rocket fire. Than they should come here to tell us how did it feel?

I view these self serving declarations with contempt & disgust. Syrian declarations? Talk about pots calling the kettle black! I rarely see any of these organisations active in areas that are genuinely under despotic & dangerous dictatorships, far off & forgotten places, or where the activists can't easily get to a good hotel, phones, hot water, world media, &/or protective police. Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, ISM, & any number of other "Professional Advocacy" organisations are today (unfortunately) a blight on the international community, politics, & society. I would like to develop this subject in a direction where the underlying politics are clearer. To a lesser degree, this is another manifestation of the "Nanny State" ,"Cradle to Grave", Welfare State that we know create & perpetuates poverty, dependency, helplessness, victimhood, & social fragmentation; bloated, wasteful, & excessive national deficit "credit card" spending on intractable or unsolvable problems. These organisations have gone from small groups of genuinely involved, concerned,& directly active people, trying to voluntarily help fix marginal gross social "wrongs", to mainstream, (often) government supported, ideologically driven bureaucraticies, and organisations that have no oversight, accountability, or transparency. They live off government support, well meaning personal contributions, & self publicising activities in the Internet Age. They developed from initially laudable goals such as equal female & racial opportunity, social justice, education, dangerous pollution & public health practices, etc, in a far crueller, less technologically advanced "biological" era (only 30-50 years ago, developing with modern post WW II economies); to an extraordinary broadening of the margins to encompass every conceivable social ill, axe to grind, & childish feeling of "unfairness". Think a "Bell Curve" or "Curve of Average Distribution", where 1-3% of any given area or problem is on the margins, either (at the extremes)easily solvable, or entirely unsolvable. Think the "80-20 Rule", where 80% of production (or problems) is created by 20% of the population. Think "Curve of Diminishing Returns", where (after the easily solved issues are dealt with), it takes extraordinary cost & effort to address issues that usually resolve themselves, if left to their own devices. They are populated by "Professional Activists" who are able to "Do well by doing good" (I have met numbers of them). I usually consider them manipulative, self serving parasites, living off the naive, idealistic young, & well meaning others-exactly the same as any cult leader. There is a distinct & easily seen continuum between the growth & radicalism of these organisations, & the development of general & medical technology, social "progressiveness", personal & Western social affluence. As individuals have had to become less personally responsible for their existence, social & systemic safety nets developed, the ability to repair, rectify, & "reverse time", whether by birth control, abortion, antibiotics, or other advanced medical & general technologies; the "Professional Advocacy" & "Professional Victimhood" industries have developed widely; & the fundamental human characteristic of telling others how to live their life, "gossiping" & blaming, while not looking at themselves vastly increased. TBC

(continued) It is similar to the proliferation over the last decades of post Watergate, crusading, fact omitting, "spinning" Journalists; & (no disrespect, just reality - usually female) Social Workers, Psychologists, Counsellors, & Therapists that have developed as birth control became common, female "liberation" advanced, & the female nurturing instinct was redirected from survival & raising one's own children, to communal involvement, & activism, in an increasingly "matriarchal", forgiving society. Naturally, the Post Modern children of such an upbringing see external advocacy as a legitimate profession (see S. Honig's excellent article at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404727859&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull) The natural progression has been to attack whichever government or area that appears to give the greatest benefit & immediate self gratification; & Israel is a natural target, for all the well known reasons: Jewish paranoia & guilt, Jewish collective desire to "Improve the world" & accept blame, anti Semitism, oil money, Arab oil influence, "Palestinian" (another invention) victimhood; Israeli desire to accommodate, "Be nice, good world citizens", & the simple convenience of proximity to Europe, hot showers, media, etc. Until Israel tells these Professional Advocates: * "Where to go" ( I include Peace Now, Gaza Boats, et al), including loudly, consistently, & unequivocally rebuffing them; * First, protects it's own sovereignty, people, & security interests; * Starts to DEMAND financial transparency in who supports them (How dare European countries financially support organisations that undermine a legitimate, democratic society? Are they the CIA organising coups in a South American banana republic?); * Starts to realise that the :"Wild West", "Anything goes" Israeli politics of the Beilin/Peres, European supported ilk can only undermine & ultimately destroy Israel's existence; * Limit their excessively "democratic" & destructive activities in Israel; It will continue unabated. Even "well meaning" hyenas & jackals attack the easiest targets, & Israel virtually invites these attacks through it's half measures, forelock tugging, & submissive guilt over protecting it's own existence. All war, self protection, & advancement is disproportionate - if you want to win, not perpetuate a self destructive cycle. I advocate crushing disproportionality. It minimises casualties & costs - on my side. As Gen. George Patton said: "The idea of war is not to die for your country - it is to make the other guy die for his".

Why does YNET continue to publish a one sided account of this story? Does Israel's largest paper lack the resources, intellect and investigative ability to present what has been going on? Any well informed Israeli could supply information on the bias of this story as it appears.

In order to live in Sderot these days, you should not only be an idealist but also have a lot of courage. What is the government waiting for ? The “innocent civilians” of Gaza should not keep the armee from destroying the terrorists. It is a miracle that there were not more victims until today. Qassam rockets are being launched daily on Sderot but the habitant of Sderot do not abandon their town, they try to go on in a daily routine life. We can only admire these people …and this situation is going on since several years as describe at : http://tinyurl.com/4bq2ky

Where are the human rights of the people living in Sderot - where is Gilad Shalit's human rights? Why is it 'collective punishment' for people who voted in a bunch of savage terrorists for a government? Sometimes, people just have to take responsibility for their actions. Amnesty are just a bunch of pot smoking hippies who can only see one side of any story. They have no authority and should be disregarded until they see both sides of any conflict. Ahhhh not so easy is it.....which is why they only concentrate on one side. Brainless Idiots.

Why have they not demanded an end to the rocket attacks on civilians? Why have they been silent when schools were attacked? Why have they not demanded that Gilad Shalit be released? Why have they done nothing about Hamas murdering men, women and children? Why? BECAUSE THEY ARE HYPOCRITES!

Amnesty Int, HRW,,How dare you say that its Israels fault for the deterioration of the situation in Gaza? What right do you have to critisize a country that is at war with a bunch of Murdering terrorists,that hold an entire population as hostage,,in this case the Gazan population,HOW DARE YOU along with that snake Assad, accuse Israel of instigating this mascarade ,you call 'Impunitive punishment"on an entire population? Let me remind the HRW,that all was fine up until the first Rocket that fell on Israeli territory.since the truce was signed.The Palestinians know what the consequences are,if they breach the truce.But yet They let the Hamas ,,WHOM THEY CHOSE ,breach all the codes of decency; Why is there no outcry from the Arab world,and especially from ASSAD,and AMNESTY INT,for the HAMAS to stop ALL terror actions against Israel?Hamas is the VIPER SNAKE here,for it uses this antic,every time, to put preasure,on people like HRW and AMNESTY INT,on Israel.We've seen this over and over again.But yet Those vile snakes of Hamas Continue to dig tunnels into Egypt to bring in Arms and Missiles,to use against Israel,Why dodnt we hear HRW ,AMNESTY INT,Speak out against this form of terrorism? HRW and Amnesty INT You make us all sick with your DOUBLE"One sided" STANDARDS.

What is Israels connection to Gaza?? Israel left that Strip a few years ago,Why is ISrael supporting that Terrorist strip? Israel must close all border crossing immediatly,wash their hands clean of that Snake pit,and let Egypt deal with it, and the rest of the Arab world;oh and while were about it,,Amnesty Int and HRW can sort out the Lack of HUman rights that the Hamas is depriving the palestinians of.Egypt is not doing a VERY good job of brockering a truce,In fact they are doing absolutly NOTHING to prevent those Terrorists smuggling weapons from their territory into Israel.Israel must DISOWN completely the Gaza strip;,and have nothing to do with it,,Let the palestinians live the life they chose ,when they Brought the Hamas to power. Then we will see how far they get,without the help of the Israelis.

would be on the same side...

Gaza is no longer an occupied land the blockade placed on it is due to the fact that the elected goverment will not stop the attacks that it's citizenens are carring out against a neighboing country. Hamas is responsible for law and order of it's population. Israel on the other hand should share intelligence and give them the fair opportunity to show that they are taking responsable action to police their citizens, and live up to their commitments. I think Hamas would have closed the tunnel had they been asked too, were they ever asked too? If they were and did not act, then Israel had no choice. did Israel act without asking? These simple questions, and their answers can easily point the blame and solve the issue for the future, if both parties are acting in good faith.

Bill, your post is the post of a genuinely civilised and well meaning person, who believes in dialogue and cooperation. It might work in Chicago, perhaps under the aegis of ACORN and Obama (sic)... Hamas is SWORN to the DESTRUCTION of Israel, by any means necessary - subterfuge, starving and killing their own population, external terror, religious coercion, international propaganda... Israel sharing intelligence shows intelligence gathering protocols, sources, and technical capabilities. Politely saying "Excuse me, you are digging a tunnel near my fence, in order to murder, kidnap, and terrorise my citizens. Can I help you dismantle it?" (Or "Please cease and desist!") It is akin to putting a restraining order on a malignant cancer. Despite Americans infatuation with therapy, analysis, and self involved navel gazing (and I recognise the genuinely wonderful belief in people's goodness and ability to improve), there really are some things in life that cannot be "fixed", "dialogued", psychoanalised, and converted. As an analogy, would you kill a poisonous snake that comes into your house and threatened you and your children, or call the Animal Protection Society? What would you do while the snake looked for a permanent nest inside? BTW, IMO, your post is a precise encapsulation of why the US only woke up to terror after WTC and 9/11, and why much of the world seeks to exploit America's lack of external knowledge and naivete, while simultaneously wanting it to to be the protector, father figure, and sugar daddy. Good luck with the snake!