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Source: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380665866&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
No Security, No Power
[Jerusalem Post] Editorial - On Thursday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak gave the go-ahead to gradually reduce the provision of Israeli power and other supplies to Gaza. Yet the government stressed that none of this should be regarded as retaliatory, lest Israel be accused of collective punishment. Hence official Israel portrays its threat to Gaza's power supply as "a continuation of Israel's disengagement" from Gaza. Gazans frequently fire on the very Ashkelon power plant that provides their electricity. That electricity is used, among other purposes, to power rocket production. No other sovereign state would resign itself to a situation in which it is forced to power the production of hardware and munitions geared to destroy the very facilities in which said power is generated. Moreover, are Palestinian rockets aimed at Israeli kindergartens not in the category of collective punishment? Do Sderot's children not deserve protection from indiscriminate assault? The sort of deterrence contemplated in Jerusalem is the least painful and most nonviolent imaginable. It would not be necessary, moreover, were it not for the inaction, and in some cases even support, of Gaza's inhabitants and leaders for the rocket assaults. Israel withdrew from Gaza more than two years ago. It would have no involvement in Gaza were it not being constantly attacked from there without provocation. Its return fire, and its latest efforts to deter the rocket crews, are the direct consequence of those attacks as Israel strives to fulfill its paramount obligation to protect its citizens. Those who turn a blind eye to Gaza's transgressions cannot appoint themselves advocates for its citizenry. There is either serenity everywhere, or nowhere.