Someone recently mentioned the killing of the founder of Hamas. Well, I'd like to know where's the world's "outrage" on this one? I'd like to know why there is not OUTRAGE over these Palestinians strapping their children of 14 and 16 up with bombs and off to die and kill others? Where's Kofi Anan's statement of condemnation....as he did for the Hamas founder?


"HAWARA CHECKPOINT, West Bank (AP) - A 16-year-old Palestinian with a suicide bomb vest strapped to his body was caught at a crowded West Bank checkpoint Wednesday, setting off a tense encounter with Israeli soldiers whom the army said he was sent to kill.

The soldiers, taking cover behind concrete barriers, sent a yellow army robot to bring scissors to the teenager so he could cut off the vest. They then made him strip to his underwear to ensure he was unarmed before detaining him.

Members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in the Balata refugee camp next to Nablus claimed responsibility for the latest in a series of foiled attacks on Israel by Palestinian youths. Al-Aqsa is loosely linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

The family of the teenager, identified as Hussam Abdo, said he was gullible and easily manipulated."

I am neither outraged by the killing of a Hamas leader, or the apprehension of another kiddie bomber. After 19,000 attacks on Israel does one more surprise you? After 3500 palestinians are killed by the IDF, does them killing one more Hamas leader suprise anyone? Really? At some point it seems more like Darwin in action than anything else.

Both sides are operating under no possible win strategies, both sides are morally bankrupt. I'm sorry for those caught in the middle, but I am decades past outrage regarding any aspect of this conflict. If Bush weren't Sharon's lap dog, there might be a small percentage better chance for peace, but that's about it.

oc

And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is the perfect illustration of a cynic.

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"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)

So....basically you're saying if Pres. Bush would just abandon the U.S. support of Israel and let the countries that surround them finish them off, we'd all be better off, eh?

What because he is a teenager. Where is the outrage that pre-teens were being killed in Iraq. Where is the outrage that Palistineans have lived as occupied in refuge camps for decades without representative government by our "friend". I believe in the right for Israel to exist in it's original borders. But when you capture land in war, then you either A) make it part of your country, or B) give it back when the war is over. Israel has choosen C) occupy the lands and deny it's occupants any hope. Choice C) is the root of the problem.

So do I feel sympathy for Israel...no. They made the bed with their handling of the situation. Does that mean I support teenage terrorist suicide bombers, of course not. But until Israel changes their tune, there will be no peace.

Israel and Palestine deserve each other. The Palestinians got a raw deal due to the Brits and then the rest of the Arab world invading their lands to kick out the Jews, so I can sympathise there. Millions of them live in guarded refugee camps, so again I can sympathise. But they don't help their cause in the slightest with their antics. Then of course, the Israeli govt is morally worthless as well.

And yes they'd be better served if we withdrew support. Why? Because without that $, what's Israel going to do? Keep fighting a losing war?

Screw the govts of Israel and Palestine, people living there wanting a simple life shouldn't be stuck in that world of (*)(*)(*)(*) because a bunch of religious wankers from the US, Israel, and Palestine are full of themselves.

..to get to the negotiating table if the flood of US tax-payers dough was abruptly turned off....

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The last time this country mixed politics with religion, people got burned at the stake.

of REALLY expensive killing machines at their disposal...including nukes...I am not so sure the surrounding countries would have a walk in the park...

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The last time this country mixed politics with religion, people got burned at the stake.

I'm not afraid to be ugly for honesty so I'll say that I really couldn't care less what happens to either of these peoples or nations. Being a long-time religious scholar turned atheist, I can't get my head around human conflict, a killing of other humans, for religious "reasons". (in fact one of the main reasons I'm an atheist is the lonnnng history of war and torture and killing the churches have)
What I do care about within this issue is the stance the USA takes. Osama, Hamas, Al-aksa (sp?) Martyrs Brigade and other terrorist groups are mad at the USA because of our unconditional support for Isreal and for the life of me I can't figure out why we need to support Isreal. Sure we all hear the reason is "it's the only democracy in the region"......................annnnd? So what? Sure democracy is great, but, again, so what? I'd like for the USA to "go Switzerland" on this thing. I don't see a responsibility for the USA to facilitate whatever will eventually pass for "peace" there.

Ya wanna hear my peace plan for the region?
Everytime the two sides get near an agreement, they work out the Jewish settlement issue and the border issue and the Palestinian state issue - - and then they get stuck.
When it comes down to control/rule/freedom of those be-(*)(*)(*)(*)ed holy sites the whole process grinds to a halt, yes?
I propose a Solomon-like solution; tear down the Temple Mount, the Wailing Wall, the Dome of the Rock and whatever else both sides claim is "holy".
Tear it all down carefully - right down to bricks. Then play "one for me....one for you....one for me......one for " like when we were kids.
Once you have two equal piles of bricks tell both sides to take their pile of "holy" bricks and build whatever, however they wish and worship it freely in the manner proscribed by their religion - on their side of the border.


I'd like to hear reaction to this plan from yous guys.

So, who do you expect will do the "tearing" down? Surely, not the U.S. since you've already indicated we should just stay out of things. So, who would do it? It is interesting, though, and something that I think most athiests would like to see.

One big flaw in your claim that religion is the root of all the evil there. I go one step further back and say it's not religion itself, but rather the INTOLERANCE of the Islamic extremists who expect everyone to do as they say. A perfect example is what FRANCE is going through now with these extremists. Because FRANCE ruled that NO RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS at all would be allowed in their schools (something I would think an athiest would be all for), the Islamic extremists have now threatened them with attacks. They obviously expected an exception to be made for them....and since it wasn't, they will blow some innocent citizens up.

And we were first attacked BECAUSE we had the audacity to be on Arab soil....per binny boy. So, pick a reason: they'll eventually get around to all of them.

I am not into the "Blame America First" thing. I am not into attributing "reasons" for what these extremists do. It's like trying to figure out what a blackmailer wants. And once you give into him, you will continually be blackmailed. There IS no excuse in my mind for terrorists acts.