Think about current lives, hardships of many Israelis

yes of course, blame everything on the palestinians and hamas. nothing wrong with the occupiers – isael.

Just take a second and imagine america occupied by a brutal military bent on eradicating your entire civilization based on 3,000 year old book. Imagine being forced to live without food,water, electricity, or even the oppertunity to work, and watching your family members butchared.
Isreal founded Hamas as a counter to the PLO.
“ Legacy Heritage Fellow in the Center for Terrorism Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies” a subsiduary of APAC.

I have my own problems here in the U.S. I don’t have time to worry about Isreal, Hamas, Palestine, Middle East…and I don’t care anymore.

I can certainly sympathize with the plight of Israeli civilians in their day to day lives. It must be hard to live in those kinds of conditions and constant fear. But blaming everything on Hamas is a gross over-simplification. When 13 Israelis die in the most recent conflict, 4 of them by friendly fire, it’s a stretch to say that somehow compares with 3,000+ Palestinian civilians. If my house were bombed by some jet, a faceless enemy I can’t actually relate to, and someone in my family died, I might be inclined to use whatever means are available to retaliate. Let’s not forget those RPGs were likely manufactured by the U.S. Let’s not forget that everyone knows Israel has WMDs and still recieves $3 billion in U.S. military aid every year, which by law should not be allowed. Let’s not forget Israel bombed a UN school, even though they know by GPS where that school is and that it flies the UN flag. Look, I’m not saying Hamas has isn’t to blame for lots of things, namely being dedicated to some radical philosophy, inextricably tied to religion, that leaves little room for Israel. But the response by Israel should be proportional, not like it is now. And now, let the ad hominem attacks that I’m an anti-Semite begin.

Nowadays, a war could not be won on the battlefield and the boundary between the evil and the good is blurred or even indistinguishable. The conflict between Israelis and palestinians would not come to an end until both parties realize that they have to SHARE the land and the history thereof in order to survive on earth.

Exploring the world beyond the Solar system would be much more challenging and rewarding than in-fighting between human ethinic groups.

You can be biased by your media as much as you want. But I have to tell you that Palestinian lives are not ANY cheaper than Israeli lives. Palestinian lives are as precious.
There is a difference between 1,500 dead SO MANY of who are infants. Gaza is completely destructed, and what was the end product? nothing hamas is still there. Dont forget that hamas was elected by the Palestinians under the supervision of Jimmy Carter. Also, me being an Palestinian myself, all Israel did in the war on Gaza was make Hamas stronger in the eyes of the Gazan and Palestinians in general. We are arabs, we never give up.
Until the likes of yourself and other start to treat this conflict with a fair approach and until Palestinian blood is worth as much as Israeli blood…be ready for another 61 years of the same conflict.
I have never been to Palestine as a result of what happened in 1948, but guess what I am more and more attached to Palestine. Also, my kids will be even more attached to Palestine.
Living under the line of poverty, having your air,water,ground controlled by someone other than your people; try that for 61 years then come and talk about your 15 seconds.
People in Gaza had no shelters like Israelis, while Israelis sat in air conditioned shelters with all the food they want and the Playstation’s for their entertainment the Palestinians fled to United Nation schools and got BOMBED and killed.
What peach and justice do you expect? The whole world went out by force with protests from the east to west from south to north in the sake of the people of Gaza and Palestine.
Israel is bring the shame to itself with its own hands and bringing the sick reality of its regime and intentions.
But because of me I am bringing awareness to the likes of you and I already have a LINE of supporters behind me.

You talk about what the United States would do if they were in a situation like Israel? Did you ever think what the United States would do if they were in a situation like Palestine? What would the U.S. do if someone came here and forcefully took over almost all of our land, kicked out pretty much everyone—the few that stayed were given the smallest piece of land with the worst conditions and if we had a problem with it then we would be denoted a terrorist. What do you think the US would do? Just take it and say okay? Just sit back and not fight for our land, for simple human rights? You can rest assure that the US would NOT let that happen, and we would not be sending over simple rockets, we would destruct them. When Palestinians fight for their land, and for their rights, why do we consider them so violent, bad, and furthermore terrorists? Why is it okay for everyone else to fight for their rights, but Palestinians are not allowed to?

So many people think Hamas is such a terrible and violent group. What are they suppose to do? Just not fight for their rights? Let Israel take everything from them, everything!? Israel needs to be held accountable for the injustices they have committed, and still are committing against Palestine.

Israel should be ashamed.

Free Palestine.

The Jewish people refer to themselves as “God’s chosen people” and claim that you are entitled to having your own homeland (the borders of which make it the only country in the world with no internationally recognized borders by the UN, I wonder why??). Isn’t this religious extremism? Forcing your viewpoint on the Palestinian people, that you own that piece of land because your religious texts say you were there thousands of years ago? Let me ask you, with all the record keeping of the event known as the Holocaust, which obviously I consider to be a tragedy for the loss of those lives, yet how many Palestinians were involved in that massacre? Ok if you are from the school of thought that says Palestine was never a country to begin with and that it was a part of Jordan and Syria and Egypt, how many Arabs from this region were involved in the killing of Jews in Nazi Germany and that time period? The answer is zero, so then why is it that the Palestinian people today are suffering for the crimes committed by Nazis thousands of miles away from there?

I’m not against the Jews having their own homeland, but not at the expense of Arab lives, freedoms, and land. I’m not advocating throwing all the Jews into the sea, this is a common argument amongst Zionists, what I’m saying is the only solution is democracy. Why can’t the Jews and Arabs have free and fair elections like we do here in America and they can elect a government of unity, don’t you think that sounds reasonable? The reason the Jewish people will never accept this is because firstly they know they are outnumbered and they want to continue their apartheid ruling over the Palestinians territories. Jews and Muslims can live in peace, in a society based on mutual respect and as equals, we have done so in the past if you look into history, look at the Jews during the time of Prophet Mohammed in the city of Medina. Where is the highest number of Jews in the Middle East outside of Israel? The answer is Iran! For being a so called Jew hating country, isn’t it surprising that they have Jewish members of Parliament there?

Regarding the statements about violence towards Israelis, instead of simply identifying that this phenomenon exists, lets take an academic approach as to defining why? What is the situation that would cause someone to make these kinds of actions towards the Israelis. What would drive someone to such an extreme? Are we to believe that its an inherent belief of all Palistinians that Jews are all evil? Or rather could it be the systematic destruction of Palestinians lives, through the bombing of their homes and cities, through the murder of loved ones by “targeted strikes”, by the lack of resources for basic supplies ( Israel has control of the air, land, and sea surrounding Palestine, essentially Palestine is an open air prison). Mankinds innate desires and needs are simple, safety, shelter, food, and clothing. Even these most universal of rights (aside from clothing) are being compromised for the Palestinian people by Israel. The Palestinian people have no hope for a future, when a bomb kills everyone in your family how could? This may seem like an endless rant with no proof but tell me what the crimes the 1,200 or more innocent civilians killed in the recent Gaza incursion, and don’t tell me that Hamas was firing nearby, because this excuse is used to justify every crime there is ever committed by Israel including the bombing of two UN schools, even though the UN was in contact with Israel to give them their exact coordinates and had white flags flying overhead outside!!!!

“Sadly, it’s a world that more than 250,000 Israeli citizens occupy.”

That’s the crux if it isn’t it…that they OCCUPY someone else’s land. Anytime there is oppression, resistence will follow. For a prime example, please see the Jewish resistence movements to the nazi’s. All mothers living in the holy land face the same problem all right, the cancerous zionist entity.

Notice how there are no facts in this entire article, but simply emotional propoganda. that is because anyone who looks at the facts can see who is the aggressor and who is the problem…if you don’t believe me then LOOK AT SOME FACTS yourself.

Worst. Article. Ever.

What a bunch of Zionist crap. You can continue to write AIPAC talking points if you’d like, or you can join the rest of us in the real world Mr. Kaplan.

“Nice” article Mr. Kaplan, and excuse me for sounding so “cynical”. Now let me refresh your memory: were were you when:
1. Building settlements and uprooting Palestinians?
2. Controlling USA’s government and media for all out support to Israel?
3. Israel supporting rightwing dictadorships like Pinochet of Chile and the Argentinian junta? Even got into the illegal drug trade like supporting Pablo Escobar’s cartel of Colombia?
4. With Mossad and CIA creating Islamic terrorism like Al Quaida and Hamas?
5. Possible Mossad’s assassinations like that of Olaf Palme of Sweden in 1986 [Olaf Palme, Swedish chancellor was very critical of Israel’s brutal policies against Palestinians].
6. Remember the Pollard’s case?
7. Remember the 1967 USS Liberty?
Sorry, this crying over Israel must stop. Maybe Hamas aren’t “nice guys”, but Israelis themselves should take a large blame for their own predicaments. And don’t expect me to shed tears for Israel. I will not. As the old biblical saying goes: you reap what you sow.

And I forgot how “chummy friends” were Israel and South Africa back in the 1960s to late 1980s.

AH! Mr. Kaplan: I also read how Israelis soldiers killed lots of Gazan’s civilians including women and children. What do you have to say about that? Can you answer? Or not?

Okay, the thing about these comments AND the article posted above is that they are ALL more or less one-sided. Sure Mr. Kaplan heeds the call of the Zionists and of AIPAC, but so too are the commentators singing the siren calls of those advocating for the cause of the Palestinians. This, more honestly than either the initial article, OR the respondents comments illustrates the impossibility of this conflict- there is no party that is entirely “right” or “wrong,” no one party is the “injured” or the “offender” in each and every sense.

In an effort to be fully transparent, I personally do not agree with the AIPAC line of thought that so obviously runs through the piece, but let us at the very least acknowledge that those lambasting it aren’t necessarily any different in their zealotry.

Most of the previous posts to this article sharply criticize the author for his pro-Israel views without really understanding the facts that shape the current middle eastern situation. Please take the time to understand a few condensed facts about the situation occurring in the middle east, and Israel’s inherent right to protect itself:

1. Under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, members of the United Nations have the inherent right to self defense against armed attacks.

2. International Law prohibits, even during declared war, the intentional targeting of civilians or the bombing of areas of civilian population centers with no military significance. This would be considered a war crime. As determined by the Trials at Nuremberg, war crimes also constitute armed attacks. Therefore, Hamas is guilty of both war crimes and armed attacks against Israel. The fact that each Hamas launched rocket does not hit a school bus, or a hospital and kill hundreds is purely happenstance. No nation should be forced to wait until the goals of its enemies are fulfilled before a “proportional response”. Proportion is and needs to continue to be defined by the threat posed by the enemy and not the harm it has thus far produced.

3. The fact that each Hamas launched rocket does not hit a school bus, or a hospital and kill hundreds is purely happenstance. No nation should be forced to wait until the goals of its enemies are fulfilled before a “proportional response”. Proportion is and needs to continue to be defined by the threat posed by the enemy and not the harm it has thus far produced.

4. The misuse of civilians as shields has opened the door for changing globally accepted rules of war. Knowing the difference between combatants and civilians was easy when were uniformed members of a nation’s army and were fighting on battlefields far from civilian centers. The laws of war simply need to adapt to this change. As an example: In an American town, an armed person robs a bank and takes a bystander hostage and uses that hostage as a human shield while firing at law enforcement. If in an effort to stop this armed robber, the civilian is killed, either by the fire of the armed robber OR the law enforcement officials, the armed robber would be charged with the murder of the hostage. The same should be true for the terrorists of Hamas’ Military Wing who use civilians as shields when firing rockets into Israel. The terrorists should be held responsible for the death of the civilian, even if the direct cause of the death of the civilian was an Israeli rocket.

5. Based purely on facts, no army in history has ever had a better ratio of combatants to civilians killed in a comparable setting to the Middle East than Israel. Israel’s ratio of is far better than that of the United States, Great Britain, and Russia, or any other comparable country combating terrorism globally.

6. Palestinian terror began long before the “occupation” began. It started in 1929 when the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem ordered attacks on Jewish civilians in Hebron (Jewish civilians who’s families had lived there for generations).

7. Terrorism has gotten worse in Israel since Israel ended its occupation of the southern portion of Lebanon and Gaza. The territories, instead of being used for productive growth of culture and economy, are used now as launching pads for rockets and missiles into Israel.

8. Occupation does not cause terrorism, terrorism is caused by the culture of death preached by certain Islamic clerics and by the world’s reaction to it; making concessions and then blaming those who fight back. Terrorism continues not only in Israel, but globally, because it works. While occupation does not cause terrorism, terrorism does cause occupation, and in certain situations, reoccupation.

9. Without support from the international community, Israel will continue to be forced to protect itself from cross border rocket attacks, suicide bombers and kidnappings. This protection may even include reoccupation. Israel will not leave the West Bank unless it can be assured that the areas it secedes will not become outposts for increased terrorist activities. Israel has continually offered land for peace, but will continue to be unwilling to give land for terrorism, and no one should expect them too.

This is a great article Josh. Thank you for writing it. It is sad the the world has come to such a situation in a place considered so important by many major religions and a large portion of humans.

-Doug

Good job Doug— great supplement to the article.

Everyone is so quick to attack Israel for their attack on the Palestinian people and Gaza, but the real finger should be pointed at Hamas. Hamas not only launches attacks on Israel but they also attack and threaten their own people. Hamas is a terrorist organization that brain-washes and even kills their own people. It is true that Hamas was elected by the people of Gaza as a political party but let’s not forget that when palestinian people went against Hamas they were then brutally murdered in the streets of Gaza. Hamas hides behind their people they intentionally store weapons in mosques and civilian homes. In response to Israel firing rockets at schools first of all there were rockets being fired from the schoolyard. This whole UN protection is all a bunch of bull shit! The UN has become a completely worthless organization just ask the people of Darfur. Both Israel and most of the Palestinian people want peace but there will never be peace until Hamas is no more. Terrorist actions and terrorist organizations do not equal peace. In response to Israel and the Jews having stole the land and are currently occupying a land they believe was given to them by the bible you should get your facts correct. In 1948 when the british mandate become Israel their was a 2 state solution and the arabs rejected it and what was Palestine in the bible also included much of Jordan, Egypt, and Syria.. so are you saying that those countries shouldn’t exist either? And further more there were hundreds of displaced jews after the liberation of the death camps and there was no where for those people to go as no countries wanted to let them in.