Even if the guns fall silent the charges and counter-charges of violations of international law will continue. Already the airwaves are full of talk that Israel's "disproportionate" response is a violation of international law.
In one of the most moving accounts of the war in Gaza, Ibrahim Barzak, the AP's chief correspondent there for 17 years, today wrote of watching his own home destroyed on YouTube.
A courageous leader would spark the enthusiasm towards peace. The Israelis are in a down spiral, but with the right leadership they could bounce back hungry for peace as ever before.
The advent of digital media has democratized the debate and opened the largest front of the Arab-Israeli conflict: concerned citizens around the world armed with mobile phones and computers.
It is time for a change in the narrow approach among American leadership in dealing with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Why is it that there is such widespread acceptance, beginning with the apologetic arguments of George Bush, that whatever Israel does is always justified as necessary to the survival of the Jewish state?
If the killing of unarmed civilians by terrorist groups is wrong, Israel's killing of unarmed Palestinian civilians and our defense of Israel's conduct cannot be right.
You can't have a neighbor continuously lobbing missiles into your back yard. There is an age-old right to self-defense. Even essentially pacifist and non-violent Buddhism does not deny this right.
Here is a short guide to the various characters you will find in the Tel Aviv bubble these days, including Mr. Right Wing, Mr. Left Wing, The Escapist, and The Conspiracy Theory Guy.
Israel is not media savvy -- we have installed warning systems and bomb shelters. No casualties means no photos, which means that many incidents aren't even covered by the media.
I wish I didn't believe that the events now unfolding in the Middle East are too complicated for unalloyed outrage. I wish the arguments of only one side rang wholly true to me.
The people of Gaza are victims of geopolitics at its inhumane worst: producing what Israel itself calls a 'total war' against an essentially defenseless society.
More and more in the past ten years the U.S. and Israel have shared a fantasy which says that the Arabs understand only force.
By choosing tactical advantages over the safety of its citizens, the terrorist organization chose its military goals over the safety of its fellow Palestinians in Gaza.
Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski spent some time educating the nation -- and Joe Scarborough -- about the way to frame the current Gaza tragedy and what needs to be done.
The surprising trend in American opinion on Gaza may be because the same pundits who are cheerleading Israel's assault once sold the occupation of Iraq, and with a nearly identical set of arguments.
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The propaganda, spin and rhetoric that the US and Israel is putting forth is beginning to be seen for what it is. "Spin". Israel and the Israeli politicians are playing a very dangerous game with themselves, their nation and Judaism. The world is now turning against them and this will make it so uncomfortable for Israel and the Israelis to live, let alone in peace for very much longer, however, they attempt to maintain their military superiority. Incredibly there are quite a few Jews who are now beginning to see this (in varying depth) and this raises the specter of a cultural demise of Judaism. The regional bully, for all it's excuses, is beginning to be seen as just that: The regional bully..
I couldn't agree more with Marjorie's article. It's so typical...the U.S. blocks everything when it comes to Israel, and you would think that the Congress and Senate are a part of the Israeli Government rather than the U.S. When are people in this Country going to wake up and realize that what is happening is not in our best interest. You cannot stand back and watch such suffering being inflicted on others without it eventually coming back to haunt you.
For the blind and only the blind. See and hear this documentaty told by some Israeli veterans.
The truth and only the truth of what is going on...
1- http://current.com/items/89660292/many_israeli_soldiers_speak_out_against_israels_inhumanity_against_palestinians.htm
2- http://www.breakingthesilenceexhibit.org/
The ones who do not know will never equal the ones who do know...
On the whole - a very good article. Israel using poisonous phosphorous gas. This is nothing new, though, all of us who keep up with the Palestinian-Israel peace fiasco are well aware of its shannigans. Never hear this on the MSM. Try the BBC; they, at least, give much more info the US media leaves out!!!
Keep in mind, however, the REASON WHY Hamas has been shooting rockets into the deserts of Israel: Cut-off roads, ports, public utilities still stiffeled for the Gazans, etc., etc.
Where was the indignation of Ms. Cohn and her fellows at the National Lawyers' Guild when Hamas illegally conducted a civil war and expelled elected Hamas leaders from Gaza??? Or while Hamas was firing rockets indiscriminately into Israel??? Or when Hamas leaders repeated ad nauseum their cant that all Jews must be resettled elsewhere by the Americans and Europeans who, according to Hamas, put them there??? (slightly more humane than pushing them into the sea, but still....)
Where, for that matter, is Cohn's or the NLG's indignation at Hamas for violating the rules of engagement by placing military targets in or in the proximity of schools, hospitals, and places of worship???
Other commenters here have pointed out the obvious - Israel withdrew from Gaza. Completely. Even after expelling Fatah, Hamas had an historic opportunity to declare independence, appeal for international aid, and start exchanging ambassadors. They chose instead to continue this war of attrition against Israel.
The entire situation is tragic. The suffering is unspeakable. However, Ms. Cohn, there is plenty of responsibility for this to be shared. To lay all the blame on Israel is to assume the infantilization of the Palestinians as a result of their oppression by the Jewish state and their extended use as political pawns by a range of Arab and/or Islamic states. Hamas is many things, but one thing they are not is children simply behaving reflexively in response to their Israeli parents.
False dichotomy. People can -- and do -- criticize Hamas terrorism just as readily as they do Israel's war crimes.