THE WAR IN GAZA

How funny! You say that Israel took away the Pal's peace. The Pals have constantly attacked the Jews and Israel, even before the country was formed. And it continues to this day. I guess you feel that the Pals should have peace and be able to attack Israel at will.

It is moronic to argue that Israel has not sought peace with the Pals. The trouble is that the latter will not tolerate the state of Israel. The Pals have never produced a map showing the existence of Israel, and never will.

They know that whoever does this, or enters into an agreement with Israel, will be murdered by the Pals or other Arabs.

Do you remember what happened to Sadat and Abdullah? Arafat said he would be murdered were he to agree at Camp David.

You are an idiot. Israel killed about 1,500 total, with the majority being Hamas fighters. This is an amazingly low number considering that Hamas military operations were in the midst of civilians.

Why is it beyond so many people that the Palestineans have no state. They did not have a state before Israel became a state, and they have no state now. I would think some people would call them squatters. How were squatters treated in earlier times in the U.S.A.?

Hey, maybe Gaza is one large subprime mortgage?

Oh, but let us not think that these stateless, pauperized Palestineans have any less rights than the people in the state of Israel. Yes, in the eyes of God, they are equal; not in the eyes of those that understand sovereignty of nations. Let us stop judging the two adversarial groups with the morality one learned in Sunday school (and emphasized by Pope John Paul); that morality is based on brotherly love, that does not always exist in the real world.

Why is it beyond so many people that the Palestineans have no state. They did not have a state before Israel became a state, and they have no state now.

The renewed calls follow the publication of damning testimony from Israeli soldiers who took part in the war. The soldiers allege that unarmed civilians were killed under loose rules of engagement, and they also detail the wanton destruction of Palestinian property.

The soldiers' accounts have caused uproar across Israel and prompted an immediate response from the Israel Defence Forces' chief advocate, General Avichai Mendelbit.

He has ordered an investigation into a soldier's account of a sniper killing a woman and her two children who walked too close to a designated no-go area by mistake, and another account of a sharpshooter who killed an elderly woman who came within 100 metres of a commandeered house. Soldiers quoted by the Haaretz newspaper said wanton destruction of civilian property had been common.

The allegations were raised at a forum for graduates of the Yitzhak Rabin pre-military academy who took part in the war. The forum allowed them to talk openly about their experiences.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak backed the military investigation, saying he was "sure the the IDF will examine the matter with all seriousness".

"We have the most moral army in the world," Mr Barak told Israel Radio. "I have no doubt that every incident will be individually examined."

Israeli human rights groups expressed outrage at the soldiers' testimony. In a letter sent to Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz, a coalition of 13 human rights groups said it was time to "stop whitewashing suspected crimes in Gaza".

"The Government's failure to establish an independent investigation constitutes a violation of Israel's responsibilities under international law," the letter said. ...<cont>

Richard Falk, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, said the Geneva Conventions required warring forces to distinguish between military targets and surrounding civilians.

"If it is not possible to do so, then launching the attacks is inherently unlawful and would seem to constitute a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law," Falk said.

"On the basis of the preliminary evidence available, there is reason to reach this conclusion," he wrote in an annual report submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Falk called for an independent experts group to be set up to probe possible war crimes committed by both Israeli forces and Hamas.

Violations included Israel's alleged "targeting of schools, mosques and ambulances" during the December 27-January 18 offensive and its use of weapons including white phosphorus, as well as Hamas firing of rockets at civilian targets in southern Israel.

Falk said that Israel's blockade of the coastal strip of 1.5 million people violated the Geneva Conventions, which he said suggested further war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.

The aggression was not legally justified and may represent a "crime against peace" - a principle established at the Nuremberg trials of Nazi criminals, according to the American law professor who serves as the Human Rights Council's independent investigator.

He further suggested that the Security Council might set up an ad hoc criminal tribunal to establish accountability for war crimes in Gaza, noting Israel has not signed the Rome statutes establishing the International Criminal Court. ...<cont>

Israeli Army T-Shirts Mock Gaza Killings

The Israeli army is at the centre of a second controversy over the moral conduct of its soldiers in as many days.



The revelations centre on t-shirt designs made for soldiers that make light of shooting pregnant Palestinian mothers and children and include images of dead babies and destroyed mosques.

The t-shirts were printed for Israeli soldiers at the end of periods of deployment or training courses and were discovered by Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

One, printed for a platoon of Israeli snipers depicts an armed Palestinian pregnant women caught in the crosshairs of a rifle, with the disturbing caption in English: "1 shot 2 kills".

Another depicts a child carrying a gun also in the centre of a target.

"The smaller, the harder," read the words on the t-shirt.

According to a soldier interviewed by the newspaper, the message has a double meaning: "It's a kid, so you've got a little more of a problem, morally and also the target is smaller."

Another shows an Israeli soldier blowing up a mosque and reads "Only God forgives".

Above a ninja figure, yet another shirt bears the slogan "Won't chill until I confirm a kill".

The revelations, coming so soon after Israel's offensive in Gaza in which hundreds of civilians were killed - many of them women and children - are causing outrage.

Perhaps the most shocking design shows a Palestinian mother weeping next to her dead baby's grave, also in the crosshairs of a rifle.

It suggests it would have been better if the child had never been born, with the slogan "Better use Durex".

According to a soldier interviewed by the newspaper, the message has a double meaning: "It's a kid, so you've got a little more of a problem, morally and also the target is smaller."

Foofie wrote:

Why is it beyond so many people that the Palestineans have no state. They did not have a state before Israel became a state, and they have no state now.

Israel didn't have state before it became a state either. If the Palestinians don't have a right to a state, if they are squatters, then why isn't the same thing true for the Israelis?

Might be the case. Nevertheless, that would mean that the Palestinians are being punished by the Israelis for what other countries did to Israel.

Doesn't seem entirely justified to me, I have to say.