Hamas Is Responsible for the Civilian Casualties in Gaza

Israel cares more about the Palestinian people in Gaza than Hamas does. Yes, I know this statement will get jeered and mocked by those who support the Palestinians, but, in my view, the facts bear out my assertion.

Hamas made the decision to fire rockets at Israeli civilians on a daily basis, even after Israel completely pulled out of Gaza (and violently uprooted some of its own citizens in doing so). It is ludicrous to believe that Israel would sit back and accept the daily attacks on its civilians without reacting. It seems clear that Hamas's rocket fire was intended to bring upon an Israeli offensive, a strategic decision to draw the Israelis into Gaza so that the Israelis could suffer casualties and, more importantly, to push international opinion and pressure against Israel. Further, Hamas has used mosques, schools, private residences and even hospitals as locations to manufacture, store and launch weapons at Israel and hide its leaders. By placing what are obvious military targets in civilian areas, Hamas put its own people at risk. By choosing tactical advantages over the safety of its citizens, the terrorist organization chose its military goals over the safety of its fellow Palestinians in Gaza.

Hamas is clearly far more interested in self-preservation and doing the bidding of its sponsor, Iran, than it is in actually making the lives of its people any better. Surely a peaceful settlement to the conflict with Israel and the creation of two side-by-side states would be the quickest path for Palestinians to improve their day-to-day lives. The post-Oslo period represented a high point for Palestinian civilians, both in their economic development and their aspirations for their own independent state. But Hamas isn't interested in such a result. Rather, Hamas is single-mindedly focused on destroying Israel, no matter the effect on Palestinian civilians.

Don't believe me? On Meet the Press yesterday, David Gregory read an excerpt from a book by panelist Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, who wrote about Nizar Rayyan, the Hamas leader who was killed by Israel during the current offensive (along with at least two of his four wives, but notice how Al Jazeera described him as dying with "14 members of his family," failing to note the fact that he had four wives). Goldberg, who had interviewed Rayyan, wrote:

"The question I wrestle with constantly is whether Hamas is truly, theologically implacable. That is to say, whether the organization can remain true to its understanding of Islamic law and God's word and yet enter into a long-term nonaggression treaty with Israel. I tend to think not, though I've noticed over the years a certain plasticity of belief among some Hamas ideologues. ... There was no flexibility with Rayyan. This is what he said when I asked him if he could envision a 50-year hudna (or cease-fire) with Israel: `The only reason to have a hudna is to prepare yourself for the final battle. We don't need 50 years to prepare ourselves for the final battle with Israel.' There is no chance, he said, that true Islam would ever allow a Jewish state to survive in the Muslim Middle East. `Israel is an impossibility. It is an offense against God.' ... What are our crimes? I asked Rayyan. `You are murderers of the prophets and you have closed your ears to the Messenger of Allah,' he said. `Jews tried to kill the Prophet, peace be unto him. All throughout history, you have stood in opposition to the word of God.' Can Israel achieve deterrence with someone like that?"

The world is now clamoring for a cease fire, but as Shimon Peres pointed out on This Week yesterday, a cease fire and opening the crossings into Gaza would only serve to give Hamas the opportunity to rearm and prepare for the next conflict with Israel, just as Rayyan described to Goldberg. Why should Israel do that?

I am amazed sometimes at the demands made on Israel. The country is a democratic nation (the only one in the immediate region) that has, since the second of its inception, had to repel attacks from its neighbors who seek its destruction. Israel has not had a day of peace in which it didn't have to prepare to defend its very existence. Every action Israel takes is in this context. It seized the West Bank and Gaza in 1967 not out of imperialistic aggression, but as a means of defending itself from its neighbors. And the current Gaza offensive is about ensuring its survival, nothing more.

Hamas's stated intention is to destroy Israel. If you believe Rayyan (and there is no reason not to, since he was one of the leaders of the terrorist group in Gaza), there is no way Hamas would agree to the existence of a Jewish state. And the Palestinian people, given a free choice in elections, voted Hamas into power.

And yet the calls come for Israel to show restraint with Hamas, and that Israel's defense against daily rocket attacks lacks proportionality. My response to such statements is, what ratios or proportions are you talking about? Israel is defending itself from the attacks of a terrorist organization that has been elected by its people to take the very actions that threaten Israeli civilians. How should Israel respond? What is "proportional" to terrorists trying to destroy you? If Hamas puts its attack apparatus in the middle of civilian populations, how can you defend yourself without harming civilians? What would these critics have Israel do? Ignore the daily rocket attacks aimed at its population? What country would do that? Israel actually called in warnings to targeted locations to warn civilians about upcoming attacks. The only reason to do such a thing is to try and minimize civilian casualties.

To me, Israel has showed remarkable restraint and proportionality, evidenced by the fact that an overwhelming majority of the Palestinian casualties have not been civilians. The world should be lauding Israel for its efforts to minimize civilian casualties. If Israel truly didn't care about the Palestinian people, its military would have indiscriminately bombed any and all possible Hamas targets, without the warnings it used, regardless of risks to the civilian population. Such a strategy would have been quicker and more efficient, and would have entailed far less threat to members of the Israeli Defense Force. But that's not the strategy Israel employed. Instead, Israel used every technological tool in its arsenal to attempt to limit targets to Hamas strongholds. It is clear extensive efforts were made to limit civilian casualties.

It is Hamas, by using civilians to act as human shields for its military operations, that has put the Palestinian civilians in jeopardy, and the blood of the injured and dead civilians is on Hamas's hands.

The long-term answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is two side-by-side states, each respecting the other and its right to exist. For that to happen, the Palestinian people have to embrace a peaceful approach to settling the difficult differences that exist between the two sides. But as long as the Palestinian people embrace violence -- and make no mistake, by putting Hamas into power, they have spoken loudly and clearly that they prefer violence to negotiations -- there cannot be peace. And in that context, any call on Israel for a cease fire is really just asking Israel to grant Hamas a time-out so it can regain strength for its next assault on Israel.

In my view, anyone who supports Hamas in the current conflict with Israel does not believe that Israel has a right to exist. I make that admittedly strong and sweeping claim because anything that Israel cedes to Hamas will only be used by the terrorist organization in its efforts to destroy Israel. If Israel were to unilaterally pull back to the 1967 borders, and if Hamas were to take control of the Palestinian state, it would have the ability to reach Tel Aviv or any other city in Israel with its rockets. With no restrictions, Hamas would be able to import any weapons it wanted from Iran, even nuclear arms if/when Iran reaches that capability. If a "right of return" were granted, Israel would immediately cease to be as a Jewish, secular democratic state. In short, to give in to Hamas is to risk the existence of Israel. For Israel to survive, Hamas has to be defeated, both by the Israeli military and, more importantly, by the Palestinian people. Until that happens, there can be no peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

So in the framework of Hamas's rejection of a peaceful two-state solution to the larger Israeli-Palestinian problem, Hamas's use of civilian locations for its military operations, and Israel's efforts to limit civilian casualties despite Hamas's actions, yes, I do believe that Israel cares more about the lives of the Palestinian people than Hamas does. The terrorist organization has demonstrated that its primary goals are to try and destroy Israel, to protect its power base, and to serve Iran, no matter the damage to its people. Of course, since the Palestinian people elected Hamas to power, they have themselves to blame for the damage done to them by their leaders. It will ultimately be up to the Palestinian people to reject Hamas and their methods.

Maybe the latest Israeli offensive will help turn public opinion, and the Palestinian people will realize that their Hamas leadership has failed them. In a sea of media stories highlighting the Palestinian civilian casualties and the failure of Israel to negotiate a cease-fire agreement, I was heartened to see on the front page of the New York Times today an article quoting a grieving Palestinian woman in Gaza shouting, "May God exterminate Hamas!" This woman understands who has inflicted death and destruction on her family. As soon as a majority of Palestinians agree with her, peace will again be possible between Israel and the Palestinians. But as long as Hamas is in power and firing rockets at Israeli civilians, there can be no peace. Hamas's obsession with the destruction of Israel has only brought poverty, injury and death to its people in Gaza.

Comments

[dotmafia]

Garbage.

[Michale32086]

@darthmaul

{{{{{{{
"Mistakes are going to be made." Pretty cavalier statement don't you think? Oh we made a mistake and killed these innocent civilians. Sorry about that!

Maybe you should use this statement, which is more blunt and to the point: "If you want to make an omelet, you gotta break some eggs."
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And you want to use the mistakes to indict the entire operation.

Can you imagine if the Allies in WWII had just quit once a mistake that killed innocent civilians was made??

Half the US would be speaking German and the other half would be speaking Japanese if the Allies had said, "Damn, we made a mistake.. OK, pack it up people!! We're quitting!!!"

Michale.....

[research]

Wrong analogy: it's more like us invading the Japanese internment camps because of a constant low level barrage of rockets.

[medi22]

The theme should be America's responsibility for the casualties in Gaza and this country's complicity in war crimes, thanks to uncritical, unconditional support for Israel's far right--their Cheneys and Bushes. The same Congress that caved on Iraq, caves to the Israel-firsters, and their lobby and media bullies, over and over again. America needs to break with the Israel-firsters, and put this country's principles first.

[darthmaul]

Israel has already lost this war, in the court of public opinion. "In the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, doctors found four young children next to their dead mothers in a house." I keep hearing from Israeli spokespeople, how they are doing "everything possible to minimize casualties." It's estimated that almost half the people killed, or approximately 500 people are civilians. I'm sure that they and their grieving families are grateful that Israel is trying to minimize casualties.

[mudasuka]

Neither Hamas nor the government of Israel cares a whit about civilian casualties on either side. War is governments doing violence to people, most of whom are innocent. In Gaza, the violence is falling disproportionately on the Palestinian people. This is not because there is any difference in the level of consideration for civilian life between Hamas and the government of Israel. The Palestinians are taking the brunt of these atrocities because GOVERNMENTS ARE USUALLY AS VIOLENT AS THEY ARE POWERFUL, or at the very least the is a strong correlation between the two. War is a faliure of government, and innocent human beings always are the ones to suffer.

[Michale32086]

Israel is going to great lengths to minimize civilian casualties, even at the risk of their own forces..

Hamas is completely to blame for all the civilian casualties...

Michale.....

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Can't agree with Para 1. Not after the UN school hit. And yes, I've heard the "facts."

Even the Israelis concede the fire was from "near" the school; not "in" the school/SHELTER.

[cotati08]

How do YOU know what the Israeli military is doing? Because they said so?? Ya know - I have a feeling that the Israeli military is not doing everything it can to minimize civilian deaths. Just a feeling I get when I see several hundred dead civilians.

[SiberianRat]

Completely untrue.

[justicia]

This post beggars belief; its familiar, but grotesque logic is that the Palestinians with their puny homemade rockets, and no professional military, are the powerful aggressors, while Israel, with its leading edge arsenal, large professional military dropping one ton bombs are the vulnerable victims. Israeli children should not suffer anxiety about potential rocket hits, so scores of Palestinian children must die, hundreds wounded, thousands terrified.

Gaza’s people are virtually caged in a minute strip, among the most densely populated areas anywhere; yet Hamas are supposed to keep civilians safe from deadly Israeli fire. Israel warns civilians to leave their homes, then strikes where they shelter, but such. egregious slayings are the fault of Hamas ‘terrorists’. Medics killed? Hamas disguised as doctors! Infants killed? They’re Hamas’s ‘human shields’. And now, Mark Bard adds a new justification for killing: a man with four wives doesn’t deserve to live, nor do his wives and children.

A mostly supine media report Israel’s claims uncritically. Like Shimon Peres and other saying Israel ‘cares’ about Palestinians, but its attacks are unavoidable: ‘Hamas made us do it!’ Or Zippi Livni asserting in Paris that the Israelis are on the frontline of the war on ‘terror’, the implication being that the Palestinians have no legitimate grievance they are just, perverse, haters of our way of life. Ms Livni also averred that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. I suppose if you don’t accord humanity to people, their suffering is of no consequence.

[Michale32086]

HAMAS is the threat to the Palestinians, not Israel..

HAMAS has victimized the Palestinians twice. Once by committing terrorism against Israel and forcing a response. And again by placing their military hardware inside civilian areas, thereby being responsible for all the civilian casualties.

How ANYONE with more than 2 brain cells to rub together can side with HAMAS in this is simply beyond me...

Michale....

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Excellent comment.
Again, I am aghast at the carnage.
But what would you have Israel -- and the Palestinians -- do?

[hmp]

"is that the Palestinians with their puny homemade rockets, and no professional military, are the powerful aggressors..."

An insane man with no arms who pushes someone from a subway platform onto the tracks can still be lethal, and is certainly dangerous.

For that matter, insanity has been defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Just what do the Palestinians accomplish with their "puny" but deadly rockets?

The Israelis left Gaza in 2005. Has that brought us any closer to peace? When the Israelis left Gaza, they left the hothouses (35% of the Gazan economy) in tact. The Palestinians destroyed these "symbols" of the hated Israelis. That accomplished exactly what?

The Palestinians could have used their resources, including money from external sources, to build their economy and improve their lives. Instead, it goes into arms and rockets. That accomplishes exactly what?

BTW, have you read the Hamas charter?

http://www.mideastweb.org/hamas.htm

read it, and then explain how you can make peace with people who believe this.

[Michale32086]

@ ReasonIsMyReligion

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MI Ell Tee = ?
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Military Intelligence Officer..

Yea, I know I know... Military Intelligence is an oxymoron. I get that a lot. :D

@libslayerguy

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Nice resume and all. But if you are such a "CT" expert, why are you on this message board harassing those of us whose "bleeding-hearts" cause us to have sympathy and compassion for the sad existence lived out by Pale.stin.ians? A sad existence funded with our money no less.
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I apologize if you consider what has been going on as "harassment".. It's a spirited debate...

Regardless the simple fact is that EVERYONE has compassion for the Palestinians to varying degrees...

Where the debate comes in, is WHO is to blame.

It's clear to those with a good honest view of the whole mess is that the blame lies completely with HAMAS..

As I have said frequently, if ya'all REALLY care about the plight of the Palestinians, then it behooves ya'all to SUPPORT Israel in it's elimination of HAMAS... Because it's HAMAS that is the greatest threat to the Palestinians..

Michale.....

[thirtyninesteps]

You always hurt the ones you love.
The ones you shouldn't hurt at all
You always take the sweetest rose and crush it till the petals fall....

[libslayerguy]

Okay Mr. 32086,

The casualty thing is understood and done. Never-the-less you also disputed that half of the casulaties are women and children. Do you have proof to the contrary? Shall I wait for an answer or should I just assume that you will stay consistent and give me the figures that Tzipi Livni gave in her press-confernce last week? She claims that only a quarter of the casualties are civilians.

Hhmmm. Whom to believe on this one? The Norwegian dr., on the ground in Ga.za, working feverishly to save peoples lives or you and the Is.re.al.i marketing machine? I just don't know.

[Michale32086]

Although I don't have up to the minute figures, the latest figures I have are quoted from the UN and from HAMAS...

Approx 600 dead, with a little over a hundred being civilian casualties..

I don't have current figures for wounded, as I don't particular pay attention to those. I know, I know I should it's important.. But in my former line of work, deaths were all that mattered...

Michale.....

[libslayerguy]

Up to the minute? You could have, at the very least, posted a number that was up to yesterday.

The word predictable is fitting. And so is indoctrinated. No surprise whatsoever that you dispute the good doctor. None. Thanks for all of the fabulous insight. You have given me a headache.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Since 2000, Israel has suffered the equivalent of THREE 9/11's per year due to terrorism, adjusted for population.
As victims were all random civilians, figger the proportion of women was 50%, and kids perhaps 15%.
What would you have them do?

I deplore the loss of all lives, especially civilian, and doubly so women, and triply so children.

I am aghast at the carnage in Gaza.

But it remains Hamas to blame due to the years of rocket attacks -- aka provocations-- even during a nominal "cease fire."

Comrade 32... must be on dinner break. ;-)

[libslayerguy]

What? Did you miss the context of the exchage? How is this about Hamas? They've only been in power since GWB forced the Palestinians to have internatio­nally-moni­tored, open and democratic elections back in 2006. Now Hamas is responsible for events that happened all the way back to 2000?

Can... not... take... any... more...

[justicia]

How about calculating the Palestinians losses? In the current onslaught, the people of Gaza (around 1.5 million) have lost around 0 .4% of their population; the body count is around 125 Palestinians to 1 Israeli; of these well over a hundred are children. Your claim to 'deplore' the loss of life in Gaza rings hollow. As long as Palestinians are forced to live in squalor and uncertainty, under a brutal occupation, Israel will not be free of the threat from people using weapons of the weak. Without justice there will be no peace.

[Michale32086]

@libslayerguy

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I've already done so. Plus, if the answer is inconvenient for you, you'll probably ignore my question as has been your pattern throughout this little exchange of ours.
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You'll have to do so again, because it hasn't made it past moderation..

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I doubt that you can provide impartial, neutral sources to prove anything that you say so why bother, right? But since I'm curious, please give me a source to dispute, as you plainly did, the dr. in Ga.za who claims that at least half of the over 2500 Pale.stin.ian casualties so far are women and children.
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As I said (for the third time) that was a misunderstanding on the word 'casualties' and I will apologize AGAIN, for the third time..

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And please save all of your "collateral damage" and "human shied" rhetoric as I have read your repetitive thoughts on the subject enough to have it down by rote.
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So, you know that if a person "volunteers" to be a human shield that it makes them a combatant.. AND a war criminal, because they are a combatant in civilian clothes...

Michale.....

[libslayerguy]

I know that you are saying that. That's what I know. What I do not know is how much I can trust what you say. Are you an American? Honestly, do you believe 100% of everything that the US government has to say on any given issue? Well I do not, because they have a documented record of blatant falsehoods to achieve this goal or that (especially regarding matters of war). Since I do not trust my own government to be 100% honest, I certainly do not believe that this situation is everything that the Israeli government says that it is.

[Michale32086]

Yes, I am an American

I am a veteran of the USAF and the US Army. I was an MI Ell Tee during Desert Storm and had served as an LEO and an FSO for the better part of a quarter century. I have also served as a military and intelligence liaison to about a half dozen different countries, spanning the globe..

No, I don't believe everything my country says.. But I know enough about the field that, when it comes to CT Operations, that our country CAN'T tell us everything it is doing and everything that is going on..

And while I will be the FIRST to admit that a lot about our Israeli/Palestinian relationship is complex and muddled, one thing I can say with absolute certainty and clarity is that NOTHING justifies terrorism and that ANY cause or agenda that resorts to terrorism loses ALL consideration, compassion or legitimacy.

The BEST thing that could happen for the Palestinian people is that Hamas be completely and unequivocally eliminated..

I only hope that the Israelis and the US have enough political willpower to make it happen..

Michale....

[demigod]

Hamas came to power for one reason - they won't sell out. Fatah sold out, they would have abandoned the right of the Palestinian diaspora to return - now they're basically gone. Anyone who sells out the heart of the struggle loses the Palestinian people. Now, the basic point of this article - that Israel deserves our respect and Hamas doesn't - rests on Hamas' willingness to put its own civilian flesh in the game. What do you call the "settlers" - those men, women, and children, who deliberately push Israel's borders out by moving into contested areas where they are in the minority, demanding their Israeli rights, treating the Palestinians like dogs, stealing ever more territory, destroying any hope for negotiation, and raising total hell when they have to be forceably removed, which even this biased article admits ? Israel's politicans play this game, they are absolutely no better than anyone, with no claim to any high ground. If someone came and stole my homeland, I'd fight them every day until I died. I believe in justice. Where is the Palestinian state ? We know that is the only solution - yet we hold out like it is some prize the Palestinian people can "earn" with good behavior. They don't believe America will ever mete out justice - why should they ? We never have.

[libslayerguy]

Shhhhh. Please, don't try and make sense or see this as an issue with two sides that need to find common ground here. You will be set straight by the righteous and all knowing. They are relentless and never wrong. They say that only one side has rights and hint: it starts with an "I".

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

That made sense to you?
Hamas is looking for common ground?
Puleeze.
The "I" word that is the problem is INTIFADAH.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Calling Fatah, and by extension, Arafat himself, "sell outs" over one relatively new-born issue?

Note that Hamas came to power in part due to the lack of effectiveness of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority over Palestinia­n-internal affairs, and via murder of their Fatah rivals.

Got to hand it to Hamas. They learned from Hezbollah that their constituents won't focus on the rockets as long as they're getting civic services.

Note that Israel withdrew all its settlements and settlers (or whatever you want to call them) from Gaza.
On the West Bank, there's the wall, controversial though it may be it has cut down on attacks.
Point being, whether bilaterally, or even unilaterally, Israel is moving to a two-state solution.

To a great degree, Hamas has proven to be a continuation of the Arafat legacy -- never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

Hamas only wants a one-state solution. And prefers a struggle to a two-state solution.

You want justice? Revive Camp David 2000 and Taba 2001... and reject Hamas. Moderates cut deals. Extremists cut moderates' throats.

[Michale32086]

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To a great degree, Hamas has proven to be a continuation of the Arafat legacy -- never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
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WOW!! I am going to have to remember that... :D It can fit so many different groups..

"never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity"

Thanx...

Michale.....

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

I need to restate re Right of Return and Palestinian Refugees. The Israeli's are more flexible than I realized.

Attached is Israel's position on the subject from the Taba conference, 2001:
http://mondediplo.com/focus/mideast/a3277

...in reaction to this paper from the Palestinian side:
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/israel-palestine/return/2001/0808hrb.htm

Calling anyone willing to negotiate a "sell-out" is the core of the problem.

[Michale32086]

It's funny how you say that Fatah "sold out" and is enjoying relative peace and prosperity and Hamas who hasn't "sold out" is getting the snot pounded out of them because the committed terrorism...

So, apparently, you approve terrorism over peaceful discussion and negotiation...

Strange how that is, eh??

Michale.....

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Palestinian Right of Return, by the numbers (UNWRA, as of 2000):
Gaza: 0.6M
West Bank: 0.8M
Jordan: 1.6M
Lebanon: 0.4M
Syria: 0.4M
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/israel-palestine/returnindex.htm

Current population of Israel: 7M
5M Jews, 1.3M Palestinians, 0.3M Other
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/is.html

Last I checked (about a year ago), Israel had suffered roughly 900 terror fatalities since 2000.
Sparing you the math, that's a population-adjusted equivalent to THREE 9/11's PER YEAR IN THE USA.

No peace for those who refuse peace.

[Michale32086]

@libslayerguy

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Funny, it seems like you have made me an enemy.
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I don't consider you my enemy...

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This started off with you implying that I made up the number of Pale.sti.ian casualties (remember what that word refers to?) that I heard a doctor in Ga.za report on tv. And since then you have said that I am ignorant and accused me of being things that I am not (pro-Ha.ma­.s/terrori­st).
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That was a misunderstanding regarding the word "casualties" which was completely my fault and I apologized for...

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You ask people to "cite" things but never do so yourself. You quote people and things, and don't source the quote.
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I usually don't quote my sources, unless asked, because HP is wanky when URLs are placed... But you can rest assured when I state FACTS, that I have the links to back them up.. You need but ask..

But when I state my OPINIONS, I am merely using my own expertise, experience and training, which is almost a quarter century in the fields of CT and as an LEO and FSO, plus military and intelligence liaison to a half dozen different countries.

I hope this clears things up..

Michale....

[libslayerguy]

With all respect, I have asked you for sources to your quotes, which on one occasion is when the response about "my ignorance showing" came. Several times I have asked you specific questions and have gotten partial anwers or no answer at all. I am asking you because you do seem to have an answer (most are snarky) for every poster who does not see things your way, no matter how well intentioned they are.

And I prefer impartial, neutral sources as opposed to those who blame the Pale.stin.ians for 100% of this mess. If you don't have those kind of sources then do not bother.

[Michale32086]

Hokay..

You point to the quote and I'll link it...

Michale.....

[Michale32086]

@Chilly_TX1

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I wonder if Hamas would ever hide weopons in schools, next to children? And if they did, would those places no longer be a school, mosque ect?
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Once those areas contain military targets, they become legitimate military targets..

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Does Hamas tie them up and leave them there or do the families offer themselves up (volunteer to die)? Who knows. We just need to call a duck a duck and not get into what the building was "supposed" to be, it is what it really is.
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If a person volunteers to become a Human Shield, according to the rules of warfare, the International Criminal Courts and the Geneva Conventions, that person is no longer an innocent civilian but becomes a combatant and therefore a legitimate military target..

And, as a combatant in civilian clothes, the are also committing war crimes...

Michale....

[shanghaislim]

Say NO to Israeli Air Raids.

Say NO to suicide bombers.

Say NO to blockades.

Say NO to Hamas rockets

Say NO to innocent children as targets

Say NO to innocent children as shields

[Chilly TX1]

Does that include the Arab and Muslim blockades? Why does the border opening "have" to go through Israel? Last I checked, when the Israel borders were open, Hamas was blowing themselves up,well... 2-3 times per day in public places, now after a wall was built, it stoped.
Please include your criticism of "all" the borders.
Ask Egypt why they have a military brigade at the Egypt border. Wonder if they know something too? It looks to me like Arabs and Muslims keep Palistine locked up too, so they can arm, feed and breed people for the destruction of Israel, also it makes great TV for Hamas, Arabs and Muslims to say that it is all Israels fault. So get on to Egypt to open up the border, then all is well right? Egypt is like "H*LL NO! to Hamas comming through, but they keep getting left out of the reporting. Then it would sound like "Let's Go Egypt! Let them all in! You are horrible for not saviing those poor people", see? Havent heard a word of that, just that Hamas (and the Arabs and Muslims) want acess to the cities (public places) in Israel.
It is a crappy situation all the way around, but there is more than one border.

[scott63]

say no to reality

[Michale32086]

@YR

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So why should anyone listen to you? It's plain you don't truly care about Palestinian lives. You see them as pawns only.
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Please point to ANY of my posts that even HINTED at that.

I have made it clear over and over again.. My beef is with HAMAS, not with the Palestinian people...

Michale.....