In a Street Fight, Nothing to Lose Is a Critical Advantage

It’s good advice from parents or friends that, if you’re confronted on the street by a robber, the first loss is the least loss. Whether he has a gun, a knife, or only the distant look of a guy on drugs, you’re not likely to win this one. Hand over what needs to be handed over.

The parallel is obvious in both Palestine and Ukraine

Can an entire nation take on the persona of nothing to lose?

Absolutely.

From the moment Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “I don’t need a way out, I need ammunition,” the die was cast, and Ukraine proved it cannot be beaten. Overwhelmed, perhaps. Occupied, possibly, but only in the short term. A nation of 44 million, every one of whom detests its occupier, will sooner or later become too expensive to occupy.

The same is true of Israel’s mistaken genocide in Gaza. 1200 Israeli dead at the hands of a Hamas surprise attack is a horror. But 30,000 Palestinian deaths in what amounts to a genocide is a garantor of failure. Each Palestinian death will recruit 2-3 Hamas followers and the hatred of Israeli occupation, honed over half a century, will intensify.

A friend asked me recently, “what then is to be done?”

I have no answer for that. There may have been a time, long past, when a two-state solution was possible, but both Palestine and Israel refused such a solution at one time or another. I suppose neither side could envision such utter chaos over the long term and so, what might-have-been was not achieved.

But Israel has much to lose. It’s in a street fight, the rich man standing in a darkened alley, facing an adversary with nothing to lose. This retaliatory genocide will not and cannot succeed. 30,000 dead leaves tens of millions still standing, with hatred in their eyes and world opinion aghast at Israel’s misuse of a never-again moment. It is Netanyahu’ personal error, just as Bush-Cheney erred in their 9-11 response.

It will be said that ‘mistakes were made” and indeed they were

Mark Twain said, “History may not repeat itself, but it rhymes” and that is a fact. After the New York Trade Center attack by bin Laden inspired terrorists, America lashed out in its agony, attacking Iraq (for no good reason) and Afghanistan (for not reason enough). I’m not sure anyone accurately counted the Iraqi and Afghani dead, but surely hundreds of thousands died for no purpose, as we Americans lost over 7,000 of our military personnel and suffered four or five times that in soldiers wounded.

(Washington Post) “Since 2010, a team of 50 scholars, legal experts, human rights practitioners and physicians participating in the Costs of War project have kept their own calculations. According to their latest assessment, more than 906,000 people, including 387,000 civilians, died directly from post-9/11 wars. Another 38 million people have been displaced or made refugees. The U.S. federal government, meanwhile, has spent over $8 trillion on these wars, the research suggests.”

While America made the history, Israel is living the rhyme

The United States may have survived its overreach, but its reputation will never be repaired, what with the evidence of Guantanamo and abu Ghraib torture, as well as on-the-ground war crimes revealed by various whistleblowers.

But we are strong, protected by two oceans and remain a major force in the world. Wounded from our errors, as well we should be, but still on our feet.

It’s very much an open question whether Israel will be as fortunate.