Since the title had* [Israel and Palestine]*, I meant the state of current affairs re: proposed unilateral ‘statehood’.
The Arab world (+Iran) loves to point fingers at Israel while dodging its own grievous errors.
I guess it’s not limited to Arab nations. France isn’t exactly in love with Israel or its own conservative Muslim population.
No, but they shoot people protesting their government while bending the rules so people can protest *other *governments and cross borders illegally. Then the Syrian government can cry foul and their state-run TV can make like Israel is just as bad.
No, and it’s an interesting little irony. The Syrians have worked so hard for the past 60 years to separate their Palestinians from Syrian society - by denying them citizenship and forcing them to remain in their camps - and it’s reached the point regular Syrians don’t really care about them anymore, now that “real” Syrians are dying.
Fra la la la la la la la la.
Syrian Protesters Reportedly Given Money to Take Part in Protests Along Israeli Border
Heh, I wonder if such an obvious bare-faced diversionary tactic will work for the Syrian government this time.
My guess is that it will not. The Syrians appear too pissed off to be dazzled by the lure of more conflict with Israel.
I’m mildly amused at all of the commentary and op-eds yesterday that blamed Israel for Sunday’s scuffle.
You have a video of David killing Goliath?
The entire point of that story is he killed Goliath with a FUCKING ROCK. Yeah he used a sling but it was such a moonshot that it made its way into the bible of every religion in the region.
So tell me, how many Israeli Goliaths have Palestinian youth killed with rocks that it justifies shooting bullets at people throwing rocks? FYI, Israel isn’t the only place with rocks and somehow other security forces manage to keep rock throwing crowds under control without shooting bullets at them.
While Israel certainly didn’t botch the situation as badly they botched the flotilla incident, I suspect they could have certainly handled it better.
You ever hear of a helmet or riot gear?
I don’t know if the IDF was using rubber bullets or not, but the term is something of a misnomer.
Rubber bullets are pieces of lead wrapped in rubber and while not nearly as deadly as regular bullets, they can and have killed.
In fact, more than a few people believe that allowing law enforcement agencies to use them causes more deaths because people are far, far less reluctant to use them than regular firearms.
Don’t be silly, it’s VHS.
Slings were an infantry weapon in the time of Xenophon. They preferred metal projectiles, but scavenged for stones during the Anabasis.
Yeah, I agree. This is a pretty obvious orchestrated attempt by the Syrian regime to refocus the Syrians on how much they hate Jews. I just hope that anti-Israel sentiment doesn’t get baked into this Arab spring. What these guys don’t realize is that Isreal can be their best friend after they become a democracy even if Israel doesn’t realize it.
No, other security forces shoot regular bullets at the protestors.
Israel, as always, is showing remarkable restraint in its dealings with protestors. When masses of protestors are gunned down (with standard bullets) in Arab countries, it’s just chalked up as business as usual and people forget about it the next day.
Yeah, I know what slings are and I know they are weapons. I also know that against riot gear, they are basically useless unless using special projectiles and not just rocks off the ground.
You ever hear of using your brain?
Don’t attack soldiers. Duh.
But this wasn’t a riot gear situation. Riot gear, like tear gas and rubber bullets, is designed to disperse crowds. But the soldiers there weren’t just trying to disperse them - they were also trying to prevent them from destroying government property (they were tearing down a border fence) and more importantly, they were trying to prevent them from crossing the border. Dispersing them isn’t enough if they’re going to disperse on the wrong side.
I’m sure that they used as little live ammo as possible, if only because every casualty created makes Israel look bad, justly or unjustly. But they had to prevent them from crossing, and if lethal means were the only option, they had to use them.
I doubt this will get Israel anywhere.
but
Hmm. So when the IDF says that Syria encouraged (and paid) the protestors (who were farmers) and they had weapons, it’s not a big deal, but when state-run Syrian TV says that 20 unarmed and peaceful people were killed, it’s a concern?
The Human Rights Council is a fucking joke. Like I’m going to take advice on human rights from a council that has Nigeria, the Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia on it!
Here’s a question - why did the Syrian Army (with several thousand troops stationed nearby) just stand by and let the evil Zionists kill them? Whey didn’t they try to protect their Arab bretheren?
I wonder if the Syrian public is asking themselves this very question.
If SD can’t manage to think that far, I doubt the largely anti-Israel Syrian population can.