We spent a fair amount of time last week working though the issues surrounding Israel's latest incursion into the Gaza Strip in pursuit of Hamas militants. When asked what your advice to President-Elect Obama would be on the matter, most of you copped out. After going through your responses, I'd say about 90% were along the lines of "we should remain neutral." While I can certainly respect the sentiments behind this response, it's just not realistic. With that in mind, I'm asking you to reconsider and post a well thought out, legitimate recommendation to the President-Elect.
Does Israel's right to self-defense justify the civilian deaths in Gaza? Does it matter?
Let me know what you think.......
15 comments:
Honestly? No. Israel went way overboard with the attacks on Gaza. I know, I know all the lobbyists want President-Elect Obama to side with Israel, but if they're going have a 5/742 Israeli/Palestinians death ratio, we can't stand by that.
First off I think that Israel has the right to attack Hamas back. But I think the scale of the retaliation is a bit to hefty. Like Leslie said hamas killed 5 but israel killed 742. I dont think that numbers are fair, but then again what is fair when your killing other Humans.
I disagree. I feel that Israel is doing what it needs to do to defend itself. Hopefully soon the Palistinian people will wise up and reject Hamas and dismantle all the working gears to destroy the organized death machine. The batlle will continue untill Hamas or Palistine is dead.
Gaza had every right to fire rockets into Israel. I think this because Israel is not letting people into Gaza or out of Gaza and the same thing with the West Bank.
i believe we should let them duke it out. Its none of our business what they are doing. let them kill each other. We live in america not in Isreal so LEAVE THEM ALONE! Or just level it. then we have no worrys about it
If you take a good look at the ratio, then you might get an idea of what happens when the term self defense is taken to far. 5/742? I mean come on seriously. I understand that there are a lot of Israelis that are frustrated over the death of their kinsmen, but that doesn't justify the killing of hundreds of innocent civilians. Oh well. I guess it's just our goal as humans to destroy each other. I bet we'll never learn.
Does Israel's right to self-defense justify murdering civilians. No. Under any circumstance it is not and never will be justfied!
I think That Israel has the right to defend themselves to a certain point. When you involve innocents it is never right. On the other hand it is not right to stand by and do nothing to pretect your people.
The proportions are off by a lot. Even for self defense, the Israelis are killing way too many people. It is a bit out of control and I have seen so many videos for both sides that it gets somewhat hard not to be neutral. If I choose a side I feel bad for neglecting the other. I say we try and help them make peace and make a compromise that both of sides can live with. Civilians from both sides are dying - Civilians that don't need to die, and that don't have anything to do with the politics. Putting myself in their place I think some of them could live with a compromise.
I believe as American it is our job to protect the innocent and defile the unjust. We have spilt our own blood to protect those who need it. And as of now there are innocent Palestinians being slaughter. These people should not be punished for the crimes of radical extremist groups that are dominating the population with fear and aggression. These people are not only being oppressed by the Israelis and by the armed groups of Gaza. As Americans we have a good reputation of help innocent who need it regardless of the people who lead them. Sadam was the leader of many good people and he also mercilessly killed many of his people and was not a good influence to anyone. So as Americans it checked out and we moved in to save the innocent people who were being oppressed and terrorized by him. And yes many of them did support them, but many of them didn't and our object was to free those people who were in that position or in the flip flop trying to decide. This in my opinion is very similar to the people of Palestine, they need help and anyone whose is innocent even in the heart of enemy territory that needs help should at least be given it. As far as can the Israelis defend themselves, they have. This isn’t the first time they have killed many innocent people in the response to rocket attacks. In the past they just did more discretely and conspicuously. If you think this is the first blood in a while, I would take a stroll on some archives and you’ll be surprised in what you’ll find. Anyway, they do have the right to defend themselves, but to what extent. If some armed group completely bombed a very populated Israeli city in response to an air strike, or targeted car bomb, and bombed the city vigorously in attempt to target military compounds, personnel and or vehicles they would be damned by the whole world and by me. That would be outrageous to target enemies knowing that you would have a great number of innocent deaths. This is what they are doing, carpet bombing Hamas (which by Islamic default and logic I hate) which are in one of the most populated regions of the world and by doing this they very aware that they are going to kill immense amounts of innocent people. This is, by American logic and morels, completely unacceptable and unjust and we should intervene to help not Hamas but the innocent people who need it. I love being an American and am proud of it and proud of being a Libyan.
The way I see it, self defense is not sending one rocket back for every rocket sent your way. Self defense is not killing one person for every one of your people that gets killed. When you are attacked (which Israel has been for years), and you fight back to defend yourself, proportionality (for the most part) goes out the window. Israel has been fighting this war for some time now, and I think they are done. They want this to be over, and unless they continue fighting Hamas militants, it will never end. I think Israel is perfectly justified. And I know, civilian deaths are never justified (though I would like to point out only half of the 800 or so casualties were civilian as claimed by Hamas, people seem to think they've only been killing civilians) but when has a war been fought that didn't claim innocent lives?
Now I think most people are in agreement that some action should be taken against the people attacking Israel, there's no doubt about that, but I'd like to address a few of the things I have heard.
First of all, this scenario is not one where a rouge militant group within Gaza sent a couple rockets over the border and Israel dropped a nuke. The attacks were by Hamas. Hamas (the current elected military power in Palestine) claims these attacks as their own. They violated the cease-fire, not some small militia that happened to be in Gaza at the time.
Secondly, sending in ground troops or a special task force to kill the people responsible for the attacks would not solve the problem of civilian death. Hamas militants would still be hiding behind their own people. The fact that they are hiding out in school buildings proves that they would have no problem holding their own people hostage for what they falsely believe to be a holy war. Moving in ground troops would only cause more Israeli deaths and it would prolong the war.
If they want the fighting to end, all Hamas has to do is stop firing rockets into Israel.
“The Israeli air force carried out about 40 air strikes Wednesday, and Palestinian militants fired about 70 rockets into Israel, the IDF said.” Source > http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/12/31/gaza.israel/
Hamas fired the day after the cease-fire that was made for peace negotiations, dose that in-tell that Hamas and most of his people wish to kill off Israel? But as this blog has posted many times the death ratio is 5/742 Israel being 5, this is aggrieve on behalf of Israel. But over all I believe that Israel is on the right side of things but they are presenting an unfair but just onslaught.
And just a thought, why did Egypt build a wall to separate them self’s from Gaza as Israel did. And why isn’t Egypt helping Gaza?
this war has been going on for thousands of years, and we think that we have the right to say what is right and wrong? we know nothing of this. unless you live there or have been studying the subject for years, then you dont have the right to place judgement on isreal or the palastinians
A random Arab was between you and Bin laden and the only way to kill him is to shoot through the Arab and thus taking Binladen and the Arabs life. What would you do?
Would you murder the life of an innocent to kill a murder?
Bring justice buy being unjust......avenge those innocent who he killed by killing an innocent.
What if there was two in the way or three, ten, 500 or even 1,000,000.....what would you do?
If you hate something so much could you deify your own morels to destroy it?
Revenge and justice are two completely different ideas...revenge with justice....or Revenge with blind hatred.
i have decided that i am with isreal on this one. i just read a book on the conflict and its history, and the isreali's are totaly justified in their attacks. the land of isreal always has been, and in my opinion always will be home to the jewish people. if you doyour research, then you will find that they have almost always had a majority in population there, and to claim otherwise is ignorant, and blindly based on so called "moral obligation".
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