That stuff still hasn't stopped? I haven't heard any mention of rockets being fired from the media here at least for a year.
Figures... not that I expect every single rocket to be reported world-wide, but an occasional "Rocket fire against southern Israeli towns continued unabated this month" article would be nice to see...
In any case,
QassamCount is the only place I could find that appears to report on every rocket fired... the recent activity was a rocket heading for Ashkelon that was intercepted by the Iron Dome 7 hours ago, 2 mortar shells 9 hours ago, 2 rockets 11 hours ago that weren't intercepted, another 2 Grad rockets 13 hours ago... the list goes on. When the barrage continues in such an intense, continual and unending fashion, no wonder the world media stops reporting on it. I can't really blame them... I just hope it helps some of you understand the situation here a bit better.
Though I do have to admit i'm a little peeved so much money gets sent to Israel since it's founding, it's huge costs for the USA, and being put in -any- side of the struggle only continues to fuel it.
In all fairness, I think the massive uprisings in nearly all the Arab nations in the Middle East kind of makes the US's investment into supporting Israel sound much more sensible, don't you? I'm not talking specifics, amounts, details - just stating that the general notion of supporting the one real democratic nation in the cauldron of decidedly undemocratic nations seems like a good idea when said undemocratic nations go to pot.
Too bad about the Gaza blockade. Hearing a lot of reports that it's inducing pretty bad conditions on the people living there; that might be a cause of a lot of the anger.
The blockade only prevents weapons from getting through, not humanitarian aid. Don't make connections between the weapons blockade and the crap living conditions in Gaza when there isn't one.
That said, the living conditions in Gaza do suck. I recall reading a statistic a long time ago (like, in the 90's sometime) about how Gaza was one of the most densely populated places on the planet. With much of the international support being appropriated by the Hamas to fund their terrorism operations, it's no surprise Gazans live in squalid conditions.
One thing I'd like to point out, however, is that every Arab village I've ever been in has been far below what a typical 3rd-world person would consider "average" living conditions (and please, I'm not trying to be "maliciously" racist, but to state facts as I've observed them). This includes not only the villages, towns, and cities under Palestinian Authority civic control in the West Bank that I've been through on patrol, but also the Israeli Arab neighborhoods just down the street from my house, here in Jerusalem - which are under the same civic rules, rights, and management as the other neighborhoods in Jerusalem. For whatever reasons, the Middle-East Arab culture or mindset appears to not place much value on cleanliness, rural upkeep, etc. There's litter all over the place (cans, bottles, and other garbage), half-built (or half-ruined) buildings seemingly in every 5th lot, pothole-strewn streets that might have been decently paved once...
Anyway, all this to say that although the conditions in Gaza may be frightfully appalling when compared to a 3rd-world country, when you compare Gaza to the average Arab village or neighborhood, there's a lot less contrast.