None of this would have happened.

Editor,

None of this would have happened if Israel had not refused to negotiate with the Palestinians' democratically elected Hamas government. Pathetic Qassams and the token capture of an Israeli soldier are desperate Palestinians' measures to maintain international visibility in the face of Israeli intransigence.

After Israel invaded Gaza, Hezbollah, pursuing their own misbegotten logic, decided to provoke Israel, probably to hoist them by their own petard by getting them to overreact, which predictably and tragically Israel has done.

This chain of events leads directly to and from Israel's choice to inflict suffering on the Palestinians for having elected Hamas and Israel's choice not to negotiate with Hamas. This whole Israel-Palestine story reminds me of the U.S.'s Indian Removal policy in the 19th century. Nothing but racism, greed, bad faith, and heaping blame on the victim.