A couple of points to make here.
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Originally Posted by dlishsguy
Stop blowing up my neighbor's bars, restaurants, buses, markets, etc. - you forgot to mention bridges and infrastructure.
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There is a distinct difference between the two target sets mentioned. Bridges and other infrastructure are legitimate targets, and it's worth mentioning that the Interior Ministry building was hit during the night, when it could reasonably be expected that there was most likely no-one there.
Bars, restaurants, buses, markets: One feature of all of these things is that they usually contain lots of people - innocent civilians - when they're struck by Palestinian terrorists with the intent of killing and maiming as many of these innocent civilians as possible. If I'm not mistaken, deliberately targeting innocent civilians - as opposed to civilian casualties incurred during a strike on a valid military target when a reasonable effort has been made to reduce the likelihood and extent of such casualties - is a war crime.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dlishsguy
Stop firing rockets into my neighbor's house. - does the term political assassinations mean anything to you?
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If you're a political leader on either side during wartime, then the bad news for you is that it's Open Season. You're fair game. You'd better hope that your armed forces are up to the job of protecting you.
Another thing to note: In their targetted assassinations, the Israelis usually use a locally-modified version of the Hellfire missile, with a reduced-strength warhead which is large enough to ensure that anyone in a vehicle struck by it is unlikely to survive, but that is reduced in strength in an attempt to reduce collateral damage and casualties. In fact, the warhead is weaker than backpack bombs found carried by some would-be Palestinian suicide bombers, which are designed to cause as much death and destruction as possible.
Putting these two together: The strike which took out Yassin a few years ago now as he was emerging from a mosque killed only three people - Yassin himself and two of his bodyguards. Had you, at the same time, given a Hamas leader the choice of assassinating Sharon (himself a valid military target as Israeli Prime Minister) either with the same type of precise Hellfire strike as he's emerging from a synagogue, or of assassinating him by dropping a 2000lb bomb on the synagogue while he and hundreds of others are inside, which do you seriously think he would choose?
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Originally Posted by dlishsguy
Stop teaching institutionalized hatred of my neighbor to my children in our school system. - works both ways this one..or maybe thats just teaching love for ones own culture, land, country etc and hatred for anyone thats trying to take that away.. a bit like the US and what it teaches on al qaeda for example.
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Oh? How far does the US, or Israel for that matter, go in this sense? A friend of mine once worked with a PhD student who was originally from the West Bank. On her first day of kindergarten, she and everyone else in her class had been given a rifle bullet and told to see that it ended up inside a Jew. Can anyone tell me that either the US or Israel indoctrinate their children to this extent? Teaching pride in, and love for, one's country is one thing. Teaching the slaughter of innocent civilians is another entirely.
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Originally Posted by Seaver
if I was Palistinian I would probably attack any Israeli soldier I found on my territory.
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I would accept your right to do exactly this - in the West Bank, Gaza or in Israel proper, if a state of hostilities existed.