Hamas rejects Goldstone charge of Gaza war crimes

I applaud you for your words of real life experiances and wisdom, for life is too short and since the inception of the hebrew nation its been a uphill struggle for regional peace, Israel is not perfect as is no other nation on this planet we all share. I pray your words seap into the hearts and minds of the hardened heart neh sayers who only wish for the destruction/demise of the nation of Israel!!!

Eric you asked dan how many of those rockets did damage let me ask you a question. in NM is it legal to shoot a gun at someone if I dont hit them or damage any property?

The Goldstone Illusion What the U.N. report gets wrong about Gaza -- and war by Moshe HALBERTAL Moshe Halbertal is a professor of philosophy at the Hebrew University and the Gruss Professor at New York University School of Law. Source: http://www.tnr.com/article/world/the-goldstone-illusion --"This new form of struggle is now called ?asymmetrical war.? It is defined by an attempt on the part of those groups to erase two basic features of war: the front and the uniform. Hamas militants fight without military uniforms, in ordinary and undistinguishing civilian garb, taking shelter among their own civilian population; and they attack Israeli civilians wherever they are, intentionally and indiscriminately. During the Gaza operation, for example, some Hamas militants embedded in the civilian population did not carry weapons while moving from one position to another. Arms and ammunition had been pre-positioned for them and stored in different houses. In addressing this vexing issue, the Goldstone Report uses a rather strange formulation: ?While reports reviewed by the Mission credibly indicate that members of the Palestinian armed groups were not always dressed in a way that distinguished them from the civilians, the Mission found no evidence that Palestinian combatants mingled with the civilian population with the intention of shielding themselves from the attack.? The reader of such a sentence might well wonder what its author means. Did Hamas militants not wear their uniforms because they were inconveniently at the laundry? What other reasons for wearing civilian clothes could they have had, if not for deliberately sheltering themselves among the civilians? As for the new ?front? in asymmetrical warfare, we read in another passage, which is typical of the report?s overall biased tone, that, ?On the basis of the information it gathered, the Mission finds that there are indications that Palestinian armed groups launched rockets from urban areas. The Mission has not been able to obtain any direct evidence that this was done with the specific intent of shielding the rocket launchers from counterstrikes by the Israeli armed forces.? What reason could there possibly be for launching rockets from urban centers, if not shielding those rockets from counterattack? And what is the moral distinction that is purportedly being established here? "--

How do you explain that Hamas is now sending loads of explosives in the Mediterranean sea, with the inevitable consequence that with the current they will end up on Israeli beaches? As far as I remember, there are civilians jogging and bathing on the beaches... One more war/terrorist crime. Or not??

The order, "Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes" wasn't from lawyers. That was the rules of engagement in Boston when we were starting to expel you Brits, as Breed's Hill. It made your victory there a bit Pyrrhic. I neither justify Hamas shooting at Israeli civilians, nor the IDF shooting at Gazan civilians. That Hamas thinks their soldiers are as pure as Galahad, just as the IDF claims is no surprise. Galahad was fictional.

Please tell me how you have any idea about what happens in Israel, outside of what you read in the news? I am an American from Boston, grew up there my whole life. I have lived in Israel the past few months, and it is not what you read and hear in the media. You just sit back there and make comments without knowing anything in terms of reality, then just make excuses for all of Israel's opponents. They shot 12,000 rockets over several years, before Israel responds. Think of Canada shot just one rocket into New York, how would the US react? seriously, 12,000 rockets into straight civillian areas, and your defending them everyday on these blogs. Wake up

Ever hearing of Hamas denying the intention of its rocket fire before the Goldstone Report. In the past they've always relied on justifications, and Natallie's premise certainly does account for the difference.

actually have pin point accuracy, but Hamas and Islamic Jihad are deliberately missing...Why? Because they care about Israeli lives.Still it puts an end the Anti Zio/Jewish contingency here who claim that these rockets cannot harm anything. all 8,000 of them. No war crimes however in Afghanistan, Pakistan,Georgia, Tibet etc....in fact these guys all have to ask permission before they fire. Now that's progress.

it mus have been a lawyers command " dont shoot until you see the whites of their eyes "???

So Al Queda and NATO are the same thing as well. You cant have it both ways dude.

After Israel made their knee jerk rejection of Goldstone, if Hamas accepted any of the charges made against them, then Israel would cry out that Israel was vindicated and that Hamas accepted the blame. Sadly, in situations like this, truth is the first casualty.

about the Goldstone report is that you were not asked to help write it. After all your knowledge of Israel and Hamas is unsurpassed. We are daily deluged with scores of your posts giving us the benefit of your expertise on all things be they nuclear, tactical, military (all branches), weapons (all types), political (all parties, intelligence (which you lack) and of course there is the ever present anti israel, smug sarcastic tone. Where do you get the time you must be so busy being a confidant of the prseident and head of the CIA. Enough already.

I find it ironic that the only thing that Israel and Hamas can agree upon is that the Goldstone report is a load of bull and that neither side committed war crimes! If only all that effort going towards bagging the Goldstone report could be put towards making peace!

Hamas has joined Israel in it's categorical denial of the findings of the Goldstone Report. This is not unexpected. Anyone who actually read the Goldstone Report understands that it is as damning of Hamas as Israel, and almost as damning of Fatah as Israel and Hamas. I guess someone in Hamas finally read the report. Will ANYONE in Israel actually read it? Who else has actually suffered to read their way through that dreary document?