Ruins of Science Building at Islamic University, Gaza, formerly containing only gene sequencing equipment in the Strip
Last week neocon Michael Totten said at Commentary that he Gaza slaughter worked. It made Palestinian culture change.
Hamas ramped up its own rocket war until fed-up Israelis gave Gaza the South Lebanon treatment this past December and January. Hamas is a bit slower to learn than was Hezbollah, but seven long months after the conclusion of Operation Cast Lead, the rockets out of Gaza have finally stopped.
Today Eyad El-Sarraj, the venerable psychologist in Gaza, answers this argument in the Baltimore Sun:
Despite claims made by these theologians of brute force, it’s actually an open hand rather than a closed fist that has made the difference. President Barack Obama has reached out to the Muslim world in a spirit of genuine reciprocity. Hamas takes seriously the words he uttered in Cairo: "There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground."
I like to think El-Sarraj is right, but so what if Totten is right, and if the slaughter ended the rockets? Does that mean it was right to kill 300 children to make a people docile? Hell no. I think the Iraq war helped reduce the threats to America over the last 8 years. Does that mean destroying an Arab society was good? No no no. I stole this idea from my wife, who said a few months back to someone doing the Ferber Method, who had said to her, "It works"– "Of course it works. Cruelty works. The Holocaust worked." Yes I know, I’m conflating a few things there. You get the point.
