Questions, questions and more questions...
Written by Harvey Hames Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Day 16 of this operation in Gaza started with sirens and two missiles landed in Be'er-sheva. One about 500m from us as the crow flies, and the other, close to a school in the northern part of Be'er-sheva which also brought down an electric pole and caused a power cut in parts of the town. We heard the explosions very clearly indeed. We joked that the Hamas decided to give us a fireworks display for Talya’s fifth birthday today. The rest of the day past quietly (at least here in Be'er-sheva and so far) and it is clear that over the past few days, the amount of missiles being fired is on the decrease (though the missiles fired from Lebanon last Thursday caused some concern). It is hard to know if this is a ploy by the Hamas to lull us into a false sense of security, or a result of the military pressure and collapse of their armed resistance.
The Home Command has started to relax restrictions and allowed high school students back to school, though they are studying in bomb shelters. University students will gradually be allowed back from Tuesday, though again only in classrooms that can withstand the missiles. Again, it is hard to know what lies behind the decision, other than the fact that in Sderot which has had 7 years of this, schooling has more-or-less gone on as usual. It is important to try and get to some semblance of normality even with missiles flying around.
We had intended to have a party at home for Talya on Saturday night, however, that was of course not on the cards anymore. So on Thursday afternoon after Tiran finished work, we packed up and left for Petach Tikva (near Tel Aviv) where my parents live. On Friday morning, some friends came from the south and we had an impromptu party at a bowling alley near my parents. We timed our departure from Be'er-sheva well as on Friday, the town was hit by 7 missiles. Talya had a great time and the girls enjoyed a relaxing weekend in very nice weather which allowed us to take them to the park where they could run around without the fear of the sirens going off. Ya’ara was very concerned about the sirens and asked us again and again about whether we were sure that there would be no sirens in Petach Tikva. We came back to Be'er-sheva on Saturday night.
It is interesting what happens to this country at times of crises. We are normally at each other’s throats, yet now, guesthouses in the Galil and Golan are offering free rooms to people from the south, in Tel Aviv and the center of the country, many things are half price or free for people from the south. Restaurants are giving big discounts and actors and singers are coming in droves to perform for people stuck in bomb shelters or elsewhere. There is a (false) sense of “togetherness” which will dissipate as fast as the last missile of the operation is fired. It is also rather strange that in less than a month, we are supposed to be having a general election, yet there is almost nothing going on re. campaigning and all the smaller parties who depend on this intense period before the elections to get their messages across are not even on the radar screens at the moment.
I have to admit to being rather confused about what is going on. We have to read between the lines of the information we are given, and like you, we are only getting one side of the story. No, that is not exactly true. We are getting the pictures that are coming out of Gaza, but they are very difficult to put into context, and it is hard to get a true sense of what is going on there. What are the Hamas up to? Is there still a central leadership? Has the army managed to inflict severe damage on the Hamas infrastructure, or are they trying to draw the army further in to Gaza in order to then hit them hard. How far are they prepared to go vis-à-vis the civilian population, using them as human shields. Is the leadership really hiding out in the hospitals or is this all propaganda? How far are we prepared to go vis-à-vis the civilian population in Gaza? How many soldiers will be killed, kidnapped, wounded or otherwise before the government decides that enough is enough? Are the negotiations going on behind the scenes achieving anything? What is the interest of the Egyptians in all that is going on (a very funny comment, though said with a straight face, was that of the Egyptian foreign minister who claimed that the Hamas had got all their armaments from the sea, and that no arms had been smuggled through Egyptian territory and through the tunnels, and that the Egyptians were well prepared to stop the smuggling) and will they keep to their side of any agreement? What, if anything, will be achieved by this operation in Gaza? Is there anyone to make a deal with?
Questions, questions and more questions...
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