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comments from readers

Carl Jones
07 January 2009

no

The reason why I say "no", is that by saying "yes", you give the International community, credibility, which they simply don`t deserve. How many UN resolutions has Israel ignored...how many UN resolutions against Israel, has the US vetoed?

There is one simple fact that everyone should remember. Every Western government backs the Israeli action in Gaza. Only Venezuela has expelled the Israeli Ambassador. The MSM would have YOU believe that Europe has little influence over Israel...this is convenient lie. Maybe the Norwegian government would like to break diplomatic links with Israel, but they could only do so under a massive NWO threat to the economy of Norway.

Even the MSM are complicit, just visit craigmurray.com

gnuneo
07 January 2009

yes

there must now be UN peacekeepers stationed within Palestinian territory, to protect the inhabitants from their violent and aggressive neighbours. They should also be armed with anti-air, and anti-tank weaponry, and be given permission to use them as they see fit.

the actions by Israel in attacking one of the most defenceless, poverty stricken, artificially created Ghettos in the world, has removed ANY moral legitimacy from itself.

Israel is right now not only committing war crimes, committing mass murder, committing attempted ethnic cleansing and genocide, it is also committing suicide.

did anyone else notice that the Israeli Interior Minister, Meir Sheetrit, on last night's Newsnight, resembled nothing so much as GWB with plastic padding to make himself look fatter? And that he deliberately made Israel seem utterly uncaring about the civilian massacre it is undertaking? And that Israel's behaviour can ONLY lead to catastrophic destruction a la 'Armageddon' as the Xian Fundies spearheaded by GWB desire?

how extraordinarily coincidental. And i thought Jews were supposed be 'more intelligent' than Gentiles. Perhaps once the belief that you ARE superior is held, it eliminates the actual need to BE intelligent. I can't think of any other explanation of why the Israeli People are allowing themselves to be led like Lambs to the Slaughter by these apocalyptic & psychopathic visionaries.

Israel can have no "security" until it has peace with Islam - and there will never be peace with Islam whilst Israel is busy massacring the stricken Palestinian population. Or do Israeli leaders believe that if they abuse the Palestinians enough, then Global Islam will eventually grow to love them???

they are insane, and they are suicidal. What a pity they do not then just shoot themselves, instead of also murdering innocent natives of Historic Palestine.

perhaps saner member of Israeli society should take it upon themselves to remove these psychopaths from power before it is entirely too late. If it is not already.

showboater29@aol.com
08 January 2009

yes

But the real international community not those who created the situation in the first place!!!!

pete999
08 January 2009

no

Israel faces provocation that no other nation would tolerate. Let them solve their problems.

rado
08 January 2009

yes

yes because Israel is a terroist state

Gerishnakov
08 January 2009

yes

In my own ideal world, the International Community would take the United Nations seriously, and there might be a chance that a UN peacekeeping force could get into the area and separate Israeli forces from the innocent people of Gaza; I'm not suggesting here that Hamas are completely innocent, but the vast majority of casualties so far have been civilians.

Of course involvement couldn't stop there; the UN would then need to defend Gaza for a long time, as well as moving more forces along to the West Bank, in order to remove illegal Israeli settlers, allowing Palestinians to fortify their borders.

In essence: If the Israeli's won't recognise the sovereignty of Palestine as it currently exists, which they evidently do not, how can we expect them to recognise a free and independent Palestine? Israel must be shown that Palestinians have a right to freedom.

Cybertiger
08 January 2009

yes

Justice first for Gaza: the international community should end Israel’s impunity for its heinous crimes against humanity.

sara
08 January 2009

yes

IT IS A MASSACRE< THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING

K1912
08 January 2009

yes

If you don't intervene to stop genocide, when do you intervene? If you don't intervene to stop genocide, are you not culpable?

bedabs
08 January 2009

yes

Israel is USA enforcer in the Middle East. This is yet another Christmas show of US power through and with Israel over any faction, Muslim or not, to show that they are Boss. Remember Foucault's words about resistence.

Carl Jones
08 January 2009

no

I`m shocked. The International community support Israel`s actions in Gaza.

mtma
08 January 2009

yes

I'm sick and tired of Israel using the same excuse of 'right to self-protection' in order to justify mass murder of civilians time and time again. Israel should acknowledge that Palestine and the DEMOCRATICALLY elected leadership of Hamas has just as much right, if not more, than their occupying nation to self determination. And having a land 'promised' to you doesn't justify genocide. What are you on and who are you trying to brainwash????
We remained silent and watched the slaying of thousands of children in Lebannon in 2006- let us stand up and rise against the oppressors before it is tooooooooo late!!
RIP poor children of Palestine my heartfelt prayers are with you and your rightful land ;-(

gnuneo
09 January 2009

yes

and if the UN won't (can't) act, due to UNSC US veto, then the elected parliament of the PA should request military assistance from the EU, Russia, China, and South Africa independently. This genocide must stop immediately.

it is time that the world *demonstrated* we are once again multi-polar, and not in thrall to US hyperpower anymore.

msfutureworldleader
09 January 2009

yes

It is up to the uma of Islam to stand together no matter what sect and to unite against Israel and America. We have waited long enough for the Leaders of the Arab world to do something. As time has passed it has been made obvious that Arab countries such as the Emirates and Saudi Arabia are nothing but money hungry and too concerned about the size of their mansions to care about their true responsibilities. Stand united and lets fight for the rights of our muslim brothers and sisters in Gaza. IT IS OUR DUTY!

Bettie
09 January 2009

yes

I am ashamed as an American my country vetoed any offer the U N makes to help the Palestine people. Israel is cruel and after their land are kill them.

jason from weymouth
09 January 2009

yes

Zionism is dead! Long live Zionism! I would like an atheist protectorate - either the whole Northern or Southern hemisphere should do. The victims of genocide have become the perpetrators and we now need 'The Gaza Trials' to hold everyone responsible for these atrocities to account. This should include all surviving 'hawks' who have advocated killing on both sides. Then the UN should occupy the whole area and set up a proxy government in which the rule of law is determined for the best interests of all the occupiers. Any transgressions should be treated through an independent legal process. Gerrymandering created this problem; international law should try to solve it.

Kebabpunk
09 January 2009

yes

Let us not forget that Israel is one of the very few countries with an Apartheid system. Any Holocaust-survivor will instantly tell you how horrified they find Israel's current governmental policies with all-too similar policies they already had to endure under the Germans from 1930ies onwards.

phantom
09 January 2009

yes

America & UK should cease armang Israel and the 'international community' [sic] should force Israel to abide by all UN resolutions now!

kayjay
09 January 2009

yes

Absolutely!!
No civilised nation could possibly endorse the mass murder of innocents who are trapped by the same agressor.
Israel are playing into extremists hands so from a strategic perspective we need to intervene even if we don't care.

redharry
09 January 2009

yes

Send Martin Bright to Gaza

1. To interview Palestinians and report what they say for once.

2. To meet the original inhabitants of Sderot who were expelled by Israel into Gaza

3. To find out what its really like to live under bombardment

wimberlin
09 January 2009

yes

Isreal is like a bull in a china shop and needs a good stiff reality sandwich - perhaps some F-16s dropping bombs on thier troops would do it........or some cluster bombs ....or some of the nasties they have imported from the US.....punishment befitting the crime!!!!

martinyarnit
09 January 2009

yes

Gaza: Towards a European Solution
Martin Yarnit
There is no military solution in Gaza. Every generation of Palestinians produces a new wave of militants dedicated to the destruction of Israel. Without a political solution, the Israeli Defence Force will be battling the grandchildren of the people killed in Gaza this week.
The blockade of Gaza, to prevent arms imports, the bombing to destroy the military and political base of Hamas: these make a perverted sense to Western governments who see Hamas as their enemy. For the sake of these, the same governments have to grit their teeth while civilian casualties mount. A cease fire may stem the flow of blood, for the time being at least, but it won’t prevent a reoccurrence of hostilities in the future. For the sake of the security of the Israelis and the Palestinians and the prosperity of both peoples, the West has no alternative but to push for the end of the occupation of the West Bank and Golan Heights, and the removal of illegal Jewish settlements.
Why should either side consent to talks along these lines when both are committed to the pursuit of their political objectives by military means? Why should Hamas abandon its policy of overturning the Zionist state? Why should the Israelis give up on their reliance on overwhelming military force?
The lesson from other war zones is that economic development is the only balm in the long term. France and Germany, traditional foes for generations, used the European Iron and Steel Community to bury the hatchet. The creeping creation of an all Ireland trading zone within the EU is beginning to dissolve the differences between Catholic and Protestant. The prospect of EU membership has worked wonders on intransigence in Turkey and the Balkans, strengthening the hand of democrats and supporters of human rights. The same approach should be directed now towards Israel, the Palestinians and their neighbours.
Turkey, a trusted interlocutor between Israel and the Arabs, could act as the lynchpin of this new diplomatic initiative, with a firmer offer from the EU of membership as a reward. The US, which has tried and failed to install democracy in the Middle East by force, should instead support the Europeans by providing financial guarantees for a programme of peaceful economic development in the region.
Given the EU’s hesitancy towards Turkish membership in the past, why would it now want to contemplate a major expansion of its reach in one of the world’s most troubled and poverty-stricken regions? A long term plan, perhaps stretching over 15-20 years, would have to be agreed leading to full membership which would lay down the terms for confidence building through new institutions for economic cooperation and the creation of a Middle Eastern Commonwealth. The plan would also envisage the creation of a network of major cities across the region including new cities in what is currently the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Egypt plus Jerusalem that would be governed by mixed administrations in which the Palestinians would be given an equal voice. In this way, hope would be given to the Palestinian refugees that they would find a permanent home within the new Common Market.
The benefits for the EU are political and economic. The conflict in Gaza, like the conflict in Iraq, poses a big threat to the security and social cohesion of Western Europe, as the July 2004 bombings in London showed. In the short term, the costs of supporting the creation of a Middle East Commonwealth, even with the help of the US and the Saudis, would be big but the long term benefits are great. Europe would gain access to a vast developing market equivalent in size to the US. In addition, Europe might also gain an intermediate zone that would act as a pole of attraction for the waves of impoverished and war weary people who are fleeing Africa’s disaster zones for Spain, Italy and Malta.
This idea is dogged by enormous problems, but an ambitious and imaginative proposal is needed to break the log jam in Palestine-Israel. And it will need to be ambitious to have any chance of success. The Israelis are in danger of settling into a crisis economy-permanent war outlook. They are benefitting from the international growth of their homeland security industrial sector, exporting the expertise gained in their battles with the Palestinians to create a prosperity that so far defies the global credit crunch. The Israelis, or at least the section of the population that has reluctantly been forced into the war camp by Hamas, have to believe that sometime soon they will be safer and no less prosperous than they are now.
As for the Palestinians, whose internal politics are driven by desperation and hopelessness, only the prospect of a large scale transformation of their political and economic fortunes will create the conditions for a new leadership willing to do business with Europe and their erstwhile enemy, Israel.
None of this is likely to work with the current political leadership with which both peoples are burdened. Indeed, the existing leaderships could be expected to go out of their way to block the development of the proposals put forward here. In doing that they can call on the fear, suspicion and resentment that both sides have nursed for decades. But there is a middle ground on both sides and the EU must begin to create the conditions for Palestinians and Israelis who see no future in endless warfare to meet and to exchange ideas on neutral ground. Neither people will welcome manipulation
A Middle East Commonwealth, linked to the EU and eventually becoming part of the EU, leapfrogs across the tired debate about one state and two state solutions to provide a regional formula for peaceful development, releasing Israelis and Palestinians from the cycle of desperation in which they are currently trapped.

(979)

doctorJ
10 January 2009

no

Hamas should be tried for war crimes. For 8 years Israeli civilians have been targeted (before the blockade). What country would allow this to happen. Israel has to defend its citizens. Israel, unlike Hamas doesnt target civilians, it does all in its power to avoid them being injured. Whereas Hamas does the opposite. It fires from schools and Hospitals precisely to try and achieve civilian losses to show on TV. Using humans as shields is disgusting. We have seen pictures here of Hamas fighters crossing streets with children in their arms using them as shields so as not to get shot. It works as well. The other way round the Hamas would be only too delighted to shoot the kid as well. These disgusting people who remember arent willing to negotiate for peace or a two state solution need and are getting an educational experience. Its a shame that the civilians they are meant to protect are their victims

SilentReader
10 January 2009

no

The continual bombardment of Israel by 10,000 rockets by the terrorist organization Hamas, whose charter has stated their goal is to destroy Israel, more than justifies Israel defending itself. It would be suicide not to.

jamshed
10 January 2009

yes

why Israel so special? Israel gets billions of dollars from USA to kill children so why Hamas cant get anything to fight back? how can these zionst let the entire world be destroyed by their madness. Hamas came up cuz Israel is blocking all aid for the past 3 years or so. thats a fact. thats why they fired the rockets. and CNN confirms that Israel broke the truce first go research. its a fact.

AR
10 January 2009

yes

Israel, once the oppressed by Hitler is now the oppressor by its illegal occupation of Palestine and now its horrific war on their innocent people. Everyone who understands the history can distinguish between retaliation to rockets and an invasion of further Palestinian land. Shame on Israel and the US, you are creating terrorism while waging a so called war on terror.

suell
10 January 2009

yes

Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian territories through the settlements, has constructed a de facto prison camp with the wall hemming Palestinians in, destroyed the Palestinian economy and wonders why the Palestinians resort to violence. Both sides know only war and fighting as a method of political bargaining: some tough talking has to be done with Israel.

Sue Lloyd

truth
10 January 2009

yes

there's a massacre against humanity !!
& that is becuz of some rockets that didnt kill any1!

khungeka@mweb.co.za
10 January 2009

yes

This has been going on for too long and it is against human rights to let women and children be victims of a war that will not solve the problem anyway

anna danjon
10 January 2009

yes

Naomi Klein is right:we should boycott Israel and demonstrate not once a week but every day!

Kyle Taylor Lucas
10 January 2009

yes

Israel is commiting genocide and the United States is complicit as financier. Shame on the U.S. Congress for its vote yesterday and for its refusal to abide by international law.

Ganga
11 January 2009

yes

As an American , we can't stand this injustice against civilians in Gaza . International community should react and stop this if we have power.We are Super power in this world. We should stop this.

Dieguez
11 January 2009

yes

to sustain diplomatic or any kind of ties with a government that is killing children as a political means is equivalent of cumplicity with the murders; this must be made clear to any government in the world

rayd331
11 January 2009

yes

I am ashamed as an American to see my government's almost uncrtitical acceptance of anything Israel does, no matter how outrageous. I hope the Obama administration will use US power and influence to promote lasting peace in the Middle East..

TonyF12
11 January 2009

yes

Our silence endorses and encourages Zionist Israel's barbarism in Palestine. Israel expects its nation to be acknowledged and respected, quite rightly. Palestine deserves the same acknowledgement and respect. The merciless killing of children takes us back to King Herod's policies of 2000 years ago, but in those days he did not have the help of US weapons and technology to kill so many, so quickly and so efficiently.
What is happening in Palestine is ethnic cleansing and we must intervene as we did in Yugoslavia.

FreedomLand
11 January 2009

yes

Egypt has a lot to answer for too in pandering to the NWO and playing along with Israel - Gaza IS on their border, uhh. But British Gas is where the buck rests with their deals with Israel to cut Hamas out of profits from the new offshore Gaza gas field.

Helga Hanson
11 January 2009

yes

This slaughter must stop immediately. If the international community does not act, we all have blood on our hands.

kochuthresiamma P j
12 January 2009

yes

The world should not make the same mistake it made, looking on while hitler indulged in genocide liberally -- besides, a fair solution may prove to be the first step towards dealing with international terrorism at a fundamental level.
israle was created when the world conscience was pricked for the sin of omission. Ignoring palestine issue would be another sin of obmission, The time has come to make reparation for it.

Haggai One
12 January 2009

yes

The international community created it; the Anglo-French birthed, raised and nurtured it for the first 30 years from 1918 and the Americans have matured and protected it since 1948.

DMJ39
12 January 2009

yes

For far too long the International community has sanctioned Israel to do whatever she wants in the territories over which she holds sway. The most effective way of preventing Israel's ongoing reign of terror is to take action against her. The objection always is that America will not stand for it. However it is now true that Europe can at the very least suspend the EU Israel trade agreement until Israel observes the human rights standards that membership demands. Also there should be an arms embargo on Israel, both selling and buying and action should be taken to freeze contacts until such time as Israel proves itself a worthy partner. Certainly all countries should recall their ambassadors from Israel. America will be isolated and may indeed eventually fall into line. In the end there is a great deal that can be done, it only needs imagination

Broga
12 January 2009

yes

Close to 2,000 people being slaughtered in safety by USA funded bombers and without medical supplies. Gutless Israelis worried in case their relatives get killed in a ground war. Shooting fish in a barrel is the name of their game. The excuse: Hamas hides in the civilian population so the big bombers are entitled to slaughter whom they chose. Did they expect Hamas to sit on a hill side await from civilians. Intervene now and fast.

Jon
12 January 2009

yes

Israel should be stopped from this continued wholesale murder. Even if that means pre-emptive military strikes against Israel by the UN. I am puzzled! Why are we not at war with Israel? We went to war with Iraq for similar actions. I would support a UK backed war against Israel.

bla
12 January 2009

yes

u better intervene or else ill ust ur ... butt
just kidding

James
12 January 2009

yes

George W Bush and Tony Blair claimed that they went looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We know that was a lie, and we also know that they knew all along just where those weapons were and are. They are in Israel, and they were and continue to be supplied by Mr Bush, the man who claimed to be looking for them in Iraq.
What is happening in Gaza is outrageous. Ethnic cleansing, apartheid, genocide, breach of international law, breach of the Geneva Conventions - we can call it what we like, but defending Israel's right to exist, it is not.
With Bush behind them , the Israelis have nothing to worry about. We are just too supine, and Brown, like his predecessor, won't want to upset the "special relationship" - much good will it do him. What do we have to do to get any integrity or honour out of our own government?
James

Donny
12 January 2009

yes

The International community (UN) must intervene for the protection of the Palestinians and to establish the apparatus of a state that Israel cannot use as an excuse for further genocide.

mrandyc
12 January 2009

yes

Israel show a complete contempt for international law.

William
12 January 2009

no

Neverending conflict for dwindling rescources

Culverin
12 January 2009

yes

Time and time again, the international community sits on its hands and watches the horror unfold in Israel and Lebanon.

There was collective outrage when Russia 'reacted' to the Georgian missile attack on South Ossetia.

We must do the same in Gaza and prevent the further killing and maiming of young children, aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers.

Shame on Israel (and their US sponsors) and shame on the international community for colluding in the slaughter.

Daniele
12 January 2009

yes

James said it all and I agree entirely.It is time that the world stops Israel from getting away with murder, time and time again, since it was created. The first thing is to demand the truth from the media which continues to feed us lies and forever presents the American position which is that Israel can do whatever it needs to get rid of the Palestinians.That is why they act with such audacity . They know they have the biggest world bully on their side. They have nothing to worry about. The question is: are there any decent journalists with some integrity left out there to dare report the truth about the massacre being perpetuated? Apart from John Pilger, there seems to be no one left to denounce injustice.I always thought the job of a journalist was just that, not convey the lies "our masters" want us to swallow.

ptharris
12 January 2009

yes

It's a racist war. Gazans are seen as worthless and their children as expendable. It's the slaughter of the innocents by a new Herod who will be supported in his outrages by the contemptible Emperor Bush.

wanderer
12 January 2009

yes

Yes! the Israeli massacre must be stopped and the illegal occupation phased out. The EU must exert politcal preesure and political dialogue with Hamas must be supported.
The majoroty of US citizens just don't know the facts.

billcode
12 January 2009

yes

absolutely yes. the hypocrisy of our leaders is sickening. http://inkybinary.wordpress.com

Faye
13 January 2009

yes

Yes. It's an abuse of power by our gvt. Collectively, the international community cld have prevented this situation - I refer the to Security Council mtg of December 16th, 2008 (http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sc9539.doc.htm). The actions (inaction) of Condoleezza Rice in support of Israeli gvt are beyond belief.

swatantra nandanwar
13 January 2009

no

No. Because 'the Int Community' invariably comes down on the side of Israel every time., and gives then breathing space to fight the next round, by pouring more arms in. No. Because the scale of the attrocities that Isreal commits every day might strike in the ordinarly Israeli a twinge of conscience and force their Govt to call a halt to this bloodbath. No. Because a halt or cease fire is not the solution but simply delays a meaningful settlement; it just prolongs the agony of the Palestinian People.

Helen Heenan
13 January 2009

yes

International intervention ended the holocaust

mabutaleb
13 January 2009

yes

Somebody needs to stand up to this rogue state. Ethnic cleansing of the palestinian people has been practiced by Israel for well over 40 years now.

cavalli
13 January 2009

yes

The question is ambiguous but from the overwhelming vote in favour, I assume the majority are reading it as I am, to 'intervene in Gaza...' to bring an end to the continued slaughter of innocent Palestinians by Israel. There can be no other tenable position.

Faez
13 January 2009

yes

The silent ones are no better than the 'common German public' when they did nothing to protest at the horrors perpertrated by their Nazi movement. The British 'silent ones' are no better than the soulless wretches of the 'Right-wing Majority' and their Nazi war machine that the British poeple fought against. What a pathetic nation! I say that as a call to those real human beings out there make a stand and be counted - even if it is to send an e-mail, a blog or a letter or attend a demonstration or vigil or even say a heart-felt prayer.

scientific earthling
14 January 2009

no

This is a religious war. Religious wars have no solutions, the religious zealots on both sides need to be controlled by their own communities.
Let them exterminate themselves, even if it means using nuclear weapons.

paul kellogg
14 January 2009

yes

UN peacekeepers or some other sort of international force should separate the combatants.
Hamas needs to be stopped. They should be prevented from attacking Israel.
Israel has been a threatened state from the outset of its existence as a state.
Israel should have the same rights as any other state.
The international community offered the Palestinians a state in 1948. The offer was declined.
Perhaps a Palestinian state can still be created.

Victoria
14 January 2009

no

Israel has a right to defend herself.
The Palestinians have been firing missiles into Israel for 8 years. Yes, 8 years of Israeli children being maimed by Kassams, of Israeli homes being destroyed. What other country would wait 8 years before defending itself? Only Israel, who is forever held back from protecting itself, due to international pressure and due to its reluctance to engage an enemy who uses little children as human shields.

Enough of this myth of a "native Palestinian people". Jews lived in the Land of Israel 2000 years ago. "Palestinians" are simply local Arabs who were convinced by surrounding Arab nations to move out of their home "temporarily", to enable those Arab nations to better attack a fledgling Israel.

Enough. The younger Israeli cannot comprehend why the world does not understand Israel's position. That's because the younger folks naively expect people's opinions to be based on logic alone - they do not understand that sometimes sheer hatred plays a part. Now they are learning what their grandparents and great-grandparents learned a few decades ago in Europe.

The majority of Israelis would be happy to help the Palestinians set up a country of their own. The Israeli government under Ehud Barak offers 97% of the Palestinian demands. The Palestinian leadership turned Israel down. Enough. Compromise is an essential part of any peace agreement - unless you don't really want peace.
The Palestinians need new leadership. Leadership that wants peace.

duyum
14 January 2009

yes

The correct name for what Israel is doing in Gaza is GENOCIDE! It MUST STOP!

MaterialMonkee
14 January 2009

no

Hamas have said they won't accept it.
It would just start a war between the UN peacekeeping force and Hamas

Salvador
14 January 2009

yes

Victoria I read your comment and felt I had to respond . I appreciate that there are homes in Israel which have been destroyed, that elements of the Israeli population live in constant fear that they will be attacked by a suicide bomber. But this must be put into perspective - if you ever get a chance then please visit the West Bank and Gaza and you will see home being destroyed by Israeli forces on a regular basis, you will find a population which also lives in fear beacuse of daily harrasement from Israeli soldiers, you will find extreme poverty which is only being exaserbated by the ongoing blockade of Gaza. So please do no undermine the plight of the Palestinian people.

You speak of "Palestinians" are simply local Arabs who were convinced by surrounding Arab nations to move out of their home - can you please get your informtaion from a more neutral and less bias information source.

You speak of The Israeli government under Ehud Barak offers 97% of the Palestinian demands. In actual fact he was offered 97% of the land, which did not include the areas where there were settlements, it also excluded the major water sources and therefore starving the local population of their agriculatural produce, it had no mention of the refugees who are still living in refugee camps, currenlty without a state and of no hope of a future.

All I am asking is that you find out the truth because only when we all are able to know the truth will we be able to find peace

helena
14 January 2009

yes

Victoria. Your response is well written but reminds me of the canned responses that are created by Israel's famous 'information machine' that creates, disseminates, controls and censors information to feed its goal. It is Israel that has continually used 'Myth' - first in the grandest theft of the 20th century - theft of a whole nation and later myth to legitimise the holocaust of Palestinians. A lot of my god-loving humane Jewish friends are crying for the Gazans because they know the truth and can see through the fog of myth. Yes Palestinians have a lot to sort out when they are finally given the 'luxury' of living a normal life with basic human rights.

Ted Schrey
15 January 2009

no

I answered with no; it is a horrible choice to make. Either Israel has a right to exist, in which case it must suppress all aggression against its people and territory. Or, as Hamas has it, Israel has no right to exist, in which case it is always wrong, whatever it does.

bmech6
15 January 2009

yes

reply to paul
please tell me what un peace keeps are going to do in this situation,
I have first had experience of being stuffed in the middle of waring nations as a un peace keeper and it will achive nothing but start off more terror attacks and
calls of persecusion etc
The only response to this political as this war has been raging for 2000 years and no amount of peace keeps is going to stop it.

Joe Feld
15 January 2009

yes

Even Ehud Barak wants a ten day pause to work out ceasefire terms. Too many civilians have died, and Hamas must be investigated for using human shields.

roy ormond
15 January 2009

yes

Gaza - a rerun of the Warsaw Ghetto but with lsrael millitary as the aggressors. l jeopardised my career by speaking up for Jewish colleagus subjected to abuse, Now l accuse the right wing lsraeli government. All terrorism is evil but state terrorism?

Peter Sheal
15 January 2009

yes

Both sides are financially sustained by external powers - Israel by the US and Hamas by Iran and some Arab states. Negotiations among the financial backers might lead to a settlement.

fortrosenz
15 January 2009

yes

of course we must intervene, we are all brothers and sisters, and responsible for each other. Your question doesn't say intervention needs be military..

tinalouise
15 January 2009

yes

It is inhuman not to care for the lives of the innocent children caught up in this. WE should be so much better than this.

chukkiegg
16 January 2009

yes

There should be a political intervention certainly. Britain should cut off all diplomatic relations with Israel, but it won't!
Victoria says Israel has a right to defend itself. Let's look at the facts, shall we? 28 Israelis have been killed by Hamas rockets since 2001. In the same period, moer than 6,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel, the vast majority of them civilians. As Israeli historian Avi schlaim, professor of international relations at Oxford University wrote in the Guardian: "Israel's insane offensive against Gaza seems to follow the logic of an eye for an eylash".
It is purely ethnic cleansing, or, more accurately, geoncide. The Palestinians having the temerity to democratically elect Hamas. The Israelli strategy seems to be 'We can't trust the electorate, let's get rid of it'.

pillocks
16 January 2009

yes

I have read several websites from the UK, most notably Have Your Say on BBC. I truly cannot believe that the majority of posters support the actions of the Israeli government, I am ashamed of them, when did we become so blind to injustice and abuse of power. I have concluded that they also support the regime in Zimbabwe. I truly despair of my fellow humans.

nawawimohamad
16 January 2009

no

Israel will eventually pull out of Gaza defeated.

max caulfield
16 January 2009

no

Not per se no. There would simply be another round of Gazas or South Lebanons and international intervention on the longer term would merely morph into a form of recognition, symtons not the problems

rogerwhitewick
16 January 2009

yes

The UN was created so that the international community could act collectively. The US should let the Un decide what is best.

Bene
16 January 2009

yes

YES, the world should intervene. We have a voice to protest against what is wrong. Surely we understand what is 'morally wrong' and are not afraid to say so? There are both white and black Terrorists in the world: we condemn the merciless killing of PEOPLE. This is genocide. To put an army into a city full of a million people, allow them no safe place and above all to prevent anyone from leaving the country - it is beyond all human understanding. The Israelis have built a wall, and control the entry and exit: in that small confined space they have all the people they wish to exterminate: and their agenda will not permit "peace" until the dead are piled higher than the living. PLEASE let us do all we can to protest, and urge our representatives to press for a secure, unbiased peace; a proper division of land, and freedom for the displace Palestinians to lead a LIFE.

EM
16 January 2009

yes

This slaughter of innocents is unbearable. Please realise the following:

"The military invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli Forces bears a direct relation to the control and ownership of strategic offshore gas reserves.

This is a war of conquest. Discovered in 2000, there are extensive gas reserves off the Gaza coastline. British Gas (BG Group) and its partner, the Athens based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC) owned by Lebanon's Sabbagh and Koury families, were granted oil and gas exploration rights in a 25 year agreement signed in November 1999 with the Palestinian Authority."

GlobalResearch.ca Centre for Research on Globalisation
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11680

John S
16 January 2009

yes

The fall-out from lot of the Gaza people will 'intervene' in the lives of the international community anyway. Better to intervene to stop the slaughter than to sanctimoniously wring hands, thereby hoping hoping to stave off any repercussions for the West. Only clear and direct action by the international community can call a murderous rogue state like Israel to account. They are not in any way involved in self-defense.

jaj108
16 January 2009

yes

We should cut off all diplomatic ties with Israel,these people know what it is like to be persecuted,so why are they doing it to the Palestinians? Both UK and USA have policed other Arab countries,they say for the right reasons,so why are they not helping the Palestinians,talk about dual standards....These people need the help from the rest of the world,how would we feel if we were being slaughtered and no one came to our rescue. I am born British through and through, but do not feel proud that we as a nation are not standing up for what is right.

Iman
16 January 2009

yes

I am shocked that 75% of people believe that the international community should not intervene.

Jonty Stang
17 January 2009

no

Of course not, as the left has taught me with it's persuasively shrill demands that we ignore Darfur - we should never intervene anywhere.

explodingbadger
17 January 2009

yes

Most people support Israel because they are blinded by the biased media coverage. Any human being who truly understands what is happening would support intervention and action against Israel.

soulboy
17 January 2009

yes

The reason most people say yes if the terrible biased media coverage of the the war on the Palestinians. Israel doesnt care about a few rockets. What it wants is to ethnically cleanse Israel, Gaza and the west bank. That has been its goal all along. They will never accept any fair settlement that will allow Palestinians to stay. Now they are terrorizing the population hoping to demoralise them and to make them flee. Leaving the people of Gaza to their fate in Gaza is a crime.
Ethnic cleansing is a crime. When will the world wake up.

RAKESH
17 January 2009

yes

THE VOTE 75% NO IS A LIE ON THIS WEB SITE

pete999
17 January 2009

no

If it was wrong to intervene in Burma last year in supposrt of an uprising against a terrible, callous dictatorship, then its definately wrong to head to Gaza in support of facists.

ahmedbaig
17 January 2009

yes

The entire humanity is one body. If any problem occurs in any part, the whole body suffers,if agreed
the international community must intervene.

sanchezdemarcos
17 January 2009

yes

Yes - for the war on terror, Stupid!

Steve Brook
17 January 2009

yes

One-eyed supporters of Israel's actions might care to explain how the current Gaza bloodshed (a) contributes to the struggle against antisemitism worldwide, (b) lessens the popularity of Hamas among desperate Palestinians, (c) improves Israel's image abroad, or (d) is persuading Mr Ahmedinejad to change his mind.

Steve Brook
Elwood, Vic.
Australia

MrD
18 January 2009

yes

The ultimate goal of both parts in the Israel/Palestine conflict is to return to 1967 borders (resolution 242 and 338). But apparently they are unable to get to that point by themselves..

proudlyleft
18 January 2009

yes

Yes. There are more reasons to do so than intervening in at least half the places where the 'international community' has intervened over the past fifty years!

JimH
19 January 2009

yes

Israel have behaved in their usual bloodsthirsty and self righteous way. Hamas are harming the palestinians, but they're only in power because the people of Palestine have been backed into a corner politically.

The media for the most part have done their level best to forward the Zionist agenda by repeating over and over how Hamas "started it" this time and Israel are defending themselves. Anyone remember the November 4th attack by the IDF that broke the ceasefire???

And what's more, the mainstream media have almost wiped out the voices of Israeli opposition to expansion/Zionism. There's no wonder people are voting "no" if they're looking at this as an isolated incident.

jessedmack
19 January 2009

no

What a ridiculous question. Nobody outside Israel can possibly understand the complexity of the situation this nation is in. "Murderous rogue state"? "Genocide"? Such rhetoric is damaging and shockingly ignorant. Israel is a democratic nation on a campaign to protect its sovereignty and the lives of its citizens. They have been placed in a stalemate by the true terrorists- the Hamas government, who, if not for Israel's wall, would wage suicide attacks on the middle east's only functioning democracy. The loss of life in Gaza is the very unfortunate cost of Israel's struggle against Hamas, a cost which I'm sure they regret more than their enemy. If Hamas only cared about the lives of Palestinian people as much as it does about the destruction of Israel, this situation would not exist.

Charlien1
19 January 2009

yes

Israel has been contravening mounting numbers of UN resolutions for six decades. The occupation of Palestine is illegal and illegally occupied peoples are entitled under international law to attempt to forcefully remove their occupiers. Now Israel has deliberately attacked several UN schools, when agreed with the UN that these should be safe havens for civilians, and Israeli ground troops have targeted humantiarian workers and supplies. Israeli troops have prevented Red Cross workers from aiding families whose children were starving by their parents dead bodies. There are reasons for the international laws that we have to govern combat and there is no reason why Israel should be exempt.
When the IRA was bombing London, presumably the strategy was not to occupy Southern Ireland, corral the population into Dublin, destroy the surrounding economic infrastructure, cut off aid supplies and then attack with F16s, warships, white phosphorous etc.
Think about it.

Gideon Polya
19 January 2009

yes

Yes. Whereas Apartheid South Africa policed its Bantustan Concentration Camps with POLICE , racist Zionist-run Apartheid Israel polices the Gaza Concentration Camp and the West Bank Concentration Camps/Bantustans with military force directed at a population that is 50% children and 75% woman and children. Thus the reprisals death ratio in the latest Israeli Gaza Massacre is over 1,310 Gazans killed by Israeli army, navy and airforce bombing VERSUS ZERO (0) Israelis killed by Gaza homemade rockets in the preceding year (a reprisals death ratio of INFINITY as compared to 10 ordered by Hitler and executed by the Nazis in the Ardeatine Caves Massacre, Italy , 1944 involving 335 Italian men and boys executed in reprisals for 33 Nazi Germans killed in Rome the previous day). The Apartheid Israeli illegal Occupation and war criminal Palestinian Genocide must stop NOW. We are all Palestinians.

bodek_tzitziyot
20 January 2009

no

Israel is responsible for Israel's security, not the Gentiles.

While it would be very welcome if an international force were to invade Gaza and help Israel liquidate the Hamas Islamist supremacists, it is hard to see any European country doing so, as they themselves are living in terror of the jihadists.

soulboy
20 January 2009

yes

Its strange the vote did suddenly go from over 80 percent in favour to 75 against within a very short time.

jessedmack
20 January 2009

no

Charlien 1 - are you trying to justify the ceaseless provocations of Hamas over the past eight years as some kind of struggle to uphold Palestinian sovereignty in accordance with international law? A uniquely Palestinian people, extricable from surrounding Arab, Mediterranean and Hebraic cultures never existed, much less under the banner of a single nation that you believe is being illegally occupied. Pre-1948, "Palestinian" was a purely geographic umbrella term that included people of many religions and ethnicities, including Jews. The new Jewish state was set up in an area long devoid of a unifying culture or nationalism. The Palestinian nationalist movement was set up in response to Jewish migration, which occurred in accordance with a cemented Jewish connection with the land. The myth of the Palestinian nation was set up to unite Arabs in their opposition to Jewish settlement. Arabs hate Jews, it is not a sentiment unique to modern "Palestinians". Evidence of it can be seen across the Arab world pre-dating the creation of Israel. This is what really motivates Hamas. It is not a struggle for the Palestinian nation; it is a struggle for the destruction of Israel and the Jews. Read their charter. Also, for those of you who inflammatorily state that Israel wants to commit "genocide" in Gaza (as Hamas openly aims to in Israel), why do they warn civilians to evacuate before attacking? If a military superpower like Israel really wanted to commit genocide, there would be many more dead than there are now. The terrible loss of civilian life is attributable to the tactics of Hamas, who run their military operations out of schools and mosques, and whose fighters use human shields. To Hamas, more civilian dead means more sympathy to their cause from the international community, and more hatred directed towards the Jewish state.