Cheat Sheet

When is Bush going to put pressure on Israel, that's what I'd like to know???
The death and destruction they have caused and it is condoned by the US and that is shameful, totally shameful!!

If only our idiot president would get it right just once before leaving office. The civilian casualties are from the people of Gaza not the Israeli side. So why in the hell is he talking about the security of the Israelis? They are perfectly secure thanks to all their American-made killing machines. He should show some concern for the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinians in this horrific genocide.

Stop this INSANITY! Bombs killing children? How will we feel when terrorists attack the US (because of our never-ending allegiance with Israel) and kill our children? Will they be called ' casualties'' like the innocent dead children caught up in this insane nightmare in Gaza? Split the damn strip down the middle; half to Israel, half to Palestine and be DONE with this murdering of children.

I feel the need to point out that this round of attacks was begun by Hamas. Other than Israel, what countries to we expect to tolerate missile attacks on civilian areas without responding in a military manner?

ziah, it's like the case of the chicken or the egg. Which came first? The Arabs claim they were given the land first, then ' god' gave it the Jews, as the promise land. Both people feel they have a fair and legitimate right to this tiny strip of land. What most Amerians don't know is that Israel has slowly taken over the Gaza strip, bulldozing existing Palestine houses and farms, and replacing them with Jewish settlements. The Palestineans are tired of Israel, with the US blessings, taking over 'their' land. Not that I agree with their barbaric and terrorists acts to reclaim the land, but both sides share in this hornets nest. . When Israel drops bombs on houses, killing innocent men, women and children, especially the children, it enrages the other side. Revenge is the name of the game and it will never end, not with war, not with violence.

Scarlet, the historic question of who the land "belongs" to is a question for the ages. Certainly when the modern state of Israel was created after WWII, the western world did not understand the hornet's nest they created.

That being said, the intial partion of Israel created both an Arab and Jewish State. It may not have been perfect, but it is a heck of a lot better than what exists now. The surrounding Arab nations declared war at that point and the Palestinians have been paying the price ever since.My point is that Israel fully occupied the Gaza Strip at one point and have since worked to cede that land. The did not have to, they won that land in a military campaign, and are a rare case in history where a nation has been under such intense pressure to return the spoils of war.

Yes, Israeli settlers have behaved atrociously (I hate that they are called 'settlers'), but the Israeli government has worked to have them cease and desist. As far as I understand it, settlements are not a current issue here. This is not to say that Israel behaves perfectly in this situation, they certainly have their flaws in handling coexistence with the Palestinians.

The current issue though, is that Hamas started launching missiles into Israel in December 2008 at the end of the cease fire. They had in fact been in violation of the cease fire by firing missiles in November. In addition Hamas had been building tunnels to gain access into Israel. The missiles that Hamas uses, Qassams, are missiles stocked with shrapnel to inflict as much collateral damage as possible upon impact. These missiles are shot into civilian areas. Of course, since they have no targeting systems, they are blindly shot into the target area.

Israel showed marked restraint by waiting days to respond to the missile attacks. More restraint than I think most countries would be expected to show were they attacked in this way. Israel is in a tough spot. To react is to seem like a bully. To not react is to seem weak. It's not a situation I envy at all.

So, historic land claims aside, this particular event began with Hamas launching missiles into southern Israel.