That's the only way fanatics ever get a clue. Kill the crap out of them. This war only lasts and lasts because the killing never takes place in large enough numbers to make an impact. Quit pussy footing around with all the liberal save the whale crowd, which appeases the Palestinians and their terrorism in the first place. These idiots quit being human when they shot rockets across at your children. Shoot to kill. And I extend no apologies to the people of Gaza, who support these terrorist scumbags.

Hamas exists because there is a large population that supports its actions; funds it, fights for it, dies for it. Hamas has existed for over twenty years, and Islamic Jihad, the PLO, and similar organizations have been around for at least fifty years, so that population has always been there. I don't know if Hamas is supported by a significant minority, majority, or overwhelming majority of the Palestinians, but whatever that base uf support is, it must be destroyed in order to destroy Hamas. They don't necessarily have to be killed, in fact if possible most of them shoudl be spared, but they must be rendered powerless, by confinement, expulsion, etc. in order to bring down Hamas. As for what specifically drives them to support Hamas, You are not too far off the mark there. The Egyptians and Jordanians who origionally occupied Gaza and the West Bank in 1949, intentionallyh stuck the Palestinians inthose wretched refugee camps. Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and every other Arab country that received them did the same. They made a generation of Palestinians grow up in subhuman conditions, while constantly indoctrinating them with the mantra that Israel must be destroyed, and so they created their own radical mercenary nation. As horrible as the metaphor may be, they were essentially brutilized like attack-dogs to make them into attack-dogs, driven by rage to kill at its master's command (whether that master was Nasser, Khadaffi, Mashaal, Arafat, or whoever. Note that none of the Palestinians' leaders and suppliers ever live in refugee camps; those are there only to serve as recruiting grounds, but the guys at the top always live in comfort (often on aid money embezzled from their own people). Over the Past forty years we've tried to varying degrees to improve the Palestinians' lot in life (Peres was especially keen on this). But it seems that they are too far gone. Aftger two generations of living in those terrible refugee camps and beign taught to hate and kill from early childhood some of them are beyond deplomacy. They hate us too much to accept our kindness, so if we want peace we must be harsh with them

You have compared Gaza Strip with a “a giant prison”. I must say that it appears to be a STRANGE prison -- a prison that fired more than 3,000 Kassam rockets and mortars onto UNARMED civilians of Sderot, other places in Israel since the beginning of 2008 till yesterday !!! Michael, there is NO benefit for the Gaza Arabs to fire Kassam rockets and mortars into Israel -- in fact, it HURTS the Gaza Arabs. Michael, how will firing Kassam rockets into Israel cause the development of Gaza Strip economically ? IT doesn’t make ANY sense -- it is a senseless act. You say :” Almost half (of the Gaza deaths) of them are civilians; “. Of the 350 Gaza Arabs killed about 60 are civilians (these are total figures till Monday 29th December 2008 at 22.00 hour). Michael, you are trying to protect Hamas (by mentioning a WRONG percentage) -- WHY are you doing that ? Hamas is the CAUSE of the plight the Gaza Arabs are in at the present moment.

A brilliant analogy, an excellent analogy -- used to make your point clear. I like it. It shows the vast range of your intelligence.

You have compared Gaza Strip with a “a giant prison”. I must say that it appears to be a STRANGE prison -- a prison that fired more than 3,000 Kassam rockets and mortars onto UNARMED civilians of Sderot, other places in Israel since the beginning of 2008 till yesterday !!! Michael, there is NO benefit for the Gaza Arabs to fire Kassam rockets and mortars into Israel -- in fact, it HURTS the Gaza Arabs. Michael, how will firing Kassam rockets into Israel cause the development of Gaza Strip economically ? IT doesn’t make ANY sense -- it is a senseless act. You say :” Almost half (of the Gaza deaths) of them are civilians; “. Of the 350 Gaza Arabs killed about 60 are civilians (these are total figures till Monday 29th December 2008 at 22.00 hour). Michael, you are trying to protect Hamas (by mentioning a WRONG percentage) -- WHY are you doing that ? Hamas is the CAUSE of the plight the Gaza Arabs are in at the present moment.

I guess if you starve people to death in camp Gaza... those that survive wont feel the need to be nice to the camp guards. The Image of the Jewish survivours of the Death camps and the skin covered skeleton figure of their dead was what gave the world the sympathy for the creation of the Jewish state. Jews especially Zionist Jews have of late used their Holocaust to further their ambitions especially against the Palestinian people. And Now You do this to one of the most oppressed people on earth. It matters not a jot.. what happens when the Idf move their ground forces into Gaza. The Battle is already over .. and Israel has lost.

Disengagement was not aimed to be for the common Palestinians. In this, all the radicals were bound to flood in and take control. Not good for common people. In this, wishing that Israel would see them more.

ok.. and now I have more or less lost interest. at least for now.

The world approves of Israel operation against her enemies. You are insane. So are your pals.

If they ever can leftist propaganda as elevator music this will be a top hit. It just kept going in one long unbroken sentence moving from topic to topic so no one could interrupt I found it really quite hypnotic. I'm sorry, I was drifting there, did the author have a point rather than a canard to make?

yes when he is mubarak hosni

yes so it is a state of potato

the taste of death is the same if it is for a big purpose or a shame purpose or tiny purpose . and evry one will die and evry one will taste but i think who like only the taste of life think he will never die ..he will live and die for tiny purpose or fake one or offensive one it is about life not death my friend

it is forever not for nownow

Michael needs an attitude adjustment. For starters a rubber hose would be a sure way to his intellect. Ynet - you can feature this guy on your opinion page with a straight face?

I don't know what world you are living in, but I'm proud that the Israeli forces can target specific buildings and vehicles. The alternative which we see from Hamas is to randomly lob bombs at civilian targets. Anyone wearing a Hamas uniform is a soldier in the opposing army. They have the ability to surrender, but if their leaders insist on continuing the war, then they are legitimate targets. Hated, bereavement, pain and desire seem to be a way of life for the Palestinians. When will they take steps to make a change. If the rockets stop flying, then we will stop firing. Who do you trust more? The Israeli track record is not perfect, but its significantly better than that of Hamas.

2nd rate writer, 4th rate Israeli

It seems that more detailed answers of support are not published, so, lets leave it in HE IS RIGHT

Go and write to arabs and to the rest of the other international Jewish haters in general to start spending the money they spend in this dead matter in taking out these Philistines(you are right ,Roscio!)from our side.Say to them to free their loved Philistines from this "prison"and give them shelter among their own! What the hell you want from Israel?Israel is already too tiny;we have a long history justifying our presence in our land!What do you want ?Do you want Israelis to sit idle while being rocketed?If you know a bit Israel's history you'll know that these arabs have always harassed us Jews.ALWAYS!They are just primitive beings who hate intelligent and progressive people.They want to keep the whole area to ride their camels and live in their tents.Tht's what they want.It bothers them progress,it bothers them spiritual and material progress,because they are just unable to sight light.As I said ,they like camels and backward life.Anything that challenges they lifestile, they try to eliminate with their very primitive minds.These are the hatefull Philistines,Amalek,Ishmael,and even Esav. Our Torah has been warning us long time ago about them and here they are:past and present. Only fools like you could think we should stand with evil.ONLY EVIL MEN CAN ENDURE EVIL!

I would have agreed with ur point of view about courage and glory, only if u can answer me what glory is and what brain can accept a suicider rushing into human beings kiling them and himself

I would like to see similar dissenting views against Hamas terrorism in the Arab media by Arab journalists. I do not buy B. Michael pro-Palestinian propaganda, but Israel is a free and democratic society and he is entitled to his own opinion. So much for the deja vu in Gaza. PS Mr. Michael, have the intellectual honesty to come out with your full name.

We as intellectuals are often misunderstood. As a member of minority that everybody bashes constantly I am totally in agreement. My husband is a Moslem and i can say with authority that Gazan are peaceful and desire peace. If I an irish Catholic can live together in peace with Palestinian Moslem man so can everybody. Sallaam Shalom, Peace!

Phenomenal piece of writing. You have encapsulated brillantly this whole sordid affair in a few well written paragraphs. Hats off.

Good ideas, worthy of an intellectual with good heart. My favorite is B.B. Nataniahu book about how the west can win terrorism.

that israel 's goal is to destroy syria,iraq,lebanon,jordan,egypt and saudi arabia .. those are the countries between the nile and the euphrate rivers .. Hamas wants to destroy israel .. they need to change that ..and you need to change your Flag first ..the 2 blue strips . then you chage the platform on top of your parlement stating as such .. we need a new Mideast aren't we ..

Mr. Michal, that you are extremely naive is painfully obvious, or not too bright. The real truth is that if Israel had done nothing, there is the ever-present desire for revenge on the part of the palis-revenge for Israel's existence. And if there were no Israel, the palis would seek you out around the world and exact revenge for being Jewish. It's their steady diet-why would you deny them?

Only in a democracy could a citizen express his near traitorous comments and live to spew more garbage. Try that in a Muslim country B. Michael and we'll never see your crap again.

it was good, yes Israel has the right to defend itself (if Hamas stops shooting rockets, Israel will stop bombing (I asume)). But Michael strikes a point, the ones who are suffering the most are the normal Palestines