Hawaiian

10 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

No place to hide, how? There are miles upon miles of underground tunnels and facilities in the Gaza Strip. There's a border pass with Egypt.

As recent videos show, the tunnels are death traps and Hamas has not allowed civilians to take refuge there.  From what I understand, the border route is being blocked by Egypt and Israel is reluctant to pressure Egypt fearing it would damage their relationship.  Both Egypt and Israel are caught between a rock and a hard place.  Sorry, I should have clarified my position about who is responsible for this mess.  I am tired of the blame game because it solves nothing and you are smart enough to know that.

8 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

and where did you get the 20,000 figure or you're using inflated numbers

for your argument sake?

 

Seriously? Do you only listen to israeli news?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/22/gaza-israel-war-20000-dead/

More than 20,000 dead in Gaza, a historic human toll

 

Also from Reuters and the BBC and many other news sources.

 

 

Was there a " proportionality" when a hundreds of Hamas and Palestinians murderess and rapists descended on a sleepy villages and a group of Israelis who were at a festival in the field?

 

I'll see your October 7 and raise you with 30 years and more of illegal occupation, land theft, collective punishment and oppression.

Giving Nostradamus competition, I see.

13 minutes ago, ezzra said:

One man war crimes is another a fight for survival and for their country, was there a " proportionality" when a hundreds of Hamas and Palestinians murderess and rapists descended on a sleepy villages and a group of Israelis who were at a festival in the field? and where did you get the 20,000 figure or you're using inflated numbers or it's just to win your argument? and YES, many more Hamas and Palestinians will die in the coming weeks and months until they and the world will realise that they can't win, blame countries like Iran, Qatar and others for fuelling and financing Hamas and Hezbollah because this suits their agendas... 

The

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

and where did you get the 20,000 figure or you're using inflated numbers

for your argument sake?

 

Seriously? Do you only listen to israeli news?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/22/gaza-israel-war-20000-dead/

More than 20,000 dead in Gaza, a historic human toll

 

Also from Reuters and the BBC and many other news sources.

 

 

Was there a " proportionality" when a hundreds of Hamas and Palestinians murderess and rapists descended on a sleepy villages and a group of Israelis who were at a festival in the field?

 

I'll see your October 7 and raise you with 30 years and more of illegal occupation, land theft, collective punishment and oppression.

Providing links with a paywall is against forum rules. 

Because many Hamas fighters do not wear uniforms it is almost impossible to distinguish civilian from military casualties.

14 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

In Sudan the conflict is between 2 roughly similar combatants, and the death toll since April is 12,000. Sudanese civilians have the ability to become refugees in neighbouring countries.

In Gaza, the israelis have killed 20,000 since October 7, and the Gazans have zero ability to defend themselves from the air assault.

 

If you want to know why people are more upset by Gaza than Sudan, it's because there is no proportionality, and it's just massacre of a defenseless population. Gazans are not allowed to go elsewhere as refugees and are being killed as there are no safe areas to stay in.

 

I hope you are not trying to say that israel is not committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, as it's all recorded, and overwhelming world opinion is that israel is committing those crimes.

Agree, having no place to hide or escape to describes a horrible situation in Gaza.  Both Israel and Hamas are responsible.  But how do you justify putting all the blame on Israel for the massive casualties.  You like to compare this to similar situations elsewhere.  The population density is mostly the reason for the high rate.  Even when Israel asked for evacuations to the South. Hamas attempted to stop it.  Hamas operatives were caught red handed stealing humanitarian aid intended for the civilian population.  You never mentioned the videos of that.  If one side surrenders and hostilities stop, the killing stops.  Anyone who intentionally breaks a ceasefire cannot be trusted.  As Hamas is intent of fighting to the end, Israel is just as determined to finish the job.

Israel will be vilified no matter what they do.  At the end of the day Hamas will be destroyed and all of Gaza will be better off.  Then begins the task of rehabilitation and rebuilding.  Hopefully, people in the West Bank will also benefit from the destruction of Hamas. 

Yes Israel will a black eye, but Iran will have two black eyes

5 hours ago, ozimoron said:

Israeli intelligence officers were the ones who escorted Qatari officials to Gaza.

 

He believed that having two strong rivals would “lessen the pressure on him to negotiate toward a Palestinian state”.

 

According to Israeli intelligence officials, the Qatari money played a role in the success of the terror attacks.

 

https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/qatar-sent-millions-to-hamas-for-years-and-netanyahu-encouraged-it-heres-why-13495242.html

Was the money designated specifically for military use and not for humanitarian purposes? 

Maybe Hamas thought like Jack from  Beanstalk fame, they would get rid of the mean old giant, Israel, and collect their treasure, magnificent rulers of the new Palestinian state.

5 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Yeah, save the word genocide for actual genocide. Genocide inflation. Yeah, there are reasons to criticize some of the Israeli tactics in this war against Hamas, but it is not genocide. 

Exactly.  The definition of genocide does not apply to movements and organizations like Hamas.

6 hours ago, ozimoron said:

 

No, Hamas would have faded away had Israel negotiated in good faith with the PA. Netanyahu was instrumental in facilitating financing Hamas by Qatar

Hamas could have used the money to better the lives of the Palestinians living in Gaza.  Instead much of it was spent to construct an expensive, complex system of tunnels to conduct their clandestine operations. 

Could Netanyahu have restricted the funds to non-military use?  I don't know and perhaps,as others have said, he had ulterior motives. 

3 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Wow, it's coming out now. 

 

What's coming out now?  Evidently, you missed the article provided by Bkk Brian

from criticalthreats.org.  Or maybe you did and its too long and involved for you and your friend to understand.

3 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I don't have a debit card with a bank, I use a credit union.

I've never been scammed on the debit card. The credit union's fraud section has called me several times when I have made a transaction from an unfamiliar place, or for a large amount, to verify the card user is myself.

I fail to see why any financial institution should have a different response to fraud, depending on whether the card is credit or debit.

The information about debit cards come from independent financial advisers.

They caution about having large amounts in your debit card account.  The fact that you never lost anything doesn't mean it can't happen.  There is always a first time.  Today's thieves are quite sophisticated and FAST.

Have you heard about the new gift card scams?  Customers are purchasing gift cards that have all of the money drained from them.  Stores unknowingly have  been selling worthless gift cards which hackers have bled.  Don't believe me?  Look it up.

7 hours ago, nikmar said:

i get the opposite. 

Me, too.

3 hours ago, ezzra said:

And soon, we're all going to be a cashless society, this is what is the banks in Australia are planning to implement soon...

The Chinese are pushing digital currency to control the flow of money and to prevent the flight of capital.

Governments are in favor of a cashless society since it is easier to detect tax evasion.

34 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

If someone wants my business, they can either accept cash, or a debit card. If neither of those options work, it's goodbye.

I don't trust phone apps. They have had serious problems with data breaches, and harvest personal information.

I don't trust phone apps either.

30 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

If someone wants my business, they can either accept cash, or a debit card. If neither of those options work, it's goodbye.

I don't trust phone apps. They have had serious problems with data breaches, and harvest personal information.

I refuse to own a debit card.  Once you get scammed out of money your chances of recovery are about zero.  My bank has always come to the rescue when I've had  problems with my credit card.  They even alert me when there is suspected fraud.

Technology is only good if it works.  The more complicated it gets the more the chance of failure.

34 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

 

There are alot of Israelis that are opposed to this genocide, and the killing of thousands of women and children. Many would prefer a more targeted approach, that differs from the leveling of Syria, or the Russian campaign in Ukraine. Putin is a genocidal, maniacal serial killer. Most of us knew that already. We did not know Netanyahu was also a mass murderer, and the US support has to stop.

Would you ever consider living in Israel, facing the danger that some day you or your family will be a victim of Hamas?  And just who is this "alot of Israeli's"?  Please describe in detail what a more "targeted approach" would be.  If you watched the entire video you would understand the challenges the IDF confronts every day.  Easy to be an armchair general, when you are not on the front line, face to face with a ruthless enemy. Talk is cheap, even for an American Jew.

As an independent voter, I fully support American aid to Israel in order to carry out their mission against Hamas. 

I also question your use of the word genocide.

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Of course.

 

 

Only after watching this video for a few minutes did I realize it was from MSNBC.

As I continued viewing this interview I was totally surprised that this young man was allowed to tell of his story without any interruption or interjection.

His description of the horror he witnessed is a grim reminder of what will occur again if Hamas is not destroyed.  The sooner the better.

19 minutes ago, ezzra said:

What i find disturbing is that there are at least half a dozen of trouble spots around the world where war is raging and

millions are displaced, hungry and diseased with tens of thousands of dead, (including many children) but nothing of that

is of concern to those who howl and stand on hind legs vilify and accuse Israel of genocide, holocaust and war crimes

in Gaza, all because the above trouble places there are no Jews to blame, the world's favourite scapegoat...

How true.  Shine the spotlight on Israel to keep the terrorist campfires going.

19 hours ago, Morch said:

 

Indeed.

 

That's one reason I think the situation will be resolved - too many interests are being effected.

 

As a long term goal, absolutely.

The big question is what is it going to take to resolve the situation.  Every day this goes on the greater economic damage.  How long before offensive action is taken?  No one wants to things spiral out of control, but the present strategy is not working.

On another note, the U.S. has reached record oil production.  What effect is Angola's withdrawal from OPEC going to have?  Will China's slowing economy cut back oil imports from Iran, a major financial backer of the terrorists? 

10 minutes ago, EmmaH said:

This is really sad to see many innocent people losing their lives in this war. A lot of damage has already been done and I think everyone must make some contribution towards a peaceful end to this fight.

Sadly, not happening any time soon.  Each side is determined to achieve their goals.  And each side feels their goals are well justified.  I am quite sure there will  a lot of comments claiming the better justification for whomever they are rooting for.

6 hours ago, ozimoron said:

 

If you accept that modern history is mostly fabricated, i.e. winners get to write history then ancient history most certainly is also mostly fabricated.

Guess you don't get it.  I am NOT using your logic.  Therefore, I do

NOT accept that modern history is mostly fabricated.