The fighting in Jenin has been publicized as a "massacre." The number of Palestinians who died in Jenin may turn out to be as many as 100 or so, but not the many hundreds mentioned in exaggerated media reports. (Editor's note: since the printing of this article, U.S. envoys have visited Jenin and declared that no massacre occurred). Any number of deaths is too many. But is intense combat between two armed forces over eight days, combat sufficiently intense to take the lives of 23 Israeli soldiers even though they had military superiority, a "massacre?" Current evidence is that the large majority of the Palestinians who were killed were shooting at Israeli foot soldiers. Many, especially the civilians, may well have been killed by the mines planted by Palestinian fighters who booby trapped alleyways and houses that than collapsed on civilians as well as Israeli soldiers. Armored bulldozers could have been used to reduce Israeli casualties in these narrow alleyways at greater cost in damage to property. They were not used until a couple of days before the end of the fighting, after 13 Israeli foot soldiers were killed in such a trap.

Soldiers whose stories I have heard are incensed at being condemned for inhumanity when they know that they risked their lives by fighting in ways aimed at avoiding civilian casualties. As in every war, there were soldiers who surrendered to their worst instincts and behaved in ways I deplore. But, from all I can learn, the vast majority of soldiers, including many reservist students torn away from their university studies, did their best to preserve their human dignity and that of the civilians to whom they had to relate, an almost impossible task when you know that even the most innocent looking old man or woman may endanger your life. No matter how hard they try, soldiers will not appear humane in the eyes of terrified people who see relatives or friends arrested and made to strip to the waist, so they can be checked for explosives and weapons.

Much of the responsibility for the injuring and killing of civilians in this war must be born by the armed Palestinians who chose to fight. In most cities and villages where the  Palestinians offered little armed resistance, there were almost no civilian casualties. Where there were civilian casualties is where armed Palestinians hid in the homes of civilians, as in Jenin, where they mined civilian homes and public and commercial buildings and streets. By taking cover among children and women to shoot at Israeli soldiers, they used their fellow Palestinians as human shields. Whatever the goals of these fighters, the way they fought showed little regard for the lives and property of their own people.

Still, should the Israeli army not be condemned for forcing innocent people out of their homes, for stopping ambulances, for shooting at unarmed civilians who were trying to carry on with their daily lives? My answer is yes and no. There were many instances in which such actions were not required by security concerns. Yet how is an army to know that in the heat of battle? If innocent people are left in their homes when heavy fighting is expected to take place, casualties will be much larger. Can ambulances be allowed total freedom of movement (and I still don't have a clear picture of how often ambulances were stopped), when there are incidents in which bombs are found hidden under the stretchers holding a sick child or adult, as occurred on more than one occasion? Can apparently unarmed civilians be permitted free movement in areas of battle when there are numerous instances in which these people turn out to be carrying a grenade or suicide bomb (e.g., a "pregnant" young woman whose belly turns out to be an explosive belt)? Vigilance is a healthy psychological reaction when danger is perceived.

Next page in this article
1 | 2 | 3

ONLINE MESSENGER  
Discount Books Up to 90% off!
LiveChat
Online Business Cards  
Proxy Server Safer Browsing
Taliban-Date
Weather Forecast by email
Clamp’IT UBE Members
More…

John Lennon AI Project
saucy Jacky™ As seen on TV!
About…