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Monday, January 5, 2009 12:00 AM

Why Israelis support the Gaza offensive

Israel's post-traumatic war is not just about stopping Hamas rockets, but about repairing reputations -- and erasing the stain of failure.

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  • Monday, January 5, 2009 10:28 AM

    A better question...

    ...is why so many "progressives" feel that Israel doesn't have a right to defend itself from Hamas attacks. They seem to think that since the rockets don't kill a lot of people, Israel should simply ignore them and give Hamas whatever it wants to make them stop shooting. They think of Israel as the aggressor, even though Israel has been attacked more often than pretty much any nation in history. Any defense of Israel's methods seems to result in charges that the defender is a "Zionist" who is unaware of history and cannot recognize that Israel has flaws. It's frustrating to read the vicious, one-sided attacks on Israel that generally come whenever they take action against the people who are attacking them.

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