Cap Phantom

Gazan Arabs have no one but themselves to blame for voting Hamas into power and allowing Hamas to destroy their lives in the traumatic manner that has suddenly befallen them in the past week.

This inevitability was on the cards from the day Gazans freely – and overwhelmingly – elected Hamas to power in Gaza’s municipal council elections on 28 January 2005 giving Hamas a solid power base and stranglehold in 77 out of the 118 seats contested.

Emboldened by Israel’s total – and unilateral – withdrawal from Gaza on 12 September 2005, Gaza’s population immediately went on a rampage burning synagogues and communal centres left behind in Gaza by the 8000 Jews who had built them over the previous four decades whilst also destroying the productive green houses and agricultural lands created out of desert by the departing Jewish farmers.

Gaza’s exclusively Arab population had by then come to regard Hamas as the party that could really deliver Israel into Islamic hands and wipe the Jewish state off the map as the Hamas Charter so clearly declared. Hamas claimed the credit for Israel’s withdrawal and promised more to the crowds that thronged the Hamas rallies to celebrate Israel’s retreat.

Hamas had by then already carried out thousands of terror attacks killing 425 Israelis and wounding 2,233 others since 2000. Between 1993-2005 Hamas had been responsible for sending 113 suicide bombers into Israel to deliberately target, murder and maim civilians in places like restaurants, buses and shopping centers.

Hamas certainly practised what they preached and Gaza’s civilian population were now prepared to vest Hamas with even greater political power in Gaza.

193000 Gazans gave Hamas that green light on 25 January 2006 in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections whilst 174000 Gazans supported the incumbent ruling party – Fatah. Hamas ended up winning 74 seats overall whilst Fatah could only win 45 seats.

Gazans had made their choice undeterred by the fact that Hamas had been declared a terrorist organization by America, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Israel.

Fatah certainly only had itself to blame for its 2006 stunning electoral defeat having allowed Hamas to contest those elections in breach of the Oslo Accords that Fatah had signed in 1995 which stated:
“The nomination of any candidates, parties or coalitions will be refused, and such nomination or registration will be cancelled, if such candidates, parties or coalitions 1) commit or advocate racism, or 2) pursue the implementation of their aims by unlawful non-democratic means.”

The ensuing havoc and political schism between Hamas and Fatah following Hamas’ huge win saw Gaza being effectively taken over by Hamas whilst a large number of the 174000 Fatah supporters and their families fled to the relative safety of the West Bank to escape the purge of Fatah members occupying positions of power within Gaza’s political echelons. Others were not so lucky and died in the internecine strife that followed.

Entrenched in power in Gaza, Hamas did not embark on nation building. Instead it engaged in a massive build up of rockets smuggled through an extensive network of tunnels running under Egypt and into Gaza whilst continuing to manufacture its own home grown versions for indiscriminate dispatch into Israeli population centres.

Gazans were willing partners to this murderous enterprise making their homes the exit points for newly constructed tunnels whilst actively assisting in the assembling and manufacturing of an arsenal of rockets and mortars that seemed infinite in the number available to be fired at Israel.

Israel absorbed many attacks and responded to others by blockades, embargoes and limited incursions into Gaza which had little effect in stemming the almost daily barrages. Each retaliatory action by Israel was met with huge protests and demonstrations by tens of thousands of Gazans.

No voices of protest or warning were heard or raised in Gaza at its Government’s precipitate action. Some may argue this was caused by fear and that the population had become captive and hostage to its new rulers whose dreams of driving Israel into the sea had overwhelmed its primary responsibility to advance the well being and development of its own constituency.

Suffering became the norm as electricity, water and fuel supplies were cut by Israel.

“Humanitarian crisis”, “collective punishment” and “breaches of international humanitarian law” became the international chants to confront Israel and comfort the Gazans as their leaders – duly emboldened by this limp response – persisted with their sworn declaration to kill as many Jews as they could.

Renewal of an uneasy six months’ truce mediated by Egypt in June 2008 was spurned by Hamas. The truce period had enabled a build up of rockets with a far greater range than had been previously been employed. It was time for the rocket game to begin in earnest once again.

Israel however had had enough and has now responded like never before. The destruction visited on Gaza’s institutions of power, its Hamas foot soldiers, rocket launchers, network of tunnels and rocket and mortar arsenal are yet to be publicly revealed. Hamas has not been bowed and has indicated its intention of continuing its suicidal program by firing more rockets far deeper into Israel than previously thought possible.

Gazan Arabs are now having their electoral decisions sheeted home to them in no uncertain fashion. Whilst the Palestine Liberation Organisation may have been foisted on them in an undemocratic fashion in 1964, the embrace of Hamas in 2005 and 2006 was decidedly the opposite.

Rescuing the Gazans from the disastrous consequences of their political choices involves the removal of Hamas.

Replacing Hamas with Fatah is not really a viable alternative. Fatah has shown itself to be totally incapable of reaching a peaceful accommodation with Israel after 15 years of fruitless negotiations. Both organizations are total political write-offs.

The only possible solution involves Egypt reassuming control over Gaza as it did between 1948-1967. This time there will have to be one fundamental difference – Gaza and its citizens must embark on the road to peace with – not seek the destruction of – Israel.

Redrawing the boundary between Israel and Egypt to incorporate all of Gaza and its citizens in Egypt’s sovereign territory is a commonsense approach that now urgently requires the support of the Arab League, the other Islamic States and the remainder of the international community to make it work.

It can – and must – happen if the suffering and despair of the Gazan Arabs are to be ended.

This solution does not –thankfully – involve rocket science although removing Hamas first probably will require its judicious use by Israel in a directly targeted and surgical manner.

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Concern for Gaza’s civilian population has engendered a wave of demonstrations around the world over the past few days as Israel’s army enters Gaza to try and effectively end the incessant barrage of rockets and mortars that have been fired indiscriminately into Israel’s population centres by Hamas for the last eight years.

Significantly missing from those demonstrations were any signs demanding “Hamas Out”.

There were plenty of banners saying “Free Palestine” but not one saying “Free Gaza”, “Hamas End Occupation” or “Hamas Handover To Abbas”.

Even Israel has stated its current incursion into Gaza is not designed to bring about regime change. One would hope the attainment of this objective has not really been foregone but remains the ultimate- but as yet unexpressed – goal to be achieved.

Mahmoud Abbas and every spokesman for the Palestinian Authority – thrown out of Gaza by Hamas eighteen months ago and locked in a bitter internecine struggle with Hamas for political control of Gaza ever since then – have not called on Hamas to leave Gaza to end the suffering of Gaza’s population.

No world leader has taken the frequent opportunities afforded by CNN, Fox or the BBC to call for Hamas to be removed from Gaza.

Indeed there has not been one demonstration by Gaza’s civilian population calling on Hamas to end its rocket and mortar attacks on Israel to end the insufferable horrors that are now occurring in Gaza.

Hamas has entrenched its armed forces and its rocket and mortar stocks in civilian population centres. Hamas knows full well the inevitability of heavy Gazan civilian casualties being sustained as Israel seeks to root out and destroy Hamas fighters located there – virtually ensuring the intensity of these world-wide demonstrations increasing as those Gazan civilian casualties continue to climb.

All demonstrations and current calls from world leaders instead only demand an immediate cease fire – not the ouster of Hamas from Gaza.

If such a cease fire is ever achieved Hamas would still be the dominant power in Gaza. What has been happening for the last ten days would then only become round one in a contest between Israel and Hamas guaranteed to be renewed with definite certainty and even greater ferocity at some time in the future.

Amazingly too the concern of the world community with the welfare of Gaza’s civilian population has not included a demand that the Rafah crossing – controlled by Egypt – be opened to allow at least Gaza’s women and children to be evacuated whilst the conflict continues. The Arab League has been shamefully silent in making any such demand obviously preferring to keep Gazans penned in as virtual hostages and human shields to become potential casualties in an effort to discredit Israel’s attempts to end the Hamas campaign against Israel.

Everyone seems to have also forgotten that Hamas has been declared a prescribed terrorist organization by America, the European Union, Japan, Canada and Australia. Hamas has been declared as an illegitimate usurper of power in Gaza by the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas has stymied any efforts to create a 22nd Arab State in Gaza and the West Bank – a political settlement which has no possible chance of happening whilst Hamas controls Gaza and admittedly very little chance of eventuating even if Hamas is ousted from power.

The only satisfactory outcome to Israel’s incursion into Gaza can be the removal of Hamas from Gaza. Anything less will signal an enormous victory for terrorist groups world -wide who will be able to count on hiding behind civilians to ensure that heavy civilian casualties will be the breaking point on which attempts to eliminate the terrorists will ultimately founder.

All terrorist groups must be heartened by the current world-wide demonstrations that focus on Gaza’s undoubted humanitarian crisis and completely ignore the root cause of Gaza’s problem today – the decisions made by Hamas that have brought the territory and its citizens to the disastrous position that they now face.

Israel is doing the world’s dirty work in combating the ugly face of terrorism as it is so ruthlessly exploited in Gaza. There are no NATO forces or troops from other countries supporting Israel’s attempt to silence the Hamas barrage.

Israel has had to take up the gauntlet once again in fighting terrorism as it did when faced with very similar circumstances involving the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Lebanon in 1982. At the conclusion of Israel’s then campaign Yasser Arafat and 14000 armed PLO fighters were exiled to Tunisia following mediation by US Ambassador – Philip Habib.

The cancer that had affected both the civilian populations of Israel and Lebanon had been removed.

A Multinational Force was authorized to facilitate the process and to provide protection for Palestinian civilians left in Lebanon. On August 21, 1982 French troops arrived and on August 24 the US Marines went ashore in Beirut. The PLO evacuation was completed without significant incident and the Marines withdrew to their ships on September 10.

A similar outcome is possible – and is essential – if Gazans are to be freed from the conflict and instability that has dogged them since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and Hamas ejected the Palestinian Authority from Gaza in 2007.

To enable this to happen Hamas must be militarily ground down to the point where it is in danger of complete extinction unless it retires to lick its wounds and reconsider its options if it wishes to be taken seriously as having any political standing in resolving the Arab – Jewish conflict over the territory once called Palestine.

As diplomatic efforts now step into top gear the consequences of leaving Hamas in control in Gaza need to be fully understood.

Israel must be given the opportunity to militarily end the Hamas reign of terror in Gaza.

Failure to facilitate allowing this to occur will most certainly be a recipe for further conflict and even greater suffering by a civilian population which has paid an inordinately high price for electing Hamas to a position where it was able to lead the civilian population down the road to despair that faces it today.

Continuing terror or the prospect of peace are the options facing the world as they grapple diplomatically in trying to end the war on terrorism in Gaza.

Hopefully they make the right choice.

The Military Women 
 
     Throughout the history of the military, women have played a large role. Not only by supporting the soldiers but standing next to the male soldiers, ready to fight. Over nine thousand women served over in Vietnam and more served at hospitals caring for wounded soldiers (Wilson, 1996). In September of 2005 there were an estimated 203,000 women on active duty serving in the United States military (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2007, ¶ 24). While some do not believe women should be on the front lines, having women in the military has helped create a strong, more integrated fighting force
 
 Vietnam and Other Wars 
 
    When Pearl Harbor was attacked the military did not have enough male soldiers to fill certain jobs which did not have to do with direct combat. These jobs are supported military occupational specialties (MOS). Many of these jobs were clerical duties, nursing, civil service and laundry workers. The government finally decided to let women fill these jobs and let them men go fight in the war. Many served in the civilian sector but some were sent overseas; and some women did die in World War II and Vietnam. 
 
     Vietnam was a remarkable breakthrough for women in all armed forces. Women served in the Marines, Air Force, Navy and Army. By the time the military was leaving Vietnam, 7,500 women had accomplished oversea tours (Holm, 1982, chap. 16). During Operation Just Cause in Panama 1989, a few hundred women served executing refueling missions and resupply missions while being shot at by the enemy (Wilson, 1996, ¶ 6). These missions still were not considered combat missions. 
 
     Women served in large numbers during the Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991. Over 40,000 (Ghajar, n.d., ¶ women reportedly served in the battle between Kuwait and Iraq. These women had set a milestone in women’s history and set record numbers. Today the women serving overseas against the War on Terrorism has helped contribute to the success of the military women. 
 
  The War on Terrorism has brought men and women together. Not fighting against each other about gender but fighting together as a strong force. Even though the military does not consider what women do in Iraq and Afghanistan as combat, many women find themselves in danger at any given moment. The women of these wars have made exceptional achievements and accomplished many successful missions. 
 
Achievements 
 
  The military has given credit to the well deserved men and women. Women, who helped in the Revolutionary War, were the first to receive pensions. These women, not yet considered military, were recognized for “drawing well water” (Wilson, 1996, Military Women “Firsts” and their History) for soldiers on the battlefield. These women were accredited no matter how small the pension was and today female soldiers receive the same veteran benefits and pensions of male soldiers. But few have received as many awards as their male counterparts. 
 
     The only woman to receive the nation’s highest award, the Medal of Honor, is a Civil War surgeon Dr. Mary Walker. She was awarded the medal, and Congress eventually took it away from her for reasons still not exactly known. After her death, President Carter “reinstated her medal” (Wilson, 1996). There have been many women to receive the Purple Heart, which is the oldest and first military award. 
 
     The Purple Heart is awarded to soldiers who have been injured or killed during combat, directly engaged with enemy. The Purple Heart is an award of honor and is held in high regard. With the awards come honor but to receive honor one must receive rank that deserves respect. 
 
    Recently the first female was given the rank of four-star General. This is the highest commissioned rank in the military. Army Gen. Ann Dunwoody was promoted in November of 2008, which shifted the outlook on women officers (CNN, 2008). Women have served all branches and parts of the military. 
 
     The Army’s non-commissioned officers (NCO) are thought to be the “backbone of the Army”. These NCOs train and fight next to their soldiers guiding them through their battles. There are only a few exceptional women NCOs documented, but there are many who have served. These NCOs stand for, what the military is; they fight beside their soldiers and lead from the front. Women have participated in the long tradition of the NCO ranks. Women NCOs have showed that they too can do what is right and lead the force. 
 
     Even though there are more men given awards of merit and so forth; the women have stood by these soldiers doing the same job. The physical fitness and training standards may be different, but these soldiers work together to get the mission accomplished.  
 
Feminizing the Military 
 
    Many people will argue that women do not belong in the military or front lines because the obvious physical difference. Can a woman carry the same weight as a man on her back? Can a woman run as far as the man running beside her? 
 
    The military adopted the different physical standards to help provide fair evaluations of female recruits. Some female soldiers are able to run further then male soldiers, some may even be able to carry a heavy load longer distances than men. These standards are set in place to help women overcome the physical differences. The training of soldiers though does not have the same standards. 
 
     Training in a co-ed environment may be a little stricter on language and harder on sexual harassment. The women are trained in the same areas of men and are given the exact evaluations. These training units instill a tough sexual harassment and equal opportunity policy. Still with these policies in place there is a list of units and batteries that women are not allowed to train for (“Women in the Army”, n.d., ¶ 7). These units are thought to be ones that would send a woman into direct combat. 
 
     A unit that does go into direct battle needs support soldiers, these support elements are: criminal intelligence, clerical, medical, military police, civil affairs, engineers and signal. Women are allowed to serve in all support units and go to war with the combat units. The support elements will engage in missions that will put women on the front lines. And even though the military will not recognize women serving in combat, in a support MOS, a soldier will be in the line of danger and fight along with the combat soldiers. 
 
Views on Women in the Military 
 
     The combat readiness of female soldiers is a long debate. There are many that believe that because of a woman’s emotional needs that do not belong on the battlefields. Some say women are a distraction to men on the battlefields and women cannot carry the same load as men. 
 
     Today there are numerous women serving in support units which complete dangerous missions daily. The military prohibits women serving in line units (infantry) (Norris, 2007, ¶ 4) but females are part of a specialized unit themselves. The War on Terrorism brought a new threat, women suicide bombers. 
 
    The Muslim beliefs made it hard for male soldiers to search Muslim women properly who could be hiding critical information or weapons. The military designed a group of women, usually belonging to a military police unit, to conduct missions with combat units to help search the women. The “Lioness” proved to play a very important role in the ground war (Solaro, 2006, chap. 3). 
 
     These women help show respect to the Muslim beliefs and are very important in the War on Terrorism. This job puts these women on the front lines and many women in these units find themselves in battles with the enemy. These women know all to well the effects of war and have firsthand experience. Again, the military will not acknowledge that they put women on the front lines, they are there. 
 
     Our history has shown us that no matter one’s race, religion or gender; oneself can be successful in this country. A woman can run a business just as well as a male. An African American woman can run the same business. And a Muslim, African American woman can run the business just the same. 
 
    Women and men of many races and religions fight the war together, proving the country is united. This lets our enemies know the United States of America does have equality and will rise from our shortcomings. The military may not recognize women are on the front lines because of the policies, but the women overseas know better. They are fighting alongside the male soldiers in direct combat and, they are just as important to the success of the war. Virginia Woolf a British author once said “As a woman I have no country. As a woman my country is my whole world.” 
 


References Chamber of Commerce. (2007). U.S. Census Bureau News Release Available from Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/cb07ff-03.pdf CNN (2008). Army general is nation’s first four-star woman. Retrieved December 15, 2008, from http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/11/14/woman.4.star.general/index.html Ghajar, L. (n.d.). Persian Gulf War. Retrieved January 10, 2009, from Hagen, M. (2004). Women in the Military. Retrieved December 15, 2008, from http://www.mscd.edu/~history/camphale/wim_001.html Holm, J. (1982). Women in the Military an Unfinished Revolution. Novato, CA: Presidio Press. Lewis, J. (n.d.). About Women and World War II. Retrieved January 3, 2009, from http://womenshistory.about.com/od/warwwii/a/military.htm Norris, M. (2007, October 1, 2007). Roles for Women in U.S. Army Expand. NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14869648 Solaro, E. (2006). Women in the Line of Fire: What You Should Know About Women in the Military. Emeryville, CA: Seal Press. Wilson, B. (1996). Military Women “Firsts” and their History. Retrieved January 5, 2009, from http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/firsts.html Wilson, B. (1996). Vietnam-Southeast Asia. Retrieved December 29,2008, from http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/femvetsnam.html Women in the Army-Historical Highlights. (n.d.) Retrieved January 11, 2009 , from http://www.asamra.army.mil/eo/eo_docs/Women in the Army – Historical Highlights.doc Woolf, V. (n.d.). World of Quotes. Retrieved January 15, 2009, from http://www.worldofquotes.com/author/Virginia-Woolf/1/index.html
 

The Norwegian Doctor Mads Gilbert is not allowed into Gaza

The Norwegian doctor says the situation is as bad as in January as he just informs that he is not allowed to enter into Gaza. The paradox is that his colleague Erik Fosse who worked with Mads Gilbert in Gaza in January was let in.

Together with his colleague Erik Fosse they came into the international attention when they worked together at the Shifa hospital in Gaza in January this year. The war was at its worst and international journalists were not allowed to enter the Gaza strip. The Norwegian doctors together with a handful of Palestinian journalists were amongst the few voices to tell what happened during the conflict.

Look at  Mads Gilbert’s own photos from the Gaza War

Wednesday this week both came back to amongst other things talk to the Palestinian doctors association at its yearly congress in Bethlehem on Friday. After this they would travel to Gaza on Sunday and visit the hospital they worked in January. Erik Fosse could travel through the border but Mads Gilbert was denied entry by the Israelian authorities.

He tells that it’s the first time in 20 years he can not enter the country and calls for reaction to this. The Israelian authorities has not given any clear reason for why he is not allowed to enter.

It seems very random to who gets to enter as his colleague got lucky and could enter and he could not. The Israelian blockade is harder and tighter than ever and it is a very serious situation were over one million and a half people need support and skills to assist them in post war times. The international opinion is in rage and despair of the Israelian reaction and actions, and it can not make things better for Israel when it comes to build their support internationally.

Many in the international society today believes that the rebuilding of Gaza has started and is well off, however more and more representatives from the international groups of relief and aid are denied entry to Gaza. The new authorities in Israel are also working on regulations that might make it even more difficult to enter the war affected areas. Mads Gilbert says he is aware that nothing has happened when it comes to rehabilitation, psycho social support to neither traumatized children nor the reconstruction of houses. This is just a way to continue the collective punishment of the Palestinian people he says. Mads Gilbert asks for international action and pressure on the Israelian authorities.  

Some countries have stated that the Israelian regime of closure is to strict and has taken this up with the Israelian authorities but see no changes at all.

The support group for the Palestinian authorities (AHLC) will address this issue in their upcoming meeting and one of the most important issues for the group is to follow the economic development in the Palestinian areas and look into the regime of closure which exhibits the most important obstacles for further development today.

AHLC has stated several times that the regime needs to change its policies in many respects. There are no clear indications in what directions the Israelian regime takes in these issues.

Gaza is still a bombed out area and acts like a prison for people in hunger and need for help at many levels. Israel has a moral responsibility to assist in the reconstruction and aid to rebuild a society they have contributed to destruct.

Mads Gilberts calls the situation absurd. His hope is that the humans reacted to the situation in the area before will react as strong now as then.

The Palestinians in Gaza lacks the most basic things, like proper sanitarian conditions and clean water. This situation is new were Israel impose addition suffering on the Palestinian people.