Historical amnesia and Gaza

The question remains, how does the US get out of this Israeli trap that it aggressively supported building?
We can't possibly form strong alliances with other world leaders in the Middle East as things stand.
There can be no peace in constant wartime.

Oh God.

Shouldn't the clock start in 1947?

Isn't the question 'Where do we start?' a bit redundant in the current situation. Whilst I agree that asking the question, and the subsequent answer given, helps to define the conflict, it comes across as another mechanism to place the blame. Depending on where the timeline starts naturally defines the party at fault, and thus the conflict.
Yet it seems quite unnecessary to need to. Clearly both parties have wronged the other. Both parties have committed atrocities. And neither party will admit anything.
What needs to be confronted now is how to solve the present crisis as it stands now. Playing the blame game like this is superfluous, and to an extent, backwards.

umm try again homie!!! your paste skills aint so good!

hahaha.....good because you were looking like an idiot with all that data bs that no one could read....daily show i guess right?

Have you noticed that the banking and wall street firms that got the big bailout are 90% run by Jewish Ceo's, Bernie Maddow with the 50 billion ponzi sceam. I'm all for helping Israel but we have got to put the breaks on for a second and realize that the rest of the world may soon step in. I am not anti-semitic and believe Israel should exist but it doesn't give the Jewish people cart blanch to kill as many civilians in this war and the world economy.

"Insanity is repeating the same action and expecting a different result."

To be fair, the continued blockade of Gaza was certainly counterproductive to peace. The Israelis did allow a huge amount of humanitarian goods in, but that was not enough to create "good will" amongst Palestinians, many (%?) of whom have been brainwashed over generations by radicalized Islam to "kill the Jews wherever you find them".

I honestly don't know what percentage of Palestinians want a peaceful, 2 state solution to this mess. They did, after all, reject the 1947 UN Partition Plan, the Oslo Plan, The Camp David Plan, instead electing to follow the PLO and Hamas rather than the likes of a Palestinian Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. They would have been much better served by the latter, a point on which most of us would agree. To be sure these voices have been stifled over the last 60 years, but the fact remains that a complete renunciation of terrorism (random violence targeted at civilians) by the Palestinians would bring the quickest end to this repeating tragedy. It's probably the only way it can ever happen. Israel will not stop defending it's citizens from terrorism in return for nothing.

A government must protect it's citizens. Israel is fulfilling it's primary function IF it is able to secure an end to the rockets and such. However, this hasn't happened yet so it remains doubtful. While Israel is trying to perform it's role as protector of it's citizens, Hamas is doing the opposite.

Hamas sets off the rockets they know will eventually lead to Israeli retaliation. When the retaliation comes, they hide amongst civilians and use their corpses as props for propoganda. So long as Hamas continues attacking Israel with rockets, it is working against the safety and security of Palestinians. The result of the rockets was predictable but more importantly, it was preventable.

Perhaps if the rockets would stop for say, 3 months, the Israelis would ease their control of the borders and good will would create more good will, etc. Instead, the rockets will continue and violence will beget more violence. Israel will always use their military when they feel threatened. Not only is it appropriate, it is the only reason they still exist therefore it's built into their collective psyche. On the other side, the Palestinians have martyrdom and jihad built into their collective psyche.

In my opinion, the Palestinians must turn away from their addiction to martyrdom and jihad before Israel can give up it's addiction to using military force to solve problems.

Someone has to change their behavior first. If the Israeli's stop first (which they tried to do but fell short of by keeping the blockade in place), will the Palestinians follow suit? According to history, the answer is no. However, if the Palestinians could somehow find the strength to reject terrorism and jihad, I do believe the Israeli's would follow suit and peace would follow.

Many of you undoubtedly feel it is unfair to place the burden of change at the feet of the Palestinians, but I have explained why I feel it must start with them. The question is how do the Palestinians find it in themselves to turn from terrorism and jihad? It seems unlikely in the midst of Israel's military campaign, but what about afterward? Is it possible?

What?? That cute blond Israeli spokesperson who is so calm and smooth and unbothered by Palestinian children dying is also running for Prime Minister? Really?

Quite a campaign.

i think that when Israel is finished they should help the Palestinians rebuild by providing money and material. therefore creating jobs for them which is the main thing that frustrates the ordinary Palestinian.

@profe7:

The most important thing the Israeli's can do is open the borders after they pull out. The Israeli's fear doing this because it will allow more weapons in which will be used against them by Hamas and it's supporters. But it must be done to create good will and prove to the world that they are NOT trying to stagnate the establishment of a thriving Palestinian state by keeping it under siege.

If the Israeli's pull back out and ALSO open the borders, no one will ever be able to blame further terrorism against them as the result of occupation or siege. After some good will is established, trade between the 2 countries would bolster the Gazan economy.

Also, just to mention this- Israel has given hundreds of millions of dollars to Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah in the West Bank, for no other reason than the fact he has publicly declared a desire for a peaceful, two-state solution. If Hamas were to do the same and actually stop committing acts of violence against Israeli civilians, Israel would do even more to create a thriving Palestinian state as it's neighbor.

There's a simple solution to end this cycle of violence. The Palestinians must declare their collective desire and willingness for a peaceful, two-state solution and show they mean it by stopping the rockets and suicide bombings. In return, Israel will pull out all troops and settlers (already done in 2005), open the borders (not done), and provide economic aid (done with Fatah but not Hamas).

The main obstacle is that Hamas will never make a sincere declaration for peace. Even if Palestinians elect more moderate leadership who are willing to accept a two-state solution, they must also be capable of preventing Hamas from acting on it's own to destroy the peace process. There is only one Palestinian group that stands ANY chance of preventing Hamas from unilaterally destroying any peace process, and that is Fatah.

That's the reason the US, EU, and Israel provide BILLIONS in arms and money to Fatah. They are the only possible peace partner currently in existence with the will and power to defeat Hamas and allow a peace process to move forward.

There is good reason to suspect that Fatah might turn out to be as useless as a peace partner as Hamas, but right now they're the only option. At least Abbas has stated his desire for a peaceful, two-state solution. If Fatah turns out to be full of shit, the situation actually becomes even more hopeless!

There's an even simpler and fare more effective solution - the USA must tell Israel that they will not get a cent more of US taxpayers' money until they have crafted a fair, just and viable peace agreement with Palestinians which includes the return to the pre 1967 borders, the dismantling of all the settlements, and reparation for all the destroyed homes, farms, olive groves, and deaths. Israel will then effect this agreement to the full within just a couple or so weeks.

What you believe, want to believe, allow yourself to believe, are taught to believe, and ultimately might only halfway believe if you're smart exists.

Blame the design of humans, then fix it in a non-traditional, futuristic way please.

No doubt about it;without the unconditional support,morally and,even far more important,by a never ending flow of money from the Jewish American community to Israel,thus facilitating the Israeli activities/over-the-top agression,Israel would have to start negotiating with Hamas,or at least a case-fire would be reached.The money-pipeline should stay closed until both parties had reached an agreement.Hamas,in my opinion,though democratically elected,is still a terrorist organisation and one day will have to recognize the state of Israel,but this will never be achieved by violence.It seems almost imossible,I know,but I also am convinced that the first step must be the withdrawel of money and unconditional support for Israel.This his nothing to do with being pro- or anti-IsraelDuring the 6day war,I had a bumper-sticker on my car:"I support Israel" and I still consider myself to be a friend of that nation,but I am disgusted by the way their army is (re)acting.In order to give peace-talks a chance,Hamas should be promised healthcare,education,practical knowledge and experience,more wealth and above all,a lasting peace."You may say I'm a dreamer,but I'm not the only one".I know,it's just an idea,but I feel so helpless and it's going on and on...........................

Sorry,where it says:cas-fire",it should be cease-fire,of course.

The situation in the middle east is horrific, and to blame just one side would be foolish. It takes two to tango, and the same goes for war as well.

Crisis in Gaza, rhetoric rage on Nothing Changes as people Die...

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gabriela Shalev, said the goal of the offensive against Hamas is to "destroy completely" what she called a "terrorist gang."

One Agenda
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told parliament
"We have a war to the bitter end against Hamas,"

"sustainable and durable" cease-fire would allow resumption of talks about a Palestinian state "living side by side in peace" with Israel.

Make your vote count........

Israel is a lot like Bush's USA. Mostly good people, evil warmongering government. It's time for regime change in Israel.

It is easy to see that this conflict has passionate opinions on both sides. It is key to understand that this is a conflict between two very religious nations and not a conflict between religious groups.

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It's time the Palestinians chose responsible people to build their destiny. How could the Hamas imagine Israël would not strike back to protect its civilians

The international community hopes that Israel can quickly and carefully do what needs to be done to protect its citizens and thwart the nonstop terrorist rocketfire from Gaza.