By Rabbi Dow Marmur
JERUSALEM — A correspondent wrote to ask if of late there have been any rockets coming from Gaza to Sderot and other places in Israel’s south. He was astounded that only on one day last week some fifty fell and there have been attacks every day since. Why this flare-up? As I’m not in possession of the facts, I speculate.
The safest target of speculation is, of course, Iran. Its regime is bound to feel sore after Israel confiscated a ship-load of its sophisticated arms on the way to Hamas in Gaza. As the paymaster of Hamas, Iran may have instructed its client to retaliate. In view of the general unrest in the region, the result of the turmoil may not turn out to Iran’s advantage, as even the Arab League, albeit half-heartedly, supports the Security Council decision to act against the Libyan dictator. So it needs to be noticed.
But Hamas itself has reasons to retaliate. Israel has just released the news that an influential scientist from Gaza is being interrogated in one of its prisons. He was kidnapped on a train in Ukraine, of all places, probably with the help of the Ukrainian authorities. The rest of the information is kept under wraps, but it’s reasonable to assume that Hamas isn’t happy about it and wants revenge.
Hamas may also have internal Palestinian reasons. The chairman of the Palestinian Authority Abu Mazen has again tried to reach out to Hamas in the hope of creating a united administration in anticipation of the unilateral declaration of the Palestinian state later this year. Those in Gaza who oppose such a move may have calculated that Israeli reactions to provocative missile attacks may help them.
For victimhood has become the most effective weapon of Hamas. Though capable of causing damage in Israel – even if, mercifully, so far there has been relatively little of it – the quite severe Israeli response is bound to evoke new sympathy around the world for the hapless Palestinians, and more condemnation of the Israeli bullies.
As so often, the Hamas action is likely to be counterproductive for at least two reasons: (1) Terrorist attacks give Israeli right-wingers fresh arguments for remaining tough; these acts may even avert attention from the settlement issue and tolerate, if not new buildings then at least new outposts. (2) The world is busy with much greater dramas in the region and so won’t pay much attention to what happens in Sderot; the likelihood is that very few people outside Israel know about it.
The residents are frustrated and tend to blame the government for not doing enough. Though a lot of money has been spent on building bomb shelters in the area, Israel has so far refused to use its reported new device that can destroy rockets before they fall to the ground. The system has been tested on tanks and proven to be effective. Residents want to know why the protection hasn’t been made available to them.
As part of the frustration, they’ve created their own media centre. Its director – a native English speaker – is about to embark on a tour of the United States to draw attention to the problem and presumably ask for help. No doubt the conservative informal alliance of Jews and evangelicals will receive him well.
Whether or not the government of Israel can do more for the residents of the South, it’s clear that people there are under enormous pressure and, therefore, rightly or wrongly, feel abandoned by the rest of us.
*
Rabbi Marmur is spiritual leader emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. He now divides his year between Canada and Israel. He may be contacted at dow.marmur@sdjewishworld.com