Subscribe to Common Dreams News Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
Israel Attacks Gaza, More Than 155 Reported Killed
GAZA - Israeli warplanes and combat helicopters pounded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing at least 155 people in the bloodiest day for Palestinians in more than 20 years of conflict.
Smoke billows from the Gaza Strip following Israeli bombing attacks on the southern town of Rafah. Israel has blitzed Hamas targets in Gaza with a wave of air bombings that killed at least 155 people in the besieged enclave.
(AFP/Said Khatib) Militants in the Gaza Strip responded with rocket salvoes that killed one Israeli man and wounded several others. Both sides said they were prepared to launch wider attacks.
Black smoke billowed over Gaza City, where the dead and wounded lay scattered on the ground after more than 30 air strikes destroyed Palestinian security compounds, including two where Hamas was hosting graduation ceremonies for new recruits.
The Israeli army said it had targeted "terrorist infrastructure" following days of rocket attacks from Gaza on southern Israel that caused some damage but few injuries.
The rocket attacks increased pressure on Israeli political leaders to act as a February 10 election approaches.
U.S. President George Bush's administration, in its last weeks in office, called on Hamas to halt cross-border rocket attacks and urged Israel to avoid civilian casualties but stopped short of calling for an end to the air strikes.
The Israeli army pledged more strikes if necessary, possibly targeting Hamas leaders.
Hamas said at least 100 members of its security forces were killed, including police chief Tawfiq Jabber and the head of Hamas's security and protection unit, along with at least 15 women and some children.
Morgues across the Gaza Strip ran out of space for bodies.
Aid groups said they feared the Israeli operation could fuel a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished coastal enclave, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, half of them dependent on food aid.
The Islamist group, shunned by Western powers over its refusal to renounce violence and recognize Israel, said all of its security compounds in the Gaza Strip were destroyed.
At the main police headquarters, some rescue workers beat their heads and shouted "God is greatest." One badly wounded man lying nearby quietly recited verses from the Koran.
HAMAS THREATENS TO UNLEASH "HELL"
Hamas threatened to unleash "hell" to avenge the dead, including possible suicide bombings inside Israel.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Israeli air campaign was "criminal" and called for the international community to intervene.
Palestinians staged protests rallies in East Jerusalem, Ramallah and Hebron, leading to scuffles with the Israeli army.
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana called for an immediate ceasefire and urged "everybody to exert maximum restraint," his spokesman said.
Egypt also condemned the Israeli raids and said it would keep trying to restore a truce between Israel and Gaza. Arab foreign ministers were set to hold an emergency meeting in Cairo on Sunday or Monday to take a common position on the raids.
The White House appeared to put the onus on Hamas. "Hamas' continued rocket attacks into Israel must cease if the violence is to stop," spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
At the main Gaza City graduation ceremony, uniformed bodies lay in a pile and the wounded writhed in pain. Rescuers carried those showing signs of life to cars and ambulances, while others tried to revive the unconscious.
Israel warplanes bombed Gaza's presidential compound, which Hamas seized in June 2007 from Abbas's secular Fatah forces after a brief civil war.
Witnesses also reported heavy Israeli bombing along Gaza's border with Egypt. Palestinians use hundreds of tunnels under the border to bring in everything from goods to weapons, making them prime Israeli targets.
WIDER REPRISALS
The air strikes followed a decision by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security cabinet to widen reprisals for cross-border Palestinian rocket attacks following the collapse of a six-month-old, Egyptian-brokered ceasefire a week ago.
Asked if an escalation of the assault could include targeted strikes against Hamas leaders, army spokeswoman Avital Leibovitch said: "Anything belonging to Hamas could be a target. You can interpret that as you like."
A five-day Israeli offensive in March killed more than 120 people, but Saturday's death toll would be the highest for Palestinians since their 1980s uprising.
Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida said the Islamist group would "teach the enemy a lesson they will never forget." Hamas brushed aside Israeli threats to target its leaders.
In an interview on Al Arabiya television, an Arab broadcaster widely watched in Gaza, Olmert called on Hamas to stop firing rockets, saying he would not "hesitate to use Israel's might."
But Olmert and Israeli leaders have repeatedly said they did not want to retake control of the Gaza Strip. Israel pulled its ground forces and settlers out of the coastal territory in 2005.
After a 2006 war in Lebanon that many Israelis viewed as a failure, military action in Gaza has become a political hot potato that could affect the outcome of an election just six weeks away.
Additional reporting by Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Peter Millership in London, Tabassum Zakaria in Washington; writing by Adam Entous; editing by Philippa Fletcher.
345 Comments so far
Show AllIn Canada ,the press is owned by the Asper family who are very sympathetic to Zionism.Every time Common Dreams calls for donations I am very discouraged by the small number of readers who actually help out. One way to break this neo conservative bias towards Isreal is to get more information out about the history and current atrocities going on in Palestine. The Jewish lobby is so powerful and well organized in North America it will take lots of investment in alternative information sources to have dissenting voices heard. So please, let's all give what we can to keep our common dreams healthy wealthy and wise.
As long as no one will reply to e-mails sent to Common Dreams. I will not give one dime.
Investment in recycled news stories? There is not even a message board for community action. CD is not even half of what it could be, because it is a sham.
As for the Zionists. Only an uprising will rid us of the Zionist Bankers that enslave us with debt and laws that further enslave us.
Silence is Consent.
Hey, CD, how about a message board for community action? Do you want to *develop* this thing?
What community action would you take?
How about education about population?
How about education about resource depletion?
How about education about the role of religion and patriotism to rationalize murder for profit?
Certainly...attached to specifics. That would be the point of community action (as well as anti-corporate point work and so on.)
Silence is consent?
So it's all the fault of Zionist bankers is that right?
But you're innocent. You don't shop? Do you have kids? Do you consume things that are running out, knowing that they are running out?
Where do you think things come from? Zionist Bankers?
Try resources from the planet. And as they run low, people kill to get what's left.
Those with the biggest weapons bully those without.
All you're doing is perpetrating the piss fight.
Look at me
I would love to write poetry about love,
Paint rainbows and butterflies,
Smell the scent of rose buds,
And dance;
Dance with the melody of birds singing
I would love to close my eyes and see children smiling
No guns pointing at their heads
Tell them stories of little fairies in far away lands
Not bullets shooting... missile exploding
But
How can I?
There is a knife in my heart
I am hurting
Hurting
I bleed,
I cringe
I cry
HUMANITY, WHERE ARE YOU?
I am being slaughtered
Under your watchful eyes
I am cold… cold…. cold
I cringe
I cry
Humanity, where are you?
Why do you turn your face away?
Why do you keep looking the other way?
I am here
Languishing
In Gaza alleyways
Humanity, where are you?
Look at me
Look at me
I am here
In Gaza alleyways
I cringe
I cry
Humanity,
Enough turning the other way
.
nahida:Thank you. There are tears in my eyes. I have been making art critical of the Israeli government, and critical of the U.S. government. Please see my comment above. As indicated by Harold Pinter, and Howard Zinn in related contexts, it seems to be up to us, the artists, to "move" and push people along. (I am a woman. I have given birth.)
nahida, it's a wonderful poem.............i'm just so sorry you had to write it.
nahida, I too have tears in my eyes, real ones. Your poem is so graceful and real.
Unfortunately the beauty of this poem is founded upon its truth.
Just before this article was posted, I left a comment in the headlines article at the left column, about Gaza expecting an attack, "Gaze Braces for Israeli Offensive". I don't want to repeat it, unless the other article/comments disappears. I am an American. I am a NYC Jew and very angry at Israeli's policies and very angry at the US government's policies.
NYCartist, Right On, In another thread I said my hope lies with Jews in Israel, brave ones who resist these policies, I amend that, hope lies with Jews world-wide. And with the international community of course. The two together. But every Jew who decries Israeli policies re the Palestinians has the weight of 10,000 gentiles.
If you pray for peace in the ME, which I don't presume, but if you do, you have company here in the wild west. Shalom.
arjoe:thanks. My hope lies with everybody,not just Jews. As Americans, I hope we can pressure this US government, hopefully the Obama Administration to stop letting Israel do the deeds, while pretending to "scold" the Israeli government. The US has money power to say "NO. Stop!" to Israel. The US blocks the UN. Just like with the US in Iraq, I'd hoped the UN would find a way to stop the US in Iraq. It didn't. As Arundhati Roy has said, "It's up to the Americans to get their government to stop.".
I don't know why you say "every Jew who decries Israeli policies re the Palestinians has the weight of 10,000 gentiles"? Weight with who? How? My only smile in re this:it took me awhile to figure out ME (since that's the name of my illness) in your context. Ah, you mean Middle East. I don't pray. I'm an atheist Jew. Where do you mean in "the wild west"?
When I look at Palestinians and when I look at Israelis (including Palestinians in Israel) : the people look much the same. Long ago, I heard an Israeli security person say they could not differentiate Palestinians and Israelis unless they were wearing different clothing. Think about that.
If you can, look at the comment I did for the headlines article which I noted in another comment on this article comments. (easier than repeating)
As predicted, Israeli government attacks on Palestinians also trigger generalized Jew hating,in a few, which a few of the comments reflect. Some people do not separate "Jews" from the Israeli government. I ignore them. One example is the comment about 2 percent of the world's population, Jews, "controlling the 98% of us" by "catherine". Another is "the Zionist bankers all over the world are responsible....". For the why of general Jew hating, I always refer people to the book by James Carroll, who often has articles on CD, "Constantine's Sword". It is a history of the Church's hatred of Jews.
As an American, I am dealing with my government's policies in the middle east. As a NYC Jew, I have to deal with my anger at Israel,too. I make art about both government's policies, as my way of protest.
What will our Barack say?
Crowsnest:love your screen name. I'm only an artist. I do not read tea leaves.
Hillary is Sec. of State.
She will say what she has said for a very long time.
Maybe Barack could get Rick Warren to pray over this debacle and then make Hillary's ignorance and greed holy.
yohocoma:It's hard to repeat my comments of earlier on this site. It explains why I am a Jew. (I also have comment on the left hand column on the articles under "Headlines" with the article of imminent attack on Gaza, explaining it.) You are entitled to your opinion. Some of my being a Jew has to do with it being a small minority, in a world full of Jew haters. Neither of which has to do with Israel and that government's policies. Some Americans have left the US in protest of US policies about race and war, but I don't see it as equivalent, being a Jew in the US in re Israel. And, having grown up with many Italian Catholics in Brooklyn, I wouldn't presume to speak to or for Catholics about what to believe or who to identify with. (My best friend is Catholic, East European family background and very religious.) I am a older.
NYCartist:
"It's hard to repeat my comments of earlier on this site. It explains why I am a Jew."
I wrote a long post explaining EXACTLY why you did not answer that question.
For example, saying "Some of my being a Jew has to do with it being a small minority, in a world full of Jew haters" doesn't even make any sense. It does not explain why you call yourself a Jew, it is merely another of your statements blankly saying "I am a Jew BECAUSE I am a Jew". Does that logic make sense to you? It makes no sense to me.
How have you answered these questions?
1) What do mean by "I'm an atheist Jew"?
2) Which part of the definition of a "People" applies?
3) Why can't you leave the "Jewish community" and thereby no longer be Jewish?
4) Can anyone become a Jew? Are they then permanently Jewish?
And please, don't be insulting by telling me to re-read your posts, I already have.
"I am a Jew because I was born a Jew" - yet you say Jews are not a race.
Remember you wrote, "The common bond is being a people. Not a race,"
I've included the definition for what is meant by "a People" and have asked you why that applies. Yet you have refused to answer. Frankly, calling Jews "a People" makes even less sense than calling Irish Catholics "a People". At least, Irish Catholics come closer to sharing a "common religion, culture, language, or inherited condition of life (i.e. Northern Ireland)."
How are you born a Jew? What does that mean? It sounds like "I am a Jew because I am a Jew".
Why is this a such sensitive topic for you? I have many religious Jewish friends who are happy to discuss this. They also see this as a strange makeover of Jewish identity.
If it is so hard to talk about, perhaps you might refrain from attaching the moniker "I am an atheist Jew" on many of your posts.
After all, NYCartist, why bring it up and then refuse to discuss it?
.NYCa,
I think it a good decision to ignore the baiting of this JoeHope creature.
.
We see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
Why is it "baiting"?
Why is this question off-limits?
What part of my question is inappropriate?
If she can repeatedly writes "I am an atheist Jew" in her posts, why can't I ask her what she means by that?
Do you understand what an "atheist Jew" is?!??
.I do in fact, being one myself. I also understand baiting and recognize your smarmy and almost unctious efforts to do that.
.
We see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
Well, if you are clear what it is, then you can stop my so-called "baiting" by simply providing an answer.
Also, if you are going to call me "smarmy" and "unctuous" perhaps your insult would be more effective if you could say why you thought that. What have I done to offend you so?
I have a very simple question about the definition of what an "atheist Jew" is. Why is it offensive to you that I ask a question, and point out when I feel the question is not being answered?
BTW I am amazed to hear that who are "Jewish", judging from your comments about Israel I thought if anything you were an anti-Semite.
.As I have thought you a member of Aryan Nation or Stormfront. You demonstrate a convenient sort of idiocy when you see criticism of Israeli policies as antisemitism.
.
We see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
NYCartist. From Arizona. To elucidate, I feel every Jew has the potential 'weight' of 10,000 gentiles to effect Israeli policy because of,
1. Israel has a very us against them mind-set, thus when an Israeli or Jew speaks against these policies the first reaction will not be "you are against us."
2. Sensitive to racism, this is obviously undercut if Israeli policies are criticized by Jews.
4. Straight math, Jews, actually, make up only about .3% of the world's population, thus the commitments of each have more 'weight,' i.e. convince 5 million Jews around the world this must stop and it is over that instant. Five Billion gentiles already think it should stop, we see the impact of that.
Hope I've clarified my obfuscating self.
May your art dance.
azjo:how could I have missed the az!
Israel is a nation state. The government does not give me more weight there because I am a Jew. Do you have any evidence? (Have you seen the article on CD that Prof. Falk,UN human rights observer, by Phyllis Bennis was detained for 20 hours in Israel and not let in? He's a Jew.) I don't see how your idea works. How would the millions of Jews of the world tell Israel to stop its behavior toward Palestinians because Jews of other countries tell the Israeli government to do so? Jews have protested. Don't equate Jews as individuals worldwide with individuals in a country. It's not. I can protest and vote in the U.S. as a citizen. My government has to listen to me, I'd like to believe. I have done and do art in protest of US government policies that I share with people I know in the US.
I think there were what, 17 million people around the world in the streets (me,too)in 2003, protesting that the US should not go to war on Iraq and it didn't stop the war. Many millions were US citizens. I think it is more to the point to have millions of people in the US demand that the US government do something about government policy in re Israel, as well as in Iraq. I think the Israeli government considers Jews who protest outside of Israel, the same as "W" Bush sees people around the world who protest.
I strongly suspect that you think Jews around the world are somewhat of a unified group, some way or somehow. Not true. Some basis in myth under that idea, I think. Forgive my wit, feels like a "Tinkerbell" thing.
I appreciate your comment/wish: "may your art dance". I have done art for Jews I know in the US to show my point of view. (I don't know any people in Israel.) I have worked on influencing US Jews to push for US policy in re getting Israel to stop its policies in re Palestine and aid in getting peace. I suggest all people look at websites like www.jatonyc.org Jews Against the Occupation of Iraq in NYC. And Gush Shalom Peace Now in Israel www.gush-shalom.org You can support those groups without being Jewish. I think your idea is way out of my league, so to speak. I don't know how to reach the 5million Jews outside of the US, nor why it's even possible it would help.
As to AZ:I'm a Mets fan and eager for baseball.
NYCartist, Hello. First, your 2nd to last paragraph, that you suspect I think Jews around the world are a unified group. Heck no, only in the sense that if they happened to meet, they would share this. A good thing. Innocuous.
But to the point we've discussed, maybe you are right. I certainly have no proof, NY, it is just a gut sense, but I share on these threads to learn, not be right. Tell me this though, if 100,000 Israeli citizens unified and protested, marched in the streets, raised heaven and hell, could they not effect policy? What number would? Theoretically? I value your opinion on this one. But what is this baseball you speak of? Is it a sport? And a Met, someone you've known?
NYCartist "I'm an atheist Jew."
Forgive my curiosity, but you keep dropping that same sentence in many of your posts, what does it mean?
And please don't tell me to spend hours reading your favorite novels when you could just give me a simply answer.
A "People" is defined as: A body of persons sharing a common religion, culture, language, or inherited condition of life.
Since you have called Jews a people, not merely a religion, how does the above definition apply? Language is obviously ruled out, so I'm left with you claiming that they are a "People" based on culture and inherited condition of life, is that correct?
Apart from being a "People", you said that Jews are a "community". The definition for "community" is:
1. A group of people living in the same locality and under the same government.
2. The district or locality in which such a group lives.
1. A group of people having common interests: the scientific community; the international business community.
2. A group viewed as forming a distinct segment of society: the gay community; the community of color.
1. Similarity or identity: a community of interests.
2. Sharing, participation, and fellowship.
As I've said before, this definition is so broad that that it would describe Jews in the same way as Shriners, Elks, or Kiwanis. Also, "community" doesn't really fit because someone can leave a community. I can quit the Elks. I wouldn't be an Elk for life. Yet you feel that even "atheist Jews" are still Jewish. I suppose you would say that even when a religious Jew converts to Catholicism they are still "Jewish". Yet, surprisingly, you agree with me (and disagree with Hitler) that Jews are not a "race".
You have made it clear, that because I am not "ethnically" "Jewish", I am not one of your "People" or a part of your "community".
So what connection do you feel for the actions of your "People" and your "community"? We are talking, after all, about the actions of a Jewish State that represents a homeland for your self-proclaimed "People" and "community".
As a Christian, I have no problem supporting Israel. They are seeking security. Nothing more. I won't bother going into to that right now, because given the other posts in this thread that would be like diving into a bathtub full of piranhas.
But I find your selective use of Jewishness, entirely confusing.
Suppose the Vatican attacked Luxembourg in self defense. How would Catholics disassociate themselves from the actions of the Catholic State? After all, we weren't born Catholic (though we could have been raised Catholic), essentially as adults we have chosen to be Catholics. We belong to the Catholic community only because of our faith. There might be pressure for us to denounce the actions of those whom we claim to share an ideology with. If we had no choice about being Catholic then that pressure wouldn't exist. But with the way you have framed what it means to be Jewish, there is no common ideology (except that you once claimed that despite being an atheist who believed in "Jewish law"). So it seems to me that that closest example I can think of to describe how you feel about what Jewishness is, who your "People" are, would be that it is similar to racially associated groups like "the Aryan Nation". Now, I know, you don't feel Jews are a race. But I can't think of a more appropriate example given that you have defined what in means to be Jewish in biological terms (as a "People"). You are saying a Jew is permanently a Jew, in the same way I am permanently a white man.
If my wife and I convert to Judaism and have a child, we are all Jewish (in some circles). If my wife and I then decide to become atheists, are we then atheist Jews or just plain atheists? What if we stayed Jewish, but our child became an atheist, would our child be an atheist Jew or just a plain atheist? In your view, is it even possible for a person like myself to become Jewish? I have assumed your answer is no. Let me know if I'm mistaken.
Also how Jewish does your ancestry have to be in order to qualify as a genetically Jewish? 1/2? 1/4? 1/8? 1/16? 1/32? 1/64? Is it a "one drop" rule?
Personally, I find the subject rather interesting as it is not often discussed in America. Even Chomsky (who is in no way religious) calls himself a Jew. Can you blame me for not understanding what that means? I sense that I might have annoyed you in the past with my questions. If that is the case, I apologize. But I too am getting quite annoyed when you claim to have already answered my question. Clearly you have not. If this topic is one you are sensitive about for personal reasons, then let me know, and I'll ask someone else.
If that's not the case, here are my questions again, because I am quite curious to read your responses:
1) What do mean by "I'm an atheist Jew"? (if you feel you have answered this, then I feel you are purposely ignoring my questions)
2) Which part of the definition of a "People" applies?
3) Why can't you leave the "Jewish community" and thereby no longer be Jewish?
4) Can anyone become a Jew? Are they then permanently Jewish?
Oh please grow up.
The land known as Israel is strategic to resource flow in the Middle East.
Plain and simple.
No resource flow, you don't get to go shopping this weekend for the kids and yourself.
And they will kill anyone who gets in the way. As resources continue to deplete, the violence grows worse.
Grow up. Stop all this nonsense about treaties and petitioning the government and praying to your gods. It's about profit and resources.
You get in the way of their profits, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, and you and your kids will die.
So why have kids in such a world?
So then be angry at the whole system.
You shop. You consume. They need that territory over there to keep resources flowing. Israel is a citadel.
You get in the way of that citadel and they will kill you.
If you want peace, then look at the world economy, not just provincial politics.
It's a global ecomony which means it is a global war zone. Anyone who gets in the way of resources is the enemy.
They will use religion, patriotism or whatever to make their case, but in the end it's about keeping the resources flowing and making a profit.
Until nothing is left to sell, or until we all die in a war.
As long as our government is Used by the Zionist in Israel. As long as our country is owed by a group of Bankers this will not end. Never again means only Jews.Silence is Consent.
US blames Hamas for cease-fire break (Reuters)
I listened to our American ambassador to Israel blaming the Palestineans (for objecting to the assassination of their people) and absolutely refusing to blame the Israelis for anything. I have no doubt whatsoever that our American government has sold itself to Tel Aviv. It's no longer a matter of Never Forgit, Never Forgive but of Never Believe - this kills our democracy.
And what will our Barak say?
Mr. Obama chose Ms. Clinton for Sec. of State.
Three guesses what she will say.
Maybe he will get Rick Warren to say a prayer. You know, like may God kill everyone who disagrees with us.
Don't forget Rahm Emanuel.
Thanks to Youtube, you can view the atrocity for yourself.
Once at Youtube, Search: Gaza Palestinians.
Posted 4 hours ago, "Raw Footage: 155 Palestinian Civilians Massacred by Israel in Gaza."
It's a 7-minute video.
View the chaos of smoking buildings and the maimed and bleeding bodies lying on the pavement. We should be watching this since we're paying for it.
but of course, we'll never see it on the msm will we?................
Who needs the msm?
Who watches the msm?
The world is evolving in real time on youtube,
until they censor the video!
For now, watch it for yourself.
you missed my point i think............
i meant that the morons and idiots who would rather watch some brain-dead soap opera on t.v. will not see the atrocities taking place because they will only be watching msm..............
The morons watching television...
Eventually, it will end up at their front doors. Bombs know no borders because we live on one planet, and there are no borders.
When people finally realize we are all on one planet, with finite resources, with a population increasing at three additional people per second, then and only then, MAYBE then, will be address these issues of war.
Until then people will piss fight over resources, kill children for money, bomb houses for profit, and then blame the victims.
All under the banner of one true God. All for one version or another of the three retarded religions of Abraham.
Children will die for resources and then they will breed some more, and then blame someone else for their own mistakes and violence.
We are you planet but we are with borders. Just b/c my neighbors has a fence in his back yard doesn't make him isolated. Borders do not cause problems. Intolerance is the cause of our problems. Palestinians and Israeli's must solve their hatred with each other...where the border is drawn makes no difference. If we removed the borders, ripped down that wall, and removed all check points do you think we'd have peace? I certainly hope not, we must find a way to address each sides disputes or this war that has lasted centuries will go on for centuries more.
The population of the planet increases at three people per second.
Building borders and saying, "This belongs to my tribe," defines delusional psychosis.
Peace between Israel and Palestine? What we actually mean here is that those who control the weaponry in this one area are more powerful than those who control the weaponry in this other area.
So, when it comes time to gather the resources, those with the most powerful weapons launch an assault to clear the area.
Retaliation is inevitable.
As resources get smaller and population gets larger, those controlling the weapons grow more desperate.
Borders? Tribes?
Reality check. We live in a global war zone.
Three additional people PER SECOND. Resources are RUNNING OUT!
Violence is the rule of the day for securing what resources are left.
You do the math.
Thanks, coco,
and you are correct.
Again, the blood-thirty Israelis engage in an orgy of killing innocent civilians who had absolutely nothing to do with the Qassam attacks. And the deaths of women and children are of no consequence to the people of this morally bankrupt nation.
Instead of exposing its military to any danger with a ground attack, Israel carried out these attacks in the most cowardly way possible - by using its jets and attack helicopters against a foe absolutely defenceless against them. That there would be massive civilian deaths resulting from this cowardly form of attack, again is utterly inconsequential to these monsters.
It may be two years, ten years or twenty years, but all Israelis know, in their hearts of hearts, that the day of reckoning will come.
You call the IDF cowards...it's Hamas that launches rockets from playgrounds and then flees. The leaders of Hamas have in hiding this whole week, once they started launching rockets at Israel they ran for cover but left the Palestinian population to fend for themselves. Israel would like nothing more than to meet the Hamas militants on a battle field-remember the last time an Arab army took on Israel? Egypt still hasn't recovered yet!
Israel doesn't want to launch a ground assault b/c far more civilians would be killed in such an attack. By the way if your a Hamas Militant your neither a civilian nor innocent. I'll never calling a good thing..that being said if there were an instance where killing were necessary i think Hamas militants are a perfect example of such. Hamas killed 2 Palestinian children just the other day.
Your post is a curious mixture of macho boasting and feeble protestations of innocence.
Your assertion that "Israel doesn't want to launch a ground assault b/c far more civilians would be killed in such an attack" is utter nonsense. Israel has never demonstrated any distaste for killing civilians (see its recent attack against Lebanon, for instance), but rather seems to lust after such. The reason it attacked Gaza with air power is to protect its own soldiers, since Gaza does not have an air force or an anti-air defense.
Besides launching air strikes against densely populated areas, Israel's preferred form of "combat" is inflicting mass starvation on Palestinians. I would call that very cowardly indeed.
Both sides of every war kill civilians and do so in a way that is most cowardly. The way the inflicts the least likelihood of damage against themselves is the preferred method of most wars.
That way, you can kill and gather the resources afterward. You can keep "them" from getting "your" resources.
Killing civilians is the norm for patriots and religions around the world. And as resource depletion gets worse daily, the wars grow more bloody and more frequent.
What puzzles me is why anyone would bring more children into such insanity.
If the Jews think they are God's "chosen ones" why do they act so infantile and evil towards the palestinians? If I were among the "chosen" by God, I would think it was my duty to represent that Call with dignity and responsibility towards my "lesser" fellow humans. Kind of like how one would look after your dogs (you sure would not beat them and slaughter them).If the 2% of world population is "chosen" then it is their utmost duty to fulfill this position by treating the rest of us, the 98%, in a way that represents their superiority....which is not by killing, stealing, usury, and the rest of the foul things they are told to do by their "holy" books.
Religions are about power and greed.
This is about money.
Kill people to maintain resources. That's what religion is really about.
Human sacrifice to keep people rich and then blessed by a priest to make it seem holy.
The Israeli Zionists claim to represent all Jews in much the same way that George W. Bush claims to represent all Americans.
My family converted to Judaism when I was a child, though I since became non-religious. I have met many Jews who truly embody the humane principles you speak of, just as there are many Americans who embody those same principles despite the actions of their (our) government.
I regard the Zionists as being as far from true Jews as it is possible to be. The lessons of the Holocaust are completely lost on them even as they attempt to pervert its memory and use it for their own selfish ends....
I am filled with disgust at Israel's atrocities and at my own government's enabling of them. I urge all American readers to contact your elected representatives and voice your outrage. Not one more American dime should go to support these murderous bastards.