Gaza ***GRAPHIC PICS***

CM189191 said:

rr165892 said:

CM189191 said:

brianlux said:

mickeyrat said:

this thing needs shut down. back and forth with bullshit personal stuff.

Yeah, the argument seems to be bases on some misunderstanding. I'm not sure what CM's link was intended to say and it leaves a lot of room for uncertainty that way. Maybe some clarification there?

I think we all want peace but nerves fray around this shit.

Here's the clarification:
I keep hearing people say Israel is just defending itself. That they aren't just outright murdering Palestinians. And here you have Israelis literally calling for genocide. Calling Arabs second class citizens, animals and to torch them alive.

To say they are just defending themselves doesn't hold water for me anymore. In the words of RR, if they don't like the situation they're living in, perhaps they should just move? May I suggest Florida?

CM,here I am relaxing enjoying a cold adult beverage soaking up some warm tropical evening Florida beach breezes,trying to stay out of this fray,thinking why contribute to a one sided conversation and showing a little class in light of today's horrible body count and horrific news footage,and poof,just like that I see you not only took my words and applied them in the wrong context but you take a shot a my beloved home.
So,when using one of my quotes please at least back it up with proper context.I was talking to RGambs about his being ashamed to be American when I used that reference not Israelis or Palestinians,But Lets not let that stop a good jab at my expense,Im a grown ass man with a healthy sense of humor so Touché.BTW the beach joke earlier was very well done,properly placed and timed like a champ.Kudos to you.I was told by BB and Byrnzie that there can be no joking or making lite of any thing regarding this discussion,Im glad you had the stones to buck the trend and decided to add a what Ive been saying all along is ok.A smile or two will only help.

And my dear Muslim pal Badbrains,you wouldn't be referring to Florida as a "new Tel Aviv" because of our large population of Jewish folks here in South Florida would you? Nah,I didn't think so.

How was the context wrong? Follows your logic...
You don't want your US tax dollars going to war? Move.
You don't want mortars from Gaza flying over your head? Move.

Florida's f'd up, but that's a discussion for another thread. Perhaps when the all the Israelis move to Florida, it will become it's own independent state and we can finally fully recognize Puerto Rico as a state instead.

badbrains said:

PhillyCrownOfThorns said:

badbrains said:

Byrnzie said:

Did Obama really get awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

Amen brother, but what did we expect with aipac squeezing his and every president before him balls.

Ha! He sucks (and all of American Presidents/politicians suck)because of his AIPAC afiliation. Perfect!

As far as soldier being dead, I read in one of the news orgs. Was buried in the story as the Israeli government claimed the soldier identified by Hamas was dead and accounted for... Regardless, if he is dead or alive, it's the same game.

Hahahaha, yup, 44 presidents and all can't think for themselves. You would think by now one of them has their own policy or own ideas but nope, same shit, same policies, just out a R or D in front of his name. And if you dnt think aipac controls our government policies, then u know absolutely shit about politics. But plz, continue crying over 1 fucken dead soldier. Again, obvious, you take an Israeli life worth more then a Palestinian. Np, that's your right, just like it's MY right to call out the Israeli government and our very own.

Byrnzie said:

Well, if Pearl Jam aren't gonna play in Israel, I suppose the next best form of entertainment would be watching Palestinian men, women, and children getting blown to pieces.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/20/israelis-cheer-gaza-bombing

Israelis gather on hillsides to watch and cheer as military drops bombs on Gaza
People drink, snack and pose for selfies against a background of explosions as Palestinian death toll mounts in ongoing offensive


Harriet Sherwood in Sderot
The Guardian, Sunday 20 July 2014


Israelis watch bombings of Gaza from Sderot hillside

As the sun begins to sink over the Mediterranean, groups of Israelis gather each evening on hilltops close to the Gaza border to cheer, whoop and whistle as bombs rain down on people in a hellish warzone a few miles away.

Old sofas, garden chairs, battered car seats and upturned crates provide seating for the spectators. On one hilltop, a swing has been attached to the branches of a pine tree, allowing its occupant to sway gently in the breeze. Some bring bottles of beer or soft drinks and snacks.

On Saturday, a group of men huddle around a shisha pipe. Nearly all hold up smartphones to record the explosions or to pose grinning, perhaps with thumbs up, for selfies against a backdrop of black smoke.

Despite reports that millions of Israelis are living in terror of Hamas rockets, they don't deter these hilltop war watchers whose proximity to Gaza puts them within range of the most rudimentary missiles. Some bring their children.

In the border town of Sderot, which has been struck by countless missiles from the Gaza Strip in recent years, one family gathers on a top-floor balcony, draped with an Israeli flag and banner of the army's legendary Golani Brigade. A house with a war view may even command a premium price these days.
Israeli watches Gaza bombing from hillside sofa Israeli man watches the bombardment as he sits on an old sofa left on a hillside in Sderot. Photograph: UPI/Landov/Barcroft Media

An atmosphere of anticipatory excitement grows as dusk falls, in the expectation that Hamas militants will increase rocket fire after breaking their Ramadan fast, and the Israeli military will respond with force.

The thud of shellfire, flash of an explosion and pall of smoke are greeted with exclamations of approval. "What a beauty," says one appreciative spectator.

Shimrit Peretz, 19, has come with her off-duty soldier boyfriend, Raz Sason, whose army-issue assault rifle is slung across his shoulders.

"We come to look at the bombing," Peretz says, adding that this is their fourth visit to the hilltop. They plan to stay several hours: "It's interesting." The pair have brought a backpack filled with bottles of water and bags of crisps.

Peretz says that she doesn't worry about the Palestinian civilians caught in the bombing; Sason disagrees. Despite his concern for the innocents caught in the assault, the young conscript soldier wishes he was with his comrades across the border in Gaza. "I'd like to be going in, to help my country and help the soldiers inside," he says.

Given the dramatic views, media crews are coming to the area to cover the fighting. On a nearby hilltop, an ugly scene develops as a group of Israeli men threaten a photographer, accusing him of being a "leftist". We are warned against asking for interviews, as another cheer goes up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb647k3F7CE

fuck said:

Last-12-Exit said:

I could care less who started what and when, but it's time for both sides to forget about the past and start over.

Hi Last-12-Exit,
I have some major problems with the sentiment you've expressed here. Before I continue: Are you American? I will assume you are not from Palestine or the Middle East in this post. But I will ask you to try to understand what a Palestinian may think or feel with the sentiment expressed above.

Let us say you are a Palestinian living anywhere in the world: Perhaps you grew up in the West Bank yourself under a brutal occupation. Maybe you have a wife who lives behind the green line (in Israel) that you can never see because Israel does not allow to travel a few miles into their land because of where you were born. Maybe you have a job that takes you hours to get to every day, and to come home every day, because you have to pass through checkpoints. Or you have family that lives behind the illegal wall that Israel built through the West Bank that cuts off villages from each other. And you have to deal with illegal Jewish settlers who come burn your farm just because of the person you were born to be; Perhaps your family lived in what is now Israel during the 1947-1948 ethnic cleansing of the land, when over 750,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes due to the Zionists seeking to create a "Jewish state" - and you now live in a refugee camp because your family was unable to return to their homes. You have relatives who in the 1950s tried to walk back home and were shot dead by Israeli soldiers. Life in a refugee is all you know, and you pray for the day you can go back home; Maybe you are a child in Gaza - your family was also made refugees in 1947-48 and has gone to Gaza, as nearly 75% of the population living in the Strip are. Maybe you have dreams of going to another country for school, because you're a bright student and won a scholarship to go to Harvard. But you can't go because Israel (along with Egypt) has imposed a brutal land, air and sea siege that has essentially trapped you in one of the most densely populated pieces of land in the world, and you are stuck there. And you have to deal with constant bombardment from the air, land and sea by soldiers, and you know Palestinians personally who were shot for walking "too close" to the border, even though it's still within the limit that Israel has technically allowed for you.

Or maybe you even grew up in the West or elsewhere in the world, but have close family relatives dealing with this on a daily basis.

Would you not ask yourself, as a Palestinian, "why is this happening?" Would you not ask, "why did people do this to us?" Any decent history book has documented well what Zionists did to create the state of Israel, by expelling Palestinians, and what they have been doing since to maintain their control over the land, which includes separating large segments of Palestinian communities from the rest. Any decent history book has documented well the conditions the Palestinians have faced, all due to one basic fact: one dominant side, with one of the largest militaries in the world, will not give us rights that are equal to theirs, who will not allow us to simply return to our homes - all because they want a state that is exclusively theirs. All because it is not enough for all of us to have equal rights - they want the land for themselves.

I ask you, when you look at it through the eyes of the Palestinians, is it as simple as "forgetting who started what and when" - especially given that this "when" is still ongoing? Is it simple to just ignore the past given that Palestinians are still subjected to the same injustices they were subjected to in the past? To "start over", would you not agree, through the Palestinian perspective, they would need for the wrongs inflicted on them to be corrected?

Now, take yourself out of the Palestinian perspective. You're just another human being. Do you not see the humanity in these simple demands of the Palestinian people? To just be equal?

(P.S. We cannot compare the "Palestinian narrative" to the "Zionist narrative". We have to remember something: This is not a double-edged sword. This is a conflict with an oppressed, and an oppressor. We can't ignore the power dynamic between the two parties. We know all too well of many conflicts that included an oppressed and an oppressor. Let's drop the bullshit, and finally treat this issue as one, as it well deserves.)