Plenty of journalists reported on the war. Restrictions on coverage from within the urban warfare environment was no different than any other war.

Israel restricted food and water and supplies to a regime which ignored the cease-fire on a daily basis by launching thousands of missiles into homes and schools indiscriminately. Many months of warnings were given. The Hamas administration which is opposed to peace with Israel on principle refused to accept peaceful coexistence and this forced Israel to act.

Launching missiles, bombing schools and buses and restaurants are the tactics of Hamas and Al-Qaida. These are not a means of defense which is permissible even in wartime. Anyone would agree that such acts are war crimes. Actual warfare and blockades are not war crimes. All that is required for peace and prosperity for the Palestinians is that they put down their bombs and rockets, accept Israel and live peacefully. Anyone who has examined the long history of the area, with the original state of Israel, the Romans, the Syrians, the Turks, the British, the Egyptians, the Jordanians...realizes that the land which both Israel and the Palestinians claim has been under the governmental control of a wide variety of people throughout history.

The Misconception of "Occupation"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0-q8eFOJDI

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf19.html

A Picture History of the Land of Israel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdH0XxDEjG4

of course Youtube and jewishvirtuallibrary are non biased and accurate sources of information ::rolls eyes::
Please tell me why you support Israel if you're not a jew when you're considered to be Cattle in the Talmud.

Not in the books I read . They took up guns and started shooting the arabs they claim as family , shooting people who didn't care if they came there to live . They are not a democracy they don,t let the arabs or non jews vote . there not a democracy .

they have been in a stalemate for what? 50 years?

I doubt anyone is gonna solve the problem in these threads

there is too much that the Israelis AND the Palestinians wont budge on

I don't agree with you completely but there's a lot of truth in what you say . I don't see why we back them up as much as we do except that they would have to come here and live if they get thrown out . and I for one are sick of people coming here because the won't live with there neighbours . then they come here and start talking about the indian wars . or come here because there to chicken to demand a better wage from there employers ...

I support Israel for several reasons. But primarily because I believe they have a right to their peaceful coexistence and that they have a just right to the land in the cities they founded. I feel sympathy for plight of those who were forced to resettle there when they were expelled or forced to move there from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Germany, and the rest of Europe, and Russia and. of course, it is the unfashionable thing to do.

I like to bring up the opposing point of view whenever threads critical of Israel arise because the arguments in favor of Israel are so strong, well documented, and actually under-represented.

I find that very few people actually understand the situation there very well. It is not that I do not sympathize with the Palestinians.

There is a solution to the problem which many simply ignore.

Palestinians lay down their arms, accept Israel in her present borders and begin governing themselves in the remainder of Gaza and the West Bank in a demilitarized state of their own. This would produce a peaceful and prosperous state with the support of the rest of the world and Israel and produce a much better tangible life for the Palestinians immediately - and it could start tomorrow if the Palestinians decided to do it.

Rockets and bus/cafe bombings and other acts of obscene terror will only bring more tragedy and cannot advance the cause of peace.

why should we lay down our arms when our homes were stolen by force?
Are you suggesting if China invaded america you wouldn't fight and just hand over your house to them?
When america gives the land back to the natives then we'll talk.
Majority of Palestinians are ok with Israel existing, the point is...when the land was drawn up , it didn't include Jerusalem. This and Gaza was taken by Force illegally. The whole existence is based on a lie and a myth from a book.

I'm surprised that you say this . the Jews did not build Jerusalem it was built by the canites now known as Arabs . They were there for about 150 years an were driven out by the Romans . there real name is HEBREWS .they migrated there from an area by the persian gulf an from babelon before that . they spoke Araby at that time . and i can tell you where they were before that to if you need to know . your right about laying down your weapons . they started this .they could of come in an made peace instead of war . they have NO real claim on that country . you guys have been there for thousands of years .. they have to settle it or they well be defeated because of the numbers . THE LAST BUT MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THEY ARE YOUR DISTANT RELATIVES .

I don't see much more than, every once in a while, one will just bltch-slap the other to call world attention.
If it was me and I was leader of the stonger side. I'd just go in and level the whole place. If some chose not to leave, oh well, bury'em in the rubble.
Argument over.

I agree. The US relationship with Israel causes too many conflicts over there.