As if the fighting in Gaza is not bad enough – and it is definitely more than bad enough – there is also fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. In mid-June both sides escalated attacks, a development that no one in the world actually needs.
Israel is still conducting an offensive against Hamas in Gaza and, despite what it seems to believe, Israel does not need to open up another war front. The people of Lebanon likewise do not in any way need to see an escalation of hostilities on their side of the border.
I would further propose that, despite what it seems to believe, Israel does not need to engage in fighting with various Western nations such as France over its military adventures in Gaza. Israelis at times, at least those who speak for and from within the government, seem to think there is absolutely no limit to the number of entities they should be fighting with on this planet, even if most of the attacks are verbal only.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah is engaging in purely recreational attacks against Israel, undertaken supposedly in support of Hamas after Israel began its Gaza offensive. The strikes serve no purpose, including their purported rationale of providing support for Hamas. There really isn’t any excuse for recreational military strikes and the damage they cause to the innocent (and even the not-so-innocent) on both sides.
On Thursday, Hezbollah’s attacks wounded four people in Israel, including two soldiers.
Israeli Defense Chief Rebuffs French Effort to End Israel-Hezbollah Fighting – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
So far, both sides have limited their escalations of hostilities. Hezbollah ups the number of rockets it sends into northern Israel; Israel strikes deeper in Lebanon. And so it goes, useless on both sides.
The reason both sides continue to engage in useless and destructive behavior (other than the fact that both sides are vulnerable to ‘stupid human’ syndrome) is that this fighting is a form of communication. The two sides are communicating to one another that they really don’t like each other and also “Grrrr! Growl…. Grrr! Grrr!” and other primitive signals that indicate both sides are in a really bad mood and feeling defensive.
Okay so now everybody in the entire world understands that they’re in a really bad mood and totally totally totally do not like each other at all. The next step towards getting off the endless stupid escalation train is to:
Step 1 to De-Escalation: Listen to Each Other’s Stories
Neither side is going to want to do this because they hate each other. The mere thought of listening to what someone you hate has to say is painful to the ordinary human, and it appears especially painful to the human in a really bad mood.
Tough.
I don’t care, and neither should anyone else, whether or not Israel and Hezbollah want to listen to each other’s stories. I don’t care if they think that would be a useless waste of time. Too bad. Replace one useless waste of time – fighting – with another useless waste of time – listening- and save some lives. Period.
Step 2 to De-Escalation: Stop the Goddamn Tit-for-Tat
Stop it. Just stop it. Do not feel you have to mirror the other side’s aggression to avoid becoming ‘less equal’.
Stop.
It.
Step 3 to De-Escalation: Defuse the Argument
Ultimately, the two sides are going to have to transform their relationship, which admittedly is going to be very very difficult because the underlying relationship is itself very very difficult.
Still, we know what it entails. Sitting down to talk. Listening to each other – even the stupid stuff that neither side wants to hear.
And then – negotiations. Focusing on the issues at hand and not everything else that the two sides hate about each other.
And then negotiating even more, including listening to each other’s proposals as well as the proposals of any mediators or third parties.
All while keeping calm and open-minded, practicing a little empathy for your enemies by remembering they are human like you are, keeping lines of communication open and seeking to come to a workable understanding.
I know they think they can’t do this and that they shouldn’t. Tough.
Here’s the thing – just because you have some sort of military capabilities doesn’t mean you can treat every dispute like an audition for The Jerry Springer Show. Regular human beings can’t get away with the type of shit these 2 parties are pulling – and they shouldn’t be able to get away with it.
It’s long past time to get pretty fed up with this situation; the world’s got enough problems without this back and forth sideshow.
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Well that worked out real well for Lebanon, didn’t it?
Thank you, your article surprised me, there is such an excellent point of view. Thank you for sharing, I learned a lot.