Man, I haven't followed that conflict in a while. Too much negativity. Both sides are friggin simple minded morons. Let me guess the death toll is something like Israelis: 2, Palestinians: 2000? That's about par for the course.
I still don't understand it . I've been looking up videos docs. of Gaza strip and Israel to understand why for so long they continue to fight and kill each other. I also thought Jews were peaceful individuals over there but apparently they murdered a little Palestinian boy last week to revenge those three Jewish boys that were murdered (heck,it could of been a Jew who killed those boys). I remember one thing that stuck out when I took American government almost two years ago and that is humans are stupid. All of this back and forth killing will not solve anything.
People with rocks can't throw them at people with guns and not expect to get shot. That's it on a micro level. The macro level is there is simply not enough sand in the desert to create two real independent sovereign states out of Israel, especially considering one of them wouldn't be contiguous. We're talking about trying to carve Trenton out of New Jersey.
I think part of the issue is that while the US is blinded with ISIS and this bullshit on the border Israel is taking advantage of our preoccupations to do some housecleaning. The problem is in the process they are hitting houses that have civilians. It's really a two fold problem, the fucks in Hamas who are essentially the leaders of Palestine will continue to agitate Israel by shooting rockets into Israel, when Israel responds they do so without regard for who they are killing. Israel will tell you they are only targeting terrorists and the civilians are just in the wrong place at the wrong time but Hamas will tell you Israel is targeting civilians. The real losers are the children of Palestine, I saw something on Skynews (fuck American news when trying to get the real story about Gaza) and they interviewed quite a few civilians who are just done. They just want it to stop, their wives, children, parents are innocent victims in this pissing match and are just tired of it.
Just saw the death toll..... 127 Palestinians and 0 for Israel for those keeping score at home. Oh and today Israel bombed a mosque.
This is actually calculated. The Palestinians will never accept the kind of neutered state that Israel would allow them. Israel cannot just grant full citizenship to all Palestinians in a democratic state if it wants to remain a Jewish homeland. So a steady state of simmering violence is what is necessary to preserve the status quo indefinitely. And that's what we see.
It's almost biblical. A people who were kicked around, oppressed, murdered, forced into diaspora, etc for 3,200 years now have the same task in front of them with the Palestinian problem. It'll probably destroy the Jewish faith in the end.
Friend of mine's kids just did birthright and had 2 bombings while they were at the beach. Crazy place to take a vacation, free or not. I'd rather pay and go to Amalfi. _
The "human shield" thing is a bit overrated IF you're one of the unfortunate ones in the shield. Why Hamas parades civilians on to the roof tops of targeted buildings is beyond my comprehension. Israel won't allow missiles to be fired into their homeland from Gaza and Hamas isn't foolish enough to post up outside civilian neighborhoods hence, the civilians are caught in the middle. You get the feeling that Israel will set up some sort of buffer zone along the border. Although Israeli tactics may seem brutal, it pales in comparison to tactics used by Arabs ON Arabs. Perhaps raining bombs is the only language Hamas understands.
If some other country started launching rockets at the US, would anyone give us crap for launching air strikes to defend ourselves? Hell no. Yet because it's Israel, it's totally not okay.
I did birthright last summer. While I was at the beach, I heard the three missiles that were fired from Lebanon. Very scary.
Meh, for some reason rocket attacks never bothered me. It always amused me when people freaked the hell out for some reason. I think I need help.
Point taken. On the other hand (and speaking of the U.S.), please explain what the hell's the deal with this then? ("Freedom for Jonathan Pollard" Square)
What are Israel's options? Allow a real Palestinian state with territorial integrity, defensible borders and its own military? That will never happen, nor should it, given the geography. Absorb all the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza as fully empowered citizens of Israel? That's a demographic timebomb that would negate the very existence of Israel as a Jewish state. Set up a deeply discriminatory system of citizenship that would essentially mirror apartheid? That's politically suicidal. There are just no good solutions to this mess if you are Israel. So keeping things on light simmer so they can kick the can down the road is the best available option.
Kicking the can down the road is a bad solution. It creates the possibility that the end game will not be in Israel's hands when it occurs. The only practical solution is a two state system in which Palestine is attractive enough that it doesn't leave the Palestinians looking in the wrong places for leadership. That means water rights and a corridor to either the Red Sea or the Mediterranean so that Palestine has a port for trade. It means withdrawing any settlers who are unwilling to be a citizen of Palestine instead of Israel. It means an ironclad self-defense pact between the two states and Jordan. Probably most importantly it means committing US, Western and Israeli investment to build up the economic infrastructure in the region. By the time the effort is done, think mini-Marshall Plan, there should be no difference between the economic levels of Palestine and Jordan and very little between Israel and the two other states. You want to keep the number of Palestinian workers in Israel to a minimum? Then they need a decent alternate economy to work in. The Jordanians would be very happy at having fewer Palestinians looking for work in Jordan also. As long as the status quo reigns Israel's position get a little bit worse every year, a decline matched or exceeded by the Palestinians and the Jordanians. The Israeli public attitude towards a real peace settlement hardens a little more under the stress of being simultaneously besieged and occupier of other people's land. The Palestinians and the Jordanians become more susceptible to Islamic nutjobs. The dynamic has to be changed before it will get better. Otherwise political and social entropy will continue and war is almost always the end result when that happens. That or anarchy.
Tell that to the Israelis. From all appearances over the last 30 some years, they consider that the fairy tale it is. The other point I'd make is that in a very real sense, the situation over there represents a kind of progress in the evolution of humanity. A couple hundred years ago, a people with the military strength of Israel would've basically steamrolled and wiped the indigenous population off the map with impunity. Remember, if Geronimo had access to plastic explosives and television feeds, the US would be about a third its current size.
