BAD OPTIONS AND MUCH WORSE ONES
By Cory Franklin
February 28, 2024
Occasionally in everyday life, we encounter a situation that logicians call the “law of non-contradiction” – where we are faced with two contradictory propositions, both of which cannot be true. This was the case recently regarding statements made about the current state of affairs in the Middle East war and the Israeli invasion of Gaza.
Democrat Chris Van Hollen, the junior senator from Maryland, accused Israel of a “textbook war crime.” On the Senate floor, minutes before voting for an aid bill of $14 billion for Israel to fight Hamas (which also includes $61 billion for Ukraine), he said, “’I want that (the alleged war crimes) to sink in. Kids in Gaza are now dying from the deliberate withholding of food…in addition to the horror of that news, one other thing is true. That is a war crime. It is a textbook war crime. And that makes those who orchestrate it war criminals.”
War crimes are about as serious an accusation as you can level, and despite his vote for more aid to Israel, Sen. Van Hollen’s further remarks leave little doubt he believes the blame lies with Israel and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
The problem arises in trying to reconcile his remarks with those of Israeli Government spokesman Eylon Levy in a press conference the next day about the current situation.
Levy said, “On February 12, 160 humanitarian aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip via Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing (the border location where aid is distributed) …seven times more humanitarian aid is entering through Israel than through Egypt…In total, since Hamas used the Gaza Strip for the October 7 massacre, 235,000 tons of humanitarian aid have entered the territory aboard 12,775 trucks.
All that data is available (publicly). Those 235,000 tons include 155,560 tons of food including the flour that allows Gaza’s 15 industrial bakeries to produce 2 million loaves of breads, rolls and pita breads every day…international aid donors that want to see more aid enter Gaza should simply send more. We’re ready to facilitate it.”
During the press conference, Levy was asked directly about Sen. Van Hollen’s remarks. His response: “Israel has placed no restrictions – zero – on food, medicine, water, or shelter capacity entering the Gaza Strip. We have excess capacity to more than double it…The problem is that the UN agencies on the ground, namely UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians in the Near East), which is claiming a monopoly on distributing aid, is struggling to distribute that aid at a pace that Israel is facilitating its entry into Gaza. …any allegations that Israel is somehow restricting aid into the Gaza Strip are contrary to the dry facts.”
Levy explained that so much aid is piling up that Kerem Shalom is forced to close on Saturdays at the request of the United Nations because it is simply impossible to distribute all of it.
Now obviously the remarks of Senator Van Hollen and spokesman Levy cannot both be true. It is the law of non-contradiction. I will not tell you whom to believe. Examine the situation and draw your own conclusions.
But if spokesman Levy is indeed correct, what would prompt Senator Van Hollen to indict Israel for war crimes – ignorance, malice or both?
Meanwhile, what is to be done? In a brilliant article in RealClearPolitics, Peter Berkowitz, fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, outlines the Israeli war aims.
He quotes Azar Gat, a Tel Aviv University political science professor and military history scholar, who maintains that the IDF must neutralize the military wing of Hamas and dismantle the key parts of the tunnel system in Gaza that serves as the group’s command and control center.
The worldwide concern for civilian deaths is understandable and important – even as Hamas uses civilians as human shields – but unless Israel achieves those strategic aims, the country will be subject to future attacks, and be in a less advantageous position to defend itself politically and militarily than it is now.
Predictably, in the future there will be an even greater number of deaths, civilian and combatant, on both sides.
Berkowitz observes, “Unfortunately, battlefield success will not translate into a political solution for what ails Gaza. Despite its manifest flaws, the least awful option for “the day after” involves Israel maintaining overall security responsibility for Gaza.
Moderate Gulf Arabs, the United States, and Europe must cooperate in reconstructing the war-torn territory. And Gaza should be administered by an “upgraded Palestinian Authority” that, like the PA in Judea and Samaria, enables Israeli forces to maneuver adroitly as needed against Hamas terrorists.
This astringent conclusion is not for want of imagination or empathy. To the contrary, it takes seriously local hearts and minds and reckons with the region’s baleful geopolitical exigencies. In the Middle East, writes Gat, ‘there exist only bad options and much worse ones.”
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He was director of medical intensive care at Cook County Hospital in Chicago for more than 25 years. An editorial board contributor to the Chicago Tribune op-ed page, he writes freelance medical and non-medical articles. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Jerusalem Post, Chicago Sun-Times, New York Post, Guardian, Washington Post and has been excerpted in the New York Review of Books. Cory was also Harrison Ford’s technical adviser and one of the role models for the character Ford played in the 1993 movie, “The Fugitive.” His YouTube podcast “Rememberingthepassed” has received 900,000 hits to date. He published “Chicago Flashbulbs” in 2013, “Cook County ICU: 30 Years of Unforgettable Patients and Odd Cases” in 2015, and most recently coauthored, A Guide to Writing College Admission Essays: Practical Advice for Students and Parents in 2021. Dr. Franklin is the author of the forthcoming book, “The COVID Diaries 2020-2024: Anatomy of a Contagion As It Happened.”
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Comments 16
Did the good Senator accuse Hamas of war crimes, or did I miss that? Nothing but political posturing and pandering at best, or at worse, is the Senator really that big an idiot? The last time I checked, Hamas started the whole thing.
Wisconsin’s Senator Tammy Baldwin, said, “I support Israel to defend itself but…”. I’m sorry but there are no buts about it respectfully madam. Has anyone seen the border fence on the Gaza and Eygpt border? This fence looks impenetrable to any human. When war broke out in Ukraine the women and children were let out of harm’s way into Poland and other places, even here in the U.S. If the women and children are not allowed out of Gaza and into Egypt who exactly is responsible for their deaths in the response to a terrorist attack?
The area has been a cluster-f*** forever, even before the British Mandate for Palestinian as the Ottomans found out. We’ll keep having these same discussions for as many generations in the future, if not more. Palestine makes the Balkans seem simple by comparison…
A senator who obviously has no real clue about what the issues are – Van Hollen needs to shut up and sit down and let the grownups deal with Israel.
And who will rebuild the destroyed Israeli properties from the years of rockets, etc launched into Israel? Who will work to rebuild the damaged lives of the innocent Israeli civilians from all the years of anguish? We Jews will, that’s who. As we have ALWAYS done.
Here is a link to Menachem Begin’s response to Senator Joe Biden’s threat to withhold aid (1982):
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/369403?spot_im_comment_id=sp_CksU3zAj_0-369403_c_2NnlH7Hve8KYKa4YKfWq22KrJLA
This is a war started by terrorists. A WAR! Any war has collateral damage, ie innocents/civilians. During WWll at least 7 million German civilians died. Dresden was torched bcuz it could be, ancient wooden structures.
How many of our elected officials complained about this. Any college demonstrations? Sit ins? This is pure anti semitism.
Side note. As a pathologist that belongs to professional memberships in various path groups I got a link of the autopsies done on the innocent Israelis who were murdered, mutilated, wounded, by these degenerate pigs, etc. Thus should be shown to publicl. It would turn your stomach and you would find it hard to eat and or sleep for days.
I would love to see details of Hamas brutality, it should be widely shared indeed! Israel is providing a template for the US in how to handle reactions here in the States, not if, but when Hamas strikes here also using human shields. Praise to Israel without equivocation.
Since the will to ruthlessly murder innocent Israelis cannot apparently be broken- the means to effectuate that will must be destroyed to the utmost extent possible.
Dr. Franklin’s opinions are always respected and appreciated on this forum. We can all agree on the many points in this article. I only have one question though. WHY IS IT THE UNITED STATES RESPONSIBILITY TO REBUILD GAZA? That strip of land is surrounded by some of the wealthiest oil rich Arabic countries in the world. WHY SHOULD AMERICAN TAXPAYERS HAVE TO FOOT THE BILL?
Valid question, Enrique. Why does the American taxpayer have to pay for college loans taken by presumably educated people? Why does the American taxpayer have to pay for the services provided to people illegally entering our country in droves. Mind-blowing to me is that our country is in unbelievable debt, yet borrows more money to support causes at home and abroad that are not beneficial to the majority of Americans.
No amount of international pressure will keep Israel from finishing what Hamas started.
Money will not play a role.
However; Israel may have to go elsewhere to secure the weapons needed to prosecute the war against Hamas.
Biden cannot impact the decisions being made by Israel in this battle of Good vs. Evil. Netanyahu has made it very clear that the rest of the world can pound sand with their grotesquely twisted “Free Palestine” demonstrations and all of the other anti-Semitic efforts.
Netanyahu is Nobody’s Fool. He understands that you lead, follow or get the hell out of the way. Biden would be Option #3.
No doubt that Netanyahu will suffer politically when this is over, but really; do you think he cares? He knows that he can control the here and now. The message and the mission is simple: destroy Hamas forever and allow Palestinians to live free from radicalized influences. And let’s be honest; anti-Semites-those who would wish death upon all Jews-is everywhere. Their time will come, but for now, Israel must annihilate them in all of Gaza.
If the United States is going to finance the security of foreign nations, then Israel holds the 2nd spot on the list, right behind our own border security.
What about Ukraine? Well, Democrats need to find a different money laundering scheme. They’re very resourceful.
Middle Eastern history is very complex. Scholarly historians far, far smarter than me can struggle with it. And because of its complexity, we instead, reach for the easier emotional issues of war and its consequences.
Netanyahu is going to do what has been in his bones since his days in the IDF. He knows the enemy and he knows that it must be completely destroyed.
All of the chatter does nothing to secure this region of the world.
China and North Korea are watching…and waiting.
Gaza has 25 miles of beautiful Mediterranean beaches. Gaza decided on terrorism and violence instead of tourism and prosperity. Send no aid. End Hamas, unconditional surrender and gaza never self rules again. 1.6 billion people want to kill the the other 6 billion people on Earth, that is the single issue.
Gaza has 25 miles of beautiful Mediterranean beaches, it chose terrorism and violence over tourism and prosperity. Send no aid, end hamas. Release the hostages. Unconditional surrender, Gaza never self rules again. A radical wants to cut off our heads, a moderate wants the radical to cut off our heads. It’s time for 6 billion Earthlings to stand up.
Another element not addressed in most media sites and articles is the understanding of what a “two-state solution” would be. Each, Israel and the Palestinian State, of whatever construct, would be sovereign. The PS would have its own foreign policy, a military, the ability to import whatever it felt necessary, run its government and legal system without interference, and manage immigration. Where would it get its food and water and manage its sewage without the support of Israel? In working through the nuts and bolts of these necessities if a nation truly is sovereign, what force would there be, domestic or not, to assure Israel of its legitimacy? Consider North Korea or Iran as examples.
Other parts are very important, from rebuilding for the benefit of the general population to the perversion over years of directing foreign aid to build tunnels rather than resorts, to the education of its population in hatred of Israel, Jews, and increasingly non-Muslims or even Muslims who do not subscribe to their philosophy. What would prevent PS from working to obtain nuclear materials which would be alleged to be necessary to provide energy to the State?
Van Hollen represents the very worse of politics…..a person who is either a moron or a partisan hack looking to use a tragedy to his advantage. Either way, it’s sad that he represents the voters of Maryland.
Good morning John. Van Hollen and all the Democrats in our Government have been bought by the Rich like Sotos. Biden his saying Trump wants us to take us back. Back to what I would like someone to ask him. They keep printing money we do not have. China owes the US and that is the reason the Government supports them, they are taking over America and the World. They are paying young people now to Register Democrats to Vote, and the idiot Republicans allow it like they did the mail in Ballots that has allowed Democrats to destroy this Country. They are Evil people, willingly they are destroying the White Race, and the future of their young and Grandchildren for Votes. I do not care what they do anymore, it is written, and I will continue to Trust My Lord. The Jewish will be surrounded the Scripture says, but the house of the Lord will never be destroyed. The Muslins and Chinese will be in Power, the while Race will be extinct due to their Evil ways, our once great Country is no more and we did allow it. I do not watch TV, the weather mostly and that is it. I look to the Lord for guidance and not the Politicians they have sold their Souls to the Evil one and have allowed the woman in Michigan in Congress knowing she is out to destroy America. We came here and became America and worked hard still working for the American Dream and these Races come in here and want it to their Country. What is Black History Month? Why is that allowed, and not Greek, Italian, German, Irish, Poland History Month? What happened to common sense, and Respect and Love one another. We have destroyed America and allowing all these things to take over. As for me, I will look to the Lord for guidance knowing the end is coming to us all and we will answer to the Lord someday. America is gone the way we knew it I am afraid.