There was no particular reason for the Palestinian raid whose aim was the capture of an Israeli soldier. The Palestinians have long borne the brunt of the consequences of an Israeli soldier’s abduction a year ago. Should another Israeli soldier be taken, surely the response would be just as bad, if not worse.
The Palestinians have enough on their plate. With deadly results, they continue to fight among themselves. Tensions between Hamas and Fatah have risen in recent days despite a truce last month after clashes between the two factions killed more than 50. A Palestinian raid now will also show in graphic detail that the Palestinians cannot uphold, for even a single week, a cease-fire plan they themselves devised for Gaza in order to end more than three weeks of violence. A violation of the truce will also reinforce Israel’s position that such a cease-fire should not include the West Bank since Tel Aviv maintains there can be no parity between the Israeli occupation army and Palestinian resistance groups. Of course, what Israel is saying in real terms is that it has the right to kill Palestinian civilians with impunity and carry out any military operation it desires, regardless of whether the Palestinians maintain a cease-fire or not.
This week marks the anniversary of the 1967 War and the fact is, four decades later, Israel is still in possession of large areas of Arab land conquered then and later. The West Bank and Gaza Strip are two of those territories and it is perfectly clear that Israel continues to want them both under its thumb. There is of course a continuing Israeli de facto occupation of Gaza since the Israeli Army retains control of its airport, seaport, coastline and skies as well as all border crossings, including the Rafah Terminal. Gaza is thus literally the biggest prison in the world.
Though the Palestinians have every right to resist the occupation, sometimes the ways and means of protest are difficult to understand. Another Israeli abduction, for example, will not end the occupation. Nor will it end settlement building and expansion. It will not give the Palestinians the right of return or bring down the wall of separation or establish a Palestinian state or make East Jerusalem its capital. It will not free Palestinian prisoners jailed without justification or improve the Palestinian economy or general standards of living. It will not stop the bulldozing of Palestinian homes and the uprooting of Palestinian families, ostensibly in search of activists. It will not end the Western embargo or persuade the West to recognize — and sit down with — the national unity government in order to talk peace. It will not end targeted assassinations or the haphazard, reckless killing of civilians.
An additional Israeli abduction will help nothing but, it will push all Palestinian aims further from realization and bring additional misery upon the Palestinians. The Israeli soldier abducted last year is still missing and Israel continues to use that card. There is no point in giving them another one to play as a gift.
