Hamas vs. Israel - a Guest Post by John Poris

Gaza City - "Concentration Camp?"

So, You're Against Israel's "War of Aggression" Against Hamas

SInce 2007, Hamas and its proxies have fired over 12,000 (now more than 13,000) rockets and mortars into Israel.  Israel carried out precision bombing and shelling of command centers, weapons caches, weapons manufacturing sites, and other targets, and now, has inserted ground troops into Gaza to root out tunnels used for smuggling and terror attacks on Israeli civilians.

There is a lot of attention in the media and around the world to the lopsided "body count", although that is easily understood, considering Israel's investment in civilian defenses, including shelters, warning systems, Iron Dome, etc.

I'm frequently astounded at the number of people who protest, holding signs saying things like "We are Hamas", "Zionism is Nazism", etc.

So, let's recap a little, shall we? If you're rooting for Hamas, here's what you're rooting for

1. Israel does selective targeting, warns inhabitants by phone, leaflet, and roof knockin:g. Hamas fires rockets and mortars indiscriminately at civilians, aiming for the most populated civilian areas in Israel. They do this from among the civilian population of Gaza, including in and by schools, mosques, homes, hospitals, etc., thereby committing a double war crime (which even the EU, miraculously, has commented on).

2. Israel, while having the capability to flatten Gaza, has chosen to go house to house, street by street, incurring many more dead and wounded than "carpet bombing" would cause them, in order to avoid civilian casualties. You can argue that it's because they're going after the tunnels, but realistically, Israel has the capability to bomb large areas with delayed fuses and crush tunnels all day long. Hamas, on the other hand, puts its civilians on the roofs to try to avoid airstrikes, and forces their civilians NOT to evacuate when Israel warns them ahead of time. War crime, again - Hamas.

3. Hamas has dug a multitude of tunnels, first for smuggling, later for terror attacks against, you guessed it, Israeli civilians. Tunnels that go under dining halls, peoples' homes, etc. so they can pop out, kill and kidnap people, and run home. They also popped out of a tunnel, dressed as Israeli soldiers (also illegal, no?), to attack Israeli soldiers. Another war crime? Yup. Maybe more than one.

4. Israel has basic laws protecting ALL citizens (including the Arab minority that is now violently supporting Hamas), protecting those of different religions, ethnicities, colors, sexual orientation, etc. Hamas, on the other hand, kills Gays, kills anyone remotely suspected of being an "informer" for Israel (and sometimes drags their bodies around the streets behind motorbikes), suppresses public displays of song and dance, forces women to wear the Hijab (and beats those who don't), and generally has removed all vestiges of human and civil rights in Gaza.

5. Israel has a robust, albeit fractured political system, with open and honest elections (that happen all too often due to coalition failures). It includes political parties representing both Jews and non-Jews (witness the Balad party of Zahalka and Zoabi - rabid supporters of Hamas). There is an orderly transition of government when it changes over. Hamas, on the other side, won an election in 2006, then, in 2007, proceeded to throw their Fatah rivals off roofs, "kneecap" them, kill them, imprison and torture them, and expel those lucky enough to be expelled. There have been no more elections since then, and there will not be in the foreseeable future.

The bottom line is that Hamas is a criminal, terrorist organization, dedicated to the spread of virulent Islamism and the destruction of Israel. They do not want, nor are they willing to accept a Palestinian state next to an Israeli state, no matter what the borders are.

When you attack Israel one-sidedly, and in a vacuum, you ARE supporting Hamas. When you support Hamas, think about what you are supporting. Is that what you want to be associated with?

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