[SannyGlow]

I don't know what's worse -- that Israel massacres innocent Palestinians or that our filthy, corrupt American government condones it.

World leadership should be ceded to more civilized regimes like the EU.

The Israelis are quick to decimate the Palestinians, whom they treat like savages and deny statehood. Moreover, they seem to forget their proclivity to terrorism when Palestine was a British mandate. They forget incidents like the murder of 91 innocent people at the King David hotel by Irgun. In fact, Menachem Began, a terrorist and leader of the terrorist organization Irgun, went on to become Prime Minister of Israel!

I hope that Obama changes America's lamentable, horrible Middle Eastern policy.



Israeli Gaza Strike Kills More Than 200
Hatem Omar/Associated Press

Palestinians emerged from the rubble following an Israeli missile strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday. By TAGHREED EL-KHODARY and ETHAN BRONNER

Published: December 27, 2008

GAZA — Waves of Israeli airstrikes hit Hamas security facilities in Gaza on Saturday in a crushing response to the group’s rocket fire, killing more than 200 — the highest one-day toll in an Israeli military operation against Palestinians in decades.

Israeli military officials said the airstrikes, which went on into the night, were the start of what could be days or even months of an effort to force Hamas to end its rocket barrages into southern Israel. The operation could ultimately include ground forces, a senior Israeli security official said.

After the initial airstrikes, which Palestinian officials said also wounded at least 600, dozens of rockets struck southern Israel, where an emergency was declared. Thousands of Israelis hurried into bomb shelters amid the hail of rockets, including some longer-range models that reached farther north than ever before. One man was killed in the town of Netivot and four were wounded, one seriously.

A military operation against Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, had been forecast and demanded by Israeli officials for weeks, ever since a rocky cease-fire between Israel and Hamas fully collapsed a week ago, leading again to rocket attacks in large numbers against Israel and isolated Israeli operations here.

Still, there was a shocking quality to Saturday’s attacks that began in broad daylight, as police cadets were graduating, women were shopping at the outdoor market and children were emerging from school.

The center of Gaza City was a scene of chaotic horror, with rubble everywhere, sirens wailing, and women shrieking as dozens of mutilated bodies were laid out on the pavement and in the lobby of Shifa Hospital so that family members could identify them. Most of those killed were Hamas police officers and security men, including two senior commanders, according to Palestinian officials. But the dead included at least a dozen civilians, including several construction workers and at least two children in school uniforms.

The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, said in a statement that “Palestine has never witnessed an uglier massacre.” Later, in a televised speech, he vowed to fight Israel. “We say in all confidence that even if we are hung on the gallows or they make our blood flow in the streets or they tear our bodies apart, we will bow only before God and we will not abandon Palestine,” he said.

By afternoon, shops were shuttered, funerals began and mourning tents were visible on nearly every major street of this densely populated city.

“We wanted to attack military targets while the terrorists were inside the facilities and before Hamas was able to get its rockets out that were stored in some of the targets,” said the top Israeli security official, briefing a group of reporters by telephone on condition of anonymity.

“Right now, we have to hit Hamas hard to stop the launching,” he added. “I don’t see any other way for Hamas to change its behavior. Hamas is not just a terrorist organization. It actually rules Gaza and is well supported by Iran with some of its leadership in Syria.”

A number of governments and international officials, including leaders of Russia, Egypt, the European Union and the United Nations, condemned Israel’s use of force and also called on Hamas to end the rocket fire.
The Bush administration blamed Hamas for the end to the cease-fire and demanded that it stop firing rockets, but called on Israel only to avoid hitting civilians as it attacked Hamas.

Ehud Barak, the Israeli defense minister and chairman of the Labor Party, said the military operation would expand and deepen as necessary, adding, “There is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and this is the time for fighting.” He said he was withdrawing from campaigning for Israel’s February elections to focus on the operation.

Hamas had in recent weeks let it be known that because of the coming elections it doubted Israel would engage in a major military undertaking. But in some ways the elections have made it impossible for officials like Mr. Barak not to react, because the public has grown anxious and angry over the rocket fire, which while causing no recent deaths and few injuries is deeply disturbing for those living near the Gaza border.

Israeli officials said that anyone linked to the Hamas security structure or government was fair game since Hamas was a terrorist group that sought Israel’s destruction. But with work here increasingly scarce because of an international embargo on Hamas, young men are tempted by the steady work of the police force without necessarily fully accepting the Hamas ideology. One of the biggest tolls on Saturday was at a police cadet graduation ceremony in which 15 were killed.

Spokesmen for Hamas officials, who have mostly gone underground, called on militants to seek revenge and fight to the last drop of blood. Several compared what was happening to the 2006 war between Israel and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, when Israel reacted to the capture and killing of several soldiers along its northern border with air raids, followed by a ground attack. Hezbollah is widely viewed as having withstood those assaults and emerged much stronger politically.

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Suhaib Salem/Reuters
Palestinians evacuated a wounded man after an Israeli air strike on Hamas compounds in Gaza on Saturday. More Photos >

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Suhaib Salem/Reuters
At least 140 Palestinians were killed and scores more wounded, according to the head of emergency services at the Gaza Ministry of Health. More Photos >
The Arab League called an emergency meeting for Sunday in Cairo with all the foreign ministers from the member states.

Governments that dislike Hamas, like Egypt’s, Jordan’s and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, are in a delicate position. They blame Hamas for having taken over Gaza by force 18 months ago and oppose its rocket fire on Israeli towns and communities. But the sight of scores of Palestinians killed by Israeli warplanes outraged their citizens, and anti-Israel demonstrations broke out across the region. Egypt, worried about possible efforts by Palestinians to enter the country, has set up machine guns along the Gaza border.

In the West Bank and in some Arab parts of Jerusalem and Israel, Palestinians threw stones, causing some injuries. President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority angrily condemned the Israeli airstrikes.

Hamas is officially committed to Israel’s destruction, and when it won Palestinian legislative elections in 2006 and then forcibly took over Gaza in 2007, it said it would not recognize Israel, honor previous Palestinian Authority commitments to it or end its violence against Israelis.

Israel, backed by the United States, Europe, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, has sought to isolate Hamas by squeezing Gaza economically, a policy that human rights groups condemn as collective punishment. Israel and Egypt, which control routes into and out of Gaza, have blocked nearly all but humanitarian aid from going in.

The result has been the near death of the Gazan economy. While enough food has gone in to avoid starvation, the level of suffering is very high and getting worse each week, especially in recent weeks as Israel closed the routes entirely for about 10 days in reaction to daily rocket fire.

Opening the routes to commerce was Hamas’s main goal in its cease-fire with Israel, just as ending the rocket fire was Israel’s central aim. But while rocket fire did go down drastically in the fall to 15 to 20 a month from hundreds a month, Israel said it would not permit trade to begin again because the rocket fire had not completely stopped and because Hamas continued to smuggle weapons from Egypt through desert tunnels. Hamas said this was a violation of the agreement, a sign of Israel’s real intentions and cause for further rocket fire.

On Wednesday, some 70 rockets hit Israel over 24 hours, in a distinct upsurge of intensity.

The rockets that flew into southern Israel on Saturday left the streets of cities like Netivot, a hardscrabble town of immigrants, nearly deserted. Inside a public shelter, parents worked to keep restless children occupied. The man killed by a rocket was hit by shrapnel as he stood in the entrance to his building, next door to where the rocket hit.

[Kotyara]

I think we support the Israelis in order to distract the Arabs from attacking us.

[marketheal]

I couldnt agree more LL, disgusting actions by Israel again.

[Kafuuil]

I think we support the Israelis in order to distract the Arabs from attacking us.

The only reason why Arabs would want to attack us is because we treat them like savages. American and Israeli policy vis-a-vis the Arab world is utterly reprehensible.

[Zhgrlpil]

It goes both ways.

Human Nature: Man Eats Man, regardless of region or religion.

[Mymnnarry]

So, LL, if you were in Israel's shoes, how would you respond to rocket attacks from the Gaza strip? Keep in mind, there is no organized government that you can negotiate with and expect any agreement to be honored (since many gunmen operate semi-autonomously). Also keep in mind that "Israel started this" is not a legitimate answer, and that Hamas is not seeking peaceful coexistence with Israel, but has repeatedly stated that its ultimate goal is that destruction of Israel.

What if, instead of rockets landing in Israel, they were landing in New York City? Would you call retaliation by the American military that specifically targets rocket launch areas "state sponsored terrorism"?

[DagoIgnog]

So, LL, if you were in Israel's shoes, how would you respond to rocket attacks from the Gaza strip? Keep in mind, there is no organized government that you can negotiate with and expect any agreement to be honored (since many gunmen operate semi-autonomously). Also keep in mind that "Israel started this" is not a legitimate answer, and that Hamas is not seeking peaceful coexistence with Israel, but has repeatedly stated that its ultimate goal is that destruction of Israel.

What if, instead of rockets landing in Israel, they were landing in New York City? Would you call retaliation by the American military that specifically targets rocket launch areas "state sponsored terrorism"?

we are not animals or cavemen.

think with your mind not with your ideas.

[hrthwhr]

What I don't get is this: Why does Hamas keep on attacking Isreal, when the nation they're attacking has more guns, and vastly superior firepower. Isreal has tanks, missles, fighter jets, more troops, and a highly organized military and chain of command. Not only that; but, Isreal also has allies such as the UK and US- the latter is the reigning superpower of the world. So, if Hamas thinks the Arab nations are going to help, they are severely wrong.

The Hamas leadership must of known that by launching missles into Isreal, Isreal is going to respond with a tremendous amount of force. Palestinians should demand that their government STOP any type of attack on Isreal, and work on a peace agreement. When will they learn that when they attack Isreal, they are only hurting themselves.

[teergoBissono]

But for America and Israel, peace is not elusive. Israel refuses to budge on a two key element: returning East Jerusalem to the Palestinians and ceding other areas seized in 1967. The Israelis' behavior during the sham "peace process" has been more brazen than Bernie Madoff's conduct. They build settlements in the occupied territory despite an obligation not to do so. What does our sham government do in response? Nothing. No peace will occur until a US administration forces it.

[miel]

What I don't get is this: Why does Hamas keep on attacking Isreal, when the nation they're attacking has more guns, and vastly superior firepower.

To stay in power. And Israel stupidly accommodates them by overreacting. If terrorism ended, some people might decide that the best course of action would be to sit down and hammer out a real peace treaty. Hamas has no stake in that.

we are not animals or cavemen.

And what does the Egyptian government really think of Palestinians?

The situation on border between Egypt and Gaza is becoming increasingly ugly as Egyptian police try to prevent thousands of Palestinians crossing into Egypt

Hypocrites, but at least they're consistent.

Egypt occupied Gaza in 1948, when their army was stopped in a drive up the coast toward Tel Aviv. A cease-fire brokered by the British caused thousands of refugees to move into Gaza. Egypt occupied Gaza for the next 19 years, until the 1967 war, interrupted only once during the 1956 war, when Israel occupied the territory for a short time.

During all those years, the Gaza-Egypt border remained closed; Palestinians in Gaza received little aid, and no offer of Egyptian citizenship was made.

[JacksHH]

No peace will occur until a US administration forces it.

That was tried; it didn't work. You can't force anything.

[Vipvlad]

Clobber me but: the truth is, the Jews have created a great country out of nothing... what are they surrounded by?

[UFJon]

What peace can be had when the Palestinians themselves are divded? It's so frusrating to see Hamas squander all the progress that had been made. How did they win the election? Would they win again?

[MizzDaizzy]

the Jews have created a great country out of nothing

At what cost.

[invasuant]

To stay in power. And Israel stupidly accommodates them by overreacting. If terrorism ended, some people might decide that the best course of action would be to sit down and hammer out a real peace treaty. Hamas has no stake in that.

And what does the Egyptian government really think of Palestinians?

The situation on border between Egypt and Gaza is becoming increasingly ugly as Egyptian police try to prevent thousands of Palestinians crossing into Egypt

Hypocrites, but at least they're consistent.

.

The government(not poeple) do this beacuase Israel wants this .

[wallyfindme]

What I don't get is this: Why does Hamas keep on attacking Isreal, when the nation they're attacking has more guns, and vastly superior firepower. Isreal has tanks, missles, fighter jets, more troops, and a highly organized military and chain of command. Not only that; but, Isreal also has allies such as the UK and US- the latter is the reigning superpower of the world. So, if Hamas thinks the Arab nations are going to help, they are severely wrong.

Did this women fire at israel ?

[VyacheslaV]

The government(not poeple) do this beacuase Israel wants this .
Edit/Delete Message

And what do the Palestinian people want Hamas to do?

[bely832new]

Did this women fire at israel ?[

Are the people who are targeted by Hamas rockets firing at Gaza?

This tit-for-tat bullshit has been going on for 60 years.

And what about Egypt?

[AbeldeldepBug]

It will be interesting to see what a President Obama will say if he gives a speech in Egypt, as is rumored.

[Xlkl9SFd]

Are the people who are targeted by Hamas rockets firing at Gaza?

This tit-for-tat bullshit has been going on for 60 years.

Good that you know that