When I was a fresh-off-the-boat kid in Washington, 20 years ago,
#Lebanon was undergoing an upheaval. Assad and Hezbollah were assassinating pro-democracy and pro-sovereignty politicians, journalists, and activists. Washington was then spreading democracy and the Bush administration held dozens of briefings and debriefings with people like me to help shape their Lebanon agenda. Many Lebanese and I complained endlessly, depicting ourselves – correctly – as victims, and describing the horrors of Assad and Hezbollah. As we wrapped up each session, which usually took hours, US officials would ask us: So, what do you want? What do you think should happen? What is your end game? And how can we get there? This was my first lesson on how policy is conceived and implemented.
I say this today as I watch angry Arabs worked up over
#Gaza. They want Palestinian lives in Gaza spared but also want change and a better life for them. If you take the demands voiced by these Arabs and their Western friends, they won’t add up. Should Israel stop the war? Hamas will remain, and so will the siege. Lift Siege? Hamas will become stronger, peace will be further away, more wars probable in the future. For a better future for Gazans, something has to give. Angry Arabs should define their goal (a good life for Palestinians in Gaza), think what should be done to get there (eliminate anti-peace Hamas and seek peace), think who can help decimating
#Hamas (hint:
#Israel), form a coalition with Israel and push toward that goal while preparing for the day after the war by helping Gazans set up a capable government.
We cannot let Arab hatred of Israel, because of past injustice – real or imagined – get in the way of overhauling Gaza and making it Hamas (and siege and wars) free. It might not feel good now. The process rarely feels good. What should feel good is the end result. War will cost Palestinian and Israeli lives, which is horrible, but much better than a ceasefire now and many rounds of war and many more deaths in the future.
