Traverse City Record-Eagle

Grand Traverse County

December 31, 2008

Locals weigh in on Gaza violence

BY LINDSAY VanHULLE

TRAVERSE CITY -- Continued Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip are appropriate in order to end attacks from militants within a Palestinian government organization, the rabbi of a local Jewish congregation said.

But a Traverse City woman of Palestinian heritage, who has family living in the nearby West Bank region, said the world needs to understand the conflict is not happening in a vacuum and Israelis have to share responsibility.

Simmering violence in the Middle East flared Saturday when Israeli leaders launched an air raid on Hamas government targets. Israeli officials said the raids came in response to rocket attacks into southern Israel.

Gaza officials put the death toll at more than 390 dead and 1,600 wounded. Hamas said about 200 uniformed members of Hamas security forces have been killed, and the U.N. says at least 60 Palestinian civilians have died. Four Israelis have been killed by militant rocket fire, including three civilians.

The spectre of war has people across the globe watching and world leaders calling for a truce.

Locally, people with knowledge of both sides of the conflict differ on whether war is necessary to reach peace, but agree that decades-old tensions between Israelis and Palestinians won't easily be resolved.

"We have a situation of two peoples living side-by-side," said Albert M. Lewis, the rabbi of Congregation Beth El in Traverse City. "Every time they lob rockets into Israel, they are decreasing the chances for any type of extended peace."

Lewis visited Israel at least four times, the most recent trip in 1996.

The area, he believes, has the potential to be one of the world's leading technological and economic markets, given advancements in education, medicine and infrastructure.

"The same thing can happen in Gaza, if their leadership decides that war is not what they want and that they're ready to sit down and negotiate," Lewis said. "Israel is ready to recognize and to even support a Palestinian state."

Air strikes were spurred in part by Hamas-led rocket offensives, as a six-month cease-fire pact was not extended and a blockade of the Gaza Strip continues.

The action was necessary after rocket attacks in the country did not end, Lewis said.

But the situation for Gazans is bleak, said Gina Aranki, a member of MidEast: Just Peace, a Traverse City-based activist group that supports the creation of a Palestinian state.

The region has been blocked by Israel and Egypt, which borders Gaza to the south, limiting access to aid entering the region.

"It's desperation," said Aranki, of Palestinian descent. "They shouldn't be shooting rockets off at Israeli towns and villages, but you know what? What would you do if you couldn't get medicine for your family, you couldn't get food?"

She hears updates from family members there, and said the situation hasn't changed much since she visited in the 1980s.

Aranki worries about children and civilians who have grown up amid decades of violence. In addition, she said, some Palestinian citizens disagree with the decision to fire rockets into Israel, just as there is discontent among some Americans toward their government.

"The Palestinians are no different in that regard," she said. "After all these years, there are people who still seem to think that the way to peace is through the military or through war. That doesn't make sense."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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