BBC (& Sky) Gaza DEC Appeal Veto

[londonblue]

Do you live in Gaza then? How the hell would you know that?? Everything I've read suggests those tunnels are used more for food than weapons and the pathetic response to the Israeli attack in which more Israeli soldiers were killed by "freindly fire" than by Hamas weaponry would seem to suggest that too.

Of course I don't live in Gaza, look at my name! I suspect you don't either.

I have, however, been to Sderot and seen all the spent rocket shells. As I said on an earlier thread, the Police HQ there keep all the ones they find. How come all the raw materials keep finding their way into Gaza? After 18 months you would have thought they would have run out if they weren't being smuggled in.

Someone else on another thread also stated that it is easy to make explosives from fertiliser, but it is a damn sight easier to make crops grow. Wouldn't that be more sensible? To you and me it would, but to Hamas who have grown strong because they blame Israel for all the ills of the region it actually makes sense not to grow crops, and to keep their people hating Israel.

 

[steveo]

What I find interesting here is that the majority of the support for Palestine is from those who support immigration in this country and the Support for Israel comes from those who oppose imigration over here...yet this could be seen to be a conflict where the indigineous population (Palestinians) are objecting to the increased power of Immigrants (Israel)

I think the well balanced posters of this site are just viewing each situation separately and passing their verdict according to what they think of each subject. What happens here and there are totally unrelated.

 

[pickledseal]

Back to my original arguement, at this point in time Palestinians are dying and in great need. They have no electrcity, no shelter, sewage is flowing through the streets, hospitals are over flowing, there is no medicine... whether Hamas have brought that on themselves can me debated for days, weeks, months or years to come. Who is right and who is wrong can be discussed on here, or whereever. But people are dying, inncocent people. I think they need as much help as possible.

 

[A Century United]

Not being convinced that all the missiles being fired at Israel can be home made fireworks, I have been having a look around on the Internet, and found the following information:

The year 2008 saw a dramatic increase in the extent of HAMAS rocket fire and mortar attacks on Israel, with a total of 3,278 rockets and mortar shells landing in Israeli territory (1,750 rockets and 1,528 mortar shells). These numbers are double those of 2007 and 2006, years which marked a five-fold increase over prior years. There was also a significant increase in the number of Israeli residents exposed to rocket fire. Prior to 2008, the city of Sderot (about 20,000 residents) as well as villages around the Gaza Strip were the main targets of rocket fire and mortar shelling. In 2008, the cities of Ashkelon and Netivot came under attack by Grad artillery rockets with a range of about 20 kilometers. Later, during Operation Cast Lead, Ashdod, Beersheba, and other cities were attacked by a previously un-identified rocket with a range of 40 kilometers from the Gaza Strip. This rocket created a new reality in which nearly one million Israeli residents [about 15 percent of the entire population] were at risk.

On 28 December 2008, two impacts of artillery rockets were identified near the towns of Gan Yavne and Bnei Darom. The rockets were launched from the northern Gaza Strip and attained ranges of some 33-34 km. Examination showed that they were Chinese-made rockets with similar characteristics to standard 122-mm rockets. The maximum range of those rockets is up to 40 km.
While news accounts reference these as Grad rockets [the Russian nomenclature] or "enhanced Katyusha", the rockets used in the attack on Ashdod must have a range twice that of the BM-21 Grad. Photographs of a rocket that landed near Gan Yavne, northeast of Ashdod on 28 December, do indicate that it was a 122-mm rocket. This is inconsistent with the idea that HAMAS was using Iranian-made rockets, either the Oghab with a range of 34-45 km or the Fajr-3 / Ra'ad with a range of 45 km.
The WeiShi [literally "Guardian", (WS) family of the multiple launch rocket systems were developed by China's Sichuan Aerospace Industry Corporation (SCAIC, also known as Base 062) in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The WeiShi series includes the 122mm WS-1E with a ranage of 40km. The WS-1 series weapon system did not enter PLA service, and was not known to have received any orders from foreign customers.

I still think that Israel shouldn't have attacked Gaza as they did, but the scale of the provocation is a bit clearer from that, and the hand of the Iranians, amongst others, is very clear.

Global Security Website

And:

Hamas now has longer range Iranian-made rockets, and several hit near the Israeli port city of Ashdod for the first time, 23 miles [37 km] from Gaza.Israel's Home Front Command recommended that all communities within a 40-kilometer range of Gaza be hooked up to the Color Red incoming missile alert system.

 

[C C Csiders]

Like many of us I am disturbed that one of the best English footballers of all time is in a situation where alcoholism and depression has by all accounts bought him to the brink of suicide.

Mental Health is a very serious issue indeed, but a disaster?