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Do you support Israel’s action in Gaza?

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The means are morally indefensible by any standard.

8 ( +15 / -7 )

Israel os surrounded by extremely hostile Islamist Statesand is constantly under attack from Hamas in Gaza. They have the right to to defend themselves, and they have the guts to do it, unlike Obama and Cameron. All we hear on the biased anti Israel media is about the deaths of "Palestinians," but hardly ever about the daily attacks from Gaza. There never was a "Palestiine" state. Israel belongs to the Jewish people, including Judea and Samaria, these days referred to as "the occupied West Bank." I admire the Israeli PM and theIDF. They will win. Terror has to be defeated, as does "jihad."

-12 ( +12 / -24 )

Moral has nothing to do with war!!!!!! War is war, Israel just happens to be a country that does not take shit, and will dish the shit back! They Kick Ass and worry about politics after! Collateral damage is a product of war, has been for as long as man has had the urge to wage war. We are a warring species, this will not change it will continue long after you and me are gone. We continue to develop ways and means to take down the opponent faster with deadlier results, War is big business and will never stop! there will never be peace on this planet unless every last human is dead. Who cares how you defend your borders?????? Who cares what you use to defend it with????? The thing is unless Israel drops a nuke on someone and makes an example out of them they will always have some group testing them.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

A resounding "No."

8 ( +21 / -14 )

If they have been attacked they have the right to take what ever action is necessary to halt the attacks and bring the attackers to justice, same as anyone else.

If they haven't been attacked then no.

So have they been attacked ?

-3 ( +11 / -14 )

Moral has nothing to do with war!!!!!! War is war, Israel just happens to be a country that does not take kindly to threats or terroristic actions! They eliminate threats first and worry about politics after! Collateral damage is a product of war, has been for as long as man has had the urge to wage war. We are a warring species, this will not change it will continue long after you and me are gone. We continue to develop ways and means to take down the opponent faster with deadlier results, War is big business and will never stop! There will never be peace on this planet unless every last human is dead. Who cares how you defend your borders?????? Who cares what you use to defend it with????? The thing is unless Israel drops a nuke on someone and makes an example out of them they will always have some group testing them."

-10 ( +7 / -16 )

'Israel belongs to the Jewish people, including Judea and Samaria,'

According to whom? There are many non-Jews living in what is now Israel.

9 ( +17 / -9 )

Israel's actions would be fine if they didn't kill civilians and blamed it on Hamas. Surely if you know terrorists are using civilians as a shield you wouldn't then attack that shield? The days of killing innocent civilians to wipe out a threat should have been left in WW2 with the area and carpet bombing of German and Japanese cities.

Israel, as a democracy should be taking the higher ground, not acting like a berserker with a warhammer.

2 ( +11 / -10 )

I posted this a few days ago and it looks like I'm gonna have to keep posting it. One of my favorite songs is "Thick as a Brick", it's running through my head right now.

FYI, this study was done by a Jewish person.

http://antiwar.com/blog/2014/02/06/the-truth-about-cease-fire-violations-between-israel-and-gaza/

2 ( +3 / -2 )

Israel is constantly attacked by people that do not value human life and who hide their weapons next to civilians. You should rather criticize Hamas for deliberately attacking civilians, not Israel for taking out the rocket launchers that Hamas conveniently places next to civilians, which is against the Geneva Conventions, Protocol I, Article 51.

0 ( +8 / -8 )

ElCid... Article 51 also states...

Civilians shall enjoy the protection afforded by this Section, unless and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities.

(c) those which employ a method or means of combat the effects of which cannot be limited as required by this Protocol; and consequently, in each such case, are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Israel is constantly attacked by people that do not value human life

The Palestinians were constantly attacked by people that stole their land and undermined their right to self-determination on lands that the Arabs held for over a thousand years. The state of Israel is a newcomer in the area, having forced itself in after forcing others out.

Another U.N. resolution: 3013 from 1973 states: "The struggles of peoples under alien and colonial domination and racist regimes for the implementation of their right to self-determination and independence is legitimate and in full accordance with the principles of international law."

The Israelis may try to con folks into believing they are weak, but it is they who represent the military Goliath of the region, completely and utterly dominating the Palestinians, and killing them with impunity.

0 ( +10 / -10 )

I used the wrong point... should have been...

3 Civilians shall enjoy the protection afforded by this Section, unless and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities.

4 Indiscriminate attacks are prohibited. Indiscriminate attacks are:

(a) those which are not directed at a specific military objective;

(b) those which employ a method or means of combat which cannot be directed at a specific military objective; or

(c) those which employ a method or means of combat the effects of which cannot be limited as required by this Protocol; and consequently, in each such case, are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction.

5 Among others, the following types of attacks are to be considered as indiscriminate:

(a) an attack by bombardment by any methods or means which treats as a single military objective a number of clearly separated and distinct military objectives located in a city, town, village or other area containing a similar concentration of civilians or civilian objects; and

(b) an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.

6 Attacks against the civilian population or civilians by way of reprisals are prohibited.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Israel of today was recreated under a biblical belief that Zionist will someday return to the homeland they were exiled from. Two millennia ago!

When the USSR crumbled ex-Soviet jews flooded the region. This would not sit well with displaced citizens of the regions they were removed from. I am not condoning Hamas's methods. I am simply stating that Israel cannot accept all the worlds Jews without negative result.

The USA is despised because we arm and support Israel. Keep in mind the Jewish owned/controlled media in USA which would be biased to a degree as well as in US politics.

Does anyone have the indigenous to the region Jewish population numbers for Israel, pre 1945. And the reclaiming homeland Jews from everywhere in the world, post 1945?

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Shalom.

Of course they have the rightto protect themselves . All countries do.

0 ( +8 / -8 )

Israel was created by a group of nations without the consolation of the modern population (The Palestinians). Now because Jews and Muslims are so afraid of being annihilated by one another neither of them or able to just accept each other. It's a sad pathetic display of people who can't understand what their religion means.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

It's a sad pathetic display of people who can't understand what their religion means.

Your statement is true and has very serious implications for members of the Jewish faith, especially those who do understand what their faith means. Modern Zionism is completely antithetical to Judaism. It has made a travesty of the name of the Jewish faith. No good can come of this.

-3 ( +5 / -8 )

Modern Zionism is completely antithetical to Judaism. It has made a travesty of the name of the Jewish faith.

This is completely incorrect.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

If the Israeli leadership wanted peace, they could have it. They have been illegally occupying and oppressing another people for decades, progressively stealing their lands by settling religious fanatics in their place, forcing them to submit to degrading military controls just to go to the next village over. This constant oppression and humiliation is why many Palestinians turn to radicals of their own who lash out at Israel.

What is the status of the occupied territories? If the land is Israel's, then all residents are, in fact, Israeli citizens who have been denied their citizenship and treated worse than blacks under Apartheid in South Africa. If the occupied territories are part of another country, then Israel has been illegally occupying another country and annexing its lands for decades. Either way, Israel's treatment of Palestine is completely morally and legally indefensible.

The current Israeli strikes are just part of the strategy of the hard right israeli leadership to keep the state of war intact by inciting Palestinian attacks through humilation, oppression and expropriation. That is why they cannot be justified, because they have the power to make this circle of violence stop, not Palestinians, and continually refuse to do so.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

If the Israeli leadership wanted peace, they could have it. They have been illegally occupying and oppressing another people for decades

Israel left Gaza in 2005.

The current Israeli strikes are just part of the strategy of the hard right israeli leadership to keep the state of war intact by inciting Palestinian attacks through humilation, oppression and expropriation.

Hundreds of rockets have been fired from Gaza toward Israel. This incites Israel to attack. Why doesn't Hamas consider negotiating for peace instead? All it would take is for Hamas and the PLA to say, we are willing to negotiate for peace, right now with no preconditions and that would be enough for the rest of the world to pressure Israel to negotiate with Hamas as well. Hamas has said they will never negotiate for a real peace with Israel. How can some people continue to ignore this very important fact on the ground?

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

Let's see, in retaliation for rocket attacks that have done little harm, Israel has killed hundreds, disproportionally innocents.

So, clearly no. Unlike Israel and their enablers, I cannot support the continued slaughter of innocents.

2 ( +7 / -6 )

'It's a sad pathetic display of people who can't understand what their religion means.'

Don't forget the Christians. Insane evangelicals in the US with cracked beliefs in an imminent second coming putting pressure on the Republicans in particular are part of the reason the US is one of the very few countries in the world to decry Israel's illegal land stealing. This area will never see peace while toxic extremists from three monotheisms have a stake.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

in retaliation for rocket attacks that have done little harm

So, in your country, if a group shot rockets aimed at populated areas, you would support your country ignoring that? I do not think so. I do not think that there is one person on JT that would support that.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

If the Palestinians would stop attacking Israel in the first place, I would have more sympathy.

4 ( +7 / -5 )

Israel will fight terrorism against them, and they will win. "Palestine" never really existed, anyway.

-1 ( +5 / -7 )

So, in your country, if a group shot rockets aimed at populated areas, you would support your country ignoring that?

Who said that Israel should ignore the attacks? Nobody says this.

But how can you justify the continued indiscriminate slaughter of civilians by the IDF? It's as if someone steals my car and I burn down their house in retaliation. Total disproportionate response.

Do not forget that the power balance between the Israelis and the Palestinians is far from equal. The Israelis hold all the power. They do not use this power judiciously and instead kill civilians with zero regret.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

I wish they'd just stop.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Israel is able to defend itself so why should I continue to murder innocent people....?

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Gosh, how does one defend against rocket attacks? it seems like Israel is doing this for concern for it's people, while the other country doesn't seem like they care what happens to their people. all it takes is compromise . I'll pray for the people.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

"all it takes is compromise . I'll pray for the people."

It is a very difficult situation. Many Israeli's are not indigenous to the region. The Palestinians are from the region. Israel will not sacrifice land, Palestinians want their land back from Israel. A compromise is nearly impossible. I wish it were different.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Israel is able to defend itself so why should I continue to murder innocent people....?

You shouldn't.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

The fact that modern Israel was Palestine is sad. Israel aggressively took over all of their land and that is why there is attacks daily. No I do not support Israel in this, they are in the wrong and are murdering for no reason.

-4 ( +2 / -5 )

Israel aggressively took over all of their land

From sites in Europe, fully 30 or more years before, Zionists were making plans to take the land of Arabs and throw them out of Palestine. This was aggression with malice aforethought..

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

Readers, please keep the discussion focused on the current situation rather than historical issues.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

yabits,

You seem to have forgotten. The year is 2014 and both sides were offered a truce. Hamas is the one that refused it. Hamas is the one that refuses to negotiate for peace. Hamas is the one that has been shooting hundreds of rockets for months now with little or no reaction from Israel until Israel finally had had enough. I am amazed that people that claim they are peace loving can side with Hamas, which is a group that has war and destruction in their charter.

Israel aggressively took over all of their land and that is why there is attacks daily.

No. there was a partition plan that the Arab side rejected, there was a war that the Arab side lost. Jordon and Egypt got the West Bank and Gaza respectively and kept them for themselves. Now, Israel still says it is for a peaceful two state solution. It is Hamas that is against that.

From sites in Europe

Blah, blah, blah....Lions, tigers and Zionists, oh my! It is 2014 and Israel has made land for peace deals with two of its neighbors. It has made proposal for the same deal with the Palestinians. Hamas completely rejects this. Your continued attempts at rewriting history and religion cannot change this.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Please stop talking about this "truce". It was engineered from Egypt from its puppet master the US. Egypt didn't even contact Hamas with one shed of detail about it. This truce was just a scam to let Israel look better. BS!

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Palestinians want their land back from Israel

As everyone knows, Israel left Gaza in 2005. It is now 2014. Hamas violently took over from Fatah there in 2007. They have been firing rockets indiscriminately at Israel, with the hope of killing men, women or children, ever since. Hamas is the enemy of the ordinary Palestinian in Gaza. They use their millions in aid to build terror tunnels and to buy more rockets, instead of investing in infrastructure for their own citizens. Most Gazans are too afraid to speak out against Hamas (for fear of death) but numerous polls have shown that a majority of Palestinians would prefer to live under Israeli rule than under their current oppressors, Hamas. Too bad people in the West don't care.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Egypt didn't even contact Hamas with one shed of detail about it.

Really? Hamas seems to disagree with you.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the Egyptian proposal was "not acceptable." The military wing of Hamas, Izzedine al-Qassam, said in a statement on the Hamas website that the proposal "does not deserve the ink it was written with."

http://news.yahoo.com/hamas-rejects-egypt-proposal-truce-israel-065724190.html

No, they were obviously contacted and they obviously read it in detail.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The word "disproportionate" is the only way to describe Israel's response. The current death toll is 225 Palestinians and 1 Israeli. However, to not blame Iran, and other allies of Hamas, for supplying them with the rockets is foolish as well. They have just as much blood on their hands as Israel does.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Hamas has been firing rockets into Israel since the IDF pulled out of the Gaza Strip almost a decade ago. How long is Israel supposed to sit quietly and take it?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Hamas has been firing rockets into Israel since the IDF pulled out of the Gaza Strip almost a decade ago. How long is Israel supposed to sit quietly and take it?

When Hamas has agreed to and honored cease fires, Israel has not just sat by "quietly." For example, in June of 2008, Hamas ceased firing rockets for over four months, until Israel found an excuse to launch a military action against Gaza, which broke the cease-fire.

Neither side wears white hats, but the Palestinians are the far-weaker ones under racist oppression and occupation. (And that assessment comes from an Israeli.)

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

For example, in June of 2008, Hamas ceased firing rockets for over four months, until Israel found an excuse to launch a military action against Gaza, which broke the cease-fire.

Hamas was building a tunnel leading into Israel. Hamas had still been using tunnels to smuggle weapons into Gaza and had used tunnels to attack Israel in the past. Hamas admits they were building the tunnel, but claimed it was for 'defensive' purposes. However, this makes no sense as why would anyone use a tunnel into enemy territory for defense? Tunnels had been used before to capture IDF soldiers. Thus the tunnel was destroyed. Creating the tunnel is the action that broke the ceasefire.

Neither side wears white hats,

I agree.

but the Palestinians are the far-weaker ones under racist oppression and occupation.

Hamas is against any negotiations and peace with Israel under any circumstances. The occupation could be over at any time if Hamas would agree to negotiate for a peaceful two state solution.

(And that assessment comes from an Israeli.)

Since when is one opinion supposed to be the sole opinion of a people or a nation? It is an opinion, please stop making it out to be more than it is.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Slumdog

Posting a link from Yahoo would probably be OK if you're talking about the Kardashians. But on a subject such as the Palestinian - Israeli issue, well...you might as well check the CIA or Mossad talking points and use them.

Below is a link to a legitimate Israeli news organization, and I've chosen one that is obviously pro-Israeli. I've also posted some excerpts pertaining to the "truce".

"No official or unofficial side has approached us about the ceasefire talked about in the media... (but) if the contents of this proposal are true, it is a surrender and we reject it outright," the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.

He said Hamas had not received any official proposal and that the idea of relinquishing "the weapons of the resistance are a red line."

The conditions in the Egyptian proposal do not include any of the demands that Hamas has been repeating in recent days.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-expected-to-accept-arab-backed-truce/

So I hope this will be a good learning opportunity for you that you can not count on/depend on the MSM for the "whole" truth, if that is even possible in these times.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Posting a link from Yahoo would probably be OK

? While it it is on Yahoo, it is an AP report. But, okay, if you want more links with the same information:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-approves-egyptian-truce-proposal-to-end-gaza-conflict-9606251.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israel-accepts-truce-plan-hamas-balks/2014/07/15/04373008-0bf5-11e4-8c9a-923ecc0c7d23_story.html

Are you suggesting that the Hamas spokeman in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, knows less about the situation than a Hamas member in Lebanon? Hardly.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Hamas was building a tunnel leading into Israel. Hamas had still been using tunnels to smuggle weapons into Gaza and had used tunnels to attack Israel in the past. Hamas admits they were building the tunnel, but claimed it was for 'defensive' purposes. However, this makes no sense as why would anyone use a tunnel into enemy territory for defense?

You fail to mention the killings that Israel committed in securing the tunnel. The exact purpose of the tunnel is a matter of conjecture. The loss of life was real. I don't accept a killer's word for very much. If they kill, they will lie too.

There was more than one way Israel could have dealt with the tunnel, IF they valued human life and the cease-fire in Gaza. But they valued neither.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

You fail to mention the killings that Israel committed in securing the tunnel.

You are correct. Hamas militants were killed during the operation. It does not change the fact that Hamas was building a tunnel into Israel.

The exact purpose of the tunnel is a matter of conjecture.

The tunnel lead into Israel. Similar tunnels were used in the present conflict and Hamas militants actually entered Israel. The use of the tunnels has been shown to be either a) for the purpose of entering Israel or b) for the smuggling of weapons.

If they kill, they will lie too.

Hamas has captured and killed, too. They also refused to negotiate for peace.

There was more than one way Israel could have dealt with the tunnel, No, I am sorry. Hamas should not have been building the tunnel. It was a breach of the ceasefire. Gilad Shalit was captured via such tunnels and was still held captive during this time. It is ridiculous to think Israel would allow a breach in the ceasefire in the way of another tunnel into Israel. It is Hamas that have shown themselve not to value the lives of their own people by continuing to put them in dangerous situations.

Peace is the only answer and Hamas rejects it.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

One group uses rockets to protect its own people. The other uses its own people to protect its rockets! Israel is totally justified in using deadly force to stop these terrorist attacks. Hamas have no regard for their own people so they will never agree to a real peace. The only way for this to end is for the Palestinian people to rise up against Hamas and throw them out.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Killing of innocent people can never be justified at any cost. Israel do have the right to take action but against militants not by killing innocent people who have nothing to do with this. And many people here says PALESTINE do not existed. For their kind information Israel came into being when Adolf Hitler kicked Jews out of Europe and they got some space in Palestine to live, I condemn the killing of innocent people(specially the women and children) of GAZA

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

How about sanctions against Israel?

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

As far back as 2008 Fathi Hammad, a representative of Hamas, justified his organization’s cynical use of human shields, explaining on Al Aqsa TV, “For the Palestinian people death has become an industry at which women excel, and so do all people on this land: the elderly excel, the Jihad fighters excel, and the children excel. Accordingly [Palestinians] created a human shield of women, children, the elderly, and the Jihad fighters, against the Zionist bombing machine, as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: 'We desire death as you desire life.”

You tell me yabits ... do those sound like the comments of a philosophy that "values human life"?

No sympathy whatsoever for the Palestinian "cause". Get your act together please and stop distributing your grotesque philosophy of death around the region.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

do those sound like the comments of a philosophy that "values human life"?

They sound like the comments of a desperate people who have been trampled underfoot for far too long. All credit to Zionist Israel for that.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Well done dodging the question. On the one hand you have a philosophy that espouses (could probably even go as far as embraces) martyrdom, death and the utter destruction of the state of Israel. On the other hand you have a philosophy that at least pays lip service to the notion of peaceful co-existence.

Its worth pointing out that while the latter state flourishes and its citizens enjoy the comforts of any Western nation, the former wallows in poverty despite receiving unheard of sums in aid and donations.

Its beyond me how there is anyone left in the world who hasn't totally lost patience with the Palestinians and their "cause".

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Al-Wafa Hospital, the only rehabilitation hospital in Gaza and the West Bank, was shelled by Israel on Thursday. At the time of the attack, the hospital was filled with patients who were paralyzed, unconscious and unable to move.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/7/18/israel_bombs_gazas_only_rehab_hospital

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

The area of Gaza is 360 square km and the area of Tokyo is 2188 square km. Gaza is either sand or buildings and streets. Nothing else, and it is overcrowded with almost 2 million people. There is no industry. There is absolutely no doubt that Gaza's military is completely supported by foreign countries through the tunnels and a political group that wants to destroy Israel. Why is it so difficult to determine which side fires the first shot when there is an agreed cease fire? Look at how fast the location of the missile that destroyed flight 17 was determined. The world needs to accept the fact that this conflict will never end.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I would like all those "No" voters to explain what exactly Israel should do in response to the rocket attacks from Gaza. I am not holding my breath for a sensible answer, though.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I would like all those "No" voters to explain what exactly Israel should do in response to the rocket attacks

This is like asking what the Nazis should have done in response to the French Resistance.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

It needs to be taken out of a Jewish-centric context and placed into one that matches.

Why? Because you now realize your attempt to compare the situation with the Warsaw Ghetto was a ridiculous one and so you are now searching for another? The Nazis put their own government in France, the Vichy one. Israel has offered to make peace using the land for peace equation so that there is a two state solution. That is not what the Nazis did in France, so the analogy still does not work.

yabits, the year is 2014. You are attempting to compare the Nazis with Israelis and it will not work. Israel has attempted to make peace with the Palestinians. Israel has attempted to work for a two state solution. It is clear you find this unacceptable. I am not sure what you find acceptable, because you have yet in all your posts to say what it is.

This conversation has nothing to do with Zionists. It has to do with Israelis and Palestinians. That is it. Both sides must be willing to make a deal. Don't like it? Too bad.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

You are repeating yourself way too much and saying very little.

It is 2014. This conflict has been going on for a very long time and the Palestinians will gain nothing by continuing as they have been. Negotiations for a two state solution are the only answer.

You and Hamas are wrong. Fighting will only makes things worse for the Palestinians. Peace is the only answer.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Amazing! 40% of the respondents here either say they support Israel's action in Gaza or they're not sure.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

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