In the human need for a reckoning, especially in an area as tangled as the middle east, it's all to easy to blame a particular group, wash your hands of the whole affair, and move on.
I urge you to take more care - more often than not, blaming one group or another is as much use as regret, just serves to reinforce indoctrination that portrays one side as good, one as bad. Hold those who have a hand in the cycle of violence accountable, on both sides, with a consistency that is worthy of an open-minded and fair liberal, and an overriding interest in protecting the weakest, most vulnerable in this crisis, be they Israeli or Palestinian.
But if we were to proceed in the same fashion as some here do in blaming the Gaza deaths solely on Hamas, then let's take various tragedies, maintaining our impartiality and consistency, and see where we end up. In short, let's put some consistency to what is an inconsistent, blame-the-victim worldview.
First case is that of Oscar Grant III, restrained and shot in the back by BART police. Some may want to hold officer Johannes Mehserle accountable, arguing that Grant was innocent of any wrong-doing, was not resisting arrest, was simply pulled off a train because of an altercation and was in no way involved in that altercation. That would be the wrong conclusion. The passengers on the train are responsible - those who participated in the altercation, others for not stopping the altercation, and all for not providing Grant with a bulletproof vest. Finding fault with Mehserle ignores the long history of law enforcement officials that have died in the line of duty, and the constant threat they are under.
Let's consider the tragedy of 9/11. Now, you may hear someone mention that Osama bin Laden and a loose-knit terror network known as al Qaeda were responsible. Do not believe that! The ones solely responsible for those deaths were the US officials who failed to protect American lives by ignoring the warnings, procedures and emergency measures that could have reduced or avoided the loss of life. Blaming al Qaeda agents ignores what they have suffered at the hands of the US and its allies.
How about the untold thousands who died when the US invaded and occupied Iraq? The kneejerk reaction might be to suspect the invaders had some responsibility here, but don't be too willing to judge the coalition. Remember the US has a right to protect itself. There was an all too probable threat that a million Iraqis would, like lemmings, swim across the Atlantic ocean and swarm over the homeland. After looking at the situation on the ground more carefully, you'll realize it was Saddam, then Sadr, then al Qaeda, these people who brought the war to Iraq by simply existing, they alone caused the civilian deaths.
What of the 15 Israelis, the number who have been killed by Hamas' rockets since 2005? Soley Israel's failing - Israel does not provide sufficient funds for the building and maintenance of bomb shelters, an unforgiveable omission especially when it has failed to stop fighting its neighbors. After all, Hamas is not responsible for building bomb shelters in Israel.
So, gentle skimmers, these are some of the horrible conclusions that we must reach if we are to be at least consistent in a wrong-headed notion that Hamas is solely responsible for the civilian deaths in Gaza. Or, as someone here posted, with typical anger -
Wow. Why can't Hamas help these poor children?
Oh wait....they spent all their money on rockets to fire into Israel.
Fuck Hamas, THEY are the only ones to blame for their people's suffering.
Wow, indeed.