Originally posted by masonwatcher
Horrible source on the OP Masonwatcher. Viewing an issue based on propoganda from one side is pretty meaningless overall.
1) Hamas was lawfully, elected in an election insisted up on Israel and the Quartet. At the time Israel pushed for the election to undermine Fatah and
to create divisions between physically separated Palestinians.
Were the voters fully informed on who they were voting for and was fear of reprisal for not voting for Hamas a factor? If the voters only information
was propoganda and if they felt threatened the election had little meaning. We just saw a video of Hamas actually appearing to celebrate blowing up
its own citizens during a parade and not even administering first aid to its own people.
2) Gaza has been under Israeli control every since the evacuation of illegal Israeli settlements; at a substantial compensation cost to the US
taxpayer. Land, sea, air and borders have been under total Israeli control until arrangements were made to transfer the control of Rafa to Egypt.
Again at a massive financial cost to the US taxpayer.
Would the situation there be any worse or better if we had zero involvement. I think our involvement and Israels loyalty to us bought with US taxpayer
money is having a possitive impact to the level that is possible when dealing with a people ruled by a Terrorist organization. Were we to turn our
backs on it altogether, I believe that Israel would be left with no choice other than to resort to all out war. Hundreds of thousands would be dead
rather than the relatively small numbers we see now. The lesser of two evils is not necessarily an avoidable state of affairs.
3) Israel habitually conducted infrastructure demolitions, raids assassinations, blockades and built a wall around Gaza even during the cease fire.
4) The recent 6 months cease fire was not observed by Israel and had conducted 35 hits amongst Hamas party official using Kidon operatives.
Hamas launched thousands of missiles and grenades indiscriminately during the cease fire. The guilt is equally shared is it not. Both sides were
wrong.
5) Palestinians on Gaza beaches have been shot at, shelled and bombed by the Israeli navy.
The fact is that Israel has been on the backs of the Gazans for as long as it has existed. That is the default position of Israel and this current
conflict is a shift from terrible to horrendous.
Hamas launched a missile into a pre-school just within the last few hours. Do you suppose they felt threatened by the students?
The point I'm trying to make is that for every atrocity you can ascribe to Israel an equally disgusting act can be attributed to Hamas and the
Palestinians. To have an honest discussion one must first admit that there are no innocent parties involved. To pick one side over the other requires
a person to put the blinders on.
To get an idea who exactly you are defending or not defending, you have to lay the current conflict aside and look at the people ruling both sides
independant of the current action.
Some of the the things I look for are:
Do they kill their own when they don't agree with the stance of the leaders?
Do they celebrate death and destruction our mourn its victims?
Do they aim their weapons at combatants or civilians?
Do they fight out in the open in uniform or hide behind civilians and children?
Do they protect their children and innocents or use them as weapons?
If one of their own changes religions or loyalties do they allow it or do they kill or jail them for their ideas or beliefs?
Do they allow free speech?
Do they have a free press?
Are their people able to join any religion they choose and practice it openly without fear?
What I see here is that we have two sides, equally wrong but for different reasons.
The Israeli Government is driven by a myopic view that includes only its people and does not consider the views of the other parties. The Palestinians
are guilty of the same.
The Israeli people go to bed every night wondering if an Iranian made missile will land in one of their children's bedrooms during the night. The
Palestinian people go to bed wondering when Israel will decide to take out the weapons cache under the mosque next door and will the weapon miss and
hit them.
When Israeli Parents drop off their kids at school they have to wonder if a missile launched by the Palestinians will land in their childs class
today. When the Palestinians drop their children at school they have to wonder will Israel discover the cache of weapons in the schools basement. Even
though the situations are different the worries of the innocents are very much the same.
There is a fundamental difference between the two however and to ignore that is an indicator of bias. Israel just wants to survive as a nation and
have an identity. Hamas wants every Jewish man, woman and child dead and eliminated from the face of the earth. Like it or not the Palestinians
elected Hamas which means a majority of them agree with that ideology. Palestinians are not saints by any stretch nor are they completely innocent.
Too support terrorist activities is to be a terrorist. Whether an enabler or a practitioner does not matter and the guilt is shared equally between
the two.
At the same time the influence by the Zionists, which I admit are no better than the Nazi's were, is clearly making the situation worse and the
citizens of Israel share in the shame for allowing these hate groups to exist among them.
