When people are brutalized by heartless might, a few among them will eventually strike back with the same inhumanity. This is inevitable, and both actions are tragic. Both are terrorism, one by a state, the other by individuals and debates about moral equivalence will remain unended. The women and children who were blown to bits in Gaza did not instruct some Hamas terrorist to launch his futile rocket. They were however killed in a fashion that fulfills the definition of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Turkish Prime Minister is so courageous among so many cowards on the world stage. And Ignatius should be fired for his abject asinine partiality.

I have contemplated on Mr. Obamas remarks at the start of the Israeli attacks on Ghaza when he was saying that he would have probably done the same as Israelis if his two daughter's lives were endangered by rocket fires. I am quoting Mr. Obama's pre-innaguration meeting with Israelis that was broadcasted by CNN. I have some thing to say about this and that is : Mr. President, I would not kill hundreds of innocent civilians including women and children and destroy structures and livelihoods of an entire city just to protect my two daughters from possible attacks from an enemy. And I personally don't think your two daughters are cute enough to justify your earlier stand on this issue.

BethesdaDog wote "What garbage this is! It was Hamas who was responsible for the war," Factually false. Thee was a cease fire in effect that Israel violated in early November. Israel was 'disappointed!' when Hammas did not agree to extend the cease fire in December!

Amen VJ,

I second your motion.

On Sunday,the 25th of January 2009 we all watched in Washington DC the famous program "60 Minutes".It says action speaks louder than words.The world has been watching Israel over the years and now I am convinced that Israel does not want to make peace with the Palestines as a state will be contrary to their policy.The United States through President Obama should be firm unlike his predecessor:-
(a) Israel must withdraw completely from land occupied in 1967, returning to the lines of June 4th 1967.
(b) Israel must recognize the independent state of Palestine and East Jerusalem as the capital.
(c) Israel must accept UN Resolution 194 on refugees.
(d) Both sides to end all hostilities.
(e) The state of Palestine will recognize the state of Israel.

The United States must put these on the table and force both sides to accept.There should be no compromise about this and neither any favoritism.

The following link gives an interesting narrative of events leading up to the formation of the State of Israel. ___http://www.mideastweb.org/us_supportforstate.htm ___The horrendous impact that we see today, of this disastrous decision by President Truman, was entirely foreseeable and was predicted by the U.S. Department of State officials of that day. ___“Truman wrote in his memoirs, ‘The question of Palestine as a Jewish homeland goes back to the solemn promise that had been made to them [the Jews] by the British in the Balfour Declaration of 1917 - a promise which had stirred the hopes and the dreams of these oppressed people. This promise, I felt, should be kept, just as all promises made by responsible, civilized governments should be kept.’” ___“The Balfour Declaration of 1917 is an official letter from the British Foreign Office headed by Arthur Balfour, the UK's Foreign Secretary (from December 1916 to October 1919), to Lord Rothschild, who was seen as a representative of the Jewish people. The letter stated that the British government "view[ed] with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country".” ___[Apparently President Truman neglected to read the part that said “…it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine…”]

Ahmadinejad’s letter to King Abdullah

The following is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, urging him to take a clear stance on the unfolding crisis in Gaza:

In the Name of God the Compassionate and the Merciful

To the King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud

"Peace be unto you and so may the mercy of Allah and His blessings"

As you well know, in the past 19 days, the innocent and defenseless people of Gaza have been victimized by the savage and horrific attacks of uncivilized Zionists. While under full aerial, ground, and naval blockade they have had to endure the heaviest bombardments and are going through the most difficult of times.

Women, children, the elderly and ordinary civilians are being slaughtered in their homeland. The scenes of cruelty and violence that are being played out in Gaza tear every free man's heart apart, and set it afire.

Aggressive powers that claim to be the upholders of democracy and human rights, have armed Zionist assassins to the teeth and have established this forged regime for the sole purpose of committing crimes, abuse, and occupation; not only do they support its actions but also use their power over international organizations to buy this regime time to carry out such massacres.

Their actions are not far from expectation but it is unfortunate to see a number of Islamic and Arabic governments in the region condone this unprecedented genocide with their silence and smiles of satisfaction.

These governments are waiting to see the heroic resistance of a defenseless nation, God forbid, fall to the savagery and repression of the occupiers.

It is common knowledge that no future awaits the Zionist regime; its actions today show its despair, as it clings to its existence in the region.

As all free men and nations have raised their voices in protest of the Zionist regime and the atrocities it is committing in Gaza, it is expected of you as the Saudi Arabian King and the Custodian of the Two Holy Places, i.e Makkah and Medina, to break your silence on the catastrophic events and the massacre taking place in Gaza and take a clear stance on the murder of your children, who are dear to the Islamic Ummah.

I trust that your stance will shatter the remaining hopes of the corrupt powers of the world to sow discord in the world of Islam.

I pray to God for the victory of free nations and the brave resistance in Gaza, and I look to Him for the annihilation of oppressors such as the Zionist regime.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

MJ/JG/HGH

Abeh,

a heartfelt THANK YOU for your comments and observations.

There is no need to cite your credentials as the son of a holocaust survivor. You easily surpassed that threshhold with your closing comments that the "inhuman mentality" frightens you. That mentality is constantly mirrored in many, many articles, interviews, utterances, etc. not only in the US but all over the world. And as long as that mentality exists, peace will have a hard time.

Let's hope that all parties recognize that Israeli blood and Arab blood are of the same color and makeup and that spilling blood is WRONG!

Abeh, as an ardent Zionist, let me tell you your thoughts are misguided.

For if you were, you would know that no jew or zionist in this conflict believes with actuality that "nuking gaza" is a viable option.

Additionally, I've never even seen the phrase "the only good arab is a dead arab" enter the collective israeli/zionist dialogue.

One cant help but think you're not a jew at all.

Lamis Andoni's comments are right on target as are Abeh's from Israel. As for Obama, as described in the Chicago Jewish News, Oct. 24, 2008, ("Obama and the Jews") he has been groomed by liberal Jewish friends and financial backers, all supporters of Israel, for his run for the presidency. In fact, his good friend and former judge, Avner Mikva, who has a home in Israel predicted that "people would come to see Obama as the first Jewish president." Obama's refusal to say a single word of condemnation regarding Israel's wanton destruction of Gaza and repeating the Bush administration's earlier stated defense of the Israeli offensive should be understood in that context. He, perhaps more than Bush, may turn out to be Israel's man in the White House.

"Please recall that in 1948, the Zionist militias forced 800,000 Palestinians to become refugees. That was called the Nakba."

then what are we to make of this:

Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) wrote an article in March 1976 in Falastin al-Thawra, the
official journal of the PLO in Beirut: "The Arab armies entered Palestine to protect the
Palestinians from the Zionist tyranny, but instead they abandoned them, forced them to
emigrate and to leave their homeland, imposed upon them a political and ideological
blockade and threw them into prisons similar to the ghettos in which the Jews used to live in
Eastern Europe."

What garbage this is! It was Hamas who was responsible for the war, it was Hamas who practices terror, day in and day out. The "images" fed to the west by the biased media were selective, exaggerated, and misleading. The overwhelming majority of those killed were Hamas members.

Further, Obama is not "deeply versed" in the civil rights movement. He is, more than anything, deeply versed in his own ego, the narcissist that he is. He came along long after the civil rights movement, and, as I recall, even dissembled about that civil rights march and the influence it had on his parents.

He's just a slick, garden-variety con man, smarter than most, who triangulated his way to the White House. He stands for nothing, but himself. His lack of substance and core values shows through his flirtation with every stripe of nihilist and extremist.

I'm sure there are some very happy Arab leaders, particularly in the Gulf region, who are more than a little delighted that Israel gave the Iranian proxy, Hamas, a black eye. And a pretty big one at that.

The reality is that there will be no peace until the Palestinians are allowed to exist.

Please recall that in 1948, the Zionist militias forced 800,000 Palestinians to become refugees. That was called the Nakba.

Fast-forward to 2009, and we see a continuation of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians at the hands of the Israelis. For those who are keeping track, there were 280 very innocent children murdered during the latest massacres in Gaza.

The Palestine Review
http://palestinereview.com

The fact is, the US has unconditionally supported every single one of Israel's long list of crimes against the Arab people - from the mass dispossession of Palestinians from their historic homeland, to the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories in complete and utter defiance of international law - to the invasion of Lebanon in 1982 that may have cost up to 20,000 lives, to the recent massacre in Jenin.

To be fair to Mr Obama, he has done some very good things in the first few days in office - from the announcement of plans to withdraw from Iraq, to the closure of the gulag in Guantanamo. But given the long record of blood left by US/Israeli foreign policy, Arabs are perfectly entitled to be skeptical of any US President - unless he does something to earn their trust. Whether Obama is up to the mark of reversing decades of grossly unjust US foreign policy remains to be seen.

My late father was a holocost survivor. Until the recent bloodshed by innocents in Gaza I have blindly followed Israel. After listening to many views before, during and after the carnage, I am most frightened by the bloodthirsty mentality that has gripped most of my fellow jews.

Before the war, we screamed, "Kill them all. Teach them a lesson they will never forget. The only good Arab is a dead Arab." and often in more vulgar terms.

During the bombing of Gaza, even as we saw pictures of innocent children and women slaughtered, we screamed, "They are human shields for Hamas. They deserve to be killed. Children have been seen digging tunnels. They deserve to be killed. Hamas is in mosques, hospitals. churches, almost all homes. Hamas is everywhere so we are justified in killing anyone we please."

As sophisticated an army as it is, the IDF can not distinguish between who is Hamas and who is not. The view I have repeatedly heard is that it is acceptable to kill all people in Gaza because we can not realistically distnguish. Some complain that Hamas should be like English Redcoats and wear orange jumpsuits and march in order in front of Israeli tanks.

We are in a quandry. The Palestinians are the hay and Hamas is the needle in the haystack. Rather than seek a way to save the hay, we seek to burn down the haystack to look for the needle in the ashes.

During the war, on the hills just outside of Gaza, spectators with binoculars sat like Roman Aristoctrats in the collesium cheering the bombs bursting in the city below. This type of mentality frightens me.

After the war, many were unhappy that the IDF left without "finishing it" and shouts of "nuke Gaza" contine to fly. Another concern became a strategy to impose victor's justice by deflecting allegations of war crime. Already, many in the Israeli government are stating as a fact that someday IDF must return to Gaza for more killing.

Yes, Palistinans in allegiance with Hamas have a similar mental malady, but that is not an excuse for our decrepid mentality. We must look at our own behavior first. Jews must break the cycle of hate and killing. Jews have survived the cruelest, most bestial behavior in the world and vowed that it never be repeated. We, more than anyone should know better than to fall into the trap of vulgar inhumanity.

It is the inhuman mentality that frightens me.

My late father was a holocost survivor. Until the recent bloodshed by innocents in Gaza I have blindly followed Israel. After listening to many views before, during and after the carnage, I am most frightened by the bloodthirsty mentality that has gripped most of my fellow jews.

Before the war, we screamed, "Kill them all. Teach them a lesson they will never forget. The only good Arab is a dead Arab." and often in more vulgar terms.

During the bombing of Gaza, even as we saw pictures of innocent children and women slaughtered, we screamed, "They are human shields for Hamas. They deserve to be killed. Children have been seen digging tunnels. They deserve to be killed. Hamas is in mosques, hospitals. churches, almost all homes. Hamas is everywhere so we are justified in killing anyone we please."

As sophisticated an army as it is, the IDF can not distinguish between who is Hamas and who is not. The view I have repeatedly heard is that it is acceptable to kill all people in Gaza because we can not realistically distnguish. Some complain that Hamas should be like English Redcoats and wear orange jumpsuits and march in order in front of Israeli tanks.

We are in a quandry. The Palestinians are the hay and Hamas is the needle in the haystack. Rather than seek a way to save the hay, we seek to burn down the haystack to look for the needle in the ashes.

During the war, on the hills just outside of Gaza, spectators with binoculars sat like Roman Aristoctrats in the collesium cheering the bombs bursting in the city below. This type of mentality frightens me.

After the war, many were unhappy that the IDF left without "finishing it" and shouts of "nuke Gaza" contine to fly. Another concern became a strategy to impose victor's justice by deflecting allegations of war crime. Already, many in the Israeli government are stating as a fact that someday IDF must return to Gaza for more killing.

Yes, Palistinans in allegiance with Hamas have a similar mental malady, but that is not an excuse for our decrepid mentality. We must look at our own behavior first. Jews must break the cycle of hate and killing. Jews have survived the cruelest, most bestial behavior in the world and vowed that it never be repeated. We, more than anyone should know better than to fall into the trap of vulgar inhumanity.

It is the inhuman mentality that frightens me.

When you phrase israel's actions as one of destruction of gaza as opposed to protection of its people against terrorism and hamas then this article makes sense. Unfortunately, like many journalists, especially one from al-jazeera, it is par for the course to defend Hamas at all costs and to attempt to mislead the public into thinking that Hamas does no wrong and that Israel is the one causing the trouble in the region.