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Jerusalem Post columnist Larry Derfner raises an important question for Israelis in a December 30, 2009, post headlined “Rattling the Cage: A taboo question for Israelis.” He writes:
There's a question we Israelis won't ask ourselves about the Palestinians, especially not about Gaza. The question is taboo. Not only won't anyone ask it out loud, but very, very few people will dare ask it in the privacy of their own minds.However, I think it's time we start asking it, privately and in public. If we don't, I think there's going to be Operation Cast Lead II, then Operation Cast Lead III, and each one is going to be worse than the last, and the consequences for Palestinians and Israelis are going to be unimaginable.
The question we have to ask ourselves is this: If anybody treated us like we're treating the people in Gaza, what would we do?
“We don't want to go there, do we?” Mr. Derfner asks. “And because we don't, we make it our business not to see, hear or think about how, indeed, we are treating the people in Gaza.”
It’s an article I think everyone should read regardless of one’s opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian question. The question could just as well apply to the U.S. role in Iraq. For example, what would we do if another country invaded the U.S. the way the U.S. invaded Iraq, without provocation or just cause. What we do if an occupier caused the deaths of thousands of Americans? Would we accept the humiliation of being occupied? I doubt it.
