So It's Gaza

When I first thought that Israel might launch an operation against Gaza I was filled with dread for oh sooo many reasons.

For a start the timing is all wrong, a war in the run up to an election means that a politician is trying to look tough. In Israel with Barak being the Minister of Defence and Livni being too weak a leader to form a governing coalition a successful, popular war is just what the doctor ordered for both of these weak politicians and their very seperate parties. That is not to mention Olmert the disgraced Prime Minister who is being investigated on charges of corruption and who, it appears, launched a war in Lebanon in 2006 simply because he felt he looked weak in the wake of Hezbollah kidnapping two Israeli soldiers, but I digress....

Other than the timing are the concerns about the state of the Israeli Defence Forces, the same army that failed to provide food, water and ammunition to its frontline soldiers when they were all of two kilometers from the Israeli border.

In addition to their problems of supply there were problems of command, stories abound of soldiers being ordered into combat over and over again only to be stood down at the last minute, one paratrooper unit was told no less than nine times that they were to cross the border only to be stood down before moving in. Units that were sent into Lebanon were never actually deployed to combat and were simply left in positions under fire from enemy artillery for several days before being withdrawn from the area.

The campaign opened with a land and sea blockade of Lebanon by Israel as well as a massive aerial bombardment, so far so good vis a vis Gaza today.

The bombardment was so overwelming and attacked so many targets, military and non-military that it was difficult to pinpoint the focus of the attack. The targets ranged from bulidings all over Beirut, roads, villages and other military targets such as ammo dumps and command bunkers.

This was the precursor to this poorly planned and badly executed attack by soldiers more used to roadside patrols and the occasional arrest than even training for war.

And now we stand on the verge of a re-run in Gaza.

There are more reasons not to attack Gaza, primarily I keep hearign the word Stalingrad in my head, a battle fought between the Nazis and Soviets in World War II the Nazis were rolling through Russia tearing up everything in their path right up until they arrived at that city that sits on the Volga. Try as they might they could not take this city, they could take some of it, even most of it, but they could not win the battle.

The reason for this is simple; the Russians had nowhere to go! There was no line of retreat from Stalingrad, no one was pulled back and no forces were taken out. This was because of Stalin's own ruthlessness but in the case of Gaza there is literally nowhere else to go to, no line of retreat for the fighters or for the civilians, most of whom will inevitably become fighters at least in the sense of providing help and support services to those with weapons who are fighting the IDF.

Add to this the fact that Hamas havev been sowing mines and traps since the Israeli withdrawal, add to that the fact that Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on earth and consists of mazes of alleyways and ratwarrens which would defy even the most sophisticated of maps or GPS systems, in short soldiers moving in will have to simply demolish everything in front of them just to be able to find their way around and keep from being cut off and killed piecemeal by units of Hamas fighters who have grown up in these areas and know them extremely well. These areas are not accessable to vehicles, there are barely any roads and therefore tanks will be forced to to create pathways by destroying buildings, buildings that will inevitably contain women and children whose bodies will provide Hamas with a victory over Israel in the eyes of all who see them on television around the world.

The reason for an attack on Gaza is no less powerful than all of these cons: They are shooting at us!

They are firing missiles and mortars at our homes, hospitals and schools, what the hell else are we supposed to do?

Waltz With Me

I saw the film Waltz With Bashir, I enjoyed it, although that is not really the right word. A film of a mans attempt to come to terms with his own experiences during the 1982 operation Peace for the Galil and culminating in the massacres of Sabra and Shatila. I have heard it called anti Israeli and perhaps it is in its way. However it is more an attempt by one man to straighten out the thoughts that had been going through his head for over twenty years

Inevitably it compels me to attempt to do the same with the thoughts in mine. I rejected outright to my publisher the idea that the story of my army service has an arc to it, somewhere definitive that I begin, somewhere definitive that I end and and a host of things that happened to me that changed integrally who I am but that is the case. I am not sure why I denied it for so long, perhaps the danger of being percieved as another stereotype... perhaps something else.

I remember fragments of the army now more than whole events, I remember the red hair of the seventeen year old girl I arrested, the one who was shackled to the fence of the prison gate as there was no room for her inside. The same girl who dreamt of blowing herself up in a crowded market.

I remember being bathed in the white light of an explosion, of the ringing in my ears and the dust that was thrown up into the air, dust so thick that it was only possible to see luminescent light filtering through the murk and nothing else. I remember patting my body down in an attempt to find my injury, to find the place where my blood was gushing. I had been warned that I would feel no pain and that it was important to check your body to ensure that you have not been wounded. So I checked and to my astonishment found no wound.

I remember being in the armoured car on my way into the Kasbah and telling myself that at least one of us wouldn't make it back, looking at the faces around me as we huddled together in prayer, we had never prayed before and we never did after but that night we were all sure that death waited. I looked at my friends and wondered who of them he would come for. I tried to accept it then so that when it happened the shock wouldn't be so great as to prevent me from carrying out my duties. The car stopped, the doors opened and out into the night we ran.

I remember weekends at the kibbutz during my last 6 months of service where I would walk into my little room, lie on my bed for 48 hours sucking smoke through a bottle and then rise in full uniform for more of the same.

I think of the fact that over four years after I finished my service I am still consumed by the wish to go back and do it all again while lacking the understanding as to why.

Post Zionist Bullshit

I wonder how many Hezbollah fighters are begging off combat duties, claiming that hey are psychologically unfit for duty or that they have seen too many damaging things.

Does anyone want to fight? Why is it that so many people here have forgotten what it is that they are fighting for?

Oh I know, it's because they have spent too much time serving under fucking idiot commanders that can't even inspire confidence in a Yes man politician let alone a hard bitten fighter.

People are pissed off here because they aren't interested in being sent to die to further idiot politicians like Olmerts political careers. Nor are they interested in being told what to do by commanders who haven't got the first idea how to fight.

In Hezbollah fighters don't get the choice, don't want the choice and are only interested in dieing after killing as many Jews as they can anyway.

The country has lost its way and it's not surprising when in the next general election everyone who enters it is going to win.