The fact that Israel justify the war crimes it sommits with the concept of collective punishment pushed to the extreme. I wonder those defending so called collateral damages would willing to apply the same logic to Jews or Americans in general.

"Being critical of Israel doesn't make you anti-semitic, and in fact, KStone, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall ever having leveled that charge against you in particular, even though we constantly argue with each other (although you have called me a bigot). Why? Because as much as I disagree with you, at least you don't make outrageous inflammatory statements like that.

In point of fact, I wholeheartedly agree with you that the charge of anti-semitism is thrown around far too much in the LW section."

Okay, my bad. Fair point. In terms of my bigot charge, you were getting out of hand with the Arab/Islamofascist conflation, but, to keep the peace, I'll withdraw it.

"Now, as to your "rebuttal" to my letter, well, you didn't dispute anything I said. Instead you said that I was putting "ridiculous spin" on it.

Your lackluster attempt at defending yourself?:

Um, he doesn't need to deny or confirm anything because he's making the relevant point. Namely that there was no reported Hezbollah activity near the UN post during the period it was being bombed

Pardon me, but the email strongly suggests that this is a falsehood. If it were true, why not clear it up by explaining what the email writer meant? It's pretty hard to imagine a context where the following does not mean that Israel was responding to militants in the area:

The closest artillery has landed within 2 meters (sic) of our position and the closest 1000 lb aerial bomb has landed 100 meters (sic) from our patrol base. This has not been deliberate targeting, but rather due to tactical necessity.

While it is technically correct that this email did not report Hezbollah activity, it hints at it strongly, the veiled nature of the message itself saying volumes about the politics of the situation. Saying "he doesn't need to deny or confirm anything" is just a way of weaseling out of the issue."

I'm "defending" myself? Strange. Anyway, you're cutting that way too close. It's more than technically correct. How can you ignore that during the bombing period in question there was no Hezbollah activity near the UN post and on top of that the UN folks called the Israelis several times and told them so and asked them to stop, and further, the IDF said they understood and would cease the bombing. The email hints at activity of some sort during another time (and until the entire e-mail is released or reported we won't know the full context and details). But overall, the period difference is critical and can't simply can't be ignored.

Nice Job immitation, but it lacks that Old Testament patina. Israel- miliitary, political Israel- has no inherent righteousness. They've been blowing up their own credibility, and Golan Heights moral high ground, along with the thousands of Lebanese and Palestinian civilians they've obliterated. Like America in Iraq, you've taken world sympathy and blown it to bits. This, you will cry, is antisemitic. What was God when he sent the Israelites into the desert?

This is why you get accused of antisemitism - either you are deliberately distorting the facts, or you are ignorant and spreading the lies of others.

This is from VOA, 12 September 2005:

Palestinians Celebrate After Israeli Troops Leave Gaza

Gaza broke out in wild celebration as Israel pulled out its last troops and ended its 38-year presence there.

As the Israelis left, Palestinians rushed into the now-abandoned Jewish settlements.

They came waving flags, shouting and dancing. Hooded militants also came - showing off their guns, taking credit for the Israeli pullout and vowing to continue the fight.

Many Palestinians headed to the seashore, to beaches that had been part of the settlements and off-limits to Palestinians.

In the south, crowds climbed over walls and through barbed wire separating Gaza from neighboring Egypt. Many met up with relatives on the other side, some of whom they had not seen in the past five years of violence.

Egyptian security officials said they were allowing the crossing as a "humanitarian gesture." But, one Palestinian was killed by gunfire in the chaos along the boundary.

Amid the celebrations...Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called it a day of joy and happiness. He said it was joyous that the long Israeli rule in Gaza had come to an end. He welcomed the taste of freedom, but also cautioned Palestinians they still have a long way to go to achieve statehood.

Yeah, sounds just like a prison...

Before you blow a gasket. I try to read your stuff, but it gets sooo whiney. Please, just stop with the sanctimonious wail - it's doing no good at all. Face it, Israel has gone off the deep end, and its crimes can no longer be hidden from Americans behind a wall of recriminations.

Can be found here:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060718/mideast_lebanon_UN_060716/20060718

Noteable items:

(4) Team Sierra is currently observing both IDF/IAF and Hezbollah military clashes from our vantage point which has a commanding view of the IDF positions on the Golan mountains to our east and the IDF positions along the Blue Line to our south, as well as, most of the Hezbollah static positions in and around our patrol Base. It appears that the lion's share of fighting between the IDF and Hezbollah has taken place in our area. On the night of 16 July, at 2125 hrs, a large firefight broke out between the Hezbollah and the IDF near a village called Majidyye and lasted for one hour and 40 minutes.

He says that Hezbollah is operating "in and around our patrol Base." Hmmm.

He further goes on to say that both sides are engaging in "volatile" and "unpredictable" activities, and the he can no longer perform his normal patrols (indicating that at one time, he was able to perform his patrols, but that now, he cannot).

Then, just as I suspected, he says he is not authorized to say how close Hezbollah is:

This is all the information of a non-tactical nature that I can provide you. I cannot give you any info on Hezbollah position, proximity or the amount of or types of sorties the IAF is currently flying. Suffice to say that the activity levels and operational tempo of both parties is currently very high and continuous, with short breaks or pauses. Please understand the nature of my job here is to be impartial and to report violations from both sides without bias. As an Unarmed Military Observer, this is my raison d'etre.

He then ends by saying that IDF has been bombing very near the base, and that it is a "tactical necessity."

It's very clear that he can't come right out and tell us that Hezbollah has set up shop right near the UN position (for the appearance of "bias"). But he goes on to tell us anyway, without technically violating his raison d'etre.

What I can tell you is this: we have on a daily basis had numerous occasions where our position has come under direct or indirect fire from both artillery and aerial bombing. The closest artillery has landed within 2 meters of our position and the closest 1000 lb aerial bomb has landed 100 meters from our patrol base. This has not been deliberate targeting, but has rather been due to tactical necessity.

So, there is your context, KStone. I wonder if you will have the honesty to admit, at the very least, that the full report is quite suggestive of intentional human shielding by Hezbollah.