For those who like to characterise Israel as an unthinking bully by drawing comparisons that are odious, it might help your reflections to read this editorial from Haaretz.
The lessons of previous wars, during which the IDF destroyed infrastructure targets and the homes of civilians but did not gain the quiet it had sought, have not been internalized. Israel's justified rationale in acting against rocket launchers has been increasingly damaged over two weeks. The legitimacy and understanding extended to Israel melt away amid the pictures of killing and ruin. Accusations of war crimes are already being bandied about in Israel. This war needs to move immediately to the diplomatic track and agreements that will end the fantasies and delusions of both sides.
Just as the argument that all Gazans deserve punishment because some voted for Hamas (one of the wickedest fallacies I have read in some while, as even the hardest of hearts would be unable to stretch that to the 260+ children now dead) it is equally specious to say all Israelis approve of the cruelty being perpetrated by their government.
Generalisations, stereotypes and black/white arguments are precisely the root cause of all this grief - as is the time-honoured inability to recognise that every single victim on both sides had a life and dreams and hopes, just like we might.
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