Since the government does nothing to prevent him and his fellow citizens against rockets fired from Palestine, in his opinion at least, a resident of the Israeli city of Ashkelon has decided to do fight against Hamas himself. He developed a missile and wanted to fire it at his Palestinian enemies. At the very last moment, however, the police intervened: they seized the missile and told the gathered crowd to go home. It’s, obviously, not right… but I can’t help but understand this man.
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This shows the fundamental difference between the Isreali government and the Palestinian government. The Isrealis arrested the man, because the law doesn’t allow him to do that. The Palestinian “government” instead awards payments the surviving families of suicide bombers and encourages such acts of terrorism.
Well said, PatHMV.
Michael, I agree it’s not right, but I wonder, do you also understand when the father of this child decides to attack Israelis?
Note: I’m agnostic on the Israeli issue. In my view it’s a terrible situation, with lots of bad guys on both sides, huge numbers of innocent victims in the middle, and virtually no solution possible.
Claudia, the people responsible for that child’s injuries (if they really exist; the Palestinians are well-known to fabricate pictures of injured children for PR purposes), are the terrorists who choose to live among civilians in order to deter Israeli retaliation against the suicide bombers and the rocket launchers streaming across the border from Gaza into Israel. The Palestinian government is perfectly willing to tolerate and encourage such behavior.
PatHMV, that child is dead, not injured. And sorry, I don’t buy that every single Palestinian child or woman dead is only so because of other Palestinians or because of being used as human shields. Israelis aren’t saints, and many treat Palestinians as less than dirt. I’ve seen a tiny taste of how they are treated up close and personal, and it’s disgusting.
I am mystified both by those who wish to pretend that the Israeli treatment of Palestinians is upright and fair, and that any harm that comes to Palestinians is self-inflicted, and by those who pretend like the Israelis are just blood-thirsty and embark on killing campaigns for the sheer pleasure of seeing Palestinians die. There’s plenty of nastiness to go around in that tiny stretch of land, no need to give it all to just one side.
Well, Claudia, personal and even institutional bigotry against Palestinians may exist in Israel, but that doesn’t mandate moral equivalence as demanded by many anti-Israel critics. There is still a very important difference between one side in a conflict that tries to minimize civilian casualties and one that tries consistently to maximize them.
I personally recognize many flaws in Israeli policy towards Palestinians, but I still choose Israel’s side in the big picture. To me, there is simply no legitimate comparison between the DEGREES of evil found on the two sides. I confess that I am shocked that you can remain “agnostic” when confronted by a comparison between a brutal Hamas-led theocratic dictatorship that murders its political enemies, launches daily barrages of rockets into civilian areas of Israel, and repeatedly reaffirms genocidal intentions and a democratic Israeli government that sometimes tolerates and even encourages bigotry towards Palestinians but nonetheless practices significant restraint in setting and achieving its goals against them.
Jason, I really wasn’t talking about the leaders of both sides, as much as the wider "Israeli people" and "Palestinian People". As far as leaders, what I know leads me to think that Israeli leaders are mostly legitimately elected democratic leaders, with a few rabid crazies thrown in, while Palestinian "leaders" are mostly of the rabid crazy bent, and have free reign because they aren’t restricted by a functional government.
No, I’m talking more about the reality on the ground for the people. Israelis are better off than Palestinians as a people, and suffer far fewer daily problems, restrictions and chances of violence. I am personally of the belief that the vast majority of both populations would embrace any chance of peace with both hands, without really caring whose flag it was under, but the level of distrust that permeates the country makes that impossible. I think there are people on both sides that have no interest in peace, and will never settle for anything other than the complete annihilation of the other side. I’m "agnostic" because I see NO solution to the conflict. I dearly hope I’m wrong, but a cursory look at the country makes you really wonder how any sort of peace will ever be possible.