Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has dismissed the UN Security Council's demanding a cease fire in the war that Israel is waging in the Gaza strip. Mr. Olmert dismissed it as 'unworkable', and is pursuing his country's military offensive. He is apparently tone deaf to the will of the United Nations, and more especially to the unanimous vote of the Council with Israel's unflinching ally, the US, abstaining. Washington's abstention show raise a red flag, but it hasn't. It is a signal that the new Obama administration which will assume the White House in 10 days time, is indirectly hinting that doing business the Bush way is over. Today's 'Financial Times of London' carries an op ed essay by Philip Stephens, translated from the Hebrew, that Israel incursions into Gaza won't bring nor guarantee its strategic security. This observation has been quite noticeable since the beginning of the war 12 days ago; it simply underscores the bankruptcy of Israeli military strategy, and the lack of any government in Jerusalem to seek a political solution other than on completely Israeli terms.
Pursuit of its military actions in Gaza has but one unacceptable conclusion: Israel is seeking Lebensraum in Palestinian territory. We know what 'Lebensraum' mean--forceful removal of populations as on the west bank; implantation of settler colonies; and the complete domination in selected enclaves of Palestianians. It could and does carry implications of 'exterminate the beast', the raving mad conclusion of Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of darkness'. Israel alas has learnt nothing and is tottering of the edge of madness
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