Israel Drops White Phosphorus Bombs On Children

And what Brandon? You have not yet addressed the Israeli attacks on known civilian targets. Do you or do you not deplore such attacks? I've already stated that i deplore Palestinian bombings. Your idiotic attempt to take the moral high ground on behalf of the Israeli falls flat on its face in view of the nature of attacks which Israelis commonly make.

Do you or do you not deplore Israeli attacks on civilian neighborhoods?

...so they used suicide bombers on buses (public transport buses, not school buses--are you really such a fool as to believe Israelis would allow a Palestinian to board one of their school buses?)....

If it's not relevant (and it is very relevant), then why did you go to the trouble to go find a link? You have an Israeli allegation that it was a place used to manufacture and store arms. That's a far cry from a munitions factory.

You have not addressed the central issue of my post. Do you, or do you not deplore cluster bombs in civilian neighborhoods? Do you or do you not deplore missle attacks on apartment buildings?

The Commission determined that the massacre at Sabra and Shatilla was carried out by a Phalangist unit, acting on its own but its entry was known to Israel. No Israeli was directly responsible for the events which occurred in the camps.

But the Commission asserted that Israel had indirect responsibility for the massacre since the I.D.F. held the area, Mr. Begin was found responsible for not exercising greater involvement and awareness in the matter of introducing the Phalangists into the camps. Mr. Sharon was found responsible for ignoring the danger of bloodshed and revenge when he approved the entry of the Phalangists into the camps as well as not taking appropriate measures to prevent bloodshed. Mr. Shamir erred by not taking action after being alerted by communications Minister Zippori. Chief of Staff Eitan did not give the appropriate orders to prevent the massacre.

The Commission recommended that the Defense Minister resign, that the Director of Military Intelligence not continue in his post and other senior officers be removed. "

Setanta wrote:

And what Brandon? You have not yet addressed the Israeli attacks on known civilian targets. Do you or do you not deplore such attacks? I've already stated that i deplore Palestinian bombings. Your idiotic attempt to take the moral high ground on behalf of the Israeli falls flat on its face in view of the nature of attacks which Israelis commonly make.

Do you or do you not deplore Israeli attacks on civilian neighborhoods?

And this:

Setanta wrote:

...so they used suicide bombers on buses (public transport buses, not school buses--are you really such a fool as to believe Israelis would allow a Palestinian to board one of their school buses?)....

I furnished an example to counter what you said. You prefer not to acknowledge it, right?

Keep dancing, Brandon. Do you or do you not deplore attacks by Israelis against civilian targets?

Brandon, i'm willing to stipulate that Palestinians bomb school buses, since you've gotten your panties in a twist about it. Now, do you or do you not deplore attacks by Israelis which target civilian areas?

Translation: you will only answer, and will only deplore the deaths of Palestinians if you can stipulate in advance the conditions under which their deaths are to be deplored. The last quarter century is an idiotic condition--the Isrealis have driven the Palestinians out of their homes since 1948. Are you willing to drop the consideration of the deaths of Isrealis which occured before 1981? Sabra and Shatilla were attacked in 1982.

Once again, i cannot escape the conclusion that you consider Isreali lives more important than Palestinian lives.

My personal reaction is meaningless in the equation of the fate of the Palestinians, McG. How does making a missle attack on an apartment building make school children safe, McG?

I'll put you down with Brandon as someone else who considers the deaths of Isrealis as important and the deaths of Palestinians and Lebanese as meaningless.

The attack killed Salah Shehadeh, 48, a founder and the top commander of Hamas' military wing, known as Izzadine el-Qassam, the group said. The group has carried out scores of attacks, including more suicide bombings than any other Palestinian faction in the current Mideast conflict.

In response to the White House criticism, the Israeli Embassy in Washington defended the attack.

"Like the government of the United states, the government of Israel regrets the loss of innocent civilian lives," spokesman Mark Regev said. "However, our military action against one of the most dangerous Hamas terrorist leaders was a justified action of self-defense."

The Israeli prime minister hailed the operation.

"This operation was in my view one of our biggest successes," Ariel Sharon told Cabinet ministers. "We hit perhaps the most senior Hamas figure on the operational side," Sharon said of Shehadeh, who was jailed first by Israel, and then by the Palestinians, from 1988 to 1999.

Since his release, Shehadeh was responsible setting Hamas policy for attacks and giving orders to militants who carried them out, Israel said.

Sharon said Israel had "no interest in harming civilians" in the attack. Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer issued a statement saying that "the information which we had was that there were no civilians near him."

Palestinians gathered in the street near the ruins and outside the hospital where survivors and bodies were taken, demanding revenge on Israel.

"We will kill their children like they killed ours," shouted one man with a loudspeaker.

Hamas said Shehadeh, his wife, Leileh, their 14-year-old daughter, Iman, and a bodyguard were killed. Shifa Hospital in Gaza City released a separate list of 11 dead, that included eight children, aged 2 months to 11 years, and three adults. The hospital also said that more than 100 people were wounded.

"Hamas mourns the hero, the leader, Salah Shehadeh," said Hamas spokesman, Ismail Haniyeh. "Anyone who dreams of so-called peace is mistaken."

"The Palestinian people will not forget the blood of the martyrs," said Hamas' spiritual leader Sheik Ahmad Yassin. "We will let deeds speak."

My empathy is not restricted only to the Palestinians, but it appears to me that your empathy is restricted to the Israelis.

It is immaterial to me how or why anyone alleges that someone has died. It is just as morally meaningful, to refer to Brandon's mealy-mouthed excuses, that so many Palestinians have died because Isreal has invaded and seized territory in which they lived, and consistently broken their promises about no settlements and about withdrawing from the territory they have seized. One of the things which has motivated Hezbollah in the latest debacle is that Israel seized the Shebaa Farms, and has not withdrawn as they have promised.

I cannot see any moral distinction between the culpability of the Palestinians and the Lebanese for not restraining Hamas and Hezbollah, and the culpability of the Isrealis in not restraining the military imperialism of their government, and not forcing their government to honor their international diplomatic engagements. Why are the Palestinians responsible for and therefore regrettably liable for the consequences of the actions of Hamas, but the Isrealis are not responsible for and regrettably liable for the consequences of the actions of the Israeli government?

Setanta wrote:

Keep dancing, Brandon. Do you or do you not deplore attacks by Israelis against civilian targets?

Please give me an example of a case during the past quarter century in which Israeli soldiers deliberately attacked non-combatants as the primary intended targets, and I shall certainly answer.

I'm not contending that they be held to a higher standard--just the same standard. Tell me how the Jewish terrorists who blew up the King David Hotel became victims, McG, and unilaterally innocent. Why were the Jews of Hagana not terrorists and the Palestinians are? Because the man in the apartment building was an important member of Hamas, he is automatically a terrorist, and too bad about the women and children who died, huh?

They're all just "islamo-fascists," right? Your atttitude does not surprise me.