Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog

Rich Lowry makes a strong point concerning Gaza:

we shouldn’t fool ourselves that this operation is going to “discredit” Hamas, as some conservatives hope, much or at all. Yes, Hamas ultimately is responsible for the conflict. But when an Israeli shell kills your family or your neighbor’s family, most people aren’t going to think it through enough to blame Hamas, they are going to direct their hatred and their desire for revenge at Israel. That’s why probably the most that realistically can be hoped for from this operation is a diminishment of Hamas’ capabilities. Achieving more than that would require holding territory and engaging in classic counter-insurgency operations, including providing services to win over the population. Israel’s not going to do that, and it doesn’t seem the PA is capable of it.

He has a really good point, Germany and Japan wouldn’t be what they are today if it hadn’t been for the post WW II occupation.

Headlines like this suggest that he might be wrong at least in one sense:

At least some of them know the identity of their tormentors. A New York Times dispatch captured an excruciating moment that took place in a hospital morgue, where a mother had just found half of the body of her 17-year-old daughter.

“May God exterminate Hamas!” screamed the woman in crystal-clear understanding that the terrorist band’s reckless, inhuman actions had brought death to her child.

This is not the only example of this type of talk.

This suggests that Gazans either feel Hamas is incapable to retaliate or they are just too angry to care. It is a seminal change.

This doesn’t mean that these people aren’t going to blame Israel as well, people who have lost friends and loved ones will have plenty of grief and anger to go around. Hatred of Hamas is not the same as tolerance for Israel.