Monday, May 28, 2007
Elder of Ziyon“The Qassam attacks from Gaza are one of the means we are using to resist the occupation by the Jewish state,” said Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau.
Which "occupation" is Hamas referring to? When you look at the Hamas-oriented Arabic press (and even the mainstream Palestinian Arabic press) they refer to Sderot as a "settlement" and the victims in Sderot as "settlers." Even though the Western media will consistently assume they are referring to the West Bank, it is clear that they are referring to the entire state of Israel.
Since this is the game they are playing, it is way past time for Israel to play the same game. Although the Israeli strikes at Qassam cells and Hamas leaders do have an effect, there is a relatively easy way for Israel to scare the terrorists to stop the Qassams, in a language they understand far better than airstrikes.
For each Qassam rocket sent to Israel, the IDF should re-occupy at least a symbolic amount of Gaza. I would like to see a square kilometer but for our purposes, a dunam would do. The Gaza fence would be moved the equivalent amount and Israeli tanks would roll in. Even better, a mobile home or trailer for each rocket would be appropriate.
Israel should announce that this new occupation is irreversible and necessary to build a buffer zone. And each dunam should be reclaimed within a day of the rockets landing.
A Qassam resulting in property damage, an injury or fatality would result in larger areas being confiscated.
The most important part is for Israel to be firm about these confiscations being permanent and not subject to negotiation.
Anyone who honestly observes how the Palestinian Arabs have acted over the decades knows that the only thing they care about is Jews controlling land they consider Arab. Everything else is noise. The holy formula of "land for peace" has a second meaning that Israel needs to make clear: when there is no peace, Israel will take more land.
The first village built on reclaimed Gaza will be named "Kfar Qassam." The rest will be named after victims of the attacks.
This is far more humane and far more effective than any amount of military retaliation.
