BLOOD TRANSFUSION

The Palestinian street fighting in Gaza is beyond awful; fratricidal, indiscriminate, brutal and futile. The second front, the renewed missile attacks on southern Israel by Hamas, however, presents new diplomatic possibilities that Israel can use to advance a, much-needed, new agenda. We have stated here before that no other first world country would put up with rocket attacks on its sovereign land. Imagine any European nation allowing a sworn enemy to fire missiles on a regular basis into its territory, terrorizing its citizens, destroying houses, schools and places of worship. The concept is absurd and beyond contemplation. However the Middle East is different and Israel is expected to suffer more than its peers to the north.

Israeli retaliation as witnessed in the last war with Lebanon is always under deep scrutiny. When Italian President Massimo D’Alema was photographed arm-in-arm with Hezzbollah “Parliamentarian” Hussein Haji Hassan touring bomb damaged Beirut, you knew the Italians and the rest of the Europeans would portray Israel as the aggressor and the Arabs as victims. No matter how many times the Arab voice calls for a war of extermination against the Jews, and the people of Israel defend themselves in that war, the Israelis are left to fight alone and their defense is always branded as “disproportionate.”

However, if Olmert and Tzipi had any street smarts, they could break the cycle of European and world disapproval by trying the following. First put together a video of the wounded and displaced in Siderot. Record all the destruction the Hamas rockets have caused. Take this on a road show to all the European capitals. Hint: try France first. Tour the satellite channels and broadcast networks with the footage. Meet with journalists and editors. Then lay out a plan of retaliatory attack, but first, call on the world to help stop the missile attacks by Hamas. Which, by the way, as they are aimed only at civilians clearly qualify as war crimes. Point out that Israel withdrew from Gaza unilaterally, and note the world support for that vision. Then, outline explicitly to the Quartet and other countries exactly what will happen in Gaza if the missile attacks do not stop. Show the targets, name the towns that will be flattened, and point out the missile factories intentionally hidden in the densely populated cities that will be destroyed.

Beg the Europeans to stop the unnecessary deaths of women and children, and the collateral damage that inevitably ensues from a counter attack. Ask them to use the resources of the Quartet and all their other connections and contacts to reach out to Hamas before more people are killed and more of Gaza is destroyed. Break with the go-it-alone military strategy that not only doesn’t win clear-cut victories anymore but also engenders European and other countries enmity. Make the Norwegians, who have rushed head first to recognize Hamas, play a role in moderating Hamas’s military and political wing…or be complicit in the aftermath.

It is time to shift the failure of peace in the holy land to a larger community than that found in Jerusalem. It is time to make the Europeans part of the Israeli defense plan. It is time to give them a stake in the rush to war, confrontation and failure that has been at the heart of Hamas’s policy since day one. The Egyptians have evidently given up; the Jordanians have too. Clearly the Saudis have no lasting real influence beyond a meeting in Mecca now and then, and the Turks could care less. The distant but pro-Israel Bush administration has no influence other than rubber-stamping failed Israeli tactics. Involving the Europeans with a charmed offensive is worth a try.

It could be a win-win for Israel. If they accomplish something and moderate Hamas, fewer people on both sides of the conflict will die. If they cannot influence Hamas and stop the war, then they have defacto legitimized the Israeli response. Make the Europeans party to the plan of attack in advance. For a people who are supposed to be clever, adopting this policy should do nicely in isolating the fanatics against peace one way or the other.



-All photos are of destruction in Sederot, Israel