@BSOD:
Unfortunately, Israel's sole existence rides on the fact that they are a state based entirely on a racial/religious identity , that is being a "Jewish" state.
A sort of "one state solution" would be preferable but that would mean a right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees which would form a majority Arab state. Something that Israelis cannot accept, much like Apartheid white African leaders.
Regarding Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. I've said this again and again but you haven't responded to me JJ.
Israel withdrew from Gaza but kept full control of Gaza's Airspace (preventing the airport in Gaza from ever re-opening), Territorial waters ( Preventing fisherman from fishing), land borders (with the exception of Rafah crossing which is administered by anti-Hamas Egyptian governments) and controls movement of people in our out of the territory.
This is considered by UN Human Rights Council, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the European Union to be occupation and still considers Gaza occupied territory.
There is no equivalence between Occupier and Occupied. Just because some native American tribes attacked American civilians did not give Americans justification for their genocide. Just because Nelson Mandela founded the Umkhonto we Sizwe (a group I might add is considered a terrorist organization) did not give the Apartheid government justification for their ethnic cleansing.
Oh and before you go ahead and resort to the age old "muh rawkets". There were no rocket attacks after Pillar of Defense:
Here's something YOUR OWN CONSUL GENERAL IN LOS ANGELES SAID:
“ For the last three months, there hasn’t been a rocket fired from Gaza , for the first time in recent memory,” he said, noting that this was partially because Israel had managed to pinpoint military targets.
http://azjewishpost.com/2013/21119/
In the Arizona Jewish Post no less.
What did Israel do during these three months with no rocket attacks?
Time and time again, Israel signs ceasefires and repeatedly is the first to break them.
"but but bu..HAMAS REJECTED A CEASEFIRE IT'S THEIR FAULT!"
First, they doesn't justify killing people indiscriminately. "But they're pinpointing their attacks to take out.." No. That excuse doesn't work. You don't have 75% civilian casualty to militant ratio and call yourself precise. You don't bomb a hospital where several foreign journalists are reporting and claim all these journalists managed to magically not notice Hamas pulling out 5 foot missiles from the hospital's basement.
Second, you don't say you offer a ceasefire without….you know talking to the person you're fighting with. That's some North Korean Kim Jong Un logic right there. You want a ceasefire? You talk to Hamas, not Egypt who has completely banned Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood and anyone that has a vaguely Palestinian name. That's like if Hamas negotiated with Iran to offer a ceasefire to Israel.
Third, the Ceasefire is an insult to Gazans. It simply stated that a return to the status quo where they get bombed everyday and it is not news (as seen in the chart above) with nothing to show for the 200 killed at that point AND nothing that responds to their demands.
Fourth….It was actually Israel that turned down the ceasefire. Yes! It's true! Here's a report from the Guardian on 9TH JULY 6 DAYS BEFORE ISRAEL'S CEASEFIRE OFFER:
And in some respects that is exactly what Hamas wants: to fight a war for a ceasefire.
In its demands earlier this week for ending hostilities, it asked for the ceasefire conditions from the last major round of fighting with Israel in 2012 to be reinstated, for the re-release of prisoners freed by Israel in exchange for the kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, who were rounded up again by Israeli after the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, later found murdered, and an end to what it says is Israeli meddling in the Palestinian unity government.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/09/hamas-goes-to-war-gaza-israel-ceasefire
What was Israel's response to this reasonable ceasefire which it had already signed in 2012? To pretend it never existed.
All in all, Israel has hit 3000 targets in Gaza. I find it hard to believe 3000 or more homes, hospitals,mosques and schools had weapons hidden within them yet Hamas still manages a steady rate of fire with rockets and always had during every Israeli operation. It's almost like Israel is using the same tactic multiple times despite it's ineffectiveness at stopping rocket fire….or perhaps its effectiveness at thinning out the numbers of Ghetto non-Jews keeps this plan of attack going. I don't know.
But I'm sure that Palestianian rockets are such an existential threat to Israel, especially the poor Sderoti who live in constant terror of those barbaric Arabs out to kill them with an Arsenal of devastating rocket…
Err….woops?
There is no equivalence between occupier and occupied, colonialist and colonial, Prisoner and jailor.
The blacks in South Africa have the right to resist, Native Americans have the right to resist, Vietnamese have the right to resist…
Sure, there are no completely innocent sides in any war.
But the side that has 75% of their kills listed as civilians despite having by far the most advanced army in the region and one of the most advanced in the world is contrasted by a "terrorist" organization barely able to feed itself which 94% of its kills are listed as purely military.
You can easily decide who is more "wrong" here.