Triumph At The Border

I was vacationing in Whistler last weekend, luxuriating in a hottub overlooking beautiful mountain vistas, while residents of Gaza had their electricity and water cut off. Quite the striking dissimilarity of situation, no?

Today, hundreds of thousands of Gazans broke through the border to Egypt with the help of Hamas’ explosives, allowing them to flood into Egypt to stock up on necessities in border towns to return home. Luckily, Egypt allowed their safe passage. This comes as a victory for Hamas (as interpreted by Gazans, at least): it solidifies the view of Hamas as the protagonist and Israel the antagonist. Really, this recent conflict is too complex to be summed up in a sentence (or even a paragraph), and even taking sides is difficult because both sides are seemingly so culpable. It all depends on which side of the fence you sit.

Israel is in a really tough position here. They’re at war (both ideologically and militarily) with Hamas. If they allow Hamas to fire Qassam rockets without retaliation, it would signal an admission of weakness. If they retaliate strongly, with a ground invasion force, they’d be labeled a brutal invader. And if they attempt to starve Hamas by closing the borders, Gazans will find a way through and Hamas will claim victory.

This episode shows that you can’t fight an idea, a belief, or a religion with a blockades or bullets. And that’s not good news for Israel.