Beyond Gaaza

by Hasnat
Till the writing of these lines, the death toll in Gaza has crossed 1000 including civilians,
women and children. Israel's aerial bombardment that caused damage on this scale could not
possibly have been a retaliation of the rocket attacks by Hamas inside Israel. It was surely
designed to achieve bigger goals. Apart from the short term objective of electoral success in
the upcoming Feb elections for the ruling party in Israel, there is indeed the long term aim of
crushing Palestinians resistance, once and for all. Gaza to be made an example for the West
bank and East Jerusalem.

But is Israel going to achieve the desired objectives? Is it going to stay safe after inflicting this
recent bout of violence on a hapless people? If the past is a guide, it won't.
So, what lies beyond Gaza is the subject of our Special Report today. Most of it is analyses
drawn from history because, frankly, there is not much scope or hope about the region's
future. Diplomacy, so far, has not generated optimism either. To begin with, there is a US
monopoly on diplomacy with no room for Arab and European voices.
The US response is dithering -- between a shamelessly pro-Israel outgoing administration and
a muted upcoming presidency. Intelligent timing as far as Israel is concerned, careful enough
to not put its most trusted partner in an embarrassing position.
Meanwhile the Palestinians are forced to grapple with the situation on ground as a divided
people. The death of Yasser Arafat has left them leaderless, holding on to their scattered
patches with very little control and pitched against an enemy bent upon destroying them.
So who among the Palestinians is going to look at the larger picture and think of alternative
solutions, when there is no single authority to lead them. The problems are too many and
solutions too few.