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A “brokered” Cease Fire lasts less than 2 hours. Hamas kills two and kidnaps one Israeli soldier.

“Israeli troops were in the southern Gaza Strip preparing to destroy a Hamas tunnel, said Israeli military officials. Suddenly, Palestinian militants emerged from a shaft. They included a suicide bomber, who detonated his explosive device. In the chaos, two Israeli soldiers were killed. The militants grabbed 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin, 23, and pushed him back through the tunnel.”

So in answer to my questions:

You believe Israel has the right to be an independent entity but not encompassing the territory it controls. Who gets to divide up the territory? Has a reasonable compromise been offered? If so, who refused to accept the compromise and why?

You are in agreement there are factions which refuse to accept Israel’s right to statehood in any territory in the Mid-East. And…

 You are in agreement that some of those factions will continue to work until the State of Israel and the Jewish peoples are no longer existent on earth.

You recognize their (the Jewish people’s) right to self defense.

You agree that wars cannot be fought without collateral damage. And…

Also agree that (in the latest case) Hamas has not concerned themselves with collateral damage towards Israeli citizens.

In reply to your questions:

Is Palestine an independent State capable of equal action to Israel? No.

Does Palestine have the right to defend itself. I can’t give a yes or no answer here. More to follow.

Will any power structure in Israel be happy until they control the entire Levant and are free from Palestinians all together. Yes, they can be satisfied under the assumption that “the entire Levant” encompasses Jordan, Lebanon & Syria as well as Israel. I don’t believe Israel desires further conquest of land but rather a freedom to exist as they are, and is even willing to offer territorial concessions in exchange for peace, though as new IDF soldiers who visit Masada swear: “Never Again”, will the Jewish people submit to another holocaust.

Thus begins my thoughts on the equivocation currently ongoing – both sides, BTW.

I believe that today’s Israel was a State carved out for Asian & European Jews following WW II (as were others for other peoples, coincidentally), that Muslim Arabic factions in the Mid-East were dissatisfied with this accommodation, that there is a hatred among certain Muslim Arabics towards Jews ongoing for 4000 +/- years, and that those factions will be satisfied ONLY when Jews and the Jewish State are obliterated.

If I recall correctly, the territory of Israel was significantly enlarged following the Seven Days War back in the 60’s which began in response to Muslim Arabic aggression. I believe later, in accommodation of Palestinian desires and in an effort to promote peace, Israel allowed some resettlement of that territory, under Israeli control. Factional fighting; however, always has remained. That’s my quick redaction of causes which bring us to recent and current situations, both in the Mid-East and worldwide, IMHO.

Early on the world moved from a tribal society to an urban one. This brought on a need for governance which does away with mankind’s total liberty and some of his free will (common definition used here). In turn that created what we now know as the business of politics which is about one having power over others, negating their independence & freedom to one extent or another. A necessary evil, though it always results in a political structure which seeks power for itself, over others, in competition with God and His will for His creation.

You ask: “Who has the power and what are they doing with it?” I see that as a restating of: “Does Palestine have the right to defend itself?” I suggest a better question would be: “Do the Palestinian people have the right to revolt against their government which is Jewish?” As a Libertarian and lover of freedom, I become conflicted in trying to answer. The American Colonies had the right of revolution in 1776. The Texians had the right of revolution in 1834. The South had the right of revolution for States Rights in 1861. In each case there were winners and losers and while the winners told jokes, the losers suffered the consequences of their actions. In two of the three examples above the less powerful side was the winner, kind of like David and Goliath. From a Palestinian perspective, the issue seems one of Independence yet at the same time one of hatred of the Jewish people and Nation. I believe the Jewish perspective as allowing them to be able to defend their borders against aggression and those wishing their total annihilation.

Phrases that come to mind are: “As Christians, we are called to be in the world and not of it.” “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s.” And therein, we again reach the problem initially indicated. Problems are easy to identify, solutions are hard to achieve. I surely don’t have an answer. Were both parties to approach the situation from one of love and charity towards each other, it would resolve itself. But given the absolutes addressed by at least one side and arguably two,… it ain’t gonna happen.

I guess then, one should consider the effectiveness of what I call measured retaliation, aka “An eye for an eye.” Unfortunately, I don’t see this as working at all in times of open aggression. The positions or beliefs of one side become so important to them, ONLY total victory is acceptable and their opponents are left with few choices. Truman consented to drop “the bombs” at Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the belief that: “It was better to take 185,000 enemy lives than a combined 1,000,000 Allied and enemy ones.” The rightness of this could be debated, but that it was a politically based judgment cannot.

So, is there an equitable solution? That brings us back to my original assertion: “Problems are difficult to resolve.” Until His entire creation is willing to operate from a position of loving their neighbor as much as they love themselves we appear stuck in our current mode. Government can’t solve that problem, how can we do so yet remain in the world?