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Thanks for the nice read, keep up the interesting posts…..

Does Israel make every effort to reduce the amount of bloodshed when it retaliates to those firing rockets into Israel? This is a big question for me because I too believe Israel needs to defend itself but Israel’s means of defense does not seem to work to its benefit in that rockets continue to be fired and Israel’s strong retaliation only destroys the image of Israel further–and this image is hugely important because Israel needs real allies if a secure two-state solution is to come about.

100 Palestinians died a few weeks ago and my first impulse was to say that Israel was lawfully defending itself and its citizens. As Mark Regev said, children are growing up in fear of rocket fire–Israelis are not being killed by rockets en masse, but they are still disrupting life and injuring civilians. I agree with Regev that this is unacceptable.

However, the argument that Hamas uses civilians as human shields–what can Israel do?–does not satisfy my question or my hope that Israel believes in a moral obligation to protect civilian life– whether they be Palestinian or Israeli.

I don’t know enough about the IDF’s military strategies but does anyone know whether it’s possible for Israel to (or whether Israel should) make a stronger commitment to protect the lives of innocents/civilians Hamas surrounds itself with, in its means of defense? It seems that if Israel vocalized or enacted a more humane retaliation policy– the rest of the world would more sensitively understand the complicated situation Israel is in.

I realize this is a complicated question but I appreciate your comments/answers.

Thanks for JANIP–the questions on this post are of the sort I ask constantly but usually my fellow academics are not interested–this will be very helpful.

-Rachel

As long as human beings remain on this earth there will always be disagreements and conflicting views. And it is actually impossible to eliminate disagreements through violence. Violence only brings even more resentment and dissatisfaction.

Non-violence, on the other hand, means dialogue, it means using language to communicate. And dialogue means compromise, listening to others views, and respecting others rights. Nobody will be a hundred percent winner, and nobody will be a hundred percent loser. That is the practical way. In fact, that is the only way.

The concept of “us” and “them” is almost out-dated. If our interests existed independently of those of others, then it would be possible to have a complete winner and a complete loser, but since in reality we all depend on one another, our interests and those of others are very interconnected, and gain a hundred percent victory is impossible. Without this approach, reconciliation is impossible.

The reality of the world today means that we need to learn to think in this way: “The middle way approach”.

Therefore, in the spirit of reconciliation, we should advocate a sharing of interests so that genuine progress is possible. Compromise is the only way. Through non-violent means we can share views, interests, feelings, rights, and in this way we can solve the problem. The principle of non-violence should be practiced everywhere. It means work and effort, and yet more effort. And this cannot be achieved by simply praying.

It is not a question of one nation or two nations, but of the survival and health of humanity in the region. If we let hatred guide us, then we can be so cruel and so destructive. But on the other hand, if we promote good human qualities, then wonderful actions and marvelous things can happen.

The reality of the existence of other cultures and other communities cannot be ignored. The nature of modern existence is such that the well-being, happiness and success of one’s own community are very connected with the well-being and interests of other communities and other societies.

The vision of peace as a true objective, an objective we can give always positive steps towards. This vision has as base the idea that reaching the genuine lasting peace may not be easy, but it is something we can carry through. Parallel to all the methods, there is a basic system of thoughts that can serve as a substrate for all our acts: The belief in the goodness, the belief in the value of the compassion, the belief in the value of tolerance, and the perception of what one has in common with all living creatures.

Peace to All,

Gino Barcal.