Actually, Sirotnikov, I have done a fair bit of research. I have interest from two directions. My wife is Jewish, and I signed a Katuba (for those of you not in the Jewish community, a wedding contract) where, out of respect for the Rabbi who broke the rules and married us, I also agreed to raise our children in the Jewish tradition. Since Judaism is matrilineal, not only my wife but now my daughter are both Jewish, and recognized as such not only by the Jewish community in the US, but also in Israel. By the way, my wife detests the actions of the current Israeli government in the West Bank. She has also taught Sunday school at the local Synagogue, and she and my daughter are members.
I bring a slightly different perspective. A goodly portion of my ancestry, and my surname, is Irish. A place where people of the same ethnicity (Celts / Semites) fought mainly over religious (Catholic-Protestant / Jewish-Moslem) issues, where one group used it's power to discriminate in land ownership, language, political rights, and religion. Sound familiar. Those who do not learn the lessons of history...
Now, Israel is the occupying power. Period. It is THEIR responsibility, under the Geneva conventions, to protect non-combatants. It is illegal, again under the Geneva conventions, for the occupying power to be seizing civilian land for the purpose of settling their own people (please note - you build a settlement, and then because it needs better security you use eminent domain to seize the surrouding land plus to seize land so you can improve the road net - it's still ILLEGAL under the Geneva conventions concerning occupying powers).
It is illegal under the Geneva conventions to target civilians not involved in the resistance in reprisals, i.e. we will bulldoze your house if we believe your son was involved in resistance or terrorist acts, and if we think you town is involved, we will bulldoze entire sections IN REPRISAL. Reprisals are against the Geneva conventions. Period. Imprison the guilty. You statement of family members being "aware" of what is happening is specious, show me the court proceeding. Huh. No court proceedings? Exactly. Just to head of any red herrings, there have been isolated court proceeding to stop the demolitions. Some of which the military STILL ignored.
Now Israel can, quite correctly under the Geneva conventions and as an occupying power, execute those irregular forces. They can also imprison without due process, etc. They do that, and you will note I posted nothing against that, though I feel it is foolish (I can quite properly note that based on results, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank is a failure) based on stated desires of the Israeli government versus results.
You may see this as a tirade against Israel only, without equivalent time spent condeming the Moslem extremists.. This is in response to the posters, who you will note almost always try to justify the actions of Israel. Since I don't see many people in these forums trying to justify the actions of the fanatics on the Palestinian side - you'll note I said understandable, not that they are in the right - then this reply will deal mainly with posted justifications for Israel's actions.
Israel has shot air to surface into apartment buildings, multiple times, in the past year. They have killed civilians. Duh. That is a choice by the government, they could have sent in special forces, who would have taken casualties. The Palistinians are very aware that the Isreali government shows minimal, if any, compunction, over the death of Palestinian children as long as it reduces Isreali military casualties. This feeds into the fanatics, which is why I find the Israeli policies counterproductive, and foolish.
Lastly, and this is both in response to this post and a prior post, people wonder why the Palestinian children are indoctrinated to hate Jews. That is becasue the Israelis have attempted to have their cake and eat it too. They have a "permanent occupation" where they get the land by encroachment, and don't have to spend on infrastructure on the filthy - barabaric - inhuman - non-Jewish (pick label of your choice) Palestinians. Into this vacuum Arab extremists took over the teaching. Guess what they taught. Anti-semitism.
A large part of the Jewish community has a similiar problem. Sirotnikov, my wife's parents speak Yiddish. Want to discuss the derivation of Goy, the implications, and it's usage. They are significant portions of the Jewish community that are hardly bastions of tolerance. Combined with the intolerance coming out of the fundamentalist Moslem groups like Hamas, and the people who suffer are the children.
If Israel had properly administered the West Bank, spending on the infrastructure including both utilities and schools, they could have a secular Palestinian society ready to act as a buffer with the surrounding states. Instead Palestinian Christians are emigrating at a rate where they will be a statistical anamoly in less than twenty years, Moslem extremists do the teaching the Israeli government should have, and Sharon and Arafat need each other, and the cycle of fanaticism, for each to stay in power.
Don't even get me started on the Palestinian authority (corrupt, authoritarian, vicious, terrorist). The Israeli government took the easy way out, they just recognized Arafat instead of organizing local governments with genuine power (instead of what the local Isreali military commander dictated) and building on a West Bank democracy from that. However, among the Israeli right wing by their own admission they have never wanted a functioning West Bank Palestinian democracy, and have never made the work and investment in creating it.
Bluntly, I think it is too late. People like Sirotnikov justify almost any actions of the Israeli governement, and the intolerant on both side use each other to stay in power. They did the same thing in Ireland for four centuries, and as I stated before, I see both groups killing each other frankly beyond my lifetime. The families of children killed by an explosion caused by a Hamas terrorist bombing or Isreali use of heavy weaponry in civilian area (oh, that's a missle launch on an occupied four story apartment building, but THAT'S DIFFERENT
) will continue the cycle of hate. I think the Q-cubed in our thread on the death penalty for Saddam said it more eloquently than I could.
Oh, by the way, if the Isreali government is so enlightened, etc. how about the land rights now being stolen by the Isreali governement from the Bedouin of the Negev Desert. Just like the water rights (did you bother to google "Water Rights" and "West Bank" - I'll let that stand on it's own strength, you don't refute it, you just offer factoids and say I'm wrong), it is all very much part of the issue. Bluntly Israel is a "Jim Crow" state (denying equal rights to a minority) internally in it's treatment of Isreali Arabs, and an Apartied state (a minority denying rights to a majority) on the West Bank, in that the settlers get infrastructure, water, favored cropland, etc. and the hell with the people who used to own it, and still make up the majority of the population.
Note, Isreali DOES NOT mean Jew. There are many Jews around the world who disapprove of the actions of the current government in Israel, and in fact Israeli soldiers being conscientious objectors over serving on the West Bank. Those are the men and women I respect, because they are getting nailed for doing the right thing. They, and the Palestinians who report the suicide bombers not because of the misguided reprisals, but because they know it's wrong - who are then targeted by Hamas et al. On both side it's the intolerant with the guns and bombs. That's what is so sad.
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