No subject

ign body, but the sons of every family in the Strip and the other Palestini=
an regions. They do not =E2=80=9Chide behind the population=E2=80=9D, the p=
opulation views them as their only defenders.=20



Therefore, the whole operation is based on erroneous assumptions. Turning l=
ife into living hell does not cause the population to rise up against Hamas=
, but on the contrary, it unites behind Hamas and reinforces its determinat=
ion not to surrender. The population of Leningrad did not rise up against S=
talin, any more than the Londoners rose up against Churchill.=20



He who gives the order for such a war with such methods in a densely popula=
ted area knows that it will cause dreadful slaughter of civilians. Apparent=
ly that did not touch him. Or he believed that =E2=80=9Cthey will change th=
eir ways=E2=80=9D and =E2=80=9Cit will sear their consciousness=E2=80=9D, s=
o that in future they will not dare to resist Israel.=20



A top priority for the planners was the need to minimize casualties among t=
he soldiers, knowing that the mood of a large part of the pro-war public wo=
uld change if reports of such casualties came in. That is what happened in =
Lebanon Wars I and II.=20



This consideration played an especially important role because the entire w=
ar is a part of the election campaign. Ehud Barak, who gained in the polls =
in the first days of the war, knew that his ratings would collapse if pictu=
res of dead soldiers filled the TV screens.=20



Therefore, a new doctrine was applied: to avoid losses among our soldiers b=
y the total destruction of everything in their path. The planners were not =
only ready to kill 80 Palestinians to save one Israeli soldier, as has happ=
ened, but also 800. The avoidance of casualties on our side is the overridi=
ng commandment, which is causing record numbers of civilian casualties on t=
he other side.=20



That means the conscious choice of an especially cruel kind of warfare =E2=
=80=93 and that has been its Achilles heel.=20



A person without imagination, like Barak (his election slogan: =E2=80=9CNot=
 a Nice Guy, but a Leader=E2=80=9D) cannot imagine how decent people around=
 the world react to actions like the killing of whole extended families, th=
e destruction of houses over the heads of their inhabitants, the rows of bo=
ys and girls in white shrouds ready for burial, the reports about people bl=
eeding to death over days because ambulances are not allowed to reach them,=
 the killing of doctors and medics on their way to save lives, the killing =
of UN drivers bringing in food. The pictures of the hospitals, with the dea=
d, the dying and the injured lying together on the floor for lack of space,=
 have shocked the world. No argument has any force next to an image of a wo=
unded little girl lying on the floor, twisting with pain and crying out: =
=E2=80=9CMama! Mama!=E2=80=9D=20



The planners thought that they could stop the world from seeing these image=
s by forcibly preventing press coverage. The Israeli journalists, to their =
shame, agreed to be satisfied with the reports and photos provided by the A=
rmy Spokesman, as if they were authentic news, while they themselves remain=
ed miles away from the events. Foreign journalists were not allowed in eith=
er, until they protested and were taken for quick tours in selected and sup=
ervised groups. But in a modern war, such a sterile manufactured view canno=
t completely exclude all others =E2=80=93 the cameras are inside the strip,=
 in the middle of the hell, and cannot be controlled. Aljazeera broadcasts =
the pictures around the clock and reaches every home.=20





THE BATTLE for the TV screen is one of the decisive battles of the war.=20



Hundreds of millions of Arabs from Mauritania to Iraq, more than a billion =
Muslims from Nigeria to Indonesia see the pictures and are horrified. This =
has a strong impact on the war. Many of the viewers see the rulers of Egypt=
, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority as collaborators with Israel in carr=
ying out these atrocities against their Palestinian brothers.=20



The security services of the Arab regimes are registering a dangerous ferme=
nt among the peoples. Hosny Mubarak, the most exposed Arab leader because o=
f his closing of the Rafah crossing in the face of terrified refugees, star=
ted to pressure the decision-makers in Washington, who until that time had =
blocked all calls for a cease-fire. These began to understand the menace to=
 vital American interests in the Arab world and suddenly changed their atti=
tude =E2=80=93 causing consternation among the complacent Israeli diplomats=
.=20



People with moral insanity cannot really understand the motives of normal p=
eople and must guess their reactions. =E2=80=9CHow many divisions has the P=
ope?=E2=80=9D Stalin sneered. =E2=80=9CHow many divisions have people of co=
nscience?=E2=80=9D Ehud Barak may well be asking.=20



As it turns out, they do have some. Not numerous. Not very quick to react. =
Not very strong and organized. But at a certain moment, when the atrocities=
 overflow and masses of protesters come together, that can decide a war.=20





THE FAILURE to grasp the nature of Hamas has caused a failure to grasp the =
predictable results. Not only is Israel unable to win the war, Hamas cannot=
 lose it.=20



Even if the Israeli army were to succeed in killing every Hamas fighter to =
the last man, even then Hamas would win. The Hamas fighters would be seen a=
s the paragons of the Arab nation, the heroes of the Palestinian people, mo=
dels for emulation by every youngster in the Arab world. The West Bank woul=
d fall into the hands of Hamas like a ripe fruit, Fatah would drown in a se=
a of contempt, the Arab regimes would be threatened with collapse.=20



If the war ends with Hamas still standing, bloodied but unvanquished, in fa=
ce of the mighty Israeli military machine, it will look like a fantastic vi=
ctory, a victory of mind over matter.=20



What will be seared into the consciousness of the world will be the image o=
f Israel as a blood-stained monster, ready at any moment to commit war crim=
es and not prepared to abide by any moral restraints. This will have severe=
 consequences for our long-term future, our standing in the world, our chan=
ce of achieving peace and quiet.=20



In the end, this war is a crime against ourselves too, a crime against the =
State of Israel.