Hi Yuyutsu,

"Do you know when the Gazan people (also the residents of the West Bank) had been most free ever?"

Thanks for the information.
I know that Palestinians were promised self determination if they rose against the Ottomans, but the British were lying and had already planned to give it to Israel.

I think Arthur Balfour and Rothschild were both a part of the Round Table group.

To everyone else:

This Operation Prosperity Guardian Naval mission against Houthis could get real interesting. I wonder what will happen if (when) they conduct drone attacks on warships. The Houthis have had US planes dropping US bombs on them with US intelligence directing for years in their recent war against Saudi Arabia already, they will know exactly how many missles US ships can carry, they will conduct drone, missile and underwater drone attacks to force the ships forcing them to use up their munitions. They also have ballistic missiles, and may even have been given weapons the US doesn't know about, by Iran.

The Houthis look ready for a fight, so it could and most likely will widen this conflict, and things could turn out a whole lot worse for everyone, if oil fields are hit.

All of this might've been avoided if Israelis stopped bombing Gaza or at least let food and water in for the starving Palestinians.

But the US has pretty much crossed the rubicon now, vowing to destroy the Houthis ability to target shipping. The West is hardly going to conduct a ground invasion, so I'm not sure how they will achieve this goal anymore than Israel thinks it can destroy Hamas.

It could end up being a wider war with Iran and the argument there is the same - they're hardly going to conduct a ground invasion.

This could be the end of US and their reputation as world greatest military power (its not true, their weapons systems are designed for a outdated era of warfare and they can't conduct large scale ground wars) if a US ship is sunk.

Yuyutsu,

What else can anyone do?

Israel can recognize Palestinian rights.
They need to ask themselves why this happened
in the first place. If you truly believe that
Israel has a right to defend itself - then so
does Palestine. One's rights does not take priority
over anothers.

As for questioning the ages of the pro Palestinian
protesters? People of all ages are joining in
all over the world. It is not an age thing.
Most people can see the wrong that is happening
and it needs to cease.

Thousands of Palestinian supporters rally across
Australia in major capital cities calling for a permanent
ceasefire in Gaza following weeks of protests.
More are planned to continue in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth
and Brisbane.

As one organizer stated:

"As long as there is occupation - there will always be
tears of resistance. Our Jewish brothers and sisters that
have come out against their community and come and stand
with us is just heart-warming and gives you goosebumps."

There were no incidents of arrests.

Dear Foxy,

«Israel can recognize Palestinian rights.»

This concept of "rights" is ridiculous: nobody has any rights, not even Israelis.

But yes, I think we can agree that these people need to be treated respectfully AS IF they had rights.

That would be nice - but how could it possibly help in this immediate difficult situation when a deadly enemy hides weapons inside children's dolls?

«They need to ask themselves why this happened in the first place.»

Because historically, their existence in the Middle East was never accepted by the Muslim clerics who feared for the loss of their control over their people due to the influence of the Zionists' progressive attitudes.

«If you truly believe that Israel has a right to defend itself»

Well I don't, yet any sane person who isn't a saint would defend themselves in such circumstances and do whatever it takes.

«then so does Palestine»

Why won't they instead defend themselves against their attackers, rather than against innocent Israelis who have no say in the matter?

«People of all ages are joining in all over the world.»

Perhaps so, but the article you referred me to was only about the U.S.A and showed only young people.

Now would it matter if they also lighted candles on the moon?
Israelis still need to defend themselves and none of that could stop them!

Yuyutsu,

All the arguments that you apply in defence of Israel
could equally be applied to Palestine. It's not a
one-sided situation. If they did this, if they did
that. They have a right to defend themselves. ?They
stick bombs in dolls, et cetera. Both sides are
guilty of atrocities. But the fact remains that Israel
was given a land that they were never going to share
and they made things worse by their behaviour towards
people already living there. As long as there is occupation
there will be resistance.

And the pro-Palestinian protests around Australia and the
world shows where people's sympathies now lie. Not with
Israel.

In any case - we're on different tracks.

No point in arguing.

"Why won't they instead defend themselves against their attackers, rather than against innocent Israelis who have no say in the matter?"

- Agreed, that goes for both sides, especially when Israel uses collective punishment with basic necessities, such as food, water, power, medicine and internet connectivity.

* Non combatants are not military targets.