Sderot douses streetlights for hour to protest Qassam attacks

First of all, the Qassams did injure people, and among them, children. Let me tell you how a cease fire with the Palestinians works. The cease fire is agreed by one terrorist group but there are always other groups who continue the fire. There was not a single day without fire. Whatever you negociate with one group, there are others who "will continue the fight". Now, whom you call terrorist is a matter of your personal opinion. What i wrote here are proven facts.

If I were the Sderot residents, I would listen to Peres. He has lived long enough to talk about "histeria," hardships and all that. The "way" these guys reacted has confirmed at least one thing, that post-Peres generations, Israelis have been morally weakened by overwhelming wellbeing and comfortable life-style. Palestinian has nothing to lose for continuing to attack Israel, their land has been stolen for generations. Israel has everything to lose, even though they live on the stolen lands.

If I were the Sderot residents, I would listen to Peres. He has lived long enough to talk about "histeria," hardships and all that. The "way" these guys reacted has confirmed at least one thing, that post-Peres generations, Israelis have been morally weakened by overwhelming wellbeing and comfortable life-style. Palestinian has nothing to lose for continuing to attack Israel, their land has been stolen for generations. Israel has everything to lose, even though they live on the stolen lands.

As an Arab Christian I find your posts to be offensive. The Qassams are fired to kill and scare Israeli civilians. They too are people like you and me, my sympathies are with the poor, mostly Morrocan community of Sderot, who are victims or terror like my family was for many years in Lebanon. My thoughts are with you Israel, don't mind hateful people like this "Dutch"

Qassems have killed Israeli children.

"Most forget that the Palestinians observed a cease fire for months even though Israel continued to kill innocent civilians and assasinate Palestinian leaders." Incorrect. Some Palestinian terrorist groups maintained a sorta cease fire. Others did not. Check the news from the past year. There were several suicide bombing murders, and hundreds of attempts.

The launching of Qassams from Gaza continues to be an unmitigated, strategic disaster for the Palestinians. Abbas is probably not able to stop it, but he is right to do whatever he can. 1) These are attacks on civilians, which cost the Palestinians in moral credibility. 2) They do essentially zero damage to Israel, accomplishing nothing in return for #1. 3) They invite lethal Israeli reprisals, while undermining int'l response due to #1. 4) They are launched from within the post-withdrawal Gaza strip. Thus, even if they *were* an effective form of terrorism, they would create no incentive for Israeli concessions. 6) They provide an excuse to maintain the Israeli lockdown on Gaza's borders and seaports. 7) They play into calls for re-invasion / incursions into Gaza. 8) They strengthen the hand of those opposing withdrawal from the West Bank. It seems to me that these are truly suicidal attacks, and those responsible are acting in diametric opposition to Palestinian interests.

All people on this forum should google search, for Doris Cadigan, she is the infamous arab propagndist who would make joseph goebbels proud. She posted her emal previously as dcadigan01@aol.com

Whats the difference between Dutch being paid to be an idiot or not getting paid for being an idiot?? This individual obviously has no ability to make a meaningful contribution to this website. Other Arab and Palestinian posters have a vested personal interests in their commentaries. However Dutch, sitting in the U.S. (if this is true and verifiable) merely writes to irritate nothing more and nothing less. When a mosquito bites, you just swat it and kill it. The same needs to be done with Dutch, ignore her like the irritating bug that she is. Perhaps she will finally go away when she doesn't get any responses!!!!!

Fellow Haaretz posters. It is so blatantly apparent that this moron named Dutch makes the most idiotic stupid remarks. I don't understand why the remarks are allowed to appear on this site at all. And oh of course if the terrorists were launching Scuds, that would garner her sympathy. I suppose she is able to differentiate between Scuds, Qassams, and individuals blowing themselves up. When does her irritation end???

Most forget that the Palestinians observed a cease fire for months even though Israel continued to kill innocent civilians and assasinate Palestinian leaders. It was only after continued Israeli terrorism that the Palestinians started firing the primative homemade unguided rockets in a futile effort to respond to Jewish terror attacks, and I don't believe they have injured anyone yet anyway.

He has been sleeping in bed with the Palestinians for decades, and cares more for what he envisions as 'peace' than his Jewish homeland.

Gina, I am glad Abbas has called for a hault to the rockets and I hope the Israeli Army will make a commitment to stop their violence daily in the Palestinian territories. Still. I feel it is terribly wrong for the people of Sderot to seek revenge and the spilling of Palestinian blood for them. That in my book is morally offensive and I am outraged by their calls for such action along with people around the world. I dam the bullies and war mongers in Sderot tonight. Shame on them. Dutch

Not theory Danite. Pragmatic approach. Strategic/military actions should have a clear goal, a practical plan for achieving it, and flexibility to deal with any reasonable development. Look at where the population of Israel is clustered. Look at the ranges between the west bank and those population centers. The Hawkeye rocket developed by the Jenin Martyr's Brigade has demonstrated 55 km range with a 5 kg warhead. The ranges of the various quassam versions have grown from 4.5 km to 9.5 km, the quassam-3 seems to range about 10 km. Hamas has produced a quassam with a range of 16 km, and has hit near Ashkelon from Gaza. Danite, without an agreed end to the occupation, it would be folly go forward with convergence without having a viable means of dealing with the rocket threat. Nothing 'theoretical' involved. A demonstrated threat, one which the Palestinians know drives Israelis to distraction, and an opportunity to make that a threat to a large part of Israel.

"The fact is that Israel has uniquely avoided targeting civilians" Jerry, I think you have it wrong. Of the nearly 4,000 Palestinians killed by the Israel Army during the last five years over 1,800 were civilians. Some 700 were children on their way to or from school or seating at their desk or chasing a soccer ball or chasing one another. Now that's hardly avoiding Palestinian civilians. Every Human Rights group that has examined the practices of the Israeli army have documented systematic and deliberate use of violence targeted at Palestinian civilians. Physicians for Human Rights USA which investigated the high number of Palestinian deaths and injuries in the first months of the Intifada, conclude: "The pattern of injuries seen in many victims did not reflect IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) use of fire arms in life threatening sit- uations but rather indirectly targeting solely for the purposes of wounding and killing" The findings of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch confirm this pattern too. Michael Finkel from the New York Times Magazine who spent two weeks at the Karni Crossing concluded in his report in 2000: "I spent two weeks at the Karni during daylight hours, and in my time there, the Israeli Army fired live ammunition almost every day. Some -times only two or three shots , sometimes a dozen or more. On occassion the shots were fired when buses and cars need to enter or exist the settlement, at other times I could ascertain no reason for the shooting. Not once did I see a single shot from the Palestinian side.. .In that two week period, at least 11 Palestinians were killed during the day at Karni". Chris Hedge from Harpers' Magazine in October 2001, provided more shocking and wanton evidence of deliberate killing of Palestinian children by the IDF at Gaza's Khan Yunis refugee camp. Thus the medical examiner's report on the over 700 Palestinian children killed during the last five years shows that many were shot in the head of neck. That hardly confirms your statement: "Israel has uniquely avoided targeting civilians" Indeed, I would say the opposite. Israel has uniquely targeted Palestinian civilians, especially, the children. Dutch

Quote: "What does it mean he was? Tutankhamun was a pharaoh and now he's a mummy". Hope i made you smile.

Dear Haaretz, I wish to say the writer Davka (post # 168) claim is a falsehood and I feel it reflects his inability to accept the opinions and the feelings I share on this forum regarding this conflict. Dutch

"But I don`t fault the Sderot people for their anxiety. There is a much greater probability there to be hit by a Qassam than being hit by a mateorite." - Ben Gurion I don't fault them for their anxiety Mr. Ben Gurion, but their actions are bound to cause some Palestinians to overestimate the effectiveness of the quassam. Indeed, if it drives a city to histrionics, has it not succeeded? "They might have been able to contain their fears if the government would have given them some hope that it knows how to address the situation." - Ben Gurion Should the government be honest, or lie? There is no military panacea for the quassam. A full invasion of Gaza would simply raise casualties on both sides and inflict more damage and casualties on Israel that the quassams can. The IDF professionals understand this. "I find it hard to see how Olmert will be able to proceed with convergence if he doesn`t solve the Qassam problem first." - BG He would only invite a worse quassam problem.

I agree.

I wonder what will they do if they live in Gaza or in Beirut in 1982 while F16 droping randomnly 250Kg bombs on their buildings? Come on guys, hold it. Arn't you the ones who called a war when bystanders civilians are killed? So its war but w/o F16 on the other side... PEACE.

There is no point being a revisionist historian. You have to look at the time the decision was made. I am a realist in the scheme of things 100.000 dead during the Second World War was a drop in an ocean of blood. Lets talk about Hull a city in England of 1 million people which suffered bomb damage to 97% of its buildings, and more deaths as a percentage of population than anywhere else in the country. Caused by the Germans. Should they have bombed it? Or is it only German cities that should have been protected? They reaped what they sowed. Dresden although terrible was a minor incident.

Thanks Samed, but i was looking first of all for a Palestinian, Syrian, Egyptian, Lebanese... you got the idea. Anyway, since i asked also for any of the Arab countries, let me thank you for your recommendation. I will try to consider your hint that Aljazeera displays more freedom than Haaretz, both in their talkback which was there 2 years before Haaretz had one (can it be that Haaretz wasn't allowed to have one?) and also in having more news than Haaretz, or more correctly presented, or both. But still... in case you can think of a Palestinian one...

That Dutch is Doris Cadigan from Massachusetts and that she gets paid for posting her propaganda by Arab interests. Guys, this is Doris' job.

"Dresden was a minor air raid towards the end of the war... A few civilians died"... Chris, you have no idea what you are talking about. Please, let's argue here but let's keep this place clean of such crap. There must be a limit. Thanks.

the figures for german dead bombed 800,000 THE POLICY WAS DELIBERATE TARGETTING THEM SO THAT THE ARMED FORCES OF GERMANY HAD NO SUPPORT!! THE RAIDS WERE CARRIED OUT ON A 24 HOUR ROUND THE CLOCK BASIS THE USAF DURING DAYLIGHT THE RAF DURING THE NIGHT INUMERABLE TOWNS CITIES AND VILLAGES WERE FLATTENED. BECAUSE HITLER HAD STARTED THIS BLITZKRIEG IN SPAIN IN 1936 AN BOMBED ALL OVE EUROPE THOSE IN CHARGE ALSO THOUGHT IT WAS FITTING TO RETALIATE IN THE SAME MANNER . JAPAN WAS OF COURSE THE USA ENTIRELY AND THE ONLY COUNTRY EVER TO RECEIVE NUCLEAR BOMBS

Dresden was a minor air raid to Linthwaite, yet the gaza beach thing was a massacre for him that left him hollow. You've got to be kidding. Tell us you're kidding. oh that's right, no children in Dresden, none that counted anyway.

I n the past Israel used to respond 10 fold with whatever the murdering Terrorist islam perpetrated against them , this stopped their nonsence and maniacal murder .The blood of innocent Jews is on the hands of knesset members if they refuse to give the IDF an open hand and allow them to be G-D's sharp threshing instrument prophec'd in Yeshayahu ( Isaiah ) Rebellion against G-D and His WORD ie: convergence , allignment- the giving away of G-D's land inheritance of the Jewish people to a pagan creation worshipping abomination the islamic moon god will bring swift retribution against the Israeli leadership - G-D will no longer be mocked- eg: Rabin and Sharon . Perez , behind both men , is now himself on notice for His rebellion against G-D .

I don't think that even you believe all that crap! Please tell me how come after all the alleged mass murders Palis population is soaring? And why so many of them want to come live in Israel? That is the problem with you guys, never any logic, or truth, or consistency. You must be watching too much propaganda on Syndicated Pal TV.

Unfortunately, in his older age, he became a bad and shli-mazal politician.

Dutch is a woman, she writes these letters for a living. She gets paid by Arab interests. She lives in Massachusetts and doesn't know a scud or a kassam from a hero sandwich.

Vow, Danite, you stirred the worst at me. I also cannot forgive Germans for what they did. But islamists are the WWII Germans of today. It is them who try to annihilate us and it is them that we need to fight.

Only crushing strength will stop maniac Islam Weakness will only encourage them . Their worship of the creation , the moon ,and their hatred of Israel which their koran and hadith command of them will eventually bring about their destruction at the hand of the Almighty . In the meantime Appeasment will bring the same result as chamberlains appeasment with hitler .

No , the revenge would be for the Palestinians to take on the moral obligations of arresting and imprisoning their terrorists.

Peres would react a lot different if the Qassams were falling on Tel Aviv

Like I told that sour faced kraut in a London restaurant who I overheard complaining about Dresden and how `` we Germans suffered to``, I turned around and point blank told him `` too bad you surrendered before we had the nuclear bomb to drop on you`` They got away easy for what they did.

If somebody doesnt do something about something now we are going to mired in this shit forever.Forget the theory, time to act , no matter how messy or imperfect.Olmerts plan is the only sign of hope and movement in an otherwise demented situation.It will get alot of the heavy lifting done, break more taboos and open the door for someone else to complete the process.The glass is half full in the case not half empty.Look at the big picture Mark and put the theory on hold.

Well it took guts to post that,but wouldnt it have been just easier to post the original post? NU? Toda.

"I fear, alas, that the reaction to the quassam`s has been so disproportionate to the threat that it has made the quassam an awesome weapon in the minds of the Pales." - Mark L Mark, the Qassam is not a military threat, of course. But I don't fault the Sderot people for their anxiety. There is a much greater probability there to be hit by a Qassam than being hit by a mateorite. They might have been able to contain their fears if the government would have given them some hope that it knows how to address the situation. But there is no sign of this. The Qassam problem has gotten worse after disengagement. (Sderot never had a suicide bombing problem.) I remember that with the Syrians, PM Eshkol once said "the book is open and the hand is writing". Not very specific, but people knew Syria will be hit at some point. I find it hard to see how Olmert will be able to proceed with convergence if he doesn't solve the Qassam problem first. (I agree convergence is very limited progress.)

Howdy Chris; The bombing of Dresden was not a "minor air raid". The Allied air forces had dreamt of a "thousand-plane" raid for quite some time, but had never quite managed to get that many bombers in the air all at once. This time they succeeded. In addition to HE, the Allies also used incendiary bombs. It is difficult to figure out why Dresden was chosen as a target because it was an historical city with many ancient buildings. There were no major concentrations of German troops there nor was it a major industrial center. The city was packed with refugees fleeing the advancing Russians. The bombing caused a tremendous firestorm which sucked all the oxygen up. At least 100,000 people died of being blown up, burned to death, or asphyxiated. It wasn't exactly a "minor" incident.

Thank you Peretz for saying no to the bullies in Sderot. Palestinian blood is not water. As Martin Luther King, Jr said violence can never be a way to achieve justice. That can only be achieved when people come together and talk and work out agreements towards a peaceful solution. Thus saying no to the bullies in Sderot and refusing to spill Palestinian blood becomes a necessary part of the whole process. You can count on FAIR MINDED PEOPLE on your side not the GET EVEN CROWD. Many Thanks and praise, Dutch P.S. Martin Luther King, Jr. Violence is both impractical and immoral Violence as a way of achieving peace is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in the destruction of all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind. It is immoral as it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hate rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in a monologue rather than a dialogue. Violence end by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyer. Martin Luther King, jr.

If the residents are satisfied that they now have the full ear of the media, well and good. Still, I would encourage them for the record to march to the Knesset, that the country should become aware that they are paying the price that Gaza residents did... I do understand what the Prime Minister is saying, when he tells them "no permanent and comprehensive solution...". As for Abbas, he is trying to prevent rocket fire, because he knows that Israel's patience and restraint is not forever. I have not yet read about the latest strike on Gaza City. Im glad it wasn't Peretz who said "Qassams, Shmassams, hysteria, etc..."

Why did you censor my response to Dutch?? Whats up with you guys??? Afraid to hurt an anti semites feelings?? he can say that Sderot is a joke but I cant respond?? What is it with you guys why are you always so weak kneed, I am a ``leftist`` but I understand why so many run away from the left, you guys are so weak sometimes.

Move over to the headline page on Haaretz to celebrate the slaughter of 3 more Palestinian children.

Arab, Can you explain in way that makes sense to the average man in the street, why exactly it is that Sidrot deserves to be bombarded with Quassam rockets.

Dutch, Samed I don't know who you are, but I think you're response is extremely disrespectful. The children of Sderot now sleep in they're parents bedrooms and many are complaining of night terrors, there was recently a rocket that hit a classroom during school hours and 8 people, including 3 infants have been killed by kassam fire. The kassams do not have a target, they are merely meant to hit anyone who is there, soldier, civilian, baby or teacher, Christian, Muslim or Jew. I am sorry that you are laughing at these people, I would never laugh at you if you're town was facing this. I know that Palestinians are suffering too, but that does not make te suffering of Israelis to be funny. They are people too with asperations, families and lives, even if they are of a different religion

Shimon, You and Samed are both partially right. This latest round of violence started slowly, three days following the end of the Gaza disengagement. There was complete calm at the time despite Natan-Zeda and the idiot who shot up a group of employees. The first deaths were Palestinians in the West Bank - 2 PIJ militants and 3 bystanders at a coffee shop, by an undercover unit. The PM's office even said, "Why now?" The qassams started flying the next day. Neither side seems to have full control of its own.

I am not saying that the death of innocent civilians should be regretted. What I am saying is that when you look at World War Two as a whole it is inconsequential. Beruit was massively bombed from the air by Israel. It was Israel's Dresden.

Peres has tremendous nerve to say this. what other country would have a politician dismiss people's concerns about....having rockets landing on their town!! Unbelievable!!! They are not complaining about communters traffic MR. Peres. this is a life & death situation & our government has done very little to stop this situation.

Howdy Samed; The statistics don't back up your claim that the IDF deliberately targets civilians like the Palestinian militants/terrorists do. The number of Palestinians killed during the past 6 years is about 4000 and of these only 1900 civilians (including 700 children) have died. The other 2100 were combatants and were, therefore, legitimate targets during a period of armed conflict. Believe it or not, a ratio of less than 1:1 for civilian to combatant deaths is very good and reflects great credit upon and restraint by the IDF. For comparison, the usual ratio during a war is closer to 3:1. For example, the 30-year-long Vietnamese War of Independence caused the deaths of between 4.5 and 5 million civilians and about 1.5 million combatants on both sides. The total population of both North and South Vietnam in 1970 was 40 million so about 15% of the entire Vietnamese poplulation died.

True Brit, I think your comments on Slaughterhous 5 appropriate. The author was a POW in Dresden at the time if my memory serves. I often am amazed how fiction becomes 'fact' in people's minds. The general public here thinks of what happened to Captain Bligh and his ship and crew as being what happened in a novel "Mutiny on the Bounty" and knows nothing of the real story. Hey, it was a good story, so it must be true? Right? If they dug into Bligh's life a bit, they would discover he went on to be Governor of New South Wales in Australia, and ended up deposed in the "Rum Rebellion". . . but that is another story - and there is no famous novel related with that event.

SHimon, Why are you always picking a fight and then thinking you are right defending your ground? Isn't that the problem with Israelis too? They can never be wrong yet they are all bloody wrong and they don't get it. But the Sderot Quassam response shows up their immoral desire for spilling Palestinian blood. What a blood thirsty lot. Dutch

Israel has not killed even a small fraction of people who died in 1 dresden air-raid.

"The raid on Dresden was and remains contentious to this day." - True Brit Dresden, like the much less known US attack on the Skoda works in Czechoslovakia was intended to do as much damage to the arms industry in those parts of the Reich and Eastern Europe that would be in Russian hands after the war. A case of "Bomber" Harris & Carl Spaatz engaging in shaping the post-war situation a bit.

Peres attitude is shocking.........It is the fact that they go on and on..........

"Aljazeera has had talkback for about 2 years before Haaretz, enjoy. Be careful, though, you may acually get some news there." - Samed They might be surprised how often a Haaretz story is reported upon. They might also discover that some stories are reported very much as they are in Israel. For example the story about the poll showing that Abbas's referendum will be a close votel, is much the same as reported here.

it resulted in death of several hundreds thousand people due to the fire storm. It was worse than Hirosima.

"Peres might say "Qassam shmassam, but the citizens of Israel are taking the threat seriously." - Ben Gurion Peres remembers, as do I, when border kibbutz's up by the Golan were like fish in a barrel for Syrian artillery practice. Far more potent than the quassams. I fear, alas, that the reaction to the quassam's has been so disproportionate to the threat that it has made the quassam an awesome weapon in the minds of the Palestinians. They certainly enjoyed the protest in Sderot as proof of a major victory as noted in the ynetNews article. The only good I can see coming out of 'convergence' would be the shutting down of some of the more egregious settlements. Mr. Ben Gurion, it isn't like it is just a few world leaders telling Olmert 'convergence' is a bad idea. It's all of them. It will basically not solve anything. It will leave more of the israeli population exposed, and the shackles of 'occupation" upon Israel's ability to respond. It will fail for the same reason Gaza has.

Care to remind anybody here about how in '48 partition was supposed to bring the world Israel and an expaned Jordan as you so eloquently pointed out the other day? How there was no "palestinian state" ever intended? You know, I understand the anger, and I'm not being sarcastic, I just don't understand why it isn't directed at those who sold them out. It's Egypt,Jordan,Syria,Iraq and Lebanon who sold them out and kept them in camps, refusing them citizenship, brewing the poverty and dead-end life. They are the ones who used them, never intending for a moment to make another arab country out of partitioned Palestine. They fought the war and lost, but never took the responsibility for the people. Israel took in her arabs and made them citizens, it's the arabs who closed their doors. Why have you let them wash their hands??

Howdy Samed; 1) The Gaza Strip is no longer occupied. 2) Israel has every right to control her side of the border with the Gaza Strip in any way that she sees fit. 3) The Gazans are not starving. The UN and the NGOs see to that. 4) Israel permits water, electricity, trade goods, and humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip, but for obvious reasons, denies the importation of military ordnance and the exportation terrorists. 5) No Palestinian land has been confiscated since 1948. Some of it has been requisitioned and compensated for or legally purchased. 6) There have been about 4000 Palestinians killed in the past 6 years and 53% were combatants.

"is it a legitimate response by a guerilla army to protect the people it professes to represent?" Who are they protecting?

Samed -- there would be no bombing in Gaza if the Palestinians would arrest their qassam cells. As long as qassam cells are not engaged by the Palestinians, we must assume they have no issues with Israel engaging them themselves.

The Ibrahims, the Sameds, not to mention the other arabists who are blinded by their hatred for jews and Israel are not able to see what Abbas sees. He can see that without an end to the quassams Israel will retaliate, and the deaths are on his own hands. It's totally surprising that a arab leader actually opened his mouth and stated such an obvious truth. You people on the other hand cannot see it as you are bound by the culture of suicide, somebody elses suicide of course, while you can pump your arms in the air. When Israel hits back and you will start your inevitable crying and pointing of fingers, remember Abbas telling you to point that finger at yourselves.

Intersting how you fail to mention the reason Karni is closed sometimes is due to the Palestinian terrorists. Why do the Palestinians allow their terrorists who target Karni to roam free instead of imprisoning them? Are not their people's needs more important than their terrorists' bravado?

This what I have to say about what Peres said: Peres Shmeress.

"Because Israel will not allow into Gaza anything that could be used for production, not even food and basic supplies. That is why the Gazans are upset-- they are dying because of Israel." And yet weapons by the bucketload are smuggled in through Egypt... You're not fooling anyone Samed. We know that the Palestinians always choose weapons of war over the needs of their people.

Dutch-you never quit misinterpreting comments and then incorrectly extrapolating them to you erroneous point of view. "...for 30years , from the war of independence until day.we have been fighting against a population that lives in villages and cities". You use this quote by an Israeli general as proof that the IDF targets civilians. First of all the population of terrorists does live in the villages and cities. They use civilians as shields. The fact is that Israel has uniquely avoided targeting civilians. when have they targeted funerals, or just any bus full of innocent civilians, or weddings. the Palestinian terrorists do that all of the tim??

Yes, there is a state of war between the two communities: this is understood, but Palestinian "resistance" is not merely reactive but proactive. The militia ideology exists not merely to achieve this or that amelioration of Israeli occupation but to impose an Islamist hegemonic state replacing Israel: moreover Israeli planes are not dropping bombs, rocket fire is aimed at Qassem cells, and much of Palestinian male youth has yet to understand that Palestinian military activity will actually draw a response--the self-evident purificatory ritual is held to exist in mythic time beyond the means of the Zionists to counter these attacks with counter-attacks, much as economic activity is denigrated in favor of martyrdom and heroic warrior models. Palestinian youth are badly in need of a professional military model.

Samed you are hilarious today as always. Al Jazeera is your news? No wonder your vocabulary is limited to "blame Israel" "occupation" "atrocity" and the rest of your usual daily diatribe that no one really takes seriously. But its to be expected by those who burn and kill over a few cartoons eh ?

The raid on Dresden was and remains contentious to this day. "Slaughterhouse 5" is a fictional novel,probably science fiction. To use this as a source is as useful as my claim to be an expert on the history of the USA because I have seen John Wayne films in the past.

I go along with #96 & #110. Shimon do a 'Yosi Sarid', dare-ya!!

Dresden was a minor air raid towards the end of the war. During an Allied operation undertaken to paralyse Germany's effort on the Eastern front. A few civilians died but in the whole scheme of the slaughter of the Second World War it was inconsequential. Did the raid need to be carried out? If you are a revisionist no it did not. If you are a realist it was total war. Personally, it was Germany which first terrorised population centres with mass air raids, Germany merely reaped what it sowed. Anyway Sderot is not Dresden either, nor is it London in 1945. It is a sustained attack by terrorists against a defencless population, I grant you that, but in light of another successful IDF operation tonight, is it a legitimate response by a guerilla army to protect the people it professes to represent? As you will be aware four year old terrorists are very dangerous.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...that may be the funniest thing i heard all week. Thanks!!

"Because their wives, children, and parents are targeted daily by the IDF, from the air." But the IDF only defends its citizens AFTER the arabs attack first with rockets at OUR innocent wives, parents, and children....20 times a day i might add. "Because Israel is in total control of what goes into Gaza" Can you balme us after we captured tons and tons of TNT you planned on smuggling in to kill us with?? With actions like that, you havent proven to be peaceful, thus havent fulfilled ANY criteria for having your own land, thus its still in out control. "You cannot expect people to be hit on the head with bombs every day" EXACTLY!!!! DONT FORGET SAMED, YOU STRUCK FIRST!!

Dutch, whenever you can come up with some answer, you just let me know. Until then, u should probably spend your time making one up instead of spewing nonsense.

What exactly are your pals celebrating with those fireworks? As good neighbors we should celebrate too. A pity you are in London...

Aljazeera has had talkback for about 2 years before Haaretz, enjoy. Be careful, though, you may acually get some news there. http://www.aljazeera.com/

Yes, many young Palestinian men do get involved in violence. Why? 1. Because their wives, children, and parents are targeted daily by the IDF, from the air. 2. Because Israel is in total control of what goes into Gaza and never allows anything in that can be used for production, so there is no work. You cannot expect people to be hit on the head with bombs every day and to welcome the terrorist planes with flowers.

IDF has been targeting Palestinian civilians for a long time, since civilians are regarded as forming the "infrastructure of terror", a term often used by IDF. The non-Zionist translation, of course, is that the IDF is a terrorist organization, since the intentional killing of civilains, what they do all the time, is terrorism.

"Peres should move to Sderot - show example of bravery" - Neville C. It will be a nice gesture, and not for the sake of proving bravery but just to share the fate of the afflicted and (pretend to) show he cares. If Peres does that, he will not be the first Israeli politician to do such a thing. Yossi Sarid (Meretz) went to live in Qiryat Shemonah during a bombardment season. Gained him much respect from the citizens. And he didn't even say "Katyush Shmatyusha".

I'm looking for a Palestinian publication with a talkback like this one, where i can express myself in precisely the same manner as Dutch, Palestinian, Amin and other guests. It may also be from any of the other twentysomething Arab countries. Can anyone recommend me a good one? Thanks!

post 89 However the fact remains that the WB is not like Gaza and full of made rockets and people who make them (and have tools and production areas). Nor does it have a no go zone like Gaza City. And this distinction occured during the occupation and was known before the withdrawal from Gaza. It did NOT occur afterward.

I have a better solution, Amin. How about "Next year in Damascus, Mecca, Beirut, Amman", etc., for you guys? We're here to stay, dude. If you and yours care to go elsewhere, none of us will cry.

read Slaugterhouse 5.

Any person with half a brain shooting rockets at your territory fully expects to be consequences to their actions. When it comes to dealing with violence in the middle east there the only way to deal with it in the absence of a peace agreement to fight violence with violence. This is not a concept most Europeans will agree with probably due to their traumatized and guilt ridden colonial history. This is a fact and in the absence of fulling withdrawing and moving Israel somewhere else (see the Iranian president for details) force is needed for survival. People living in glass houses are very noble and wise but unfortunately its academic. Take the war to Europe and see how they react.

Samed: a disproportionate amount of the Palestinian economy is diverted to non-productive "resistance"--essentially a lot of lolligagging about by young men in the peak of their productive lives preferring to waste their time marching around in black khaki and shooting off rockets. Israeli security policy should not aim at disrupting the Palestinian infrastructure in Gaza security conditions permitting: unfortunately the terminal checkpoints have become targets, and stationary targets for planned shootings, rocketings, and bombings at that. Life is not a parade. The belief of many young Gazan men that they have the right to shoot at Israel without expecting a response is misplaced and quixotic.

To Samed; The fact of the matter is Israel has rarely distinguished between combatants and civilians. Please consider the following statement by General Mordechal Gur, the former chief of staff of the Israeli Army who commented, "...for 30years , from the war of independence until day. we have been fighting against a population that lives in villages and cities". Some feel the importance of the generals remark's lies in the admission that the Israel army have always attack ed civilians, purposely and deliberately even when the settlements had not been struck. Now please consider Mr. Kenneth's Roth's conclusion to his Human Rights Report for the Israeli Army's activities in the territories 2004: "Israel has violated international law by failing to distinguish between civilians and combatants and it did not live up to its responsibilities as an occupying power to protect civilians under its control". Thank you, Dutch

"Please note, Sharon`s Gaza experience has achieved some of it`s goals. The strain on the IDF and budget has been eased." - Mark Lincoln The Gaza withdrawl was justified, although never thorughly discussed and planned. So now we see a Qassam problem. That is not the end of the world. When a problem arises, the right thing to do is to attempt to find a solution. It will be nice to find a solution before further "convergence". Peres might say "Qassam shmassam, but the citizens of Israel are taking the threat seriously. If the threat is not handled well, it will be very hard in a democracy to proceed with a policy which the public fears. At the moment I understand convergence does not have majority support. And a good Qassam hit in Sderot will reduce it a great deal.

nat, Gazans celebrated the exist of the Gazan settlers because these settlers caused them misery for a very long time. Have you every put yourself in the shoes of people born into occupation? Their land confiscated, their children killed or detained, their mothers and fathers shot dead, their brothers and sisters tortured in prison? That is occupation. And it was the soldiers did to protect your family of settlers. You cannot occupy a land and expect people to welcome you. And things haven't changed much in Gaza, since the IDF simply redeployed its forces and has total control over what goes in and out, and using this power to starve people. That is what your government is doing nat...

The Israeli people fled from you??? That people never felt safe when you were in govt?? After all what are the problems of one town in Israel compared to the ``big picture`` right?

It's very simple, let's move all the top government facilities to Sderot. We can't lose no matter what. With the Knesset and the Supreme Court in Sderot, either the government will allow the IDF to put a stop to the rockets, or the Arabs will get them. In either case the people of Israel win. "President Abbas holds any group and any faction that violates the truce fully responsible for the destruction and demolitions and victims that will result because of any Israeli imminent aggression." Just like the Geneva Convention has stated all along. Now lets here the apoligists for terrorism explain that one away.

Afraid of a few fireworks. Move to your real homeland, Belarus "Next year in Minsk-for the sake of world peace"

"However the fact remains that the WB is not like Gaza and full of made rockets and people who make them (and have tools and production areas). Nor does it have a no go zone like Gaza City." - BG I think this level of thinking speaks volumes by itself, and I have nothing to add.

samed i can produce for you websites with equally "unrefuteable" facts that prove it was not the israeli army. either way, is it not reasonable to say that the actions of a sophisticated army are much harder to cover up than those of a rogue military unit such as hamas's or fatah's? i have family and friends who were forced to leave gaza. i am not upset that they had to leave, that was the govt decision, but rather i was horrified by the way the "gazans" attacked and burned the buildings they once inhabited, dancing on the rubble of the people they wish to destroy.

Shimon, What happpened to your fight or flight response? Why engage and ask for trouble? Aggression can be very self destructive. It's not the mode of action most animals reach for first. What's wrong with cutting and running? You are more likely to live another day. Dutch

dutch your response is a non sequitor. I disagree with your numbers, but more to the point, the Palestinians killed have not been just because of Sderot, but because of the murder of Israeli citizens on buses in restaurants, in shopping malls, etc. If the Pals stop targeting Israeli civilians, then the responses will stop.

Why don't the Gazans just go on after "withdrawal" (actually redepolyment)? Why don't they build factories and buildings and buy and sell like everyone else? Because Israel will not allow into Gaza anything that could be used for production, not even food and basic supplies. That is why the Gazans are upset-- they are dying because of Israel.

Abbas today calls for halt of Kassams. Where was he in the past. You see it is all a staged act by Fatah and Hamas who are supposedly fighting among themselves when in reality one cheers the other on and Israel falls for the act.

Peres Shmeres, Leftist Shmeftist, Idiot Shmidiot. Moron Shmoron, Atheist Arabist Shmatheist Shmarabist.

No kidding Ben Gurion Yes a withdrawal would make it easier for terrorists in evacuated areas. However the fact remains that the WB is not like Gaza and full of made rockets and people who make them (and have tools and production areas). Nor does it have a no go zone like Gaza City. There is no need to delay convergence to learn how to deal with rockets. There is no short term threat of rockets from the WB. The IDF will be still in place throughout the settlement evacuation till c 2010 anyhow (possibly till a post Hamas government). After 2010 when the settlements beyond the fence have gone, the Pals can choose to develop rocket capacity - but at the risk of re-occupation (a post 67 option was security occupation without settlements) and another dismantling of their re-built PA structures. It?s their choice, if provisional borders become beded in and occupation beyond the fence continues.

The old deaf and dumb vice premier says its ok to have been shelled for 5 years and Olmert puts him in the government? Would Hillary Clinton or Bush be allowed to stay in office if they said "its ok for korea to shell us for 5 years"? Instead of patting his arab buddies on the back - maybe DO SOMETHING?

I can only attribute such a statement to the ravages of old age - yes, Peres has done many stupid things as a younger man, but not even Peres in his Oslo days would have said this. He should be forced to resign. As for Olmert, he is extremely unimpressive, and his family is depressing.

To liken the Qassam attacks to the Holocaust by using the phrase "Never again" and by saying that the Palestinians are Nazi is reprehensible and disgusting. Most of all it an insult to the memory of the 6 million who died.

Samed, it isn't as if Palestinian homeboys aren't trying to make Israeli (Zionists, oh what he heck, Jewish) life as cheap as possible--they are trying to kill as many Jews as they can with the Qassems. Unfortunately, as with so much else that requires actual hard work and technical expertise, they're totally incompetent. Even at killing innocent Israeli civilians. Bunglers. Running a state? No can do. Cultivating a functioning economy. Forget it. Driving the Jews out of Gaza? Well maybe. Knocking out their cities beyond the Green line. Not by a long shot. Making sure the Zionists come back loaded for bear? Ahhhhh. That's the ticket.

Mr. Ben Gurion, the fundamental problem is that Israel has never had a coherent and achievable policy on what to do with or about the occupied territories. 1. The State of Israel ended up a occupier almost by accident during the Six Day War. 2. Immediately afterwards the government was split over trying to use them as bargaining chips or trying to turn them into parts of Israel. 3. Following the rise of the Likud, the policy was a covert one of forcing the Palestinians out and settling the occupied territories with Israelis. 4. Now that never openly articulated (or accepted) policy has failed and Israel doesn't have a clue what it wants to do, or how to do it. Thus Olmert's half-baked "convergence," a scheme to keep all he wants, and maintain "occupation lite" (and cheap) despite the failure of "occupation lite" in Gaza. Please note, Sharon's Gaza experience has achieved some of it's goals. The strain on the IDF and budget has been eased. Olmert, Coherent Policy please!

On near starvation rations it is perhaps understandable that Londoners moral plummeted. However there is a differance between a missile with a one ton warhead as was on a V2 rocket and a Kassam rocket they are not in any, way, shape or form in the same league as the 'V' weapons. Although both were and are terror weapons, the number of casualties in Sderot nowhere near matches those in London in those dark days. The local population are overreacting perhaps in the hope of a financial package to ease their suffering. Israel have done a Dresden in the past in Beirut, or have you forgotten about that?

Nat, You obviously haven't been reading the news very much. As usual, when the world starts paying attention to Israeli terrorism, Israel lies, which all media outlets reports as the truth. However sometimes, some reporters keep investigating. Yesteray Channel 10 reprted that the shrapnel in one of the children on the beach was indeed from Israeli artiliary. This was reported on Haaretz. Also the terrorist IDF has admitted from the beginning that they fired on the beach, they just said that they stopped a few minutes before this mestyerious mine exploded by accident. But a day or two after the IDF terrorist act, Israel admitted that it has one or two shells unaccounted for. But these are small details that the world is not interested in. So Israel as always gets away with its acts of terrorism. Here's an investigation of the incident: http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1799825,00.html

The whining from Sderot has cheered the Popular Resistance Committees, and is encouraging them to fire more quassams. "Following reports of a hunger strike, we knew that the heads of state and army would arrive in the city. When exact information was received ? we fired," - Muhammad Abd al-A'al http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3265245,00.html

Ridiculess Arab. I think you have a real cheek talking about double standards. You Moslem Arabs where killing Jews in Sefat 20 years before the Israeli independance. Know your history. And if we turn on the news every day Arabs / Moslems are continaully fighting in the name of Alah for land they say is theirs. So don't talk to us about land grabs. In India Cashmere, In Dafur , in Solamia , Chechnia , Kakakstan.Even the July 7th Bombers in London's affiliation with the now banned AL-Muhajiroun group declare that they wont stop till Islams flag hangs from 10 Downing St. Lets talk of some more double standards.When a Danish newspaper prints a cartoon of Mohamed there are Arab Moslem rampages all over the world but yet when the Moslem Taliban blow up Bhudist idols you dont have Bhudist rampaging through other countries embasseys ? Iranian President denies the Holocaust and publicly declares to wipe Israel of the map ? Where are the Jews blowing themselves up in Cafe's in Tehran?

he lived enough, hes done nothing. only occupying another seat in the knesset. God until when you'll let this people live manong us, hes worse that the arabs!!!

Dutch would do anything to rationalize the continued rocket fite on israel that has no far, with the help of G-d, not killed anyone (only destroyed tons of property and injured several people). Apparently, israel cannot defend itself until people are killed?? Is that your logic??? Or would israel STILL not be able to defend itself in your biased and sad view??

Dutch, i asked you a simple question you have refues to answer: If someone shoots at you and misses, you wont fight back until he hits you?? You wont defend yourself?? That is sooooooome logic you have. Or does it only apply to israel?

Samed, it's time that you should learn the facts of life. Did you ever hear about the line "Never Again" It was so convinient for you people to be used, to walk all over us without any reprisal. Now that we are shooting back, it drives you crazy. Only you Palestinians {who ever you are} can stop the terror against your own people. As much as it concerns us the Israelis and the Jews, we are resilient. The Nazis didn't succeeded to wipe us out and you? Don't make me laugh!

Qassams are home made, Bruce. You make them in metal workshops. And explosives are available in WB. I believe the IDF claimed already that it found a partially made Qassam in WB, and that it killed people "intending" to fire Qassams. When the IDF evacuates a large part of WB it will be much easier to make them and fire. But actually the distance is so small that you don't need Qassams, just mortars. There is a lesson to be learnt in Gaza. I don't care for people who deny this is a great opportunity to develop a starategy against rockets. People who don't learn when they can are dummies. P.S. If Olmert is a dummy and will not learn how to control Qassams but proceed with "convergence", I will support it because the move will kick out a good number of settlers. That will be progress. But chances are a re-occupation will be needed later, and then another long wait for peace.

A particular village is the main launching site of Qassams. High time we alerted the villagers to evacuate within two hours, because nothing will be left. High time we leveled it, and screw world opinion. You, Dutch, et al., can welcome the evacuees.

read and respond

Since Ibrahim lives in the U.S., his level of expertise on matters here is somewhat clouded by the few segments of Aljazeera or CNN he watches. I do live here. It's not like he says. I am Palestinian and I know it's not all the Palestinians fault that's true. but the rockets that fly out of here are our fault and must stop. What our President said today is true, the retaliation for the rockets is ultimately the fault of those who fire the rockets.

Shimon, How can you claim to be concerns innocent Israelis when here you are advocating using excessive force against the Palestinians over rockets that are a few cuts above the 4th of July rockets. Can't you see how wrong this is and how it will eventually come back to haunt innocent Israelis who you claim to be concerned about. How short sighted you are. Dutch

As World War II was drawing to a close, the Nazis unleashed first the V-1 and then the V-2 rockets on London. Despite their fine moral during the blitz, the moral of the Londoners plummeted. The British Army was reoriented to the launching sites rather than to a more direct effort at Germany. What is more important is that the British, particularly Bomber Coomand, reacted by resuming the massive raids on German cities even after they were no longer defensible or miltarily useful. The British reaction was more than justified and extremely appropriate, but it was a reaction just the same. Can you imagine if Irsael pulled a Dresden on Gaza City.

Shimon, Let me give you some homework. Please look up how many people have been killed by Quassam Missiles and compare this to the number of Palestinians your government has killed or injured in response to them. It will be interesting to look at your results. Dutch

The Oslo treaty clearly states that the role of the head of the PA is to protect Israeli civilains, so it's not surprising that he calls a halt to missiles.

Samed, Yes, I agree, the vengefulness desired by the Sderot people makes them an immoral people. Dutch

And given the IDF is to stay in the Jordan Valley after convergence, how would they arrive from elsewhere? Gaza was known as a rocket area pre departure (because of Hamas contacts with Hizbollah and Gaza City being a no go zone for the IDF). This is not so in the WB. No tunnels, no safe "rocket making infrastructure" areas - nor perhaps would Fatah want those involved to start up locally. You may argue that if they did, the IDF might have to return - convergence to provisional borders does not prevent re-occupation (but Fatah might not enjoy another deconstruction of the PA capability and thus would avoid offering cause). Retaining beyond fence settlements, does not add to security. Nor does ending them diminish it. Its wrong to say otherwise.

There wre no raodblocks or walls or restrictions before the intifada. You were able to travel norally in the west bank, and even into regular israel. Now that you resorted to terrorism, israel has no choice. Its all on your hands.

Samed, if kassams are so pointless, why on earth do you continue to fire them knowing full well that there will be a response that harms you a lot more than us!!?!?!

It would be asking a lot of Daniel to live in Ramallah for a few days. The life expectancy of an Israeli Jew in Ramallah is probably a few hours at best.

Zionist nonsense: We killed 3000 people by accidents, because terrorist were hiding amongst them. This is absolute nonsense. Israel killed a family on the beach. THERE WERE NO TERRORISTS AMONG THEM. And when it fires a missile at a building or a crowd full of civilains and children, how can you claim it is by accident. They shoot their missiles to kill with full sight of the crowd. This is premeditated murder of civilians, i.e. TERRORISM.

Don't be ridiculous. Most were armed militants and terrorist, hiding behind civilians knowing they were endangering their lives. You don't see Israel firing artillery from the center of Sderot, do you? Your armed murderers are cowards Samed, usually either firing blindly in the hope of killing civilians or specifically targeting Israeli civilians. They also have the same disregard for their own civilians, buy the way. All for the cause, I suppose. Repulsive!

Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas called Tuesday on militant groups to stop firing rockets against Israel, WARNING THAT THEY WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ISRAELI RETALIATION, "President Abbas holds any group and any faction that violates the truce FULLY RESPONSIBLE for the destruction and demolitions AND VICTIMS that will result because of any Israeli imminent aggression." I have yet to hear an Arab leader call for cessation of attacks on Israel for the sake of peace or for moral reasons, but I suppose this is better than nothing!

The hysteria over the Qassams, which are discussed as if they are WMD's, has led to 20 dead Palestinian civilains, but that's not even part of the discussion for Zionists, since for them Palestinian lives are cheap.

Daniel, I would be interested to see you hold out in Ramallah or worse Jenin or Nablus. Your movement will be restricted, any moment could find yourself in the crossfire of Israeli Death Squads... Let me guess: It's all the Palestinian's fault? The reality is: Israel created the situation both people's find themselves in today.

ooh my gush! If nothing happened to the residents of Sderot and they are reacting like this. What if they are like Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza? Living under occupation for more than 50 years and have no security what so ever!!!!!!

Shalom Freedman, Your wishes are shameful and immoral not Peretz . I recall your comment from the other day whereby you called for giving the Palestinians what they deserved and suggested Israel should use its might t let them know who was boss. I was absolutely horrified by your vengefulness. It was so immoral. Then you and others have the audacity to call the Arabs barbarians and backward. But I have often found that is more reflective of your own wishes and behavior. What a sick lot many of you have become expecting your government to commit war crimes on your behalf. It's shameful. It's about time someone said no to you and others. Peretz is absolutely right and the world is on his side not yours. Dutch

People laughing their heads? I really think you are a bit touched.

stopping of Qassams we couldn't do by ourselves" Therefore IDF's hands are being tied,until Olmert agrees to pal "right of return".Then it doesn't matter anymore.

It is bad for Israeli missles to kill Palestinian children. It is bad for Palestinian to launch missles with the intent to kill Israeli children. How about this idea-no more missles, no more suicide bombings, negotiate for a Palestinian State based on what Barak offered at Camp David. However, negotiate means that no one should resort to violence if the parties do not readily agree. If the Palestinians demand every grain of sand from pre 1967, then they better convince Israel that there will be no future demand for the rest of Israel. Cause if the militarily weaker party resorts to violence with it's entire toolbox, the stronger militarily party has a right to respond with it's entire toolbox. And the Palestinians will suffer-and lose.

Until Gaza is free, the people of Gaza will struggle. How do I know? It is the pattern you see for every occupied people. But isn't Gaza free now? No! Israel controls everything that happens in Gaza, since it controls everything that goes into and out of Gaza, it controls the air, the water, etc. Currently, if you would like me to remind you, Israel isn't allowing food and supplies to Gaza. Perhaps that is what is making the people angry. Perhaps it's not much for you that Palestinian children are starving in Gaza and that adults are dying from lack of dialysis and chemotherapy, but for the people suffering due to the occupation, it is quite tough. And they are not starving due to themselves. They are starving due to Israel.

"Qassams, shmassams! Kiryat Shmona was also fired upon for years." - Peres Peres is more of a dreamer ("visionary") than a realist. He gets caught up in his visions, forgetting that there is also a real world in which they need to function. Despite his long public service, Peres is not a good politician. He is the great "loser" in Israeli politics, because he tends to snatch defeats from the jaws of victory. Peres functions best when he works under a superior who can restrain him (e.g., Rabin). The fact is Israel has NO policy/means to stop Qassams. Bombing EMPTY areas never hurt a Qassam crew, although it killed some innocents on occassion. The lack of policy means there is a disaster waiting to happen. Example: A classroom full of kids being hit. (A classroom was hit a short while ago, except that the kids were in the prayer-hall at the time.) Either learn how to stop the Qassams, or don't do the "convergence" that will bring Qassams much closer to Israeli population centers.

samed, please respond to this because i would like to talk about this... i am sure that you are counting the children killed on the beach in Gaza as part of the 20 Palest. killed by IDF. but as you know, if you have been following the news lately, it turns out that the explosion on the beach was actually not the IDF but really palestinians who were trying to deter IDF raids. regardless of the fact that this is terrible, isn't it saddening that instead of apologizing to their own people, those responsible just pinned the blaim on others, forgetting that they just killed many of their "brothers."

Dutch, you think israel should continue to get shot at with no response??? So what happens when israelis ARE killed by rockets?? What will your pathetic excuse be then??

You are suggesting that Palestinians need never be concerned about inflicting Israeli civilian casulities whilst Israel should never take any action which puts Palestinian civilians at risk. Talk about double standards!

You cannot fault israel for taking out a terrorist, but you can fault the terrorist for hiding like a coward among civilians. on the other hand, every single murder at the hands of the arabs have been of innocent civilians. You dont seem to broken up when a terrorist coward murders innocent men women and children on a bus.

A motion should be passed that Peres moves to live in Sderot for a few months (without travelling abroad and running to Jerusalem. We should see hsi response after the first few barrages. After that he should retire for good. At 83 it is time for him to write his memoirs. He should let the pen do what his mouth has been doing for so many years (for better or for worse).

They don't want revenge. They want the attacks to stop. The longer they carry on, the greater will be their demand for revenge. Just let them stop. Tha't all. They provide no benfit for anyone besides the egos of those who launch them, who don't give a sh*t about possible consequences to anyone. Just stop and attacks and there will be no reason to retaliate. Cause and effect.

Supporters of the terrorist IDF, like #39, actually believe that the killing of 3000 Palestinian civilians in the last 5 years, including 700 children, is by ACCIDENT. Do you know what the likelihood of that is? That soldiers of one of the most well trained armies in the world would kill 3000 people by accident? But these are the impossibilities that Zionism requires people to believe.

Samed, what Shderot wants is peace! Not dead children, Arab or Israelis.

Israel should threaten to retake gaza nd make their lives miserable if they dont stop. And if they still dont, israel better get in there and take over enough of gaza to put the terrorist missles out of range.

He is a pathetic politition who changed what he said to make people happier, but he meant what he said the first time. How dare he, and dutch, and everyone else, downplay the rocekts fired on a town threatening its citizens every day. Israel must threaten to retake northern Gaza and if rockets continue, they should!

Samed, unlike the attempted murder every day by arab terrorist who fire rockets into towns, those killed by israel were ACCIDENTS!!! its YOUR cycle fo violence, not ours. If you want less deaths, stop firing rockets. Until then, its foolish to expect israel to not protect its inncoent civilians by getting you to stop firing rockets.

Yes,the IDF sits on its hands.Even if precision strikes at leaders difficult to come by,shelling of pal cities or residencies of pal honchos as OK as RAF raids under the WW2.

When one looks at the robust reaction you are attempting to force on the IAF and IDF on your behalf one can see your immoral double standards. I am glad they have stood up to you all. Dutch

Twenty Palestinians civilians have already been killed in the last two weeks in revenge for a few rockets that landed in courtyards and one that landed in an electric plant. But 20 Palestinian lives are not enough to satisfy the the peace-loving people of Sederot. They want more dead.

Mike, The world is laughing at those people in Sderot Making a moutain out of a molehill. They have nothing better to do. The old day I saw a bunch of their kids laughing their heads in a report. Give us a break! Dutch

Close your eyes for a moment, Shimon, and imagine a suburb of, say, New York, being blasted daily by Al Qaida. Would George Bush tell the local residents to stop whining ? Of course not. He's not a defeatist, failed, left wing, socialist, dhimmi politician like you, Shimon. He'd regime change a few more mideast countries in response. Shame on you, Shimon Peres.

Shimon Peres lives just up-tht-road from me in Naveh-Avivime, Ramat-Aviv. The inhabitants of my neighbourhood live in a 'bubble' & for them Sderot is in 'Huzlaretz' & what is happening there is so far away from them it just doesn`t concern them! I`d like to see their faces here if the Quassams were 'raining' daily on Ramat-Aviv. Eli Moyal & the Sderot residents are absolutely right & whatever needs-to-be-done by this Ministry of Defense to stop the ATTACKS must be done now!! Go ahead with the 'strike' & demonstrations to force-the-hand of the bureaucrats now! Shimon, keep your stupid insensitive comments to yourself!

Hamas charter states "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors." The Palestinians who fire Quassams actually belive this nonsense. They have not stop firing Quassams even though the price they pay (in killed crews) is far higher than the price Israel pays. It is a quasi religious act. It is a vain hope that if the economic condition in Gaza improves then the Gazans will be less fanatical because Gaza will never be viable.

I understand the outrage and frustation Sderot residents are feeling as would any of us who would live there. But what good will this protest do? What else can the IDF do? It's not like the army is sitting on their hands and doing nothing. They're trying as hard as they can to halt this insanity. I would like a response to this question from a Sderot resident: what action on the part of the government/IDF would YOU propose to stop the Qassams?

Have a happy 4th of July. Come to our fee fireworks show in Sedrot. Drive safely, the roads are unsafe, or maybe the drivers are as crazy as the soldier boys.

There is no doubt we have to stop the rockets,but I think we are moving towards some kind of deal here between Abbas,Olmert and Bush and that eventually the only people who really will stop the rockets are the Palestinians themselves. I am now for a plan,not 67,but a bilateral plan closer to the Convergence Lines and I think it will happen. Peres is getting everyone ready.

publication with a talkback like this one, where i can express myself in precisely the same manner as Dutch and other guests. It may also be from any of the other twentysomething Arab countries. Can anyone recommend me a good one? Thanks!

Makes me think why Pollard insists on Peres knowing something. An inquiry should be held for better i.e. if it can help Pollard or for worse i.e. if Pollard was betrayed.

No, not Abe, Mark. After all, Peres' (good) life isn't being disrupted and that's the perspective that matters. Either Israel is responsible or a new era of peace and economic prosperity will make it all go away the day after tommorrow. Those peasants in Sderot should take more vacations in Belgium.

or something around it in London,no end of Extra News bulletins.Nobody has ever called it a hysterics. Now Yoyne "Chris" Lintwit suggests it's only a question of money.I agree the BBC fat cows wanted more money and upped the hype to get it.

i would like to ask mr peres if the kassam would have fallen in the north of tel aviv what would have been the answer of the idf ? i think unfortunatly that the people in sderot don't represent enough power in this society to be protected as the others cityzen of the country !!

Peres is nothing more than a old fool who has lost his mind. He should be thrown out of the government & sent home for his idiotic statement. He couldn't win an election if his life depended on it. He tried a record 6 times & lost all.

The objective of the Qassams is to terrorise the people of Sderot in such a way that they cease to function as a society. (Hitler tried the same thing during the Blitz, guess the British are made of sterner stuff). It seems that they have succeeded. I never thought I would say this about Israel, but from where I am sitting (UK). The terrorists are winning. Or is it Sderot's way of ensuring extra funding? Throw them a couple of million dollars and I'm sure the strike will end.

To over-react would be taken as a sign of weakness, that Israelis had gone soft and could not endure some hardship. This gives militants mandate to continue. Similarly, if Israel is provoked into a military over-reaction, this would undermine Israeli diplomacy. Some Palestinians may be determined to establish a violence escalation and portray this as of convergence (rather than a consequence of Hamas in government), this to discredit Israel in the geo-political diplomatic field. They may even hope to have the Israeli left protest against it and legitimise an Israeli security right effort to mobilise to block convergence completely. Using their allies in support of continuing occupation (unitary state and eretz Israel advocates have this in common). The Pals fear an Israel not entrapped in occupation only ended in a right of return peace. But they should have to live with this reality.. Convergence ho.

in common ? Without Oslo Peres wouldn`t commit Israelis to almost 10 years of non-stop violence on the borders. The sell-out of all the Israeli causes to criminals like Arafat and the Palestinian creeps , for nothing more , than a notion , or peace of paper, give away of resources to Pals and total breakdown of orderly life --that is what in common to Qassams, Oslo, Peres , Palestinians. Oslo is no more , what is left is other 3....

To over-react would be taken as a sign of weakness, that Israelis had gone soft and could not endure some hardship. This gives militants mandate to continue. Similarly, if Israel is provoked into a military over-reaction, this would undermine Israeli diplomacy. Some Palestinians may be determined to establish a violence escalation and portray this as of convergence (rather than a consequence of Hamas in government), this to discredit Israel in the geo-political diplomatic field. They may even hope to have the Israeli left protest against it and legitimise an Israeli security right effort to mobilise to block convergence completely. Using their allies in support of continuing occupation (unitary state and eretz Israel advocates have this in common). The Pals fear an Israel not entrapped in occupation only ended in a right of return peace. But they should have to live with this reality.. Convergence ho.

Guess what Dutch, Israel doesn't rely on your sympathy because we can take care of ourselves.

shelling others territory and keeping them living in fear is not an act of war to others? what do you call what your idf is doing for over half a century plus to your neighbors? you better keep USA taking the heat off you, becuase you have no case to present to the world when it comes to right and wrong.

although I am a little bit skiptical of your boosting, just a little bit.

As for Olmert, he's living proof of the ongoing lack of leadership this world is currently experiencing. Where did all the good people go?

Our opinions cater to the reason why we wake up in the morning: Ego. Give me a reason to talk, be and go back to sleep. And that is why I'm here. Any rocket attack on any location is a frightening thought. My sympathy means nothing. It will not prevent further attacks and casualties anywhere in the country. I understand the residents of Sderot. They're scared for the lives of their families. Wouldn't you? Their protests are relevant because let's not forget that northern towns were victims of frequent barrages. It's what causes nightmares and halts psychological growth in any human being. Their idea to prevent the same from happening to them is legitimate. And I agree, the IDF should be using it's targeted resources to destroy the Palestinian terror infrastructure. Shimon Peres has done much to help Israel and his comments belong to a smaller forum. A leader should present confidence in the people or face public outcry. I guess he's at that age when nothing really matters.

Consider: why does the Israeli gov't consider Sderot to be expendable? What benefits are derived? Who is working on this? No Israeli journalist seems to want to touch this.

If Sderot could close its skies to Qassams it would be better than this empty demonstration.

What a cowardly and shameful thing to say. What an escape from his own responsibility, He is not qualified for this job and should go home to Sderot and be subject to Kassams, until his replacement a more responsible and experienced person makes the moves which put an end to Kassem fire for good.

Am I right in thinking that you live in the nice and safe Netherlands? You minimize the importance of Kassam rockets because they are small. How very conceited of you! These rockets, by great chance, have not killed more people - because kids were outside their classrooms at the time of the hit or somebody was not in her bedroom when the rocket penetrated the ceiling. How dare you assume, safe European that you are, what is important and what is not in a country like Israel. Firing a Kassam rocket at another country is an act of war, and must be treated as such. It makes no difference what the size of the rocket is. The aggressive act is the important issue. So stop making comments about things of which you obviously know very little - and enjoy your nice safe life in Holland!

I don't believe you have any experience or qualifications to evaluate the deadliness of explosives; correct me if I'm wrong. As for the sympathy that you "might" give if these were Scuds versus kassams, well I am sure the people of Sederot will find a way to move on without it. Most of us Jews have learned that we cannot count on sympathy from the Ignorant.

Send the ol goat into retirement. What you see here is the fruits of his many years of service to the state, flat out weakness in the face of aggression. As for the Peretz and spineless Olmert (fresh from kissing anti-semitic French ass), they ought to resign immediately.

I agree with you and with Mr. Peres! As the kassams are no big deal, I suggest the citizens of Shderot should begin to manufacture this inoffensive toy in their workshops, as the palestinians do, and have them launched on Gaza, in sign of good will of course. It's nice to have people just exchanging toys.

..every day. ""Now if they were complaining about Scud Missiles ,they might receive my sypmpaty."" Who cares about your sympathy or lack of it anyway?

This is why Israel needs to set a mandatory retirement age for politics.

Peres, his wife, children and grand-children should be forced to live in Sderot for a month or so. We will then see if he has the courage to repeat what he has said regarding the rocket attacks. What an unsympathetic idiot he is.

Here we go again those foolish people in Sderot Instead of counting their blessings are making a mountain out of a molehill again. Now if they were complaining about Scud Missiles ,they might receive my sypmpaty. But Quassams --much to do about nothing! Dutch

the king of the leftist humiliators of jewish people, shimon peres, is showing signs of brain degeneration, a normal development at his age. Just do an MRI of his brain which will prove it,then send him to a nice nursing home, but for the sake of God take him out of politics.