H 23°, L 4° | Tomorrow: 
H 21°, L 6°In his Nov. 30 column, "Middle East ceasefire saves lives, generates hope, not dissent," Andy Granias makes many inaccurate and bias claims.
Within only 48 hours of the most recent Palestinian-Israeli cease-fire, two Qassam rockets were launched from Gaza. The rockets landed in Sderot, an Israeli town of about 20,000 people. As of Dec. 1, Palestinian militants had fired 14 rockets into Israel after the cease-fire became official on Nov. 26. In an attempt to uphold their end of the agreement, the Israeli government has not responded to the rocket attacks.
Mr. Granias described these attacks as having "zero consequence to Israeli life." In the weeks leading up to the so-called "cease-fire," two Israelis were killed from rocket attacks. In November, a Qassam rocket landed near an elementary school and a kindergarten in Sderot. Claiming that these attacks have "zero consequence" is an irrational and ludicrous claim. How can anyone logically argue that these attacks have no consequence when, in fact, innocent civilians have died as a result?
Additionally, Mr. Granias falsely alleges "Hamas …has not sponsored a single act of terror since it selection into power one year ago…." In June, Hamas-linked militants attacked an Israeli defense post, murdering two soldiers and capturing Gilad Shalit, a 20-year-old soldier. Shalit has not been seen since. During the same month, Hamas promised to destroy the city of Sderot, explaining "we have decided to turn Sderot into a ghost town. We won't stop firing the rockets until they all leave" (Israel National News). Recent IDF raids in the West Bank have turned up factories producing explosives that are disguised to look like children's toys.
These occurrences are nothing new to the Israelis. In September of 2005, Israel removed every soldier, military structure, and Israeli citizen from Gaza, thus completing their total disengagement plan and creating the first independent Palestinian territory in history. Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Charles Krauthammer's sums up the resulting response from the Palestinians:
"On the very day of Israel's final pullout, the Palestinians began firing rockets out of Gaza into Israeli towns on the other side of the border. And remember: those are attacks not on settlers but on civilians in Israel proper, the pre-1967 Israel that the international community recognizes as legitimately part of sovereign Israel. So in 2005 the Palestinians are given Gaza, free of any Jews. Do they begin building the state they say they want, constructing schools and roads and hospitals? No. They launch rockets at civilians and dig a 300-yard tunnel under the border to attack Israeli soldiers and bring back a hostage. And this time the terrorism is carried out by…Hamas — the group that was recently elected to lead the Palestinians (Time Magazine)."
Historical fact clearly shows who the true aggressors have been throughout this conflict and backs Israel's struggle for peace. In 1947, the U.N. voted to solve this conflict by creating both a Jewish and Palestinian state. The Jews accepted the offer while the Palestinians emphatically rejected it, joining with five other Arab armies to launch an attack on Israel with the intent to destroy the newly founded Jewish state.
Flash forward to the Camp David Summit of 2000 when Israel offered the Palestinians 100 percent of the Gaza Strip and the vast majority of the West Bank territories to develop their own independent state. Yasser Arafat flatly rejected this proposal and did not make a counteroffer. Then-President Bill Clinton placed the blame largely on Arafat for the negotiations falling apart. Do you see a cycle forming here?
The Israelis only demands that Hamas recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce violence and accept previous Israeli-Arab peace accords. Israel in turn promises to free prisoners (held because of their ties to terrorism), lift burdening security checkpoints, and release previously withheld funds that the Palestinians people desperately need, yet Hamas refuses.
Why does Hamas refuse? A direct translation of the Hamas charter explicitly spells out why, explaining that "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it." How can Israel, or any country for that matter, be expected to make peace with a regime that openly calls for its destruction? Yet Israel continues to push for peace, while the Palestinians continue to launch rockets loaded with ball bearings in an effort to maximize the carnage inflicted upon innocents.
There are approximately 5.4 million Jews living in Israel, a country that is roughly the size of New Jersey. Over 100 million Arabs live in the countries that directly border it. I ask that Mr. Granias consider one simple statement regarding Israel's efforts towards peace: If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel.
Aaron Goodman UW Madison Graduate Student [email protected]
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For once we can hear an opinion from the other side of the fence! Way to go, Aaron!
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Phfft! Facts. You can use them to prove anything. — Homer Simpson
There can be no peace with Islam, only Hudna, a truce so they will be free to regroup and rearm for the next attack.
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great rebuttal.
too often ridiculous statements are made time and again until people believe they are true. i guess andy grainis spent too much time listening to these distortions and untruths. aaron,thanks for bringing light and reality to the situation,for the islamic fanatics to make peace with the world they will cost way too many innocent lives.it is time we stand up and point out the truth, before these distortions become the perceived reality.
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This is fatalistic drivel. The more you pretend all Muslims want to destroy Israel, the more you marginalize moderate Muslims.
Also, the rocket attacks are being carried out by Fatah, not Hamas. The Herald shouldn’t publish letters with obvious mistakes.
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Might makes right. Always has, always will.
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Israel should finish the Palestinians once and for all.
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God will protect the Jews. God will protect the Muslims. God will protect the Christians. Ain’t God wonderful?
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“The more you pretend all Muslims want to destroy Israel, the more you marginalize moderate Muslims.”
PRETEND???????? THERE IS NO PRETEND!!!!
Read what the Muslims write. Listen to what the Muslims say. See what the Muslims do.
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“Read what the Muslims write. Listen to what the Muslims say. See what the Muslims do. “
That’s my advice to you. Once you stop pretending that the President of Iran (aka their PR guy) represents the Middle East you’ll realize that Muslims aren’t the crazy charicatures you see on South Park. Instead of spending all your time on the internet seeking out people to piss you off, why not go out into the real world and talk to a real live Muslim?? Perhaps you can write a letter to the new member of Congress who is Muslim and ask him if he wants to destroy Israel and kill all the Jews.
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the letter “Violence Has Consequences” gets to the heart of the issue. There has never really been acceptance by the Palestinians or their supporters of Israel’s right to exist. It continues to appear that it is more important th them that Israel be destroyed then builiding their own future. What a shame.
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“This is fatalistic drivel. The more you pretend all Muslims want to destroy Israel, the more you marginalize moderate Muslims.”
Point to one place in the letter where Aaron makes such an assertion. You can’t, can you? Aaron is correct on the facts; maybe that’s why you are unable to do anything other than try to change the subject away from the uncomfortable truth.
“Israel should finish the Palestinians once and for all.”
That’s just as dumb as the first comment I quoted. Genocide is never a good idea.
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“This is fatalistic drivel. The more you pretend all Muslims want to destroy Israel, the more you marginalize moderate Muslims.”
Name one Muslim sect that supports Israel’s right to exist.
Also, the rocket attacks are being carried out by Fatah, not Hamas. The Herald shouldn’t publish letters with obvious mistakes.
Hamas has always carried out the rocket attacks! Where do you get your information?!
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A moderate Muslim is one who calls for the destruction of Israel and openly praises the acts of terrorists, but doesn’t actively carry out such acts himself.
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“Point to one place in the letter where Aaron makes such an assertion. You can’t, can you?”
Valid point. However, he repeatedly lumps ‘Hamas’ and ‘Palestinians’ together, which is unfair and misrepresenative of the conflict. January was a long time ago and Palestinians are no longer united behind Hamas.
Which isn’t to say both sides of the conflict are guilty of these assumptions… when abroad I was assumed to be a Bush-supporter because I was American and Israelis are assumed to be die-hard Likudniks.
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“Name one Muslim sect that supports Israel’s right to exist.”
Well it’s definitely easier to list Israelis and Jews that don’t support the existence of Israel and do support Palestinian autonomy. I have yet to see a news article reporting that Israeli jews protested the invasion of Lebanon and routinely criticize the conservative rulers.
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“I have yet to see a news article reporting that Israeli jews protested the invasion of Lebanon and routinely criticize the conservative rulers.”
This is from wikipedia.com, however a source is cited:
“On 21 August, a group of demobilized Israel reserve soldiers and parents of soldiers killed in the fighting started a movement calling for the resignation of Ehud Olmert and the establishment of a state commission of inquiry. They set up a protest tent opposite the Knesset and grew to over 2,000 supporters by 25 August.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006Israel-Lebanonconflict
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“I have yet to see a news article reporting that Israeli jews protested the invasion of Lebanon”
Look harder.
As protest of Orthodox Jews around the world continue, Several hundred Anti Zionist Orthodox Jews protested in the center of Jerusalem against the recent invasion of Lebanon and Gaza.
http://www.nkusa.org/activities/Demonstrations/2006July27Jerusalem.cfm
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“A moderate Muslim is one who calls for the destruction of Israel and openly praises the acts of terrorists, but doesn’t actively carry out such acts himself.”
And people still wonder why the majority of the world hates us and why Muslims supposedly want to kill us.
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This might be a silly point, but aren’t BOTH sides slaughtering each other? Or do you want to define “slaughter” further?
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yes both sides are killing. but its blatantly obvious to anyone who looks at the situation from a neutral perspective:
Israel will give the Palestinians virtually all of the land that the UN approved accords call for. If the Palestinians would simply ACCEPT THE FACT that Israel is not going anywhere, there would be peace! It’s so simple and so frustrating.
Why are the Palestinians so stubborn? Maybe it’s because the extremist-Arab world (not all Arabs) tend to use Israel as a scapegoat for their problems. That point cannot be disputed!