Is Palestine the issue?
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I couldn't make last night's screening of Pilger's film, however, I've run across this excellent article by Jonathan Freedland
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/23/gaza-wearying-conflict-end-time
Which, AFAICS, would chime pretty much with our immediate concerns, an end to the war outright. It does a good job of showing the double standards applied to discussing this one conflict (he doesn't mention that this week the war in Congo flared up again as well, which seems entirely away from newspapers and telly screens: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20437106, cock alone knows how many have died out there in recent weeks).
As can be seen on the Wikipedia list of current conflicts, Israel/Palestine is categorised as a minor conflict:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ongoing_military_conflicts
With fewer than 1,000 deaths per year (including this year). Of course, that list isn't fully comprehensive, and misses a few internal conflicts and ongoing repressions.
The reality, of course, is that capitalism itself is an ongoing war (note especially the inclusion of the drugs war in Mexico as a major conflict), and any discussion of a particular conflict that doesn't mention that just plays into the hands of one band of oppressors against another.
Worth a read. A speculation about motives for the latest outbreak by Norman Finkelstein.http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/29/what-really-happened-in-gaza/ "It appears that many Palestinians have concluded from the resounding defeat inflicted on Israel that only armed resistance can and will end the Israeli occupation. In fact, however, Hamas’s armed resistance operated for the most part only at the level of perceptions—the projectiles heading towards Tel Aviv did unsettle the city’s residents*—and it is unlikely that Palestinians can ever muster sufficient military might to compel an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.But Gaza’s steadfastness until the final hour of the Israeli assault did demonstrate the indomitable will of the people of Palestine. If this potential force can be harnessed in a campaign of mass civil resistance, and if the supporters of Palestinian rights worldwide do their job of mobilizing public opinion and changing government policy, then Israel can be forced to withdraw, and with fewer Palestinian lives lost than in an armed resistance."* to achieve their longer range the rockets had to forego explosives – Israeli spokesman described Hamas as firing basically pipes.
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