In a rare occasion of candour about publishing on Gaza in the mainstream American media establishment, NYT has an op-ed on a "few essential points that seem to be missing from the conversation, much of which has taken place in the press, about Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip" - Gazans are not there by choice; Israeli occupation has been in force since 1967; Israeli blockade has strengthened since Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006; a humanitarian and economic disaster is being played out in violation of Geneva Conventions; since the recent round of fighting broke out nearly 700 Palestinians, mostly civilians; have been killed against a dozen Israelis, mostly soldiers, have been killed.
This paragraph accurately sums up the views from Arab Streets, "The blockade has subjected many to unemployment, penury and malnutrition. This amounts to the collective punishment — with the tacit support of the United States — of a civilian population for exercising its democratic rights."
And this moment of honest confession by Moshe Yaalon, then the Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff, in 2002, sums up the view in the Israeli establishment, "The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people."
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