Israeli man shot near West Bank; stray celebratory fire to blame

Shooting for celebration isn't an isolated custom, it's part and parcel for the violence inherent in the Arab version of Islam that effectively rules the entire religion at this moment. The Koran and jihad steep the entire culture in violence as a key element of following Allah. It's the entire culture that needs to change, and that won't be easy.

or is that not politically correct to ask?

Every 1st of January and 4th of July, and after winning football games, here in Houston we have stories of damage and injuries caused by the fact that red-necks seem to believe that bullets shot into the air simply disappear at the zenith of their trajectory. It is a problem seen across the middle east as Arabs seem as taken with shooting wildly into the air for celebration as red-necks here. People who fire into the air for celebration are not competent to have guns. Unfortunately they are the sort of people who use guns. There is a reason why the southern states of the US have the highest murder rates and why there is so much violence in some Arab societies. Gun nuts.

not sure where this custom comes from. don't think they were doing this in Arabia 1500 years ago

I lived in the West Bank for two years, no one I hung out with sported guns, no wedding I ever went to did the stupid celebratory fire. I understand the need to celebrate and release tension and just have something you can do to show strength when every other aspect of your life is suffocated and humiliated. But people get hurt. It's dumb. Shoot fireworks or something -- which, by the way, is much more common during festivals, holidays, and high school graduations. At least in the West Bank, people shooting for celebration was rare, and the minority of people who think it's cool, I would request that they be courteous enough to think about the innocent people they might hurt. Of course, the people who are careless enough to shoot are the ones likeliest to be careless enough to shoot badly. I think it should be outlawed.

You're a bigot and a fool. Why do you think that ALL the settlers have exactly the same aim and the same attitudes? There are those who'd move tomorrow. There are those who are totally bigoted and hateful I'm sure. But most of them are just human beings like anybody else.

Just days ago several people died in Iraq during football celebations and yet more were wounded. As customs go it has to be one of the dumbest and I always think it is done by men over compensating for something else. Thankfully the unjured party survived.

In a sexually repressed society it is the ultimate phallic symbol. In a society without law, it is judge and jury. It is used to celebrate weddings or funerals. It is the one household item an Arab cannot do without. About 2 or 3 years ago a dispute occurred between two members of competing clans in Gaza. Within minutes, the area was flooded with men emerging with every conceivable weapon from AK-47s to sniper with scope rifles to pistols and RPGs.I remember the video on the News - how it got out I do not know.How it was reported I also do not know. Someone in the US News room must have been impressed with the footage of this happening and forgot that no Jews were involved. No one shot at each other - it would have been a bloodbath - but it underlined the fact that everyone is armed with powerful weapons. Arab society worships the gun.

why can't they use blanks? For those in the middle east, where apparently only live ammunition is available - given the resident's need to shoot at each other over every argument - blanks are bullets that do not have the metal projectile part that kills and injures, they just explode. they are often used in films for example.

Please put together a report stating the number of Palestinians/Israelis killed/injured accidentally while living close to settlers. Please complie a similar list counting teh numbers of Palestinians/Jews killed/injured living close to Palestinians to prove your point. Feel free to start off with the two children killed in Gaza by Palestinian terrorists this morning.

There isnt much of a difference between settlers and Hamas. Both ruthless brainwashers. Settlers are just as vicious as Hamas, if not more vicious. They are there illegally! Illegally there even the Israel suprmeme court says!! Then they continue to steal and corrupt the Pals who actually live there. Hamas is scum, Settlers are animals. And margie from tel aviv, you hypocrite!!! How can you respond like that when all your posts here are pro isreal. I am pro-Isreal also but unlike you, I dont give Israel a free pass on all topics especiaoly these ruthless animals called settlers. Your post was very careless, off topic, and had nothing to do with settlers. Do you always answer a question with a question? Easier for you, that way you can aviod the real qustion like you always do? HYPOCRITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

'Still better than living near settlers'. You're wonderfully throwaway for someone who lives thousands of miles away and doesn't give a damn for the actual lives of the people who live here, Jew or Arab or Circassian. You just care about the furtherance of your agenda.

You said: ".....understanding their culture, their civilization.". I ask: "what culture & civilization?" Even in another century, 'normal' people didn't do this stuff. Are the pals deranged? Is there some genetic problem? When was the last 'civilized' action carried out by one of them? (assuming you discount suicide bombing as 'uncivilized')....

"According to an initial inquiry, it appears the man was hit by a stray bullet fired in the air during celebrations at a high school graduation in a nearby Palestinian village." - Haaretz I have on occasion pondered the mystical connection between Arabs and American Red Necks. Across the South every year at New Years and the Fourth of July - and major football victories - we have a spate of folks hit by falling bullets fired into the air by gun loving idiots who do not realize that munitions discharged in such a fashion do not magically evaporate at the peak of their trajectory. It seems that such idiocy is also a part of Arab culture.

Oh yeah, next time I go to my kids end of year party, I must remember to take my AK47 & a couple of clips..... These people are INSANE!!!!! How is one supposed to talk with representatives of the 'religion of peace' when they carry out this primitive activity near kids?? Where is the PA leadership? Why are they not banning weapons, at least in public?? Where are Clickfool & the rest? Deafening silence.... This sucks!

Well maybe you can convince your peace-loving Muslim brethren to stop blowing up mothers and children in pizza parlors, aiming Qasam rockets at civilians and attempting new terrorist attacks EVERY SINGLE day, and then the IDF can stop hunting for terrorists.

Your drive-by shooters in L.A. are a hell of a lot more dangerous than any settlers. By the way, the total population of California is made up of what you call "settlers", except, of course, the Native Americans (Indians).

in Israeli society one might not shoot in the air when they celebrate their graduation, they are just drafted into the IDF to shoot at innocent men, women and children in the name of security and defending the motherland! whats the difference?

at the people at whom they are angry. Anat had it right in terms of understanding their culture, their civilization.

how civilised?

happy and sad events. This is part of their culture, to shoot. Indeed, this is a refpection of living in a different century, to shoot live fire. No wonder, we are not only in a clash of civilizations between Islam and liberal democracy, but also a clash of centuries.

Wow. Love those neighbors. I don't know about you but I'm not totally comfortable with people who regularly fire live ammunition "in celebration" at weddings and high school graduations. Crazy --but it doesn't bolster my confidence in peaceful coexistence. Wonder why?

The same sort of wedding shots got a village annihilated in Afghanistan.