# airstrikes on Gaza **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 11, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airstrikes-on-gaza/692856 "2014-07-11T14:55:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 63
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airstrikes-on-gaza/692856/1241 "2014-08-22T17:42:15Z")
You really don’t see something … strange … about the fact that you take a tweet from one BBC journalist about what an Israeli Police Press minister is said to have said as gospel truth, but take a Reuter’s report about a top Hamas leader’s statement as “so-called” and “we don’t know if he said what he’s supposed to have said”? The “so-called Hamas leader”, Saleh al-Arouri, is widely known as the founder of and a leader of Qassam Brigade. FWIW [here](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/21/hamas-kidnapping-three-israeli-teenagers-saleh-al-arouri-qassam-brigades) is more mainstream reporting about what he said. Is he blowing smoke? Maybe. Posturing is important. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airstrikes-on-gaza/692856/1242 "2014-08-22T18:00:48Z")
Blindy, Would you mind explaining how Ha’aretz is “habitually dishonest”? They’re actually highly praised for their evenhandedness and regularly used by critics of Israel. Have you ever read them? ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airstrikes-on-gaza/692856/1243 "2014-08-23T20:23:04Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Blindy, > > Would you mind explaining how Ha’aretz is “habitually dishonest”? > > They’re actually highly praised for their evenhandedness and regularly used by critics of Israel. > > Have you ever read them? Not to get off topic, but the only people praising Ha’aretz for even-handedness are those on the political left. You certainly won’t find anyone in the political center or right praising Ha’aretz for much of anything. And yes, I have read it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airstrikes-on-gaza/692856/1244 "2014-08-23T21:45:14Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > I’m surprised there isn’t already a thread on this (or maybe I just missed it). Now up to 100 Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli airstrikes, and hundreds more injured. [Gaza crisis: Death toll from Israeli strikes 'hits 100' - BBC News](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28263669) > > So far as I understand, the Palestinian rocket fire hasn’t killed any Israelis, but has caused some injuries and property damage. > > Anyone care to defend Israel here? I’m not sure what the right thing for Israel to do here is, but airstrikes against civilian areas can’t be it. Even just in terms of Israeli interests, I don’t see how they’re helping themselves. Having images of dead Palestinian children on the news just alienates their allies and encourages further attacks. Its been a while now and the death toll is something like 2100 Palestinians vs 70 Israelis. Seems pretty one sided unless you consider that the Palestinians and the Israelis have already set a price on Palestinian lives in their most recent successful negotiation. The recent prisoner exchange puts the value of a Palestinian at 0.001 Israeli. No wonder that Israel has to respond with retaliation several orders of magnitude over what the Palestinians can muster. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airstrikes-on-gaza/692856/1245 "2014-08-23T22:02:32Z")
> [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](#): > > Not to get off topic, but the only people praising Ha’aretz for even-handedness are those on the political left. You certainly won’t find anyone in the political center or right praising Ha’aretz for much of anything. > > And yes, I have read it. I won’t dispute many Israeli right-wingers don’t like it just like many American right-wingers whine about the New York Times or the Washington Post but that does nothing to support Blindyboard’s ridiculous assertion that Ha’aretz is famously apologist regarding Israel. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airstrikes-on-gaza/692856/1246 "2014-08-23T22:59:15Z")
Do the Palestinians executed by Hamas count as Palestinian dead or Israeli dead? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airstrikes-on-gaza/692856/1247 "2014-08-24T01:39:46Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Do the Palestinians executed by Hamas count as Palestinian dead or Israeli dead? Any Palestinian dead count as “innocent civilians killed by evil Israelis”. Including the executed ones, the ones killed by 400 or so Hamas rockets that fell inside Gaza, the ones killed in traffic incidents or of some disease in hospitals. Anything to bulk up the numbers. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airstrikes-on-gaza/692856/1248 "2014-08-24T02:27:01Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Any Palestinian dead count as “innocent civilians killed by evil Israelis”. Including the executed ones, the ones killed by 400 or so Hamas rockets that fell inside Gaza, the ones killed in traffic incidents or of some disease in hospitals. Anything to bulk up the numbers. Ffs, get a grip. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airstrikes-on-gaza/692856/1249 "2014-08-27T03:41:37Z")
> [@1224rattusrattus](#): > > No but I can recommend you a mediocre one! …Perhaps someone else could suggest a better book, what about Ibn Warraq? It might be too much for one book. I would settle for a book that gives a chronological account of all relevant facts with an explanation of why those facts are relevant. I would think that people on both sides of the argument could agree on the facts and then make argument as to why those facts are (or are not) relevant. So much of this argument seems to be people throwing factoids at each other in an effort to diminish the import of some other factoid. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airstrikes-on-gaza/692856/1250 "2014-08-27T04:55:45Z")
Maybe you should start with _A Concise History of the Middle East_ and work your way up to a book specifically on this conflict. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airstrikes-on-gaza/692856/1251 "2014-09-06T00:19:01Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Because I think that a lot of Palestinians in refugee camps in the area might be satisfied to just become citizens of places like Jordan (although Jordan doesn’t seem to want them as citizens) What are you talking about? The Palestinian refugees in Jordan are Jordanian citizens and have been for decades. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airstrikes-on-gaza/692856.md?page=62)