[Androgeos Exeunt]

I wonder if they did it on purpose...

[Dilmah G]

I wonder if they did it on purpose...

But why? What are they to gain by doing that?

[iamzack]

I wonder if they did it on purpose...

But why? What are they to gain by doing that?

Well, the UN does keep on feeding all those pesky Palestinians that they want to just die.

They'd kill them all at once, but that might make even the US consider stopping all the support.

[TrashMan]

But why? What are they to gain by doing that?

What does either side really have to gain by such anal actions? Nothing really. You don't have to be able to actually gain something to act like a prick...just the idea that you might is enough. and of course, there are those that simply are pricks for sakes sake.

[Flipside]

Well, ceasefire declared, but here's an interesting speech from a source you wouldn't expect...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=y9Ar7XgFAQY&feature=related

[TrashMan]

Wow..... Now THAT has got to have some impact..not to mention it ought to carry some weight

[karajorma]

Well, ceasefire declared, but here's an interesting speech from a source you wouldn't expect...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=y9Ar7XgFAQY&feature=related

He pretty much nailed most of the points I've made over a 5 year period in 5 minutes. Next time I'll just link to that speech as a starting point.

[Sandwich]

WW2: Oh, puh-leeze... How many Jewish attacks on Germans were there before WW2?

This is a very interesting first-hand presentation by Brigit Gabriel, a Lebanese Christian woman living in the USA, giving insight into what happened in Lebanon/Israel/Palestinian circles in the late 70's and early 80's, as well as what is happening in the USA today: http://multimedia.heritage.org/content/wm/Lehrman-092706a.wvx

[Flipside]

Personally, I'm not there, and I'm not going to jump to definite conclusions about it, but I'm sure Israel are just as sure that Palestine 'started it' as Palestine are sure that Israel 'started it', when, if the real truth be known, neither of them started it.

The saddest fact is that it seems both sides are convincing themselves that the only way to finish it is with blood and fire, and after all that killing, rockets are still hitting Israel, and the Israeli navy is still shelling the beaches.

I'm against radicalism as much as the next guy, but to quote an Israeli citizen who was interviewed during the advance, 'I fear Israel is just teaching another generation of Palestinians to hate and fear us', and so the cycle will continue.

As long as hatred is bred into both sides of the conflict, there is risk, of a radical getting their hands of a nuclear device, or Israel doing the unthinkable and using its own nuclear Arsenal, the only way to reduce that threat is make peace and start a dialogue. Hamas may refuse to talk to Israel (and Israel may not want to talk to Hamas), but recent events have vastly reduced the odds of any political group in the area being able to talk to Israel without being rejected by their own people.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

My mum says they've been at it for years.

To tell you the truth, I don't even pay attention anymore.

[Uchuujinsan]

WW2: Oh, puh-leeze... How many Jewish attacks on Germans were there before WW2?

This is a very interesting first-hand presentation by Brigit Gabriel, a Lebanese Christian woman living in the USA, giving insight into what happened in Lebanon/Israel/Palestinian circles in the late 70's and early 80's, as well as what is happening in the USA today: http://multimedia.heritage.org/content/wm/Lehrman-092706a.wvx

20 minutes in, and I have to see as a typical one sided hatred speech, the viewpoints themselves are more like,  what is the problem "down there" - you surely can find similar palestines complaining about Israel that way. (That would be, of course, also a one sided hatred speech)
Especially after I saw after some research what facts she left out.. very interesting, what people let out...

Well, but I wanted to restate my question and direct it this time at sandwich/splinter, why did the hamas not continue with the ceasefire?
I have some info, but it is not definite enough that I am sure it is not one sided, so I want to hear what's the reason in your oppinion/the info you got about that.

[edit]
"Stop buying New York Times, it's spreading lies"
Honestly, suggesting to REDUCE someones available information and take away an additional view (instead of adding it) is such a ... idea..

[edit2]
The answer to the question about "how to prevent the isolation of the USA" is just hilarious.
"Eurabia" 

[Grizzly]

Well, but I wanted to restate my question and direct at this time at sandwich/splinter, why did the hamas not continue with the ceasefire?

Because Gaza had been blockaded by IDF forces (During the cease-fire and before), preventing food,water, medical supplies, humitarian aid,etc to go to Gaza. Hence, Hamas breaked the cease fire, demanding the blockade to be gone.

As usual, Israël overplayed their hand, as we saw. Hence, international pressure went so high that the huge big wall trough gaza will be gone. Thank the gods.

[Nuclear1]

Wait, are you implying Hamas cares about other Palestinians?

[TrashMan]

Are you implying they don't?
Why help build schools and help with supplies, food and other stuff if they don't care about the people? Now you'll probably say "so they can attract recruits".
However, you could accuse any government of the same thing - they only do X to get Y, who cares about the people.

[StarSlayer]

They certainly don't care if their own civilians get killed as a result of their strikes.

[Nuclear1]

Hamas was more or less directly responsible for the attack on Gaza. Instead of giving up the failed and impossible ideas of liberating all of Palestine and having a comparatively level head on its shoulders as Fatah has in Abbas, they choose instead to get high off the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. They chose to use Gaza not as a platform for talks on the West Bank, Jerusalem, or a Palestinian state, but instead as a platform for launching rockets.

Egypt, Jordan, and indeed most countries in the Arab world have figured out Israel cannot be stopped through military force. Hell, even most other Palestinians are more interested in talking than bombing! Yet Hamas holds onto the defunct ideology of total liberation of Palestine, even rejecting Israeli offers to talk on the creation of a Palestinian state coexisting with Israel.

It's not as simple as "Hamas builds schools, therefore, they care". It might be true if education was the single all-important issue facing the existence and safety of Gazans, but that is just undeniably false. If Hamas truly gave a damn about the Palestinian people, they'd lay down their weapons and come to the table with Fatah and the other not-so-bat****-crazy Palestinians to discuss coexistence with, and not the destruction of, Israel. Until then, as long as Gaza launches rockets into Israeli towns, the Palestinian civilians in Gaza will be paying the consequences through Israeli retribution.

[Rick James]

Israel is preparing to defend itself against charges of war crimes following the cessation of hostilities.

[Flipside]

Personally, I think Hamas has lost control of its radical elements, but is terrified to admit that because it would mean admitting they could no longer function as an effective Government. Sometimes it's better to say 'Yes, we did it, and we're proud' than say 'Ummm... We don't know how to stop them.'

[noodlezombie]

The best part of this whole thing is that what they are fighting over at this point largely consists of rocks and shrubs. The 'Promised Land' hasn't had any milk or honey for centuries.

Anyway, does anyone really care at this point? Both sides are complete idiots and I wish they would just shut up. Jews (I'm sorry, 'Israelis'), your claim to the area is several thousand years out of date, and it wasn't your land to begin with, you acquired it through conquest when Moses led you there and you proceeded to rape and butcher your way through the various city states that resided there (it's amusing that the story of Jericho has come to us as a story of the good guys triumphing. What, exactly, did the people of the city do to warrant being wiped out?).

And Palestinians have even less of a claim and it largely consists of 'well, my family has had tents on this land for generations!'. Why don't you just move? What little good land there was has long since been turned into a crater. Scrap some money together and get a ride up north. Or get on a boat and head west. And I know they have money, they keep using it to buy mortars to blow of Jews with.

[Janos]

Wait, are you implying Hamas cares about other Palestinians?

yeah they just happen to put, what, around 90% of their annual budget towards infrastructure and social projects

clearly it's just smoke and mirrors, i mean it's not like this information wasn't freely available and quite widely known

http://www.cfr.org/publication/8968/

...or maybe you don't know jack ****

edit: oh yeah the good old thing. clearly israel cannot be held responsible when they bomb people. it's the other guy's fault. and when the other guy bombs israel? it's his fault again

srsly though why should hamas give a rat's ass about israel right now, why should they negotiate? because israel refuses to negotiate with them? what?