand your government take, if your community was being shelled on a daily basis for nearly the last 10 months?

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