George L. Barnett: Living in a bubble in Gaza

Published: Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 3:59 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 3:59 p.m.

When I was a young child, I quickly learned that banging my head against the wall hurt and made absolutely no sense. I wasn’t going to persuade my parents to give me what I wanted, so why would I want to continue hurting myself. It took me a while, but I learned that fighting with my parents all of the time to get what I wanted did not make sense at all. They ruled and if I wanted anything from them, I had to play by their rules. Sooner or later, I learned that the world works the same way; as an individual, I could not make it play by my rules.

So it is in world politics. The weak cannot compel the strong to do what the weak want, but sometimes the strong offer alternatives and when a weak power slaps the hand of a powerful one it fools itself, especially if it thinks that all of the other powers in the world really care. For the Arabs, especially Palestinians, and more particularly members of Hamas and Hezbollah to think that their constant bombing of Israel and constant terrorist attacks will win them anything, is madness. The history of the last 60 years or so demonstrates that overwhelmingly. So, why do they continue to do it?

Doing the same thing over and over expecting the result to change is the very definition of madness. So, it seems that the only reason that Hamas and Hezbollah continue to do what they do is because it earns their leaders a good living and gives them the opportunity to revel in their individual power.

Oh, yes, if Israel goes to ground war in Gaza, all of the nations in the world who covet Arab approval will condemn Israel. After all, how does that hurt them. Israel knows how the game is played and none of the condemning nations will really change their relationships with Israel (except maybe the Arabian and other Muslim countries, oh wait they don’t have any relationship with Israel now).

I am constantly amazed at how innocent people can be led by demagogues who care only about their own power and not about the welfare of their followers. Is there any rational person in the entire world who doesn’t believe that the Palestinians would not be better off if they simply gave in to Israel’s conditions? Then they would be able to obtain financial, business and medical aid from Israel. They would be regarded as stable places where businesses throughout the world might be willing to invest in. They might attract tourists to warm and colorful places. But, I guess that makes no sense to selfish leaders who would rather posture and profit from power rather than show real leadership.

When Israel gave up Gaza, it was a productive area. Now it is a large camp of displaced persons and refugees with no business other than making rockets and begging for food and money from the world.

And you thought that right wing Republican ideologues were the only people living in a bubble.

George L. Barnett,



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