"What is Israel supposed to do?" Nothing. No bombing. No attempts to starve the civilians of Gaza, to deprive them of water, food, & fuel Israel should do nothing more right now than reflect on what happened...mourn their losses...try to understand why it happened...and then make intelligent efforts to prevent it from happening again "B-b-but no Revenge?" Absolutely no revenge. Revenge seeking is an emotional response-devoid of logic-that heals no wounds, will not return those who were lost, & is virtually guaranteed to bring you more pain & suffering in the future Think about it for a minute. When has yielding to your anger-allowing yourself to be consumed by it-ever produced an outcome that was beneficial to you? The human urge to take revenge is not something that arises from The Better Part of human nature; it arises from the Dark Side, the animal side of our nature. It is spontaneous and primitive and unreasoning When humans employ their reasoning skills, they are able to see the predictable result of all tribes embracing the Urge To Avenge: unending conflict, pain, death, & suffering on a massive scale If you seek revenge against people who only attacked you because they were seeking revenge against you, then it's time for you to stop being stupid & consider other options One option that gets zero attention in Western media & political circles is that which was articulated by Jesus Christ many, many centuries ago Jesus told his followers the morally righteous way to respond to an enemy who threatens you is by not treating them as your enemy. His suggestion: do the opposite of what your enemy expects you to do “You've heard it said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth’ but I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also." "You've heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" As advice goes, it was stunningly counter-intuitive. He was telling his followers to forswear their natural instinct to hurt those who hurt them. He told them not only that they shouldn't respond 'in kind', but also that they should make friendly overtures to any 'enemies' they encounter That is, present a friendly, engaging face to anyone whom you suspect is a threat to you, a face that suggests passive approval, without a hint of fear or anger Why is this such a brilliant idea? Because it takes advantage of normal human instincts. Those instincts are triggered by friend or foe perceptions. If you see an angry face looking at you, you will see an enemy; if you see a friendly face that shows concern for your troubles, the anger will vanish Using your intellect & not your animal emotions when confronting an enemy is what Jesus recommended. The key is having the wisdom to know how your enemy's mind works & thus knowing how to diffuse the potential for conflict, to achieve peace when war appeared oh so likely Israel defenders will ask, "What about Hamas? Why shouldn't they be following Jesus' advice?" The answer is: it simply doesn't matter if they follow it or not. Offering kindness to your enemy is a power you possess over them that cannot be taken away from you Now, theoretically at least, we can imagine being confronted by a predatory tribe [like say Nazi Germany] that sees your tribe as inferior & wishes to enslave you, but that motive has nothing to do with revenge-seeking. It is pure predation, a motive doesn't apply in any way to Hamas Everything about Hamas' motivation is inspired by a desire for revenge against the enemies of their people: the Supremacist gang that stole their land from them at gunpoint Such people are precisely the kind of 'enemy' you can de-radicalize with Jesus-inspired overtures. Treat them as people whose welfare you are concerned about & they will lose their perception of you as their greatest enemy This is the actual alternative Israel should be using to make peace with their Arab neighbors. They have no excuse for not using it. But they now seem committed to waging a genocidal war against Gaza, claiming "revenge is their's" They've essentially told the world they are justified in wiping out Gaza civilians who live above the tunnels that Hamas uses, because "it's Hamas' fault; they're hiding behind human shields" It's an excuse that is utterly devoid of compassion for innocent victims. The truth is that Israel's Zionists have so thoroughly demonized & de-humanized the Arab population in Gaza in their minds that they perceive even the women & children to be threats to Israel that must be eradicated Israel is run by a political class that has lost its soul, if it every had one. They proclaim that their animal instinct to exact revenge should be seen as justified by a world audience. "Wouldn't you want to protect yourself from future terrorist attacks by wiping out the entire population that hides them?" The answer, Israel, is no...we wouldn't want to do something so horrible & cruel when we know there is a superior alternative that depends on intellect & not beastly emotion...