1. Ok, the "tiny box" meraphore was not in order to offend you, just trying to say that you shoult try and understand why things get done from the Israeli side before waving it off as something which is wrong from looking at all sides.
What makes you think I don't? But there are some issues where you can look at the Israeli side until the cows come home and it doesn't change the conclusion. Like the occupation itself. It is illegal. It's been illegal for the last 45 years. The only solution in this situation is for Israel to end it. That land isn't theirs and it will never be their's. In 45 years, not a single country on this planet has recognized their right to that land.
2. The Hebron case is complicated, I am not that familiar with the issue of Hebron, just that every now and then we hear about clashes between Jews and Arabs. The soldiers are there to try and prevent those clashes. More often the soldiers arrest Jews then they do Arabs, lately.
Actually, it's the opposite. And it's the opposite in large numbers. 410 Palestinian's homes were bulldozed to the ground in that area, as opposed to only 10 settlers homes. Some homes were bulldozed on only a half-hours notice. What Israeli side am I missing here? You can say, "well, they didn't have the permit to build that extra room". I would say, "bulldozing down a house because they couldn't get a building permit the Israeli's refused to give them, is a little excessive".
They have to go. The Israeli government, that is. It is illegal to change the demographics of an area under occupation. If Israeli citizens want to live there, they can apply for visa's, just like any other alien in a foreign country.
I prefer to think of the settlers as jewish insurgents. It's a better definition of who they really are.
I condemn it as well. But we have a certain disconnect of scale here. For every one jewish kid murdered, you have a thousand Palestinian kids die as a result of Israeli policies.
Surely there is no wrong there, right?
No, there's wrong there. But there's much more wrong committed by the Israeli's, than there is by the Palestinian's. As long as the Israeli's are the occupiers, they are the aggressor's and bear the brunt of the responsibility for what happens in that area.
5. You may have not written the article, but you do make an opinion that is based on a verry narrow kind of knowledge.
How is it narrow? I've read several articles from many different sources all on this subject. How is that narrow? And these articles are not just some op-ed in the NYT, these are from jewish human rights groups in Israel that are seeing this first hand. Like Rabbi's for Human Rights or Jewish Voice for Peace. Other articles are from Amnesty International or the ICRC. How is that narrow? How can all these un-related organizations, write about the same topic and all come to the same conclusion?
There are so many Israeli kiss-asses out there, they get way to much benefit of the doubt.
1. Ok, when we talk about the 'occupation' we talk only about the area that people call the west bank, Judea and Samaria.
It is a well known mistake to think about it as an occupied land. But occupied from whom? Jordan? why Jordan never claimed that land? for which OFFICIAL state the Israeli government took this land by force? none, that is.
There is no official "Palestine" in field, so how can people say we "took the land by force"? That is what I don't get. Israel gained that land only because Jordan, which took this land by force in 48, lost it.
Right now it's "undefined" piece of land. undefined is not occupied. that is why we need a policy that decides exactly what to do there. If it's Israel, FINE. If it's not, FINE. but don't dcrew up the people mind anymore.
"what Israeli side am I missing here". you ask. I will again take you back to the horrible year that was 2005. thousands of Jews were expelled from their houses because some delluded leader thought it will bring peace. did it? 2 weeks after there was a terror attack, not long after the rockets showers on south Israel began to reach a new range (being launched from the SAME lands Israel gave back). So taking MORE Jews out will be better? there is a limit to how you can mock the Israeli mind. Many Jews have learned to never again give up anymore land, because not only it brings nothing GOOD, it makes the situation worse and more Israelis die. THAT is the main "Israeli side" you miss here.
2. As for Hebron, the same thing. the Bulldozing of Palestinian houses happen only in case of terror attack involvement. Can you please give me a link of a Palestinian house being destroyed in the last time period that was not because of involvement of terror?
3. The scale is explained by many reasons. Palestinians in Gaza don't have shelters. Palestinians in Gaza don't separate an Islamic Jihad soldier from a Palestinian toddler. Palestinians say THEMSELVES that "they cherish death" in the same way the Yahud "cherish life". They Use their women and children as human shields. They send minors to be suicide bombers. they tell mothers of young boys that their children being bomed with Jews will grant them paradise.
So you expect the scale of deaths being the same?
It is not at all surprising.
4. Children dying is always horrible, i don't really care of what is more. that should not happen on any case. I truely think that Palestinians don't appriciate their children. or else they would not have brainwashed them thatr killing Jews brings them to heaven. That's just awful. Because that Israel is the "stronger" and the "occupier" it is expected to have higher morals. that's logical. but when the other side have no morals at all, what do you do?
Not to long ag, few weeks ago, we have heard about a tragedy in Rehovot. Central Israel. A Jewish woman lost her husband and 5 children in a fire. the father tried to save the children from the burning apartment and died with them, the wife's screams were filmed and showed all over the news, when realizing that her entire family was lost, just few nights before Passover.
tragic.
sad.
What was more sad, though, was to go on Palestinian websites and see them cheer and laugh with eachother, gloating the event and asking why didn't the wife and other "filthy Jews" died as well. Not even ONE stopped and thought and said, "wait, it's wrong".
Is that the kind of people Israel is expected to have peace with? I wonder.
What is to hold people to act in the smae way toward and enemy who has no morals.? If it was a psychology class I could have babbled on this question for HOURS
5. How is it narrow? Let me tell you.
In the last rocket round in south Israel, nearly 200 rockets have been launched on Israeli civilians (no one mentioned war crime there, take note. it's war crime only when Israel acts in Gaza. when million innocent Israelis are under fire? nothing wrong there) in 3 DAYS only. Do the math. Imagine each two hours you have missiles falling down in your neighborhood. The round began in IDF killing the man who was responsible of killing 8 Israelis in the terror attack near Eilat, and planned a future attack, similar to the one that occured, in the approaching passover. in reaction the middiles attack started, then the IDF went reacting to them, too. 90% of Palestinian death in that round, were terrorists.
While southern Israelis were left in their shelters, afraid to go out because missiles were falling ALL the time, children didn't go to school, parents didn't go to work, restautants were closed, shooping centers deserted, the homefront worked extra and they were all under emergency situation, while all that happenes, imagine what happenes an hour driving from the burning south. citizens of tel Aviv partying, celebrating (it was the Purim holiday0 drinking and completely forgetting that just 60 Kilometers from where they live, their own brothers are being bombed. some even went out, yelling and cursing the IDF who simply defended the southerners.
Those peace activists who wrote those articles? almost all of them are people who live in Tel Aviv or the places nearby, less then 10% of them ever been in any bombed Israeli area of ever listened to thecivilians under attack.
In the Israeli daylife, the south is the soft stomach. It is also the area that nobody cares about. so when those people who write those things are cluless THEMSELVES about what's happening to their own brothers, those who rely on their narrow knowledge get comfused as well.
I would have liked to see those peace activists and human rights activists, just ONCE, doing something for the southerners.
