And this is the way it rolls with Gaza...

http://simplyjews.blogspot.com/ I am really tired of the topic, nothing new to be added to or subtracted from it. So, purely for documentation purposes, here is a summary of the latest developments by Irina, and old friend from the good old blogging days.

A few words about the latest Hamas led attacks on Israel:

* They were completely unprovoked. The Arab media is only reporting images of Israeli counterattacks. Israel and US advocates are failing to engage Arab audience on the reality of what happened.

* Hamas was in the middle of reported negotiations over ceasefire terms – so it scored particularly high on the bad faith spectrum, also misleading the interlocutor Egypt.

* Israel, in retaliation, struck two Hamas tunnels. Those tunnels were a national security threat even before the 180 rockets Hamas fired at Israeli civilians. Why weren’t they destroyed earlier when Israel clearly knew about them?

* Hamas was clearly trying to harm civilians. 180 rockets damaged homes, other types of private property, wounded civilians, sent pregnant women into labor, and gave PTSD to hundreds of children in Sderot and elsewhere. Yet Israeli retaliation included damaging infrastructure that should not have been there to begin with. What lesson will Hamas and the international community draw from this response?

* Hamas attacking Israeli civilians for no reason: NO condemnation from international community and press. Why are we to take the international press seriously when they are clearly ok with unprovoked unjustified terrorism? Hamas did not even provide reasoning for it, not even a totally fake veneer.

*Hamas staged an attack, then, before they could be punished too severely, claimed that they are now done and want peace. That’s not how it works. You don’t get to fire deadly parting shots and walk away unscathed with no legal or political repercussions. Or at least you shouldn’t. How does a bunch of cowardly terrorists hiding in Turkey get to dictate terms of engagement and what happens next?

* The world then wonders how is it that Israelis and right wing Jews in the US and Europe are distrustful of Arabs. Well, where are the Arabs on questioning their media and on condemning Iran-funded Hamas on risking its own civilians and attacking women and children? How can you have trust and understanding from one side when the other doesn’t even want to hear your concerns and dehumanizes you from the get go? http://simplyjews.blogspot.com/