"I still have not heard a response, however, to my initial question. What do you want the Israelis to do if Hamas commits acts of war against it? That is the current issue."

Uh, maybe try and understand why Hamas is doing that, and try and do something about it, before resorting to violence against civilians?

Of course, the Israelis know very well why, although they sure don't want the US to-- it isn't because Hamas are a bunch of extreme insane blood-thirsty lunatics you can't negotiate with; it because they represent a bunch of people with no hope, that have been degraded, abused, humiliated, and treated like human garbage, and will vote for virtually anybody that seems to want to do something about it instead of advance their own interests.

(The Israeli Firsters keep up with the stupid and inane 'What if Mexico/Canada' launched missles against the US?' analogy-- The answer is, of course, try and figure out why such an insane and ridiculous thing was happening, duh.)

I certainly may have scrambled my early Sunday School lessons, but I keep remembering about Sodom and Gomorrah and how God (yes, the same one the Jew "worships") would not destroy the towns if Lot could find just one good person.

It seems the Israelis have it all bass ackwards. They level a place if they find just one bad dude, damn the innocent.

I can see it now. "Oh, so sorry. You had nothing to do with badness but you happened to be in a position to cost me a little time, so I removed you."

You'd think the Israelis could at least try to act like their god does.

Look Glenn, we know you hate Israel, and we know you have a problem with Jews.

But answer this simply question, how does Israel keep Hamas from firing rockets at her civilians?

That you want to discount the number of death is idiotic. War is not a body count on each side.

To you, only 10 "ten" -10- no less and Israel is the devil itself for attacking back.

You would not tolerate for any period of time having to stay within 15 seconds of a bomb shelter, which now a significant percentage of Israelis do. It's only Israel's early warning system and bomb shelters that have kept their death relatively low.

Maybe instead of smuggling in rockets, Hamas should have been building bomb shelters for Gaza civilians.

Instead, when someone attacks someone stronger, and yes Israel is stronger than Hamas, and then loses, you are the idiotic left jump in and start screaming "IT'S ONE SIDED." Of course it is, the weaker side attacked, and you always want to be stronger than your enemy.

As I've posted in another thread. I think Hamas is actually trying to keep Gaza civilian deaths to a minimum, they don't appear to be deliberately hiding behind civilians (this is an improvement and change) and certainly Israel is not blameless either.

But you are so one sided as to be completely incapable of examining the issues critically.

It boils down to Hamas wants to destroy Israel, that make peace rather hard between the two. Hamas has said no International Forces to ensure a lasting cease fire, and Hamas today turned down the French/Egyptian brokered cease fire.

Oh, and by the way we will most certainly not agree to disagree-- you see, I have facts on my side, and you have propaganda on yours. The truth cannot "agree to disagree" with a lie.

"You 9/11 Truth guys are full of crap.

"And that's all I have to say about that. Now can we get back to talking about Israel's invasion of Gaza, and our government's approval of it?"

-- liberalrob

Just for the sake of standing up and being counted, I'm on the side of the "truthers."

And, I don't think that necessarily means that we're helpless in the face of a totally irrational world (as someone else on this board asserted). Irrationality and fascism may be growing everywhere, but it's not God. Not yet.

please excuse this interruption of the thread topic.

As you were.

Hamas talks tough, but in the end, what does it really mean? Not much when the leader of Hamas Khaled Mashaal has tacitly accepted their right to exist.

Mashaal, who spoke at a news conference, said that the future Palestinian state must have Jerusalem as its “genuine, sovereign capital. He did not say whether he meant the eastern, Arab, section or the entire city.

“We agree to a (Palestinian) state on pre-67 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital with genuine sovereignty without settlements but without recognising Israel,” Mashaal said.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3791655.ece

The bottom line is that Hamas does not, and will never, have the capacity to destroy Israel, that's silly. At some point, they will have to modify their position just as Al Fatah did. Unfortunately this latest pogrom has probably pushed that date back a generation.

Fight fire with fire and we all get burned.

I find it disturbing that you seem unable to tell the difference between Hamas and "Palestinians" (which you seem to be saying are all refuting Israel's right to exist). Do you know the difference? Perhaps I should ask, do you care?

"OMFG how barbaric! How unreasonable! How shocking that anyone demand the right to exist!"

But how chronically insecure and paranoid does one have to be that you constantly demand by pointing guns at stateless and dispossessed poor people that they should shout their agreement that you do in fact exist.

People get looked up in asylums for less.

Here is what the police do. If a bank robber takes hostages, they negotiate. If that fails they may try to snipe the guy. What they don't do is call in an air strike on the bank, killing the bank robber and all the hostages.

One is proportionate, the other is not. Your analogy fails.

Being from Wisconsin and a fan of Feingold I have to stick up for him a little bit. His press release about Gaza wasn't exactly a summary of this blog post, but from a sitting senator it is about as even handed as you could hope for.

"No country should tolerate terrorism and Israel has every right to protect its citizens from Hamas missile attacks. But I am concerned that the military operations in Gaza could backfire and lead to more violence. In addition, every effort must be made to allow innocent civilians in Gaza to receive humanitarian assistance. I hope a ceasefire can be reached as soon as possible so that serious progress can be made toward a two-state solution. To achieve that, there must be sustained diplomatic efforts including the appointment of a high-level U.S. official to work on this issue every day until a resolution can be reached.”

Link is below