First of all, I think I speak for everyone from the pro to anti Israels here when I say: stop spamming, diplomat1824......
Now then:
First, and most strikingly- Denzel73, quoting the oft-misquoted Iranians with their "wiped off the map" (or "vanish from the pages of time, if you prefeer the correct translation, both are insidious):
Are you pro-Iran now? Do you CONDONE Iran's trying to build the bomb to intimidate Israel and the West?
The bigger issue:
A picture sometimes IS truly worth a thousand words.
And every news station has a slant.
With those truths, aks yourselves:
What picture of the war are YOU getting?
You see the Palestinians huddled in fear (and with good reason, mortars and bullets are horrific things fto face, I don't blame them) at the site of a ruined home.
You see dead Palestinian babies.
You see a UN school that was destroyed.
WHERE are the pictures from Israel's South: where the Hamas rockets are being fired?
WHERE are the pictures depicting Hamas's training rituals, including shooting around recruits on the ground and spouting anti-West hate, all backed by Islam (or at least that's what they claim; Muhammad taught, like Moses and Jesus, peace to your fellow man and submission- NOT how best to kill your fellow man and why you should kill them. Not just calling out Islamic radicals here, all three Abrahamic religions have used their peaceful prophets as a call for war, it's just Islam that has the most, by far, of such radicals at the moment, even if you want to count Israel as radical, STILL, more Muslims in Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraqi insurgents that still remain, etc.)
The press roots, de facto, for the underdog, because an underdog story is nearly always a good and uplifitng one (how ironic is it that the most famous underdog story of antiquity is David and Goliath, and now David's Star adorns a confused and scared "Goliath" while a fanatical "david" is slinging rock after rock after rock?)
And since it is not the pressed desire to back up the bigger nation and cover things somewhat equally, the underdog nation is nearly always made to look the victim.
And now so many are opposed to Israel, many going with that cliched and trendy comparisson to Nazi Germany- hurtful and a mighty slam to Israel for obvious resasons, and untrue.
Consider Israel in '48, '67, '73, and even up to a couple years ago- if asked who the West supported from '48 to the '90s, MOST would have answered that Israel had their lbessing and backing.
What's changed?
1. The Bush years have made America look TERRIBLE in the eyes of the world- and so, where up to the Invasion of Iraq people backed America and, by extension, Israel, America's new face has driven away friends; what's worse, anything about America in the Middle EAst is now a source of debate and outrage, and so now America's most loyal ally in the region is under scrutiny for using military force. America is deemed opressive in Iraq, Israel is deemed opressive now.
2. The Arab world has regained much of it's Post-9/11 public opinion (and DON'T start a 9/11 conspiracy thread here, that's another 600 posts altogether.) So, coinciding with Israel's decline in popularity due to america's decline, the Arab world has ressurected much of its image- and so now Palestinians are viewed to be "better" not the Israelis.
3. Palestine, again, is SMALLER than Israel- the underdog. What's different now is before they were seen more as Arabs without a home, not necessarily Arabs with a taken home, as they are now widely portrayed. Why? The press. The press sees an underdog, feeds it, things get worse because of the feeding, the press loves it more, feeds it more sympathy- a vicious cycle.
And here's an interesting note to consider: the common complaint is Israel is being tyrranical because it was terrorized and haunted.
The flip side: Palestinians are slamming the Israelis beecause they were slammed.
I remember significant peace talks occuring before 9/11; maybe too feeble and not enough substance, but at least it was a start. Post 9/11, "muslim" was a filthy word. Now that the West condemns actions in the Middle East and Palestinians are dying, "Israeli" is quick becoming a filthy word.
That's the media- the truth is ALWAYS distorted to give the people what they want, and they don't right now want to hear a news station backing Israel profoundly because:
1. Israel is seen as almost America Jr., and America Sr. is not too hot with the international community at the moment
2. Again: u-n-d-e-r-d-o-g s-t-o-r-ie-s s-e-l-l
3. Public opinions in politics can change like the fall fashion lines of a trendy store- great one minute, trash the next. Remember the Presidential Election: Guiliani's the favorite, then Hillary, then Obama, then Palin, finally Obama again- in two years, who knows? Israel's out, Palestinians are in- in two MONTHS, who knows?
Do I condone everything Israel does? No. Why am I still defending her on this thread?
Because it absolutely SICKENS me to see Hamas, a terrorist group no matter how you slice it, win over the poor Palestinians who are just looking for a way out of misery and a ray of hope, and will instead be exploited (much like Hitler exploited a poor Germany in the '30s; "Israel's flag should contain a swastika" proponents- look at the side YOU back before making such a statement), and through all that STILL comes out as in the "right."
Those who say it's both sides' fault to degrees: THAT's the truth, and MY stance, AGAIN.
Those who say it's all Israel's fault: THAT's short-sighted, biased, and pro-terrorist.
Back Hamas, back terrorism in the West.
Who still backs Hamas, and who thinks it is time Palestinians got REAL leaders who won't inflame the region or cause Israel to sweat so that peace talks can continue?
)
Swapping land
)
)
)