Thursday, August 14, 2014

What Israel could have done

Instead of bombing hospitals, elementary schools and UN shelters designated as safe sites for families and children, Israel could have done this:

Take a detailed overhead photo of Palestinian territory. Number the buildings, starting with "1" and continuing in order with the building next to that, then the building next to that, etc. Then send this detailed map to the Palestinians and say the buildings will be destroyed, one after another, in order, on an hourly (or daily or whatever) schedule. They could send the start time for the process to the Palestinian leaders.

With such a plan, every person in those buildings could have evacuated to a safe location before they were struck. There would be no deaths, yet Israel could literally destroy all of the buildings in Gaza, leaving none standing at the conclusion of their campaign -- if Hamas rockets continued to be fired at Israel.

Do you think they ever considered such a bloodless plan? It would accomplish their aims just as well. Instead, they went with the plan we all saw in action, the one that killed nearly 2,000 Palestinians, most of whom were women and children.

Seriously, why does Israel never choose the bloodless option? I think I know the answer.