Monday, August 15, 2005

Gaza'll Be Seeing You...

So this is it. The withdrawal from Gaza. It had to happen, IMHO. There was no way around it, and maybe it was time. But the big challenge is no longer for Israel to meet. The Israelis have taken this monumental step; now we wait to see if the Palestinian Authority can live up to its name, provide for its citizens, and keep a lid on the rocket and suicide attacks upon its neighbor.

By all accounts, the PA lacks discipline, training and weapons. I wonder how they'll control and contain Hamas, et. al? My guess is that they won't, and we'll be back into the same downward spiral of death and carnage and fear--but without the PA's ability to heap the standard blame upon Israel for all that ails it.

I hope it all works out, but Middle East politics, hatreds and prejudices being what they are, I confess to feeling a lot of hope while simultaneously having very little faith.

2 comments:

Geoff said...

Leave the killing up to the ultranationalist factions of Israel, and Hamas. Between those two, I'm guessing they'll whip up some kind of trouble, likely on a large scale.

How childish it seems, when if only there was a hint of maturity on both sides, there never would have been a need for a pullout, because Israeli's wouldn't be trying to settle there in the first place. Heck, with words instead of bullets, I'm guessing that they could have prevented this whole eon of conflict.

It's funny, how diplomacy fails at the end of a row of guns.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you on the lots of hope little faith part. Its a shame really, but what else can you really expect when people are known to not be rational (ie, the radicals on BOTH sides). Sometimes I just don't understand how people can be so intolerant.