Another Israeli missile attack on Gaza has, again, wiped out the life of three Palestinian children: a brother and a sister (aged 5 and 6) and another 16 year old teen.

Expressing my anger on this blog won’t bring these children back. Lamenting the ‘shame of the Arabs’ will not prevent the killing of yet another child next week!

And let me get this out of the way: the death of ANY child, Palestinian, Israeli, Iraqi or Sudanese is reason to be angry. Let’s not play politics and build our arguments on the blood of children, OK? When the wars of adults start wiping out children, we should know that we have all reached the lowest points of moral decline.
I am not in the business of defending the Qassam rockets or the fact that they seem to be placed among civilians. But Israel has far more fire power and thus your contribution to the ‘cycle of violence’ has always been far greater.
I want to dedicate this post to asking the ‘other side’, the Israeli blogosphere (I know you are reading this): How far are Israelis willing to go in this business of taking out Qassam rockets in civilian areas and killing palestinian children in the process. In the space of 10 days there have been three attacks by the IDF on Gaza to hit Qassam rockets or Palestinian fighters. And every time there have been Palestinian civilians killed, especially children.
Do Israelis understand the asymmetry of lethal force here??

Is this how Israel intends to win the ‘war on terror’?

Well let me tell you.. The IDFs repeated actions are feeding the anger from which the hell-fires of terror emerge. You are bombing people who already live in hell!

Can this madness be stopped??


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25 responses to “A question for the Israeli blogosphere!!”

  1. Azmi Avatar
    Azmi

    “I am not in the business of defending the Qassam rockets or the fact that they seem to be placed among civilians.”

    Ahmad, great post but I have one exception with above comment. fact is all of Gaza is civilian and all of the resistance is civilians. there is no regular army fighting israel and there is no sophesticated guidance systems tha palestinian resistance can use to target israeli military. palestinains have no barracks and no hiding places in gaza. so unless you can pressure the US and Europe to give the palestinains hi tech weapons, please do not condemn so lightly the palestinian’s only weapons, crude as they may be. you are either with fairness or you are not. the palestinains are fighting an effeceint israeli killing machine armed and protected by the West. so with that in mind, any statements that presume parity of power between the israelis and the palestinains can only be interperted as you wanting to CYA. but I agree with the rest of your post.

  2. Mush Ma3ghool Avatar
    Mush Ma3ghool

    Western Galilee kibbutz closes its pool to Israeli Arab swimmers

    By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent

    http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/729286.html

    (Are you there Khaled? this link is dedicated to you and your good Israeli friends, which you like to brag about their tolerance and their democracy. here we are in the 21st century, and non-Jews are barred from Jewish swimming pools)

  3. Moey Avatar
    Moey

    you think they’d give a shit for the posts man, they’re way over media

  4. Rob S Avatar
    Rob S

    You need to understand that suffering is not a valid argument. Partly because there’s alot of it to go around. How many times can we point to Arab “moderates” who view burning Israeli buses widespread support for terrorism as mere “setbacks” rather than brutal terror of the worst kind?

    Granted, seeing this kind of stuff peeks our emotions; but in this case it clouds the real issues. In this case we have millions of people in the Arab/Islamic world who want to see Israel wiped off the map. We have an Israeli population that supports concessions for peace, and terrorists groups that view these concessions as proof that jihad works.

    I’m sorry Ahmad, but proper armies are different than mindless militias. Armies operate under military law and are punished when they disobey. Islamo-Terrorists emphatically do not acknowledge any sort of law and certainly to not apologize. The reason why peace is squarely in the hands of the Palestinians is because they refuse to recognise Israel’s right to exist, much less defend itself from terrorism. How can Israel work diplomacy in these situations?

  5. Iman Avatar
    Iman

    I personally prefer to refer to them as IOF (israeli Occupation Forces) rather than IDF…and I wish we all can start doing the same.

    Come on now ;) don’t be so harsh on our noble leaders…they’re doing their best…Olmert and Abbas are scheduled to attend a breakfast together at a conference hosted by King Abduallah isn’t that promising!

  6. Lauran Avatar
    Lauran

    Answer: This is a question that was answered within hours of the incident by the IDF. This was a horrible, tragic mistake. A misfire with terrible consequences.

    If Palestinian terrorists operated in unpopulated areas, the war on terror would be much less dangerous to Palestinian civilians. But they don’t.

    So here is a question for you: What would be a good plan for preventing daily Kassam rocket fire which is intentionally aimed at Israeli civilians?

  7. Dotan Mazor Avatar
    Dotan Mazor

    Hello Ahmad,

    It seems like you’re being fed with FUD, and I’ll try to set the things straight.

    1. The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) did not launch only 3 attacks in the last 10 days. That’s not even close to the real number. There are 10’s of rockets bombing our cities, almost each day in the last past weeks. The IDF tries to stop these launches, with much more than 3 attacks.

    2. Terrorists, as terrorists often do, use civilian ground for their actions. One can only guess, that if the IDF has information about some planned attack, or about an ammunition bunker, it will do its best to prevent the attack, and destroy the bunker.

    3. As a reserve soldier in the IDF, I can tell you with 100% certainty, that the IDF never targets civilians. If civilians are hurt, it is only as a result of the proximity of active terrorists to the civilians. the IDF did not choose this proximity.

    As for the Israeli opinion about Arab civilians being wrongfully killed, there is no one that is satisfied about it. There is a great dismay in the Israeli public about the entire situation, but as long as bored terrorists keep on targeting Israeli cities, the Arab civilians cry will not be heard as hard as it rightfully should.

    I sure hope it sheds some light.

    Dotan

  8. Samer Marzouq Avatar
    Samer Marzouq

    I am surprised that we still feel sad for Israeli children after all Jewish crimes in Palestine, those children are potential killers, someday they will join the army and kill us and our children as well.

  9. Azmi Avatar
    Azmi

    ROB S: “I’m sorry Ahmad, but proper armies are different than mindless militias. Armies operate under military law and are punished when they disobey.”

    So the Nazi armies and Facist armies are good armies because they operate under military law?

    So any country with an army can invade another country and expell its people because they operate under military law?

    WHAT THE F@$% ARE YOU SAYING?

    Your post is exactly the sort of post that shows a deep rooted sickness, whereby you come up with all sorts of absurd rationalizations to grotesqu acts of brutality. Yet you are incapable of seeing the absurdity of your rationalizations.

    I think that’s how the Nazis and Facsicts thought too. You are all a menace to world peace.

  10. Azmi Avatar
    Azmi

    LAURAN “So here is a question for you: What would be a good plan for preventing daily Kassam rocket fire which is intentionally aimed at Israeli civilians?”

    ARE YOU ALL MAD???? THE ANSWER IS FOR YOU TO GET THE F$%@ OUT OF LAND YOU HAVE INVADED AND TO STOP EXPELLING NON-JEWS AND TO STOP SHOOTING AT NON-JEW WHO ARE TRYING TO RETURN TO HOMES FROM WHICH YOU HAVE EXPELLED THEM.

    Have you gone mad with your hate and racism as to assume your actions are byond discussion and to ask above question as if you don’t know what causes all of this mess. You are a deeply disturbed society, totally incapable of judging right from wrong.

  11. dozz Avatar
    dozz

    I doubt u’ll get a reasonable answer from someone who lives in isreal…for that means heshe supports the occupation,or at least approves of having an isreali country built over the ruins of Palestine…

  12. Mariam Ayyash Avatar
    Mariam Ayyash

    Rob S: Israel (whichever that is) does NOT have the right to exist, at least not above the Palestinian west coast and the western bank of river Jordan. This is a mid phase, hopefully it will end soon, soon as in 20 years, but I have faith it will end, the Zionist do not have to be the smartest people in history, I have faith smarter people will emerge… Death to “zionists”!

  13. Muhammad Arrabi Avatar
    Muhammad Arrabi

    When would Israelis understand that the resistence & the Kassam missles are nothing but the symptoms of the problem?

    As long as Israel takes “unilateral” decisions and refuse to return to the peace negotiations, the Palestinians have NO OTHER PATH but to resist!!

    And don’t tell me that Hamas is the head of the PA now and that they refuse peace negotiations. Israel has cut the negotiations way before Hamas won the elections (actually, that was a big reason why they won. Palestinians elected fatah first time, and the israelis didn’t cooperate. So they thought let’s try the other option.)

    To Israel: as long as you treat palestinians as sub-humans, well, expect sub-humane treatment back. Offer Palestinians peace-talks & more freedoms, and they will stop these missles.

    I really wish we can go back to the 1993 to 1997 years. Many felt we were making real progress.

  14. Lisa Avatar
    Lisa

    Hi Ahmad,

    There have been – and continue to be – many posts about Gaza in the Israeli blogosphere. My post, which contains links to posts by several other Israeli bloggers, is here: http://ontheface.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/6/11/2022686.html

    There are some follow up links here:http://ontheface.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/6/14/2032655.html

    I plan to write a follow up and translate excerpts from the Hebrew blogosphere and post them sometime this weekend.

    As you will see, opinions are divided.

    Most people are appalled. Some are also angry that Israel has been villified when the investigation into responsibility is not yet complete. Several have pointed out that, while the world condemns Israel for bombing Gaza, no-one condemns the Palestinians for launching Qassams into Sderot every day. The arguments go on and on and round and round, as usual.

    The homepage of the Hebrew aggregate site has a permanent logo on the upper left square that says, “This blog opposes targeted assasinations in heavily populated civilian areas.”

  15. Lisa Avatar
    Lisa

    Sorry, I forgot: the site that aggregates Israeli blogs in English is here:
    http://english.webster.co.il/

    You can do a search for the word “Gaza” to find all the related posts.

  16. manal Avatar
    manal

    when i was a little girl, this boy pushed me once and said: im sorry i was running, the secound time i got pushed again and he said : that he didnt see me, then the third time i was pushed again, but this time i was sure that he was pushing me on purpose and i didnt give him a chance to explain himself and i pushed him down to the floor cause i was full of anger n i wanted to teach him a lesson for pushing me three times not only for the last time. and ofcourse the boy’s crazy mom came running to my mom telling her look at how voilent your daughter is and what i did to the boy.

    This is what exactlly whats goining on in Palestine, but the israeli can’t realise that when a person has a right to his land and identity they will fight for it with everything he has, even if that everything was nothing , they wont ever realise what we are fighting back for is making us stronger because israelies never had a land or an identity and they will never feel it cause they know that they are in Palestine on a mession to build a home not to be back to home,

    So i would not accept no shit from them saying: we didnt mean to kill kids or civillians, how many times they had said that.
    why dont you israelies reading my comment tell us what are you fighting for? what right you have to be in Palestine? atleast tell me how deep your family roots are in Palestine?
    and maybe you might convence me and others and we will hand Palestine back to you.

    Manal Y
    a Palestinian from Plasetine

  17. Bob Avatar
    Bob

    Lisa: “while the world condemns Israel for bombing Gaza, no-one condemns the Palestinians for launching Qassams into Sderot every day.”

    Isn’t this because deep down inside the world understand the relationship between cause and effect, between a violent, supermacist nuclear state and a broken people?

  18. Rob S Avatar
    Rob S

    “So the Nazi armies and Facist armies are good armies because they operate under military law?”

    No of course not, nazis are history’s most notorious war criminals.

    Where I’m getting at is that terrorist organizations do not acknolwedge a difference between combatants and non-combatants. Military law does distinguish between the two.

    Marriam: I couldn’t have said it better myself….ironically.

    Muhammad Arrabi: You have proven my point. The very fact that Palestinian Terrorists see themselves as a “reaction” suggests that they don’t see themselves as participants in the peace process. In other words, they don’t understand why their actions (Qassam barrages, Suicide Bombings) could cause any sort of strife on the other side.

  19. Geoff George Avatar
    Geoff George

    Amzi-

    The UN GAVE Israel that land as a result of the mass exterminations of WWII. If the Palestinians have a problem with that, they should take it up with the World Body, not launch missiles at Israeli civilians.

    Or – (and here’s a wild thought). They could STOP FIGHTING

    Is it REALLY worth it? I mean, come on. Family after family after family is wiped out . . for what? Some land? So it’s unfair (so they think), but so what?? Maybe after a few centuries of fighting, it’s time to move ON, fer crying out loud.

    The entire Palestinian civilization is so hell-bent on revenge that they can’t see that maybe it’s better to establish a new homeland somewhere else. Sure – the Israeli’s could have done the same thing, and if the Israeli’s were losing hundreds of people every day to this, I’d be saying the same to them.

    COME ON, People – it’s just a chunk of arid land. . . WHO CARES!

  20. yasmin Avatar
    yasmin

    Mr. Geoff George
    The UN did not OWN that land, and thus they didn’t really have the right to give it to anybody. And even if the palestinians accept this giveaway of their land as a historial fact, assuming it couldn’t be changed anymore, then the Israelis are still occupying 80% of the parts of palestine given by the same UN to the palestinians.
    The palestinians do not fight for “a chunk of arid land”, as you put it. They fight for the right to live.
    If you think about their current situation in Gaza, they are trapped in a big cage, closed from all sides, with no trading, no money, nothing at all going in or out if Israel does not agree to that.
    Now what do you expect from people kept in a cage with nothing at all? Of yourse they will try to fight their way out, or at least to scratch and bite those keeping them caged like that.
    The palestinians already tried unilateral ceasefire for a whole year, during which they were aimed at, and many of them killed.
    It did not work. It simply hasn’t been aknowledged neither by Israel or by anyone else in the world. Their situation did even get worse than before!
    That was the situation just before Hamas won the election.

    If it was all for a piece of land, maybe I could agree with you.
    So let’s assume all palestinians stopped fighting, and left their land for good. Where should they go? Do not forget that every single israeli, (or at least most of them), would have another homeland to go to if he leaves Israel, whereas a palestinian would have to go to antarktis maybe, since they have no place else to go, because no land would accept them. The new immigration laws all over the world don’t make it easier.
    So I do not think they have much of a choice, do you?

  21. Alex Avatar
    Alex

    [edited] If you would`nt believe that shit your mind would´nt be fuck up like it is. Wihtout religion our world would be way more peacefull.

  22. Alex Avatar
    Alex

    Greets from fucking old europe!

  23. Alex Avatar
    Alex

    This is for Lauren! I dont want to answer , your the stupidest [edited] i´ve heard of

  24. Dean Avatar
    Dean

    im so with you dude,no child,Muslim,christian or Jewish deserve’s to die,because they are children

  25. abu Adeeb Amman Avatar
    abu Adeeb Amman

    on a trip to the west bank last week with my children we crossed from the shiek Hussian Bridge, the first thing we saw was a Mc donals on the Circle in Biet Shean, we walked in and orderd and i asked the kids to look for a table, i have three daoghters and two sons the oldest is 15 yo. one we got our food and sat down, keep in mind that my daughters are wearing Hijab head scraves. every one in the dinning area left , leaving us the only ones in Mcdonalds. LOL you should have herd my childrens comments, my 5 y.o noticed every one leave and told me if we should be leaving also. LOL boy i see peace coming soon with this kind of mentality.