On 12-Jan-09, at 7:04 PM, Mark wrote: > Michael Luscombe wrote: >> Resolving conflict requires compromise. Compromise means greeting >> guns with compassion. It means being vulnerable. If you haven't made >> yourself vulnerable, then you haven't sacrificed anything, you >> haven't compromised anything. >> > Hamas comprimise: > Israel can exist as long as we can use 'em as punching bags.
-- The existence of Hamas is a coping mechanism for a small country walled off from both Israel and Egypt, enduring a 50% unemployment rate and with almost no way to provide most of the necessities of life to their population. Try to imagine a giant wall surrounding your state and your inability to secure a job or clean water for your children. Israel has traditionally provided humanitarian support to the area, but has reduced those efforts considerably since Hamas took power, either as some form of "tough love" to get Palestine to produce a sensible government, or just to turn up the heat on the situation and provoke a confrontation. Guess which happened? No one wants to hear this, but a compassionate Israel would have been a good counterpoint to the hatred Hamas spews. Decent people trying to provide for their families would not have bit the hand that feeds them. An indifferent and aggressive Israel is just the thing that Hamas needs to garner more Muslim outrage. I'm not taking either side. Obviously, regular rocket attacks into Israel mean something, but this is like a guy picking a fight in a bar, and his opponent killing his family. It's disproportionate, and simply pushes the root of the conflict to another day. Both sides feel justified in lashing out. Both sides act like victims and aggressors at the same time. Something other than pulling a trigger needs to happen for this to stop. -- Michael --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "StrataList-OT" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/StrataList-OT?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
