popshopper
Acrobat
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2002
- Messages
- 459
So you ignore the Hamas charter I posted? It's no better than Mein Kampf. Israel is not doing a Jihad. They are showing there is a consequence for firing rockets at them. I'm tired of this conversation because the people who instigated this problem (Hamas) have succeed with their propaganda to make it look like Israel attacked them unprovoked. This is no different than the propaganda techniques of the communists. Israel is put into a position of a "damned if you do and damned if you don't". These double binding techniques are no different than what most bullies do. They attack a victim but pretend to be one when the victim retaliates. If I was living in Israel I would be sick and tired of this game too.
Whether people believe it or not Islamic Fundamentalism is a threat to the world let alone Israel, and as Anitram pointed out they are out birthing Israelis. Islamic Fundamentalists are looking at this situation in a long term context of Israel being so weak and outnumbered that their state ends. It's a war.
Hamas can say all they want, big deal. Israel has the 5th biggest army and the 3rd largest nuclear arsenal in the world, it's existence isn't in threat. As for demographics, don't worry at the rate the IDF is going there won't be many Palestinians left.
I'm going to copy this from Wikipedia (which I normally abhor but I'm kind of pressed for time, and from a quick check the citations and references are correct)
2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaOn 19 June 2008, an Egyptian-brokered six-month cease-fire agreement "for the Gaza area"[37][81] went into effect between Hamas and Israel.[37] On 24 June 2008, Israel raided the city of Nablus on the West Bank, outside of the cease fire area,[82] killing a commander of Islamic Jihad (an organisation independent of Hamas) and one other Palestinian.[83] Later the same day, three Qassam rockets were fired from Gaza into Sderot, Israel, causing two minor injuries, and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, stating the attack was in response to the Israeli raid.[84] Israel closed border crossings into Gaza in response to the rocket attack,[82] and on 26 June, Hamas warned Israel that its closure of the Gaza border was seen as a major cease-fire violation.[citation needed]
Monthly rocket hits in Israel 2008.[85]
Hamas called on other Palestinian factions to abide by the truce, and a rocket attack on Israel by Fatah was condemned by Hamas as "unpatriotic."[86] Hamas claimed it would imprison anyone, from its own ranks or other groups, caught firing rockets, but explicitly stated it would not police the border with Israel.[87] Rocket and mortar attacks continued at a rate of several rockets per month, often with no one taking responsibility. Rocket fire decreased 98% in the four and a half months between Jun 18 and Nov 4 in comparison with the four and half months preceding the ceasefire. Over 1,894 rockets were fired into Israel from Feb to Jun 18, 2008 and 37 were fired between Jun 18 and the beginning of November. [85]
Israel allowed some increase in the quantities of goods trucked into Gaza, from 70 truckloads per day to ninety, but traffic was not restored to the 500-600 truckloads delivered daily before the closing and the mix of goods was also restricted.[88] [89] Israel accused Hamas of continuing the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza strip via tunnels to Egypt, pointing out that the rocket attacks had not completely ceased, and complained that Hamas would not continue negotiating the release of Israeli hostage Gilad Schalit, held by Hamas in Gaza since 2006.[47]
On 4 November 2008, Israeli troops raided a border area of the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli military claimed Hamas had built a tunnel which they were planning to use to capture Israeli soldiers.[90] A Hamas fighter was killed, Hamas launched rockets over the border, and Israeli strikes on the rocket launchers killed another five Hamas members.[90] Hamas termed this raid a "massive breach of the truce,"[91] and Hamas rocket attacks increased sharply in November 2008, approaching the pre-truce levels.[92]
Since the ceasefire, the Rocket attacks have been provoked by Israeli action, including three strikes into Gaza and a blockade. Hamas are murderous scum, but Israeli is no better, and neither want peace. Unfortunately the people of Palestine are paying the price.