ET CETERA NIGHT CAP Who's Goliath? By Harry Kirsbaum I was reading a chapter in Malcolm Gladwell's book David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Bat- tling Giants (Little, Brown and Com- pany, 2013), which described how the Civil Rights Movement was launched into a national cause by a single pho- tograph taken in Birmingham, Ala., on May 3, 1963. Marching for civil rights and using children as non-violent protesters, Wyatt Walker, executive director of the South- ern Christian Leadership Conference led by Martin Luther King Jr., went up against Eugene"Bull"Connor, the city's public safety commissioner and a racist. After two days of protesting, the jail filled up, but the young protesters kept coming. Bull Connor was forced to discourage them another way. He set the fire hoses on them; then he brought in the dogs. A photograph taken of a teenage boy attacked by a police dog made its way to the cover of the New York Times, and turned the tide of the Civil Rights Movement. Walker knew that sending kids into harm's way would make for good visu- als in the press, and he was right. The Civil Rights Movement was faltering; the protesters were overwhelming under- dogs wherever they marched until that photo was taken. A year later, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I thought about Gaza while reading this and wondered if Hamas thinks this strategy applies to them. It doesn't. Not when you examine the goal. Even though they both used chil- dren to make a point, Martin Luther King wanted equality for his people. Hamas wants the destruction of the Jewish people. It's one thing to send children out as peaceful protesters. It's completely dif- ferent to fire rockets from schools and use them as human shields. Yes, the press is always looking for good visuals, like Israeli tanks and soldiers marching into Gaza, bombs hit- ting houses and apartments filled with innocent children. But Israel is no more a "Goliath"than Hamas is the "David" As of press time, the reported death toll is more than 1,000 for Gazans, and more than 50 Israelis, but the toll could be so much worse if Israel were a true Goliath. As much as Hamas talks about killing all Jews everywhere and driving Israelis into the Mediterranean Sea, it is Israel that has the capacity to obliterate Gaza any time it wants. Yet it doesn't. Although the Iron Dome has protect- ed Israelis in the past, no other country on Earth would put up with rocket at- tacks. And no other country would drop leaflets and make phone calls warning citizens that they have five minutes before the bombing begins. Israel accepted a cease-fire agree- ment sponsored by Egypt three weeks ago, and Hamas answered with more rocket attacks. Hamas is solely respon- sible for every death since then. Hamas might claim it is the under- dog, but it isn't. There is no underdog in this situation. There's a constant sim- mering terrorist threat that boils over into a major confrontation every couple of years, then simmers down again with some conditions that are usually forced onto Israel. The Palestinians wanted concrete to rebuild the bombed-out buildings a couple of years ago. Israel blanched, A Palestinian smuggling tunnel in Rafah and said it would be used to build tun- nels. When Israel relented and allowed concrete, Hamas built — not homes, not bomb shelters for civilians — but beautiful, arched tunnels from which it could stealthily move rockets to bomb Israel. Now Israel will not leave Gaza until all the tunnels are destroyed. Anti-Israel, anti-Semitic protests have taken place all over the world, and there's no escaping it. Protesters at the Ann Arbor Art Fair on July 18 were heard chanting,"From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" At. An. Art. Fair. It's been said a million times before, but it's worth repeating. If Hamas would lay down its arms and recognize Israel's right to exist, peace would reign in the region. If Israelis would lay down their arms, they would be slaughtered. And there's no photo that conveys that fact. RT TOTO TOTO products are designed to work in harmony ConnellyTM Collection featured in this welcoming guest ADVANCE PLUMBING SUPPLY COMPANY www.redthreadmagazine.com atever the needs, whatever the decor — like the t Tub, Shower, Toilet, Sink. If it's TOTO, it's an experience. COME VISIT OUR OUTSTANDING SHOWROOM 1977 E. West Maple Road • Walled Lake, MI 48390 248-669-7474 • www.advanceplumbing.com 94 YEARS 1920 - 2014 RD Tura I August 2014 35