This letter is so right on it needs to be posted again!

I agree with you, there appears to be serious war crimes on the part of Israel's recklessness. But when Glenn unleashes his rants, he obscures so many legitimate points of critique that the entire issue devolves into anti-Israel rants and Jewish conspiracy theories involving AIPAC and the "money-lenders."

The legitimate points are this:

Israel should be roundly criticized for not letting journalists into Gaza. Israel should also be held accountable for apparently reckless bombing campaigns that have slaughtered innocent Palestinians and children. Israel must provide evidence for these bombings as Hamas targets.

What gets lost in the rants on this board are the following basic facts:

* Israel does have the right to defend itself. The question here is one of proportionality and response.

* Hamas does use civilians and schools as human shields for their mortar fire. To automatically assume Israel is just "targeting civilians" without waiting to learn more about whether Hamas was firing mortars and rockets from these locations is wilfully ignorant.

* Hamas is a terrorist organization.

The United States accidentally slaughtered innocents targeting Al Qaeda and other terrorists long before George W. Bush drove us off a cliff in Iraq. Bill Clinton killed innocents in Yemen and Afghanistan trying to get Bin Laden. But when America does it, it's a "necessary cost in pursuing terrorism." When Israel does it, it's "TEH WAR CRIMES!"

Our actions in Iraq 2003-2009 are about 50,000 times more egregious in terms of human rights violations, slaughtering innocents and unjustifiably starting a war than anything Israel is doing in Gaza responding to mortar fire.

Yet the outrage discrepancy is unbelievable.

If Glenn posts a diary on American war crimes in Iraq, it gets maybe 50-100 posts. If he posts on Israel, there's a freaking meltdown of Americans frothing with rage at the *temerity* of the Israelis.

This is the embodiment of pathology. There's a reason I/P discussions turn into emotional tornadoes, and it has to do with the uniqueness of Jewry in the world as pariah, demon, pathological "other."

Glenn wants to treat Israel "just like every other country," showing the cognitive inability to perceive his own biases and passions, which bleed through every one of his rants.

The "love" for the suffering Palestinians is as much a fraud here as it is in Egypt, Syria or in an Osama Bin Laden tape. You people excoriating Israel on this board care as much about the Palestinians as does the Arab world, which is to say you don't. They're just the convenient pawns to hang your pre-determined philosophies on.

-- WinSmith

Exactly what part of holding a civilian population captive, depriving them of a lively hood, restricting the import of food and medicine and then using the weapons of modern warfare in order to kill them, do you equate with Judaism or the Jewish people?

How close are you to just gassing them?

Keeping the Red Cross from helping those kids who spent four days clinging to the dead mothers after herding all those people into the house and then shelling it s just beyond our capability to grasp and comprehend. You can't even compare that to anything else. What monsters can top that? Name one.

Why do you think that war and atrocity are excused by Judaism and your label of anti-semitism? How dare you? These are not the works of the Jewish Religion, People or Tradition, these are the works of war criminals and monsters. You soil, libel and slander Judaism so the war industry can make the big bucks.

HOW MANY FINGERS AM I HOLDING UP?

Context counts. Why should any gentile care about what is going on over there, and why are so many of you so quick to denounce Israel?

Oh, I don't know, maybe cause you're an insulting little prick? Becuse your letters alternate between being suit-worthy and punch-worthy?

If you care so fucking much about Israel, could you at least make an attempt to act like a civilised person.

Here, have a nice glass tea and a piece fruit.

"money-lenders."

Oh, really? Who used that term? Would you reproduce the sentence you saw it in, please.

"Why should any gentile care about what is going on over there, and why are so many of you so quick to denounce Israel?"

Indeed. If I were you I'd write a stern letter to my congress person and senator abut that anti-semitic resolution supporting Israel. Why should they care what happens over there, those dumb gentiles, every year voting three billion dollars in aid to Israel. What nerve.

I agree with you, there appears to be serious war crimes on the part of Israel's recklessness.

Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk about those awful people who are SAYING BAD STUFF ABOUT ISRAEL!!!

Yeah, Mark, I can see Zionist support in America going one way only. I can see a lot of people being very impressed with the insouciance of that war-crimes admission. Good Luck!

And I spelled "insouciance" right, all by myself!

If Glenn posts a diary on American war crimes in Iraq, it gets maybe 50-100 posts. If he posts on Israel, there's a freaking meltdown of Americans frothing with rage at the *temerity* of the Israelis.

This is really something. Who shows up when the issue involves Israel? People like you, WinSmith, Zoltan, zenwick and any number of other like-minded people who assault the comment section with God-knows-how-many posts. That's why those numbers pop.

Here, in Boise, ID, we have an annual (every January) event known as an inversion. It's similar to what happens here on this topic: anything, everything, contorts into a peculiar, mysterious pathology called "Even if it isn't anti-semitism, I'm going to call it anti-semitism. Therefore, by God, that's what it is!"

Inversion. Also known as smog. And it's difficult to breathe.

If Glenn posts a diary on American war crimes in Iraq, it gets maybe 50-100 posts. If he posts on Israel, there's a freaking meltdown of Americans frothing with rage at the *temerity* of the Israelis.

Better get used to it, Marky. And it's gonna get worse, much worse after this assault, too.

A person could even use the Israel war-action films available on the internet, and then show the consequences on the ground of each particular account, from other sources. It's gonna be brutal, brutal, and almost the entire worls will be enraged at Israel.

Why, is there something you can do about it? You should, it's gonna be rough.