+1
Crusades come to mind

Yeah about 1000 yrs ago?! Jeez.

You think time changes things much? If you think it does you’ve never learned anything from human history.

Mmmmmmm. Doing my finals in a history degree. Thanks for making me feel amazing! My point is that the crusades were a millennium ago(circa).. Shouldn’t be happening now.

Hit those books hard ;-)

And should Hamas be firing rockets into Israel?

Well done missing the point Howard

Read the Hamas charter now that is a good read

Tony Rogers

The Hamas Charter is political.

Similar to the Talmud would be Islams Hadith but the sentiments aren’t as bizarre as the Talmud.

Randy Of course it’s political it’s the guidelines for the Hamas movement and I have not read the 6,800 pages of the Talmud as I’m sure you haven’t. However the parts I have read are pretty fanatical but that is not the guiding laws of the Jewish religion. The Hamas charter is however the guidelines for the Hamas movement which has Jihad at its heart with no room for peace under any circumstances

I normally try avoid getting involved in the comments on articles like this because it is pointless to try rationally explain the history of the region but your comment is pretty short sighted. Comparing the treatment of the Jews in World War II to what is happening to the Palestinians is just wrong. There are no death camps, there is no ethnic cleansing. In Ireland a lot of people assume that Israel is a theocratic state but in reality it is one of the most secular nations in the world. When Israeli leaders refer to the Jewish people, they are more referring to their race and heritage rather than religion.

Saying the Jews have no claim to the land is akin to saying that we have no claim to Ireland. The land that is now Israel has been occupied by foreign powers at least 10 times over the centuries. Babylonian, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, European Crusaders, Mamluk, Ottoman and British. The Jews were persecuted and exiled in the majority of these occupations. So yes they do deserve their land to live in and this is based on historical fact, not what is written in the bible. Which by the way the Jews don’t read in any case.

Lastly Israel is one of the few nations on the planet that has gained territory through defending itself. Since the state was created in 1948 it has been attacked four times by its Arab neighbours in massive offensives. Each time it successfully defended itself and it withdrew its army from most of the areas captured. It is also worth noting that Israel is surrounded on all sides by 17 Arab states that would, were it not for Israel’s western allies, destroy the nation. Also worth pointing out that that Israel is the only true democracy in the region, where as its neighbours are either theocratic monarchies or military controlled “republics” Israel has a population of under 7 million where as the nations that surround it (and are loosely allied) have a combined population of over 300 million. So I don’t blame the Israelis for defending their nation so aggressively when the time calls for it.

If the Arabs put down their weapons today there would be no more violence. If the Israelis put down their weapons today there would be no more Israel – I don’t remember who said that, but it still stands very true.

But what about the white phosphorous?

King Olaf “Saying the Jews have no claim to the land is akin to saying that we have no claim to Ireland. “, While people are free to return to ancestral lands to live it is the ethnic cleansing of the locals that really sticks in the gut of most right minded people.

Palestinians have been living and farming the land of modern day Israel for centuries and have lived peacefully alongside Jewish neighbours until the crazies took over the state of Israel. In the last 60 odd years Palestinians have had their farms and homes bulldozed to be replaced by Israeli settlements.

What about white phosphorus? It is a weapon of war. It is not illegal under any convention to use it in military operations. The IDF only use it to illuminate targets or to create a smoke screen. Even if it is used as a weapon….its not really very effective. More used for maiming and causing injury rather than death. I presume you are going to bring it up about the IDF using it in Gaza, well the Red Cross on numerous occasions has said there is no evidence that Israel has been using it as an offensive weapon. As I said there are far more efficient ways of killing people. Hamas militants however have attempted in the past to fire WP mortars on civilians working in a council building in Israel. It is a very effective weapon of fear.

King Olaf

Standard propaganda text you have copied & pasted here. Have seen it elsewhere over many years. Get you Hasbara controller to give you some new material.

If Hamas put down their fireworks, there would be no more Palestinians.

Where did the Red Cross, say this, my good King? You see, the problem with denying incontrovertable facts and making things up is that it tends to undermine your credibility across the board. Leave it out.:

http://www.hrw.org/video/2009/03/25/rain-fire-white-phosphorus-gaza

As for, “Lastly Israel is one of the few nations on the planet that has gained territory through defending itself.”, if you can’t see that this is a massive contradiction in terms, then obviously you’ve drunk too deeply from that Kool Aid.

If you stay in the reality-based community, you’ll have a much better time putting your point across.

What of white Phosphorous?
“White phosphorus munitions cause particularly severe injuries, including chemical burns down to the bone. Wounds contaminated by white phosphorus can reignite days later when bandages are removed, produce poisoning that leads to organ failure and death, and lead to lifetime health problems.”

Protocol III of The Convention on Prohibition or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons prohibits and restricts the use of incendiary weapons in civilian populations.

GAZA 2008 – In its early statements the Israeli military repeatedly denied using white phosphorus, saying “We categorically deny the use of white phosphorus”, and “The IDF acts only in accordance with what is permitted by international law and does not use white phosphorus.” It eventually admitted its use and stopped using the shells.

Human Rights Watch said shells exploded over populated civilian areas, including a crowded Palestinian refugee camp[34] and a United Nations school where civilians were seeking refuge.
—–
King Olaf – does this help?

A smoke screen design for maiming? Nice stuff for civilian areas? And cluster bombs….. Or are they being used for crowd control?

When you justify ANY weapons being dropped by a war plane on a civilian population your on the wrong…..

And before you bother, yes Hamas are in the wrong too….But at least the Israeli can defend themselves with iron shield, radar and shelters…

#King Olaf

The Celts were pushed out of Germany around 2 thousand years ago so does that give the Welsh, Scot and Irish the right to go back there and demand ‘their’ land back? I don’t think so and the same applies to the Jews. If they wanted to settle back in Palestine they should have done so peacefully rather than though the ethnic cleansing as practised by Irgun in the 30s and 40s.

You should ask yourself why are Israel’s neighbours so hostile to it. The reason is that the Israelis annexed the original territory (Palestine) from the local natives and pushed them into refugee camps in the neighbouring countries. If a group of foreigners suddenly invaded Wales and we in Ireland had to deal with the refugee problem I don’t imagine we’d be sending flowers and chocolates to the invaders.

Having been to Israel a number of times I can honestly say it is an apartheid state where Palestinians are treated like animals. While the Israelis (and all people) deserve to live in peace without fear of terrorism one cannot expect this to happen through oppression. The Israelis have a siege mentality and rather than trying diplomacy they prefer to use violence and aggression to come to a solution. Unfortunately, they have not learnt from what happened to their own people. Violence begets violence and this eye-for-an-eye mentality will just leave everyone blind.

@ Ben Barnes – That’s why I generally try avoid commenting on articles like this where the comments can get rather emotional and heated. It is an extremely complicated situation. It is very difficult for us in Ireland to understand the situation. Like Irish people when abroad often experienced prejudice, but no religion or nation ever hated the Irish as a race.

I agree, there was nothing to legitimately stop the Jews returning to their ancestral homeland. However, while Jewish farmers lived peacefully alongside Palestinian farmers. It was never going to go smoothly resettling a whole race of displaced people into a land that already had its own ethnic group. I can’t agree with the use of the term ethnic cleansing either, the Israelis are not guilty of that. Removing someone from what is legally recognised as your land is totally within a nations rights. However, the Israelis should have considered it more carefully. Just because you can move someone, doesn’t mean you should.

Be that as it may, Olaf, we can see with our own eyes that white phosphorous is being used as an offensive weapon in civilian areas, it’s right there in the video.

In that context, it seems unlikely in the extreme that “the Red Cross on numerous occasions has said there is no evidence that Israel has been using it as an offensive weapon.” So, unless you can provide any evidence of that, we’ll have to presume that you made it up.

Which raises the question, why lie?

King Olaf…….. ‘remove people from you legally recognised land’??????

Are you serious? Even the UN recognises the illegal settlements as ILLEGAL…….

King Olaf – While ethnic cleansing is a very strong term, I think that the definition of ethnic cleansing can very fairly be attributed to this situation.

“Ethnic cleansing is a policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to purposely remove by violent and terror-inspiring means as well as deportation and killing the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas”

The (disturbing) notion that as they are gods chosen people does not give them Carte Blanche to treat others as inferior/ sub human. Odious things are going on in the state of Israel in regard to their treatment not just of Palestinians but other immigrants from Africa and pretty much anyone who is not Jewish.

Is it too much to argue that all human life should be treated equally?

Well now… I seem to have stirred up quiet the hornets nest here.

@ Randy Tool – My controller says hello. You are right though, Hamas only have weaponry in the same league as fireworks when compared to the IDF. Which raises the question…if Israel hates and wants to destroy the Palestinians…why don’t they just do it? They don’t really care what Europe thinks of them and they’ve beaten their Arab neighbours many times on their own, but even if they had trouble. The US has them covered also. So really what is stopping them??

@Voodoo – Israel gained territory while defending itself in Sinai, Six Day and Yom Kippur wars. The IDF pushed back its attackers beyond their own borders and then gained territory. In most cases the IDF withdrew and returned to the Israeli border.

I can also copy and paste the first search result from google too! http://www.nowpublic.com/world/red-cross-israels-use-white-phosphorus-not-illegal

@ Ben Barnes – I am fully aware of what WP does. It is not an effective weapon. Its original use was for burning through vegetation in theatres of war. Any modern bomb is far more effective, thats why the IDF would not use it for their purposes. WP is used in smoke screen shells for creating cover for friendly troops or obscuring the vision of the enemy. It isn’t good to breathe in but it is deemed safe for use once prolonged exposure is avoided. So yeah they do use it, and it can cause injury but that isn’t their reason for using it.

@ Ruairi – I am not going to lie, my personal view is in favour of Israel, mostly because it is a democracy and religion doesn’t play a part in decisions at government level. I never said it was right when the Israelis kill Palestinian civilians but get real for a minute, what do you expect to happen when the militant arm of Hamas base their operations around civilian areas. They use them as a shield and of course civilians are going to die then. Think about this though…when an Israeli strike does kill a civilian, their government come out and regret it. When a Hamas strike kills and Israeli civilian, it is viewed as a victory.

Hamas have the most powerful weapon of all. The suicide bomber. You cannot stop them, you cannot reason with them, they look like you, they can come from any background, their objective is to die and they are easy to replace. The fear they create is more powerful than any tank or bomb can because there is no one to hold accountable.

@ Jean – No it doesn’t give us a right to claim Germany as our land. The Irish are an assimilated people. We are a mix of Celtic, Scandanavian and Anglo Saxon, and probably a few others too. The Jews for the most part are not mainly because for centuries it was social suicide to marry a Jew or convert to Judaism. Also the Jews had no homeland because they were expelled from what is now Israel many times….in Europe they were forced to live in enclaves and ghettos.

They must have done something wrong for their neighbours to be hostile towards them… Not accusing you of it, but that is the most stereotypical anti-semitic phrase you are likely to hear. There are some interpretations of the Qur’an which some preachers say states that the Jews are the enemy of Islam and it is every Muslims duty to kill them. So that could have something to do with it?? Also consider that is was just after World War II….and can you imagine how people viewed a mass immigration of people to your region?

Israel didn’t annex Palestine because Israel wasn’t a nation until 1948. Also in order to annex a country you have to inhabit a neighbouring country. The British Mandate of Palestine paved the way for the founding of Israel.

I guess you weren’t in S.Africa pre 1990 then…because that was an apartheid state. Israel cannot be compared to that. Israel is a modern, secular and progressive democracy… it stands alone in a region dominated by religion, greed and military rule. I agree the Israelis are not the strongest diplomats in the world but that is the nature of their people. Throughout history, no one listened to them, so why should they now. I also say the Israeli’s have learned from what happened to their people, you cannot stand around and do nothing when you are being attacked.

@ Voodoo – I just watched the video there a minute ago. There is no evidence that the IDF fired those WP rounds though. I don’t know for sure and thats why I won’t say categorically it wasn’t the IDF. How do you know it wasn’t a Hamas mortar round that was off target? Or possibly on purpose. Nothing stirs up international sympathy like Israel attacking civilians. Don’t forget that the militant arm of Hamas has no problem using young suicide bombers….and there is always a way for religion to justify such attacks on their own people in the eyes of the aggressor.

My evidence is as tenuous as yours…after all this is the internet. I remember reading about the red cross statement on WP use by Israel in a magazine. So blast away at the legitimacy of what I have said, I know its true.

Sorry Olaf, but do you have that from an official Red Cross source, on a Red Cross site? Because that story, and the first three pages of google results on the headline don’t seem to link one. In fact it seems a lot to me like the time an IDF press release:

“Red Cross official: There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza”: http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/2011/04/2004.htm

was disseminated as fact, before the same Red Cross official was forced to respond on their own site:

“Gaza: no end in sight to hardship and despair”: http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/interview/2011/palestine-israel-interview-2011-05-19.htm

You’ll have to forgive my scepticism.

“There is no evidence that the IDF fired those WP rounds though.”

Ah here. Guess you didn’t get to the bit where unexploded and exploded shells were checked for serial numbers? And the bit where the military expert watched the rounds coming in from Israel from a hill outside Gaza, because he wasn’t allowed entry?

You’re seriously trying to say that Hamas fired white phosphorous rounds, from howitzers inside Israel onto a UN school where over a thousand Palestinians were sheltering?

I’m sorry, my man, but you can’t claim in good faith that there’s anything “tenuous” about the proposition that white phosphorous was used in Operation Cast Lead – it’s a fact. I should add that there’s no evidence of its having been used this time around, as yet, though.

A superb post by King Olaf. Its calm and well-informed rationality will not hold back the rage of the offended Israelophobes and Jew-haters here who will dismiss him as a “hasbara troll” (i.e. someone whiose views annoy them). Cognitive dissonance can be painful when fact-free brains collide with truth.

Confirming what King says about interpretations of the Quran, here is the highest religious authority in the Palestinian Authority, Mufti Muhammad Hussein, at a Fatah 47th anniversary celebration event broadcast on PA TV, 9 Jan 2012. (Remember, Fatah are the “moderates”) The Mufti presents killing of Jews as an Islamic religious goal: “Muslims’ destiny is to kill Jews”. And the moderator at the event adds: “Our war with the descendants of apes and pigs [Jews] is a war of religion and faith”. Again, these are not Israeli allegations but the words of Palestinian Arabs themselves.

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=6098

@ Ruairi – Sigh…do I have to explain everything….

In Israeli law it is viewed as Israeli land.

Who cares about the UN anymore? It had great promise in the early years but now it is as pointless as the league of nations. The UN takes a stance on soft issues like declaring random world whatever day or criticising a popular target like Israel but when there are problems in countries like Bahrain, Syria, Libya, any where in Africa it as slow as anything to react.

I know its somewhere in the Geneva convention it says destruction of an property in an occupied state is prohibited…unless militarily unavoidable. Also the West Bank and East Jerusalem are internationally recognised by the UN and various nations as Israeli territory (for the moment)

@ Voodoo – I don’t blame you for being skeptical at the link I posted. If you had used anything like that as a source I would be too. To be honest even if i found the article it still wouldn’t consolidate our positions in this debate.

Lacking proper acceptable evidence, my only reason for believing the IDF wouldn’t use WP is as I said before. It was originally used for burning away vegetation in jungle environments. The application of it as a weapon was more of a secondary use. In wide open spaces, where there is a any sort of a breeze, it is very ineffective at killing. All it does is maim and injure. In the Vietnam war, US troops used it to clear spider holes that the Vietcong used for ambushes…so it is effective in closed, tight spaces.

The IDF is a modern military in a fairly liberal (I’m using that term very loosely) democratic society. Their objective is to the job done. You want to kill someone, you use a bomb or shoot them. You don’t use a weapon that relies on a number of variable in order to kill someone.

Would you care to speculate as to why they would use WP over any other weapon that kills more effectively?

“hasbara troll” (i.e. someone whiose views annoy them) – I think you’ll find that the definition is more along the lines of “someone who defends Israel with stock arguments, IDF propaganda and copypasta, while wilfully ignoring all arguments and evidence that don’t suit his or her line”, or more succinctly, “one whose entire posting agenda on any given thread is to push Israel’s position and disseminate propaganda materials or arguments, rather than objectively analysing and discussing the issue”.

I’m all for discussion, but a meaningful discussion requires at least some acknowledgement of the facts.

Also, the “jew haters” line is offensive, I resent the implication. For me, religion doesn’t even come in to it, it’s a simple question of the state of Israel’s treatment of the residents of Gaza.

Olaf, Israel has played a key role in undermining the UN by ignoring, with US backing, resolution after resolution. Much like Syria has relied on Russian support to avoid intervention. Both totally unacceptable.

The Geneva conventions also hold that collective punishment, as exemplified by the blockade, are a war crime, as is the use if indiscriminate munitions such as cluster bombs and white phosphorous in civilian areas, and the active targeting of refugees.

I sincerely hope you’re getting paid for all of that … speaking of which, I’d better go do some work: ’till our next exciting instalment…

King Olaf – Glad to see that you have now reluctantly accepted that the IDF have used White Phosphorous on the civilians in Gaza, I’m less impressed that your response seems to be a shrug of the shoulders. Double standards much?

I will have to disagree with your claim that “religion doesn’t play a part in decisions at government level” of Israel?
Israel defines itself as Jewish. Their sole ownership claims to the region is based on ancient religious manuscripts. The pictures in this article show soldiers praying before going into battle.
Religion is not just a part in the Israeli states decisions, it is central to everything they do.

Mel McDermot – Your comment “the offended Israelophobes and Jew-haters here who will dismiss him as a “hasbara troll”
Who specifically is a Jew hater or Islamaphobe? – or are you just trying to discredit anyone who disagrees with your apartheid view of the world?

@voodoo – I would hope you are not referring to myself when you are talking about copypasta or using stock arguments. I’m neither pro-Israel or anti-Palestinian. I am just being objective and rational, and offering up some of my knowledge on the subject. I think at least as far as the comments section is concerned on the Journal, you can certainly tell the key demographic in its readership.

Just to correct myself from earlier. I was wrong about the Red Cross saying that Israel wasn’t using WP. Apparently it was reported in an number of publications that they had. Here is a link with a statement from them http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/interview/weapons-interview-170109.htm

Still though, no one has given me a reason as to why Israel would use WP?

@ Ben – Sorry to disappoint but I never accepted that they used WP munitions intentionally on civilians. I said they have use WP smoke screen shells in civilian areas, which are ambiguous at best, because most of the militants tend to based in civilian buildings.

Being Jewish is more than a religion. It is identity. As I said above when the government talks about the Jewish people, it more referring to the heritage and race, rather than religion. If you get the chance to visit Israel ever, you would see it is modern, secular society. The only religious things to see are the ones you decide to see.

King Olaf, any objective reader of your comments would only be able to draw one conclusion. Your “impartiality” is rather one-sided.

@Censored – If you check out my earlier comments I do say that I favour the Israeli’s more and I give my reasons why. But that would be from a personal point of view. I am neither pro-Israel nor pro-Palestinian with the information I have put forward to people. I have corrected myself on the one bit of information I have gotten wrong.

I never expected my comments to be viewed as impartial though to be honest. I think apart from myself, two other people have posted something that isn’t about slating Israel and/or isn’t in support of Hamas. Thats just the way it is on the Journal though.

Will people stop making the equivication of german policy towards the jews during and before world war two and Israeli policy towards palestinanes if the where equivelent first of all the Palestinaians would all have been exteriminated a long time ago. While I don’t agree with Israeli policy it’s in no way equivelent to Nazi Germany, not even close.

…..@kingoaf….it is said that one of the reasons why the indigenous American people’s were so easily relieved of “their land” ….was largely because the concept of owning land was akin to owning the air we breath…absurd in their thinking….quite a salutary thought…don’t cha think….!?….

The same could be said in the same breath for some of those who read the “Koran”…

I presume Aidan means all holy books.
World would be a better place without em.

Thank you Ciaran. Some people just don’t read between the lines.

It says it all and I’ve seen the same rhetoric on every forum that goes this way.

The bottom line is that Israel is the aggressor. It’s simple stuff.

They claim they want peace, but they destroy every chance for it. They kill mediators, assassinate people, block Palestines entry to the UN, butch and whine when a nation recognises Palestine and allows a diplomatic envoy.

Ireland upgraded the Palestineians envoy to Ireland The a consulate (not embassy) and Israel had the disgusting audacity to claim we were harming the peace process.

Israels offering of peace is ridiculous, unfair and impossible for Palestine to accept……. And the known it.

Every pro Israeli comment is the same, has are terrorists, they want to destroy Israel. But NOT ONE of you soapbox preachers dares to comment on the continued theft of Palestineians land that Ariel Sharons encouraged when he was in power.

NOT ONE of you soapbox preachers dares to comment on the Israeli use of internationally banned weapons on civilians populations.

You just play the poor jewellery surrounded card…. Well yes your surrounded, Israel chose to be there. You chose your neighbours….

And in most conflicts with them over the past 60 years, Israel has fired the first shots…..

Had a brief exchange without this guy on twitter last night,

https://twitter.com/barrycork

before being blocked for having the temerity to obliquely doubt the IDF’s 12,000 rockets claim, which doesn’t seem to be borne out by figures from other parts of the Israeli government:

http://mondoweiss.net/2012/11/dissecting-idf-propaganda-the-numbers-behind-the-rocket-attacks.html

Thought the blocking was kinda ironic, seeing as he’s currently spamming pretty much every journalist in the country, trying to bully them into disseminating thinly, or not so thinly, veiled IDF propaganda, then getting huffy and blustering on about bias and not wanting to hear both sides when they block him or tell him to go away.

Under normal circumstances I would never post someone’s twitter account here, but I don’t think he’s exactly being discrete about it, and I think people should be of these tactics.

Watch in awe.

Judaism and Islam are closer than either are to Christianity. Christians and Buddhists create the most progressive and sustainable societies. In a Christian society, the public do good deeds for its own sake. Judaism and Islam have yet to do that. Turkey dumped Islam for Ataturk.

Superquinn own brand Potatoes are sometimes from Israel……….

ITS Student

The usual Hasbara response is, ‘the computer you’re using has an Inter processor!’. Intels first cpu was an American invention. They do have offices in Israel and in 10′s of other locations worldwide.

Mine’s AMD.

Randy, your sunshine comment has to be comment of the week

Agreed Ruairi – I laughed my a**e off but it stayed dark back there. Thank God for that :-)

My sunshine joke has been relegated to a Memory Hole. Long Live Controlled Speech!

Intel recently chose Ireland over Israel for the manufacture of its new processor and the Israeli-Americans tried to lobby against this but lost…! At the end of the day, there are 45 million Irish-Americans compared to just 6 million Israeli-Americans. I hope the EU presidency presses for an EU wide ban on imports from Israel. I read that Jaffa Orange are from Israel. Caterpillar machinery is used to bulldoze Palestinian homes so boycott Caterpillar shoes and machinery.

Anne just want to point out that Hamas never said to wipe of Israel on the face of the earth. They don’t have nukes, F-16s, Cluster Bombs and Iron Dome missle defense system like Israel does.

All they have is mortar rockets which the western media calls ‘missles’, hardly any contest. It is like fighting cannons with swords and that explains the calm you see on Israeli soldiers. They know that too….

Ann, if ignorance is bliss, you must be grinning from ear to ear

“All they have is mortar rockets which the western media calls ‘missles’, hardly any contest”.

The Iranian built FAJR 5 missile is not a Mortar. You really do not help your cause by lying. Thrash Thrash Thrash.

As you say Anne ‘Diplomacy has to succeed’ – is this why Israel blew up the Gazan peace negotiator last week?
A moderate who was the main chance for a lasting ceasefire.

The simply truth is that while Israel is carrying out their campaign of ethnic cleansing it suits them to maintain a level of combat which gives them the pretext to bulldoze more Palestinian homes and build more settlements. The only people being wiped off the map are Palestinians.

Steo @ I don’t want a lecture on what Iranians have and what not. At present Israel is fighting Hamas not Iran, and even if Iran is supporting Hamas than US is also supporting Israel.

The fact of the matter is that Israel has far more superior and deadly weapons compared to Hamas whatever way you see it. You may call it ‘trash’ but people with common-sense call it truth.

Murtaza: “Hamas never said to wipe Israel off the face of the earth”.
On the contrary, this video shows Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in late 2010 making it as clear as can be that ending the ‘occupation’ means eradicating the state of Israel:

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2729.htm

This is perfectly in line with the Hamas ideology, which regards the whole of “Palestine” including Israel as an Islamic trust land that can never be allowed to exist under infidel rule “until the Day of Resurrection”:

Hamas Charter Preface:
“… Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors…”

Article Eleven: The Strategy of Hamas: Palestine is an Islamic Waqf
“… The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine has been an Islamic Waqf [trust territory] throughout the generations and until the Day of Resurrection, no one can renounce it or part of it, or abandon it or part of it…”

typo the = this ……… sorry

Commonsense is one of very many twitter accounts spreading Israeli government propaganda. Some of the stuff they say is hilarious!

Niall I saw a documentarty about this guy. He is clinically insanse. He makes some sense but a nutter all the same. He met Ahmajinedad in Tehran. Him and a load of other nut case fundamentalists were guests of the Iranian Government.
He believes the Jewish people haven’t suffered enough and only through immense suffering can they reach their ultimate goal.
Absolute nutter.

Steo Burke

Israel is a self-made prison filled with an eclectic mixture of ideological extremists.

@Randy:

And your point is?

Randy, saying all Israelis are nutters is like saying all Palestineians support hamas. This is not true and only feeds the Israeli trolls.

I know several Israelis and they do not support the government or its actions.

I know a Palestineian too, and she doesn’t support Hamas.

Hamas are not the good guys here and neither is the Israeli government. There are only the bad guys and the innocent…

A moral equation between the Nazis and Israel is utterly absurd. The Nazis murdered or starved to death about 30 million civilians and POW’s in world War 2; a few score people have died in this conflict!!

@John Hearne Since you clearly know nothing about the Warsaw Ghetto, here are some facts about it:

It contained the Jewish 30% of Warsaw’s population crammed into 2.4% of its area, giving a density of 122,000 people / sq km or 7.2 people per room (compare Gaza population density == 4,750 / sq. km). Its living conditions were slave labour, starvation, the death penalty for smuggling food and daily arbitrary murder at hands of Nazi forces.

Its nutrition levels were officially 181 calories per day per Jew (7% of German ration, 24% of Polish ration).

The death rate was over 4,600 per month or 100,000 in total from starvation, disease and killings between Nov 1940 and June 1942, when the Nazis began the deportation of another 265,000 to Treblinka to be murdered. Between then and the Ghetto uprising in April-May 1943, another 36,000 Jews were murdered in the Ghetto; after the Ghetto uprising the remaining 50,000 were deported to be exterminated.

If you aware of anything remotely comparable to these conditions in Gaza (where before the the present upsurge, there was a building boom, and where today, even in the midst of the rocket fire, hundreds of trucks are crossing from Israel on a daily basis to deliver essential supplies to the population), feel free to supply the evidence.

If Israel seriously wanted to crush Hamas, it would have already executed the ground invasion. Clearly, Israel is hoping this is not necessary, or else it would have gone in already.

….@derek…guess thou art right on the nail there….the 75,000 mobilisation probably destined for Iran….though hope your man be totally wrong…!