Israel strikes back at Palestine - closer to war?

[uebermann]

[Breakage]

[The Comrade]

[Ameriman]

[exploited]

Lots of ignorant, historically inaccurate statements on this thread.

1. Israel has never accepted the two state solution. It may have indicated some support for it, but it is hard to take seriously given the way the illegal settlements have been addressed. I view their commitment to peace as seriously as I do Hamas' commitment.

2. Palestine is not the aggressor. Period. Anybody who says otherwise is wrong, and not in the debatable way. Israel was formed using terrorism, collective punishment and violence against the former inhabitants of the land. Everything that happens today goes back to that simple fact. At least the old school Zionists had the balls to admit it.

3. Israel does its best not to kill civilians with bombs. Fact. The IDF is not interested in killing Palestinians for fun. That being said, they do everything they can to destabilize and destroy Palestinian society, and the Israel government is complicit in this. The long term strategy is very similar to terrorism in that it hopes to make life so unbearable that the Palestinians just give up. This is backed up by numerous statements attributed to the ruling class of Israel, almost all of whom are Zionist to the core.

4. American's do not understand proportionality. They just don't get it, which is why 3000 dead Americans led to the occupation of two countries, and the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians. I personally admire this, in a way. I think combining this instinct with humanitarian goals leads to disasters like trying to instill democratic values in Afghanistan, but on its own, this instinct is a good one. If some dude punches you in the face, you needn't limit your response to one punch back. American's get punched, they break limbs and start decapitating shit. Admirable, if not a little crazy (never a bad attribute geopolitically).

5. At this point, defending Israel is a little crazy, a little stupid, a little weird. They should rightfully be viewed as belligerent and aggressive, because they are. If the US has a real interest in resolving this, the first thing that needs to go is the unconditional support of Israel, which has been on full display in this thread.

[Breakage]

[Sazari]

[WizardfromOz]

[fstarcstar]

It always amazes me the emotions behind this conflict...

[Sazari]