Yoel Marcus, 'disengagement' advocate extraordinaire, is puzzled. Confused. Bewildered.
The moment the Israel Defense Forces evacuated Gaza and its Jewish settlements, in which a third generation of settlers lived, and handed the territory over to the Palestinians, the firing of Qassams should have stopped immediately, if only to encourage Israel to continue to withdraw. The expectations that the Palestinians would rapidly construct multistory buildings in the evacuated territories to house refugees and create an atmosphere of progress were dashed. Instead, the liberated territories turned into a firing base. The increased bombardment of Israeli territory is the last thing that Israeli peace-seekers expected following the beginning of the end of the occupation and the separation from the dream of the greater land of Israel.
I see the problem. It lies in the premise. Once Israel retreated from Gaza, the Qassams should have stopped. The Gazan Arabs were expected to build high-rise apartments and create an atmosphere of progress. Increased bombardment is that last thing anyone thought would follow from the "end of occuption."
Wrong, wrong and wrong again. Because for months prior to and right up the 'disengagement,' (which, of course, has been no disengagement at all), there were all sorts of predictions, based upon rational analysis and past experience, that the retreat would only encourage Qassams, and that they would start coming faster and closer to Israel's major population centers than ever before. Chief among these doom and gloom prophets, of course, was the mayor of Sderot himself, who saw clearly what ill the withdrawal boded for his town.
No one paying any attention believed that the Arabs were going to respond by building or developing their newly "liberated" territory. To the contrary. It was predicted that they would use it as a launching ground for additional terrorist attacks. That they would smuggle in even more weapons and terrorists of all stripes and create even more of a wasteland. And they did.
Increased bombardment was the first thing that true peace-seekers expected from the 'disengagement.' Because the way to peace is not by encouraging your enemy to believe that he can defeat you through war.
Yoel Marcus is confused. But not completely. He does have Shimon Peres's number. In spades.
Peres, known for his preoccupation with defense issues, has never experienced battle. Throughout his career, he has never been under mortar and rocket fire. He lives in a bubble, like a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who has an algebraic formula that nobody understands - the essence of which is that one must not get hysterical, one must be steadfast. Theoretically, everyone agrees with it and admires his wisdom, certainly in Paris and in other world capitals. But when he demands that Sderot residents not panic, he proves just how cut off he is from the people. Preaching that people should not panic or get hysterical is justified, but the question is, why should Sderot have to play the role of a second Massada?
And, somewhere, the light seems to be breaking through. In fact, I'm not sure I'd go this far.
A Qassam that is fired into the heart of a population center, even if it does not kill anyone, is tantamount to a Qassam that has hit the target and caused a mass slaughter of civilians, and it demands a strong response. The Palestinians should know that if our civilians continue to be targeted indiscriminately, their civilians, too, are liable to become a target. Not in the Peres-Shmeres method, but in the eye for an eye method.
