Sorry young entrepreneurs but blame your government.

If 190 rockets were fired into my neighborhood over a 6 week period, I would certainly want to put a SERIOUS stop to it. My son-in-law was in Askelon prior to Thanksgiving, working for Intel- he finally was able to move after more than 15 rocket attacks in his neighborhood.
The Dogs & ticks analogy is absolutely correct. Gaza chose to connect themselves with Hammas.. Israel has every right to secure it’s borders, as does every nation in the world. Many Israeli citizens were forced, crying, to leave the homes they had lived in for years, to fulfull the Palestinians demands.
Be careful what you wish for- you may get it… It didnt work out so well for Gaza. I HOPE the people have enough intelligence to see that they are gaining nothing by continuing to shell Israel… Perhaps if they conduct themselves as better neighbors, they will benefit from better neighbors, and perhaps spend their money to benefit their people, rather than continue to wage war.

I’ve worked in Gaza and I know that it would be difficult to throw a baseball there at random without hitting someone. The notion that one could launch artillery shells, rockets or bombs into one of the most densely populated areas on the planet is simply absurd. Any one who’s ever been there couldn’t help but agree. The place struck me as nothing more than a huge beachfront concentration camp. I think everyone shares a part of the blame for this festering sore on the conscience of the world. It degrades the Israelis as much as it dehumanizes the Palestinians.

Yes, I know Hamas are thugs and terrorists and I can’t support them. They do, however, provide functions in Gaza that no one else does, like schools, clinics and food and medicine for people who have no money or means to get them. That doesn’t excuse their campaign of terror with rockets but it does make their support among the population more understandable.

That’s my two cents. I hope it’s less pointless, offensive and more informed that most of what I’ve read above. All I can add is that after my six trips to the so-called “holy land” I’m left with and intense desire to choke anyone who tells me god told them to do something.

‘Too bad they breed like rodents… oh wait, their not “like” rodents, they ARE rodents. Rodents that infest everything, kill it, and then say “we didn’t do anything, why r u hurting us?”’

Those are the arguments of genocide. Framing the debate as good people “(A.K.A – Jews)” versus everyone else “as they are all arabs” and by implication all bad people, does nothing but fan the fire of racist hate and genocide which you are supporting.

I am neither a Jew nor an Arab, am I neither good nor bad?. At this point I have to say… while violence in general is wrong, what the IDF is up to is called genocide and what the Palestinians are up to is called desperate self defense.

The American people are not such cowards that they would allow their government the power to do such things.

The American government, flawed though it may be, still maintains the principles upon which it was founded; a government by the people, of the people, and for the people. We do not turn on our own, and we do not put people in power who would do such things.

As a final statement, I ask you what these organizations would gain by doing such things. In case you haven’t noticed, no one has profited from the war on terror. It’s hurt everyone, and people who think that it was created by these shadow organizations in an attempt to give themselves more power, or some other asinine theory, then I invite you to investigate how well off these organizations are years later. Go ahead. Take a look. If you opened your eyes before you opened your mouth, you fools may begin to see the truth instead of simply trying to incite panic. Go back to reading 1984, you fools. Leave the real world to those who are intelligent enough to take it as it is, instead of adding fanciful lies in the spirit of self-importance.

as to your first claim, the fact that civilians are killed in combat is just that: a fact. no matter the conflict, every time there has been a clash of arms innocents are killed. the reports that i personally have heard are that there is in fact a 70% (roughly) kill rate of hamas militants. this ratio is nearly unheard of in conflict. (heard from a report on NPR, station 89.1 in pennsylvania whilst on a cross-country trip)

now, i’ve seen the other responses to your third claim, but let me just say this. go ahead and google hamas human shields. i’m pretty sure you’ll find your mistake pretty quickly.

these are simply examples of how easy it was for someone to come along and render your argument completely useless. i’m sure given time i could find examples of credible sources to disprove your other “lies”.

my point is not that you’re a fool. my point is that discussion benefits more people when sources are cited. if people would only take the time to find factual information, then we could have meaningful discussion and perhaps do something to change issues we feel strongly about. however, here we are, many bright individuals bickering back and forth.

my overall point is this. obviously, both sides are at fault in this conflict. i know that most likely, you are severely left-leaning and have an underdog complex, so you have to root for the little guy, so here’s the big secret. israel’s surrounded by arab states, and most of them want it wiped from the map. hamas is a terrorist organization that uses human shields. which ones are the underdogs, and which ones are the spineless cowards?

the conflict shows once again the desparate need for an overarching world power, independant of any nation, and including every nation, which can stop such atrocities from happening. but, i get ahead of myself. that’s a topic for a different time.

Hamas claims Israel was breaking the cease-fire by closing borders to Israel… Did they close the borders by firing missiles directly at the borders? Or did Hamas fire upon Israel first?