Katie Couric's Notebook: Gaza

By: Katie Couric
Topics: Katie Couric's Notebook

The New Year has brought renewed violence to the Middle East. For 10 days, Israelis and Palestinians have exchanged rocket fire. Five-hundred Palestinians are reported dead, including 100 civilians. As Israel flexes its military muscle with ground troops, Hamas continues to fire rockets deeper into Israel, making the prospect of a ceasefire nothing more than wishful thinking at this point.

President-elect Barack Obama has been silent on the conflict, stating that our nation only needs one president at a time.

It's true that weighing in on specific foreign policy could contradict President Bush and send mixed signals to the global community. But there are about a million people without electricity, food supplies are running short, and hospitals are overburdened in Gaza.

As one United Nations spokesman said, this is a humanitarian crisis.

Now is the time when protocol, and the desire not to step on toes, should take a back seat to both leaders working together before it is too late.

6 Comments Have Your Say
Email Story Send to a Friend
Share This Tell Your Friends
Tweet This Tweet This
More Share It

Add a Comment


by ericmichael1 January 6, 2009 4:28 PM EST: Katie,

Like you, it breaks my heart each time I see photos of civilian casualties in Gaza. War is such a tragic waste!

But it is simplistic to think that an American President or President-elect can wave a magic wand and stop this. The conflict is much more complex.

Imagine if Canada started to periodically lob missiles into New York City, not caring whether civilians were targeted or not. Would you not demand immediate, decisive action from the same President that you now wish to intervene? If the missiles did not stop, would any amount of military force be enough to YOU until it DID stop?

But that is not all involved here. What if the Canadians taught their children from infancy that U.S. citizens were sub-human, the equivalent of pigs? And, when it came time to elect their next legislature, what if they elected the most violent, anti-U.S. politicians to office? What if they continued, not only to allow them to remain in office, but actually supported the new government with all of their resources?

Gaza will only be at peace when Hamas becomes a truly political organization, not a terrorist one. They are not an I.R.A., though. They have been indoctrinated since youth to hate. Don''t equate their thought to Western thought. It is far more complex.

Lobbing missiles indiscriminately into civilian areas is not war. It is not the act of a legitimate government. It is an act of pure, brutal, hate-filled terrorism.

Eric; Reply to this comment


by akirayamanak January 6, 2009 12:49 PM EST: A hypothesis which I recently feel;
Hamas may not always unrecognize the right of Israeli existence in depth. But they must have always unrecognized the humiliation that Israel imposed on them.
So I suppose that what Hamas has repulsed is just humiliation imposed by Israel rather than Israel itself.; Reply to this comment


by daisydozy January 6, 2009 12:02 PM EST: Katie is as uninformed about the Gaza crisis as Sarah Palin is about everything.

Israel has the world''s 4th largest military machine, while Hamas has no army, no tanks, no attack helicopters, no F-16 fighter planes, no weapons of mass destruction, no chemical weapons -- all of which Israel has and is using against innocent men, women and children of Gaza.

This is not war. This is genocide. For Katie or anybody else to equate the two sides is disingenuous at best, criminal in fact.

Katie, remove your zionist blinders and see the truth of the war crimes Israel is committing against an innocent civilian population. Israel is only interested in the total destruction of the Palestinian people; Hamas has offered peace many times over, and Israel rejects all offers and instead claims it is Hamas that wants to destroy Israel. Just more zionist lies.; Reply to this comment


by caine47 January 6, 2009 10:47 AM EST: Calm down Katie. Obama will be President soon enough, and THEN he can help out your Hamas buddies. The Palestinians are suffering because of Hamas. Plain and simple. Stop the rockets, stop the bloodshed.; Reply to this comment


by petersemkiw January 6, 2009 4:58 AM EST: In just two weeks, President Elect Obama will be sworn in as President of the United States, and to help end this current conflict and humanitarian crisis, both President Bush and President Elect Obama need to be working together right now to help resolve this current conflict as soon as possible, and to try to bring stability and peace to that troubled region through renewed international pressure, intensified negotiations, and other diplomatic means as well.; Reply to this comment


by romka109109 January 6, 2009 1:50 AM EST: crazy idea to work together. as I remember there is Constitution . Nothing there about get advice from elected president.
Israel helps Palestine people live in peace. It is not Israel fault , that some people use civilians as protection.

What about to learn history before making serious face?; Reply to this comment