Israel War on Gaza: A Defensive Warfare or a Terrorist Act?

The uneven war between Israel and the Gaza strip has created sympathy from Arabs and

non-Arabs around the world that infers that the Israeli attacks on the strip is a war crime

according to Palestinians (A Palestinian View: War Crimes in Gaza Put PA in Awkward

Place). Adhering to the International law on War, Protocol 1 of the Additional to the

Geneva Conventions, 1977, Section 1, Article 48 states: “In order to ensure respect for

and protection of the civilian population and civilian objects (during war), the Parties to

the conflict shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants

and between civilian objects and military objectives and accordingly shall direct their

operations only against military objectives”. On the 6th day of Israel’s attack on Gaza an

estimate of 485 civilians including women and children were killed and only 33 reported

Hamas Islamist militants, Israel’s supposed enemy were martyred on the onslaught

(Al-Jazeera/English). Israel’s political appointees further said on their first day of operation

that the attacks were directed only towards Hamas’ military wing and that their operation

in Gaza was far from completion (Shimon). The aggression towards Gaza by Israel since

the last 7 days contradicts Israel’s claims that its only objective was cease the attacks of

rockets by Hamas into Southern Israel because Hamas opted for a ceasefire if Israel will

discontinue its air strikes using advanced F-16 fighter jets to bomb indiscriminately Gazan

residences, hospitals, mosques, and government institution owned by Hamas or Fatah

(Al-Jazeera/English). A Washington spokesman speaking through Al-Jazeera said:

“Whether 16 Israelis were killed since 2001 by rocket fires from Hamas compared to the

380 in Gaza in 5 days, the numbers in Gaza is absolutely meaningless, the United States

condemns Hamas aggression towards Israel” (New Hour). Michael Bloomerg another

Washington spokesman was quick to say that Hamas owns the responsibility for the Israeli

attack and they are to blame (Al-Jazeera/English). However, the use of biased rhetoric in

what can be described as “the defense of the indefensible” further conveys the hatred in

the guise of diplomacy many of the western politicians have for the Arab world,

particularly the Islamist movement like Hamas.

Hamas won the democratic elections in January 2006 by an outstanding victory to the

opposition movement Fatah, the election was nullified. “The fact that the West really

considers democratic elections for Islamists as impermissible for Muslim countries is

documented by the election of Hamas in Palestine in 2006 and the subsequent embargo

and economic deprivation we see continue to this day. The minute it appeared Islamists

were going to win Algerian elections martial law was imposed and a brutal campaign

against Muslims ensued” (Younus 6). The American ideology that believes that democracy

should be implemented in all nations but with the conditionality of loyalty (to them) reflects

that the common interest of the West to secure peace in the region (such as Middle East)

may never be successful. The only practical solution for world peace and particularly the

Middle East is that the Western powers must secure its own borders and careless about

infringing on the fundamental rights of those that resist their policies. Israel should

withdraw the occupied Palestine and revoke their biblical prophecy that says Palestine is

of surety their promised land, if indeed they advocate peace in the region and peace in

the world. It is not arguable that the policy makers in Israel are blood thirsty and believe

the only way to secure their office is to create enmity between Arabs and Israelis further

enabling their populace to conclude they are up to the task for their courage and bravery.

However, the Muslim world, particularly Arabs have a sense of sympathy to dying Muslims

in Iraq, Afghanistan, occupied Palestine, Somalia, just to name a few. The War on Gaza

at this point is not considered to be an even war, Israeli air forces fire rockets at poor

people with nothing to arm themselves except stones and a number of rockets that kills

approximately 16 Israelis in 8 years (Al-Jazeera/English). Israel’s undeclared occupation of

the entire Palestine shows the greed and absolute misuse of power the enemy has

resulted into in the pretext of the slogan, “War against Hamas”. Before the Hamas

movement was established there was war between the two factions, Israel and Palestine;

therefore Hamas has only be used as an excuse to ill-treat the Palestinians and there can

be no prevention of terror if the true terrorist military complex that closes all borders and all

forms of humanitarian aid continues to perpetrate its crime without a check to its operation.

The most disturbing fact of all is the decision of the Arab leaders that purport to seek the

United Nations intervention, knowing their veto of power in the United Nations is far less

than the nations that justify the war formally or through diplomatic processes. Personally,

Israel’s action towards Palestinians since 1948 until date has been an extremist Jewish

indoctrination and Hamas believed extremism is only to defend its people however, the

differences between the two “extremes” is that one has the right to claim what it truly

owns and the others “chronic hypocrisy” known as “diplomacy” is barbaric and is outwardly

–“terrorism”.

This article is written by Femi Salawudeen of the American University in Cairo.

[center]Work Cited:[/center]
Abdullah, Younus Muhammed. By All Means Necessary. New York: A Revolution Muslim Publication, 2008.

Gevena. The Commision of Inqurity for the International War Crimes Tribunal. “Protocol 1 of the Additional to the Geneva Conventions, 1977”. n/a <http://deoxy.org/wc/wc-proto.htm>

Khatib, Ghassan. “A Palestinian View: War Crimes in Gaza Put PA in Awkward Place”.Bitterlemons.org 29 Dec. 2008. 4 Dec2008<http://www.bitterlemons.org/issue/pal1.php>

“New Hours”. Narr. Unknown Reporters. New Hours. Al Jazeera English, London. 4 Jan 2009. 7 G.M.T

Shimon, Pres. Interview with Israeli Parliamentary and Journalist. Israel stance toward Gaza.Ch 10, Israeli Parliamentary, West Bank. 28 Dec. 2008. 9.00 G.M.T

Source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/9712517/Israel-War-on-Gaza

[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/5GQrJndpbzc&feature=related[/flash]

another foolish article.

Busy citing Geneva conventions that HAMAS is not a signatory to . . . HAMAS rocketed a school in Beer-sheva last week . . .

Adhering to the International law on War, Protocol 1 of the Additional to the Geneva Conventions, 1977, Section 1, Article 48 states: “In order to ensure respect for and protection of the civilian population and civilian objects (during war), the Parties to the conflict shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives and accordingly shall direct their operations only against military objectives”

Pls post this article so Haniyeh can read it. Move over Pallywood.

@davidlyan

Your continuous justification of what cannot be justified only shows your heartlessness.

@poster,
why don't you all tell hamas that fighting cannot yield them anything positive in the hands of Isreal?
how do you differentiate between, militants, civilians and suicide bombers in palestine?
don't you think this war is better fought once and for all?

The Hamas militants started the fight. They fired more than 100 rockets in Israel and they never cared for civilians and even the so-called civilians in Palestine did not protest against their people firing rocket against Israel. Now Israeli troops fought back and they started protesting. Every fight is started by the Palestines.

They are getting what they bargained. Let Israeli troops bomb on till they accept a lasting cease-fire

Its very good.

An armed robber steals ur home and gives your family the boys quarters to live in. . . are you expected to smile every time you go past the main house? You'll be breaking everything breakable. That's what the Palestinians seem to be doing.

Israel should end the occupation of Palestinian territories so that everyone will then be able to see that Hamas is evil. At the moment Israel is the one provoking the Palestinian action by robbing Palestinians of their land and expecting them to keep quiet just because they possess superior fire power.

Hamas released a statement palestinian TV saying:

"The aggression continues against our people, universities, mosques and everything that is there. The Zionist enemy targeted the houses of worship, the mosque -- and the worst was today when they targeted the Ibrahim Maqadmeh mosque, killing dozens of civilians," said Radwan.

My question is, where was this asswipe when Churches are being burnt in Nigeria and worshippers hacked to death?

Frizy:

@davidlyan

Your continuous justification of what cannot be justified only shows your heartlessness.

Typical. You dodge all valid points raised against your argument in favour of the same tired lines Imams have been feeding you lot for years.

JustGood:

Its very good.

An armed robber steals ur home and gives your family the boys quarters to live in. . . are you expected to smile every time you go past the main house? You'll be breaking everything breakable. That's what the Palestinians seem to be doing.

Israel should end the occupation of Palestinian territories so that everyone will then be able to see that Hamas is evil. At the moment Israel is the one provoking the Palestinian action by robbing Palestinians of their land and expecting them to keep quiet just because they possess superior fire power.

Look, there will be no peace as long as you lot keep going back to that line. Israel was given the land by the United Nations, and at that time they thought they were making a fair judgement. Were the roles to be reversed, the israelis would have long been butchered.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-03-22-christians-iraq_N.htm

Although they make up only about 5% of Iraq's population, Christians make up nearly 40% of the refugees fleeing Iraq, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Lately, Sunni militants have forced Christians to pay a jizya (or "donation" to the insurgency, or be targeted themselves, al-Naufali said. Still, like Zanbaqa, he urges Christians to stay.

"We were here 600 years before Islam and have archaeological sites in Iraq from the first century of Christianity," he said. "I'm really surprised when someone asks me why we're still in Iraq."


http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/10/15/iraq.christians.mosul/index.html
The number of Christian families who have fled the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in the past week has reached 1,350, authorities said Wednesday.

The families fled, reportedly frightened by a series of killings and threats by Muslim extremists ordering them to convert to Islam or face possible death, Iraqi officials said.

Fourteen Christians have been slain in the past two weeks in the city, which is located about 260 miles (420 kilometers) north of Baghdad

@Frizy, JustGood
When your Imam talks about Palestinians robbed of their lands, does he touch on the issue of Christians now being forced out of many places in Iraq by adherents of the 'religion of peace'?

Strange that no Arab leader or country has come out to protest this injustice, or encouraged the displaced Christians to begin an 'Intifada'.

@tezazz,

Don't mind them. They want to islamise the world. If not George Bush these fanatics would have destroyed many Christian countries.

One problem I have with certain people and the reason I try avoiding discussions with Texazz here is the way he addresses issues (sometimes with insults) and he adds things that are not there.

@Frizy, JustGood
When your Imam talks about Palestinians robbed of their lands, does he touch on the issue of Christians now being forced out of many places in Iraq by adherents of the 'religion of peace'?

Strange that no Arab leader or country has come out to protest this injustice, or encouraged the displaced Christians to begin an 'Intifada'.

Who is my Imam?
I am a born again, spirit filled christian.

texazzpete:


@Frizy, JustGood
When your Imam talks about Palestinians robbed of their lands, does he touch on the issue of Christians now being forced out of many places in Iraq by adherents of the 'religion of peace'?

Strange that no Arab leader or country has come out to protest this injustice, or encouraged the displaced Christians to begin an 'Intifada'.

Our Imams condemns any form of terrorist harshness towards Muslims and Non-Muslims living in the Muslim territory. When Israel and America stops their military bully that is the time we can have peace. I don't get you guys, do you expect Hamas to fold their hands, smile at Israel, and exchange pleasantries when Israel's action within the region is only terrorism? No light in Gaza, Israel has started bombing hospitals, 530 people are killed in cold blood. But only 1 solider of Israel and 4 civilians have been killed by Hamas or resistance movement. Palestinians are throwing stones to the tanks that invaded their land 3 days ago. How do you justify this equality? How  

This is not a war between two recognisable states of the international community. This is military action taken by one state against an organisation or movement, (you may call Hamas whatever you like), which has demonstrated through its actions, that it is an enemy of the state of Israel. Under international law, states are entitled to defend their citizens. And if Israel has decided that overwhelming military force over its adversary is the means by which to successfully defend its citizens, that decision is perfectly legitimate. In my view, the Geneva Convention would apply if Israel was at war with a recognisable state called Palestine (if such a state exists). But this is not the case in this conflict.

Even if it can be successfully argued that the Geneva Convention applies, it is Hamas which has failed to "distinguish between civilian populations and combatants" (Section 1 Article 48), and it is in fact Israel who has made efforts to limit the number of civilian casualties in this conflict. There are so many civilians in Gaza injured or killed, not because Israel is deliberately targeting civilians or failing to distinguish between civilians and combatants, but because Hamas has positioned its fighters and its weaponry in mosques, schools, private homes, public buildings and other such civilian locations.

Frizy:

Our Imams condemns any form of terrorist harshness towards Muslims and Non-Muslims living in the Muslim territory. When Israel and America stops their military bully that is the time we can have peace. I don't get you guys, do you expect Hamas to fold their hands, smile at Israel, and exchange pleasantries when Israel's action within the region is only terrorism? No light in Gaza, Israel has started bombing hospitals, 530 people are killed in cold blood. But only 1 solider of Israel and 4 civilians have been killed by Hamas or resistance movement. Palestinians are throwing stones to the tanks that invaded their land 3 days ago. How do you justify this equality? How  

I also don't get you Frizy,do you expect Israel to fold their hands, smile at Hamas and exchange pleasantries when Hamas action within the region is only terrorism?

I hate to use numbers to quantify life, but compare 530 people killed in more than one week (of which majority are Hamas militants) to almost a thousand killed in Jos in just 2 days of senseless killings!
Now Mr Frizy, please show me one post of yours where you condemned the killing of your fellow Nigerians in Jos. Just one post!

I do not like that Isreal is bombarding Palestine, but I'll probably do the same if I'm surrounded by people who believe I should be driven into the Sea.

it is obvious that the posts on this topic are tainted with religious bigotry and prejudice which has blinded majority of us to the real issue at hand here which ,i believe is the humanitarian disaster isreal's actions in gaza is capable of creating.most of the posts are classic fallacies ;like justifying the slaughter of innocent civilians in gaza because christians were killed in jos nigeria.
i do not subscribe to the view that the geneva conventions do not apply to the conflict simply because hamas is not a signatory.Quite to the contrary ,the conventions and the additional protocols thereto apply to a conflict whenever a high contracting party (i.e a signatory )is involved(COMMON ARTICLE 1).Isreal is a signatory to the instruments and this is a ground for making the conventions applicable to it.

The point i believe should be addressed is whether isreal has complied substantially with the rules of war.Of course ,the self defence of isreal is non negotiable as its allies would claim.But what about the rule of [b]PROPORTIONALITY?[/b]Is the murder (or manslaughter ) of over 500 largely civilan gazans the appropriate response to the handful of civilians killed by hamas rockets?

I have no doubt in my mind that hamas has not behaved in a civil way towards isreal;but then ,as non state actors on the international scene ,not much can be expected from them.Isreal ,on the other hand ,can ,and probably will be found guilty and punished for its war crimes in Gaza.We should always beart in mind that Hamas and isreali leaders are all politicians ,always willing to use the ordinary people as cannon fodder.The ordinary people's welfare ,whether on isreal or palestinian side should be our concern

jameau:

it is obvious that the posts on this topic are tainted with religious bigotry and prejudice which has blinded majority of us to the real issue at hand here which ,i believe is the humanitarian disaster isreal's actions in gaza is capable of creating.most of the posts are classic fallacies ;like justifying the slaughter of innocent civilians in gaza because christians were killed in jos nigeria.
i do not subscribe to the view that the geneva conventions do not apply to the conflict simply because hamas is not a signatory.Quite to the contrary ,the conventions and the additional protocols thereto apply to a conflict whenever a high contracting party (i.e a signatory )is involved(COMMON ARTICLE 1).Isreal is a signatory to the instruments and this is a ground for making the conventions applicable to it.

The point i believe should be addressed is whether isreal has complied substantially with the rules of war.Of course ,the self defence of isreal is non negotiable as its allies would claim.But what about the rule of [b]PROPORTIONALITY?[/b]Is the murder (or manslaughter ) of over 500 largely civilan gazans the appropriate response to the handful of civilians killed by hamas rockets?

I have no doubt in my mind that hamas has not behaved in a civil way towards isreal;but then ,as non state actors on the international scene ,not much can be expected from them.Isreal ,on the other hand ,can ,and probably will be found guilty and punished for its war crimes in Gaza.We should always beart in mind that Hamas and isreali leaders are all politicians ,always willing to use the ordinary people as cannon fodder.The ordinary people's welfare ,whether on isreal or palestinian side should be our concern

Thank you for your post. Well appreciated.

jameau:

The point i believe should be addressed is whether isreal has complied substantially with the rules of war.Of course ,the self defence of isreal is non negotiable as its allies would claim.But what about the rule of [b]PROPORTIONALITY?[/b]Is the murder (or manslaughter ) of over 500 largely civilan gazans the appropriate response to the handful of civilians killed by hamas rockets?

Israel is not at war with any recognisable nation. Israel is taking military action against an Islamic extremist movement. These are not the same thing. In spite of this, Israel has made every effort to comply with the Geneva Convention by doing its best to distinguish between civilian populations and combatants. It is Hamas who have persisted in firing indiscriminately into civilian areas in Israel.

What would a proportionate response be in this conflict? Going by your logic, because Hamas fires home-made rockets indiscriminately at Israeli homes, schools and hospitals, the IDF should do the same and fire similar rockets indiscriminately at civilians in Gaza? Don't be ridiculous! It may be that some people's ideas are formed through their religious affiliation, but any reasonable and rational person from a vantage point of detachment, can see clearly that Israel is within its rights to do what she is doing, and that  Hamas has acted foolishly so far. The grievance of the Palestinian people in relation to Israeli occupation of their land, cannot be resolved through the use of force. This is a realism that the sensible Fatah have since embraced.

Rational minds do not allow religious sensibilities get in the way of their thinking and reasoning. It it those who are irrational, such as Hamas and those who support Hamas that are talking about religion.

@Jamiu and Frizy,

You guys are talking about proportionality here in the situations below what are the proportional response you might suggest

What would be the equivalent of bombing a school in Beersheba to make it proportionate?

What would be the equality and proportionality to a suicide bomber blowing a cafe in Tel Aviv

What would be the equality and proportionality to launching Qassam at Israeli cities

I am waiting for answers

Why are people talking "proportionality" here for. Don't forget in Military conflict thee aren't nothing like that word.

Isreal objectives is either to knock Hamas into submission and accept the state of Isreal (very doubtful and difficult to achieve) or remove the capabilities to launch their Iranian supplied rockets into Isreal cities that puts many Isrealies into harm way everyday.

Any means to achieve the objectives militarily is what Isreal will pursue. Talking of proportion is insane. How many palestine should be killed to make it proportionate if I may ask?. "One For One" is not military conflict, it is vegeance.

HAMAS ( acronym for the Arabic words meaning "Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement" has continuously refused to recognise Isreal's right to exist and also reiterated calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Isreal by now having learn some good lessons from the 2006 Hizbolla war understand that no matter what, they can't never win on the PR side should just go in and do whatever it takes to end this madness call HAMAS.

Why are people talking "proportionality" here for. Don't forget in Military conflict thee aren't nothing like that word.

Isreal objectives is either to knock Hamas into submission and accept the state of Isreal (very doubtful and difficult to achieve) or remove the capabilities to launch their Iranian supplied rockets into Isreal cities that puts many Isrealies into harm way everyday.

Any means to achieve the objectives militarily is what Isreal will pursue. Talking of proportion is insane. How many palestine should be killed to make it proportionate if I may ask?. "One For One" is not military conflict, it is vegeance.

HAMAS ( acronym for the Arabic words meaning "Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement" has continuously refused to recognise Isreal's right to exist and also reiterated calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Isreal by now having learn some good lessons from the 2006 Hizbolla war understand that no matter what, they can't never win on the PR side should just go in and do whatever it takes to end this madness call HAMAS.

I am in total support of what is going on in Isreal.

@ Poster

when Hamas started firing rockets into Isreal why did the they not call it terrorism?

Do you expect Isreal to fold her arms and watch misiles been fired into its territory?

Let them drop some bombs in that territory they asked for it.

ilugunboy:

Why are people talking "proportionality" here for. Don't forget in Military conflict thee aren't nothing like that word.

Isreal objectives is either to knock Hamas into submission and accept the state of Isreal (very doubtful and difficult to achieve) or remove the capabilities to launch their Iranian supplied rockets into Isreal cities that puts many Isrealies into harm way everyday.

Any means to achieve the objectives militarily is what Isreal will pursue. Talking of proportion is insane. How many palestine should be killed to make it proportionate if I may ask?. "One For One" is not military conflict, it is vegeance.

HAMAS ( acronym for the Arabic words meaning "Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement" has continuously refused to recognise Isreal's right to exist and also reiterated calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Isreal by now having learn some good lessons from the 2006 Hizbolla war understand that no matter what, they can't never win on the PR side should just go in and do whatever it takes to end this madness call HAMAS.

You say vengeance, your justification of the atrocities committed by Israel to Palestine will only escalate more and more aggression between the West and Muslims from around the world. Someone said George Bush tried to reduce hostility by invading the lands that weren't his fathers. Don't you think the continuous "war against terror" would turn the world into a terroric planet? Because all this those beliefs never brings peace but more and more battles that would never be won by you- I mean the Zionist, and all the US apologetics!

@frizy
it does not say well for you that you've continously avoided the question.

"What, in your opinion, is a proportional response, and how does Israel go about it"?


Stop dodging the shoe bullet by ranting about 'Zionists'.

Hamas is completely to blame here - they knew what Israel would do if pushed, and they still went ahead. They do not have their people's interest at heart, they simply want to maintain a political influence in palestine and continue receiving funds from Iran for their personal benefit.

Everyone including my cat knew Israel has been waiting for an opportunity to hit Hamas hard - they've been collecting intelligence for years about locations, arms caches, training centres and the like. They simply waited till Hamas (once again) overplayed it's hand and then they promptly moved in to achieve their strategic objectives. Unlike Hezbollah in Lebanon, Gaza is a territory well known by Israel, they will cripple Hamas before moving out, and it will take upwards of 5 years for Hamas to achieve such strength again.

This is not a 'response' as such, it is a calculated attempt to reduce Hamas to its bare minimum before Obama comes in and inevitably has to call for a ceasefire and start peace moves. Israel know this and are acting accordingly.

The Palestinians must have a rethink - support the moderate Fatah Movement or continue to suffer under Hamas. Simply by renouncing their call for the destruction of Israel, a lot of this could have been avoided, but stubbornly Hamas wants to continue it's aggression and it will not work. Sadly the Palestinians will suffer, but till they stop supporting terrorists, they will inevitably pay the price, while Hamas' leader sits comfortably in Damascus without bombs raining on his house.

debosky said . . . .

Hamas is completely to blame here - they knew what Israel would do if pushed, and they still went ahead. They do not have their people's interest at heart, they simply want to maintain a political influence in palestine and continue receiving funds from Iran for their personal benefit.

Everyone including my cat knew Israel has been waiting for an opportunity to hit Hamas hard - they've been collecting intelligence for years about locations, arms caches, training centres and the like. They simply waited till Hamas (once again) overplayed it's hand and then they promptly moved in to achieve their strategic objectives. Unlike Hezbollah, Gaza is a territory well known by Israel, they will cripple Hamas before moving out, and it will take upwards of 5 years for Hamas to achieve such strength again.

This is not a 'response' as such, it is a calculated attempt to reduce Hamas to its bare minimum before Obama comes in and inevitably has to call for a ceasefire and start peace moves. Israel know this and are acting accordingly.

The Palestinians must have a rethink - support the moderate Fatah Movement or continue to suffer under Hamas. Simply by renouncing their call for the destruction of Israel, a lot of this could have been avoided, but stubbornly Hamas wants to continue it's aggression and it will not work. Sadly the Palestinians will suffer, but till they stop supporting terrorists, they will inevitably pay the price, while Hamas' leader sits comfortably in Damascus without bombs raining on his house.

yes, the new It word for 2009 is "PROPORTIONALITY".

Those who seem to demand it apply in this case, do not understand what in fact they are asking for.

How do you measure PROPORTIONALITY in this case? By number of bombs dropped or by number of civilians killed? Hama's reportedly fired 80 something missles into Isreal in a period of 24 hours. If the latter, how you you ensure you maintain PROPORTIONALITY? Count the number of civilians killed by the one side, and then going out into the crowd to PICK OUT the same number to kill in retaliation? lol

@debosky, youre correct. The rational, right-thinking, sensible Palestinians, already support Fatah. Hamas is a band of thugs, selfish fools who want to remain forever in the era of unending conflict. The world has moved on and changed beyond recognition, but they have failed to smell the coffee. Let them be bombed to oblivion! I disgree that it will take 5 years for them to achieve such strength. When Israel has finished with them, they will NEVER recover!

@Frizy,

When Israel and America stops their military bully that is the time we can have peace.

The kind of peace we had in 1948? Who did Isreal bully then?  Who did America bully? There is no delusion like self-delusion.

maybe they expected the Israeli military to throw shoes at them while they fired rockets.
Next time they'll keep their "knock outs" to themselves
You don't poke at at lion when all you have is a fork  and knife

Hamas is like the proverbial cockroach that went to dance in front of the hen,

@JustGood, very interesting first post. I thought Israel had been out of the Gaza strip for some years now, so what armed robbery of land are you talking about? I have been purposely avoiding discussing this on Nairaland because it seems quite a lot of people are just willing to close their eyes to what has really been happening. @JustGood, how long have arabs/"palestines" been in the west bank region and how long have the Jews been there, before we start throwing around words like "occupiers"? I hope we haven't lost the ability to look through the news with our own objectvity as oppossed to taking everything CNN, BBC, Sky, etc say as the complete picture. Then to use the words "bully" in this situation, how amusing. I hope people are not afraid of being honest as opposed to being stifled by political correctness because being PC is quite unNigerian : ). War hardly does have winners (in my view) and it is a shame that there has been civillian casualties.

When 9/11 happened did anyone call al qaeda bullies? You may not agree with the war in iraq but that is not why i raised the issue. There was the attack in London, did anyone call the attackers "bullies". Has Israel automatically become the bully because it can more than adequately defend itself? Perhaps lsome people would sleep better if Israel went to defend itself with cane and catapult. Rockets were being lunched from Gaza for a period of years and nothing was being said. THe rockests were being lunched from schools, hospitals, etc, in a densely populated region and no one was calling anyone bullies. Now a people are defending themselves and it suddenly becomes an issue of "moderation"? Now all the famous faces are coming out to condemn the fight in Gaza, where were they when Israel was taking bombs from Hamas? Is this some global prank or is there some information i am so badly not taking into consideration?

Again its a shame that innocent people are being caught up in this mess but let us not pretend as if it was out of the blue. It was not even pre emptive, it was defence. So what should Israel have done? Wait while Hamas obtains even longer ranging missles that can hit major cities in Israel? The world we live in is quite worrisome indeed. How long will the rest of the world continue to cower under the blanket of political correctness all in an attempt of not "offending" a certain group of people before we get the next dose of rampage and suicide bombings? And such are being "bullied"? Again, how amusing. Whatever happens, for peace to reign a longer lasting solution needs to be obtained so it won't just be a return to the norm when all eyes shift from Gaza. A huge chunk of this seems to be propaganda (to me anyway).

Who is my Imam?
I am a born again, spirit filled christian.

Justgood,
i don't doubt if u are a spirit filled christain, what i do not know here is the kind of spirit that you are filled with.
hamas, al queda and hezeboulah are all spirit filled so go ahead and remain in spirit.

those who live in glass house do not throw stone. the hamas in question is saying till date that they will usa gaza as the burial ground for isreal so who is sympathising with them.

isreal shld look for hamas members and supporters and take care of them once and for all.

Sky Blue:

@JustGood, very interesting first post. I thought Israel had been out of the Gaza strip for some years now, so what armed robbery of land are you talking about? I have been purposely avoiding discussing this on Nairaland because it seems quite a lot of people are just willing to close their eyes to what has really been happening. @JustGood, how long have arabs/"palestines" been in the west bank region and how long have the Jews been there, before we start throwing around words like "occupiers"? I hope we haven't lost the ability to look through the news kwith our own objectvity as oppossed to taking everything CNN, BBC, Sky, etc say as the complete picture. Then to use the words bully in this situation, how amusing. I hope people are not afraid of being honest as opposed to being stifled by political correctness because being PC is quite unNigerian : ). War hardly does have winners (in my view) and it is a shame that there has been civillian casualties.

When 9/11 happened did anyone call al qaeda bullies? You may not agree with the war in iraq but that is not why i raised the issue. There was the attack in London, did anyone call the attackers "bullies". Has Israel automatically become the bully because it can more than adequately defend itself? Perhaps lsome people would sleep better if Israel went to defend itself with cane and catapult. Rockets were being lunched from Gaza for a period of years and nothing was being said. THe rockests were being lunched from schools, hospitals, etc, in a densely populated region and no one was calling anyone bullies. Now a people are defending themselves and it suddenly becomes an issue of "moderation"? Now all the famous faces are coming out to condemn the fight in Gaza, where were they when Israel was taking bombs from Hamas? Is this some global prank or is there some information i am so badly not taking into consideration?

Again its a shame that innocent people are being caught up in this mess but let us not pretend as if it was out of the blue. It was not even pre emptive, it was defence. So what should Israel have done? Wait while Hamas obtains even longer ranging missles that can hit major cities in Israel? The world we live in is quite worrisome indeeed. How long will the rest of the world continue to cowerin the blanket of political correctness all in an attempt of not "offending" a certain group of people? Whatever happens, for peace to reign a longer lasting solution needs to be obtained so it won't just be a return to the norm when all eyes shift from Gaza. A huge chunk of this seems to be propaganda (to me anyway).

It's normal for Muslims to trump the victim card when the whole world knows who the aggressors are.
That is the game,lies and deception.
Who is being deceived?
Even our domestic animals know the truth