I agree. This man helped found Hamas and was its leader, so in my eyes, yes, he was personally responsible.

But when I saw this on the news last night all I could think was "oh no".
I wouldn't be surprised if every Palestinian strapped explosives around their mid sections and headed toward Israel...

I thought it was a great shot, didn't hurt the wheelchair much at all. They have been killing each other for thousands of years, to stupid to stop. That goes for both sides.

Well, Pam - if they ALL go... it would be ugly, but then it would be over... with a lot more Israelis left standing. Talk about lemming-like behavior!

Hey, evil people ride wheel chairs, too...!

You know, the biggest advances in resolving injustices seem to be made when there is a leader who emerges who preaches non-violent responses to violence. Although they were both flawed men (show me anyone who does not have feet of clay), both Martin Luther King, Jr and Ghandi achieved amazing progress in a very short time for their people by showing through non-violence how their opponents were behaving in a morally wrong fashion.

I'm not saying one side or the other in the Israeli/Arab conflict is right. If you look far enough back in history, you can find enough to reason to hate on both sides of this conflict, and I will not argue with anyone who says that the Palestinian side has missed more opportunities for resolution of the conflict than any reasonable and responsible group would. However, if the Israelis stopped all violent responses to Palestinian attacks, the world would see the Palestinians are not interested in peace, but only on killing. If the Palestinians stopped suicide bombings and other attacks, the Israeli government would HAVE to respond, because it is a democracy and will respond to the obvious yearning of the Israeli citizens for peace and security.

Despite their feet of clay, both Ghandi and King were very brave men. The assasination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin cut short the life of a man who may very well have followed their example. That untimely death appears to have doomed Israel to the hell that currently exists, and in one of the most intense ironies I have ever observed the assassin was an Israeli opposed to the peace process.

Sigh...

No, Jack. As Mr Rabin's predecessor said, "We will have peace in the Middle East when the Arabs love their children more than they hate Israel."

Cheer
JMH

The problem is that the average Israeli now is shrugging and saying "Who cares! If we negotiate, they bomb us. If we don't negotiate, they bomb us. What have we got to lose by killing off the leaders?"

When you've pushed people to that point, there is no negotiation. Even six months ago, this would not have been the reaction. The average Israeli would've been livid with Sharon for ruining any chance of peace.

I can't begin to criticize a people who live with the daily threat that a bomb may go off and either kill or injure, them or a family member. If you don't have to live with it, it's very very easy to say - don't fight. If you don't have a family to protect, it's easy to say - we'll be peaceful and let them make all the killing moves.

Ghandi and King had one major advantage. They were dealing with basicly civilized people (except for a handful in the Klan) whose wrong policies were the issue. They used non-violent tactics because they could. How much do you think a hunger strike in the Warsaw Ghetto would have changed Hitler's behavior?

Dang. Triticale stole my thunder - so I'll just say, "Amen, brother!"

I'll go even further triticale. I'll say that King’s & Gandhi’s philosophy of equality was correct but also that their non-violent selling style was a total failure for accomplishing it. Affirmative action is plainly and obviously not what King had in mind. It legalizes inequality. The law exists both as a pacifier for the Black community as well as a manipulator for the White one. In the end, both groups, regardless of any ground they share economically will stare at each other while corporate America takes advantage.

As for the "Holy War"...I know people from both sides of that region and they all agree that the major hindrance to the peace process there are U.S. F-16s piloted by Israeli pilots firing missiles indiscriminately into buildings regardless of their status. A violation of Geneva standards and not even close to our own LOAC. I don't want to support Israel for the same reason I don't want to support Palestine, because both are lead by terrorists.

Let's take our fighters and money away from that hole and let those bastards fight like the lunatics they are.

F**K Hamas
F**K Ariel Sharon
Haven't we had enough of their shit?

Nice skonk David, but I really don't think you hit in Target Area.

Cheers
JMH