Plenty of tactics for war, no strategy for peace

Jonathan Freeland over on Comment in Free has a good piece about the current crisis in Gaza. He quotes a senior European diplomat as saying this week’s invasion is “tactics, not strategy by the Israelis, who are expert in dealing with symptoms, not causes” . This is the act of a nation that has plenty of tactics for war – but no strategy for peace.

We had twenty five years of that mindset on this island before the serious talking started. No to sound too cliched but the old biblical maxim that an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind is as true today as it was in 300 BC and in 1980’s Ireland.

Events like these always trigger propaganda wars. In this case both parties are experts in global news management although I get the impression it is the international community and not Hamas which is more effectively countering the official Isreali position in the traditional press.

A quick O’Conall Street round up of the blogs and online TV output tells its own story. Youtube has over 800 clips posted mainly by Palestinian supporters but only a few uploaded from inside Gaza. Understandable given Israel’s control of much of the telecommunications infrastructure but a major failing in the Hamas propaganda machine none the less.

Unsurprisingly the blogosphere is also alight with debate about these events. Over 129,000 blogs have mentioned the ‘Gaza siege’ but very were few written inside the conflict zone. This is a conflict which in classic advocacy terms relies on external advocates to influence and shape opinion. The Palestinian people have many advocates around the globe but Hamas very few. It will be interesting to see if the global solidarity stays with the people of Palestine or if Israel succeeds in turning global opinion against Hamas.

In the meantime ordinary people will live and die in a 21st century hell.