Disproportionate Force

DIS.PRO.POR.TION.ATE [dis-pruh-pawr-shuh-nit] Adjective: Not proportionate; out of proportion, as in size or number.

If you have been following the events in Israel lately, you should probably have come across this word somewhere in the media descriptions of Israel's response to the rocket attacks from the terrorist organization Hamas. It has, in fact, seemingly been reserved solely for use against Israel and not for any other nation in recent times. So allow me to attempt to explain what is happening here, and what the world is attempting to do by use of this word.

In the more than three years that have passed since Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip and allowed the Palestinian people to self-rule, they have had to endure over 6000 rocket attacks on it's own territory by the terrorist organization Hamas. So point number one is; who in the world, or what other nation in this world has the patience to wait that long to respond to attacks of this nature? Three years? History is full of examples of nations responding immediately to provocations of a lesser degree, and yet Israel chose to wait an almost inordinate period of time before responding. Yet who has the media and the Arab world chosen to label as the "aggressor"? That's right; Israel.

Secondly, since Israel has chosen to attempt to end these attacks by using their military capabilities, which obviously exceed the capabilities of Hamas, the world chooses to describe their response using the term "disproportionate force". Now I am sure I am probably mistaken here, but somehow during the years of my life I came to the conclusion that whenever a situation results in a fight, the preferable outcome is to be the winner and not the loser. Now don't get me wrong, I firmly believe in turning the other cheek, but if you are going to fight isn't the object to win? And yet the world seems to want to insist that Israel try not to win, rather somehow fight in such a way as to virtually guarantee this fight goes on forever.

Another favorite tactic of the media, as well as Hamas itself, is to focus on the civilian casualties that are occurring and to label them as "atrocities". What isn't reported though is how Hamas chooses to fight. You see, their favorite tactic is to dress as civilians, fight from peoples homes using civilians as human shields, place their weapons in hospitals and churches and schools, all in an attempt to make Israel look bad in the eyes of the world. What doesn't get reported though is the extent to which Israel goes in order to minimize civilian casualties.

The best description I can give you was reported this week in the New York Post by columnist Ralph Peters. Rather than try to summarize, I will simply quote his words exactly from the part of his column that deals with this subject.

"From earlier briefings in Israel, I know the IDF takes an almost absurd degree of care in it's targeting. The questioning doesn't stop with "Is that the right building?" it then asks "What should be our angle of attack to ensure any rubble falls into the street, not atop the primary school next door?" ( Hamas consistently embeds terror facilities among innocent civilians.)

Hitting a terrorist hideout in an apartment building, for example, an F-16 would be armed with the smallest warhead that could do the job. If the terrorists are tucked into rooms on the fourth floor, targeting officers evaluate which window the guided missile should go through to kill the terrorists, while minimizing harm to civilians living below.

Any military veteran can tell that the Israelis are taking enormous care to spare civilians. Given the number of airstrikes thus far and the hundreds of tons of bombs dropped, it remains remarkable that so few innocents have been injured in such a dense urban environment."

So why is the world media so slanted against the nation of Israel in it's reporting? Why does the UN attempt to pass resolutions condemning Israels' "aggression" without once mentioning the terrorist attacks by Hamas which provoke the response? Let's not forget that the Bible predicts a worldwide hatred of the Jews in the end times. Even the antichrist, who brokers a peace to begin the seven year tribulation, breaks that peace at the mid-point and begins a campaign to completely destroy the Jews. What we are seeing here is simply the beginning of the move towards that end. It matters little what Israel chooses to do in this, or any other conflict. World opinion of the nation of Israel and the Jewish people will continue to become more hostile in nature until that great day when the Messiah will return to Israel the second time to save His people and establish His throne forever.

That day is on the horizon friends. Please pray for the peace of Israel, and God's protection of His people today.