It is not hypocrisy; it is anti-Semitism.

re:

"Israel has attacked only military targets. Yes, Israel is using more firepower than Hamas, because Israel is trying to destroy Hamas’ ability to fire the rockets. Israel has attacked Hamas’ weapon caches, they’ve attacked Hamas’ headquarters and they’ve attacked places from which Hamas fires rockets."

Thank you for those reassurances. I guess I will not be recommending the UN schools in Gaza, as they appear to be military targets.

Plus, even if they are not targeted, but there is a war on, lessons are likely to be disrupted by all those refugees from other neighbourhoods teeming with Palestinian terrorists.

What is Israel really trying to do in Gaza? Here is a hypothetical:

www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11680

"Who Owns the Gas Fields

"The issue of sovereignty over Gaza's gas fields is crucial. From a legal standpoint, the gas reserves belong to Palestine.

" [Factors including]... the ruin of the Palestinian Authority have enabled Israel to establish de facto control over Gaza's offshore gas reserves.

"British Gas (BG Group) has been dealing with the Tel Aviv government. In turn, the Hamas government has been bypassed in regards to exploration and development rights over the gas fields."

The issue is of course clouded by a 60 year history of racism and atrocities in the Holy Land. Interesting to go back to the late 40's, when Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote:

"You've got to be taught to hate and fear
You've got to be taught from year to year
It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made
And people whose skin is a different shade
You've got to be carefully taught

You've got to be taught before it's too late
Before you are six or seven or eight
To hate all the people your relatives hate
You've got to be carefully taught
You've got to be carefully taught"

Perhaps Tel Aviv would be a safer and more civilised place to send kiddies to school. I hope they would learn nice things there

Numbers, numbers, numbers. "5.4 million people have been killed in Congo ... 100,000 people (Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians, etc) who have been killed in the 60 years of the Arab-Israel conflict ... 12 million Muslims were killed by other Muslims". But nowhere does Bren tell us how many Israelis have been killed by Qassam rockets and mortars over the last 8 years. Why? Possibly because the number is so small? Less than 20 according to my reading.

Bren could have listed the victims individually in his article if he had wished to. Since he didn't, here is the list (as best I can work out):
June 5, 2008 - Amnon Rosenberg
May 12, 2008 - Shuli Katz
May 9, 2008 - Jimmy Kedoshim
Feb 27, 2008 – Roni Yihye
May 27, 2007 - Oshri Oz
May 21, 2007 - Shirel Friedman
Nov. 21, 2006 - Yaakov Yaakobov
Nov. 11, 2006 - Faina Slutzker
March 28, 2006 - Salam and Khalid Ziadin
July 15, 2005 - Dana Gelkowitz
Jan. 15, 2005 - Ayala Haya Abukasis
Sept. 29, 2004 - Dorit Inso
Sept. 29, 2004 - Yuval Abeva,
June 28, 2004 - Afik Ohion Zehavi
June 28, 2004 - Mordechai Yosephus

Perhaps someone can provide a list of Palestinians killed by Israel over this period? I suspect it might by a bit longer.

Given that no one in the world has been willing to do anything that would guarantee Israel's security... to stop Arab attacks against the State of Israel... I wonder how countries of the world and the mainstream media can complain when the Israelis strike back.

I hear complaints that Israel responds with disproportionate use of force, and I wonder what the world expects of them. How many other countries would tolerate constant attacks against their own civilian populations, only to be condemned when they strike back. It seems that the world has acknowledged the right of Arab countries to kill Israelis.

Israel, on the other hand, has made numerous concessions to their enemies to try and achieve a lasting peace. And all (bar none) such peace initiatives have been rewarded by continued attacks on Israel.

In the long run, the only way for Israel to secure its borders and win a lasting peace is to decisively defeat its enemies, using whatever force required. Is this possible?

The Palestinians elected Hamas as their government. Hamas then attacked Israel, usually launching their attacks from within the confines of their own civilian areas, resulting in tragic deaths of Palestinian civilians in the counter attack. By electing Hamas, the Palestinian people, in effect, are getting what they asked for and deserve. Hamas knows that, by sacrificing their own people in this manner, the world will condemn Israel and thus validate the actions of Hamas.

Rest assured that, once again, pressure will be put on Israel to pull out under a form of cease fire or peace initiative. And after pulling out, it will only be a matter of time before the attacks on Israel are resumed. And the pattern will thus be repeated. The world knows this but could care less.

Bren Carlill,

how do you know that the Palestinians killed by the Israeli army are "mostly Hamas combatants", because the Israeli army says so? You certainly have a way with statistics,of the 100,000 people killed in the 60 years of Arab-Israeli wars, how many were Israelis? Israel claims moral superiority over its neighbours while disposessing them and forcing them into ghettos, your equation that Hamas=Palestinians is self-serving.

Explain what precisely is a "military" area in Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas in the world,all Gaza is a civilian area.

If Israel is genuinely attempting to negotiate a two-state solution, why are the settlements expanding? Israel's claims of negotiating in good faith are hypocritical, and the Palestinians are not deceived. If Israel showed a genuine desire to negotiate, organisations like Hamas would not be able to feed on Palestinian despair, Hamas is largely a creation of Israel. Some Moslems are undoubtedly anti-semitic, it's hardly all on their side, some Jews are all about killing Arabs, aren't they?

There is so much emotion concerning this
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
So much finger-pointing. Each side seems
to feel that they are right, the other is
wrong, and that no-one fully appreciates their
suffering.

Each side claims to want a cease-fire, but only
on their terms. This makes the situation
impossible to resolve because both are sticking
to their 'guns,' so to speak.

We can only hope (and pray) that through pressure
from the international community and the newly-elected
US President, sanity will prevail, and
both sides can be persuaded to meet
face-to-face and negotiate honestly for a just
and secure peace that will be acceptable to both sides.

Because the other alternative is full-scale war that
will destroy everything.

The time of accusations is well and truly over.
It is time now to make amends before its too late.