Posted in: U.N. calls for immediate truce as Gaza death toll tops 500 See in context
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.
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Posted in: Silent protest held in Tokyo against Gaza bloodshed See in context
Was there also a protest against the thousands of rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli civilian populations?
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Posted in: U.N. calls for immediate truce as Gaza death toll tops 500 See in context
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.
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Posted in: U.N. calls for immediate truce as Gaza death toll tops 500 See in context
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.
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Posted in: More than 70 killed in Israeli shelling, clashes in Gaza See in context
Where's the outrage and condemnation of Netan-Yahoo for his genocide?
I don't think you understand the meaning of that word.
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Posted in: More than 70 killed in Israeli shelling, clashes in Gaza See in context
You have previously on JT claimed to be Palestinian
My mother was Palestinian. It really doesn't matter to me whether or not I am believed. You keep asking what grievances ordinary Palestinians have against Israel, and I keep repeating that their grievances are with their leaders. Israel left Gaza many years ago and all the problems that Palestinians face on a daily basis are not of Israel's doing. Sorry if that's not what you want to hear, but that is all I hear.
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Posted in: More than 70 killed in Israeli shelling, clashes in Gaza See in context
What grievances do ordinary Palestinians (not Hamas, Fatah or any of the political/paramilitary groupings) have vis-a-vis the state of Israel as it is today?
As you don't accept Hamas in the answer, maybe you could tell me what their grievances are.
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Posted in: Israeli military destroy Gaza tunnels See in context
He wasn’t saying that he doesn’t support a two-state solution. He was saying that it’s impossible.
If you look at what happened when Israel left Gaza, you have to admit he has a point. His job is to ensure the security of his citizens. He wants ongoing Israeli security oversight inside and at the borders of the West Bank. The Palestinian leadership has done NOTHING to show it's serious about peace. Israel will not risk 20 Gazas.
I'll ask again, what do you want Israel to do and what do you want the Palestinian leaders to do?
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Posted in: More than 70 killed in Israeli shelling, clashes in Gaza See in context
The U.N. General Assembly in 2013 adopted a total of 21 resolutions singling out Israel for criticism — and 4 resolutions on the rest of the world combined. Doesn't sound like Israel is avoiding criticism.
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Posted in: More than 70 killed in Israeli shelling, clashes in Gaza See in context
Israel has moved beyond criticism
Really? Where? Not in the Middle East and definitely not in Europe. Maybe in Japan?
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Posted in: Israeli military destroy Gaza tunnels See in context
Are shalom and salaam really so mutually exclusive?
Not at all. Both peoples want and deserve peace and a decent life. If you do not agree that the main cause of suffering in Gaza is due to its leadership, please tell me what is. Before 2005 I would have said that Palestinians in Gaza want the Israelis out. But the Israelis got out. Instead of life improving for Gazans after that, it actually got worse. Sorry but that was not Israel's doing.
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Posted in: Israeli military destroy Gaza tunnels See in context
The Palestinians want peace, jobs, education, freedom of speech, an open society, equality for women. The things we take for granted.
It is not Israel that is preventing all this. It is the Palestinian leaders.
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Posted in: More than 70 killed in Israeli shelling, clashes in Gaza See in context
I wish that the Israelis would spend as much money helping the Arabs as they do in taking their land away.
I wish the Arabs would spend as much money helping their own people as the Israelis do in helping theirs.
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Posted in: Israeli military destroy Gaza tunnels See in context
Let's leave Hamas aside for one moment.
I wish we could but Hamas is the cause of Palestinian people's hardship. Along with most of the Arab world who have used and abused them for decades. They could have had their own state a long time ago and peace with Israel, but that is not what their leaders want. It's really not complicated.
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Posted in: Israeli military destroy Gaza tunnels See in context
Hamas is a symptom of the fundamental problem.
No, Hamas IS the fundamental problem. Hamas is simply following through on its Charter’s declaration that “’Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it. There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad.”
Its political chief, Khaled Meshal, commenting on ceasefire proposals said in a televised speech: “We receive calls from mediators from Arab and Western sides to broker a ceasefire. We say to those who ask us for a lull: Go back!”
Hamas also put out a video promising: “Zionists, wait and see stabbing attacks everywhere. Wait for suicide attacks on every bus, café and street.”
I think Hamas is quite clear about what it wants. Israel cannot, should not and will not sit back and let them carry out these promises. Too bad the Palestinians don't have a government like Israel's, looking out for them.
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Posted in: Israeli military destroy Gaza tunnels See in context
As I said the good guy is the winner
I am sorry if I misunderstood you. Yes, let's hope that Israel will indeed emerge as the winner, thus making life better for both Israelis and Palestinians.
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Posted in: 20 killed as Israeli troops advance into Gaza See in context
Kuya
The key for Hamas is to get the EU and the US (especially the US) to come on board with the BDS movement
You do know that the Palestinians recently arrested and put on trial 4 prominent BDS activists. A PA official said that BDS and its followers make the Palestinians appear as if they are all radicals who are only interested in boycotting and delegitimizing Israel. In his words: "This goes against the PLO's official policy, which is to seek a peace agreement with Israel based on the two-state solution."
Are there any other countries in the world that you think deserve to be boycotted in this way?
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Posted in: Israeli military destroy Gaza tunnels See in context
Nizinjapan
I just re-read the few lines at the beginning and am not sure which part confirmed it for you that the article is completely biased.
And why are pro-Israel comments "low level"? What would a high level comment look like?
Hamas is indeed killing Palestinians by using them as human shields. Hamas has admitted as much. And yes, Israel IS defending itself and its people from Hamas. Thousands of rockets fired by Hamas at civilians in Israel over the last few years - how would you have Israel respond to that? It's a shame Hamas doesn't put as much time, money and effort into improving the lives of Gazans as it does in trying to end the lives of Israelis.
Israel does not occupy Gaza and hasn't done since 2005.
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Posted in: Israeli military destroy Gaza tunnels See in context
It's not even close to a fair fight
I agree. On one side you have Hamas, an internationally recognised terrorist group, who openly and proudly declare that their goal is the total destruction of Israel and Jews in general, who hide their leaders deep underground or in Qatar, and who use Gazans as human shields by placing their rocket launchers in schools, hospitals and mosques, and who instruct their citizens not to vacate these places, knowing full well it will result in innocent deaths, but then go running to the media with photos of dead Palestinians, whining to the world that it's "unfair". Then there is Israel, who would not be firing even one shot into Gaza if it weren't for the thousands of rockets fired indiscriminately from there for years. Unlike Hamas, they do not purposely target civilians and they do more than any other army in the history of war to keep innocent deaths to a minimum. All these cries of "murder" and "genocide" are just risible. If Israel truly wanted to murder innocent Palestinians they could do it in a flash. But they don't. Israel has done more to help the ordinary Palestinian than any leader of Hamas has ever done. If you speak to Palestinians in Israel, they will tell you again and again that they would much rather live there under Israeli rule than in any Arab country in the region.
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Posted in: Israeli military destroy Gaza tunnels See in context
The tunnels were of little use militarily (if at all)
What about the 2 Israelis who were killed yesterday by Hamas terrorists who infiltrated Israel via a tunnel in central Gaza? The terrorists were dressed in IDF uniforms and were armed with automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenades, syringes, sedatives and handcuffs – apparently to be used in taking hostages. Doesn't sound like they were going shopping.
Israel's put up with these attacks for long enough. Time to get rid of the tunnels and the terrorists once and for all. Hamas is killing not only Israelis (numbers may be low but it's not for lack of intent or effort) but also the Palestinians in Gaza.
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Posted in: Israel pushes into Gaza, expanding ground operation See in context
it remains unclear how far Israel will go in an operation that has already seen 274 Palestinians killed in Gaza
Let's hope Israel does whatever it can to put an end to Hamas once and for all, for the sake of the Israelis AND the Palestinians, who deserver so much better.
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Posted in: Israel agrees to 'humanitarian' pause in Gaza See in context
Why not go the whole hog, and call those demanding advanced democracies follow global human rights norms, anti-Semitic?
Sorry, I have no idea what you're saying. All I was pointing out was that I didn't see posters here, who appear to be pro-Palestinian, react in the same way to atrocities against Palestinians in Syria at the hands of Assad, in the same way they react when Israel is involved. The human rights abuses I see right now are coming from Hamas in 2 ways: firing indiscriminately at civilians and using civilians as human shields.
I'll ask again, what do you want Israel to do, and what do you want Hamas to do?
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Posted in: Israel agrees to 'humanitarian' pause in Gaza See in context
terrorist acts that Israeli's inflict on the Palestinians on a daily bases
Examples?
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Posted in: Do you support Israel’s action in Gaza? See in context
Palestinians want their land back from Israel
As everyone knows, Israel left Gaza in 2005. It is now 2014. Hamas violently took over from Fatah there in 2007. They have been firing rockets indiscriminately at Israel, with the hope of killing men, women or children, ever since. Hamas is the enemy of the ordinary Palestinian in Gaza. They use their millions in aid to build terror tunnels and to buy more rockets, instead of investing in infrastructure for their own citizens. Most Gazans are too afraid to speak out against Hamas (for fear of death) but numerous polls have shown that a majority of Palestinians would prefer to live under Israeli rule than under their current oppressors, Hamas. Too bad people in the West don't care.
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Posted in: Israel agrees to 'humanitarian' pause in Gaza See in context
Fatah and Hamas were moving towards a reconciliation government that would help unify and strengthen the Palestinian people
The unity deal was motivated in large part by the fact that Hamas has run out of money due to its break with its former Iranian sponsors and the shutting down of smuggling tunnels to Egypt by the military government in Cairo. They hoped that by going into business with their Fatah rivals in control of the Palestinian Authority, this money problem would be solved. The PA, subsidized via aid from the EU and the US, was supposed to pay the salaries of the 42,000 Hamas government employees. But the PA says it's not going to do that. There is no love lost between Hamas and the PA.
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Posted in: Israel agrees to 'humanitarian' pause in Gaza See in context
The ratio is still only 200+ to 1
But you have to give Hamas full marks for effort. It's not as if they haven't been trying to kill Israelis is it?
For all so-called Palestinian supporters out there, if, in the past year you didn't complain when thousands of protesters were killed and injured by Turkey, Egypt and Libya, when more victims than ever were hanged by Iran, whole communities were massacred in South Sudan, 1800 Palestinians were starved and murdered by Assad in Syria, hundreds in Pakistan were killed by jihadist terror attacks, villagers were slaughtered in Nigeria, but you ONLY cry out for Gaza, then you are not pro- Palestinian, you are only anti-Israel.
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Posted in: Israel: Hamas to pay price for its 'no' to truce See in context
Palestinians 205 deaths and counting....It is called genocide....
About 2000 Palestinians have died in the Syrian war. Is that genocide too?
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Posted in: Israel: Hamas to pay price for its 'no' to truce See in context
It is called genocide....
One of the more ridiculous statements I've heard lately. Do you know what genocide means?
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Posted in: Death toll hits 50 as Israel pounds Gaza See in context
On Monday the Mukhtar of the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Baher praised Israel for defending the city from Hamas rockets. He said that Hamas, which claimed to be “defending” the Arabs of Jerusalem, was doing quite the opposite.
What Hamas is doing is not, and has never been, because of settlements in the West Bank. The sooner people in the West, claiming to support the Palestinians, realise this, and start making demands of Hamas, instead of spewing lies and hatred about Israel, the sooner the lives of ordinary Palestinians might start to improve.
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Posted in: Hamas rejects Egypt's proposal for truce with Israel See in context
I mean Israel should retreat to her 1948 borders and stay there
That didn't work very well for Israel in 1948. And that's not what Hamas wants. What needs to be done first and foremost is for Hamas to be destroyed, for the sake of the Palestinians, the Israelis and the wider region. Take a look at the Middle East media and see just how much support Hamas has - almost none. Some of Israel's sworn enemies are asking Allah to speed them along in their mission to get rid of Hamas. People in the West saying this is all Israel's fault do not seem to understand the situation at all.
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I find it very hard to believe a 3 year old child could climb over a 135 cm high railing…
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