Amira Hass / The one thing worse than denying the Gaza report

If there were no Israel would there be no Amira Hass

"the IDF as a whole did its utter best to remaining as humain as possible..which cannot be said about(your proteg?s)the Hamas and other so-called Plalestinians." Michael, How you can go on with your moral and humane IDF in light of the atrocities and wrong doing coming out of Gaza shows your shocking disconnection with reality. Dutch

look at the number of israelis injured or killed by years of hamas rockets and mortars("hamas", mind you; NOT every single palestinian soul in gaza)... and look at the damage caused by them(mostly to empty fields); then consider the number of people killed in gaza, two thirds of whom were NOT hamas, and then tell me about proportionality. and look at the enormous amount of destruction that took place; whole neighborhoods leveled, thousands of homes destroyed and thousands more damaged... not ONLY by the aerial bombardment... but with artillery, tanks, and bulldozers... DURING the idf's incursion into gaza... and DESPITE encountering "little to no resistance" from hamas... THEN tell me about proportionality. and bernard isn't talking about exchanges of prisoners; he's talking about killing a whole population. did you miss the second sentence of his post?: "if one soldiers[sic] life can be saved by annihilating the enemy then so be it".~br and you see "S", THAT'S just it: this is exactly the strategy that the idf used when entered gaza. everybody knew it before hand, because the idf essentially said as much.

Well, something worse than accepting or rejecting the report seems to be what we're going to see. With the US announcement that it will block any action on the report, we're likely to see less pressure from governments on Israel, and continuing outrages from it. But, we're also likely to see an upswing the in BDS movement. And once it starts getting rolling, such a campaign is likely to not be satisfied with anything less than full rights of return for Palestinians, full compensation, and equal rights of citizenship, equal access to water, land, services, education. And that could spell the end of Israel.

Yes I think both Palestinians who killed Israelis and Israelis who killed Palestinians should go to court. Israeli accused of war crimes will have to explain why they killed 1400 Palestinians in six weeks, a mojority of them civilian (inclduing 330 children) and the accused Palestinians will have to explain why they killed 13 Israelis (10 soldiers, 3 civilians). I think that is fair. Let the Hague judges decide.

Bernard #4 states "Israel cannot respond proportionately as it has been doing" Your question to him is "when?" (has it been doing) Well, we are about to release 450 terrorists for poor Shalit, a 3 years hostage, aren't we? Apparently it takes so much time because we want to reduce somewhat this number...or their "quality", ... correct me about this proportional exchange if I am wrong. We also exchanged the murderer of children - Kuntar - for the bones of murdered Israeli prisoners. Another proportionate exchange our enemies consider acceptable...You too?

Your article is right on the money, Amira. It is sad that so many think it is harmful to the cause of Israel. Admitting painful truths is hard. Yet it is the only way of winning the respect of the world.

is the same as what you heard from Paris, as far as facts are concerned. You did a good job in the 90's. We are aware that we behave more as the other people now. It's not that we think that the world is wrong, or that we only are right. It's just that if we are a nation amongst other nations, unfortunately killing civilians when we have no choice (and although that's not our objective), why aren't the other nations behaving as we were one of them?

Not much more to say, really.

How many times must Amira's word be disproved and discredited till she is silent? Once again she jumps on the lie wagon and does not look for the truth. Ever notice Amira that only those who hate Israel like your writings?

"The fact that Hamas was using Gazan women & children as human shield is indesputable (sic BA) fact at this point and was well documented." Why would Palestinians use their OWN families as shields? Shield or no shied, Israel bombs anyway! Human rights group have investigated the charge and found no evidence for what has been a standard charge against Palestinians for so long. What Israel wants Palestinian guerillas to do is to come out in the open and get bombed to smithereens by the Israeli airforce. But guerillas will not oblige and they will fight from the concrete jungle. Israel - being the "moral army" that it is - could have decided to refrain from indiscriminate bombing and send in infantery to dislodge the guerillas from the houses. But just as in Beirut in 1982 the decision was taken to bomb densely built up areas in Gaza with predictable and horrendous results. This is what the world has seen on TV and no amount of denial can hide this war crime.

The truth of this article not withstanding, I would like to read Amira's next article on the behavior of all armies in the world starting with WWII. After examination of their soldier's behavior and UN responses to those wars (if any) i.e. Iraq, Vietnam, Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Indonesia, Congo, Somalia and not to forget Rwanda, then Ms. Hass should put together a comparison chart for all of us to see the Geneva convention ranking of the participant armies including Israel's.

He was appointed to several judicial posts by Mandella in So. Africa,due to his powerful anti-apartheid views. Re: Jewish Forward daily out of New York. Hmmm""

Gaza is not an anomaly. The IDF is not as virtuous as the Israeli leadership pretends. There are many books by both Palestinian and Jewish writers as well as videos on YouTube which attest to IDF excesses. Goldstone is far from being any anti-semite. The problem with Israel is that it persists in violent treatment of Palestinians as an inferior people. The Israeli objective is to suppress the Palestinians into a submissive condition so that all the Palestinian land can be taken from them. Therefore more effort is put into justification of abhorrent acts by the IDF rather than into a peace process. I can understand why the Arab world is fearful of Israel.

because that's exactly what's being done... not only by the idf and the israeli government... but also by many in the haaretz "talkbacks". the callous nonchalance, and in many cases even applause, over that took place, is both unbelievable and disheartening.

Are you kidding? The Washington Post gave it a few lines at the bottom of page 14 this morning. MSNBC TV and Web? Nothing. Everyone in the world who has followed this, and that is almost zero percent of the world population, whether or not they are moved by the collateral damage, know full well that Hamas was begging for many years to get their arse kicked. p.s. Where are you really? You don't sound like any Jewish gal I ever heard of.

As usual, the apologists for Israeli terror and murder want to slay the messenger, rather than acknowledge the truth of the message. Spot on, Amira. Thank you.

"The world has many more immediate problems than Israel-Arab conflict." Ya, Litner, Israel has been relying on that for far too long... now suddenly the world is payng serious attentions to us and what we are doing...

Ten years from now there will be a critical Israeli movie about Gaza and the Israelis will pad themselves on the shoulder thinking what an open-minded people they are!

I checked today's news on CNN & BBC, and there is no headlines about the UN "report". It is not the first, nor is it the last smear "report" against Israel. The screams of joy from the anti-Israel haters, is not justified. The world has many more immediate problems than Israel-Arab conflict.

The one thing worse than denying the Gaza Report is...denying the Gaza Report of course. I have not read the report, but in listening to a BBC report yesterday. After two minutes of pointing out Israel as evil, the last line of the report also states that the Palestinian shelling of Israeli civilian targets was also a war crime. Seems that if the first war crime, the Hamas rocketing of civilian targets, was stopped or condemned or pointed out by the UN, then there may have been no reason for the Israeli retalliation. Pretty simple stuff, stop the rocket fire and then there will be no need for Israeli reprisals.

Israel did commit these crimes and I think all Israelis are aware of the atrocities. But that doesn't make it anybody elses business. Israel is being cornered by the entire international community who is wagging their finger at the same crimes they commit every day. This is the reality of terrorism; it is not fair, it hurts everyone involved and ultimately it leads to nothing. But, the same can be said about this ridiculous report. Israel must deal with these crimes within its State - it is not the business of anyone else. This is just an excuse for the international community to gang up on Israel Screw em all!

Thank you! Amidst all the articles about how Israel is going to 'spin' this, and efforts to mobilize allies to stop UN review, this stands out as an honest statement about looking at the realities. I've read comments saying that Obama should be held liable for Iraq -- some forget that Bush led that slaughter, and yes! US citizens feel shame at what happened there. That there hasn't been a formal inquiry amazes many of us. Americans are now pressing for US review of Afghani murders, and hoping for it. It may help Israelis to know that some American soldiers have received life sentences for personal atrocities...maybe not known in Israel.

In Haaretz Amira Hass is writing to an Israeli audience. Her obvious raison-d'etre is to encourage Israelis to inspect the actions of their government and their army.There is no reason on earth that, for the Israeli public she needs to "bring Hamas to justice", that would only be preaching to the converted. The reason that our government and our society is now being so harshly judged is that Israeli culture is in denial. There are things which we have done which we should not have done. The are things we ought to have done and did not do. The reason Americans could absorb the Mai Lai massacre was because of the great American public outrage when the facts became known. If Israelis are going to insist that we have always done the right, noble, ethical and moral thing in all circumstances at all times we, we will continue to get a bad press from the rest of the globe. Let Hamas search their own souls, that is not the job of Amira Hass writing in an Israeli newspaper.

Israel .... issues my travel documents and denies me the right to travel. I cannot associate or marry or build or import or consume -- in short, I cannot live -- without Israel's permission. Yet, I do not have the right to vote. - message from GAZA - why don't you go there brad and c for yourself? because Israel won't let you, if the press can't y u? p.s: its funny you calling Amira's piece weak when you yourself are a living example of what she is talking about!

This is taken directly from the UN report: "From the facts available, the Mission finds that the rocket and mortars attacks, launched by Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, have caused terror in the affected communities of southern Israel and in Israel as a whole. Furthermore, it is the Mission?s view that the mortars and rockets are uncontrolled and uncontrollable, respectively. This indicates the commission of an indiscriminate attack on the civilian population of southern Israel, a war crime, and may amount to crimes against humanity." It is impossible to evade the truth. Palestinians committed war crimes, and the above statement makes it explicitly clear that these war crimes began in 2001 and were carried out for years before the Gaza war. If you really want justice, there is no choice but to demand Palestinian leaders be arrested and put on trial.

"Israel struck a civilian population that remains under its control." Doesn't she remember that Israel completely left Gaza a few years ago, and that the Gazans voted in Hamas? So Israel has closed its borders; a lot of countries have closed or restricted borders. The US's restricted border with Mexico does not mean that it controls Mexico.

That may be our chance to start things anew. We have to decide whether we are a gang, acting according the gang rules or a civilized state. I believe that people who did this stuff in Gaza are criminals and they committed their crimes not only against people of Gaza, but also against Israel and the Jewish people. The damage they have done is immense, and I don't mean the international public opinion only. We have lost part of our soul. Of course this is not the first time, but now we have to say enough is enough. If we will back down on it I am afraid it will be too late next time. The implication for our participation in this shameful attacks against the report is that we condone these actions, that we have actually sent our soldiers to kill children and bomb shelters. That is not something I am willing to put up with.

"If one soldier's life can be saved by annihilating the enemy then so be it". This shows exactly why the report has to be paid attention to; it is the spirit that would drop a thousand pound bomb on an apartment house full of people because there is one person in it you want to get.

Amira Hass says "Israel struck a civilian population that remains under its control, it didn't fulfill its obligation to distinguish between civilians and militants". Well, doesn't that happen whenever an airforce uses bombs against an enemy? Should Israel disband its air force? Should America? The philosopy that is developing seems to be that no action that Israel takes in response to terror is justified unless directed at only the terrorist. And, in the case of s suicide bomber the terrorist is dead and so Israel should do nothing else. Is that it Amira Hass?

How very sad.

The other cheek would dictate that if the likes of Amira Hass and Gideon Levy were to change their tunes, and criticized "Palestinians" in place of "Israelis", they would both be considered national traitors and executed in no time. They would learn first hand the meaning of a kangaroo court verdict and would be found trashed away with a bullet between the eyes. This would clearly be the response to any journalist who would dare to attack the various Palestinian leadership(s) with the viciousness that these two reporters attack Israel. That Israel society can tolerate these two self-hating Israelis, allow their inciting work to be published, and for so long, is a tribute to the advanced democratic society that Israel upholds. Moderator, please let me have my say and publish this report. It reflects the feelings of many people around here, and this message should be noted.

"israel went to great lengths to protect civilians with phonecalls, leaflets, and allowed 4 hours of a cease fire per day to allow civilians to move and get supplies"~franz what good were the phone calls and leaflets? can you imagine that call? "your house will be destroyed in 20 minutes" then what franz? where were they supposed to go? spain? they had NOWHERE to go... and they stood to be shot if they were seen on the street...obviously carrying a white flag wouldn't help. and "supplies"? what supplies? from where? who are you trying to kid?

Hej Mark - of course you may have different views then Amira and you are entitled to critize her but comparing her to an "illness" remindes me of the dark dehumanizing rhetoric used during WWII. Haven't we had enough of that already? Words create reality...

from an Islamic commitee,accepting what Pallywood types said,without evidence that would be accepted in a court of law. As numerous lawyers have attested by signing letters to that effect.

War can never be sterile clean and objective circumstances in the field imposed by the enemy sometimes leads to objectionable reactions and abuses by some inividuals. Besides eventual mishaps here and there the IDF as a whole did its utter best to remaining as humain as possible..which cannot be said about(your protegés)the Hamas and other so-called Plalestinians. Perhaps if only the Hamas,in stead of launching over 12 thousand rockets on Israeli civilian population, kidnapping an Isreli soldier in an illegal over the border attack and engage in a vicious terror war of attrition against Israel, had started a serious, peaceful state building process all that would not have happen. You should learn to put the blame were it belongs and stop sawing-off the branch you yourself sit on! Reasonable self criticism is one thing, deliberately promote the libellous lies of Arab propaganda is a whole other matter!

There is no doubt. There is no excuse. The UN commission concluded that the Palestinians clearly violated international law and committed war crimes. It is now time for Amira Hass and all lovers of human rights to stand up and be counted - you must call for the Palestinian leadership to be put on trial for these crimes. Otherwise, you are exposed as false accusers and people who really don't believe in what you claim.

when?

This denial reminds one of many other denials in history. They don't even work to relieve the conscience of those who mouth these "explanations". "Mistakes were made", "some excessive use of force" "we obeyed orders" "followed rules" but we are after all good and chosen and humane and good people. Hmmm where did we hear that before in history?

Taken directly from the report: "From the facts available, the Mission finds that the rocket and mortars attacks, launched by Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, have caused terror in the affected communities of southern Israel and in Israel as a whole. Furthermore, it is the Mission?s view that the mortars and rockets are uncontrolled and uncontrollable, respectively. This indicates the commission of an indiscriminate attack on the civilian population of southern Israel, a war crime, and may amount to crimes against humanity."

....Amira Hass is spot on with the comparison to Serbia under Milosevic. In both cases you have a country (and a milita- ry) taken over by ideological extremists, who wanna desperately expand their own territory. And in both cases, you have a whole population in a state of denial, from the political right to the political "mainstream", yes even into (supposedly) liberal circles. Shimon Peres is serving as the best (or rather worst) example for that. In 1967 the comparison of Israel with Milosevics Serbia would not have been okay, maybe even 20 years ago, it would not have been okay.... ...but today, it is absolutely appropriate.

Here are the words in black and white, copied directly from the UN report. Amira won't call for an investigation, she won't demand trials for Palestinian leaders, she won't even mention this horrific conclusion that exposes her beloved Palestinians as war criminals. The truth is here. Read it for yourselves because Amira Hass will never report it: "From the facts available, the Mission finds that the rocket and mortars attacks, launched by Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, have caused terror in the affected communities of southern Israel and in Israel as a whole. Furthermore, it is the Mission?s view that the mortars and rockets are uncontrolled and uncontrollable, respectively. This indicates the commission of an indiscriminate attack on the civilian population of southern Israel, a war crime, and may amount to crimes against humanity."

Does this mean that Amira Hass is admitting that Hamas's firing of rockets from within populated areas is a war crime?

"next time youj lead the troops and show them how it`s done." She talks instead of shooting. How come none of the troops are up for following her into battle with the kind of weapon that doesn't kill and maim - let's not forget maim! - what stands between them and the enemy?

I wouldn't doubt that all these claims are true, but i'm also not so sure I can really blame the Israeilis. If I lived next to a bunch of unreasonable killers that just wouldn't stop launching rockets, my response would certainly make Israel's response seem loving.

You're wrong. Amira Hass and Gideon Levy aren't the only people in Israel who know that salient parts of the Goldstone report are accurate. It isn't all lies, or all truth. Painting things either black or white, as you do, is just one of the usual decoys. The report's a good basis for opening an honest discussion. You know as well as I do that it has to be done and that this, of all periods of the year, is a good time to do it.

nothing is more difficult than disproving a false accusation. the causa-bella was a prolonged and unprovoked attack on our civilians. the terrorists live and fight from amongst their civilian population. they knew damn well that it was inevitable that we would be caught in the impossible situation of defending ourselves without hurting their civilians. what did anyone expect to happen? the difference is that we don't aim at civilians. any damage was collateral. we have been falsely accused

What happened, Amira, is that I, like almost all Israelis, prayed in our hearts and prayed out aloud that we should not again suffer the excessive loss of IDF soldiers in Gaza, as in the 2nd Leb War. It's as if this collective Israeli wish was translated into IDF policy in Gaza. In this round-about way, the Gazan civilian population may have inadvertently paid the price of Hesbollah's sins and deeds.

The report and it's predictable partisan responses is really a kind of summer rerun. Moving from the battlefield to the realm of rhetoric and propaganda, each side will try and gain public relation spin and benefits. The simple truth is Hamas provoked the war by ongoing rocketing of civilian populations accompanied by threats of anhilation of Israel. Israel resorted to force, and most of the victims were Gazans amongst whose population Hamas hid it's fighters and weapons. They then cynically used their own victims for propaganda. Israel would do well to reeducate it's troops, not to pillage or shoot indescriminately, not to keep famillies hostage, or degrade homes. The bottom line tho is clear: force is a language Hamas understands, and the rockets stopped. Therefor, the author of the article has missed the whole point and wants to blame Israel as part of their personal agenda. .

It's a shame that Israelis and other Jews were so intent on holding back the dawn with their attacks on the report and on Goldstone himself that they passed over an important element of the report that declared the rocketing of the civilians at Sderot an equally criminal act. The Lebanese experienced the same phosphorus and DU horrors against its civilians in 2006 and saw the mentality of the soldiers in the graffiti written with you-know-what on the walls of the homes that the soldiers had broken into. Soldiers breaking the silence told of being repeatedly encouraged by officers to prioritise their own safety over that of Palestinian civilians and to shoot to kill even when they were in doubt that the Palestinians in front of them posed a danger. Last, we keep forgetting the military rabbi commanders that handed out leaflets to the soldiers telling them they were "Sons of Light" on a holy mission to reconquer the land and rid it of its Palestinian "Sons of Darkness".

Amira Hass why do you forget to mention even one word about the Palestinians? Of course the Palestinians are innocent The never shot at Israel, did not hide between civilians, did not use ambulances for fighters, did not shoot rockets from schools, did not use hospitals as command centers, did not use human shields as shown on tv, did not murder torture PA men, did not..... no Amira all of this was not done by Palestinians, neither investigated by Ha'aretz or the international press nor by any Human Rights organisation. The question is why not? I can answer that because you do not care what the Palestinians do they are the victims so innocent to begin with. Am I right? Hamas is a charity with innocent people.

The various reactins to the UN report simply reflect the partisan approach, this time on the rhetorical level. Hamas used the casualties in caused by hiding among it's own population to gain PR points and the UN report lends itself to that aim. Israel belittles the results as being exaggerated and ignoring the real cause of the war: Hamas rocketing of Israel areas. The propaganda war over the report simply continues the conflict on a different level. More than a thousand Palestinians are dead, but the rockets mostly stopped. That's the real bottom line. Hamas made it's brothers and children pay the price for their folly and terror.

Surely B'tselem reported these results at least a week ago? So why blame the UN? Truth will out.

out pour the rantings, never mind the facts that Israel went to great lengths to protect civilians with phonecalls, leaflets, and allowed 4 hours of a cease fire per day to allow civilians to move and get supplies. Which Hass's Hamas friends exploited. But Hass is Hass-she will never be Liebe, not even for her own country.

Well put. When Israelis as well as our international allies raise questions shouldn't we address them instead of offering the same uncritical denials? Shouldn't we hold ourselves to a higher moral standard than our enemies? The day will come when our status as "special friend" of America will cease, in 10 or 50 or 100 years. No one will lift a finger to save us, not because we're Jews but because we acted like prison-guards and butchers.

and what was "shock and awe " precision strikes, we take our cues from the US and behave no differently from our 'best friend' , then of course it feels like biased treatment when the UN pursues action it wouldn't take against the US....Amira, what is worse living somewhere where you face what your goverment and military does and accepts it or you live in a fantasy that you are 'for peace' which puts you at ease while you consume, consume, consume and you let your tax dollars, military, and goverment deal with the very real conflicts in the world, I would rather take the responsibility for what comes with conflict, we were being attacked, we responded, alot of ugliness occured and that is difficult and terrible to face, but we are certainly not the worlds only country to take military action where civillians are killed

So, what exactly Israel was suppouse to do with Hamas bandits hiding behind the women's skirts? Israel has an obligation to protect its own civilian population living under enemie's fire for many years and prevent future attacks. The fact that Hamas was using Gazan women & children as human shields is undesputable at this point and was well documented. Cast Lead was a tragic fiasco of all peaceful international efforts to contain and disarm Hamas thugs. I personally hold UN responsible for humanitarian disaster in Gaza. UN lately became a joke of the day.

Israelis love the catchphrase: "Arabs never take responsibility". well, i know another group that never does that. Join Mugabe, Putin in Czechnia, Bush in Iraq, Mladic in Bosnia, Sudanese Government in Darfur, etc. etc.: "all the allegations are lies, all bias". I used to be impressed by Israelis, but that is all gone by now. Keeping swimming in your self-pity.

Thank god there is at least one sane person in Israel, Amira Hass, Courageous enough to stand up and fight for what is right. "Courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" According to Atticus Finch, an honest lawyer in Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. "Real courage" is when you fight for what is right regardless of whether you win or lose. Atticus fits into this definition of what "real courage" is and demonstrates it several times throughout the novel.

Both Israelis and Palestinians need to recognize each others humanity and come to terms with each others suffering. Israel needs to come clean and begin a serious investigation of this very serious indictment of its actions in Gaza. Fatah and Hamas need to do the Kissy-Poo dance and reconcile their pathetic differences. Hypocritical Hollywood actors need to pull their heads out of the sandy California beaches and not support Israel blindly without understanding the history that has destroyed the credibility of Israel and jeopardized the peace process with the Palestinians. There is no need for boycotting if both sides made a serious and sincere effort to work together, collaborate on movies, publishing books, lectures, business ventures and other artistic forms of expression. The blood of Israeli and Palestinian children is not cheap. Unfortunately their blood is cheapened by the actions of feckless and reckless leaders who are out to self-destruct.

- "But what about what the (fill in name of tribe or country, as appropriate), did to the (fill in name of tribe or country, as appropriate)? - The above is offered so that those who normally stick their heads into the sand may save their valuable time. - "Amira Hass is just a self hateing Jew!" - Another service for those in denial. - She is: a) anti-semetic b) a traitor c) misstating the facts d) stupid, ignorant, (take your pick) e) all of the above This service is provided by The Land Is More Precious Than Saving Lives, inc. Donations may be sent to "The Greater Israel Society for the Scourging of the Land. -

Amira, I see you typing these words away with passion as sip cappuccino during a sunset on the beach. Where were you when they amputated the Sdrot boy's leg who was hit by a missile? This is not philosophy; it is an ugly war IMPOSED on Jews. Wake up and smell the coffee.

Hamas targets civilians all the time, Hezbollah the same, this is true for all conflicts around the world - see Iraq, Dafour, India (mombai), etc, etc. This is common Arab/Islam approach. While civilians should not be targeted - maybe the only way to to stop them is when their population is targeted - MAD kept the world from a Nuclear war, maybe targeting back does who are happy with terror against civilians would force a change over time - after all it worked for Syria , it worked for Jordan, etc - they Know how to deal with the beast - Syria killed at least 18x more the cast lead - look how the muslim brotherhood is not causing trouble, Jordan killed at least as many as cast lead - they do not have problems with PLO after that - IDF is stupid not to learn from proven methods show by Arabs/Islam after all they know the mentality - An action like Syria in Hamda once would be the quickest way to avoid having to go back to Gaza again and again - these things have been proved again & agai

War is not pretty - bad things happen even when you do everything you can to avoid them - but after 3 straight years of missile attacks, Israel had the indisputable right to defend themselves - any civilian casualties are the fault of the hamas men hiding and shooting from civilian neighborhoods.. no army in the world has EVER gone as far as Israel to protect cvilians - HeshSpeaksOut.com

Wrong agaim Amira. Not only are you wrong. YOu are helping to destroy your country. But you already know that.

I suggest that the U.N. and the various Human Rights Organizations issue uniforms to the various Arab groups fighting Israel and have them swear on a pile of Amira's writings that they will wear them. This way the IDF will be able to identify who they are fighting and when bodies are brought in they will either be wearing uniforms or not. Amira and Gideon can be imbedded with the Arabs to confirm that they are following the rules.

The Israeli public should read the report and understand the consequences of it's military action and how our soldiers perform. But the underlying responsibilty of the war resides with Hamas' rocketting Israel and continued promoting an atmosphere of violence and destruction. Acting from within it's own civilian areas it invites attack and then bemoans the consequences, cynically causing and using it's own civilians as shields for later public relations manipulations. That is the real problem, and the Goldstone report belittles that.

I was wondering how long it would take you and Gideon Levy to jump on the UN bandwagon to be the only people in the country of Israel to take the UN report at face value in your endless rants of demonization against Israel that have crosses all levels of rationality. It took you a day and a half. Not bad.

another loon infected with the leftist virus--is she an arab? I love how everyone condemns Israel but gives the arabs a free pass. This phony journalist is symptomatic of the great illness that has infected Israel.

Israel cannot respond proportionately as it has been doing because this encourages the continuation of attacks. If one soldiers life can be saved by annihilating the enemy then so be it. Those who hold jewish life cheap use these arguments of proportionate response. Gaza is a terror trap and does not observe geneva conventions. It is foolhardy to enter this trap conventionally. gaza civilians voted for and support hamas who seek to slaughter all jews. Jews need to stop carrying guilt for what the enemy has chosen to do. None of this would happen without kidnapping shalit and firing rockets at jewish civilians: that is the real issue for jews, not the safety of the jew killers. If all of gaza was destroyed so that shalit was free then that is ok.

Amira says Israel attacked a civilian population under its control. What sort of control? Yes, Israel has the might to assume control but she was far from being in control. The contrary is true Amira. The border is guarded. Israelies entering Gaza do so at their peril. In any event, international law says that if there are military targets in civilian populations, those targets may be attacked, even if their are civilian casualties. And, of course, placing military within a civilian area is criminal. Yes, its normal and proper to defend one's civilian population and not to expose them to peril in order to protect civilians who are being used by your mortal enemies as human shields. And, lets put the side that Pal civilians, voted in Hamas knowing that it would attack Israel and its civilians. This, my dear is a very weak piece.

It doesn't matter how much evidence there is. Israel will always deny, blame the others, character assassinations of the messengers,... To my regret, this far too long conflict has created a bitter people that are no longer capable of taking responsibility for their own wrong doings.

You make all peace lovers, Arab or Jewish - Proud everytime your article's are released. Only on Haaretz, a real FREE newspaper in Israel are you able to really criticize the actions of the State which have for the last 42 years punished the Palestinians for what they are, which is a group of people rejecting the idea of their land being one held hostage by this so called free and democratic government called "Israel". The knee jerk reaction of the IDF and the Government show that it doesn't matter what you say, as long as it's bad news they will always reject and always deny. Keep them coming

So predictable: one EU or UN funded "Human Rights" organization after the next repeats the same lies, over and over again, hoping that eventually one or two will stick. Amira Hass and Gideon Levy then pick up the mantle, playing some kind of sanctimonious game with Israelis, who long ago realized that what the "human rights" crowd wants is Israel's destruction, by hook or by crook--all at once, or piece (pieces now) by piece.