Friday's "Larry King Live" comments

Larry
This conflict in Gaza is taking so long that I tend to question Israel the real reason behind it. In the six day war they fought on three different front and they won it, in six days. I am very surprise for their inability to end this conflict sooner.

Since the war is not ending, and the world leaves Palastine's future in the hands of the Israelis.The world should be ashamed for allowing Israel with the modern weapons to murder the poor Palestinians. The world wonders how the hate grows. Since nobody is able to control Israel donot complain about Iran. Israel always has excuses even when found to be unfair. Will some nation who actually believes in humanity please help the people of Palestine.

Larry,
In this 'never ending' cycle of violence Israel is the stronger side.
The sooner the 'Hamas' get it, the better…
If one deliberately develops a 'humanitarian crisis' because it is good news materials, so be it! Israel has the right to defined it self for any attacks coming for the Palestinian side.

I cannot even begin to imagine what John and Kelly are going thru. Please Larry and all U.S. media respect their privacy and let them mourn in peace. God Bless them!!!

I hope some nation starts to give Palestine modern weapons. See how Israel will fair then.

It is ashamed that Israel is getting away with so much violence! They commit daily atrocities against Palestinians, their innocent children too. Did you know that most Palestinian children there have hearing problems because of the daily sound bombs that Israel puts out.? Also, did you know that more than 80% of the citizens in Palestine are below the national poverty level there. They lack basic needs such as water, decent food and medical care because Israel controls everything – basic human rights that we take for granted.
I think suicide bombers are crazy and so are all religious extremists who harm others in the name of their religion. Both sides need to remember the golden rule, "Treat others the way you want to be treated", somehow they have forgetten that. And unfortunately, the Western press doesn't report enough about the "pain" inflicted onto the Palestinians. I think Obama will try to help the situation!

Why hasn't Jordan and Egypt been more active in any peace talks?

It seems sad to me that too few people "condem the violence" BEFORE Israel begins defending itself. Hezbollah and Hamas start these incidents. Why don't those who call for "peace" demand the enemies of Israel UPHOLD the peace?

It is a sad day for the Travolta's but he did have Autism. The Scientology community does NOT accept Autism as they cannot cure this and have turned away ALL people who have children with Autism. The Travolta's always claim he had Kawasaki's disease and it is cureable but he had Autism. They had to hide his diagnosis or the Scientology community would have asked them to leave but Money does talk.

I think what Israel has done is reprehensible. Not because they are trying to defend themselves, but because of the timing which was obviously done to undermine any attempts by the new President to broker a peace in the Middle East. Hamas has been hurling those ineffective rockets for months. They have harmed less than 20 people over several months because they are weak at best. Since Israel's incursion, Hamas has now upped the strength, but they are still inept and Israel knows it. To turn around and slaughter women and children in an effort to kill any chance at peace is depressing.

Israel was afraid that the Arabs would show cooperation toward Obama which they feared would then empower the Palestinians as it would require Israel to show some spirit of reciprocity. This way, all of that is off the table. The United States has created a monster by arming Israel and giving it cover. I do not believe at all in the terrorism that the Arabs practice, but this is not the answer. This will increase terrorism and make it unsafe for everyone.

My heart goes out to the Travoltas! My daughter nearly died from a seizure at 5. We put a perfectly healthy child to bed one spring evening and by 4 am she was coding in an ambulance being kept alive only be the efforts of the paramedic giving her CPR. She ended up in life support with a grim prognosis. Thankfully we have her today and I wish medical science had more answers to why a perfectly healthy child with no prior history can suddenly suffer such a devastating illness.

Jgold – You don't know the truth, so would you please stop. It's people like you that will worsen the pain for the Travoltas.

i just want to send my prayers to john and his family. john is my favorite actor and my heart goes out to him. i am 30 years old and i had seizures myself for 25 1/2 years. i know what jett went through with the seizures. it was very tough for him.

My heart goes out the Travolta family at this time, God bless them. Will an autopsy show if he had Autisum?

It's well known in Hollywood circles that Jett was autistic. That being said, I am curious how this seizure could could be related to autism, rather that Kawasaki.

Call if you wish 978-677-7180

Hmmmmm.....4 Israelis dead ....400 Palestinians?!?!?!?! Kind of a rerun of David and Goliath....but, David with his rocks/slingshot is LOSING!!!!
YOU DO THE MATH!!!

John Travolta inspires anyone to seek integrity, to live life as a gift and to cherish each moment with the belief that anything is reachable, even when pursued honestly and with purity. Today a part of that lineage and a piece of the Travolta's heart was passed from life to another life and we all lost something good.

We all send our strength and the hope of all our prayers.

Ron DeJohn

It breaks my heart to see this continued "war" in the Middle East, and I have no idea as to how to solve it personally. Yes, the Jewish people have an absolute right to a homeland. While I know the history of what brought Israel to be, I don't understand why, in this, they kicked the Palestinians out – I never have.

I just wish good people would stop killing good people – from both povs.

It's a cryin' shame. It really is.

Larry
Hamas did not break the cease fire, or the truce, Israel was supposed to stop killing civilians and lift the blockade and allow aide into Gaza but they did not. Therefore Hamas and the people of Gaza got angry and frustrated, and in my eyes if they want to throw a few rockets then let them be!
Half of the children in Gaza suffer from anemia now, and the Hamas rockets in the entire year of 2008 only KILLED SIX PEOPLE versus the so far over 400 killed and 2600 injured in a few days by Israel.
15 million US tax dollars a day 4 billion dollars a year to fund Israel, when this money can be used to fix health care and the economy.
How can the American people allow their tax money to be used for this?
If this comment does not get posted and read aloud it shows how biased the media really is...
I am an American and I want to use my freedom of speech and so I will.
Israel wants to ethnically cleanse the land and take it over they are trampling over the indegenous Palestinian population, why are the arab countries doing nothing? Where is the UNited Nations? Where is the World?

Larry,
why is this canard of "Hamas broke the truce" repeated over and over? Why did you not ask the Ambassador what happened on Nov 4 about the 'tunnel raid' when 6 people died? Hamas RETALIATED to this incident with the rockets. Not a single American journalist has asked the many talking heads about the number of times Israel has violated the 'truce'. We are all complicit in this genocidal war against a trapped population who cannot escape to anywhere by land (which Israel has blocked), or via sea (which the Israeli Navy patrols). And why don't you ask the Ambassador about the ramming of the "Dignity" which was bringing in medical and humanitarian supplies along with doctors and surgeons to Gaza?
But I am taking a bet with friends that these questions will NEVER be asked by any member of our "free" press.
Sushila
Florida

its about time stop the rot its getting everywhere go on the iralies.

sorry, but your graphics at the bottom of the screen is very, very distracting. Way too much.

Thanks and I do enjoy your program.

Dear Steve from Boston: What really does it matter to us – the public? Is this really our business? I see these actors as people just as you would like to have your privacy. Understandably, they don't have the freedom that you and I have because of the media. Actors entertain us and make us enjoy our lives. They deserve their privacy as much as they can.

Israel’s actions in Gaza are justified under international law, and Israel should be commended for its self-defense against terrorism. Article 51 of the United Nations Charter reserves to every nation the right to engage in self-defense against armed attacks.

While Israel installs warning systems and builds shelters, Hamas refuses to do so, precisely because it wants to maximize the number of Palestinian civilians inadvertently killed by Israel’s military actions. Hamas knows from experience that even a small number of innocent Palestinian civilians killed inadvertently will result in bitter condemnation of Israel by many in the international community.

Israel understands this as well. It goes to enormous lengths to reduce the number of civilian casualties—even to the point of foregoing legitimate targets that are too close to civilians.

Until the world recognizes that Hamas is committing three war crimes—targeting Israeli civilians, using Palestinian civilians as human shields, and seeking the destruction of a member state of the United Nations—and that Israel is acting in self-defense and out of military necessity, the conflict will continue.

The won to blame is Hammas they started firing rockets and Israel is defending itself. Its Hammas who started this War.

The Israelis have a right to live without the fear of rockets raining down on them. They should and, I believe, will go into Gaza to clean up the Terrorist group Hamas and they have every right to protect themselves. The Israelis are tough as nails and will do what is necessary for their survival.

Why now? Is Israel making this move now because it is believed that Bush is more sympathetic and supportive for Israel than Barak Obama might be? If so, can we expect to see Israel move intensely and quickly ni order to have this over before inauguration?

Dafur, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Iraq, U.S Who's next? Why don't all you warmongers just get on with it. World War III is what you seem to want. Unfortunately, those who pull the strings aren't the ones doing the fighting or dying.

Shane on Israel. Shame n the World.

How much more violence must there Be to have another draft from the u.s.a

It's about time. What is Israel to do, just sit back and continue to be terrioized? Remember who the god father of terriosiam was – Yassar Arrafat.

The crisis in Gaza is very tragic, I understand Israel's need to protect their people, but they're over doing it. The blood of innocent children and women is being lost for no reason whatsoever.
what have the civilians ever done? they dont deserve this at all.
They're just like Israelis, they're human they deserve that right to live.
its honestly not fair.

The hypocrisy that follows Hamas seems to continuously rear its ugly head. If they (Hamas) are so determined to declare a war against Israel, why don't they aim their missiles at the troops waiting along their border. Once again the cowardice of Hamas and its militant followers becomes evident by their continues bombardment of civilians and their shelter behind a human shield.

This is a terrible situation and I feel for all of the people getting caught in the middle. Hamas started this current fighting by sending missles into Isreal. When you mess with the bull, you get the horns!

It is important to bring a HUMAN face to both sides of this issue. Please keep bringing this forth. To be balanced, both sides of this human debacle must continue to be shown.

Violence only begets violence. Set aside those weapons and try the diplomacy approach again–and really TRY it this time.

Look at the quality of life of Israelis–first class citizens, upper middle class lifestyles with running water, bathrooms, heat/warmth, modern shelter, air conditioning, 21st century technology.

Look at the quality of life of the Gazans just around the corner–developing world poverty, squalor, cut off from medical needs, running water, second class citizens.

Bombs dropping over 400 dead and over 2000 injured
Rockets flying 7 dead

Everyone needs to try and envision their very human reaction to Gaza/Israel, whichever ’side’ you’re on.

If bombs were dropping on your neighborhood, how would you react?

If rockets came through your window, how would you react?

Before more lives are lost on both sides there must be a peaceful broker sent to the region. Why wait for Obama? Or Egypt or Jordan get involved!

Larry,
I think that it is fine to be critical as long as you can offer an alternative. Too many people think that they sound cultured and moral while critising Israel and her actions, but once asked for a plausible solution to achieve peace and to demobilise Hamas, there is a never an answer that does not include the Jews joining the Diaspora and leaving Israel.
Although I feel for those innocent who have lost their lives in the crossfire, I can't help but ask myself and everyone else if Israel actually has a choice?

Larry,

The next time you have someone on who represents the "Palestinian view," I feel like many views would appreciate your possibly asking them what they would do if they were Israel. All of this talk of a "disproportionate Israeli response to the rockets" seems a little bit nonsensical, because in my view, if there were a terrorist group shooting rockets at my town, I would expect my government to do anything in its power to stop it, regardless of "proportions," as it appears Israel is doing.

Jeff T
Short Hills, NJ

Once again the US blamed Palestinians, and the Hamas "thugs" using words that defy logic, such as "Israel has the right to defend itself."

How about Palestinians who have no freedom, no jobs, no access to borders, and a democratically elected government branded as terrorists because they are fighting for freedom. WHO IS THE OCCUPIER. we need to change our foreign policy. stop supporting israel. AIPAC controls our foreign policies.

Larry,
A large problem exists with Hamas. They intentionally places its rocket launchers in civilian neighborhoods. Because of this, it is nearly impossible for Israel to solely aim at the leaders of the terrorist organizations. When Israel accurately hits these targets, the missiles and bombs explode in all directions, putting Palestinian civilians at dire risk of injury or death.
Once Hamas cares about the citizens of Gaza, then and only then can peace begin to happen.

Dear Lary,
when are you going to ask the right questions? for how long occupation of palestinians land going to stay? what is the moral and ethics behind sturving the people of alestine? should the opressed just submit to the occupier? what every is offerd the occupied must take? have the world lost mind??

Hi sir,
I don't understand how you can talk about the good conditions of Israelian children and never talk about Palestinian hardships and tragic situations !! Why ? Explain why? Aren't they human beings? They are losing evrything and you want them to say thank you, welcome ?
What would you do if you were attacked like this ? Can't you count ? nearly 500 losses ? and you talk of Israelian confort? Incredible !

The media has displayed Israel as the instigator in these attacks, when in fact, she is merely defending herself against a terrorist group. After 9/11 there was no question that we should defend ourselves against terrorists, why shouldn't Israel be able to defend herself?

How many more dead from either side until the International community Speaks up? Where are the United Nations? and all the International Organizations? Regardless of who is saying “they did it first” children are dying and civilians are getting involved. The Palestinians have been victims of Human Rights Violations, it feeld like Israeli lifes are more important than Palestinian lifes. I am very scared for what is to come, because people are angry and the will be more blodhsed. Its time to stop this indifference!

I do not undertand that nobody had mentioned that the main reason of these attacks probably are the coming elections in Israel elections next February. It is sad what people are willing to do for power. There are no winners in any war , and this one is not different.

What Israel is doing is outrageous. Gaza is for all practical purposes a prison camp, and is is a war crime to bomb civilians from the air like this. They deserve no support from us, and we need to stop all aid to Irsael immediately..

Larry,

The next time you have someone on who represents the “Palestinian view,” I feel like many viewers would appreciate your possibly asking them what they would do if they were Israel. All of this talk of a “disproportionate Israeli response to the rockets” seems a little bit nonsensical, because in my view, if there were a terrorist group shooting rockets at my town, I would expect my government to do anything in its power to stop it, regardless of “proportions,” as it appears Israel is doing.

Jeff T
Short Hills, NJ

No nation is going to be able to overcome Israel. You have only to turn to the prophecies of the Old Testament to find that God gave that land to Israel thru the unconditional covenant with Abraham.

Hamas did not start the bombing. This is a very common misconception. Israel started bombing long ago, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians homeless and deprived of basic neccessities and security. If thought about correctly, Hamas only sends missiles for scare. Notice the very small number of Israelis killed and injured. In striking contrast, the Israeli missiles have killed over 400 Palestinians over the past week. Is this what we call humane?

over 3 years ago Israel left Gaza. What did they do? Choose Hamas that instead of building and working to better the life of their citizens they decided to bomb Israeli towns and inocent people.
Israeli trucks of supplies cross the border to Gaza with medical supplies and food while this is going on. Israel is taking injured palestinians to its own hospitals and treat them.

It is sad that it is more important for ther Hamas to destroy Israel then help their own

Israel seems to be the aggressor here. They are using the firing of some rockets from Hamas into Israel a pretext for war. Large numbers of innocent men, women, and children are being killed in Gaza and Israel has the nerve to say they are defending themselves against the terrorists. It's time for Israel to show restraint.

I am morally confused by the unconditional support of Israel that I see here in the U.S. media? First, Israel was formed in 1948 by a unilateral European regime. Palestine has historically been home to the Arabs since Roman times. What moral right does Israel have to occupy the Palestinian people? Israel was formed because of the Holocaust, which I agree was a great moral crime. But, the Holocaust happened in Germany, not Palestine, so why was it ever created in the middle east? I have studied Isreal and in fact explored converting to Judaism. However, seeing the reality of Isreal, it makes me feel that the entire State of Isreal is holding the world hostage because the belief of Judaism is that of the "Chosen People" and the "Promised Land." I believe that Isreal has no right to the region.

It is sad to see the people of Palestine woman and children to suffer, the attacks from Israel. Because Even Hamas sending Rockets to Israel is wrong but is not right that Israel Attacks from the air killing inoccent civilians very dissapointed that nobody says Stop Killing Innocent Civilians!

I hope that somebody has the courage to Stop Israel from killing so many Innocent lives! God knows best.

Why are the people of the Hebrew faith so disliked throughout history? What are they doing that upsets so many people throughout the world over so many centuries? Why isn't there discussion of this so that eventually we may resolve the problem?

What is the deal with just about every single news outlet going to such pains to detail the death of every single child that dies during the gaza offensive? I don't know of any war where every single article you look at lists the ages, where they were, what they were doing at the time, for every single person under 18 who dies.

It is rarely pointed out that the vast majority of the people who die are Hamas. Israel goes FAR FAR out of their way to not kill innocents. They phone people around the targets and in some cases they actually CALL the target to tell them they are going to hit the house. They send warning missiles.

Hamas holds people captive at locations to actually cause civilian deaths. Hamas is the only group that WANTS civilians to die in this offensive.

Larry:
I just think we need to stop calling (Hamas) these people terrorist groups and we need to start calling them cowrdist.
No terrorism but cowardism.
A coward attacks on your back.
Cowards attack on innocent children civilians.

Larry,
Bush blames hamas for the ongoing attacks in Israel, but when people are isolated and are struggling economically by blockades that the Israel put up around gaza, what are they supposed to do?
I wonder how Obama would feel if his daughters were in gaza, since he mentioned he would not like it if rockets would hit his family in israel. I am disappointed in him.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem

Dear Larry, Casualties Israel 20 years 30 people Gaza 20 days 400 people Does this tell us something about the worlds ethics and morals regards DJ

larry, i have been hearing that the people of Israel are living in terror from Hamas but can you ever see the threat the palestinians feel from Israel. how can anyone compare warheads used by Israel with the rockets of Hamas. i am for peace from both sides but have got fed up with the bias against the palestinins.

I have a hard time understanding why the world is so against the response Israel has given to the continuous bombing done by Hamas. As a point of comparison, if Canada launched a dozen missiles at my childhood home town of Flint, Michigan (not that they would cause any serious damage to that already ravaged city) that would be cause for all out war. Does anyone think the U.S.A. wouldn't defend itself to the nth degree? Any country has the right to defend itself and if attacked I don't think you are required to stop and count the number of bombs you toss and stop at the corresponding number. Get a life world!

Larry:

Hamas chose to terminate the cease fire. They are firing rockets into Israel. They must have known there would be retaliation. They should be negotiating with Israel IN GOOD FAITH, and secure benefits instead of death for their Palistinian people.

Hanan Ashwari is not human rights activist. I have never heard her talk about Israeli human rights. Also, when Larry asked her about the violence against Israel, she responds, "it's only a few rockets!" Israel is a wonderful country that has been constantly besieged since 1948 by Arab neighbours. If the Palestinian people really want peace they should get rid of the vermin that bring them only suffering. Their own leaders! If they would make peace with Israel, they would be helped beyond belief by Israel.

I am so sick of hearing Palestinians blaming Israel for their problems.
Also, were are the billions of Arab dollars and why aren't they helping?

I do not understand the reasoning behind the way the Palestinians are fighting with Israel with violence. Palestinians seem to be fighting to die rather than fighting to win for their cause.

They call the suicide bombers and the Hammas militants Martyrs. But a Martyrs die so that after him lives of his countryman would become better. he dies for the good of others, that is why a Martyr is honorable. but Hummas militants are dieing so that they themselves may go to heaven, how is that person a Martyr.

i want to know why people are making a big deal over 4 israelis dead, when 434 palestinians are dead and several of them are women and children!!!! And is it not fair that palestinians are using homemade weapons and rocks to defend ourselves against the second most powerful country when it comes to military powers! and i am speaking on behalf of my family.

Larry,

This is ethnic cleansing.

Hamas did not start this. Israel started this on the cross border attack on 4 November. They broke the truce by killing 6 militants and Hamas retaliated. This is fact and it was reported on CNN, IHT, NY Times, etc. This is not disputed.

Hamas has fired about 70 rockets a day. Israel has 80 F-18 war planes in the sky, dropping 1000s of bombs and missiles on a civilian population. Israel says they are doing surgical strikes? On a university? Lies and propaganda.

Since Harry Truman was lobbied by pro-Zionists to recognize the Jewish State of Israel, built for Jewish civilians only, against his own secretary of state, against the strategic interests of the US, the US has given them blind support for Israel to continue this catastrophe. A 60 year refugee crisis. We allow this?

Why is the United States not engaging both parties with a special envoy? This is the reason we (Americans) are not respected anywhere. Hopefully President elect Obama will reverse this Bush curse.

Someone is lying. You would think in this day and age we could come up with some degree of certainty who is bombing who first.

We need to denounce terrorism, both Israeli and Arab terrorism

Hi Larry
I grew up in an arab country, lived in Israel for 20 years, and now in the USA for 20 years. I think I understand both arab and Israeli mentalities.
Israel is tired of wars, and there is today a great opportunity for the Palestinians, with a new government in the US and in Israel.
Hamas needs to do an "ouverure" , and state that they would be opened to recognize the existence of Israel, "within certain conditions".
Once this is done, will have a reason to make concessions.
This is the key issue.
Israeli left Gaza without a recognition and nothing good happened.
Jonathan

Hanan Ashwari, as are the other Palestinian spokespeople, are lying. Hamas broke the ceasefire and will not be happy until the State of Israel is destroyed, and that includes Abbas. Israel has the right to defend itself at all costs. The IDF has to proceed with caution with a ground war, but they will have to do what they have to do to get rid of the evil scourge of Hamas.

Larry,
Hamas is not a terrorist organization. It, in fact, was elected democratically by the people of Gaza. As a legitimate, elected government body it is responsible for the protection of its people. Because of this, the citizens of Gaza are responsible for this as well.

Are any of us really surprised that Israel is again systematically destroying Palestinians and their institutions? Israel is a Zionist state and therefore, by definition, is bent in the destruccion of anything that stands in its path of illegal expansion and conquest. Israel is a terrorist state and all the Jews who support Israel are guilty of genocide. May there be "nurenberg" trials against all of them.

We must letting Israel massacre the people in Gaza. The Palestinians have been under siege and occupation since the inception of the State of Israel. We cannot continue to turn our heads to this fact....What would Jesus do? We must set a new and balanced agenda for our foreign policy in the Middle East which is not based on "anything goes that Israel wants to do" including murder, genocides and massacre.

Elaine
Virginia

We need to be fair brokers and stop backing Israel.

1. we continue to change the vocabulary when talking about these groups that attack you from the back and attack innocent civilians, children and women. They are not "terrorist" they are "cowards."
2. No question that their actions do "terrorize" people......But we have the ultimate choice to feel how we want to feel. We have control on our attitudes..............and our attitude should be such of strength by stating clearly to the world at large that these individuals are not scaring us but instead they are just demonstrating their weakness.
3. Words such as: cowardism, cowardist should replace the "T" word and words as much as possible. In the way we talk, they way we write, and the way we think. Also we must:

4. Understand that in this human world until the Messiah comes, cowards will always exist.
5. Understand that cowards never win.
6. Understand that cowards lack intellectual reasoning.
7. Understand that with Hashem's blessings, a coward may recognize his weakness and decide to accept peace and ask for dialogue. When that happens, we will love to have peace with our "brothers."
8. Understand that from Hashem's point of view, we are all brothers and sisters coming from one man: Adam.
9. Understand that we, Jewish people, are here today is because of miracles, Israel today is a miracle. Let us not forget that Hashem is our protector and no weapon, no sophisticated computer or tank can beat enemies. The rod of Moses is a weapon, Torah, and the belief that angels do exist and protect our families on a daily basis.
10. Ultimately, let us be as vigilant as we can be, let us not leave our backs unprotected. Shield and defense is a great tactic against "cowards"
Please help me disseminate these ideas to our strong Jewish community and beyond.

May we find kindness and truth. For thousands of years these differences between countries have needed to be settled by overcoming racism and religious differences and especially the “me, me and not you will live here now” mentality. I am a survivor of WW II. I feel sorry for all children in Palestine and Israel and so too for every child of war. Memories never end. Hatred and racism grow on to be vented into war. The only way to end these wars is through kindness and respect for all life, which benefits everyone. Allow no one to benefit from war, in particular the weapon manufacturers and those countries who stoke up the fire and provide the means to make these hateful conditions. Hate no one. Condemn no one. Make peace.

Also, some advice to CNN reporter Nick Roberson, please don’t seek cover under the back end of a vehicle where the gas tank is located for you will get a double explosion if hit. Use the front end.

H.H. Hehpsehboah A., Vancouver, Canada

It is obvious to me that Hamas has been stocking up weapons during the last 'cease fire." As an American, if Canada were to hypothetically fire missiles into Detroit or Buffalo, do you think the US would sit idelly by? I don't think so.

Larry,
Hamas needs to stop the rocket attacks, (Full stop) Israel has a right to defend itself, I am working and living in a Muslim country of Kosovo, the majority of the the people here support Israel.............

424 dead on palestinian side , 2000 or more injured

4 israeli dead

why this all war attitude, is it not disproporianete

a viewer from Geneva Switzerland

The Palestinians are at fault and are deserving of the Israeli retaliation, peace has never and will never be in their interest. The media continues to show civilian casualties on the Palestinian side but they don't realize that there are no civilians just terrorists disguised as civilians. The Palestinians have been given numerous oppurtunities for peace but have always refused, let me remind you that Hamas has been bombarding Israel for three months. where was the media then?

HI Larry,

I am an American-Palestinian and I wish we can see both sides of this story in the Gaza Crisis through the American media. As in any conflict there are two sides and as usual, the Palestinains are not given the same human rights and voice that Israel is always given. I am not in support of any terror group just the civil and human rights of Palestinian people who have been under occupation for more then half a century. The citizens of Gaza deserve the support and respect of the international community, as their lives are not worth less then that of citizens of Israel. All human life is worthy of saving, including that of Palestinians.

you cannot defeat people who have every right to exist and roots are deep into their land. isreal is a terrorist state that will eventualy disipate just like the apartied government of south africa. isreal will loose again like they did in the 2006 against lebanon and do you know why larry? because its army is a bunch of mercenaries with no guts or heart.

Where are the Palestinians supposed to live? I ask you. All out there. On this blog. I have been invited… I cannot say. It only looks to me, like the Israeli people are killing the Palestinians. Does America and Israel blame Hamas or Palestine?

I wonder. It seems a difficult situation. The blind support of Israel. Do we need to support any other country? If we do, can we get it right? Peace has requirements.

It requires a peaceful attitude. Credibility is needed. America does not seem to be able to put that forward.

Love. Where is it? Leaders talk about that a lot, and then… put the pressure on the people. I guess the people can take it…

Good evening Larry,
Israel finally retaliating the continual bombing coming from Hamas. The saddest thing is that Hamas thinks that the safest place for them to do their terror is from a civilian neighborhood. I don't think that Israel can be soley at fault concerning this current fight. Only the saddest type would use their own countrymen and families as a sheild and Hamas is hiding behind that 'shield'.

Imagine putting yourself in the Palestinians' shoes. What if America had a few terrorists and another country tried to get rid of them by blasting bombs into innocent people's homes. Thousands of Americans would die in the process just like the Palestinians.That is unfair and America should understand that!

What's happening in Gaza these days is extrmely unacceptable. Israel claims and complains about the FEW damaged houses in Israel and the handful of Israeli people dead. The Palestinians' case however is far too severe.

This is a spiritual war. The spirit of religion is full of hate and fear.

I THINK WHAT'S GOING ON I GAZA IS JUST A RESULT OF THE DOUBLE STANDARD OF THE WAY THAT THE US DEALS WITH THE ISLAMIC WORLD, THE US TOTALLY CLOSE IT'S EYES ON THE MASACRE IN GAZA, IF THIS IS HAPPEN TO AN ALLY TO THE US OR IN A STRATIGIC REGION IN THE WORLD THAT WILL BENEFIT THE US WE WOULD'VE SEEN A DIFFRENT REACTION.
AT THE END I WANN SAY THE AMERICAN MEDIA ( CNN, FOX, MSNBC) ARE THE MOST HYPOCRIT CHANNELS IN MODERN HYSTORY , WHERE IS THE COVERAGE OF THE SIVILIAN THAT DIES EVERY DAY, THE IMAGES OF HUNGRY CHILDREN, OF DESTRUCTION, OF THE 425 DEAD AND THE 2500 WOUNDED. REALITY HEARTS , I KNOW IN ADVANCE THAT YOU'RE NOT GOING TO POST BUT I STILL CHALLANGE ALL OF YOU TO SAY THE TRUTH.

Larry, as long as Palestenians have been suicide bombing Israelis, they deserve every single rocket and bomb that Israel can put on them. Don't they understand that peace is a two way street?

Larry King,
You keep showing the fire in Israel settlements which anyways are illegal and belong to Palestine and are part of the Palestinian territory as the United Nations have recognized.

Even when you read your blog you read the pro Israeli comments only and your pro Palestinian quotes were weak

The israeli ambassador got more air time than the Palestinian woman

our tax money is being used to kill innocent children and it is a shame

I can't believe a democracy could ever stoop to such a sickening massacre. It's like caging an animal, beating it continually until it bites back, and then using this as an excuse to kill it. Israel killed many Gazans during the ceasefire, I'm not aware one Israeli was killed. What hold does Israel have over western leaders and media toenable them to consistency flout accepted levels of human behaviour and always manage to portray themselves as the
victim?

What Americans Need to Know – but Probably Won't be Told – to Understand Palestinian Rage
by Eduardo Cohen

As the Persian Gulf War was raging I had what I felt to be the particular honor, as an American Jew, of being sponsored by the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee on a fact finding mission to investigate Israeli human rights abuses carried out against Palestinians under emergency measures declared during the war. I had been reporting on US policy in the Middle East for more than ten years on KPFA and other California radio stations and I had been documenting and lecturing on anti-Arab racism in American popular culture and the news media.

After the delegation's week of fact-finding was completed, I decided to spend more time on my own to dig deeper into what Israeli occupation meant for Palestinians In the next two weeks my travels would take me from the sandy back roads, sweet smelling orange groves and fetid poverty ridden slums of Gaza to meetings with Palestinian and Jewish activists in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. And from the stifling heat of Jericho, where I interviewed Saeb Erikat under house arrest, to some of the West Bank's most remote hills where the isolated rural villages were controlled by the Islamic political organization known as Hamas.

Coming back and talking with most Americans about what I had seen and learned there made me feel as if I had entered an episode of the Twilight Zone – an episode in which the main character can see a dangerous and foreboding presence that no one else can see. The protagonist points it out to them but as soon as they look, it has disappeared. They cannot see it.

And pretty soon the increasingly desperate and frustrated character even begins to doubt his or her own sanity.

But such was the gulf between what I had seen and experienced and what the American public perceived through the lens of the American news media. I couldn't help but conclude that the American public wasn't even getting a fraction of the information it needed to comprehensively understand and intelligently monitor its own government's policies in the Middle East.

Now, almost ten years later, little has changed and the gulf in perception is just as wide.

Perhaps that is understandable. The American news media are probably the most pro-Israeli in the world. Even the Israeli news media are more critical of the Israeli government than American journalists are. Perhaps this isn't surprising since the US is Israel's main benefactor and Israel receives more US aid than any other country in the world. But it is still disturbing to see how uncritically US news coverage seems to follow US foreign policy and how much the American news media protect Israel.

If one never leaves the United States or reads the foreign news media, it is easy to be unaware of this incredible gulf between how the US media perceive and report on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how it is viewed in much of the rest of the world. Even the next most pro-Israeli press, that of Great Britain, shows sharp contrasts with American reporting on Israel and the Occupied Territories.

In American coverage of the recent Camp David meetings the American press Prime Minister Ehud Barak made courageous concessions for peace, Palestinian unwillingness to compromise caused the meeting to fail.

Never mind that Barak's 'courageous concessions' consisted of allowing the Palestinians to have joint administrative responsibility over a couple of remote Arab neighborhoods of Arab East Jerusalem – pathetic crumbs tossed on the floor which Arafat was expected to gratefully pick up.

I had to read the British press to find out that, according to documents leaked from Camp David, Arafat reportedly made so many major concessions that they could endanger the possibility of a creating a viable Palestinian state.

According to a British newspaper, The Independent, Palestinian concessions at Camp David included the right of Israel to maintain a permanent military presence in the Jordan Valley, the presence of Israeli early warning stations on Palestinian territory, Israeli permission to fly over Palestinian air space, the right of Israel to use its army on Palestinian land if it fears a danger to the State of Israel, Palestinian agreement not to have an army, and permanent Israeli sovereignty over existing Jewish settlements – settlements which effectively cut off Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and which, including the giant Jewish settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim, effectively cut the West Bank into two pieces separated by Israeli territory.

There are other important facts that I regularly see mentioned in newspapers from other countries that are rarely mentioned, if at all, in American newspapers and broadcasts.

In the British and European press, readers are often reminded that the very existence of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza is a clear violation of international law, specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention, and that the continued occupation of Gaza, he West Bank and East Jerusalem are in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions.

Readers of British papers are also reminded regularly that what the Americans often characterize as an 'inflexible' and 'radical' Palestinian demand for full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is exactly what is called for in United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 which, according to the Oslo Agreement, signed by Israel, is exactly the framework on which final resolution is supposed to be based.

Reporting on Camp David, American reporters obediently quoted Israeli Prime Minister Barak's statements questioning whether Palestinians are negotiating 'in good faith' but failed to report ongoing Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank that raise serious questions about Israel's 'good faith': continuing demolitions of Palestinian homes; confiscation of Palestinian water; expansion and construction of Jewish settlements in occupied territory; denial of building permits to Palestinian homeowners; and construction of Jewish 'security roads' which cut 1/4 mile swaths through Palestinian land. Not only have American reporters left out crucial information necessary to a comprehensive understanding of the conflict and the peace process, but for far too long they have demonstrated a mindlessly uncritical acceptance of even the most absurd Israeli arguments against making peace.

Foremost of these is the oft used Israeli argument that Palestinian authorities must guarantee an end to terrorist attacks as a prerequisite to any Israeli agreements. It has always been a laughable argument, except to American journalists.

If the United States government could not prevent the bombings at Oklahoma City and the World Trade Towers and the Israeli government could not prevent the assassination of its own prime minister, how can Yaser Arafat possibly guarantee the end of terrorist acts by Palestinian elements outside of his control?

There are other serious lapses in American coverage which make it difficult for Americans to understand, on an emotional level, the Palestinians' anger and frustration that are now boiling over in the streets of the Occupied Territories and even within Israel itself.

Recent violence has been attributed to Palestinian anger about the visit by Ariel Sharon, accompanied by 1,000 police and hundreds of supporters, to the sacred Islamic "Noble Sanctuary" where the Al-Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are located. Although Ariel Sharon was described as a right-wing opposition leader hated by Arabs, Americans were offered little insight into exactly why he is so despised by Arabs.

What Americans are generally not told, but what Palestinians cannot forget, is that Ariel Sharon was held responsible, even by the Israeli Knesset, for the massacre of from 1,000 to 2,000 unarmed Palestinian men, women and children in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Chatila in Lebanon. During the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, which General Ariel Sharon directed, Israeli troops surrounded the two refugee camps and allowed in Palestinian-hating Lebanese Phalangists who then spent two days raping, brutalizing and hacking to death hundreds of unarmed Palestinian civilians while the Israeli Army stood guard.

Not only did American news media fail to include this critically important information, but many actually gave Sharon, who went to the site to demonstrate Israeli sovereignty, the opportunity to explain that he went there "with a message of Peace."

It is difficult for Americans to even imagine the frustration of Palestinians who see Jews arrive from the United States to act out Jewish James Bond fantasies in the Occupied Territories, sporting yarmulkes and 9mm submachine guns – weapons they would never be allowed to possess or walk around with in the streets of American cities – at the ready to draw Palestinian blood.

American Jews, who left behind in the United States more economic opportunity and religious freedom than most people in the world can even imagine, and whose parents, grandparents and great, great great grandparents never set foot in Israel, are allowed to invoke the Jewish "right of return" and claim land that Palestinian families have been living on and working for centuries. And all this while many Palestinians still carry the keys from the homes they lost in the 1948 war, and to which they have little or no hope of ever returning.

I sensed some of the frustration and anger that Palestinians feel when I spoke with a typical Palestinian farmer in the West Bank whose well of precious water, which he needed to irrigate his crops, had been confiscated by Israeli authorities so a nearby Jewish settlement could fill its swimming pools and water its green lawns.

I sensed some of what Palestinians felt when I interviewed more than a half dozen Palestinians whose homes had been dynamited or bulldozed by Israeli tractors because a teenage member of the family had tossed a rock at an Israeli troop carrier or because they tried to build an extra room without the building permit they knew Israeli officials would never provide.

It is almost ten years later and, again, the influx of settlers, the expansion of Jewish settlements, the building of Jewish roads, the demolition of Palestinian homes and the confiscation of Palestinian water all continue.

The factor of racism.

American papers and American news networks offer Americans little opportunity to understand how much racism remains as one of the greatest obstacles to peace.

I experienced some of the frustration that Palestinians must be feeling when I interviewed numerous Jewish-American settlers in the West Bank during the Persian Gulf War. Many of those I spoke with were from New York and, talking about Arabs, spouted some of the most hateful, racist diatribes that I had ever heard. I was reminded of the racism against Black Americans that I witnessed growing up in the American South. The images, often broadcast on American networks, of Palestinians chanting 'death to the Jews' have given many Americans the impression that Arab hatred of Jews may be the greatest obstacle to peace. But that could be a wrong and dangerously misleading conclusion.

In spite of those chants, my experiences in Gaza and the West Bank gave me some interesting insights into how deep those feelings go in at least some Palestinians who would be described here as fanatic or extremist.

Clearly there are virulently racist elements within the greater Palestinian community... but I found a real difference between Israeli racism against Arabs, based on a feeling of racial superiority, and Palestinian hatred of Jews which is an understandable Palestinian response to the policies of the Jewish government of Israel and a continuing Jewish occupation.

It is comparable to the difference between the hatred of Black Americans by Southern white racists during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the hatred many Black Americans felt towards whites as the result of the racist oppression they experienced. It is a important difference.

Making no secret of my Jewishness, I traveled unarmed, without any police or military escort, and accompanied only by a sole translator, into remote mountain and desert areas in Gaza and the West Bank controlled by the militant Muslim organization called Hamas and where Israeli authorities told me I would probably be killed.

I still remember the amazement of Palestinians there when they learned that I was a Jew investigating human rights abuses by the Israeli military and I was moved by how quickly I was invited into their homes to share tea with them. And I will never forget the tears of appreciation streaming down the cheeks of so many Palestinians who were so genuinely happy to meet a Jew who simply saw them as human beings and as equals and who was willing to acknowledge their suffering and listen to their side of the conflict. The only Jews they had ever seen in their villages were soldiers there to assert Israeli control.

Far away from any Israeli protection, in the heart of areas controlled by Hamas, I felt no danger whatsoever. It was difficult to return to Tel Aviv and talk to Jews who would never allow an Arab to set foot in their homes, except perhaps to clean them, and who would explain to me with no doubt in their minds that it was impossible to reason with Arabs because they didn't share the same faculties of thought and reason that "civilized human beings" possess. I left with the sharp impression that anti-Arab racism in Israeli society was the much greater obstacle to peace. And the evidence indicates that, ten years later, it hasn't changed.

I was introduced to Israeli racism before I even left the grounds of Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv. Outside the entrance in an area where travelers wait for collective taxis which usually whisk them away to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, a Jewish Israeli asked me where I was headed. "Jerusalem" I told him. "Where are you going to stay?", he asked. I told him that I planned to stay at the YMCA Hotel. "Oh, the one next to the King David Hotel?" he asked, assuming that I would be staying at the YMCA in Jewish West Jerusalem. "No", I responded, "I'm staying at the YMCA in East Jerusalem." His face immediately twisted into a look of profound confusion and puzzlement. "I don't think its going to be very clean" he warned.

He had almost certainly never been to the YMCA on Nablus Street but he had assumed it would be dirty simply because it was located in Arab East Jerusalem. That was just the first and mildest of many exposures to Israeli racism towards Arabs. Traveling through Israel I witnessed a deep, widespread and racist contempt for Arabs that I now see as possibly the most serious, but seldom mentioned, obstacle to finding a just and lasting peace.

Judging by statements by the Shas party's most prominent religious leader, not much has improved. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of Shas, an ultra-Orthodox party which is the third largest party in the Israeli Knesset, recently described Palestinians as "snakes" whom God "regrets creating." Until just recently Shas had formed a major part of Prime Minister Ehud Barak's governing coalition.

The anti-Arab racism that exists in Israel is not without its counterpart in the United States. During that 1991 trip I visited the sacred Islamic site that includes the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Just a few months before, in October of 1990, 19 unarmed Palestinian civilians had been shot to death by Israeli police. I interviewed eye witnesses and photographed bullet holes left in the side of the mosque by Israeli gunfire. Victims even included Red Crescent ambulance staff attempting to provide medical assistance to the wounded.

In Great Britain, the conservative weekly news magazine, 'The Economist', used the term 'massacre' to describe the slaughter. They called it a massacre on their front page, in their editorial, and in the headline of their news story. The New York Times didn't report a massacre but described an outbreak of violence about which there were "confusing" and "contradictory" accounts.

But one of the most reprehensible displays of anti-Arab racism was provided by Time Magazine which characterized the massacre of 19 unarmed Palestinians with a headline which read "Saddam's Lucky Break." This indefensible murder of Arab civilians was described as a "propaganda victory" for Saddam Hussein and even implied that he had more responsibility for the killings than the Israeli police who had pulled the triggers. There is a slightly more subtle version of anti-Arab racism that continues to permeate our news coverage of the Middle East and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to this day.

It is characterized in Judy Woodruff's words on CNN talking about the recent violence in Israel and the Occupied Territories in which more than 76 Palestinians have now been killed by Israeli police and soldiers: "The uprising that has shut down much of Northern Israel is blamed for as many as 50 or more deaths." According to CNN then, it is the uprising, not the decisions of the Israeli security forces to shoot at Palestinians with steel-jacketed bullets and anti-tank rockets that is responsible for more than 50 dead Palestinians.

This racism is reflected in the Sacramento Bee headline "Riots Escalate in West Bank" with a smaller tagline mentioning "12 dead, hundreds hurt". It is present in the SF Examiner headline: "Death Toll Reaches 29 in Mideast Clashes."

In none of these samples is it made clear how people died and who did the killing. Now we know, at the time of this writing, that more than 76 Palestinians have been killed. We should all know, deep in our hearts, that if 29 or 55 or 76 Israelis had been killed by Palestinians, the headlines would be screaming at us from the headlines of almost every newspaper '29 Israelis Killed by Palestinians' or 'Arabs Kill 76 Israelis'.

The headlines would certainly not read 'Death Toll Reaches 29' or '76 Israelis Die in Mideast Violence' – headlines that fail to attribute any direct responsibility for the killing. A SF Chronicle story carried a headline which read, 'Palestinian Riots Spread Into Israel.' Three paragraphs into that story we are informed that 12 Palestinians have been killed. In a particularly egregious example, another Sacramento Bee headline reads, "Palestinian gunmen fire on Israelis" over a story that tells us that "twelve more Palestinians have been killed."

This is something that happens repeatedly in the American press and implicitly attaches one value to the lives of Israeli's and a lesser value to the lives of Arabs. Israelis are "killed" but Palestinians "die." I am not alone in noticing these disturbing disparities that work to camouflage Israeli responsibility.

Award winning British journalist Robert Fisk wrote in The Independent that when he reads that Palestinians have died in "crossfire" it almost always means that "the Israelis have killed an innocent person." So when he read on the Associated Press wire that 12-year-old Mohammed al-Durah was killed in Gaza when he was "caught in the crossfire", Fisk writes, "I knew at once who had killed him."

"Sure enough" Fisk confirms, "reporters investigating the killing said the boy was shot by Israeli troops." "So was his father – who survived – and so was the ambulance driver who was killed trying to rescue the boy."

This failure of American editors and reporters to clearly attribute responsibility for the killing of Palestinian victims is just one of many ways in which the American press continuously devalues the lives of Arabs. This almost constant devaluation of Arab lives is reinforced by a popular culture that has made it safe to openly make the most racist statements about Arabs without fear of castigation or even condemnation.

Just last month Bill Maher, host of ABC's Politically Incorrect, argued on his show that racial profiling "might be OK in some cases" like when you're on a flight to Israel and "some sweaty Arab" sits down next to you. Worse than the blatantly racist insult to Arabs was the fact that no one even noticed it.

Anti-Arab racism is almost certainly a factor in continued American disinterest concerning a US driven embargo that has, according to UN agencies and several high ranking UN officials, caused the deaths of over 1,000,000 Iraqi civilians and continues to cause the deaths of 4,000 to 5,000 Arab children every month.

It is telling that a policy that is killing as many as 5,000 Arab children each month didn't even merit a brief mention in the recent US Presidential debate. And despite the fact that Palestinian blood was literally flowing, as the Democratic and Republican presidential and vice-presidential candidates debated, from wounds inflicted by American supplied weapons including Apache attack helicopters, that too merited nary a mention by any of the candidates and neither of the two moderators.

A clear but unspoken racist double standard permeates US policy in the region as well as its coverage in the US news media. We are bombing and economically strangling the Arab nation of Iraq for invading Kuwait and seeking to develop nuclear weapons. But we have provided Israel with staggering and uninterrupted quantities of economic and military aid despite its even more violent invasion of Lebanon, its refusal to respond to countless UN security council resolutions, and its continued building of what is already one of the world's largest nuclear arsenals.

And it should certainly be clear by now which side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the "honest brokers" of the Clinton Administration are on. Despite the well known role of East Jerusalem as the cultural and intellectual center of Palestine, the Clinton Administration continues to support Israeli sovereignty over most of Arab East Jerusalem. And in spite of a long list of major compromises by the Palestinian negotiators, the administration blames only Palestinians for being inflexible and pressures them for yet more concessions.

The results of America's imbalanced policy choices are now playing out in the streets of Israel and the Occupied Territories and the time has clearly come for an American President and his policy advisors to realize the responsibility they share for the death of a 12 year old boy in his father's arms and the torrent of Palestinian blood that is now flowing.

President Clinton needs to be pressuring Israel, not the Palestinians to make more concessions for peace. As the larger and more powerful of the two entities, Israel clearly has more room to bend and it is the Palestinians, not the Israelis whose backs are truly against the wall. He could also make continued US aid contingent on Israeli compliance with international law and UN Security Council resolutions. Then all that would need to be negotiated, apart from a Palestinian right of return, would be when, not whether, Israel will return the occupied lands seized in 1967.

Because of the major role that the United States plays in life and death issues in the Middle East, American editors and reporters have a special responsibility to constantly examine the fairness of their reporting and how critically they examine information they present to the American people.

And they need to examine the possibility of their own racism and begin treating Palestinians and other Arabs as equal citizens whose lives carry just as much value as Jewish Israeli lives.

Israelis need to examine their own racism and their arrogance in using their military superiority to wring yet more concessions from a people who are struggling to keep a mere 20% of what was formerly Palestine (the West Bank and Gaza constitute 22% of original Palestine). They must realize that in forcing humiliating concessions on the Palestinians they are only planting the seeds of continued resentment, hatred and violence.

Above all, Israelis need to realize that the creation of an economically, politically and geographically viable Palestinian state is inextricably linked with any prospect they might have of a peaceful and secure future. The Israelis' apparent inability or unwillingness to recognize this basic truth may be the greatest single obstacle to a just and lasting peace.

I am a Buddhist, Asian American woman. I am politically left. Please Cnn do more on the human part of the the Palistinians.

They children (75k) approx are starving due to the embargos. Civilains are being used yes by the hamas. But america as usual are just enabling the Israelis in this. They as well as us are big weapon and missile salespeople....this is all about money. The us namely Obama needs to stand up for more...and stop pandering and enabling the Israeli war machine. I am a peace activist, this is no exception. Stop the violence now and stop splitting hairs. Niether is more to blame...they both are wrong....but you are not doing an adequate job to covering what is happening to the people who are starving, and live in a ghettos. Please!

All across the world jews, christians and muslims are protesting the genocide at the hands of Israel. In Palestine we have kids throwing rocks with sling shots and homemake rockets up against the worlds 3rd largest hi tech military. First they starved them, blocked any food, fuel or medicine...preventing nations from delivering basic necessites , now they are going in on the ground to finish them off? The majority of Gazans are under the age of 18 are killing children>

Rabbie Lerner and many others are vehemently protesting Israel and calling for all jews to protest. I am and all my friends are too! We are not going to be blamed for what Israel is doing...its genocide.

The Jews have been persecuted throughout time, after WW II I would have thought that they would ensure that injustices never happen to them as a nation ever again AND that they will never comitt such crimes themselves.

What they are doing in GAZA is the same that was done to them. They are doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.

Israel is out-of-control! Too many Palestinians getting killed. The Bush Administration needs to address this situation, by seeing both sides. But Bush only sees support for Israel and that is not accomplishing much of anything (what's new)! Muslims around the world are outraged, including this country and now going after Obama.
We don't need this, but thanks to Bush, it is "one more nail in our coffin" before he leaves office!

The People in Israel and Gaza have been killing each other forever
and will continue to do so , No matter what any other countries think.
So why dont we just sit back and enjoy the show...

There will never be peace until Israel returns the land stolen from the Palestinians and allows the refugees to return to their homes. Hamas did not start the current violence; for months Israel has blockaded Gaza, stopping food, fuel, and medicine, from coming in by sea and land.

GOD WILL MAKE THE DECISION, THE PEOPLE IN ISRAEL ARE HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE

If Canada started lobbying 70 rockets a day into New York, how long would the United States remain idla before they responded? How many rocks would you allow thrown at your house before you called the police? For Israel to remain idle in this situation is ridiculous – no country should be expected to sustain daily rocket attacks on their citizens and do nothing about it.

Why do we hear so much about Israel's right to defend itself, but never the Palestinians' right? The death toll is now about 100 Palestinians to 1 Israeli. No violence is defendable, but why is this fact glossed over? When will the American media stop taking Israel's word for everything and do some real reporting?

How Sad that the US allows the Jews to get a way with so much violence ... this is genocide in the making again as it happened in Lebenon 2 yrs ago, and completely one-sided. This is why there is so much hate & terrorism in the world. The common people are ignored and rights of the children are violated for the purpose of the Bully Israelis backed by the big brother US ... What a shame for us Americans...

Apparently, Hamas is just so innocent, Israel do what you must to protect yourself!

The palestinians are insane. They have allowed themselves to become drunk with hatred! They have lost the ability to be rational. Because of that, they will continue to suffer. Its too bad for the rational Palestinians. This conflict is entirely the fault of the Palestinians. They could have had a peace years ago but they continue to act like spoiled, insane children. Everyone knows this: if they were to sit down with Israel they would work out a peace and be done with it. They however are hell bent on Jihad and hatred and the destruction of Israel. Its absolutely disgusting and they should be ashamed of themselves. When they decide to be rational and civilized, they will have a country, peace and prosperity. They need to keep the insane iranians out of it and get some moderate and coherent palestinians to work with Israel and work something out.

Hamas has been harrassing Israel with bombs for a long time without any retaliation from Israel. Now Israel has had it, and Israel has the right to defend itself.
Hamas cries because of high civilian casuallties, yet they continue to hide high ranking officials, bombs and other weapons behind a front of women and children. They send out children as suicide bombers when they themselves (high ranking officials) won't do it.
We can see right through your antics. Hamas has been and always will be cowards.

Eye for an eye seems to be the only rule Hamas understands. Let Israel use the same rule on Hamas that has launched 70 rockets today on Israel. Lets forget the concept of peace and let there be an all out decision making war. Enough is enough

Israel has been attacked for many years by the Palestinians. Only in the last 3 years, Hammas had sent no less than 6000 rockets to Israel. How does the world expect Israel to continue being attacked and not react?
As for the comments of Annan Ashrawi that Israel is attacking children and women- the terrorists are hiding behind those children and women, they are operating from residential areas. She is saying Israel had bombed their university- that is the Hammas base.
Please check and know your facts before you interview some one like Annan Ashrawi so you'll have better questions to ask.

Hello there i realy think that israel dont need to boob those people they did the same thing a few years ago and it dint do noting but kell civilian in gaza , so the only tings its gone to do is one time other contry in meadle east are gone to be very angry at them and some time is gone to be very dangerous for them so the need to be advice from other contry or by the un Daniel from montréal

Israel..... TEAR DOWN THAT WALL!!!

Every time I see these stories of war in the Middle East, it just makes me sick. As I see it, all of these problems are the result of the fighting between 'organized' religions. I think the majority of the worlds problems are simply due to the extreme opposition of the various religions amongst each other.

As Mark Twain said "It will be a Hell of a Heaven" when all of these religious people get there!!!!!!

Larry's "interview" with the terrorist supporter Hanan Ashran was just a rehash of what she has said for the last 10 years.
No wonder thinking people have given up on CNN.
Any journalist from Fox would have ripped her to shreds.

The bottom line from the vast majority of Americans:
Israel has the right to defend itself no matter what the liberal media says.

The CULPRIT is the USA. They are and have been supporting the Israelis and that is wrong. The Palestinians need their own place and the Israelis have to respect this !

Ms. Ashrawi is truly representative of Palistinian leadership, blaming everyone else for Israel's move of self-defense! They are unable to control their own internal terrorists, and fault Israel for "disproportionate" retaliation. I say "Go Israel", and don't stop until the last missile is quieted. Don't worry about world opinion, and certainly don't count upon any help from Obama!

why our govenment always bias when it comes to the middle east ,and what are getting out of the israilies any way ?oil?

What kind of an ally, what kind of friend brings you nothing but grief and trouble from the entire world for 60 years? What kind of an ally takes $3billion/year from you, takes your respect, and puts you in the corner the way Israel has done to us for its entire existence?

What, precisely, do we gain by supporting this nation with our money and arms, our reputation and standing? Promoting some form of democracy? I think not.

It is time we spend money on ourselves, here in this country, instead of on bankers and foreigners fighting wars.

I am just sick and tired of hearing about Isreal every time I turn on the TV. The US has spent untold amounts of money trying to negotiate peac in the middle east. When are the politicians going to wake up and realize that there will NEVER be peace over there. It is just a waste of money.

Whenever I hear the Isreali representatives speak, they never address the issue of continuing to occupy Palestinian land. While I don't agree with any of the violence, Israel always avoids the real issue-stealing land. I call it like I see it.

Dear Larry,
please make sure your viewers know that all of the palestinians you are talking about are under a brutal occupation – the media forgets to mention that. Basic human rights are squandered and stolen. Please announce on your show!
Dr. Khalid Mansour

Larry,
Why is it hard for the Bush administration to say "enough is enough" to Israel? It has been occupying Palestine for more than 44 years which is the main source of all these problems. So, Israel Must end the Occupation to end this conflict for once and for all.

Soleman

Larry:

Why didn't you ask Hanan Hasrawi to comment on the fact that there was a 6 month truce between Israel and Hamas, and that Hamas broke the truce by shelling residential neighborhoods in Israel?

When HAMAS shoots rockets into Israel for months on end...the entire world and the UN are SILENT!!!

When ISRAEL shoots rockets into GAZA the whole world and the UN goes crazy!!

I say, kill all the hamas members whether there are 1 or 10 million of them!!

Lary,

it is a shame that western media is still not playing an ethical role in presenting the question of palestine. if CNN to be fair to all issues, it should make space to address occupation and humilation of the palestinians, it should show the cultural and civilized life of the palestinians rather than capatilizing on palestinians attacking isreal. no one can be fair to the palestinians when media continue distorting the facts behind how this conflict started and how it is continuing. the humilation of the palestinians is a continuing situation. No country that want to have clobal leadership can achieve that by ignoring the causing factors of the conflict nor by taking sides. anwar

Israel is considered a "holy city", why do they promote violence?

The Arabs and Jews have been fighting since they learned how to throw rocks 5000 years ago. Let them fight and get it over with. They love to fight, it's their heritage. They hold grudges from thousands of years ago. You just can't deal rationally with stupid people. Both groups are categorically stupid!

shushila, the answer is in your post. The "tunnel raid" was because the tunnel was used for smuggling weapons – a violation of the cease fire!

The root of Mid-Eastern crisis is in the Old Testament, and in the advent of Muhammad the prophet and the foundation of Islam. I have CNN on all day, why haven't the fundamental issues been addressed? Why are they fighting? What does each group of people believed they're entitled to and, more importantly, why do they believe they're entitled to anything but peace and quiet?

Enough is Enough. We ALL know that we will have to fight Iran sometime – let it be now! Israel has show extreme patience with these hoodlums for too long. Do It! Go in and wipe them off the face of the earth, good ridance to the neighborhood bully, and if Iran want to get involved bring em on! We will have to fight them sometime, lets get it overwith and get rid of the troublemakers of the world once and for all!

Dave

The Palestinians continue to blame Isreal as the reason the people are starving, maybe if they spent more time training the people to be productive members of society and less time preaching hate and how to be a suicide bomber maybe the people would have a better life style. From what I understand when Isreal left Gaza they left a number of agricultural areas in place and the Palestinians went and dystroyed them anyway.

What is the problem with the Bahamas and their EMERGENCY CARE of AMERICANS.....it seems to me if you have an Emergency while visting their A SIGN SHOULD BE POSTED IN HOTELS GET SICK AT YOUR OWN RISK....

We need to put the facts accurately. Israel is NOT ocupying the Gaza strip.
The last israeli soldier left Gaza about two years ago and since then it will be more accurately to say that Hamas is occupying Gaza. There rule is not recognized even by the Palestinian authorities. Instead of working to bring peace and prosperity Hamas choose from the very begining to lauch over 2000 rockets to civilian targets in Israel. Are they surprised that Israel is finnaly reacting? Would they not keep this arsenal of theirs among civilians, civilians would not be suffering now.
I hope that after that peace will be restored, but it must be on both sides of the border.

what about the resolution ordering Israel to give back the land they took by violent invasion?
Why do we have double standards for the same rules? That is why we have so much troubles with our image around the world.
We haven't been fair to the Palestinian people this is a palesinian Holocaust perpretated by Israel.
And the media is guilty of bias against Plalestinians. Where is the balance?

Why didn't the Palestinian representative add that the Hamas, the cowards that they are, position themselves among the Palestinians – also if this were done to the United States from either Canada or Mexico, how fast do you think the United States governemtn would have defended themselves? So many people blame Israel, but they would feel quite different if this happened to their own country.

As we keep watching all the terrible scenes of how badly these Gazians have it right now, let us not forget that the rockets have been coming from GAZA on the past 3 years!!!!

It is very SAD to see the people that were once suppressed and hurt by the Nazis are now being the aggressors of the same hate !!!

I note with interest that the news media has (conveniently?) failed to cover even one of the 10,048 mortar and rocket attacks from fired from Gaza into southern Israel over the past seven years... yet the reporters are right there camera's in hand when the Israeli's retaliate... All the news created to publish... Dan Rather and Peter Arnott are alive and well at CNN...

Do you believe the UN Relief people? they have been telling the world about the blockades...while Israel has everything it needs. this is genocide...pure and simple. Israel does not permit the UN relief people to go through the check points with food and medicine.

Gaza is under seige by the 3rd largest military in the world backed up by the worlds super power....This is Bush/Cheney/and the zionists attempts to kill as many as they can....its a horror.

What I would like to know is why two countries (The USA and Israel) which are always espousing "The Rule of Law" and requiring all countries to follow the UN – simply chose to ignore the UN requirement of Israel going back to the 1967 Borders – this would allow for a Palestinian State and eliminate the festering sore that is the underlying problem of the conflict in the Mid-East – the US simply has to stop this hypocrisy

Larry it is somewhat ridiculous to hear that people are making Israel look like the bad guys. Hamas was the first to fire rockets and break the cease fire, therefore giving Israel complete right to defend itself. The media is failing to show the suffering that Israelis are going through, my family has gone into the bomb shelter 5 times just today. Larry it is time for Hamas to be stopped.

I think the US should suspend all financial support to any country in the middle eas that continues to a participants in the taking of human lives.

Dear, Larry

It saddens me to see that this systematic destruction of the fragments, to which the Palestinian people hold onto and are attempting to piece together to make a country for themselves, under the pretense of protecting Israeli citizens from Hamas. Yet, I think that the Washington Post captured the truth of this situation when it placed a picture of a Palestinian woman who lost five of her children next to an Israeli woman who was crying in fear because the peace of life was disturbed by a missile. A missile that did not in fact kill or fatally harm anyone. The fact that when you compare the difference in scale of attacks and where these attacks have occurred the violence against Palestine appears to be nothing more than an effort to further cripple the Palestinian state and remove the physical evidence of their existence. This is the apartheid of my generation.

My heart goes out to ALL of those who are being hurt in this situation. War doesnt seem to solve anything.

We keep hearing about the constant terror Israelis are living under from Hamas's rockets. What about the much more terrorizing Israeli airstrikes against the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza? Not to mention the absolute control Israelis have over the Palestinians which denies them of food, energy, and medical supplies, causing thousands of silent deaths. There's absolutely no comparison and it is unfair to even try to make that comparison.

Hamas is a terrorist organization, backed by a country (Iran) with the intention of "wiping Israel off the map." With that mentality, there is no room for peace coming from the Palestinian end.

israelis keeping cryng all the time about their past arent they doing the same in palestine .

If another country was shooting rockets into America Im sure the majority of people that are questioning Israel, would not feel the same!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a grandmother in small town in Ga., US. I can't believe how many people are blasting Israel for protecting itself. If Mexico or Canada had a terrorist group shooting into the U.S. you better believe we would retaliate with all our might! And rightly so. And it would be sad that any civilians would be harmed as it is in Israel and Palestine. Are they supposed to sit on their hands and let their people be be killed by the rockets of Hamas. The Hamas do not care for their own people, they use the fact that the civilians are being killed by Israel who are trying to stop the rocket attacks. If they are so concerned, why don't they (Hamas) stop their rockets, then Israel would stop. Why can't more Palestinians who want peace overthrow the Hamas, etc to accomplish this?

I’m sorry, but I think that Larry is losing it. Karen Koning Abuzayd, says to him, that there are people getting killed. King says nothing much about it. Like it is not going on. I don’t think that Larry King, really knows what the implications of this situation is. He is only interested in ring tones, and his… buddies.

It is very easy to criticize Israel for defending her citizens, why did the whole world keep quiet when Hamas send rockets to the south? Hamas is hiding between the palestinian civilians and its about time that the world sees what he is all about, and the hatred he has towards the jews. Israel should not be kept quiet and has the right to defend itself.

Lets not forget that Israel is the occupier, Israel is the one whom is using capital punishment on the civilian in Gaza. Why are we condeming the victim when the victim starts pushing back. Palestinina were born free and Israel stole that from them and we as American defending Israel ?? Come on...

Hello .. Great Show.
I jst wanna say that isreal are Coward
because they are killing childrens and destroyding bulding
with no merssy and they have the high technal to know know if that a kid or a man.. thats sux and unblieveable...

they are ugly from inside and out side
isreal should go to hell ..thats it.

Israel is the U.S strongest and closest ally. It is difficult to understand that all intents by the U.S. to try to win the hearts and minds of people in the Middle East are normally brought down by the actions and humilliation that Israel imposse to its neighbors.
Give the land back, stop killing women and children is the only way to peace.

A blockade is an act of war. Israel started this conflict. Many UN resolutions have also been ignored by Israel and so why don't we (USA) invade and correct this disregard of UN resolutions as we did in IRAQ? Just what is this so called "Special Relationship" with Israel? The American people need an explanation!

Lets us not change the history. Invaders of Palestanian land are claiming to "defend" themselves !

in my point of view i think israel is right in terminating all the rockets and hammas stronghold so that they wont terrorize israel anymore, and for people in gaza i think they should use their resources in buying medical supplies and upgrading their city for tourism purposses and not rockets. we are a free world and this terror should not be tolerated.

Israel has clearly stated that it would stop the aggression if Hamas stops the Rockets. Why won't Hamas stop the rockets if it wants the bombing to stop?

Disproportionate? How about the fact that Israel is the one supplying Gaza with medication, not Jordan or Egypt. Israel is targeting Hamas. Palestinians are targeting civilians. The world needs a reality check.

HAMAS is NOT the problem, the problem for 60yrs is Israel.

My heart prayers goes for the people of Palestine.

Stop the abuse, obey the road map for peace

resolution 242, no more excuses

Where do Hamas obtain the rockets that they are using? If the reports that 70 rockets a day are being fired into South Israel are true, there must be a some information available about the providers.

HAMAS...must realize President Elect is just that....He cannot do anything so why Blast him? It is not fair to the man...

If Americas are not allowed to see what is actually occuring in Gaza how will they become educated in the crisis. When a news agency such as CNN only provides 2-3 minutes to inform Americans of the devistation Americans will continue to be ignorant and uninformed. CNN has the power to educated, inform and open everyone's eyes. Hundres of children and women are needlessly dying and all that is reported is that Hamas is continuing to bomb Israel. Do Americans realize that the Palestinians do not have water, food, electricity, heat all they have is their will to live.

LARRY....95 PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE IN AMERICA KNOW THAT ISRAEL USES OVERWHELMING AND UNNECESSARY FORCE IN DEFENDING THEMSELVES .4 PEOPLE KILLED WITH HUNDREDS OF ROCKETS FIRED INTO ISRAEL AND 400 DEATHS A MAJORITY OF WHICH ARE INNOCENT VICTIMS INFLICTED BY ISRAEL. ANYONE WITH ANY COMMON SENSE KNOWS IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE HUGE JEWISH LOBBYING AMERICA COULD TAKE A DIFFERENT STANCE AND THEN SOME PROGRESS COULD BE MADE TOWARDS PEACE IN THE AREA.

I see you are not posting the negative comments...so why do we jews for peace waste our time. We are sick of the jews for war who do not use all of us as if we all approve of this horror. We do not. We believe this is genocide pure and simple. The UN has condemned this horror....why are you not posting the negative comments.

You see this is why we do not trust corporate media...we have the truth by other means...international sites....corporate news on Gaza is the same as the lack of truth on the Iraq war. bet you wont post this either.

I would just like Americans and the world in general to realize that if your neighbor is constantly sending rockets to your civialians you have the right to fight back!!!!
No they are crying babies because they have it so BAD............

Larry:

Israel invaded Palestine, and took the land.
For over 60 years, Israel commits the awful crimes throughout history. They do that because of the great support from USA.

Israel needs to defend itself against a terrorist organization of Hamas. The Palestinian people are the unfortunate victims of their own people. Why have other Arab nations not helped them to build hospitals and medical help? They voted in a violent leadership, and now Israel has to defend against a government that refuses their right to exist.

Larry how is possible that to night program you tried to fool the American public and said tha Hamas was bombing Israel.

I always wacth you program and I always believe that your position to public must best honest I hope you regret that mis information to American and all over the world that wacth your program.

I guess you should not take any political position you should serve the public and be Honest.

Ideassoul

How would you explain the fact that four Israelis vs over four hundred Palestinians were killed in this violence? All we hear is that Gaza attacked Israel.

There is no way that this can be called a war, when one of the most powerful militaries in the world takes on a mainly civilian population with limited weaponry. This conflict would have been settled years ago if the USA did not block all international attempts to enforce international law and make Israel abide by internation law. Americans should be ashamed of their government and demand that Israel is not given a free ride. Why is it that Palestinians who are being ethnically cleansed have no rights, no one fighting for them and the US government and the majority of Americans just dont give a damn. Seems like the Israeli lobby is stronger then our own people. It is time for Americans to stand up and demand a stop to this ethnic cleansing of an entire population. We as americans should be ashamed of our own inaction and our blind support of Israel.

“it’s only a few rockets!”.... why CNN stays quite about the 7000 or 8000 rockets from Hamas that hit part of Israel only last year 2007 ??? " Palestinians " are aiming to the aniquilation of Israel as a State but Israel is not aiming to totaly destroy " Palestinians " That...is...a...big...difference. We (people of good) all hope that the suffering stops soon... but we stand for Israel Right to Dffend and live their Lifes in Real Peace

Fernando Portugal

It is shameful that the we continue to support Israel and do not have the discipline to moderate Israel's actions against such a disproportionate miltiary response. Hamas' actions while offensive and disgusting killed less than 10 people last year while they have wiped out hunderds and wounded thousands in 3 days...........does that make sense?!?!?!!!. Also Israel has been slowly choking the palestinians with all sorts of restrictions preventing them, on some occasions even humanitarian aid. It's amazing that Israel, which gets all it's military supplies from us, i.e., it's destructive power cannot be asked or influenced to use restraint.
On a ridiculous note perhaps, maybe we can vacate North and South Dakota and hand it to the Israeli's.....if it's just a matter of land. And maybe we can have the palestinians return to their homeland.
Shame also on the neighbouring Arab states for not contributing to the solution, helping the palestinians raise themselves, just as the we in the USA have done for the Israeli's.

All you leftist crybabies, how would you like someone to drop rockets on San Francisco day and night for years. How would you feel about that?

How does Larry king allow so much air time to Annan Asharawi? She is speaking on behalf of a terror organization. She is saying that the Hammas is not attacking Israel but they are the one who are bombing Israel on a daily basis. Why doesn't Larry king ask her about that?
How does the world expect Israel to be bombed and not respond?

Can you imagine sitting in your home in L.A. and not knowing when the next bomb will fall on you. That is how the people of Shderot Israel feel. During the last 3 years Israel was attacked by hammas 6000 times. Enough it enough.

I PLEAD WITH KNESSET AND HAMAS: PLEASE FOCUS ON PROTECTING THE CHILDREN!!! They are our future!

The reason for all this fighting is occupation, Palestinian has been under occupation for 60 years, after all they are still human and they have rights for freedom what we doing about that?

Islam is a Terrorist enabling if not Terrorist belief system. All those who stay in Gaza support the terror implicitly. If the USA were sending missiles into Canadian or Mexican schools and homes, I would either try to stop it ... or leave.

The Palastinian Alwaha... is a lying antisemite. International troupes ... more aid ... let the Palastinians start working to build something... or just send them back to Jordan or Saudi Arabia like they did to the Jews when Israel was formed.

Muslims as part of their system to conquer elevate lying to a highly respected profession.

What would happen if Hamas had the same weapons as Isreal.I think we would have a real fight instead of a slaughter. If they want to wipe each other out the U.S.A. should make it an even fight.

hi larry, i an iranian living in us. do you know all these crisis in middle east are happening becausse of iranian regim. they support terrorism i wish us would have attaked adn destroy iranian government instead of iraq. as long as the iranian government are ther there would not be a peace in world asn speceally in middle east.

It is unfortunate that nothing was said about Gaza's rockets before Israel started bombing. Was it not news then?

I just attended a rally at down town Dallas for FREE GAZA FREE PALASTINE. ISRAEL = ZIONISM. History repeating what Hitler has done to jews now jews are doing to palastinians. Heartless

Enough is enough........
It's a plot by the enemies of ISLAM

I am a Buddhist, Asian American woman. I am politically left. Please Cnn do more on the human part of the the Palistinians.

They children (75k) approx are starving due to the embargos. Civilians are being used yes by the hamas. But america as usual are just enabling the Israelis in this. They as well as us are big weapon and missile salespeople....this is all about money. They, us namely Obama needs to stand up for more...and stop pandering and enabling the Israeli war machine. I am a peace activist, this is no exception. Stop the violence now and stop splitting hairs. Niether is more to blame...they both are wrong....but you must do a better job in covering an adequate job in covering what is happening to the people who are starving, and live in ghettos. Please let us open up the story and our minds.

I think it is absurd that the Israeli's are emphasizing the fact that their people are being killed by Hamas rockets, whereas the Palestinian's are being killed by the hundreds due to Israeli airstrikes. Israel is saying that they pulled out of the Gaza strip; however, they are still in control of everything that goes in and out of that region. I find it quite tragic that the United States are enabling Israel to kill innocent civilians, whom of many are young children, and providing a whole lot more coverage on the very few victims in Israel. I believe that the Amercian public should educate themselves more about the real problems in the region and not consider Palestinian terrorists simply due to their religious beliefs. It is a disgusting accusation.

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
-Dylan

Israel's attack is unjustified because they are occupying and not providing day to day needs for Palestinians. If they continue to bomb Gaza, then Hamas will no longer will be a group's idea but it will become a principle of palestinians, which you will never able to remove from the minds of palestinian.

Rakesh

Larry – Love your show! Ms. Ashrawi is absolutely correct. We need international monitoring of this situation. Mr. Bush has proven that he is not one to give a fair evaluation of any mideast situation. Israel is the aggressor here, bombing and killing innocents, using the "they hit me first" rhetoric, to an exiting warmongering administration – knowing full well they will have a more fair-minded evaluation from the Obama administration.

We need to educate American liberals. First we tell them we want to drive them into the sea. Next we will fire a few dozen explosive rockets into their neighborhoods and send a couple of suicide bombers into shopping malls and maybe a couple of schools and churches.

After that they may have some understanding of what is really going on in the Middle East.

As far as there ever being peace in the Middle East, after global warming decimates (literally) the population of the world, those that remain will have a chance to outgrow these obsolete religions and maybe start to think for themselves.

Diana:

You ignore the fact that a 6 month truce between Israel and Hamas was broken by Hamas sending ockets into Israeli suburban areas and aimed at schools. The Hamas perpetrators hide in residential neighborhoods and mosques – thus the damage and deaths and injury to Palestinian civilians.

If Hamas stopped shelling, the "war" would end.

After months of rockets raining down on Israel during the "seize fire" no peace treaty was neg. At the end of the seize fire, Israel then decided to defend herself. No body in Gaza gave a care while the govt. Hamas (a terrorist group) was killing Israel citizens. They were happy to have schools, and public buildings built and mantained by hamas, who store weapons in the same buildings. Food and medical supplies have been sent in, they need to ask hamas to release them to the public.

Not fooled for a minute.

Israel broke the ceasefire in November with the death of six Palestinians. Please report it fairly. The Likud Party has instigated this new violence to get Netanyhu elected in February. They used a violence tactic in 2000 to get Arial Sharon elected. Horrible.

I feel sorry for the palestinians but has everyone forgotten how they cheered in the streets after 911? Now they want our sympathy? What more do they want? We all want peace, where does it begin?

Why is the US supportive of Israel? If they cannot make peace in the middle east - US should stop all financial support.

It has already affected the region since the Zionists began their campaign of mass destruction of Gaza and itspeople. Seeing the strikes on the people of Gaza makes it clear the Zionsits are not only in an all-out war withHamas, but the people of Gaza. Barack Obama when the Taj hotel in Mumbai was attacks by terrorists in which a Rabai and his wife were killed in the attack was quick to condemn it, then issued his condolences to the Jews lobbysts(AIPAC) in the US and Israel as well. Now that Israel is murdering innocent civilians with illegal bombsin Gaza and starving them to death, Obama who is a full supporter of the Zaionist entity in Israel when he was asked to make a comment in return, he said no reaction. The UN passed a resolution to fighting piracy in the waters of Somalia, but it cannot stop the mayhem in Gaza. The British and the US were calling for an intervention in Zimbabwe to remove Mugabe from power, but they cannot intervene to the massacre in the occupied territories in Palestine!

Are you kidding me? What would happen if Cuba started lobbing missiles into downtown Miami? Israel has a right to defend itself, and as tragic as it is that civilians are being killed the blame rest with the terrorist organization Hamas. We've been embargoing Cuba for 50 years, and if they began attacking us, we too would resort to would retaliate. Israel has a right ,as well as an obligation, to protect its population!

The usual mainstream media line..count the number of rockets launched into Israel by Hamas, but do not note how many air sorties flown by the Israeli Air Force. The American-supplied munitions used by the Israeli Defense forces are ten or twenty times as deadly as any Palestinian rocket. But don't talk about that, or the blockade that kept needed humanitarian supplies out of Gaza. Once again, Israel is punishing the innocent, and the United States stands idly by. And the American media is complicit as usual. Nice work, Larry.

What is happeining in Gaza is a result of the failed political policy of the United States to achieve peace there. To see a state being bombarded from the air by bombs, the brutality of wiping out whole families as is being done is sickening. Gaza is inhabited fy 50% children highly populated by civilians who are our collateral damage. American tax payer money is being spent to continue this barbarism.
Israelis have lost less than 10 people while the dead and wounded in Gaza are thousands. Is this made ok by words, Israel has a right to defend itself. Against whom. They are the occurpiers.

Im Middle Eastern and everything the ambasador of Israel i Very much disagread with. I can actually say maost things he said i beleived the oppisite of. You dont hear about israeleez dieng u hear of gaza people dieing... and the sad part is we're fighting for all thewrong reasons!

This is so ridiculous that the most power and only neuclear country in the Middle East is acting like a victim while they have killed over 430 Palestinians, at least 74 children and 36 women and the death toll is climbing. This is in comparison to three civilian deaths on the Israeli side. This is collective punishment that any sane person would understand is not conducive to peace and is not indicative of a country that wants peace. Are Palestinians supposed to be imprisoned and starved to death without a word? somehow Hamas wanted the world to know about what the siege has been doing to them and sent these rockets so people would ask. Israel has broken the truce many times over the past six months, but it’s always the Palestinian side that gets the blame whatever their reaction maybe. Most of the world and the world street are appalled by this tragedy and how the blame is only being laid on Hamas. Did anyone blame Israel when they bombed Syria recently without any provocation? The US foreign policy, the media coverage is shameful. I’m for brining international troops in, but Israel had always been against that many times before, they even limit the access of reporters so they do what this wish and tell the world they story they create.

Israel is right in defending itself. Hamas was voted in Gaza by the people of Gaza and that day the rockets started into Israel "3200" rockets to date – Were was the World? – When Hamas was killing Fatah members and displaying the bodies for days were was the world out cry? I did not see marchs, protest in Europe and the US when Jews were being killed. I did to see anyone standing up to help the State of Israel to stop Hamas. Shame on anyone that is not supporting Israel.

Larry, I beg of you to watch a DVD by an American Jewish woman, Anna Baltzer, who has first hand witnessed what "Life in occupied Palestine" is actually like. Please do continue to research both sides of the conflict. Please, please, watch the DVD or read the book, or have this woman on your show. Continue to research.

Did we not learn anything from 2006? Israel's actions play right in to the hands of Iran. An interesting read is Robert Baer's "The Devil We Know". Chapter 8 will help to explain what is going on right now. If you get a chance to read it, please do so. This especially goes for those who express blind, unconditional support for Israel. Take a look at the big picture. Israel shouldn't go in on the ground. It will not be a good situation. The rockets are a nuisance. Sure they can kill; but I was in Iraq for a year and we were hit with rockets on our base on a regular basis. I would estimate several hundred rockets came in on us over the course of the year. We didn't lose anyone to rocket fire. The current response is definitely disproportional and will only serve to solidfy Iran's grip on the region.

Shame on the USA!

Stop Israel RIGHT NOW!

CHILDREN ARE DYING!

People of Israel , just like other people around the world, have legitimate right to leave in peace freely w/out terrorist violance.
Hammas is nothing but buanch of criminals supported and equiped by Iranian president with clearly stated agenda to kill the jews and destroy the state of israel

This is a never ending cycle of stupidity by both sides. I'm not Israeli or Palestinian I'm American and i don't care about either side. And America shouldn't be tied to either one of these moronic states. Let them kill each other if they are hell bent on fighting. Leave us out and go away Isreal and Palestine.

Larry.....if you stick your finger in the eye of a giant....you can't expect him not to react. If we, Americans, had rockets exploding in our cities....do you really think we wouldn't attack the source?? Of course....we would react with all the might and purpose we could muster. Americans would demand extreme penance for such an intrusion on our soil.....case closed.

At least this land is not for isreal and they are outsiders !!!
and you people know that very cleary....but they are learining their childrens to write death letters on their rockets by young isrealin children,,, how sux is that !!!
u can feel the hatenss that they feed for their childrens ...

They have no history and no future and they are just some of people
who belong for nothing anf they come over to steal and kill

I wish Obama tha he wil do somthing because i felt happy when he won he seems a good person

Ammar
Syria

For 60 years Palestinans have been waiting for their state. Do you not understand that Israel will never deliver it. Are the Palestinans to continue to live in refugee camps, starving, living on top of each other, no place to run, no place to hide. This is pure and simple: regime change. Even though the US called for elections....they had them and Carter was there to make sure they were fair. It is genocide for Israel to regime change the leadership voted on by the people That is democracy. Israel's leaders are being elected in Feb. and that is what is causing these horrors...an election. Who can be the most cruel and brutal.

At the end of his era, Mr. Bush could earn a pair of shoes. Mr. Obama should stay unbiased and not try to "Bushify" the issues.

Call Jenny McCarthy to investigate if Jett was sick after immunizations in infancy and toddlerhood.
I think that this explains the scientology.
Why did yet another hollywood death take place in the Bahamas?

as a canadien-isrealie ,
the whole situation is trajic
both sides have life at stake, and all life is so precious , but please dont lose sight of which nations leaders began this situation
Isrealies want peace with palestine but will never sacfrice their basic security for it!
honestly which nation would?

Regardless who broke the cease fire agreement; the Israel response is proportionally outrageous. I am not a mathematician but if killing for 5 Israelis demands killing of 450 Palestinians then killing of 450 Palestinians demands killing of 4050 Israelis. Just simple math by Israeli standard.

John

Isn't anyone wondering why Hamas is upset? What happens to them and their people in their occupied territory is ourtageous! Maybe they're sick of occupation, no aid, no hospital supplies, no homes, no life. Israel isn't the only one who has the right to defend itself!

ISRAEL IS IS UNIVERSALLY ACCORDED THE RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF, YET IS OFTEN CRITICISED FOR FOR USING DISPROPORTIONATE FORCE! tHE RATIO OF iSRAELI JEWS IN iSRAEL IS 1 FOR EVERY ARABIC MUSLIMS IN THE I4 STAES SUROUNDING ISRAEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST ALONE. THUS THE RATIO SHOULD BE 1 ISRAEL LIFE FOR EACH HAMAS-PALESTINIAN -MOSLEM LIFE.

I think Israel is in the right. To those who are saying that it is a shame Israel is getting away with this much violence–if someone kept bombing you–would you get tired of it and fight back? Israel let the Palestines have the land in Gaza, they let Hamas rule it, so Israel needs to wipe them all off the map. They will not leave Israel alone. So it like this, Israel needs to fight fire with fire.

It seems that if the Palestinians really wanted peace, they would get rid of Hamas themselves. There was a peace treaty which Hamas broke as always and started this whole thing. I really hate that so many innocent people have died, but we sure don't hear that much sympathy when their suicide bombers kill people, including children. They're cowards, they hide behind women and children just like all of the terrorists.

Israel has the complete right to defend itself from terrorist attacking its country. Any country in the world would have acted the same way that Israel has. As soon as terrorists hit the pentagon and trade center on 9/11 the United States went to Afghanistan and bombed in order to hunt for Osama and get rid of Al Queda. How is this situation any different? Israel is trying to get rid of Hamas and all of its leader in order to defend the citizens of its country from rocket attacks. CNN needs to show pictures of Israels towns being hit by Hamas rockets and innocent Israelis beings killed by rocket hire including of pictures of Israel defending itself.

The world should stop feeling pity for the Palestinians and start feeling sorry for Israel. Israel has been tolerate for a long, long time. Israel is under attack on a daily basis and has been patient for years, trying to solve the problem with the Palestinian peacefully, However, the terror organization, Hammas, doesn't want peace, they want to end Israel. They want to destroy Israel and are not interested in Peace talk. As long as Hammas is operating, there won't be peace.

Why should we really talk about the idea of The Holy land of Jews, which is something imaginary and unreal, and we are ignoring the reality in Palestine??!!!! If you want to know the reality just go back 60 years ago, so that you can find out before 1948, there was no such thing as the state of Israel. The idea of the state of Israel just came to reality in 1948 because some think-tankers, jewish business people, who had money and some/all Western governments at that time liked the idea of getting this area in trouble even after they leave, by having conflict created there.(Palestine)

I think the United States should stand with Israel.. If the Palenstines want the bombing to stop, they should stop firing into Israel....Get back to the peace talks and try peace for a change...After all, Israel gave the Palestinians the Gaza and West Bank in exchange for peace. We stand against terrorism and that is exactly what the hamas is all about.
Thank you.

I was in Israel in May of 2008. I visited cities where the bombs are dropped and the people of Israel have 15 seconds to get to a bomb shelter– It included schools with children and retirement homes. The people live this way, tolerating Hamas in their everyday life. I saw the way Israel is being treated. Obama saw it for himself when he was over in Israel this summer. May the US continue to stand with Israel.

Hamas are Terrorist......How can you even begin to negotiate with a government that promotes rocket attacks............

Larry,

It is easy to understand why Israel is hitting so hard hamas. They are not hitting the respectfull Muslim people, but they are going after a group of terrorists who use their own people as a shield.

Anyway, the war is going to take them anywhere. Furthermore, Israel must not make the mistake to forget Iran

Rafael
Curitba, Parana, Brazil

I see you havent posted a comment in at least an half hour....is that because you dont like the comments your getting. Are you censoring us....because we have the truth...and standing up to your propaganda....this is a crime against humanity....are you with genocide....do you think these people should be exterminated...they are cold....they bombs are reigning shock and awe on them...wake up....the Hamas are elected democratically....their support will not dwindle. Even the Christians living there support Hamas.

I BELIEVE THAT ISRAEL HAS SPIES IN GAZA ALREADY. THAT IS HOW THEY KNEW WHERE THE LEADER AND WEAPONS ARE. I THINK THEY ARE JUSTIFIED IN WHAT THEY ARE DOING. ANY OTHER COUNTRY WOULD DO THE SAME THING IF IT RAINED MISSLES ALL THE TIME. ISRAEL HAS TURNED THE OTHER CHEEK SO MUCH. NO MATTER WHAT THEY NEGOCIATE, PALISTINIANS ALWAYS WANT MORE. THEY HAVE THIER OWN SPIN ON EVERYTHING TO SUIT WHAT THEY ARE GOING THROUGH.

IF RACISM IN THE US CAN CHANGE THROUGH LAWS, THEN WE NEED TO TEACH THE PALISTINIANS THAT THIS IS WHAT WE WENT THROUGH IN OUR HISTORY. THE ELDERS ONLY TEACH HATE FOR ISRAEL AND IT CAN NEVER HAPPEN UNTIL THEY CHANGE.
GOD BLESS ISRAEL

Lary,

responssible media should boycut outgoing administration, Bush and company. He and his Team have demonstrated lack of understanding of world issues and have blindly backed isreal. these people have showen dilleberate ignorance and have caused the palestinians huge damage to thier identity, culture, and lives. How Mr. Bush can justify going after so called Al_Qaida every where on earth and still deny the occupied palestinians the right for self determination and to defend themselves and to try to left the suffering imposed on them by the occupier, Isreal, and by Mr. Bush himself|> shall we wait and see how Californians would act if occupied? How Arizona would act if California becomes under sever arial attck?

Israel demands that the Palestinians affirm their right to exist, but I have never heard Israel say that Palestine has the right to exist as a nation.
It seems that Isreal is following the US example is getting rid of the native people – put them on reservations, keep them dependent with no access to feed or support themselves, and keep them on the edge of survival without education and hope.

Hi:

I just heard Hanan on your show taking about Israel bombing of schools and Universities, what she failed tell you is that Hamas has been hiding weapons in these schools and Universities were their kinds are supposedly get their education. Next time you interview her ask her about the courses they offer at these Universities because one of the course is: how to become a suicide bomber.

So, I think it behooves all of you to learn what really goes on before you let someone like Hanan speak or any of the other terrorist you have been interviewing. Why don't you try to interview some of the Israeli citizens that have been suffering for the past 8 years from 40 rockets a day.

Batya

Batya

Israel's justification for this murderous attack is the equivalent of bringing a bazooka to a rubber band fight. Your collateral damage today will be the suicide bombers of tomorrow. So continue to plant seeds of hate with every bomb you drop. You've been "irradicating" terrorists for as long as I can remember but you've only been able to slow down the growth of the symptoms. The disease is not willing to give up land for peace as well as human rights. South Africa had nothing on you even during it's worst days.

Larry,
It is sickening that Bush only condemns hamas and condones Israel's obvious offensive position on this conflict. No wonder their is such hatred towards the US. The survivors of these atrocities are most likely become the future terrorists. When does America starts to take the position of promoting peace instead of blindly supporting Israel.

If in 1948 93% of the population of a Land were forced to give up over HALF of their 'rightful' place to the rest (ony 7% were Jews)...AND add to that that 7% was 'given' land and in addtion given modern weapons, training and the financial means to threaten neighbouring lands – - you TOO would be a tad upset believe you me. It's a case where people are being CONTROLLED...where their basic humans rights are being ignored and withheld...Aparthied was an abomination...why isn't it the same treatment of Palestinians considered as such? Money talks...Isreal is backed by the West...Isreal owns the West – - and the money. If a Lion is backed into a corner...it will pounce. 9-11 was an indication of such a 'pounce'...as abhorrent as it was. We – the Western world shouldn't expect the Lion to pounce again. Give the Palestinians what's rightfully theirs...starting with equal rights and basic human dignity without the 'control' of others. Then...we'll finally see a step toward true PEACE. Obama...here's your chance...show us you're not just Bush's puppet. The UN has denounced these atrocities of late...will you? We already know the answer to that.

Israel wants to establish Gaza strip and West bank as their country before Bush leaves office. Palestinians can’t win. Israeli settlers are pressing hard to occupy these Palestinian lands. Big question is relocate or kill the Palestinians.

Everybody wants to condemn Israel, Why do the Palestines keep bombing Israel. If they don't want war then they shouldn't start it.

Hamas and Hezballah are committed to destroying Israel., not recognizing their right to exist. They hide among their civilians, How can Israel make peace with them?

The coverage of CNN and other mainstream media in the US of the bombing of Gaza by Israel is absolutely appalling. Most of the coverage is focused on the make shift rockets that Hamas has sent into the Israeli town which, till a week ago has not killed one Israeli, yet no mention of the months of barbaric embargo that Israel has imposed on the people of Gaza depriving them of the most essential necessities like food, medicine, fuel. Israel is terrorizing the people of the region and is killing innocent civilians including over 70 children in this bombing campaign alone, all this with blind US support. What an outrage.

I am so tired of everyone blaming Israel for defending itself. Israel is informing people to get out, but death is good PR and Hamas likes to show its people dying so the world will condemn Israel and no one will tell Hamas to stop firing rockets into Israel. How would you feel if every day there was a missile hitting right next to your home? All Hamas has to do is say they will stop the violence on their part, and Israel will stop. If Hamas agreed to peace, there would be peace, but they don't want peace because it isn't good PR.

this never ending violence will never achieve peace and the U.S. shouldn't support either side. They are both to blame.

I really don’t care about who is right and who is wrong but as a human being I care about kinds and civilians. The Palestinian children, women and elders are dying every minute and it seems no one cares. My heart goes for the people in Gaza.

The way people criticize Israel in its efforts of self-defense reminds me of a story told me an officer of the Humane Society- the Association for the Protection of animals. They were called to investigate a situation where a cat was up in a tree and a dog was jumping up at the cat. One of the officers leashed the dog so that the other officer could rescue the cat and set it free. They then went to the good citizen that had called the Society to thank her. They told her they appreciated the call – the poor cat was trapped by the constant harassment of the dog. “You must be a real lover of cats.” They said. She rep lied that she hates cats. She wishes them all dead. She was sorry for the poor dog. She said:” Did you not see that each time the dog jumped up at the cat, that terrible cat scratched the poor dog”

it is absolutely heartbreaking to believe that war is the 'best' way we humans have to try to solve a problem of war. man's inhumanity to man, STILL knows no bounds. we are Still the only 'higher' animal that takes such pleasure in murdering each other in the name of peace. what a sick joke. we ard condemning the human race to its own destruction. it is not a matter of 'if", but WHEN !!!

Larry:

It was because of Israel and America's bias support towards Israel that created the atmosphere of nine eleven. Israel has never done anything for America except cause us all the problems. As long as we support this worthless nation, America will always be in harms way.

Larry,
you know the cause of this increasing violence in middle east is the bias of the us government – supported by the media – to the side of Israel. and you know the evidence of that you are interviewing the Israeli ambassador who tell the story from the Israeli point of view, but you don't give any Palestinian a chance – as the other side of the conflict – to express their opinion.
i think i have made my point.

How much you want to bet Travolta is managed by a jew in hollywood why else would you make this PRIME TIME.GEESH

Then you get to listen to CNN and jewish Larry Kings biased coverage
of ISRAELI TERRORISTS . made out to be saints LOL

How many iraq afghanistan usa soldiers had kids die while they were
overseas fighgting ??.........many no coverage.... cbs abc nbc fox and cnn are all about kissing the jews ass..........since most of them are jewish owned ...check it out....
I break bread with christians and jews .. but NONE OF THEM ARE ELITISTS self centered scum bags in gov media and wallstreet.

The US gov sells military equipment ti Israel.That should stop. We back Israel because of the Jew/Christian marriage in this country. Palestine belongs to Palestinians, it isn't call Jewestine for Jews.

But then this country doesn't care about truth or justice just ask an American Indian about government land management.

No I'm not anti-Semitic I'm native American.

USA needs to support Israel, provide whatever assistance they need. If we can't do that, then stay out of the way.

The best thing we could do is to pray for the safety of Israel. Read the best selling book on the market and the one most often stolen and you will find that the Middle East has been fighting for OVER 2000 years!

And to think...this may not be going on IF Israel had done what God had told them to do when they moved into the promise land....

We can sit and watch people suffer in gaza or other parts of the world but I assure you we'll all be paying for this sooner or later.

Israel is and will be the main reason for the world war III and America is not helping here but will spend millions in going after wrong causes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lets fix this once and for all.

Its very sad when educated people put the blame on Israel and condemn its necessary actions in protecting its citizens. I don't recall the international community condemning or putting blame on the US during its operations in Iraq/ Afghanistan. Its only proof that the international community is made up of nothing but anti Israel, prejudice and bias members. They are simply supporters of terrorism. No other country would have been this patient with terrorists freely sending mortars and missiles into their territory. Let Israel stand for its right in protecting its people and finally sending the terrorists what they deserve. The world would be a better place with out Hamas.

When Israel was created by the United Nations, both the Jews and the Palestinians were given in a state now called Israel The day the states were created, the Arab states surrounding the new state of Israel, attacked Israel screaming, "Kill the Jews, throw them into the sea. " Hamas continues to follow that call, thought Israel has stated many times that there should be a state for both sides. But as long as Hamas bombards Israel and sends suicide bombers into Israel who have already killed many Jews, what else can Israel do but defend itself?

The Israelis killed by suicide bombers are not counted when the dead Palestinians and Israel citizens are mentioned in the recent fighting.

CNN Censors: do you believe you are acting democratically? Do you think that censoring the people who are responding here is democratic. Do you not understand that the majority of americans are not supporting this genocide. I am a Jew...I am screaming that this is genocide. Israel created this horror...for an election. Israel has been slaughtering starving the Gazans for two years. CNN reporting is worse than Fake news.

Reoccupation: they have Gaza surrounded they control the water, the electric..you idiot talking head zionists are not fooling us.....

It is a shame Israel is allowed to violate all UN resolution and continue to kill hundreds of Palestinian while the world turns a blind eye. Israel needs to be listed as a state of terror and be sanction as Iraq and other nations unfriendly to U.N. Security Council. Too many people are loosing their lives at the hands of the U.S, Israel, and the British. While the U.S is the only power of Good and Justice, it should not continue to permit Israel's ruthless killing of Palestinian.

It is a shame the U.S. is supporting Israeli action blindly without minding the Palestinian side at all. It is time for the U.S. to be a more honest mediator in the Middle East and condemn and restrain some of Israel's aggression, especially when it is excessive, like it is now. What's happening in Gaza is a real travesty and I don't see much opposition or outrage against Israel as a result of these attacks.

Frank -The people in this "Prison Camp" were elected into power by the "Prisoners". It is their own fault. Obama said he would do anything to protect his family if they were under rocket attack. Cut this crap about disproportionate response how did we end WW II? Without atomic bombs you would be speaking German and work in rice fields. I forgot that's what the left in this country wants us to turn into.

When each of the tribes of Israel was apportioned various parts of the Promised Land, Gaza was given to the Tribe of Judah, (see Joshua 15:47 and Judges 1:18) as a share of its eternal inheritance.

The Pallestinian people want to break up the land due to radical Islam doctrine. This is a holy war and boils down to doctrine. This fight will continue until prophecies are fulfilled in the holy bible.

How quickly the world can
judge Israel. Gaza was given back to the Paelestinians. They dig a tunnel and kidnap a young soldier.

Innocent children live in fear on the Israeli side everyday. Mothers are scared to send their kids to school in Israel everyday.
How many countries give you a call and tell you we will bomb your house? I guess it shows that the world hates Israel.
If the world really wanted peace, education and money are needed to improve life in the occupied areas. How can you open your borders to suicide bombers and terrorists. To have peace you must be peaceful.

Larry; Obviously Hanan Ashrawi doesn't understand – or doesn't want to understand – that in order to stop Israel's bombardment all they have to do is to stop the rocket attacks, stop the suicide bombers, and agree to hand over (kidnapped soldier) Gilad Shalit. Hamas doesn't even have to recognise Israel; all they have to do is govern Gaza responsibly. That way there would be no blockade, normal business ties and an improvement in Gaza's fortunes. What's so complicated?

The United States should not blindly support and fund Israel, especially when Israel deliberately slaughters Palestinian civilians and children with American fighter planes and American bombs.

Israel is committing Ethnic Cleansing on CNN.

Please remember that Israel is a Jewish state, for Jewish people only. Non-Jews have ZERO rights in Israel, so like former Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, the Father of Israel, has said, that for the state of Israel to survive, they must eliminate the Palestinians.

It's happening in front of our eyes. Without outrage.

Americans: we can stop this.

It’s a shame that we rally for animal right in USA but we cannot be honest and try to help the Palestinian people form the Israeli killing monster. Are the kids in Gaza shooting missiles at Israel? Any one watches the news and sees the damage that is done by Israel knows this killing cannot be justified.

I realize than the violence is extreme but i think this time Israel has to finish the job. The Palestinians have lost all credibility when they elected hamas. Israel MUST invade Gaza and eliminate hamas for good there. I am against any kind of religious extremism whatever the religion is and to me hamas have to be destroyed. They have been brought in by desperate and largely un-educated people and now these people unfortunately will suffer the consequences (Collateral). There should be only one objective for Israel, eliminate hamas at all cost. I don't think Israel should talk peace until the Palestinians are willing to talk without violence. Then and only then should talk restart on creating a Palestinian state.

The citizens of Gaza has elected the Hamas group to be in control of their territory, so how or why should they complain. The President of the Palestinians, Abu Mazan, if he can't control Hamas, then who can. The interview with Hanan H., she talked about no medicine, no food, Israeli Gov't gave Gaza yesterday 90 trucks of humanatarian aid, now who is lying....For 8 years, South Israel has been the target of the Hamas group, enough is enough. You can not deal with these people. I blame Iran for fueling the fire between Hamas and Israel. I am a peacemaker, but enough is enough. These people don't want peace.

I am NOT Anti-Semitic, Anti-Israel or anything else that people
like to label people. I just wonder...how can this be called a
"war"? Young boys throwing rocks, "insurgents" shooting rockets
against machine guns, tanks and bombs...A big part of which is
funded by the U.S.A. (at least 3 Billion Dollars are sent to Israel from
the U.S.A.)...no questions asked about where the money goes. As long as the Israel Lobby and AIPAC have so much control in the U.S.A., this support will not end anytime soon...

The main reason Israel is attacking now is because Gaza has been attacking them first for the past 3 YEARS!!!
If the Gazians WOULD STOP THE AGRESSION THEN WE CAN HAVE PEACE!!!!
ISRAEL WANTS PEACE!!!
PALESTINIANS DON'T WANT ISRAEL TO EXIST....
IS THAT SIMPLE

Israel is an occubation force and what is going on in Gaza is a war crime.

We Israelis, feel that CNN is portraying the Palestinian point of view rather the Israeli one.
We feel that CNN is not covering what really is going on in the middle east.
Hammas is attacking Israel for many years- where were your reporters when Israel has been attacked by Rockets on a daily basis during the last 3 years. Where was your coverage when Israelis, civilians, young children, women and men, where attacked in their homes, on the streets, etc.
THe people of Shderot had been bombed constantly. For the last 3 years they live in fear. After being attacked and bombed regularly, Israel said enough is enough and started attacking back. How can any one criticize Israel for wanting to protect its' citizens?

Those who think that the Palestinians should be freed need to examine how free the Palestinians are under the rule of Hamas.

Why couldn't Hamas get food and medical supplies from the same source they got missles?

If Hamas was able to dig tunnels, why didn't they also dig shelters for the Palestiniane people?

Larry, Israel is behaving like another Hitler. For a group who felt the pain of the Holocaust, they are now inflicting the same pain on the Palestinians. They need to understand that there's limitation to military power. Just ask Geoge Bush. If the United States blow this like they blew the invasion of Iraq, President – elect Obama can forget about trying to achieve ant peace in that region.

What you see happening is in the Bible and will play itself out no matter what.

So Larry you are saying you guys read everything here?? Ok then please read these questions:

1.How long is US going to be Israel's slave? Last time I checked they bombed one of our ships (see USS Liberty – June 8, 1967)
2 How long are we going to be dragged into wars with double standards? Either we protect freedom and democracy everywhere or we back up aggression? What are we doing there?
3 IF we want to get rid of terrorism and hate towards our country we have to get out of that conflict and be fair towards all parts involved

Thank you for addressing this touchy and painful problem. May God protect all innocent life. I continue to believe in democracy when I hear all sides equally (i.e on your program).

AC, Columbus, Ohio

Israel needs our support. Hamas are terroris.
Hamas and like organization have got fantastic media help but they are still wrong. We support Israel in its fight against Hamas and other terrorist organizations.

Can't the world see that Israel are treating the Palestinians just like the Nazi's treated Jews! Israel is inflicting the same genocide and mass punishment that it keeps reminding the world Jews had suffered from! Are the Israelis better human beings than the rest of the world nation? Is it OK for them to kill and blunder babies, kids, women and old men?

I am wondering why you don't interview anybody from the israeli side so that their voice will be heard as well?

Israel’s justification for these horrible attacks is the equivalent of bringing a bazooka to a rubber band fight. It's collateral damage today will unfortunately be the suicide bombers of tomorrow. So ignorantly continue to plant the seeds of hate with every bomb you drop. You’ve been “irradicating” terrorists for as long as I can remember but you’ve only been able to slow down the growth of the symptoms. The disease is not willing to give up land for peace as well as human rights. South Africa had nothing on you even during it’s worst days.

If Palestine would have stopped shooting their rockets, then Israel wouldn't had started bombing them. It seems tehy want to start the war and when they are met back with attacks, then everyone wants to pitty Palestine. I don't pitty them because they are reaping what they have sown. God Bless Everyone.

Hamas started lobbing rockets into Israel totally without provocation. They did it to cause exactly what has happened- Israel will retaliate to protect itself with their greater capabilities and the world will sympathize with the poor Palestinians. The losers are the Palestinian people, many of whom have no use for Hamas in the first place. But we can't be fooled into sympathizing with the bully, who knew full well what he would get in return for his rockets. Hamas does not care one whit for the lives of the Palestinians or they would not have struck first.

the Gazans will never overthrow their duly elected leaders. They will only gain more power...and there will be more hatred against Israel and jews around the world.

this is a hoax...these stupid homemade weapons are slingshots against the 3rd largest military establishment in the world. Of course their buildings are in civilian populaiton....its a tiny place...they are crowded in a 7 mile radius with l.5 million...come on anderson are you that stupid> or just another freakin zionist.

Thanks Larry for allowing both side of the Israel-Palistine issue to speak. The anger of the Gazan's is understandable. They were driven from their homes and lands in 1948 and they have been landless and poverty stricken ever since, living in refugee camps and receiving handouts from the international community. I don't agree with dissadents firing rockets into Israel, but if you and I were in their situation, we would fight back too, using whatever crude methods we could devise.

Israel has the 4th largest military in the world. The pitiful inhabitants of Gaza have been isolated, starved, deprived of clean water, deprived of medical care, electricity, and are militarily attacked at will by Israel. Gazans sit in a prison and are subjected to continuous, sadistic abuse by their prison guards. Israel's blatent violation of international laws, UN resolutions, and their ongoing confiscation of West Bank land for settlements is proof they have no interest in peace.

IM VERY MUCH AMERICAN AS EVERYONE ELSE BORN HERE AS I WAS... IM 14 AND I ALREADY KNOW WHATS GOING ON. MY MOM AND GRANDMOTHER WERE LIVED AND WERE BOTH BORN IN GAZA...ONCE THEY HEARD OF THIS WAR THEY WERE IN TEARS.. IT BROKE MY HEART TO SEE THEM IN THIS MANOR. AND THE WORST PART IS THAT BOTH SIDES ARE FIGHTING OVER ALL THE WRONG REASONS! OH AND ONE MORE THING WHAT EXACTLY ARE THE ISRAELEEZ AFTER AS AN RESULT! IT SEEMS AS IF ALL THEIR DOING IS MURDIRNG OTHERS NOT LIKE THEM THAT THEY'VE ENVIED! (1600 PEOPLE DEAD OF GAZA AND 4 PEOPLE DEAD OF ISRAELE! WHO LOOKS LIKE THE BAD ONES NOW!)

How much more killing & destruction Israel has to do for this to be more obvious, this is a “GENOCIDE” this will not be forgotten and Israel will not get away with this.
Thank you Larry for not being one sided!!!

Larry,
where is the outrage in the arab world foor Dafur Where is the Muslim outrage for umbai.
The face of war has changed. In the past you crushed the military and the civilians capitulated. Today the military usea the civilian population for camouflage. If Israel wants to win they must annihilate the civilian population and the and only then will the military capitulate. War is never fair never good never acceptable. either you negotiate or you annihilate your opponents population. No surrender,no retreat, no appologies no prisoners no excuses, no exceptions

Since when does 4 Israeli lives equal 400 Palestinian lives? I can understand someone defending themselves, which is what Israel claims to be doing but I can not understand the overkill that is taking place by the hand of Israel while the whole western world stands by and says nothing. What's taking place now is truly a shame and my prayers are with the men, women and children of Palestine who are suffering. It's time that all Muslim countries stand up for Palestine.

Give me a break! Are you telling me that Israel with all it's high tech equipment couldn't find a rocket launcher? What a lie – they could find all of them in a minute with pin-point accuracy. They are using it as an excuse to kill. PS – Israel broke the cease-fire with the starvation siege they placed on the Palestinians months ago. Starve people, take their water, take their land, no access to city jobs, and what are they supposed to do? Like it or not, Hamas was elected by the Palestinian people and Democracy should be respected. Don't like their politics – win them over with diplomacy – not slaughter.

Ok, am going to the worldwide blogs to report the censorship of negative comments. We have all been reporting your biased on air comments...acting stupid like you dont know what the zionists are doing...blaming the victims....you are the worst nazi sympathizers, since freaking Hitler....is there any wonder Hitler was able to slaughter us...while the world sat silent...just like now..only the zionists are doing the slaughter...remarkable...shame on you all...all those innocent deaths on are your censored heads...shame shame shame you baby killers supporters.

I feel this might find an end with a long overdue conversation held with dignity and compassion.

As a Canadian it sickens me that our leadership and that of the US has offered seemingly unconditional support for Israel rather than condemn an obvious lopsided campaign of mass murder. The math is very simple. A few Israelis killed versus 400 odd Palestinians. It's almost as if Israel considers its human lives to be more valuable, ironic considering its own tragic history. It also makes you wonder what our leaders in North America owe to Israel and its affiliates at home and abroad. Smells like a conspiracy to me.

The IDF is operating against the organizations and individuals that participate in terrorist activity targeting the State of Israel .
The IDF will strike and destroy every site or building in which weapons or smuggling tunnels are found.
Following this announcement, anyone located in a build containing weapons, or where there are smuggling tunnels, is there at his/her own risk and it is his/her responsibility to exit and evacuate his/her family!

Starting the Israeli regime was done by colonialist powers who paid no attention(and later no remoprse) to what the outcome will be and they focused on just unloading their jewish population.

Like it or not, the problem will continue until the USA, Canada and Australia start giving western jews immigration visas and the palestinian living in shanty refugees return to their country and claim their land and their identity.

The Arab Jews are from their, they will stay with the rest of us. Just like they do is Syria, Lebanon, UAE, Kuwait and Egypt and Moracco and Tunisia and so on.

The people in Palestine may not have no job or whatever, I guess you think it's okay for them to bomb Israel because they have no job. NO it's not okay. What do they say, "hey we are bored today, don't have a job, so let's shoot rockets at Israel. GET REAL!!!What if half of the people in the world that don't have a job get's bored and start bombing you. Would you like it?

The "Jews" who claim Israel as their land have the entire history confused. First, the modern Jews are not the descendants of the ancient Hebrews. The Hebrews were a dark-skinned middle eastern people that descended from Shem. Obviously, the Jews are from Europe and not from the middle east. It seems to me like the same story of how the U.S. stole land from the "Native Americans." I believe that this is white-supremacy and that the U.S. backs Israel because they are white-Europeans. The Jews know that how it was formed in 1948 is morally wrong and their only claim to the region is because of the biblical promise from God to the ancient Hebrews. Guess what, the Palestinians are decended from Abraham and are genetically closer to the ancient Hebrews than the Jews. I honestly know that Isreal is a racist white empire and I pray that it is destroyed some day. I have nothing against Jews, but Isreal is wrong. They basically just stole the Palestinians land in 1948 and wonder why the are being attacked? They are blind and wicked. Jews claim that they need a "homeland"? My attitude is that people, such as African-Americans, have suffered more than the Jews, and we have no homeland. Why can't the Jews live with other people? Jewish religion teaches the sick need to be separate from every nation. Jews really need to be more inclusive, like Jesus said.

LARRY,
IT IS A PITY YHAT MOST PEOPLE ARE BLAMING ISREAL FOR DEFENDING IT CITIZENS,BUT FORGET TO BLAM IRAN THE PEPETRATORS OF HAMAS ACTION.I WILL SORPORT THAT ISREAL SHOULD ALL REASONABLE FORCE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES.IF ISREAL DO NOT PUT A STOP THIS BARBARIC ACTION OF HAMAS,THEY WILL CELEBRATE VICTORY AGAIN.
PEOPLE SHOULD NOT PROTECT AGAINST ISREALIST ACTION BUT THE MISSILE BEEN THROWN ON ISREALIS SOUL.

The Palastinians are forever pleading victimisation, but they are the true aggressors, nothing but a bunch of louts and brigands. Every time Israel extends overtures of peace, it is invariably the Palestinians who transgress. What country would stand by and allow these rocket attacks to continue without defending themselves. Frankly, the Palestinians, and the Arabs in general desire one thing and one thing alone, the annihilation of Israel, and if the Arabs were not fighting Israel and the Occident, they would then happily embark upon killing each other!

Please don't forget that happened in 9/11. Once the US was attacked, the US didn't sit quietly. How do you expect Israel to sit quietly while being attacked again and again?
Hammas is a terror organization- don't defend their actions!
Stop giving Hammas so much air time. Stop portraying the Palestinians as the victims of Israel. They are indeed victims but the victims of Hammas who operates from their homes. Please remember that.

As an immigrant, not an indigenous American, especially if you know that i am neighbour of the Palestinian Land, so i guess you know who i am. A man that comes from a land of more than 7000 years of civilization!!!! I never heard about something called the State of Israel before 1948!!!!!!

President Obama- i think that we really have to look closely to the most critical factory which is the war in GAZA, and i mean factory, because factories produce products. The final product of this war in Gaza (most critical factory in the history) is going to create real TERRORISTS, according to Israeli terms!!!!

President Obama – I think of you highly, and one of the major foundations of the United States is justice for all and 'ALL' means EVERY AMERICAN AND NON AMERICAN. 'ALL' means every single human being, in the US land or other lands. PLEASE step up and apply justice for all. Do not jeopardize our land's security by creating more hatred.

Justice for all, peace for all.

l wish the world knows the thruth about the conflict.
lsreal broke the cease fire Nov 4 2008,by killing six palestinian.The palestinian reply with rocket at sedrot.lsreal did not allow 1.5 million to have access to food water ,flour,electricity,medice and all other stuff by blocking of Gaza to the world.onthe 19 Nov 2008,Hamas said it will not renew the cease fire,bcos isreal continue to starve people to death.But lsrael said hamas should renew the ceasefire mean you either die of starvation or booming.so when Hamas and other palestian faction reject humiliation,and started firing projectiles,the got tarp in israel election conspiracy,and isreal started booming the largest open prison in the world for domestic election campain.
who ever kill most win the kennesset.
shame on isreal and the world for 60 years of palestinians suffering

People forget that the Gaza strip was part of the Palestinian State which was approved by the UN in 1948 to end what had been the British Mandate over Palestinian. The Arab League refused to recognize the establishment of the State of Israel or allow the creation of the Palestinian state. With the end of the 1948 war, Egypt annexed Gaza and Jordan took the remaining Palestinian territory.

Gaza was controlled by Egypt from 1948-1967. During that time, the Palestinian didn't have nearly as much as to water, electricity or food as then did under Israel following the 1967 war.

The Palestinian problem really rests with the Arab handling of Gaza and the West Bank Palestinian areas.

Frank Maddox

They're both wrong. I do not support Israel is bombing and killing hundreds of innocent people. Our government should be doing all it can to get peace to come to this corner of the world, instead of just siding with Israel. Shooting rockets into Israel and killing one or two people does not justify Israel bombing and killing hundreds of innocent people.

It has been mentioned by many people now that Israel should have the right to defend itself from the Hamas attacks. But it has come to the point where there is no balance between the two sides in any way. The reality is that Israel has killed palestinian civilians reaching the hundreds and the injured have even reached the high thousands with an abundance of hopeless cases. When it comes to how many Hamas has been able to kill and injure, the number barely reaches five thus far. Israel is simply misusing its aid and power and should be the first one to restrain.

Listen! Israel is no angel here,but all that Hamas represents is a terrorist organization and always will be to the end.Israel has to react to this threat thrown at them on a daily basis.This will not be pretty and will not be popular for Israel,but must be executed with delicate precision.So far this has been far from that but any time you deal with a terrorist organization,how precise will it be.

Israel needs to move into the 21st century. Descrimination based on enthicity and religion should be made unconstritutional. Make full reparations to the Palestinians and full-intigrate them into the culture. We did. We changed the descrimination laws and people's minds followed and now we have a Blqck president and no one thinks twice. Israel needs to become a democracy.

Here is a thought for everybody reading the pro-Hamas posts:
please advise, what would you have Israel do? lets not bring up what happend 50, 2000 or 5000 years ago. Right now a small group of terrorists is controling gaza, and firing rockets and misiles (themselves a proof of their violation of cease fire) out of kindergardens and schools, then hiding amongst women and children.
What would you like israel to do? is firing back the same types of rockets a proportional response? trust me – that would cause many many more innocents to be killed. Or should we not do anything, open up the borders and let Hamas arm itself mad – a group that it's very cause is the destruction of Israel and the killing of every Jew (look it up, they don't keep it a secret). What would you do? Hamas is not interested in peace, only in a truce for regrouping and collecting arms. Moreover, they are not the palestinians leaders and representatives.
Do not compare the living conditions of Palestinians to Israelies, Israelies built their country with their own hands out of nothing. Rather look up the living conditions of Palestinians in Jordan.. you will see they are not much different.
It is very easy to accuse of racism, but trust me, Israelies just want to be left alone. There is a very productive peace process going on with the true palestinian government, lets all put public pressure on Hamas and give palestinians a chance!

We, in the US are all complicit in this massacre, since we finance and support all the five wars Israel initiated against the Palestinians since 1948. Israel is the aggressor, and like a bank robber , does not have a right of self defense. Only the victim is defending themselves. Israel has even committed murder and attempted murder on the high seas, by their attack on the USS Liberty, and the relief ship ,SS Dignity.

Seems tim is a product of distorted history with no follow up on modern history. have you all lost what occupation means? should the occupied just submet to the will of the occupier? maybe so, given how international political leadership been selling itself all along. Ignorance would cause more damage. one should stop and look at the real causes of this conflict. One need to live in occupied territories and live exactly like the palestinians to understand the suffering that been going on for years. so shoud the palestinians just sumbit? please dont talk avout rockets and 4 killed, while ignoring blockade and humilation and over 400 killed in less than a week. are those 4 of different breed to kill 400 as a revenge?

Anyone in the United States that thinks President Bush was correct in attacking Iraq because we got rid of that bad leader in power there needs to ask themselves if we shouldn't attack Palestine, because the leadership in that country is just as bad. Anyone that shoots rockets indiscriminately at civilian targets needs to be destroyed.

The chicken and the egg. Is Israel attacking Palestinians because they are rocketing, or is Hamas rocketing because Palestinians live like second class, correction third class citizens in their own country. Desperate people act in desperate ways. When Israel treats these people like animals, than expect animal like responses.

Palestinians are targeting civil in Israel, and the fanatic Hamas started all... the Palestinians were involved in many terrorists attacks around the world in the last 30 years killing civil as well....
Israel is defending their territory, the country, the religion and the culture....there will never be peace in the region unless the Palestinians will understand to respect the values of our civilization and democracy...and trying to elect a democratic government in their country not a fanatic organization....

Where are these rockets coming from. With all idological minds we have, cut the head off the snake. No rockets flying into Isreal, no airborne strikes.

Hi Larry
For give me I would like to say everybody say that Israel have right to exist
I agree but Israel have no right to take land from the Palestinian
I hope the American can understand the point
on one side poor no tanks no air plan and on the other American support and strong I will call that Israel is a terrorest

what israel is doing to Gaza are war crimes. and this is what is real terrorism is. israelies can kill as many palestinians as they want, but they cann't kill the spirit of palestinians or their cause.

This is so unacceptable of Israel. First they put a blockade in place so the palestinians have no access to food, water, electricity, etc. and then when Hamas gets fed up and sends a few rockets into Israel, they counter with bombs killing hundreds of innocent men, women and children. If someone blockaded our country, I think our government would act the same way. After all, after 9/11 attacks we went to Afganistan and bombed the heck out of them.

Our government needs to find a way to bring peace to this area and stop backing Israel. The Palistines deserve some respect. I'm not saying Hamas is right, but Israel is also very wrong.

Where in the Quran you can see the word "Jerusalem" ?
Ask the Muslims world why they claims jerusalem ?
Not even ones in the Quran , it was only a dream of muhammed that he went to sleep in mecca and woke up in jerusalem (dream).
Jerusalem in the Jewish Torah over 600 times .

for all of you who only listen to biased media and spin put forth by special interest groups, Zionist & Israeli lobbies I suggest that you pick up some books and read about this long conflict. This conflict started with the arrival of the Zionists in Palestine. There has been no 2000 year war between Arabs & Jews in the Middle East they lived side by side without conflict for centuries before the arrival of the Zionist movement. This incursion is just another chapter in the book of zionism and how to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians. The is not about Judism vs Islam this is about an ideological movement of Zionism and how this land can be taken over and how to rid if of another culture. It has been ongoing since the 1890's and continues today....we as Americans need to stop supporting this bloody ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

January 1, 2009

Baffled. Perplexed. Dumfound. No word, even in increasing semantic intensity, can really communicate the stupefaction when one is confronted with the medias exceptionalism in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Only in the face of near annihilation do we, the public, begin to peel back the skin and discover the ongoing plight of the Palestinians and the myriad of injustices they face. As I write this, circa 420 Gazans have been killed, close to 2000 seriously wounded; medical supplies, at a very conservative estimate are scare, hospitals are littered with maimed bodies, bleeding corpses and the waiting rooms public address system makes announcements which are drowned out by the wailing and crying of families discovering their child has been ruthlessly executed or their house blown apart. It is only this sensationalism which the corporate media feels satisfies their requirement of news-worthiness. Gaza is being suffocated from the outside in; the thin strip of land, one of the most densely populated territories in the world, often referred to as an open air prison has surely turned into a modern day concentration camp.

Why have the media failed to address the problems which riddle the Levantine region? And when such coverage is made, much like the littered hospitals in Gaza, it is festering with inaccuracies, errors and laden with bias which identify the victim as the enemy. The fallacies and ineptitude of media objectivity (or rather lack thereof) and why such an event has taken place are key considerations when observing the issues.

Israel has a right to defend itself, the popular maxim of the Knesset, ringing from President to prime minister, general to civil servant and back again. Baraks justification for bombing the densely populated Gaza was to attack militant strongholds. Hamas (a party which Israel effectively created to counteract the nationalist movement of the PLO) were the threat; firing primitive home-made rockets into Sderot and Ashlekon (towns both ironically inhabited by Muslim,Christian,Druze and Bedouin Arabs and Sephardim Jews prior to 1948) and other towns within Southern Israel. Since 2001, around 16 Israelis have died from these rocket attacks. 16, a number (which, I acknowledge is an estimate but the actual figure does not differ much from this) is yelled resoundingly around the world. But what about the thousands of Palestinians killed since the Al-Aqsa Intifada? Or the illegal siege which has forced Gaza into a slow and painful strangulation; the wrists each day tightening around the neck of Gaza starving it of basic humanitarian supplies which defeats any hope for self-emancipation. Hamas are therefore the threat; a democratically elected government are rejected.

Ok then. Thats fine. Hamas infantile rocket fire into Sderot morally justifies Israels excessive and brutal force in Gaza. Their killing the terrorists right? So what if a few hundred civilians get killed. Hamas are the ones to blame. By now it will become apparent that such a validation of the attacks based on this premise borders on lunacy. By this similar rationale, if someone were to punch my brother, I would be morally justified to slaughter their family. The Independents journalists Robert Fisk and Mark Steele make very similar analogies. And given the nonsensical statements given by the U.S., it appears they are almost blaming the Gazans for being victims; they are responsible for getting in the way. To quote Mark Steele Someone should ask her (Defence Minister Livni) to comment on teenage knife-crime, to see if she'd say: "I strongly condemn the people who've been stabbed, and until they abandon their practice of wandering around clutching their sides and bleeding, there is no hope for peace."

Isaac Newtons third law of motion states to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Nothing can ring more clearly in the context of the Israel and Palestinian conflict and this is a useful tool to understand why any person resorts to militancy. An intelligent person will look at why Hamas is taking such action. The answer is simple (although not to the untrained eye who observes the farces of Sky News or the other voyeuristic news channels in America). Simply, Israel continues to illegally occupy and confiscate land, to illegally imprison them without charge, build illegal walls, dehumanise, ethnically cleanse, engage in indiscriminate killing, to illegally deny them of basic human rights, illegally bulldoze their houses and illegally build settlements.

In what is one of the most distorted conflicts in the world, where the sufferers are portrayed as the terrorists, heroes as villains, it is important we realise that what is happening in Gaza is more than sporadic killing. This is less an anomaly but more of an ongoing genocide of the Palestinians. Even the most ardent Zionist will observe, although he may not agree with the terminology, that the action Israel is taking is bordering on a shoah (echoing the words of Defence Minister Vilnai in response to earlier attacks in Gaza wherein around 130 were killed in 4 days). To infer any sort of balance or evenness in the conflict is to run contrary to any rational thought of man.

9000 heavily equipped Nazis with artillery and tanks sought to destroy the Warsaw Ghetto warriors. It is a celebrated fact that 1000 militarily inexperienced Jews with little ammunition inspiringly rose up to resist and fight the Nazis. The amazing Jewish uprising helped to save many children who survive today as the holocaust survivors. The Palestinians, in their retort to the vicious occupation and siege on Gaza, much like their Jewish brothers, heroically resist in the same honour and bravery. But the cameras turn on, not when the Israeli Tank arrests the father or kills the daughter or demolishes the house, but when the Palestinian throws a stone at soldier. And he is called the terrorist.

I know that people will look at this article with sentiments and try to look for hypocrisies or take the cowards route and lazily slap the heinous label of anti-Semite. Certain words have been used to accentuate the temerity of the attacks and highlight the hopelessness of the victims. Because of such actions, Israel has effectively thrown away the chances of peace further into the distance. Let me put this proposition forward. If I criticise Israels illegal occupation (and all the baggage with which is comes such as dehumanisation, human rights abuses, racism, illegal settlement activity) and their widely condemned and savage killing in Gaza, and I am called anti-Semitic, what my accuser asserts is all those horrible things I have mentioned are an inherent part of Jewish Law . Now who is the one being Anti-Semitic?

For Gaza, a population formed mainly of the Palestinians who were displaced during the 1948 war, they continue to live in squalor and constant fear. The weather in Gaza is often unbearably hot. On the rare occasion it does rains, it brings some small yet meaningful relief to the 1.5 million crammed inside the tiny strip of land. But now, even when it rains, not water but missiles scatter the land. Avram Berg, a former Israel policy maker said that there were two types of people that came out of Auschwitz. People who say NEVER AGAIN FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE. And the others say NEVER AGAIN FOR ANYONE!

Palestinians have been under a holocoust for sixty years from a people that claims to be victims of a hitler holocoust. something here does not make sence. An authentic Jew does not accept Israel for a state because that would be against the teaching of the Judaism. zionist high jacked the Jewish religion.

To those who think Israel is using too much force, what do you think would happen if the roles were reversed. Massive genocide, rape, etc from these fanatics. Israel has used so much restraints which may make a ground fight in Gaza costly to their men, lets imagine a scenario where lets say Mexico would fire rockets inside the United State, how long that would last? and how violent would the response be? No, let's be realistic, Israel has the right to defend itself and should do so until the threat is removed. I happen to think that the Palestinians would make a better case for themselves if they chose a peaceful fight. Let's hope that one day they will choose that path.

Mark Steel: So what have the Palestinians got to complain about?

To portray this as a conflict between equals requires some imagination

Wednesday, 31 December 2008

When you read the statements from Israeli and US politicians, and try to match them with the pictures of devastation, there seems to be only one explanation. They must have one of those conditions, called something like "Visual Carnage Responsibility Back To Front Upside Down Massacre Disorder".

For example, Condoleezza Rice, having observed that more than 300 Gazans were dead, said: "We are deeply concerned about the escalating violence. We strongly condemn the attacks on Israel and hold Hamas responsible."

Someone should ask her to comment on teenage knife-crime, to see if she'd say: "I strongly condemn the people who've been stabbed, and until they abandon their practice of wandering around clutching their sides and bleeding, there is no hope for peace."

The Israeli government suffers terribly from this confusion. They probably have adverts on Israeli television in which a man falls off a ladder and screams, "Eeeeugh", then a voice says, "Have you caused an accident at work in the last 12 months?" and the bloke who pushed him gets £3,000.

The gap between the might of Israel's F-16 bombers and Apache helicopters, and the Palestinians' catapulty thing is so ridiculous that to try and portray the situation as between two equal sides requires the imagination of a children's story writer.

The reporter on News at Ten said the rockets "may be ineffective, but they ARE symbolic." So they might not have weapons but they have got symbolism, the canny brutes.

It's no wonder the Israeli Air Force had to demolish a few housing estates, otherwise Hamas might have tried to mock Israel through a performance of expressive dance.

The rockets may be unable to to kill on the scale of the Israeli Air Force, said one spokesman, but they are "intended to kill".

Maybe he went on: "And we have evidence that Hamas supporters have dreams, and that in these dreams bad things happen to Israeli citizens, they burst, or turn into cactus, or run through Woolworths naked, so it's not important whether it can happen, what matters is that they WANT it to happen, so we blew up their university."

Or there's the outrage that Hamas has been supported by Iran. Well that's just breaking the rules. Because say what you will about the Israelis, they get no arms supplies or funding or political support from a country that's more powerful than them, they just go their own way and make all their weapons in an arts and crafts workshop in Jerusalem.

But mostly the Israelis justify themselves with a disappointing lack of imagination, such as the line that they had to destroy an ambulance because Hamas cynically put their weapons inside ambulances.

They should be more creative, and say Hamas were planning to aim the flashing blue light at Israeli epileptics in an attempt to make them go into a fit, get dizzy and wander off into Syria where they would be captured.

But they prefer a direct approach, such as the statement from Ofer Schmerling, an Israeli Civil Defence official who said on al-Jazeera, "I shall play music and celebrate what the Israeli Air Force is doing."

Maybe they could turn it into a huge nationalfestival, with decorations and mince pies and shops playing "I Wish We Could Bomb Gaza Every Day".

In a similar tone Dov Weisglas, Ariel Sharon's chief of staff, referred to the siege of Gaza that preceded this bombing, a siege in which the Israelis prevented the population from receiving essential supplies of food, medicine, electricity and water, by saying, "We put them on a diet."

It's the arrogance of the East End gangster, so it wouldn't be out of character if the Israeli Prime Minister's press conference began: "Oh dear or dear. It looks like those Palestinians have had a little, er, accident. All their buildings have been knocked down – they want to be more careful, hee hee."

And almost certainly one of the reasons this is happening now is because the government wants to appear hard as it wants to win an election. Maybe with typical Israeli frankness they'll show a party political broadcast in which Ehud Olmert says, "This is why I think you should vote for me", then shows film of Gaza and yells: "Wa-hey, that bloke in the corner is on FIRE."

And Condoleezza Rice and her colleagues, and the specially appointed Middle East Peace Envoy, could then all shake their heads and say: "Disgraceful. The way he's flapping around like that could cause someone to have a nasty accident."

Lol, this is a joke. Tit for tat for 50 years, doing the exact same things, and expecting different results. Idiots, both sides. There is no right side or wrong side, and there is no justification. Just two backward cultures. Consumer demand weakens for oil, and the price drops $100 dollars a barrel. OPEC reduces production, and the price per barrel continues to decline. Establish a condition where both idiots can fight, and the price of oil increases. The Russians will arm idiot "A", to fuel on the fighting, and the Americans will arm idiot "B", and oil will increase back to $60 per barrel. The only winner is OPEC.

Israel should grow up and stop being such an arrogant little nation. I am sick of its spin, manipulation, provocation, threats, sieges, occupation, expansion, and aggression. The Palestinians aren't terrorists – they are pushed and bullied to the breaking point by a very bad neighbor.

Larry,

Unless the PEOPLE of Gaza and all other Arab lands held by TERRORISTS, RID THEMSELVES OF THESE VERMON, there will be
no chance for peace. It's up to the people themselves. They need to get rid of these terrorists and voice a will to have peace with Israel, the United States and all the democratic nations of the world. Israel has every right to defend itself and should do everything it needs to do to protect its citizens from harm. Shame on the Arab world for allowing it's children to be taught hate, to make themselves into bombs and hurl bombs toward peaceful Israel. If they would do this, then they would have better lives for themselves and their children.

In 1940 approximately 400,000 Jews were imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland – walled off from contact with the outside world, cut off from supplies of food and medical necessities. Many died of disease and starvation. After some 250 – 300,000 were removed and sent to their deaths in concentrations camps, in 1943 a courageous few decided to engage in an armed resistance against the Nazis. Though few and poorly armed, they managed to delay the Nazi onslaught against the remaining Jews, and became a legendary example of resistance to evil against hopeless odds.
It’s ironic, and tragic that in 2008 the conditions of the Warsaw Ghetto have re-surfaced in Gaza , only this time the ghetto residents are Palestinians, and their oppressors are Israelis, and there are no ovens. And this time, the resistance of Palestinians to their oppression is labeled “Terrorism”, while Israeli oppression is labeled “Self Defense”. While some will deny the comparison, the parallels are clear for all to see: This is the kind of outrage that people of conscience swore would “Never Again” be allowed to happen. We need to stop this now.

Peace unto everybody here, lets try to put the truth in its right position, here are the main titles:
1- This is OCCUPATION scince the begining of Zionism project in Palestine....and wht is going till ourdays are to resist this Israeli OCCUPATION...
2-People are talkin about "Israeli right to Defend itself" ... and I agree EveryBody has this right...lets see:
it was about one year of siege against Gaza in the time which is supposed to be the "calming period"!! ...No food No Electricity No anything for the minimal ability to live !!, then How could those people live !!...so didnt Palestinian also have the ability to "Defend"..
Now when talking about Defending: lets ve short comparing and see the reability !!:
- "Qassam Rockets " aginst Israel : 4 persons dyed 10 injuries and lets say some holes in the lands!!
-Israeli "Defending": F-16 planes,Ruining and Shelling the result till now 430 person dyed 2700 injuries many of them are children,women and civilians...
I lets u to compare !!
finally, I ve to clear something...Islam is the reiligion of peace not of terrorism as many poor people are trying to show..I invite everyone who has open mind and reall wise to take a few moments of his time to take a look here: discover.islamway.com ... sorry for long talking and Best wishes for everybody by the new year to live in peace and Happines....salam "Peace"

I believe the Bush administration has encouraged Israel to "take out Hamas" while they can. It is too much of a coincidence that this is happening now. Killing innocent Palestinians only gives terrorists another reason to further their cause.
This is a tragedy.

I live far far away from the seat of conflict in Gaza but i am very much concerned with what's happening there....and I condemn Israel's actions on Gaza, no matter how much they and the US think that retaliation is their right given Hamas' earlier attacks on Israel...HOW CAN ANY SANE OR MORAL PERSON EVER JUSTIFY AND CONDONE THE KILLING OF SO MANY PEOPLE? not to mention the starvation and despair being caused by Israeli's attacks? MORE THAN 400 PALESTINIAN KILLED BECAUSE OF TWO ISRAELIS KILLED? I'm not belittling the deaths of these two Israelis...but dont u think that Israeli's actions are so very much exaggerated???

HOW CAN ISRAELI'S RETALIATION/"DEFENSE" EVER BE RIGHT? Would God have approved of what they are doing? Have they lost sight of that? They claim to be the chosen people and yet they seem to have lost the heritage that God has given them...

Right now the crisis in Gaza is having an inflammatory effect all over the world....that's why anyone cannot say "What do I care what's happening in Gaza! I live far away from there!"...If Hamas and Israel, the US and the world will insist on inflaming the situation with hot words, recriminations, judgments, attacks, counterattacks, this situaiton will escalate and will bring us all down.....The key here is to realize that the path that these two groups are taking now is not the solution...they should sit down and talk this out...otherwise we'll have no peace...and we'll all have the blood of the innocent in our hands...

Interesting question. How would the U.S. react if terrorists in Mexico or Canada kept launching missiles at its population centers? Do we really believe the response would be proportionate? Look at our response to 9/11. The PLO, Hamas, Hezbollah etc all refuse to accept Israel's right to exist. They are dedicated to its destruction and after Israel, the Western World. Israel is but the canary in the mine.

Every sovereign state has the right and the responsibility to protect its citizens. The theory of disproportionate response only feeds into the aggressor and encourages a continuation of hostility. The terrorists are playing a numbers game with out regard to their own population.
They figure if they lose 7 million to kill 7 million Jews, they win since they still have 1.2 billion Moslems left. Why else would they hide their arms in civilian centers and hide behind women and children when fighting? Golda Meir said it over 40 years ago, "there will be peace when the Palestinians love their children more than they hate the Jews."

Israel vacated Gaza and left the Palestinians to self determination. They elected a terrorist organization for their government. In return Israel has been the target of daily missile attacks against its citizens, specifically women and children. Today, it is estimated that tens of thousands of missiles (most from Iran) have been smuggled into Gaza through the tunnels to be launched at Israel.

Jordan and Egypt have established a lasting peace with Israel. Let the PLO and Hamas follow their example and see if peace and prosperity are not obtainable.

People,
This war is not justified because Israel is dropping thousands tons of bombs, shooting missiles from the sky on a very small populated civilian area. It is a criminal and terrorist act. Isolating people and putting a siege on the entire population, blocking food, medicine, fuel, and starving a nation for more than a year long is a criminal and terrorist act. This can be resolved peacefully without taking sides; even handed justices must be the answer not bombs and missiles, wise people. Hamas is also defending themselves and have a right to defend their people. Hamas was democratically elected and wanted to live in peace. There is a lot of distorted information and one sided view.
If the Palestinian people given their rights and their land back, there will be peace, dignity and freedom. Peace will not be achieved if there is oppression. God Bless you wise people.

Larry your show for many years has been respected and i admire your personality in how you conduct your show but now too many innocent lives depend on people of honor i urge you to please in the face of america to ask the goverment to intervine and stop this blood shed im an american palestinian with a big family that has mixes from all walks of life including israeli.

The palestinians elected radical Islamic Hamas in FREE ELECTIONS. This was so despite Hamas' rejection of the Oslo Accords of 1993. Let us all respect the Palestinians choice for leadership, including the consequences this brought upon them.

I belive that truth is the only way to be fair. I understand that Israel is our allie, but we should be realistic about issues. I will keep it basic, to the point and non political. Let’s look at where Israel’s borders were when they were given that land after WW2. Now let’s take a look at where the borders are today. I think it is ridiculous that Israel wants to keep stealing land and expanding their borders. What is crazy is that they want to claim victim when individuals retaliate for their actions.

Feel sorry for Israel? A country that has to date received over $100 Billion in direct and indirect aid from the US. Send the same to the Palestinians and the only thing Israel will be good for besides leaching off the US will be the unique lampshades from the skin off their backs. Bernard Madoff, Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulson, Maurice Greenberg (AIG), Michael Chertoff, Alvin K. Hellerstein and the list goes on. How much more are YOU willing to accept. Hitler warned and very few listened. THINK PEOPLE !!!

Its' a shame you don't portray what really going on in Israel. Israel had been attacked for years by Hammas and didn't react. Now, that Israel is finally trying to defend itself the world is feeling sorry for the Palestinians?
Where was cnn when the citizens of Shderot where attacked on a daily basis? Why didn't CNN talk to the poor residents of this Israeli town? they would tell you what life is like under attack. They had been attacked for 3 years on a daily basis. Enough is Enough.

Since when does 4 Israeli lives equal over 400 Palestinian lives? I can understand someone defending themselves, which is what Israel claims to be doing but I can not understand the overkill that is taking place by the hand of Israel while the whole western world stands by and says nothing. What's taking place now is truly a shame and my prayers are with the men, women and children of Palestine who are suffering. It's time that all Muslim and western countries stand up for Palestine.
The oppressed now becomes the oppressor. Do these people even have hearts, or souls or do they really believe they are "the chosen people" of God? Do they really believe that their actions here on earth will go without the judgement of God? Allah knows best.

Is alex garcia serious?
Israel has gotten smaller! What is he talking about?

Larry,
The problem with Israeli views on your program is that you allow them unchallenged to start history at a point of their convenience i.e just 12 days ago.. The fact of the matter is that Gaza has been under siege by the Israelis for over 18 months and it has been constantly bombed and that Gaza is a place were three quarter million children have refuge. The situation is not that poor Israel is responding to Hamas Missiles .. What Israel is doing is not short of a genocide against the Palestinians or an Israeli form of a "Final Solution to wipe out Palestinians and thus their claims of home land rights. Sorry, but the Israeli generals and government are as guilty as hell cramming 1.5 million people in a small stretch of land , ring them by barbed-wire from all sides and then call in the F16s to bomb Aswe me if you dare! The reporting of U.S media including of you including yours (Frankly), sucks. Learn from more respectable Europeans media.

the jewish people never stop their holocost stories of what horrible
atrocities happened to them.
what are the israelis doing?? they are massacring citizens, babies.
what would they do if they were not the recipients of money and war equipment ?

the rockets are NOT the real cause of this mess.

w, with his killing, only encouraged more violence and hatred.

Lets put this in to perspective...lets take an American city close to the population of Gaza. Could be Phoenix, Philly, San Antonio. Now lets surround it with fence, walls, blockades, check points..you get the picture you totally contain the population. Now lets sustain this containment for years, not allow the population to freedom of movement, not allow them to leave to go to work, not allow them to visit family members in neighboring cities, deny the most basic of human rights. And now that all the settlers have been removed, it is so much easier to turn off the electricity, turn off the water, not allow movement of goods and insist that the population lives on an average of $2 per day. When we are feeling generous we turn that electricity back on , but when we want to collectively punish that 1.5 million people we turn it off in summer when it is hot and there is no air conditioning, no water, no sewer no food...tell me how you would feel and how would you react,,,,when you have no hope, no food, no power no water ...what would you do to protect your family , your children....this is how the people of gaza live day after day, year after year....how generous you are Israel and then when you really want to flex your muscles you decide to bomb them day after day , still with no resources to protect themselves, feed themselves ,etc

In addition to my comments as listed above, why haven't the Palestinian leaders improved their country standards in all these years. Arafat hoarded the millions of dollars he was given instead of improving the conditions for his people. His wife spent millions of dollars while living and vacationing in Paris.

Each group was originally given a piece of land in which to live.
The Israelis inherited a desert land and built it up to the modern country it is today. What is the Palestinian excuse?? The Arab leaders in the Middle East rule and control their people.

And why haven't the other Arab neighboring countries tried to help the Palestinians who live in squalor and substandard conditions. Because they really don't care what happens to the Palestinians. In fact, when they were in Jordan and other countries, they were treated terribly, living in alleys, etc.

Bottom line, Israeli would relish the idea of being able to trade and get along with the Palestinians. Israelis want peace, NOT WAR.

Its amazing. During the weak truce, Hamas only aim was to strenghten their military capacity, build up the weapon arsenals, dig tunnels etc. Hamas could hardly wait until the truce period was over, before they intensifyed their rocket attacks. So they started, and now when Israel finally decided to hit back, in order to stop Hamas, the only thing we can see is when a few hundreds of sympatizers demonstrating ! Where is the demonstrators demanding Hamas to stop the rockets ?

Israel doesn't get it!!! Don't be surprised when Hamas is able to find volunteers for their suicide bombers. I'm sure the people who survived this vicious attack (collateral damage!!!) are going to be standing in line. Victims today killers tomorrow. Do the math. Israel has not been able to irradicate terrorism, because they are planting seeds for fresh brigades of haters. This strategy hasn't worked but keep doing what you're doing!!

You asked about where in the Quran "Jerusalem” is mentioned, it is mentioned as the Holy Land
and it is also mentioned in the Bible as Palestine, please use facts

I've often wondered what Alexander would have done with his army concerning Gaza. The land in Gaza is has no military and commercial value to Israel for the 139 square miles it occupies. The Arab outcry is that it is an occupied land. The cultural and religious differences between Gaza and Israel are insurmountable and therefore a peace between them is not possible. They are not and will not ever be compatible. Because Gaza has been and continues to be more than just an annoyance to Israel, it does indeed need to be dealt with permanently.

Apparently Israel and no other entity since the beginning of the Common Era knows what to do with Gaza. To continually bomb and invade Gaza offers no military advantage to Israel ..that will only temporarily stop Gaza from being used as a military base for Hamas.

Here's what Alexander would likely have done: He would end the occupation of Gaza so that no entity would occupy it. Why? So that there will be no more outcry of occupation and to prevent Gaza from being used as a launching pad for rockets. What would Alexander do? He would offer Gaza back to the sea. How? Alexander would have his army dig a trench around the border of Gaza with Israel beginning and terminating at the ends where it meets the sea. Gaza would be totally flooded and placed under the sea. Its occupants would be forced to move to neighboring Arab countries where they would be welcomed. This is the long term solution for Gaza.

Maybe Israel should annex Gaza and trade some land next to the West Bank in compensation if and when real peace talk start. This tiny territory is not really viable on it's own and will always be a source of problems for Israel.

Please don't let the Palestinians fool you. They had chosen a terror organization to lead them and this terror organization has been launching daily attacks on Israel. The palestinians are the victims of their leaders and not of Israel. Hammas is operating from residential areas, from the university so there is no wonder why children and women are being hurt.
This terror organization is hiding behind women and children in the hope that Israel won't bomb them. Well, Israel had enough bombing and had decided to react and protect it's citizens. You can't criticize her for that. The US would have reacted the same way if not much more.
Don't forget 9/11

ISREAL SHOULD USE ALL REASONABLE FORCES TO DEFEND ITSELF.

THE HAMAS uses TERRorist BASED ideology to govern !!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Govmt of Isreal must defend its people!!!

Isreal values life
all life!
however they wont
remain still
while being bombed!!!
and yes the death toll is uneven
and saddens the people of isreal
They have commpasion for all life

Isreal does not wish to occupy the palestinien state
if it wanted to it could flatten palestine!!!!
in fact isreal sends financil aide to palestine

it wants peace
isrealies are life loving people

unlike the Radical Muslim / Islamic Govmts that continue to fund
the terrorist groups!!!!!!
like perhaps Iran maybe?????????

I've posted several opinions opposing Israel's aggressive behavior on our USA MSM blogs and they were all removed/deleted/evaporated.

The big problem in the USA is that we the people can never discuss this story. The other side and the elite who own the media and blindly support Israel work to muzzle it. Sound familiar? Hitler and Stalin did the same thing when the story didn't fit their propaganda.

Israel is doing the same thing Nazi Germany did.....it's called extermination.

I found tonight's show totally unbalanced. If you have a variety of people on who are living in Gaza you must have an equal number of people who have been living with the shelling from Hamas for years on the Israeli side. These include people from Sderot and other towns that have experienced, on some days over 100 rockets fired into their town. These people have lived with terror and fear for years.

Points to ponder:
1. When Israel left Gaza, why did the rockets begin to fly into Israel?
2. Can you imagine who would use the Palestinian airspace if Israel were to hand it over to the Palestinians? Try Iran and other extremist Islamist countries and then what? Nuclear weapons? Is that what the world wants?
3.Why is it that you, Mr. King did not heave a sigh when rockets were falling and harming some Israelis for years, but you decide to give a pitiful sigh when Madame Hanan Ashrawi speaks? Shame on you!
4. Disproportionate force... or should it be called farce? Look the Israelis did not want this or need this, but when rockets fall on their people, should they punish the Palestinians with a bow and arrow, or wait! Maybe a slingshot? When 3,000 plus New Yorkers were killed
did Americans initially think not to harm them too much or give it their all? So why do people pick on Israel? I'll tell you why.. because Israelis are Jews.. period and Jews are not allowed to fight back, right Mr. King? You must have been taught to play nice and turn the other cheek, good thing missiles are not being aimed at your home.. yhou might have a change of heart if they were.

Israel does not want peace. It has never wanted peace. Israel is the power here and could have peace anytime it choose to. If there was peace with the Palestinians, Israel would implode upon itself. There are too many factions within Israel. The Israeli right and left would have civil war. The Palestinians are the diversion to unite Israel to prevent its implosion.

Israel is to blame for this catastrophe. They provoked the crisis by creating a blockade of Gaza and by targeting killings of Hamas members. The terms of the truce was supposed to gradually lift he siege and stop the targeted killings. In return, Hamas was to stop the rocket fire. But Israel never held up its end of the bargain. It maintained the siege and continued to assissanate Hamas members during the so called truce.

These are the facts. Anyone that thinks Hamas is just firing rockets indiscrimately without provocation is just plain wrong. People have a right to defend themselves when they are being starved to death.

Hamas will stop firing their rockets once the siege is lifted and Israel allows them to lead normal lives.

Arafat spent the last year of his life under attack from Israel where he wasnt even able to help his own self let alone the Palestinian people. The second Intifada was sparked by the true creator of hate and terror, Sharon . He, single handedly sparked trouble (as even accepted by Israelis provoked and created a situation that was irreversible. The terrorists who killed the most honest broker of peace, Yitzhak Rabin was Israeli not Palestinian. The intention was to stop the peace process. Why ruin a good thing!!!! Blind support from us here in the U.S. The taking of more and more land with no need for justification. Building a crazy number of settlements on confiscated lands. Settlements that Israel has promised to stop building in every step of the so called peace process. Life is good. Peace Shmeace!!!!

I felt bad for Israel people how many needle pricks they can stand ?
its a constant nightmare if your neighbor always send rockets to your
house enough is enough ! after USA,UK, BOMBAY, now Israel again
who is the next victim.

Dear Larry and gang: I wish the media would lose the word (occupation) No one understands what that means in regards to what Israel has been doing for years against the Palestinians, most of the public thinks you are talking about a job. Occupation, what a slick way to cover up the word stealing. Why can't some one in the media just say it like it is , the reason the Palestinians keep shooting rockets at Israel, is because Israel keeps ripping off more and more of the Palestinians land. Can't anybody talk straight in the media ? Winston, Huntington Beach, Ca.

ISREAL IS SURROUNDED BY NATIONS THAT WANT IT ERRADICATED!!!!
THEY HAVE made so many consessions and sacrifices in the hope of
a lasting Peace, yet it always ends up getting screwed up by
a terrorist act , who are almost alway doing it in the name of Islam
sad really
HONESTLY ISREAL WANTS PEACE!!!

First, Hamas is a Democratically elected government, or is democracy only allowed in other countries if it suits America? Shame on the world and the Arab states for allowing the Holocaust of GAZA.
The Palestinians, have no water,electricity are not able to move freely in their own land which is occupied by the ZIONISTS. Their land is taken away from them so that Israel can build settlements ,to bring home the JEWS from other parts of the World. What would any of us do? YOUR LAND IS TAKEN AWAY YOUR FREEDOM IS TAKEN AWAY NO WATER, NO FUEL .
10 Israel's DEAD, 441 Palestinians DEAD AND THOUSANDS OTHERS INJURED. THANK YOU America FOR PROVIDING THE Zionists WITH CLUSTER BOMBS, F 16'S AND AND BOMBS THAT ARE AGAINST THE GENEVA CONVENTION THAT YOU Continuously harp on ABOUT. AND ALL OTHER AMMUNITION USING ARE TAX PAYERS MONEY.
IF THE US IS SO COMPASSIONATE WHY DON'T THEY GIVE ONE OF THEIR OWN STATES TO THE Jews INSTEAD OF SUPPORTING THEM MILITARILY AND INA LL OTHER WAYS TO OCCUPY LAND THAT IS NOT THEIRS. AS FOR THE ARAB GOVERNMENTS WHO ARE PUPPET GOVERNMENTS, MAY THE WRATH OF GOD BE UPON YOU ALL FOR ALLOWING THESE ATROCITIES.

AS WE CONDONE THE HOLOCAUST , THE WORLD NOW NEEDS TO CONDONE THE HOLOCAUST OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE CAUSED BY THE VERY PEOPLE WHO SUFFERED FROM THIS.
IRONIC ISN'T IT.

We spend 3 BILLION dollars a day giving it to Israel to keep all of us stupid and quiet and to help aid the terrorism of the Jewish State. It is truly sick to see that here in the U.S. A dog would be treated better than the treatment that the Israelis give to the Palestinians. The Media is biased and these fake seize fires are just times for Israel to bomb Gaza with 70 rockets a day without anyone watching over them. The Bush Administration is so incredibly biased and stupid I thank God that they will soon be removed. And For those of you whom favor Israel, congratulations you have just joined the select group of inane citizens who swallow all what the media here tells you and spit out more lies about Palestine and favoring Article 51, which really is all just a disguise, Israel bombs Palestine relentlessly then cries when 5 people of their own population dies from the so called 'sophisticated' rockets that Hamas has... When will the plight of the People of Gaza be truly recognized?? When will this tragedy stop?

Everyone sits back and shares their feelings but if they were being hit by rockets they would ACT on it and Israel has the right to defend themselves, they want peace in the middle east more then anyone and every time they give an inch somebody wants a foot I bet if they took hamas and hezzbollah out of the picture things would be much less violent in the middle east, come on hamas started it and Israel needs to finish it, it is also horrible that Palestine TV broadcasts kid shows teaching the children that death to U.S. and Israeli citizens is a good thing, all they understand is violence but hamas hides among Palestine citizens and fires their rockets from peoples backyards, if the Palestine people would not let hamas do that then no harm would come to them but if you let your home be used to help attack Israel and then your home is destroyed, you have no right to complain, if the arabs put their weapons down there would be peace but if the Israelis put their weapons down there would be genocide, the palestine people will not even recognize that Israel is a state, the Palestine people have made their bed so now it is time to lay in it.

I don't know what people "DO NOT GET."

Ever since Israel had to give up the Gaza Strip, Hamas has been shooting rockets and lobbying bombs over into Israel, killing Israeli citizens.

WHY IS THAT OKAY WITH THIS WORLD?

Rockets have been shot into Israel's southern points now and are now equipped to be shot as far as Tel Aviv. What part of all this scenario don't people understand?

They are obviously not aware that since the Gaza Strip was made a haven for Palestinians, Hamas has never allowed anyone to live, to include their own people

They fought with Fatah and defeated them, as they've been doing since they rode on horseback using rifles, lived in tents, and ate off the floor as far back as the 1950's. They are of a tribal nature and it is part of what THEY ARE!!!

Israelis having just built homes in Gaza, were forced to leave...and find homes "elsewhere." Now the Palestinians have a "place of their own," ....probably extending 150 miles along a small strip....

They are such phonies, because they do not want peace; they have been lobbying rockets into southern Israel for at least 18 months, killing Israeli citizens. BUT, THAT'S OKAY, ISN'T IT? Israel should not fight back....!!!!

When will these people understand the insanity of all of this!!! How many more centuries do they have to live to LEARN ANYTHING?

When the Israelis have to defend themselves after 18 months of being shelled and killed by rockets from Gaza, WHAT DOES THE WORLD EXPECT THEM TO DO???

The Palestinians were warned and told to leave because they become "collateral damage." They didn't leavve.

Terrorist are terrorists; they hide in civilian homes and bring down their own people. That's their mind-set...something Americans do not, and will NEVER EVER understand.

Israel wants to live in peace. Nobody allows them to; nobody over there can STAND the fact that Israel is a country...

The Palestinians whine and cry about their fate...well, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT...get RID OF THEIR TERRORISTS!

Any people who would strap bombs to their babies CANNOT BE NORMAL HUMAN BEINGS.

I'm just plain sick and tired of it; they are stuck in a mind-set that started almost 5800 years ago and they don't know how to let go of it! The only Palestinians to benefit are those who stayed within Israeli borders...their children go to schools FREE OF CHARGE BECAUSE THEY ARE LIVING IN AN OCCUPIED TERRITORY. Nobody in Israel tortures them.

When will this stupid world WAKE UP????

You can believe one thing, the Israelis in Southern Israel were not going to take this abuse forever!

Of course, WHO SUFFERS? THE PEOPLE!!! The Hamas has made their people VICTIMS.

They can't get supplies in there? Well, WHO STARTED ALL OF THIS, ANYWAY!!!

Killing babies and chldren is not Israeli's idea of fun...but it IS Hamas's mind-set. They have no respect for their own, or for life in general, otherwise they would not have provoked Israel into this abomination.

Hamas leaders are TERRORISTS...TERRORISTS...NOT LEADERS, NOT CAPABLE OF LEADING...AND THEY GO ON WITH THIS CONSTANT WHINING, CONSTANTLY SHOOTING ROCKETS FOR 18 MONTHS NOW AT LEAST AND THEY EXPECTED ISRAEL TO DO NOTHING ABOUT IT! THAT'S HOW CRAZY THEIR THINKING IS!!!

They dug tunnels along the Egyptian borders to smuggle in rockets from Iran...with that shrimp for a President in Iran ALSO threatening Israel.

Israel...no larger than the state of New Jersey or Rhode Island, turned it into a garden. The brains of the world are there...and all these Palestinians can think of is to destroy them.

Nothing has changed in almost 5800 years.

Terrorist organizations i.e., Hamas, Fatah and Hezbollah, have no business being active. They should be shot as traitors to their own people, and this should be done by their own people, but they are OBLIVIOUS to the fact they are being taken for a ride... It's always been that way.

Hezbollah and Hamas brought clincis, doctors to their people, but brought their ongoing fate as well....

There will be NO END ANYTIME SOON...it's been going on well over 5700 years and I don't expect anything to change.

There is plenty of desert in the Middle East...let the Palestinians MOVE AND BUILD THERE since they hate Israel so much. Plenty of room....to be without Israel around. Maybe they can use their brains and cut out something new in the vast miles of sand....let THEM make the dessert bloom....far away from Israel. And they'll do it on their own, because the other wealthy and not-so-wealthy Mid-Eastern countries DON'T GIVE A HANG ABOUT THEM AND NEVER DID!!!! What they DO do, is give them money to destroy Israel. That's okay; that's condoned. "Destroy Israel Forever" is their slogan instead of trying to help their own people in meaningful ways.

PHEW!!! It STINKS!

Human copassion I have for the people, but it's time they stopped being duped by Hamas.

Like before, they hide in civilian homes...and the Israelis find out and innocent families are destroyed. And, of course, THE ISRAELIS are the "bad guys."

America cannot conceive of their irrational thinking...and when your reporters report, they STILL don't....."GET IT." They never will, either!!!!

Sami,
Your knowledge of history and cuurent events clearly idnicating source of your limited education.
For your information Mr. Arafat ,the leader of Palestinian People die from HIV, not from fighting with Israeli.
Araft was too busy sleeping around with his body guards who got him infected with AIDS and swindeling funds designated for palestinians. Araft was free to travel with stolen millions around European banks.

Arafat was a crook
Mrs Arafat has millions and millions
of Palestinian aide $$$$$$$
in her swiss accounts
she collects Hermes and Cartier and fine art
while her people are hungry
the Palestinians have been given more aide per capita than
any other people ever!!!!
yey the leaders stole it and no justice
for the people of Palestine
and now this crisis
I FEEL SAD THAT THE PALESTINAN GOVERNMENT USES ITS OWN PEOPLE!!!!!!!
it could stop isreal in a moment
one phone call
wake up
its a media savvy machine
using its people
i feel bad for the people of Gaza
however its own govmt is its worse enemy

our media has always sided with Israel in thier reporting of the Middle East crises. I want to strongly compliment the CNN reporting of the Gaza news. you have been fair, neutral and thorough more than ever in reporting these crises.
thank you
I am an American Moslem

In response to Sandra Hann,

The reason why Israel has been able to progress into a modern nation, as compared to Palestine is due to the fact that a significant amount of American tax money has gone into that country and establishing it. Another reason why Palestine remains in shambles is because police stations, hospitals, government buildings, etc, ie the institutions upon which a modern nation are built are not immune to being destroyed by bombing. The Palestinian areas have also been subjected to barriers and blockades that effectively prevent the establish of a proper economy to establish a new nation.

With respect to your point about the fact that Arab leaders rule their people through fear. What a truly offensive statement! Did you come up this yourself or did you read it in a newspaper or, rather, was it stated by someone else. The Middle East is not one homogeneous region under which one specific label can be applied. Jordanians are not Palestinians and each country is not governed by one type of rule.

Most importantly, the reason why the Arab countries cannot help Palestine is because they are all busying dealing with the gross amount of refugees who live within their borders, while trying to provide for their own people with very little resources.

Also, what is "Israeli" do you mean the Israeli people? They also are not unified under one belief. There are people in Israel that want peace and there are also those who are racist against Muslim people.

It would behoove you and many other people on this blog post to do more than read American perspectives on this issue, to actually investigate the situation from all perspectives, and to refrain yourself from using broad and inappropriate generalizations about people.

MO
Hammas using Gaza as human shiled strategy hiding like Sadam underground and sending young kids to die in the name of God and Islam.
If Hammas leaders would have waht it takes why don't they confront IDF forces waiting just in front of them, rather then targeting civilian population with their rockets.
Hammas leaders stop hiding in rat holes, hospitals and schools, fight the IDF like brave soldeirs of Alla.

im reeding tose comments people sents and im jast furious,they sit in their comfortably contries'dont realized a clue about israel getting misinformation from the media and the lousy israeli ambassador,i wish that the israeli ambassador was as much excplicit as the arab speakers.let me tell you some facts-sderot have benn bombed for 8 years with no rection from israel,askelon has bombed for 2 years since the disengagment of israel from the strip.the "university" that the arab spoker in the show speak abaut is a university of the HAMAS whom learn and operate their terror attecks,jordan and egypt is in peace with israel even though it costs us in great losts,GILAD SHALIT is in captive for 3 years,the hizbulla return us 2 soldiers in 2 burial closets,if hamas would raely want peace it was materealized along time ago,so all the talkbackers calm down cause you dont know anything about isreal and the isreali media dont excplain you in a clearly way as well,isrel is the victim here(the only jews state in the world)and not the arabs(a lot of stats in the world and sarounded israel).sorry about the mis-spelling.

Dear Larry:
Would it be at all possible for you to encourage CNN Headline News to begin 'video' coverage of the past six months of file-footage, pertaining to the alleged Hamas missile-attacks upon Israel?

According to coverage, beginning with this conflict seven days ago, Hamas had fired 3000 rockets into Israel over that six-month period.

I'm a newsaholic, but do seem to have missed these reports, perhaps due to the constant McCain-Obama political-coverage.

Respectfully,

Lewis V. Adams, Jr.
Beaufort, South Carolina

Joan. theyre trying to get rid of the terrorists that's why they're rocketing Israel.

Dear Larry,
The assassination in1995 by Yigal Amir of Itzhak Rabin who had signed the Oslo peace agreements with Yasser Arafat, together with the multiplication of Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory, have resulted in a more difficult life for Palestinians and favored the development of the Islamist movement Hamas to the point where it now controls Gaza and the Palestinian Parliament.
It will not be possible for Israel to obtain peace unless it accepts to talk with Hamas. Calling Hamas "terrorist" does not bring peace. Trying to eliminate it with tanks and airplanes is both impossible and dangerous. With each Palestinian child that is killed, the chance of Israel to find peace diminishes.
As far as the US government is concerned, justice between the Palestinians and Israelites should be its goal. The US Administration sould spend time and effort to that goal, If it succeeds in bringing justice to both parties, it would also serve both US interest and peace in the Middle East.

Michael. I'm glad that you are able to respond via the internet from a place that is being shelled horribly by Palestinians. I hope your martinis are still chilled too. Let's see how many emails come to us via the Palestinian territories.

the statement that Isreal has progressed into a modern nation due in large or most
part thru American tax dollars is perhaps true but their are many rich nations within the Arab world that could assist Palestine
America also aides Palestine and
even isreal sends aide to palestine.
Wouldnt it be nice if say Iran chose to give Palestinines help to rebuild rather
than terrorize their neighboors?

why dont the wealthy arab nations that profit from our oil addiction help send more
aide to palestine???
i kinda think that they like keeping the Palestinians down
cause if youve got nothing youve got nothing to lose and that always makes for good suicide bombers etc...

Larry, I am an American Jew, born in Israel, and am totally distraught by the genocidal actions of the State of Israel against the people of Gaza. It was great to hear your interview with the woman from the Palestinian Parliament. To compare the handmade rockets of Hamas to the "shock and awe" continuous bombing raids of the Israeli military is like David and Goliath. Israel has been carrying out mass punishment against the people of Gaza with their blockade of medical supplies, food, and fuel for months, trying to starve the Palestinian people into submission. The U.S. government has been a willing partner, refusing to call Israel on its actions, which violate the Geneva Conventions. It is no wonder that the U.S. has lost standing with most of the people around the world.

Yes we send funds to the Palestinians. Do you know who allows these funds to reach Palestinians. Ding Ding Ding !! That's right Israel. They hold funds and do not allow even humanitarian aid to reach these people. Read a good book, by a good man, President Carter. He explains how these things happen on a regular basis. He has no axe to grind but has a love of peace unmatched by any other seen from any other president yet. He had unparalleled access to both sides for so many years and knows the facts. Taint him as a hater too. No one believes you.

Israel will do whatever Israel wants to do and it doesn't matter what the world thinks. There needs to be an international mediator put in place there. We all need to know exactly what is happening and not just what Isreal say is happening. It is entirely too one sided. It looks as though Israel is the bully in this case! It looks as though Isreal wants to completely do away with Palestine.

Hi there, my father served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 23 years. He recently passed away. His service included Peace missions in the Gaza Strip. That was well over 35 to 40 years ago. It saddens me to see nothing has changed, has only worsened, and sadly you cannot reason with unreasonable people no matter how hard you try. It comes down to "who threw the first stone syndrome", but sadder yet is the use of innocent children strapped with explosive devices! Are these countries ever going to stop raising future generations that encourage violence,suicide, mistrust and abuse? Why should the rest of the world be forced to accept such a sad way of life and treat this as the norm? Then be asked which side we are on. I'm glad I am living on the other side of the world where I do not see such a waste of humanity! They need to open their eyes and realize this is the 21st century! People will never succumb to terrorism. Isreal has every right to defend itself from foreign attack!

Igal-USA, Igal-USA, Igal-USA
Are you really that stupid, strike that, obviously your lack of knowledge is showing through with flying colors. Hammas isnt sending people out to die in the name of Islam. The palestinian people are fighting and defending themselves against the oppression of the Zionist pigs that have lied and bombed them continuously. Hammas isn't a ' terrorist' organization it is a political movement, the Palestinians elected them to be their governing party and yet they do not even have any army of their own, just a loosely banded militia... get your facts right before you look to point fingers at whose responsible. The Hammas leaders are forced to live and be amongst civilian facilities because that is all that is left to live in, there is no where else to go because the Zionist pigs have killed and exiled them to the point that they are all forced to be in a heavy consolidated area. the IDF is firing randomly into civilian locations so why shouldn't the Palestinians? You are obviously naive to the situation... you need to accept the fact that Israel is not some goody-goody nation that isn't responsible for its actions. The IDF should be declared a terrorist organization because of the holocaust they have created. Why is Israel allowed to "defend itself" and yet Palestine is NOT??? Do NOT Sit there and tell me that the IDF is some force that is just waiting for Hammas to come out because they are bombing civilians everyday... GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!
Please Larry, Air these comments, its bias people like this who are allowing these atrocities to continue.

Igal. More like illegal! Your ignorant comment regarding the death of Yasser Arafat from aids confirms to me that you just received your latest issue of the Enquirer. Please submit your payment for the next 3 years issues in advance. And remember aliens are running our government too. Make sure you stock up on slim jims too in case we are invaded by martians. Your knowledge of world events is impressive!

Isreal wants peace! period

my mother once told me , of a child packed with explosives that was sent to wander into a convoy of Isreali military personell
what kind of mother sends her child to die ?
how do we fight this kind of ideology ?
with all due respect i dont hate any religion or people
but seriously how do you fight an enemy that doesnt value life??

Please friends, forgive Igal. He is used to making these racist, ignorant comments from his pay as you go phone, outside his local 7eleven. There are no cows to tip tonight so he is trying to spark hate on a serious matter. I hope Ma and Pa Igal find his stash of smoke at home and come collect him before the local Sharrif does! That is if he is able to get it back.

Bob have u ever heard of cause and effect?
if Iran gets a bomb
u will be wearing a melted happy face because if it goes off there it affects u here or really anywhere
that u may be or i may be
its in all our interests to keep that from happening
or maybe your looking for that
and 72 virgins too.....................

We all need peace
peace is possible

Dear Iana. The same people who in the fourties had two towns completely wiped out of all its men and women in 4 hours flat. Google Dair Yassin. The terrorists as the British determined at the time was Haganna, not palestinians but Jews. They said that they wanted the Palestinians to feel so much TERROR that they flee in droves from other surrounding towns. It worked in so many towns that this became the norm. If you want to understand hate check and search its source. Hate begets hate. I think Palestinians learned from the best in this field.

lana,
you claim that these people don't value life... but what life do they have? They have no food, water, their homes are destroyed, families being obliterated, all they have are the leftovers of their shattered lives... they value their religion more then their own lives and will die to protect their nation and religion. for many of these people to die in the sake of a war against an enemy that has every advantage is the only honor, dignity, and true humanity they have left. They send the only members of their families out to die at least to take an enemy along with them because in all likeliness they will be killed anyways by the Zionist Pigs of the IDF. Please stop with your idiotic comments and use your head these people don't just wake up one morning and decide to walk outside and kill someone for any random reason...

I don't think anyone in this country (US) understands the total history of this conflict. It began long before Israel was founded. At the end of WWII Arabs accounted for 90% of the population of Palestine which at the time was controlled by Britain. Jewish immigration in the 1920's caused little alarm. But as it escalated during the rise of Nazi Germany it began to cause conflict and was stired by the Arab fear of the creation of a Jewish state. This fear was because the Arabs knew they would be the losers. There was an Arab revolt from 1936-39 and was the first major outbreak of Palestinian – Zionist hostilities. The first Terrorist of the area were actually Jewish. The Irgun and the Stern Gang initiated terror against the British rule even as Britian allowed thousands of displaced Jews to enter Palesitne. This caused Britain to declare it would end its mandate over Palestine. This in turn lead to the UN mandate to partition Palestine (yes, it was Palestine before it was Israel) into a Arab state and a Jewish state with Jerusalem (then called al-Quds) placed under UN trusteeship. It would remain neutral. More than half the land was allotted to the Jews including the valuable costal areas even though Jews only owned 6% of the land. On May 14th, 1948 Britain ended its mandate over Palestine and the Jews immediately proclaimed the independent state of Israel. The Soviet Union was the first to recognize Israel followed shortly by the US. The tragedy of Palestine was born. Of course the Arab states sent armies but were out numbered and were not well organized. More than 500,000 Arabs fled to the west bank in fear. On April 9, 1948 in the village of Deir Yassin the Irgun and Stern Gang (Jewish terrorist groups)systematically massacred 245 Palestinians. There were other massacres such as that at Kafr Qaaaem. This was done to create a general climate of terror that encouraged the unarmed and defenseless Palestinians to flee. So, the Jews were the first terrorists. The wider conflict with the Arab states expanded and the rest is history. I do not in any way support Hamas. That is not my point. The point is that that Israel is not innocent either and both sides bear responsibility for the blood shed. The current response by Israel is disproportionate and extreme. They could do more to create peace. They are the stronger, bigger side. The Jews created this mess 60 years ago. We (the US) should not be on either side, should not be providing weapons to Israel until they step up and work for real peace. At the same time the Palestinians would do well to revolt against Hamas as they are creating much of the pain. If we continue to insist Hamas recognize Israels right to exist.. well.. that won't happen and who cares if they do or not. Israel exists and that won't change. The Palestinians deserve a state of their own as mandated by the UN long ago. We (the US) should make that happen. We can deal with Hamas later. There is enough blame to go around on both sides. After 60 years this is getting pathetic. The Palestinian and Jewish peoples deserve better. Our side in this (unwavering support of one side) is sad and not helping. Have me on the show and we can chat about this more. I would like to see our media and CNN cover the whole truth from the beginning. Then maybe everyone would understand it is not just the Arabs or Palestinians that are to blame here. The easy solution. An Isreal state and Palestinian state. An independent neutral Jerusalem controled by the UN. Settlements in the occupied Palestinian lands are to be given up as they should not have been settled to begin with. Until this is done the US should remove weapons support to Israel. A UN force should be put in place to seperate the two and reign in Hamas. It starts with the US ending its one sided support. Besides.. you have to ask yourself.. what have our "friends" (Israel) done for us lately? This conflict is the root of all terrorist activity and the Jews started it!

Iana. 72 virgins? Is that what you really think it's about. I thought your comment about wanting peace til I read your last comment. It's about being able to walk in your own land without having to fear someone justifying taking your home because a new group of Jewish Russians, Germans, Americans..... have more rights than you do on land that your father, grandfather, great grandfather, great grandfather and so on for as far back as history goes, have more rights than you do. Take your land and dignity and build settlements that even the CIA reports warranted unecessary. That they were expanding just to expand to stake a claim in case there ever is peace.

the comment was snide and ignorrent
and as ive stated i have nothing
against any religious groups
I made a biggoted comment and i apologize

The sad thing is the people that will be convinced to blow themselves up will be easy pickings, once the dust settles in Gaza. Go figure?????????

Israel likes to kill kids only, they are very keen in killing kids and old people, for me Israel and Hitler are the same.

Larry -
Why aren't you asking Dr. G about autism?? You really missed it.

Israel has every right to defend themselves. As for civilian casualties, as stated, this is one of the most densely populated places in the world, how is it possible to avoid this? The bad guys’ house is 5 feet away from 4 civilian houses. Granted it's a horrible thing, but can anyone name any sort of war that had no civilian casualties?

Many are saying that Israel has no right to fight back, and their response is not proportionate to the attacks on them as well as Hamas has only inflicted a small amount of casualties to Israel. If someone shoots at you, say 3 times, this does not mean you have to return 3 shots of the same caliber weapon. You have the right to return as much fire as needed to insure your own safety and this is exactly what Israel is doing.

Many people fail to realize that in order to bring down terrorist groups you must use a great amount of fire power, in a very short period of time. By doing this you are able to dismantle the group and demoralize the supporters of the group thus sustaining a peaceful time before the whole process must be repeated.

One thing everyone keeps forgetting or seems to forget or disregard is that Israel did not start this, but Hamas did.

If Israel were on the offensive and not the defensive they have the necessary equipment and training to 'roll' straight through Gaza. They also have the ability and fire power to completely flatten the Gaza strip. So people who claim Israel started this, why have they not pushed through? Why do they continue to make strategic bombing runs? If they were on the offensive, they would not spend time and effort concentrating their attacks, they would hit any and everywhere and would not bother calling in advance to warn of pending bombing runs; rendering these allegations thoughtless.

If you want peace there is a price to pay. Peace is never forever, there will always be a war going on in some part of the world, it's the human nature to disagree and argue. The problem is that many people have fallen into a false world of peace and happiness, and think that everyone can get along by talking. There is a point where the only solution is a military solution. Talks did a lot of good to prevent WWI and WWII don't ya think? Speaking of WWI, look what it took to spark the war, just 2 dead people and a terrorist group. Now we have many groups out there, and no body wants to take a stand because incident people will be killed. Again, that tactic worked well, look at the results of WWI and WWII.

And for those who think that this is 'bad' and are saying 'look at the casualties', you’re in for a surprise when Israel mobilizes it troops and weapons. The variable is not 'if', it is when; it may not be today, tomorrow or next month, or even this year, but it will happen, and their will be much bloodshed on both sides, but when this occurs, it will only be a short while before many other countries engage in all out war because everyone forgets, all these countries have allies, and when one country makes a move, the others will follow. On that day; Albert Einstein says it best; "I know not what manner of weapons WWIII will be fought with, but I know WWIV will be fought with sticks n stones."

Hi 5 to Joan as well, you get it!

it is indeed a truly sad situation. my heart and prayers go out to all in hopes of peace... the bloodshed must stop... and Tom I fully support your claims.

Dear Iana. "u" isn't a word. Its a letter. Using it like this is a txt msg center makes you look.. well.. like a child.

hello larry, most people do not know that more than tow thirds of people living in gaza are the rightfull owners of what is called israel now, people of gaza have been under sieg e for a long time, they lack alot of daily neccesities, medicine, degnity,israel is been strippin them from all that cause they want to live humanly life, so why israel have the right to defend it self but the palestinian people can not and we call them terrorists?

Boy, is it evident we live in a fallen state/world. Men killing men, but it must be so as there is something of a grandeur nature going on here, and the one behind it all is Jehovah GOD. Make no mistake about it, HE plucked this people/nation out of all the nations/people to call and make HIS own. Is it a wonder Israel makes the first page of world news every single day while all her neighbors wants her dead, why, really why?. Do they even really know why they want this people dead, is it because of their stupid squabble over land, I don’t think so. I think that’s the superficial reason for something far greater and deeper, the hate is instilled in them by a greater force whether they realize it or not, a force at work accomplishing a far greater thing which is not readily seen.

Israel, a people that was oppressed by the Egyptians many years, until GOD raised Moses up in order to use him to bring them out of bondage. All, to demonstrate HIMSELF, to show HIMSELF, HIS might hands and deeds, and just as HE hardened Pharaoh's heart continuously in order to show HIMSELF great, so HE's working here as well, only this time around it involves Israel and the entire world. Some I believe know where it’s all going to end up, yes “Armageddon”, one day soon, as all things take/run its course as it was/is ordained and destined to be. Certainly this show down will make the Egyptian show down pale in comparison. All this is a process and a work GOD is doing over time, just as it took time to work out their freedom from Egypt. HE'S not a man and does not work like us. HIS work is magnificient, grand, awesome and spectacular. Rest assured after all HIS work is done, there will be peace with and under HIS reign, unlike man’s reign. I don’t know about you but my heart breaks for mankind all together, be-it Palestinians, Israelis, Africans, Americans, whoever. However, my heart really breaks over Israel as I believe they’re the ones really under constant pressure. Having to live with the threat of your livelihood as a people/nation daily certainly is no way to live.

Grace, please pick up your glass of kool aid at the front desk!!!!

Israel has continued to illegally settle Gaza and West Bank. They have blockaded water, electricity, fuel, food, and medicine in Gaza, even during the ceasefire. Hamas is not "bombing" out of terror like Israel claims; they are protesting the Israel's humanitarian injustices! The "rockets" have killed under 20 people since 2004; Israel has killed over 420 in 6 days. Who sounds like the terrorist in that equation?

Your piece with ambassador Meridor was the most slanted, biased, uninformative, unchallenged "interview" I've seen in a while. Hamas ties to Osama? Please... We hear about the dangerous "threat" that Hamas poses to Israel but what about the sanctions that have been imposed on a faltering/dying Gaza population for months? I agree the Hamas missiles need to stop, but their citizens lack the basic needs of life. The disproportionate use of force against Gaza is tragic and it's a shame the US is supporting this criminal activity (as usual). Realize that depicting Islam as an "evil force" in this World is really just making more Muslims speak out against these lies, and intelligent people are now more interested to study the TRUE religion.

Thank you Mo. Historical facts are hard to argue with. Actually the Western world started this whole thing. We should step up and end it.

Tom
get a grip
im not writing a term paper
or a final
u get the point of u
dont u
im young is that a crime? im old enough to vote,
im not a child
buti didnt think u had to be middle age to have an opinion

This conflict is just more proof that the dream of a one state solution is impossible. The only resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is by creating two separate entities. Israeli can no longer use its strong military power and its support form the U.S. to keep the Palestinians subdued and controlled. A separate peace must be created; two countries, one peace treaty. The status quo obviously isn't working.

Why do Americans think that a terrorist organization such as Hammas is going to sit down and talk about anything. I say it is time to show the Arab world that the rest of the world is sick of hearing about their problems. Give a green light to the Israelis to bomb the Gaza Strip into oblivion. First give the women and children and any unarmed men an opportunity to leave the Gaza Srip. After that anybody left is considered a terrorist or a supporter of terrorism. How well I remember seeing the images of the Palestinian people dancing and celebrating in the streets of Gaza when the terrorists flew the two planes into the twin towers in New York City. Get it through your thick skulls people, the Palestinians are NOT our friends.

The Palestinians are obviously the victims... I am seriously disappointed with President Obama for not even speaking out in favor of a ceasefire...

With each bomb Israel creates more militant Islamists. Israel has instigated a militant response by Hamas with their cruel blockade of Gaza. A ground incursion will be a recruiting tool for Hamas. It's the lesson the US and Israel never seem to learn.

When is America going to wake up and realize the truth about the Israel/Palestinian situation. Hamas wants to destroy Israel and they have been shooting rockets into civilian populations from Gaza for 8 years. 3 years ago Israel got out of Gaza and let the Palestinians have control of that land. The rockets continued flying into Israel and intensified. Why doesn't the US media show pictures of Israeli families living in fear every day and children who can't sleep at night from fear of rockets hitting their homes. Showing your reporter crouching behind a van isn't a convincing photo. Yet they show over and over photos of children (the same few, actually) in gaza being rushed into hospitals. I guess it will take us having suicide bombers in our own cities in the US and bombs going off on busses and in shopping malls for this country to wake up and understand what Israel deals with.

why does the west support a false country like isreal? we all know that it is a state built with european backing on false pretence... remember the 1980's???
it's time for the usa and the west to wake up and really see who the terrorists are.... stop taking the isreali side and start speaking the truth... muslims worldwide are finally standing up and speaking out against this tyrranny....and guess what guys? the christians are closer in faith to islam than the hebrews......love your show.....

You can not fight with a nation that has nothing to loose!
When you are deprived of basic human rights and all members of your family are killed, you have nothing to loose but to strike back and with all you have available to you!

Dear Larry,

I think Israel has the right to defend itself. The palestinian woman who was interviewed right now, is full of lies.
Israel is not on occupying territories. The Gaza was the land of Israel, before the Roman Empire called it Palestine. There was not any palestine before.
When Southern California would be attacked by a terrorist group, I am sure they would not just take it but defend themselves, just like Israel does defend itself from the Hamas.

It Is Time to "END THE ILLEGAL ARAB OCCUPATION OF ISRAEL"
Arabs GO AWAY – GO BACK TO SYRIA

Remember Moses' words to Pharoah: WHAT YOU WISH TO DO TO THE CHILDREN OF JACOB WILL BE DONE TO YOU

Thanks for the heads up David. Gee I wonder if that's David Weisman, Goldman, Scwartz, ............ Give them time to leave, too bad they have nowhere to go. That is why they are dying there. They have nowhere to go thanks to your peeps!!!!!!!!

This is whats happening in my opinion. This is realy all based off of iran being jelous of each Isral. Iran is behind it all. They are usen fear and trying to do whats right cause everyone in there life hates isral cause they have good relations with us and are wealthy. Isral can't say anything to anyone to get missiles to stop. What would americans do if canada started to send random rockets in to the U.S. and we couldn't say anything to get the rockets to stop.

I remember seeing Palestinians dancing in the streets, cheering, throwing sweets to the children and having a fine old time when the twin towers collapsed.

Do they really think we care if they get killed?

just wondering...do we have a nuke big enough to take care of this problem once and for all..then no one would want the land...problem resolved

Once again, another genocide will happen to the Palestinians...while the world is quiet. And Israel is allowed to do their criminal attacks against an occupied Nation.

Larry,
Let's face it IF we are gettihg the true story from our NEWS spinners.
Hamas seems to always start the fight and we see pics of little kids throwing rock at the Isr. troops.
It is no big deal to realize if you keep throwing rocks or bombs at a group of people they will throw things back. Sometimes they are bullets or bombs.
As Ted Koppel told Ms Hanan Ashrawi many years ago. The Palis'nes
have been fighting for 5000 yrs and when they did have the land it was fallow all that time. When the Pal'ians called for help yrs ago and now
none of their Arab neighbors wanted to take in the troubled folks.
I have worked, here in the USA with some Very nice Pals.
And as with almost all groups, the majority of the population only wants to live in peace and get ahead. The Streotypes are usually less than 10% and make a mess for the rest.
Again if we are to believe the NEWS spinners this is the way it is.
If the story is different as we often hear from the BBC and other groups then the answer is diff too.
Some day we will hear the truth.

Good night Larry, until both sides take responsibility for their actions there will be no peace in the Middle East. The human rights person said Israel should be prosecuted and her people protected. If you sling dirty sooner or later it will come back and hit you. If Mexico fired rockets into the US would America stand by and just enjoy the show?

Only when those people in Gaza stand up to their leaders they will not be innocent. Education maybe the only way to inject any change into the middle east..

How will a canadian or an american react if he will not be able to watch a hockey game because of the possibility of a rocket falling in the stadium? What would he expect from the government to react?

Where was the world and "human rights" that we suffer 8 years from the rockets? tThe Hamasis using the civiliance in Gaza as a human shield.

as far as the middle east..the plo, hammas and the rest of those terrorists want to have israel gone totally...why because they are jealous..that is just what happened in world war 11....hitler only knew that the rich were doctors,lawyers, and wealthy business men..most jewish..why because they worked their butts off to get there and the majority of the non jewish were not in the same league!!! well whose fault is that!!??! i say once and for all let the jewish people have the land that is theirs..to begin with ...and let them live in peace..not have to worry about a sicko wearing a bomb to hurt and kill jewish children and get their 72 virgins.!!!!!!

John Travaolta's son vs. The son's in the Gaza strip.

It amazes me . . . John Travolta's son dies and the on air coverage and sadness is overwhelming. People might want to keep in mind... There have been Many more sons kiiled on the same day. . . just in a different land, yet the coverage on air is ludicrous in comparrison.

The Palestinian people put Hamas in control. Why don't THEY turn on Hamas for their plight rather than Israel who is only trying to protect themselves from Hamas rockets & the fanatics?? If the Palestinians would rise up and get RID of the fanatics, perhaps peace would have a chance.

IF CNN IS TRULY NOT ONE SIDED THEN WHY CAN'T YOU BROADCAST AND SHOW THE TRUTH THAT AL-JAZIRA CHANEL IS SHOWING.
SINCE YOU ARE CLAIMING THAT YOUR JOURNALIST IN ISRAEL IS NOT ALLOWED IN GAZA .
YOU ALWAYS BORROW NEWS FROM OTHER STATIONS IF YOU ARE FAIR TO SHOW THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THE REAL TRUTH .
THANK YOU

Raquel. They didnt leave because of the goodness in their hearts. It was impossible to control that part of the country. It was logistically impossible to justify the money and resources in trying to keep these satellite settlements safe. You kept pushing and cornering a people into a corner til that's all that was left then expect even a cute little squirrel to attack when backed up and threatened.

Grace.. you need to seek help. GOD has nothing to do with this. Religion maybe.. but not GOD.

We had over 7,000 people attend a PRO-PEACE rally in Chicago today to protest the killings of innocent civilians in Gaza by the Israeli military. Why was it called a "PRO-HAMAS" rally on CNN? Why does the media in this country insist on skewing the facts when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

Why does not Hannan Ashrawi pick up the phone and call Hamas to stop launching rockets? BTW, how did Riyan support 4 wives and 12 children in an improvised place like Gaza?

Israelis are NO BETTER than HITLER!! Come on, what do they expect when they trap 1.5 million plus individuals in an area the size of Detroit? Kill innocent women and children. Have pregnant women give birth on the street. On top of that, treat them like animals. Israel is the ANIMAL!

This conflict has been ongoing long time.The truth is Israel has no choice but to flex its military muscle.The world is not doing anything to control the violence.However what country would standby and allow missiles to be shot into there country on an everyday basis.This has been comeing for a long time and sadly there will be people caught in the middle that dont want war.Honestly, I do not think there will be peace without bloodshed and that is sad to say becaus its the blood of not only Israely and palestine but also the blood of the innocent that will be lost.

I am a Dentist came to USA from land of Mahatma Gandhi {Gujarat}
I believe that we have solution for Muslim world – All Muslims
We hear everyday first attacker is always Muslim... Any where in the world... The solution that I believe is Mahatma Gandhi's way.... If all the Muslim community... country by country pledge and put it in action of surrendering all kind of weapons to United Nations... every gun every bullets and guarantee to bring anyone from their community who is doing or engaged in terrorism activities.. then UN will build schools, educational institute and communities and support all economic activities that will bring prosperity to that nation... we all will chip in... and once that nation is stabilized and no terrorism activities, we can label them as peaceful Muslim nation.