Pope, Muslims react to Israel’s Gaza strike

I think if you read the sentence or 2 that the Pope is quoted as saying, he doesn't just condemn Israel, he condemns violence "in all its manifestations, and call for a restoration of the truce, which by definition takes 2 to tango.

Actually, he doesn't condemn israel. he calls for the end of violence which equally applies to the rockets being launched into Israel. But I find it funny how people are trying to distort the Pope's comments into being anti-israel.

Here is a quote from the pope:
"not to leave anything untried to help the Israelis and Palestinians exit from this dead end" of violence.

Look at the endless cycle of violence. If the Palestinians in the Gaza stopped their useless rocket attacks, the world knows Israel would return to negotiating a "non-violent" status for both geographic areas inhabited by them. Then Oslo's wet dreams might yet come to fruition. But only then. Israel needs to actually experience an existence without terror to pursue a policy of quietness and regional stability. But listen to the defiant Hamas leaders - thugs who gladly sacrifice their own kith & kin, knowing full well that Israel will stike back. Sanity is not the rule of the day, and Israel is dutybound to protect her citizens.

The Pope condemned violence on both sides.

When are these ignorant Palastinians going to realize that attacking Israel is not in their best interest? Of course the counter-attack is going to be disproportionate. Hamas needs only to loo to thier predecessors, the PLO, and realize that the only way they are to accomplish their goals is through diplomatic means.
I hope Israel shows little mercy in gaining the security they require for their people. The people of the United States support Israel and consider Hamas the enemy of the Free World.

More anti-Israel media bias from the Boston Globe.

This Pope is a real friend of Israel isn't he. Lived in Poland during WWII didn't he? Well, we all know how that turned out for the Jews. Some of the worst attrocities of the war occured in Poland. All one needs to do is look into this popes eyes and you will see who he is. Demon! I believe this pope is the false profit sent to aid the Anti Christ. Remember what the son of man said to his disciples "You will know me by my works."

This was started by Hamas on the Strip with rocket attacks. Calling the Israeli response disproportionate without citing the rocket attacks as the instigation is wrong. Justice for both sides is also relative here, as these statements attest. Rocket attacks are NOT THE ANSWER TO THE PALESTINIAN'S PROBLEMS! You mess with the bull, you get the horns. As long as the Palestinians continue to attack Israel, Israel will retaliate as it sees fit in it's attempt to crush the attackers. Common sense dictates the end to the rocket attacks, thus allowing the 2 sides to return to the table to diplomatically work out their differences.IT IS THE ONLY WAY. Keep up these feeble rocket attacks, and expect the Israeli response to be heavy-handed. Sure, poke the bear with a stick, and then cry foul when the bear mauls you - brilliant strategy. How's that working out for you so far?

Here is a thought. STOP SHOOTING CRAP AT ISRAEL!

So were was MPAC or CAIR condemning Palestinian militants' cross-border rocket attacks against Israel ?

it's still amazing that, after all the atrocities handed out under various 'popes', that this one seems to believe that the church continues to be some sort of moral compass.

Another addition to a long list of atrocities committed by Israel over the years. The justification, come on! Do you really believe it started with the Palestinian rockets?
Are you aware of the severe economic strangulation of Gaza going on for the last few months? Are you aware of the shortages of food, medicine etc, or of reports of people forced to eat from garbage? Perhaps the rockets were an act of desperation? And what was the scale of damage caused by these crude rockets? If you do an analysis of how many innocent people have been killed by each side (now and over the years) then you'll see who the real terrorist is. The pope condemned violence on both sides. From the scale of violence perpetrated, the condemnation applies much more to the Israelis than to the Palestinians.

A note about media coverage. Since our media is influenced by the friends of Israel, we never see the full picture unless we dig for details. Over the years this is what I have observed about the reporting of this conflict in the US media: Israel does A, Palestinians do B (in retaliation to A), Israel responds with C. Off course the US media reports B and C and de-emphasize A. I challenge you, go back to the reports over the years and you will see this pattern.

Hey Mike,

Are you of the mindset that Israel is never at fault? It seems to be a hackneyed point of view. Then again, if I were part of the chosen people, I would never feel I was at fault either.

War is hell, no matter the cause or who is to blame. President Reagan created a period of peace through strength. President Truman ended a war through strength. The enemy of those times did not think as we do. The Muslim does not consider death as we do, which does not make them wrong, but the militant Muslim is a danger to all humanity including their own people. President Bush has kept us safe since 911 through a show of strenth and is condemmed for his efforts. President Truman had a lower public rating than President Bush and yet today President Truman is considered on of our best presidents. Hamas are miltant Muslims and Israel is trying to control through strength.

1 to 300 dead ratio, 6 wounded to 1000 wounded ratio is overkill. Are there any good guys?

This whole "disproportionate" viewpoint is ridiculous. Even ONE rocket should be enough to warrant complete retaliation against a TERRORIST government. Gaza has been shooting rockets into these innocent Israeli towns for YEARS now and Israeli has done little to nothing. It's about time they showed that they will not just sit idly by and allow innocent civilians to be killed by people who do not value life in any regard. I got married in the town of Netivot, where a man was killed by a rocket a few days ago. I know a number of people from Sderot, who live in constant fear and are bombarded by rockets on a daily basis. You cannot negotiate with people who do not value life. It's as simple as that.

The Palestinians are not rocketing Israel. These are just toys. 200 rockets and 1 killed and 6 njured. It surpasses my comprehension

Perhaps we should look back at why England and the U.S. were so eager to create Israel in the first place. A truly anti-semetic moment for both countries who did not want displaced holocaust victims coming to their countries, but still wanted the support (in the U.S.'s case the vote) of jews in their countries. What's odd to me is that many Jews in the U.S. continue to support Israel, even though Israel would not recognize most of them as Jewish (or allow them to emigrate to Israel) either because they're not orthodox enough or because they can't prove their Jewish ancestry because the documents were destroyed in the Holocaust. Truly shameful.

But the Palestinian-Israel conflict goes back before Jesus. One has to wonder what the Pope is thinking, especially when addressing two countries to whom Jesus is not the son of god and two countries horribly bloodied by the Catholic Church over hundreds of years during the crusades (and after).

We have been covering the atrocities by the Israelies at MuslimMatters

We have to value a culture of life everywhere. One innocent person's murder is condemnable, let alone hundreds. Every life, regardless of religion or no-religion, is valuable and cannot be destroyed for the crime of another.

Do you know what a hamas "rocket" looks like? How about taking a peek? How many people has it killed in 6 months? 1? 2? Yes, STILL unjustifed and condemnable by all, but does it justify bombing pharmacies, a university, a police station, killing men, women and children? Have you seen these pictures? These people have names, lives, brothers, sisters, children, families. How can collective punishment be justified?

While we keep talking about Israel's retaliation, did anyone think what a siege can do to a people? A siege of massive proportions, many times cutting off basic necessities and utilities to the Gazans?

Please read this fictional tales in order (Farmocracy Experiment 1 and Farmocracy Experiment 2) which highlights the neocon policies of the last few years that is culminating in an emboldened Israel, which feels that it can punish civilians by first besieging them, then not allowing them to even react in the mildest of forms (with toy rockets), and then responding with missiles? Is this Israel's humanity? Do the supporters of Israel have no heart? Whenever Hamas or any terrorist organization kills innocent civilians anywhere in the world, almost every Muslim organization in America condemns it, including our website. Yet, we do not see the same sort of culture of peace on the other side. Where are the progressives? The anti-war crowd?

Jackswebb...Are you joking? The Muslim does not consider death as we do? That same nonsense was bandied about for years about the communists, and it's a typical propagandist's means of dehumanization of those with whom they do not agree. As for Reagan, he exacerbated militancy because it served his anti-Soviet purposes in Afhganistan. Closer to home, he bankrolled regimes that conducted brutal warfare against their own populations. And Bush has decreased your safety and security after deliberately ignoring warnings prior to 9/11, after allowing the "second Pearl Harbor" necessary for an invasion of Iraq, as referenced by the Project for a New American Century, a group that included Cheney, Rumsfeld, Perle, and Wolfowitz. Yeah, Jack, he stood back and let it happen. If you want to disagree with that assessment, I'll challenge you right now to offer one thing he did after July 10 and August 6 warnings to stop those attacks. One thing. Other than Ashcroft no longer flying commercial airlines. Finally, Hamas are, whether or not you like it, the duly elected representatives of their people.

If you're going to pick a fight... make sure they don't knock you out in the first 5 minutes.

ABDUL KADER HAJEE AHMED ... if the 200 rockets were landing in you family's yard would you ignore? Of course not.

If Hamas broke the cease fire... .then... hopefully they will wise up and ask for a new cease fire and stop causing trouble.

Abdul Kader Hajee Ahmed: these rockets that you call "toys" are far from that. They may not have killed as many as have been killed by Israeli soldiers but they have terrorized and maimed and made life a living hell for countless innocent Israelis. I laughed yesterday when I read quotes from a "Palestinian" mental health worker who complained of the psychological torture of his brethren in Gaza: stop terrorizing others and they will have no need to retaliate. "Toys"...I think not.

Israel does not want peace, it wants continued annilhiation of the Palestinian people. It is a moral stain on both Israel and the US that these crimes against humanity continue. You cannot justify the slaughter of innocent children and civilians, try as you might. This is shameful.

Holy crap, this stuff is nuts. If you have critical words to say about Israel that does not immediately make you an "anti-semite" or a self hating Jew, or even worse, mean you hope for horrible things to happen to Jews. That has really gotten old.

I have studied both sides over the years and am going to explain what I have come to believe may be the most basic truth/history of this region. I present to you my history lesson for dummies:

In 1948 The Jews got preferential treatment to give them a nice homeland that previously was not their own (maybe it was their land thousands of years ago). The creation of the homeland was due at least in part to horrible Jewish conditions of Nazi Germany. Unfortunately to do that, the non-Jews were displaced from where they lived and put in long term crappy living conditions. This pisses people off (obviously).

Religion can be a dangerous thing at times. This is most certainly one of those times. God told you this is supposed to be your land? What about people that aren't your religion and are completely shocked that because you say "God promised you" this land, now the Arabs of the region have to leave their homes and live in poverty with no great help from the US like Israel gets? That is very bad.

Goes both ways too. In WW2 it was a very bad thing to be Jewish in Germany (we all pretty much agree on that). In post WW2 "Palestine" it was a very bad thing to NOT BE JEWISH.

I don't believe you can displace people from a region, help the Jews to a massive extent while simultaneously doing very little to create nice living conditions for non-Jews in the region. That basic idea to me is wild that we even for a split second thought that was ok to do. Meaning, we do a very nice thing for Jewish people but the non-Jews got the shaft in the process. How is that ok? It's not, which has quite a bit to do with why people are so pissed off over there.

Thanks for the "hate mail," Nick Ardoyno. Do conspiracy theories bounce around in that empty skull of yours much? And what role could Pope Bendict have had as a child during the Holocaust?

If you had a clue, you'd know that Pope has continued to reach out to the Jewish community, not unlike John Paul II.

Here's my take on the situation: Palestine should have accepted the statehood offer in '49; they ought to stop with the attacks; and while Israel certainly has a right to defend itself, it ought to make an effort to minimize collateral damage.
However, I think all of us know that Palestine realizes that retaliation by Israel will kill innocent civilians, resulting in anti-Israeli press.

There is and always has been only one appropriate question. It's an issue of freedom and individual rights. How free are citizens in Israel vs the surrounding countries? The freedom and respect for individual rights gives Israel legitimacy as a state and a government. That lack in the Arab states makes them illegitimate. No government has the right to enslave people. That's the ethical issue.

On the purely political machinations issues, the UN mandated after WW-I, the splitting of lands taken from the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East between states for different purposes. One of those was for the Jews. They have a tiny fraction of those lands and the Arabs want them to have none. They must be stopped from that goal because a free country deserves to thrive and the un-free states have no right to eliminate an embarrassment to their culture's incompetence at providing a thriving opportunity for their residence.

Here is my take on the situation: Israel returns the land OWNED by Palestine and leave the region. All problem solved!!!

Sadly, the more I read about Catholic and Protestant dealings with Jews, the more something becomes clear. Jews hate non-Jews.

This is slow genocide people. It's just now it's so up in our faces and disproportionate that no one can deny the tyrrany any longer! The media can't spin doctor this garbage any more. 2 Israelis have died and over 300 palestinians. Only a monster can justify this sort of MASSACRE! If you believe in human rights there is only one thing you can see. That is the human rights of the Palestinian people are none existent and the international community condones this. That is the major atrocity here!!! These people are being treated as animals and have a right to live free and not in the jail known as Gaza. Half the people of Gaza are young children who's parents have all been killed by wars with Israel,also with, limited food , limited fresh water, very limited medical supplies. This is crazy, they have been told they are second class people there whole lives!!! It's also terrible that Israeli citizens have to live in fear of Palestinian terrorists as well but to think the Israelis are not being terrorists themselves by ther actions is absurd and insulting to anyone who thinks for themseves and is "FREE". US can't stand behind this injustice anymore. Please people of both sides, just think 4 yourself!!

if isreal and palenstine agreed to peace why are they shooting rockets into isreal this has to stop u cant say u want peace and expect isreal not to react in a violent way. these people need to come together one GOD for all.

Evidence suggests that both sides are terrorists. That is, they both want to use terror as a mean to achieve their goals. My solution: ALL developed countries should place an embargo on both parties. If they want to fight things out, they should do it on their own - no missiles being bought by Palestines, no Israeli military equipment coming from the US. I bet none of the parties would be able to finance the war without foreign aid.

Every where in this world so called human was created by God. Todays human are like computer. They never think. Matters what religion u are but but faith n love are the most important thing. Why our children are suffering because u n me dont blame religion nor God blame it on ur self U are the one who VOTE not GOD ITS U TO BE BLAME HUMANS WORST THAN ANIMALS

Well in the magnifact says " He will protect Isreal his Servants remebering his Mercy to god The Almighty Father" . What it means?

israel is like a land mafia that keeps harrassing the actual land owners in every way that it can, it kidnaps, kills, rapes threatens, blackmails, does everything to keep the legal land owners out if their land, and harrasses the surrounding neighbourhoods so that no one dares to rasie a voice against that mafia, you see these mafias and gangs need such terrorist ways to carry on with their illegal occupation of properties and their illegal activities. this definition so fits this artifical terrorist state!

as far as zionists whining over the rockets(capable of damage as much as a fire crarcker), well what do you expect me to do if you are blocking all my necessities of life? no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel?what do you ecpect from me?flowers? i will surely die without food so why not diethe way i choose? why not kill the person responsible for my misery and then die? so hamas' rockets were an act of desteration and therefore completly justified, while israel as i mentioned above is a mafia in the middle east! israel has proven to be a social leech and it does in no way seek peace with the palestinians, had it sought peace, it would not have starved thme to death and shouted PEACE PEACE.

"The Palestinians are not rocketing Israel. These are just toys. 200 rockets and 1 killed and 6 njured. It surpasses my comprehension
Posted by ABDUL KADER HAJEE AHMED December 28, 08 08:59 PM"

In your words, "Abdul", you are correct - you don't comprehend. If you think
the rockets and mortars Hamas launches (over 3,000 in 2008 - see:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/hamas-qassam.htm )
are "toys" then I invite you to hold one in your hands and detonate it
(but do it in an open field, away from others).

May the Lord God the almighty bring peace to the world. when you see this things then know that the end is near. middle east problems can never be solved by human beings.

Biscuitboy,
You're an idiot.

Thank the British for allowing them to place the Jews in the MIDDLE EAST
not the Jewish east.
Another thing is this will never stop. and keep on dreaming if Israel wants peace. Thats the funniest think i have ever heard.
they will never return to the1967 line, because its not enough room to put the Jew in that small piece of 400km land.
also the return of over 1 million palestinians will never happen. also why do the caucasians (whites) keep referring to palestinians, that doesnt exist on any map.
the Jewish wiped them off the map, backed with the help of the Jewish in the US.
The romans were the best, thank god to the perfect Italians (which i happen to be_) The Jews tried so hard to get ride of the Romans only to get there asses whipped. They could and never would they ever be able to be the greatest almighty ROMANS god bless the Roman
Oh by the way the ROmans wipped Judea off the map.
and no matter how much critisism you place on my comment
Italian is the ONLY country in the world with the most tourists flocking each year
why? because we have the best, no no, rather superior (art, Fashion, architecture which the us still copy today) and the latin language, which is used by the US again
thanks
Ben

Ben, you are quite possibly the biggest, most ignorant moron whose comment I've ever had the displeasure of reading. You are right in a lot of ways, things will not go back to the way they were, and yes, we can partially blame the British for the whole situation, but only so far. Before the British Mandate over Palestine expired in 1948, they promised the land to both the Jews, and the Muslims. Unfortunately, they never really clarified who they REALLY wanted to give the land to, so each side battled it out. Before that, the Jews rightfully bough Arabs' land from Arabs living in Syria, this being during the Ottoman occupation of Palestine, before WWI. To say that the Jews "wiped the Palestinians off the map" is very much false. Last i checked, when people go onto other peoples' land, they generally are kicked off the premesis. I guess you are saying that Palestinians are exeptions to the rule, or that for some reason Jews should not have the right to keep their property to themselves.
Further into the past: The Jews did not challenge the Roman empire, the Romans ATTACKED ancient Israel, which was a place that had lived in peace for a few hundred years until that point, and was not really ready for an attack. They were purely overmatched. The only time before recent history that Jews were ever the aggressors was in biblical times, when they battled their way into the land of Israel.
That's all for me, I hope you severly uneducated, or just plain ignorant people will think a bit and do some research before posting.
P.S. To the people who have been out protesting this war, calling it a genocide, i have a question:
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS WHEN 1/3 OF AFRICA HAS BEEN SUBJECT TO RUTHLESS GENOCIDES??? WHY DON'T YOU PROTEST THAT???

"Israel does not want peace, it wants continued annilhiation of the Palestinian people."

Assuming genocidal intentions, it's slightly dishonest to complain about Israel wanting to annihilate a people that wants to annihilate them. That's not a moral issue, that's just a matter of who holds superior firepower.

The land formerly called Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire, and a spoil of war when it fell. The Arabs and Persians are very familiar with the concept of war spoils, so from whence comes this attitude that the Israelis do not belong in the land demarcated by the victors' decree?

Lets start the peace process by STOPPING THE SHOOTING OF MISSLES BY THE PALESTINIANS.

The Palestinians are too valuable a pawn of the Saudis for there to ever be peace.

I support the thoughts of Biscuitboy (37) by hms. Let those leaders who permit civilians to be used as "protection to retribution" for the offenders, to be condemned to a short, painful existence.

I was in a southern city in Israel when the rockets started again. Several hit within 300 yards of where I was.

For those of you who think that they are "just rockets" that can't do anything. I can assure you that when they hit near by, they are quite real.

I am an Israeli/American, I lived in Israel for 10 years. Even the people who most wanted the Palestinians to have there own country and take mercy on them, want them all to disapper. Israel is very close to saying the hell with the rest of the world and doing as she sees fit.

The Palastinians "democratically" elected a terrorist government. We elected George W Bush. We both got what we asked for

HINT: STOP POKING THE TIGER OR IT WILL BITE YOU.... Translated into - would you quit attacking Israel already! I think Israel has been more than lenient dealing with the terrorist bombings and suicide killers.... If there was someone, or some group of people doing this to Americans on American soil, we'd all be outraged and demand payback. Israel is just giving them what they deserve, when they finally learn that they arent going to beat Israel, then the war will be over....

There will never be peace until Hamas releases Gilad Shalit. He was the young solider who was Kidnapped by Hamas in 2006 and is still alive. Why should Israel be nice to Hamas, if they are holding Gilad. He was a fine young man who was a great guy. I have friends who knew him, he was a great kid. We need to stand behind Israel until Gilad is back home safe