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U.N. calls for immediate truce as Gaza death toll tops 500

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Mass murder. Shame on Israel.

-7 ( +5 / -12 )

Ah, Netanyahu will just call the calls for ceasefire anti-Semitic and insist Israel has the right to commit mass murder.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

I do not like Netinyahoo but these Hamas dudes are also real happy now!! As long as they keep firing missiles into Israel from Gaza, the Jewish state has the right and will get revenge, but this only breeds more hate and the Palestinians will also want revenge, so as long as both sides want to keep killing each other, peace in that part of the world has a SNOW balls chance in HELL of actually becoming a reality, IMHO.

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

The ceasefire attempt a few days ago was refused by Hamas with the following comment:

Our battle with the enemy is ongoing and will increase in ferocity and intensity. It is a Jihad, victory or martyrdom.

The only mass murder going on here is that of Palestinians by their own leaders, Hamas.

3 ( +8 / -5 )

From Wednesday, the IDF did everything possible to make sure that innocents would not be harmed, and Hamas did everything they could to keep them in place as human shields.

How can any reporter know which of the dead children were killed by Israeli fire and which were killed by Hamas RPGs? How many were killed by IDF bombers and how many from Hamas weapons caches that were detonated by those bombs?

Hamas made no secret that it is booby-trapping civilian areas and attempting to lure IDF soldiers and vehicles into deadly ambushes - how many civilians were killed through Hamas' extensive efforts to kill or capture IDF soldiers?

The sad fact is that with every dead child, Hamas wins and Israel loses. For all that Israel does to minimize the loss of innocent lives, (on both sides of the battlefield), Hamas does the opposite.

3 ( +8 / -5 )

After years of worsening conditions the ‘occupants’ totally outgunned have started another uprising; I can only conclude it must have been to maintain their human dignity. The outcome is bound to be a disaster. Either way they are going to be killed (Combatants) or murdered (Civilians). I’d argue that the same harrowingly sad rational has held true before in the recent past of the Jewish Nation. Has no one learnt anything from history? Israel –the Israel instigating this war– you either carry out a continuos assault on the Palestinian people, fellow human beings, or you stop, STOP and talk and find and GIVE reason to live together. There are plenty of Israelis who want to live in peace with an equal partner. I hope THAT Israel wins the day.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

When did the UN find relevance? No nation on earth listens to them. Russia and China ignore the UN. North Korea and Sudan thumb their noses at UN resolutions. So what makes the UN think Israel will listen to their pablum?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Any nation that massacres innocent children should be ostracized ! So easy for Israel to abuse it's power as the Nazis did to the Jews in the last world war.

The world needs to show the Israelis that killing innocent people won't be tolerated...

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

I'm constantly amazed that the State Department and John Kerry have considered this as highest priority as Syria is melting down, as ISIS becomes an Islamic State, as Iraq begins to fall apart, as Iran ascends as a potential nuclear power, as Libya is back to an ungoverned area, as you see now with Ukraine and Russia and yet the Secretary of State has decided that his principal focus has been the negotiation between the Palestinians and the Israelis and you just sort of raise the question, does the administration believe as many of critics of Israel believe that if we solve the Israeli Palestinian issue, all the other issues are going to go away and it leaves the impression that's exactly what this administration believes.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Due to the Hamas Terrorists being cowards they use innocent people as shields for their weapon caches and launch sites - choosing schools and hospitals seems to be a favorite tactic of theirs. Israel knew this going in and has issued warning for the innocents to vacate the area, Hamas is preventing many of them from seeking safety. So the real cause of the innocent deaths are at the hands of their own leaders - the cowardly Hamas are little more than a pack of rabid dogs.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Any nation that massacres innocent children should be ostracized ! So easy for Israel to abuse it's power as the Nazis did to the Jews in the last world war.

And the way racist Afrikaners treated the blacks under apartheid. (With the ANC being deemed a terrorist organization.) Palestine today is a walled European-Zionist enclave with majority Arab Bantustans.

Palestine is in the middle of an Arab region and it's simply going to be impossible to get Arabs to accept second (or lower) class status.

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

Hamas is an organization that is viewed by the US, EU, Canada, Jordan, Egypt and Japan as a terrorist organization. The founding charter of Hamas calls for the complete and utter eradication of the "Zionist entity" (i.e. Israel) from the face of the earth and the establishment of a dictatorial Islamic state in its place. The organization steadfastly refuses to remove or replace such claims despite worldwide calls for it to do so.

The Israelis withdrew from Gaza, so to call it an "occupied territory" is incorrect. In fact, Israel provides Gaza with 80% of its power and water supplies, since Gaza's own elected officials are too busy siphoning off government funds into their own pockets to actually give a damn for its citizens. Despite living in a so-called "prison," the Gazan Arabs continue to maintain the 13th highest annual population growth rate in the entire world, and rely on outside support for almost all their basic needs.

Hamas began unilaterally launching rockets into Israel first, before Israel made any move whatsoever. It is well documented that Hamas maintains a strategy of hiding weapons and tunnels around, under and in civilian areas, and uses human shields as a wartime strategy. Israel was the first to propose (and implement) a cease fire, but Hamas rejected it and continued to fire rockets at civilian areas inside Israel. Now Hamas refuses more recent requests for a cease fire and continues to launch rockets and send terrorist fighters through Hamas-funded tunnels into Israel proper.

These are facts. Hamas is not the victim here, but the aggressor, plain and simple.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Two simple questions:

1) If tomorrow Israel laid down its arms and declared that it would fight no more, what would happen? 2) If tomorrow the Arab countries surrounding Israel laid down their arms and declared that they would fight no more, what would happen?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@yabits

Yes, you are correct South Africa had a system that ultimately failed due to its inherent contradictions and so will Israel's........

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

These are facts.

Let's see....

Hamas began unilaterally launching rockets into Israel first, before Israel made any move whatsoever

Wow. 100% incorrect. As clamped down as Gaza already was, Israel placed severe economic sanctions on Gaza as soon as the people of Gaza elected the Hamas government. An economic blockade is an act of war; the rockets came after.

The founding charter of Hamas calls for the complete and utter eradication of the "Zionist entity" (i.e. Israel) from the face of the earth

Again, not correct. They want the eradication of the Zionist entity from Palestine. The Zionists are free to set up an entity in some other location where the indigenous population welcomes them. But people need to understand that the Zionists, from the very start, declared that all of Palestine was to be a Jewish entity and indivisible. No non-Jew would be able to own land on it. Keep in mind that when the Zionists were drawing up their charter, Palestine was 90% Arab and had been so for centuries. I could certainly understand the sentiments of a majority population reacting to an alien entity wanting to deprive them of their land.

and the establishment of a dictatorial Islamic state in its place

Once the restoration of the Jewish homeland is complete (or nearly so), and the Arabs problem has been finally solved. Israel will move increasingly towards a system based on Old Testament law. (And that isn't a democracy.)

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

Farmboy,

and a lot of these casualties could have been avoided.

How?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

I can't say if Palistine will listen to the UN but I'm 100% sure that Israel won't abide by their call. It's a FACT that Israel holds the world record in BROKEN UN resolutions, no one else even comes close!

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Stuart

It's a FACT .....no one else even comes close!

Oh really. What makes you say that?

1 ( +4 / -3 )

1) If tomorrow Israel laid down its arms and declared that it would fight no more, what would happen?

Not sure if this hypothetical is not of the "If a frog had wings" variety. If one day the German army had just laid down its arms, would the surrounding countries be justified in wanting to eradicate Nazism? (The thing that drove them to fight in the first place...)

The source of the issue is an alien force who, from Europe, proclaimed that all of Palestine was to be under its control. They made no allowances whatsoever for the 90% Arab population -- a people living in Palestine for centuries. In fact, you'll hear some of Israel's defenders claim that there are no such things as Palestinian Arabs -- which is equivalent to eradicating a people in an intellectual sense. And these people with no provable family ties to the region were going to come in and take over their land and call themselves the real Palestinians.

That so many people have fallen for this must have an other-worldly influence.

I can't say if Palistine will listen to the UN but I'm 100% sure that Israel won't abide by their call.

You can be 100% certain that any U.N. resolution that runs counter to the aims of Zionism will be violated. From the time when the UN first got involved in 1948 -- via UNSCOP -- Ben-Gurion and the Zionists were planning to violate the provisions they disagreed with while at the same time using the provisions they agreed with to frame their public message.

If someone hands you an agreement with 10 provisions and you claim to accept it while planning to break 4 of them, have you in fact accepted it? I suppose if you hated one party enough, you might want to overlook the other's flagrant and willful violations.

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

After years of Hamas rule I think people are growing tired of them....

2 ( +3 / -1 )

JTDan Man: Simply google it, if you don't believe me. ISRAEL has BROKEN MORE UN RESOLUTIONS THAN ANY COUNTRY OR STATE! I guess you don't like the truth.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

" U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon was also in Doha where he urged Israel to /exercise maximum restraint/. /Too many innocent people are dying…(and) living in constant fear,/ he told a news conference in Doha. "

So where was this hypocrite when Hamas rockets landed in Israeli towns? Firmly looking the other way, of course.

The way how both the UN and the international media kick into full Israel bashing mode each time Israel dares to respond to Hamas terrorism is truly sickening.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Israeli Politicians are all Rothschild Zionist and their main mission is to permanently get rid off all Palestinians from their lands. They do not give a hoot about dead innocent Palestinian children.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Yabits: "As clamped down as Gaza already was, Israel placed severe economic sanctions on Gaza as soon as the people of Gaza elected the Hamas government. An economic blockade is an act of war; the rockets came after."

Heck, electing Hamas, a known terrorist organization, was an act of war.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Lol, thumbs down for pointing out the truth. Besides the most broken UN resolutions, Israel also receives more "military aid", (weapons & cash) , from the US, than any other country or state in the world.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

I find it sad that following the news earlier this year that of 150,000 Palestinians in one refugee camp, only 20,000 remained, others having been literally starved to death (including 18 children and babies), murdered, arrested, tortured (schools and hospitals bombed) or forced to flee, the world was silent. I tried to find threads on JT like this one, from people angry about the treatment of Palestinians there, but in stark contrast to now, almost nothing.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

It is also ironic that while in Iraq, the "Islamic Caliphate" ISIS is carrying out a genocide of the Iraqi christians (and yazidis and mandeans, for that matter), the UN has nothing to say about that. Instead, they find the energy to lambast Israel for the crime of defending itself against Hamas rockets.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

It is also ironic that while in Iraq, the "Islamic Caliphate" ISIS is carrying out a genocide of the Iraqi christians (and yazidis and mandeans, for that matter), the UN has nothing to say about that.

Utter nonsense!

"The UN Security Council has condemned the upsurge of violence in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul by ISIS, which it calls a "terrorist organisation".

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-06-12/un-condemns-isis-attacks-in-iraqs-mosul/

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

All the people here lambasting Israel and claiming to support the Palestinians, where was your outrage at the murder, torture and displacement of thousands of Palestinian men, women, children and babies in Syrian camps a couple of months ago? I'd take people a bit more seriously if I saw them protesting when Arabs kill Palestinians and not only when Israel is involved.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

japonaise,

We've already heard lots about Hamas' evils, although Bibi himself last month acknowledged they hadn't fired rockets since 2012:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas on Monday (30th June) of involvement, for the first time since a Gaza war in 2012, in rocket attacks on Israel

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/06/30/uk-palestinian-israel-idUKKBN0F51CZ20140630

To improve our understanding of how conflict may be resolved, what grievances do Palestinians bear against the state of Israel? Please respect the limit and scope of the question.

Thanks, Japonaise!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

All the people here lambasting Israel and claiming to support the Palestinians, where was your outrage at the murder, torture and displacement of thousands of Palestinian men, women, children and babies in Syrian camps a couple of months ago? I'd take people a bit more seriously if I saw them protesting when Arabs kill Palestinians and not only when Israel is involved.

Wow. First of all, many if not most of the Palestinians in Syrian camps are there because of Israel's actions which displaced them from their lands. How could you overlook that?

Secondly, nobody is here urging the Syrians to kill more Palestinians. But yet we witness folks criticizing Israel for holding back and not killing more Palestinians.

Third, my nation at least is not sending money to Syria so they can commit injustices and atrocities on Palestinians. My nation is funding Israel's actions.

Fourth, the persistent nature of the injustices reveal an evil at the core of Zionism which, like apartheid and Nazism, must be confronted.

-8 ( +3 / -11 )

what grievances do Palestinians bear against the state of Israel?

The Palestinian grievances that I hear about are with their leaders. Israel left Gaza many years ago and the day-to-day problems that Palestinians face, like getting jobs, getting a decent education for their children, especially girls, like having dreams for the future where there's no fighting, like being able to live as free people, are nothing to do with Israel.

I feel that this is not what you want to hear, but I'm sorry, that is what I've been hearing for a long time now.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Israel left Gaza many years ago

This is sheer and utter delusion.

Israel decided to pull Israeli settlements out of Gaza because then it would be easier to control and deal with the Palestinian population there as a prison, a ghetto -- without having to worry about Jewish settlers getting caught in the crossfire.

Israel has never left Gaza. They blockade it and attack it at will.

-11 ( +2 / -13 )

Farmboy,

If Israel had gone after the rocket launchers only, and then followed up by destroying the tunnels, their PR would have been a lot easier, and there would have been fewer civilian casualties

I think that is what Israel is doing. I see no evidence that Israel has targeted civilians. I am interested in having any such evidence produced (and, Yabits, et. al. I mean evidence, and not invective)

Further, Israel claims it tries to minimize civilian injury and death. I take these claims with a grain of salt, but they are being made, nonetheless.

Here is my take: While it is very difficult, indeed impossible to justify the deaths of the four children on the beach, the inescapable truth is that innocent people die in war. For me, it always comes down to whether a nation's exercise of its war making power is just or unjust. I believe Israel's current war in Gaza is just - inasmuch as any war can be.

Given that, Israel should minimize the number of civilian deaths. Should for both moral and practical reasons. Moral, because, as I wrote, there is no defense to killing children, and any society that condones such a basic violation of human dignity is corrupt And practical because, killing innocents only makes you look like a monster. And no one wants to support a monster, if given a choice.

Which is interesting, because as of my typing this, not one Arab nation has come out in support of Hamas. Because Hamas is a monster, and everyone knows it. See here:

ttp://www.dailysabah.com/columns/ibrahim-kalin/2014/07/22/israels-selfdestructive-war-and-arab-politics

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I see no evidence that Israel has targeted civilians

Simple: Ethnic cleansing targets civilians. The lands that Israel took from the Arabs during the 1948 war which they themselves provoked by breaking the UN agreement were ethnically cleansed. Every Israeli knows this, and it is not difficult at all to find educated Israelis who admit it outright.

As one Israeli puts it: "Zionists have always believed that Jewish fear justifies ethnic cleansing. Ideas about transferring the existing non-Jewish population of Palestine — the Palestinians — elsewhere to make room for an exclusively Jewish state existed long before 1948. The word ‘transfer’ entered modern Hebrew, as a euphemism for ethnic cleansing, an idea or a plan to move the Palestinian population en masse elsewhere, as far away as possible from the borders of Israel."

http://www.avigailabarbanel.me.uk/charter.html

And no one wants to support a monster, if given a choice.

The apartheid regime of South Africa was a monstrous regime -- probably the closest thing to Nazi Germany since the 40s. And yet U.S. conservatives fought long and hard for "constructive engagement," and Israel was one of the racist state's best allies. Another verifiable fact. (Prior to WWII, lots of Americans supported the Nazis, especially the industrialists.)

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

I wrote: evidence and not invective.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I wrote: evidence

"Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, said Israel carried out a "systematic and continued effort to change the ethnic composition of East Jerusalem".

Falk is an American Jew, and emeritus law professor at Princeton. "Falk ...described Israeli policies as bearing 'unacceptable characteristics of colonialism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing'."

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/israel-guilty-ethnic-cleansing-apartheid-says-un-rapporteur-1441350

How can people buy lies from a nation that claims to support a "two-state solution" yet builds settlements on lands destined for the other state?

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

Yabits

And yet more invective. The issue is whether Israel has targeted civilians in the current war against Gaza.

So far, there is no evidence of that.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The issue is whether Israel has targeted civilians in the current war against Gaza. So far, there is no evidence of that.

From Haaretz's Gideon Levy: "The goal of Operation Protective Edge is to restore the calm; the means: killing civilians. The slogan of the Mafia has become official Israeli policy. Israel sincerely believes that if it kills hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, quiet will reign. It is pointless to destroy the weapons stores of Hamas, which has already proved capable of rearmament. Bringing down the Hamas government is an unrealistic (and illegitimate) goal, one that Israel does not want: It is aware that the alternative could be much worse. That leaves only one possible purpose for the military operation: death to Arabs, accompanied by the cheering of the masses.

The bodies in Gaza are piling up, the desperate, constantly updated tabulation of mass killing that Israel boasts of, which already numbers dozens of civilians, including 24 children as of noon on Saturday; hundreds of people injured, in addition to horror and destruction. One school and one hospital have already been bombed. The aim is to strike homes, and no amount of justification can help: It’s a war crime, even if the IDF calls them “command-and-control centers” or “conference rooms.” Granted, there are strikes that are much more brutal than Israel’s, but in this war, which is nothing other than mutual attacks on civilians — the elephant against the fly — there aren’t even any refugees. In contrast to Syria and Iraq, in the Gaza Strip the inhabitants do not have the luxury of fleeing for their lives. In a cage, there’s nowhere to run.

"Since the first Lebanon war, more than 30 years ago, the killing of Arabs has become Israel’s primary strategic instrument. The IDF doesn’t wage war against armies, and its main target is civilian populations. Arabs are born only to kill and to be killed, as everyone knows. They have no other goal in life, and Israel kills them."

Haaretz; 7/13/2014

Levy has been writing for Haaretz since 1982, over 30 years, and served in the IDF before that. Because of the threats on his life coming from Israelis, Haaretz has insisted that he travel with bodyguards. Thus, "free and democratic" Israel targets another civilian.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

IOW, no evidence.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

IOW, no evidence.

Eyewitness reports are accepted as evidence in most courts. They can be rather convincing, to those who will see.

From various sources, including the New York Times..

"Twenty-seven reserve pilots in the Israeli Air Force presented a signed petition tonight saying that they would not take part in ''illegal and immoral'' strikes in Palestinian areas in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip....''We refuse to participate in air force attacks on civilian populations,'' said the letter, which was sent to the head of the air force, Maj. Gen. Dan Halutz. ''We refuse to continue harming innocent civilians.''

The pilots are the cream of the crop. If Israel wasn't targeting innocent civilians, what are these pilots refusing?

"The petition is similar to a letter signed by hundreds of reserve soldiers who have pledged not to serve in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip."

If innocent civilians are not being targeted, what are these hundreds of soldiers refusing to take part in? Aren't they witness to the rockets being fired by Hamas?

Most would say that the evidence is pretty strong in favor of innocent civilians being targeted. We have to depend upon juries being somewhat intelligent. (Or perhaps you would need to rely on "instructions to the jury" to help you; or actually it might be someone else who receives and understands the instructions who needs to help you along.)

Where is the evidence that Israel doesn't target civilians? It's clear hundreds of innocent civilians are being killed. If they didn't target innocent civilians, why would these pilots and hundreds of soldiers refuse to carry out orders they clearly receive as "illegal and immoral?" What is illegal and immoral about what they are being asked to do?

Don't these military people support Gideon Levy's account in Haaretz?

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Yabits

The issue is whether Israel has targeted civilians in the current war against Gaza. Not that civilians have been killed.

You provide no evidence that they were targeted.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

You provide no evidence that they were targeted.

I have provided evidence that Israeli intelligentsia, a Jewish U.N. observer, and Israeli military people agree that civilians are being targeted. (Exhibit A)

There are plenty of dead civilians. (Exhibit B)

What evidence do you have to prove they were not targeted?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

From various sources, including the New York Times..

"Twenty-seven reserve pilots in the Israeli Air Force presented a signed petition tonight saying that they would not take part in ''illegal and immoral'' strikes in Palestinian areas in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip....''We refuse to participate in air force attacks on civilian populations,'' said the letter, which was sent to the head of the air force, Maj. Gen. Dan Halutz. ''We refuse to continue harming innocent civilians.''

The pilots are the cream of the crop. If Israel wasn't targeting innocent civilians, what are these pilots refusing?

yabits,

You should be aware that the article you are quoting is from Setember 25th, 2003.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/25/world/27-israeli-reserve-pilots-say-they-refuse-to-bomb-civilians.html

2 ( +2 / -0 )

You should be aware that the article you are quoting is from Setember 25th, 2003.

And Isreali military tactics have changed towards Palestinians how?

The premise put forward is that Israel does not target civilians. The evidence shows that Israel has always targeted civilians -- not just in 2003. There has been no change in tactics.

Haaretz's Gideon Levy expects refusals to come from the military again. (There are probably much stronger repercussions for any military person who displays a conscience.) We're over ten years down the road and he now needs bodyguards to protect him from demented Israelis who want to kill him. Throw away the two-state solution: As Levy and many point out: You don't build settlements on land you're claiming to want to offer up for "peace."

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

yabits,

You quoted an article to describe a situation in 2014 and the reason why you suggested, and I quote, 'The pilots are the cream of the crop. If Israel wasn't targeting innocent civilians, what are these pilots refusing?' and you linked an article from 2003 and you do not see a problem with accuracy in this? It is clear that you were using the article to prove a current situation. This is made clear by your using the present tense to describe the actions in the article. It is an 11 year old article. One would think you would be interested in accuracy. Forgive me if I was mistaken in thinking this.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

You quoted an article to describe a situation in 2014

I quoted an article to describe Israeli military tactics in 2014. If you are willing to accept, from the article, that Israel targeted civilians in 2003, then you would have to demonstrate what has changed since then. The UN emissary (a Jew) and Israeli observers claim nothing has changed.

Israel has always denied targeting civilians, but the evidence proves their words can't be trusted.

Also, readers should keep in mind that the rules for "self-defense" from another country are different from those from areas under occupation. Israel is keeping the entire Gaza strip under siege. Hamas constitutes less than 20,000 out of population of 1.8 million Gazans. This is collective punishment of an entire population -- a terrorist act. Militarily speaking, Hamas is a fly next to the Israeli elephant.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Readers should keep in mind the flow of the conversation up to now.

A poster wrote:

The issue is whether Israel has targeted civilians in the current war against Gaza. So far, there is no evidence of that.

yabits responded:

Eyewitness reports are accepted as evidence in most courts. They can be rather convincing, to those who will see.

From various sources, including the New York Times..

"Twenty-seven reserve pilots in the Israeli Air Force presented a signed petition tonight saying that they would not take part in ''illegal and immoral'' strikes in Palestinian areas in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip....''We refuse to participate in air force attacks on civilian populations,'' said the letter, which was sent to the head of the air force, Maj. Gen. Dan Halutz. ''We refuse to continue harming innocent civilians.''

The pilots are the cream of the crop. If Israel wasn't targeting innocent civilians, what are these pilots refusing?

"The petition is similar to a letter signed by hundreds of reserve soldiers who have pledged not to serve in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip."

If innocent civilians are not being targeted, what are these hundreds of soldiers refusing to take part in? Aren't they witness to the rockets being fired by Hamas?

Readers should also note that yabits did not provide a link to the quotes, leading readers to assume the quote was from an article describing the current situation, because that was the question to which yabits was responding. ie: The current situation. Yet, upon inspection, it turns out the article and quotes was from 2003, and not about the current situation.

Again, that link is:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/25/world/27-israeli-reserve-pilots-say-they-refuse-to-bomb-civilians.html

The moral of the story is: Actually back up what you claim with actual facts.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The moral of the story is: Actually back up what you claim with actual facts.

The actual moral: The leopard does not change its spots.

Only a fool believes that all the "actual facts" are in on the current bloodbath in Gaza, or that the tactics have changed in any substantive way from prior Israeli assaults.

What seems to have changed in 2014 is that journalists who have the temerity to report on Israel targeting civilians will have their lives threatened. Levy is not being threatened because of events in 2004.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

The actual moral: The leopard does not change its spots.

I tend to agree with this. You intentionally quoted an article from 2003 and attempted to make it appear to be about the current situation. You have not denied doing this. Why should anyone look at what you have to say if you are willing to bend the truth in such a way? If you feel you are correct, the truth should be enough to prove it. You should not need to mislead people.

I quoted an article to describe Israeli military tactics in 2014.

No, you misrepresented the article as being about the current situation as you quoted it in answer to the current situation. It is akin to quoting an article from the rebel states in the US about slavery and their support for it and claiming it represents the present situation in the southern states in the US. You should not need such tactics if you are being truthful and want to remain factual.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

You intentionally quoted an article from 2003 and attempted to make it appear to be about the current situation.

The way it works is like this: Israel first targets civilians, then after a week or so, refusals come in from Israeli military personnel. Within the last few days, new reports are coming from Israel indicating forces are now refusing to participate, citing the oppression of Israel against Palestinian civilians.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.606871

The leopard does not change its spots. As one Israeli puts it, since the 1982 war in Lebanon, Israel's main strategy has been targeting civilians.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

The way it works is like this:

No, this seems to be the way you work:

JTDanMan asked you for specific evidence of that Israel has specifically targetted civilians in the CURRENT situation.

You responded that eyewitnesses are accepted in courts and proceeded to quote an article to support this. When I read it, I, like any reasonable person, assumed you were quoting an article about the current situation. Interested, I check on the quote and found it be not about the current situation at all, but an article from 2003. You did not answer the question posed to you and instead misrepresented the quote as being about the current situation. You mislead me into believing the article was about the current situation. That is not is not particularly honest at all.

As one Israeli puts it

There are lots of Israelis with lots of opinions. In fact, if you get two Israelis in a room, you will have six different opinions as the old expression goes. I think it is perfectly fine that people protest if they so choose to. That is the sign of a free society. You mentioned that Levy got threats for what he has written. Before you feign shock at this, perhaps you should look around at journalists in your own country. Recently one was threatened by a public official no less. So, it is hardly a rare thing and hardly something that only happens in Israel. Different voices and opinions are good for society and the world. There are many voices in Israel, just as there are in the US. Using one voice and claiming it as the voice of all Israelis is, well, like quoting an article from 2003 and misrepresenting at as being about the current situation. 50 some odd retired and reserve IDF members does not represent the whole population. Their opinions should be heard, but so should the others, too.

Balance is the word of the day. Sadly, I do not see much balance in your posts whatsoever.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

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