Congratulations on reaching new heights on VideoSift. You have earned yourself 10 stars, earning you status of Bronze Star member. You have been awarded 1 Power Point for achieving this level. Thanks for all your contributions.

My mind isn't closed - there are many fine Articles and videos on Israel/Palestine - many by Jews and Israelis - you just haven't posted any yet.

Read as much as you can on Israel-Palestine (and Islam). Read books by Elmer Berger, Alfred Lilienthal, Norman Finkelstein, Tanya Reinhart, Tony Judt, Benny Morris and Ilan Pappé. Read Jimmy Carter, Chomsky, Edward Said - and books by other Palestinians . As an American read the following famous article published by Harvard University (http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP06). Read books written by Zionists and those who opose Zionism. The American media is biased - as many of my Israeli friends will admit. Try reading the BBC website for a more objective view. Also read the Israeli press - their discussion of the issues involved is a lot freer than in America.

If you truly care about Israel and Palestine - make your own mind up - don't let someone else make it up for you.

In reply to your comment:
“It doesnt matter. I sent you articles. I could show you accounts from people. I could even get you personal interviews from palestinians who will tell you what's really going on but in the end you'll just say its anti-palestinian Israeli propoganda.

So what could I do. People believe what they want even if the truth is shoved in their faces.

You cant truly want peace with a closed mind. ”

"Most palestinians are not so cruel, unfortunately many are." - you are really arguing that some Palestinians accidentally kill their children????

"Well I guess you don't know the palestinians." Have you ever met a Palestinian, an Arab or a Muslim in your life? Have you ever been to Palestine, the Middle East or an Islamic or Arab country?

In reply to your comment:
“"The Palestinians are not so cruel, or stupid as to accidentally kill their own children."

Well then I guess you dont know the palestinians. Boy do you have a lot to learn. Most palestinians are not so cruel, unfortunately many are.”

This is simplistic ill-informed nonsense.

Firstly, the woman begins by saying: "When I arrived in Jenin I knew nothing about anything." Not a good way to begin - historical perspective is important when your dealing with people who have been suppressed and attacked for over fifty years. Secondly, she is clearly deeply upset and rather hysterical - this is hardly reliable testimony, and not the best video to support your argument. Thirdly, this video seems to be claiming that the Palestinian children were hurt not by Israeli soldiers but by human booby traps that the Palestinians used against the Israelis. The Palestinians are not so cruel, or stupid as to accidentally kill their own children. Fourthly, I agree with the woman in the video - it is an awful thing that all the boys from 10-16 are involved, are fighters. And I agree with the man - it is hard to imagine how desperate one must be to have to use children as fighters. Unlike Israeli kids, who live in relative luxury and security, Palestinian kids don't - they must fight to survive, they can't hide behind watch-towers, ilegal walls, tanks and helicopters. The principal weapon they have in the fight for freedom are themselves.

In reply to your comment:
“From Youtube:
Daryl Jones is an australian volunteer aid worker duped by Palestinian propaganda propaganda to come to their aid but later realized that they were engaged in a bloodlust game to destroy the lives of children.

She recounts how Palestinians displayed photos of bodies, "gouged and pitted, torn. We were told this is from torture from the Israelis." Later, when she saw a Palestinian child blow up in front of her face, she realized that the ripped apart bodies were the result of human booby traps that the Palestinians used against the Israelis.

She was featured in "The Road to Jenin" film by French director Pierre Rehov.”

The woman in question is an aid worker - not an expert on Islamic law or the Israel/Palestine situation. Watch this:

http://www.videosift.com/video/Hagel-Tells-it-Like-it-Is

Finally an American senator speaks the truth - about Iraq, the suppression of the Palestinians and the real motivation for acts of terrorism by so called Muslim extremists.


In reply to your comment:
“Why do you say the article is a load of rubbish? The author of the article is a Pakistani Muslim. Are you going to tell me that she made up the information? Unless the article has been completely fabricated there is no way to discredit it. This author doesnt have a reputation for making things up.

In reply to your comment:
“That times article is a load of rubbish - the typical line you get from people who like to paint all Muslims as crazy fanaticals. This article is much better:

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2006/08/11/what_really_motivates_suicide_bombers.html

Professor Robert Pape of the University of Chicago the author of Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism, who has conducted the most in-depth research into the motivations of suicide bombers argues that the Martydom explanation of suicide bombing is totally wrong.

His main conclusion is that suicide bombing is less about religious fundamentalism than secular or political grievances:

"There's a faulty premise in the current strategy on the war on terrorism. That faulty premise is that suicide terrorism and al- Qaida suicide terrorism in particular is mainly driven by an evil ideology Islamic fundamentalism independent of other circumstances.

However, the facts are that since 1980, suicide terrorist attacks from around the world over half have been secular. What over 95% of suicide attacks around the world [are about] is not religion, but a specific strategic purpose - to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland or prize greatly and this is, in fact, a centrepiece of al-Qaida's strategic logic, which is to compel the United States and western countries to abandon military commitments on the Arabian peninsula."

Those who oppose Palestine, and support America's presence in the Middle East like to piant a picture of crazy religious fanatics who are motivated solely by religion - this way they can condemn their actions off-hand while ignoring their true motivations.””

From AICE (Surely, you can't argue with leading Jewish-American non-profit)

The integration of religion and state in Israel is visible in many fields, some expressly regulated by statutory law[18] and some relying on a legal regulation. Among them are the application of a religious test to the Law of Return[19], which provides for automatic Israeli citizenship to Jews wishing to reside permanently in Israel; the exclusive application of religious jurisdiction and religious law in matters of marriage and divorce[20]; the conduct of religious education financed out of state funds[21]; and the establishment of a special Ministry of Religious Affairs[22].

You know what, I am tired of your ignorant crap and really am bored of listening to your non-sense. How is criticizing Israel as being pro-apartheid have anything to do with anti-semitism. I never said other Arab countries weren't also. But clearly if you are Muslim (Palestinian or Israeli) you are going to have a hard time traveling anywhere.

You know what IS anti-semitic? Putting Palestinians in fenced in concentration camps. Learn WTF "semitic" means you ignorant parroting moron.

In reply to your comment:
“Palestinians are not Israeli citizens. If you want to argue that Israel is praticing apartheid then be prepared to criticise every arab country in the region. While Israel is not perfect it is a secular pluralistic society that accepts all religions. In contrast to many Arab countries that have declared Islam to be the state religion. Anyone in the world can become Israeli. Jordon has a law barring only Jews from becoming citizens and Jews and christians are descriminated against and are not provided with the same rights as muslims in every Arab country.


Critisizing Israel is one thing, singling out Israel is anti-semitic”

Article III(2) of Jordanian Law No. 6 of 1954 on Nationality (last amended 1987) states that: "Any person who, not being Jewish, possessed Palestinian nationality before 15 May 1948 and was a regular resident in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan between 20 December 1949 and 16 February 1954."

There is no provision in the Jordanian citizenship laws that discriminates against Jews - simply for being Jewish. Jordan was flooded by Palestinian refugees after they were forced off their own land by the Jewish army, Irgun and Haganah. This huge influx of refugees left Jordan with a difficult situation. It gave citizenship to non-Jews because otherwise they would have been stateless. However, Jewish people who possessed Palestinian citizenship before 1948 were not stateless and had citizenship of a new country - Israel.

In reply to your comment:
“Ok I'm back from my mini vacation with my kids. Damn there are so many comments here and I dont have time to deal with all of them. I hate when these things come up when I'm on vacation.

Farhad, Joedirt and others, Palestinians are not Israeli citizens. If you want to argue that Israel is praticing apartheid then be prepared to criticise every arab country in the region. While Israel is not perfect it is a secular pluralistic society that accepts all religions. In contrast to many Arab countries that have declared Islam to be the state religion. Anyone in the world can become Israeli. Jordon has a law barring only Jews from becoming citizens and Jews and christians are descriminated against and are not provided with the same rights as muslims in every Arab country.

In 2002 the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the government of Israel is not allowed to allocate land based on religion or race. Here is a quote from Israels Chief jusstice Aharon Barak "The principle of equality prohibts the state from distinquishing between its citizens on the basis of religion or nationality...The Jewish character of the state does not permit Israel to discriminate between its citizens"

Critisizing Israel is one thing, singling out Israel is anti-semitic

”

Yes. They are horrible events, I do condemn any and all forms of violence. But the US media never contextualizes these events.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWWlRwSkZBA

In reply to your comment:
“New York Times May 21, 2003
"A would-be suicide bomber hid three times in an ambulance in a bid to get past Israeli troops...He then joined forces with a 40yr old woman, mother of three, who strapped a bomb to her chest and accompanied him on a taxi ride."

One can only imagine how they threatened this woman to get her to strap a bomb to her chest.

Here's more:
Arabs using an UN Ambulance for Terrorism
14 year old Suicide Bomber
Red-cross ambulance carrys a suicide bomber belt
”

Please don't call me anti-semitic. You don't even know me or what I know of this conflict.

http://www.videosift.com/video/Life-in-Palestine

In response to your ill-informed comments: "If you want to argue that Israel is an apartheid nation then prove it by showing how it discriminates and racially segregates its OWN citizens."

It always annoys me when people say that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. Firstly, this is just factually wrong, for example Kuwait is a democracy. Secondly, democracy does not simply mean the rule of the majority. A democracy is also measured by the way the majority treat the minorities - how they protect minority rights.

Israel is well known for treating its Arab population as second class citizens. In fact during the recent invasion of Lebanon, the majority of people killed by Hezbollah rockets in northern Israel were Arabs who were not given access to bomb shelters. Assad Ghanem, senior lecturer in political science at Israel's Haifa University has argued that "This is not a democracy, it is an ethnocracy...We are not full citizens, this country is only for the Jews." Arab Israelis now make up 20 percent of Israel's six million-plus population, but until very recently there was not a single Arab minister (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6254691.stm). The appointment of the first Arab minister is an important step, and one which should be applauded - but the backlash from many areas of the Israeli public shows what a divisive issue this is in Israel.

Formally, Israeli law guarantees equality to Israeli Arabs, but in reality Israeli Arabs experience discrimination in many aspects of life. A report by an Israeli judge (Theodor Or) who wrote 'The Report by the State Commission of Inquiry into the Events of October 2000', stated that:

"The Arab citizens of Israel live in a reality in which they experience discrimination as Arabs. This inequality has been documented in a large number of professional surveys and studies, has been confirmed in court judgments and government resolutions, and has also found expression in reports by the state comptroller and in other official documents. Although the Jewish majority’s awareness of this discrimination is often quite low, it plays a central role in the sensibilities and attitudes of Arab citizens. This discrimination is widely accepted, both within the Arab sector and outside it, and by official assessments, as a chief cause of agitation." Furthermore, the Orr Commission of Inquiry's report stated that the "Government handling of the Arab sector has been primarily neglectful and discriminatory", that the Government "did not show sufficient sensitivity to the needs of the Arab population, and did not take enough action to allocate state resources in an equal manner." As a result, "serious distress prevailed in the Arab sector in various areas. Evidence of distress included poverty, unemployment, a shortage of land, serious problems in the education system, and substantially defective infrastructure.'"

The National Committee for the Heads of the Arab Local Authorities in Israel addressed the unequal treatment of Israeli Arabs in a document produced in December 2006. They argued that: "The Israeli legal system includes a number of core laws that produce and reinforce inequality between the Arabs and the Jews in Israel (de jure) ... The official bias is not restricted to symbols such as the Israeli flag, but also to deeper legal issues concerning all Palestinian Arabs ... [t]he official definition of Israel as a Jewish state created a fortified ideological barrier in the face of obtaining full equality for the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel ... We, the Palestinians in Israel, are an integral part of this place ... Israel has tried over the past decades to disengage us from this place, not through physical transfer but through intellectual emotional transfer. Israel has tried to create a new identity on the basis of 'loyalty to the state' ... The State has not determined a position acceptable to us yet in terms of nurturing our Arab culture."

...yeah, that is a sure sign that someone likes to re-read their own bullshit, "legend in their own mind" sorta thingy...Mucho Congrats there, ya pantheraphilllic kit!
In reply to your comment:
“Ok stop it everybody. It was supposed to be a bit of a joke. Sort of mocking the oscars. Krupo, I thought you favorited it cause you liked it. Now I know the truth. ”