] If you are to be outraged that the militans put civilians at
] risk you ought to be equally outraged that the IDF directly
] targets those civilians as a result.

Actually, it is well-documented and entirely false that the IDF TARGETS civilians of any sort. For example, Sheikh Yassin, the proven murdered of many Israelis, the mastermind of dozens of attacks, and the founder and now ex-leader of a terrorist organization fully dedicated to killing Jews (Hamas)was in Israel's sites on many occasions. They had him in their crosshairs many a time. And they did not fire the missiles because there were civilians around him. They waited, and had to wait through many more attacks on Israelis planned by him, attacks that killed Israeli civilians, and the only reason they waited was so that they did not kill the civilians around him.

Do you remember recently when those Israeli body parts got paraded througout the streets and Palestinians were playing soccer ball with a soldier's head? The reason that even had the chance to happen
was that Israel knew of 6 weapons and munitions shops. And they could have easily taken them out from the air, with missiles, they could have razed the entire city. However, an attack on 6 buildings, of that caliber, would have resulted in many civilian casualties. Instead of risking Palestinian civilians from losing their lives, they put infantry (ground troops) into the area
which is 1000 times more risky to their own soldiers' lives.

The Israeli Army does not make it a practice to fire rockets on civilian houses who are thought to have collaborated with the militants. They have a stated and practiced policy of blowing up the houses of terrorists that have just committed murderous acts, in order to discourage more palestinians from taking up that disgusting job. By comparison, if you are a Palestinian who is "suspected" of collaborating with the Israelis, you are executed promptly.

I would dispute that it's not easy to see who the good guys are here. And it is easy to see that Israel has offered many peace agreements and their plan to pull out of the Gaza has been met with an actual INCREASED amount of violence.

But good guys? Israelis are building walls to keep terrorists out, even though they could easily missile and bomb the whole of the palestinian cities, instead they are trying to do whatever they can to keep the violence out. In addition, Israelis are providing food, water, aid, medicine, doctors and countless other services, to the Palestinians. Israel has set up joint industrial zones with the palestinaians, to encourage cooperation and give palestinians jobs. The Palestinians have BOMED these zones, more so recently, causing many to be shut down. In the past, Israel has offered 98% of the territory that the Palestinians asked for, but they turned it down. The Palestinians needs to do some of their own work. They need to seek peace, and stop those within their society that disrupt attempts at peace. They need to revolt against their government, and get someone in place that is not corrupt, someone that actually wants peace.

I do support the Israeli side of the argument--100%. If that makes me a radical, than that's a title I am proud to own.

Decius wrote:
] specialK wrote:
] ] Had this been an Israeli group that killed this Palestinian
] ] teenager, it would have been all over the news.
]
] Well, you'll be happy to know NYT coverage is on Google News
] right now.
]
] ] Not only that, but is anyone else alarmed that Palestinians
]
] ] are setting up weapons in civilian areas? Where's the
] outrage??
]
] Well, both news reports that I've read about this claimed that
] the family wanted to prevent the rock launcher from being set
] up because the IDF has a policy of launching rocket attacks on
] civilian homes who are thought to have collaborated with
] militants and they felt that if they couldn't stop the rocket
] launcher from being setup they might be the target of such an
] attack.
]
] If you are to be outraged that the militans put civilians at
] risk you ought to be equally outraged that the IDF directly
] targets those civilians as a result.
]
] I have a hard time seeing "good guys" here. Neither the 15
] year old boy nor his family nor the militants nor the IDF seem
] to be on particularly sound moral footing.
]
] Of course, thats why these stories don't get better coverage.
] Someone is getting killed in this conflict every time you turn
] around, and only the most radical, and those with vested
] interests, feel particularly sympathetic to one side.
]
] Everyone else just kind of turns away in disgust. What is
] there to say on this occaison that hasn't been said 1000 times
] before. One hopes that someday something remotely resembling
] progress will actually happen, but no one believes it for a
] second.
]
] There are two paths to peace. One is that a particular side is
] completly demoralized and defeated, and the other is that
] moderates within each society begin holding back the radicals
] on their own side, rather then focusing on all the bad stuff
] the other side is doing.
]
] Neither seems likely here. One might see reflections of the
] U.S. WOT here. The later process, of moderate relaxation of
] tensions, is particularly difficult when one seeks revenge.
] Would you be willing to let Bin Lauden go if all of the
] militant Islamists agreed to a truce?

RE: Palestinian teen killed trying to stop Kassam launch