"War is the unfolding of miscalculations." <br> – Barbara Tuchman

IN the Koran, the Holy Book of the Islamic faith, a crime committed against a person is called "Qisas" which allows the victim or the victim’s family to retaliate against the one convicted of such a crime. This is a culture alien to the West.

First, in the context of the Middle East, it has become an endless history of violence and vendettas.

Once again, the renowned prowess of the Israeli military and its firepower have pulverized not only Palestinian resistance movements but also all past Arab attempts to challenge Israel’s independence, and its right to exist.

Much analyses have been put forward to trace the conflicting and violent history of the Palestinian problem, especially when two races are claiming the same barren lands as their homeland.

As usual, on the military offensive in the Gaza Strip, Israel has triumphed and reduced the cities into rubble, and have killed and maimed hundreds of innocent civilians, women and children in their objective of silencing Hamas mortar attacks on Israeli settlements.

Unfortunately, Israeli retaliation was indiscriminate and overkill.

It is apparent that the Israelis have learned much from Nazi Germany when Hitler once said that, "In starting and waging a war, it is not right that matters but victory." With every victory, Israel has annexed and expanded its territory and boundaries.

Second, revisionist historians in Israel are now rewriting the history of the conflict between Palestine and Israel from 1948 when the state of Israel was established and the beginning of Palestinian exodus – creating a monumental refugee problem – to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and every haven in the world.

What is left to the Palestinians is the Israeli controlled West Bank, and Gaza Strip of 40 sq. miles in length and 15 sq. miles in width, and the promise of a homeland, which is becoming a hopeless dream.

By the way, in Benny Morris’s latest book, "1948," in Israel’s replay of the "Holocaust," Morris wrote that in the 1948 war, "Zionists committed more massacres than the Arabs, deliberately killed far more civilians and prisoners of war, and committed more acts of rape."

However, as Roman Cicero had written, "Laws are silent in time of war."

Third, as Tim McGirk of Time Magazine of January 19, 2009 had written, "Why Israel can’t win," he opined that "The siege of Gaza may punish Hamas, but it won’t make Israel safe."

"The assault on Gaza, no matter how it ends, will not ease the Jewish state’s existential anxiety. Peace, not war, is its only hope."

On the other hand, the yearning for return to their homeland becomes the Palestinians’ defining national ethos which to them is non-negotiable, and thus the violence continues.

When all is said and done, the Philippines, like the rest of Asia, cannot remain a spectator to the Middle East conflict not only because of the more than 2 million Filipino workers scattered all over the Middle East and Europe but also because of the Philippines’ total dependence on Middle East crude oil supply.

Last but not least, the Filipino people should not pin their hopes on President Barack Obama. Between the deepen ing US economy recession, and Iraq, Gaza, Iran, Afghanistan, China, and North Korea, President Obama’s plate is super full, and the Filipinos will have to paddle their own canoe, and nothing so far is being done about it due to 2010 politics, greed, and ambition.

You be the judge.

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Here and there

Senator Panfilo Lacson has found another vehicle to project himself via free media mileage by endorsing Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno for the presidency in 2010... This is cheap publicity at the expense of Chief Justice Puno since Sen. Lacson does not have the credibility... Moreover, Chief Justice Puno, granted the virtues of intellect and integrity like past and present Justices, does not possess the major elemental components of no-holds-barred politics... Outside mainstream media, Chief Justice is unknown in the countryside, and publicity is expensive... Do not allow Sen. Panfilo Lacson to titillate you to project himself... Meanwhile, is it true that Mr. Tony Boy Cojuangco has lost control of the Bank of Commerce (BoC) to Ramon Ang’s San Miguel Brewery?... San Miguel is also about to acquire the majority stake in Petron from the Ashmore Fund of England as managed by former Marcos Trade Minister Roberto "Bobby" Ongpin... The friendship between SMB Chairman, Amb. Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco and Mr. Bobby Ongpin goes long a way back to the Marcos years... However, the architect of these recent acquisitions is San Miguel Brewery’s President Ramon Ang who is now big in his own right... The next target is United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB)... Abangan... (For comments and views, please e-mail: chaff_fromthegrain@yahoo.com.ph