I know Seymour Hersch has his flaws - a tendency toward grandiosity in his reporting -- but he has good sources and his column last night raises some good questions about the Israel-Hamas War that undoubtedly will dominate international discussions over the next weeks:
At least they're talking tonight about another ceasefire and hostage release:Thousands of Hamas fighters are now facing a deadly shootout with the Israeli army as the disastrous war their leaders triggered is in its tenth week. Now out of their tunnels, those men are trying to cope with the increasing winter chill and heavy rains. There is little shelter for them, or for the bedraggled surviving citizens of Gaza, from the elements and from Israeli bullets and bombs.War is hell, too, for Israeli troops, who are on the hunt, now engaged in house-to-house and rubble-to-rubble searches for Hamas fighters, who will be far more willing to engage in one-on-one shootouts in the south of Gaza than in the earlier days of mass bombing in Gaza City. Future historians will make their judgment on the stunning ratio of dead Palestinians in Gaza to the Israeli combat dead. Israel’s military leaders now assess that the majority of Hamas fighters will be dead, will be captured, or will have deserted by the end of January. But then what? If the religious zealots who now dominate the government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have a day-after plan, it is not known.
And I may be wrong, or maybe I'm just thinking wishfully, but perhaps the virulent reactions we've seen around the world since Oct 7 -- whether anti-Israel or anti-Palestine -- are starting to moderate somewhat as we learn more about what happened Oct 7 and since, both to Israelis and to Palestinians.Scoop: Israel's Mossad director David Barnea is expected to meet Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe this weekend to discuss resuming negotiations on a deal to release hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. My story on @axios https://t.co/C2uLUi0nWA
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) December 15, 2023
Robert Reich publishes an interesting substack this week about how his university students achieved some consensus through discussion on moral principles in spite of their pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli beliefs - Finding moral clarity on campus about the Hamas-Israeli War:
That's a good start, I think.Last weekend, I met with a group of students to talk about what’s happening in Israel and Gaza. Some were Jewish, some were Palestinian, one was Israeli, some were from other nations in the Middle East.The purpose of the meeting was to see what they could agree on, Morally.As you can imagine, emotions ran high.I suggested that, at least for the purpose of our conversation, they not think of themselves as either “Pro-Palestinian” or “Pro-Israel” but instead look deeper into what basic moral principles were at stake....After several hours, they agreed to seven moral principles...1. What Hamas did on October 7 was morally despicable...2. Hamas’s avowed aim to murder all Jews is morally despicable...3. What the Israeli government has done since then in Gaza is also morally despicable...4. The murder or kidnapping of innocent civilians is morally wrong...5. Israel’s policies toward Palestinians have been segregation and discrimination, based on ethnicity and religion, which are morally wrong...6. It is morally wrong to urge genocide against any group — whether they constitute a religion, ethnicity, race, or nation...7. All of us have a moral obligation to do everything within our power to prevent and stop all forms of genocide, all killing of innocent civilians, and the promotion of hate.
But that said, there are increased worries now that conflict will spread:
I think Biden and Trudeau and the leaders of the Commonwealth and of the EU are all working to prevent a broader war from erupting -- Trudeau spoke this week about a "sustainable" ceasefire, and released a joint statement with Australia and New Zealand in which he described the kind of ceasefire Canada wants: One cost of a Israel-Hezbollah war could be the collapse of Lebanon.
— Adam Shubinsky (@AdamShubinsky) December 15, 2023
All parties are aware of their costs and therefore have incentives to hold back at the precipice and reach an understanding.
In the Middle-East one must be willing to gaze into the abyss to reach compromises.
3/ Of course, shipping isn't all alone out there to broadcast ARMED GUARDS ONBOARD & hope for best.
— John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) December 16, 2023
US warships are shooting Houthi UAVs out of the sky & responding to attacks.
Still, not hard to understand why long way around Africa suddenly looks appealing. pic.twitter.com/ARkwJjYmus
#Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani warned that any attempt by the US to establish an international naval coalition to combat the #Houthi threat "will be faced with extraordinary problems."https://t.co/BxRYcqkcQt
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) December 17, 2023
...We want to see this pause resumed and support urgent international efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire. This cannot be one-sided. Hamas must release all hostages, stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields, and lay down its arms.There is no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza...
