Nothing particularly important happened in Finnish politics on week 39, so I thought I might write something on the Israel/Palestine conflict. Certainly, Hamas' brutal attack on civilians surprised many. Not the least of the surprised were IDF and Netanyahu's government who, according to the Israeli press, have recently focused their energies mainly on the northern border and the expansion of West Bank settlements. Now Israel has been bombing Gaza to smithereens, resulting in countless civilian casualties, and is most obviously preparing a ground attack, which could lead to anything from a defeat resembling 2006 war in Lebanon to the complete scouring of Gaza.