Belgium is our ally too. Where's their three billion?

"Hamas advocates for the destruction of Israel"

So fucking what? If you are gonna be a state, and if you think states are formed by stealing land, and you will not abide by the UN rules and rules of war, people are going to advocate for your destruction. That's politics, pal. That is the level the Zionists decided to play on, and now you're complaining that Hamas "advocates"? Jeez, what a bunch of delicate flowers you Zionists are "Momila, momila, the Hamas is advocating against us!"

What is so shameful is that one look at a map will show how absolutely dishonest your contention that Gaza is a place which can in any way "destroy" Israel.

You ZIonists are sickening.

...and now the Hamas cheering left in America want to see the job finished in the Middle East.

It's just too bad that today's Jews refuse to shuffle onto boxcars and prefer instead take up arms against their enemies.

Indeed, those who have vowed undying hatred for Israel are having their human rights abused by those pesky Israelis that refuse to lie down and die like they should. That's the real tragedy, eh, lefties?

Appropriate support to appropriate need. Belgium is a completely different situation.

I'm a broken record. Negotiation or stalemate. There's no Option C.

__________________________________________

Put another way "Option C" is a built-in reductio ad absurdum: utter Annihilation, aka a Final Solution.

If one takes the position that the Hamas rocket fire justifies massive and unremitting retaliation, and supports Israel's escalation of military operations by any means necessary, it follows that if those stubborn Hamas don't cave, it may be necessary to destroy Palestine in order to save it.

Presumably "reasonable" supporters of Israel will stop short of the "bomb 'em back to the Stone Age" option. Whether this will cause them to further reflect on the problematic root of the No More Mister Nice Guy approach taken so far is another story.

I do support Israel, at least in the sense that my tax dollars help purchase the munitions and the machines that deliver them, into Gaza. What is it--3 Billion bucks? Highest per capita recipient of US free money?

you might want to look up a country called Iraq, bub. And if we tie in the sweatheart tax-free oil-field deals, we're essentially funneling a hundred times what we give to Israel to Saudi Arabia.

The Israel-haters might want to do a global analysis of how much money we give to countries around the world, including stationing our military in Japan, South Korea and Kuwait. Israel is one of a number of countries that we support militarily. And compared to what we're spending blowing up Iraq and Afghanistan, hardly at the top of our financial concerns.

how does Israel "finish this battle?"

My father-in-law, a liberal Democrat, suggests that the only way to finish the battle is to exterminate the Palestinians (his words). He thinks it's too bad, but it must be done. He has a personality disorder that allows him to say things most people would self-censor, but I imagine many of those cheering on the Israeli bombing of UN shelters would agree with him.

Which is one reason why the sanity and empathy demonstrated here by Glenn, Derbig, Ondelette, and many others, is much appreciated.

to stop the Israeli bombs that continually fall from the sky? Should they fire more rockets or negotiate like sissies?

If they do reach a ceasefire, what should they do the first time an Israeli bomb takes out a building in Gaza, or the first time a Gazan is not allowed to travel to/from the strip, or the first time a truck full of food is denied entry, or the first time a Gazan is shot by the IDF?

You don't propose that Hamas just lets these things happen without retaliating do you? How is Israel to learn that the extremists who espouse violence and don't acknowledge Palestinians right to exist are not the ones to support. How will the Israeli people learn that they must put their support behind the moderates, in order to make a peaceful solution possible?

It's just too bad that today's Jews refuse to shuffle onto boxcars and prefer instead take up arms against their enemies.

Hey, nothing passive agressive about that! And, considering the Zionists co-operation with the Facist regimes of WW2, it is not really a place yuo want to go

Derbig Mooser asked you several interesting (to me, as a non-Jew) questions relating to Zionism & how it is perceived/reconciled by Jewish thought.

You have self-identified as a Jew (I believe). I would hope you could answer those questions.

I also had mentally pegged DM as a guy. Funny, how a person's writing style can lead you to the wrong conjecture. I like his/her posts, anyway.

Damn straight Belgium is different. I think their policies are actually more in our US interests than are Israel's. For one thing, they don't chant ceaslessly.

Personally, I think Belgium is a better foreign-aid value.

"a personality disorder"?

Sure, okay. I hope his disability patments can cover the necessities. I mean, something like that keeps you from working, right?

What amazes me most often about fierce critics of Israel is that by letting the Arabs off the hook they encourage them to prolong their own misery.

I'm not clear what you mean here. If by Arabs you mean several Arab states, I'd say that the American government lets them off the hook by supporting them with aid (Egypt and Jordan) and multi-billion dollar weapons sales, and walking away from any hint of a discussion on political and economic reform. How long has Hosni Mubarak been in power in Egypt? And Jordan has a ruling monarch.

One reason the Arab world has yet to make peace with Israel is that tyrants benefit from an outside enemy. So they let the Palestinians refugees live in squalor for generations (unlike Israel who, imperfectly but still, integrated the Jews exiled from Arab lands), use them even in the current battle as human shields, etc.

Many dictatorial states, of course, gain plenty by using the specter of Israel as "the other" to propagandize their populations. But it is too one-sided to blame Palestinian poverty and misery on them alone. You mention that Israel "integrated the Jews exiled from Arab lands" but do not mention that the primary cause of Palestinian misery is created by Israeli policy (you're familiar, I'm sure, from the many here who've posted on Israeli control of Gazan air, land and sea corridors, as well as their policy of severely limiting food and medical supply shipments).

Peace will come when the US and Western World hold the Arab world accountable for their tyrannical practices.

That's part of the equation but it certainly won't be accomplished until "the US and Western World hold [themselves and Israel] accountable for their tyrannical practices."