Dudu Mimran Blog

Why We Should Release Gilad Shalit

Many people in Israel nowadays think of our captive solider Gilad Shalit especially in light of recent discussions on potential prisoner exchange deal with Hamas. Everyone usually have their own take on the topic with many many pros and cons. Our cabinet of ministers, 7 at number including our prime minister have set down to decide on a response to the requests from Hamas and I am pretty sure it was not easy seat.

To describe the conflict of the decision as I see it here is my rationale and opinion on the deal which of course is not neutral of emotions (what can I do I am a real human being). I'll try to address all the concerns I have heard from other Israelis until now:

In general I have several perspectives and I will state them in a descending order of importance (sorry for the cruel rationality)

1. I feel for Gilad. Although I do not know him personally, he looks like many other young Israelis and I really hate to see him suffer this way. He is very young, his family is very sympathetic and patient; in terms of human suffering and specifically suffering of an Israeli it is definitely wrong.
2. I think there is a a moral issue here as an Israeli and as a nation built on a strong army. Our best man and women sacrifice their best years, their health and sometime their lives for making sure the rest of the Israelis stay well in this hostile area. For their contribution they deserve to know that when they will be caught they will get the best efforts to save them. I think that the level of sacrifice a person is willing to take on himself is correlated directly to the price a collective  is willing pay in case of a needed rescue. If Israel will stop its so called "jewish" behavior for giving aways many arab prisoners for few Israelis then something will be lost and that would be the special level of morale Israelis have.
3. We should have found out where he is located and should have tried to rescue him in a military operation. He is a solider left in the battlefield and the math of risk incurred in such a rescue operation is not relevant now as it is not relevant during battle time.
4. I think that Hamas knows how to play this captive solider card pretty well and they are doing a good job at making sure it hurts us every day again and again. I think the gain they would get from keeping him on their side and keep on torturing us on the media will be higher for them then releasing him for many prisoners.
5. I am not really against releasing the Palestinians prisoners in general. I know there are few who have committed notable crimes against Israel and Israelis; where the decision to release them is not easy but in general the idea that our tax payers money is giving them worm clothes and food sounds to me like a bad idea. Sadly I can say that anyway, sometime we will have a new operation or war and we can always take some new ones.
6. As for the Israelis that lost family members due to the terrorist acts of few of the prisoners that are going to be released my opinion is pretty simple: living people are worth more then revenge and revenge won't bring back the dead. I am pretty sure that for them this conflict is the worse since I am convinced that they care for Gilad not less then others but the personal pain is big.
7. As for the Israelis who have become strategic masterminds on what would be the right "cost" per captive now I have got one thing to say: calm down! There are living people here on stake and the whole price tag and its future effect is not something that even the head of state cannot solve easily. We have paid not a long time ago a huge price tag for a civilian who was kidnapped and is thought of as notorious by some of the Israelis and now when we have chance to rescue a live soldier it is not the time to become wise merchants. Let the deal settle down, start a national debate on it, go on demonstration, do whatever you need but not on the back of one captive solider.
8. There is a going assumption that goes "If we give them now 1000 prisoners they will try to kidnap more soldiers". Well, I think it is quite OK to assume that they do whatever they can to kidnap more soliders already NOW. Gilad Shalit has given Hamas more air time on national and worldwide news channels then almost anything else they did so I guess it is worth to them already.
9. The western world (where Israel is part of it) does not play by the same rules of the game or sometimes not even in the same game as Hamas do. For example when they have got on Israeli prisoner they treat him like a captive and they put him for more 1200 days under the ground with no daylight while on the other hand we allow family visits and I heard some even get complementary high school classes. I do not regret the fact that I am more civilized but I am aware that sometime when I lose the game for Hamas such as in the case of a captive solider I need to pay the price in full.
10. One of the most annoying things I heard was "Gilad could have resisted more to the capturers or in other words it is his fault" - I can only say that I am not sure I would have done better then him so I am pretty envy of the true "heros" who say this.

I guess there are more but at least these are the main that come to my mind.

Dudu

Israel's Mistakes Since the Disengagement from Gaza

The disengagement from Gaza made few years ago was actually the moment Hamas started getting stronger below the nose of Israel until they have become the authority over there. Eventually the extremist voices in Gaza won over the more rational ones such as the Fatah and that was certainly not on Israel's plans. Many voices are heard nowadays in Israel mentioning the disengagement as a big mistake and that the only way to maintain a quiet zone would be to control them tightly as we did in the past.

I personally do not agree with this since it takes us to an "endless" road and I don't believe that occupation as a way of life can last. There are people there that deserve the basic right of freedom and we, most of anyone else in the world should not take it from them. Anyway, it brings us to the dead end again where if we don't control them there is (or at least was) a fertile ground for the extremist to take over. So, what could have we done differently or even do after the current war to prevent this from happening and help get out the extremist out of the picture without brutal intervention.

If we take a look at the rational for why the people in Gaza selected and support Hamas then based on Hamas's propaganda they are the fighters that will bring back the land of Israel to the Palestinians and they are doing the holy war (forgetting for a moment they have been hiding for the last two weeks and that they used the civilians as human shelter but anyway). I don't buy this cause. I think this cause is something that smells like Tehran and if I assume normal people from Gaza are the same as you, I and everyone else, then it just does not sound logical. What I "buy" more is that the people over there are desperate mentally and financially for a long time now and Hamas has been helping them in the very basic stuff while preaching their extremist propaganda meanwhile. As a very hungry person you don't really care about what you need to vote once candidate brings you food. And this principle goes a long way towards fundamentalism and other areas extremists find benefit in.

If I am right on this then the logical step for us following the disengagement was actually to help the people in Gaza. To help them live better, work more, own more stuff and have "more" to lose in the face of a potential conflict. I think we tried for a while but with the first fist we got from them we said, well, they can manage it own their own and if they don't need or want our help then we won't give it to them. That was wrong! The fist aimed at us hurt only our pride and its sender, Hamas instructed by Tehran, aimed exactly at that. To make us leave them alone so they can stay in their miserable lives so Hamas can be their heroes and save them with small peanuts. That was our mistake! We should have kept on making their lives better, build factories, build hospitals, build universities and more so that Gaza people could get strong enough to say no to the extremists. Clear thinking is something possible only when basic needs are satisfied and you can not expect the hungry man to think in an enlightened way. To emphasize I do not suggest they would have started falling in love with us, no no, they have a long long history of hate with us and this does not go very fast. Still, they would have been given the option to select to either live in some kind of comfort and stay more moderate in their actions or go back to where they were in order to serve foreign interests of the extremists.

Just take a look at the west bank and although there are a lot of bad vibes still their better living standard makes them be more rationale and that is all we need. At least at the moment.

This logic also explains why Hamas is disturbing the humanitarian aid, since it is easier to control poor and hungry people then the ones who eat and are full.

This approach requires a big leap of faith from us since at the mid and short term you are actually helping people who really hate you at the moment. But on the longer term that is the way to create good relationship with people in general and especially neighbors.

This thinking takes me to a few days after the fighting will end and I think that we as a nation should do all in our ability to help them and adopt it as a national long term strategy. It may take years until confidence can be regained but I expect that the "responsible" voices within their people will rise up much faster and become counter force to the extremist. I personally do not see helping them as a point of weakness for Israel though some may perceive it as such for a while. It is actually a real vote for self confidence and strength.

I do not think we have some kind of genetic difference not allowing us to become good neighbors. We are doing it quite well with the Israeli arabs. It is not that it is all roses between us and the Israeli arabs but at least there is some co-existence and civilized discussion among us. I think also that once Israeli arabs will see that their brothers the Palestinians start to live better then our co-existence will improve.

A combined approach of educating the Gaza people on the real forces behind the scenes (Iran), helping them live better and recover fast from where they are now and presenting them a long term vision into the future can help us solve this never ending story and start a new better one. 

Iran is the Cause Behind the Israeli and Palestinian Conflict

Iran is the Israelis and Palestinians biggest problem. Someone has to put it upfront and turn the light into the roots of today's forces causing recent two wars and other conflicts.

In recent years Iran, lead by their new dictator, has been the most aggressive force in the middle east. They are relentlessly building capabilities to build weapons for mass destruction "playing out" the rest of the world into believing they don't. Their head of state is using an un-precedent aggressive voice preaching for extinction of Israel and the US - voices that were long gone from the face of earth since Hitler's time. They are leading and supporting Syria's extremist forces drawing in the rest of the country towards their camp. They sponsored, trained and nurtured Hizballa, ones a small militant group into the de-facto controlling force in Lebanon. Thanks to them Hizballa started a second Lebanon war where Lebanon and innocent civilians were hurt. They sponsor, train and nurture the Hammas group in Gaza. Same group that led to this war and again costs mostly in innocent civilian lives.

And still they go by as if nothing happens. Two months ago the exiting CEO of the International Nuclear authority was interviewed and said Iran has fooled them in last three years and still nothing happens. Everyone now eye the Gaza strip conflict as if it was the last problem on earth giving some "free pass time" to Iran enabling them to speedup their race for rage without no disturbance.

I really hope something is done about it behind the scenes but from the way it looks bad things are going to happen. Israelis or Jews did not hear these kind of threats and voices in a long time now and I feel it will be a huge mistake to let it be as if it was just talks. We've been there once and that complacent attitude towards our haters was a fatal mistake to our existence than and it would be the same now. I personally take Iran's threats and provocative calls to be very true and concrete as if they already have the power at hand. And I suggest other's to do so as well since madness has no barriers and it is not 1945 anymore where small bombs was the top of the line.

I believe once Iran will calm down most of our problems with the Palestinians and the Arab world will be solved since people in both sides have changed since 1973 and the only people who keep maintaining the conflict are those who get salaries from Iran.

My impression and understanding is that most Israelis would like to solve our conflict with the Palestinian people and to even compensate on hurts and sufferings caused to them in the past - it has been like that since Rabin's time for the last 12 years. And I wish the Palestinians will someday outsmart and escape the Iranian trap, whom costs them very dearly now, into dealing with us directly for solving this conflict.

If Iran was a near by country with deep past involvement with Palestinians It could have been somehow logical for me to understand how they stick to them, but how can the Palestinian people be so blind into not seeing they just serve the Iranian own cold interest. Iran is distant and has its own regional ambitions who has nothing to do with Palestinians and they use them now just as a card to draw attention out of them. Where were they before their new dictator has risen up? Palestinians had harsher times in Israel and I don't recall ever them sending food or money. Everything out of blind interest, interest that causes dear lives of simple people and living souls.

I have to give them respect, they have got us, the Israelis into two wars in recent two years without lifting a finger and zero casualties. How can we allow ourselves not respect what they promise to us?

Phoney faces everywhere over Israel's self defense

After watching quite a bit of the news from our little war in Gaza, both in local and foreign networks something has dawned on me. People, mainly in Europe but not only, treat Israel the country and its basic rights as if it was questionable. Somehow the critic level focused towards our country is disproportionate in comparison to what we are actually doing. It is not even comparable to what others being criticized for much bigger things with far less justified reasons. I know we are small country and rather new in comparison to countries who exist for hundreds of years but still we are a given fact as anything else on this planet! People or organizations in the western world who feel Israel's rights is somehow comparable to Hamas's the terrorist group or others who are considered terrorists by the same people who criticize themselves is just mistaken.

I am not talking about Palestinians or others highly affiliated with them who see the sufferings and sympathize with them personally. These have all the right and the same feelings that rise when see someone dead on our side happens the same there I guess. I am talking about people who seat in their convenient coffee shops and put themselves in the chair of god almighty.

I am also a bit angry at some of our spokesmen who take the strategic path of making "good" excuses to why we have the right to do what we do. Every western and so called "enlightened" country on earth would take far more drastic measures at some kind of terrorist group who sends missiles constantly at their citizens. That is the basic job of every government. Somehow the fact that we are lucky (god forbid but I can't explain otherwise our low casualty rate) is on our side does not make our rights less important.

I liked the interviewing tactic of Binyamin Nethaniahou our ex-prime minister whom instead of making excuses responded with the same questions directed at him towards the interviewer putting the other side in our place. Things such as missiles on London, Copenhagen, Ankara and any other big city in the world would have probably created a far more furious and very "non-considerate" response towards the offender. Regardless of the offender's "historical" reasons or ambitions for doing so. There are ways to communicate and missiles on civilians is not considered one of them in the western world.

Maybe it is our problem, our "Jewish" warm heart, big conscious and basic guilt that we even give an open stand to those who oppose what we do. In this war the cost for killing one terrorist while making sure we keep the lowest number of civilians casualties possible (what can you do when they hide within civilians) has risen dramatically. Before we bomb a building, where we know terrorists are there, we call each and one of the people living there to give them a 15 minutes notice. We also send a dummy missile just to make sure they can run away without getting hurt. This is unheard of in terms of being considerate towards the "enemy" But still people see us as the bully.

I remember from kindergarten a very basic thing, never be a bully but if someone tries to hurt you then you have to defend yourself in similar measures. There are those who attack first or respond very harshly but self-defense is a minimum.

Israel is a miracle to survive in this so much "unfriendly" environment where our "best" neighbor is the water in the sea and most of your "neighbors" just wish we did not exist. It would have been just reasonable to expect the rest of the world to help us sustain our western frontier towards the extreme Islamic world in our harsh location and instead we just get cold water at our face. Only when some opposer for our policy, seating in his/her safe haven in some calm European city, get a terror attack or some kind of threat then they start thinking of us warmly. Well, now it is cold for us!

Happy Birthday Israel

Happy birthday to my beloved country for your 60 birthday. May you live forever.

Israel that was built from the ashes of the german gas chambers just 60 years ago is a miracle by all means. A small group of individuals, hurt and lonely, have come together and started the most successful startup in human history. Coming to a dry and harsh land with nothing but a deep ambition to build a home was not easy. People who have just lost all their roots, family, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers became one to build a warm home for Jewish man and women from all over the world.

I am personally deeply thankful for all the blood, sweat and tears being poured here by all the brave souls to make sure I can live and build a family very conveniently nowadays.

Today, 60 years later, Israel, takes pride of being an excellent place to live in for millions of people. Jews, Muslims and Christian man and women live and prosper together in the Promised Land. I know peace is yet to come and conflicts do exist, things that happen in every good family. I know we are blame of some of it and others have blame too. I know we have poverty, lack of justice and corruption and we have the responsibility to fix this. Still none of this can diminish the big pride I take of being an Israeli.

The founding fathers and mothers are almost no longer with us today and we the young generation has the responsibility to make sure the torch is being passed and the same miracle continues during our time. I have to admit we have an easier job.

Long live Israel!
Dudu