The day the Israeli army came to the Gaza Zoo »
Posted By jovial 9 months, 4 weeks ago in News
Inside the main building, soldiers defaced the walls, ripped out one of the toilets and removed all of the hard drives from the office computers.
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jovial
Grew up In Brooklyn. Joined the Navy in 1976 stayed in 10 years. Aircraft Electronics tech. Worked for Major Govt. contractor then settled in California ...
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jovial9 months, 4 weeks ago
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dissent9 months, 4 weeks ago
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i can just hear the wacko pro-israel chorus spin now....
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"the idf did everything possible to avoid harm to innocent animals but those cowardly terrorists, hamas, hid behind pregnant camels and such like to fire their rockets and missiles into israel in their evil efforts to kill all israelis and wipe israel off the map" :| -
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willottica9 months, 4 weeks ago
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War is cruel, and soldiers get frustrated. They're also trained to be desensitized to killing (if not actually take pleasure in it). It's possible that this was a random act by a group of renegade soldiers.
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Then again, much of this "War" has been senseless destruction. By dropping pamphlets saying where they were going to attack, they gave Hamas ample time to get away, then leveled buildings and infrastructure anyway. With the enemy gone, what was the point? Destruction.
It seems that the strategy behind this war has been to destroy as much as possible, enemy or not, guilty or innocent. Punish the Palestinians for the sins of Hamas. Bomb them into submission so that they needn't resort to diplomacy. If I'm wrong, I'd like someone to point out another reason for carrying through with an attack on a now-abandoned urban centre. -
capecoralMComment removed: Retracted by user8 Replies
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hyperbola9 months, 4 weeks ago
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We should be clear that Israel is a racist, genocidal state that has no place in the modern world. It is shameful that America supports a regime that shares most of Nazi ideology: "master race", "subhumans", "living space for the master race", and "genocide / ethnic cleansing for the subhumans". The sooner we help put an end to the zionist state the better.
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Rabbi told Israeli troops to show no mercy in Gaza
An Israeli human rights group on Monday called for the immediate dismissal of the chief military rabbi, claiming he gave soldiers fighting in Gaza pamphlets urging them to show no mercy.
... The rights group said the pamphlet contains "degrading and belittling messages that border on incitement and racism against the Palestinian people. These messages can be interpreted as a call to act outside of the confines of international laws of war."
The Haaretz newspaper reported on Monday that far right-wing groups also gave out pamphlets bearing racist messages on military bases....
http://www.propeller.com/story/2009/01/27/rabbi-to...
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BronxBomber9 months, 4 weeks ago
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AGREED jovial!
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A Zoo is hardly a place at all for terrorist activities. Just a place for recreation and fun. What possible threat can the animals be that are mainly in enclosed areas do to any outsiders? This makes NO sense why Israeli soldiers had to mercilessly slaughter innocent animals! Sickening!-
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cherev9 months, 4 weeks ago
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"This makes NO sense "
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Then, perhaps it's not true. What would the motivation be for the Israeli soldiers to shoot the animals, given that they give warnings when they're going to bomb the houses of terrorists so that the neighbors can evacuate?
OTOH, what would the motivation of the Arabs be to lie and blame the "Israelis"? That's pretty obvious. -
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jordan119 months, 4 weeks ago
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I understand that the Israeli SC ordered the media be allowed into Gaza. This kind of thing needs witnessing, so that no one can call it propaganda by Palestinians. I'm sick of all of this, & once and for all want some verifiable accounting. And not allowing the media in makes me very suspect of the Israeli forces. What infuriates me the most, is if this and the use of phosphorus bombs is true, it's being done with MY DIME! And that is NOT OK!
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AnteUp9 months, 4 weeks ago
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I received a letter from my congressman expressing his
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concern for the situation I had caled about .......BUT
he had actually co-sponsored the bill that supported
Israel's right to exist - again - AND Operation Cast Lead!
No mention of war crimes or unnecessary cruelty - how
predictable - hmm? What does it say about us when we
very visibly choose to SUPPORT such atrocities?
I'll say it again.........NOT IN MY NAME!
Thanks for the submission, jovial. -
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cherev9 months, 4 weeks ago
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buddhaed9 months, 4 weeks ago
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A communique from a twisted soul claiming that the rocket attacks are the work of Israeli operatives working inside Gaza (note the bad aim)
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All vill pay for the katusha rocket attacks carried out against Israel. Israel has endured 10,000 rocket attacks, 12 deaths and thousands of potholes upon the holy land. At this time ve thank the rocket launching instruction manual writers for contributing to the bad aim of the terrorists.
As you know, an Israeli soldier died yesterday and the attacker was shot dead in return. As is our policy, ve are now looking for nine more Palestinians that would like to join the attacker. We have you sorrounded by walls and barbed wire. In other words, we have you as a captive audience, but don't think of it as a concentration camp, that is not our final solution for you Palestinians, yet.-
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Bkumm9 months, 4 weeks ago
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Oh, I noted it. And if I used a German accent to talk about Israel or the Jews on Propeller the way that buddhaed did to talk about the Palestinians someone would ban me at once.
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Also notice that I didn't call for him/her to be banned.
And I did not report him/her.
I'm what you call "tolerant". Of course, I'm tolerant enough to let you speak, but I'll damn sure come right back at you. -
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lvrofwolves9 months, 4 weeks ago
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The zoo opened in late 2005, with money from local and international NGOs. There were 40 types of animals, a children's library, a playground and cultural centre housed at the facility.
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SICK BASTARDS!..how horrible for those poor animals. -
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most_reasonable9 months, 4 weeks ago
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"SICK BASTARDS!..how horrible for those poor animals."
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtsvjB8efKE -
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Bkumm9 months, 4 weeks ago
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Bkumm9 months, 4 weeks ago
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That's such crap and you know it.
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First of all, it's barely "in the news".
Secondly, if the US had blown up a zoo in Bagdhad everyone and their sister would be screaming for our heads, especially people here in the US.
But, very few people want to criticize Israel's actions because then people who support Israel immediately start in with the:
"You just hate Jews"
And
"Remember the Holocaust?" -
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libsRfunnyComment removed: Hard Banned2 Replies
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lloydm659 months, 4 weeks ago
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I'm sure the little children who had to flee their class room when a hamas rocket made a direct hit there would agree most animals are precious.I know what our constitution say's about our right to protection,but I don't about the Israeli laws are.Maybe it Say's that unless a certain number of men,women,or children are killed in one attack then all is well.The Israeli's will never know peace until the garbage who run Gaza are wiped out.All you Jew haters are beating a dead horse. Israel will never yield to terrorism.
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Bkumm9 months, 4 weeks ago
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How about the little children that died when Israeli bombs destroyed their school? Do you suppose they spent an hour or two out of their lives watching the animals in the zoo and understanding exactly how they felt?
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A person who disagrees with the way that Israel conducts its foreign policy is not a "Jew hater". But, hey, nice try. -
libsRfunnyComment removed: Hard Banned1 Reply
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AnteUp9 months, 4 weeks ago
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Hah! They already have, lloydm65. Comprende........Avigdor Liebermann -
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Bibi Netanyahu - Ariel Sharon - the EXTREMIST right-wing?
No one has told you? THEY are the current powerful of Israeli politics.
We have chosen to turn away from the extreme right here - so how is it
that special dispensation is given to the right-wing there? It's ISRAEL -
and we support her right to be extreme right...........no matter what - No? -
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Edmar149 months, 4 weeks ago
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Here are facts that can't be ignored. Hamas controlled almost all of the photos, film and television broadcasts that came out of Gaza during the war. They used civilian populated areas to store, fire and manufacture their rockets when there was abundant unpopulated land in both the eastern and southern sections of the Gaza strip. Missiles were fired from civilian rooftops, gardens and streets into Israel from urban areas. Most if not all of the medics, and heads of the hospitals, the Gaza media, Gaza reporters and civil servants were all either members of Hamas or controlled by Hamas. There is no reason to assume that the animals in the zoo were killed by the Israelis when dead zoo animals make for very good propaganda by Hamas. If none of you understand how this war was fought by Hamas then you can continue to believe anything that you choose to believe. What you fail to realize, or want to realize is that not a single civilian had to be killed in this war. Hamas chose to use urban areas as their battlefield knowing full well that they could muster world support with the pictures and film of dead civilians. There is every reason to assume that dead zoo animals would foster the same result. If you can't beat your enemy militarily, then propaganda makes a very effective weapon. Hamas' use of it's own population as human shields and the victims as propaganda is a tactic that was used by Hezbollah as well during the 2006 war. If you doubt what I am saying, Googlemap the Gaza Strip and use the satellite view. Zoom in on the eastern and southern areas of the Strip and see how much sparsly or unpopulated area there really is that Hamas could have used to fired it's rockets into Israel. But then, there would only be dead militants, and dead militants don't raise an eyebrow in the world community. Think people!!! Use your heads. Israel had no reason to shoot those animals. Hamas had every reason to do so. It makes great news.
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cherev9 months, 4 weeks ago
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"The Israeli's are as capable of atrocities as anyone else."
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It seems that only the Israelis and the US under former President Bush are capable of atrocities in the eyes of some.
"The media needs to be in Gaza. Why do you suppose the Israeli forces keep them out?"
To keep them out of harms way. If it was me, they would have been allowed in. -
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jordan119 months, 4 weeks ago
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Use your heads. Israel had no reason to shoot those animals.>>>>>
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You mean like our troops had no reason to abuse prisoners at abu ghraib? Like that? Grow up! The Israeli's are as capable of atrocities as anyone else. The media needs to be in Gaza. Why do you suppose the Israeli forces keep them out? That alone makes them suspect, and the only way to get to the bottom of these things is to have observers present. -
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cherev9 months, 4 weeks ago
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"How does killing non-Hamas Palestinians defend Israel?"
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It's a war. How are you going to pick out the terrorists when they hid amoung civilians and dress like them?
"How is launching an attack against a civilian population in the Gaza Strip, after giving enough warning for anyone to escape (Hamas militants included) any sort of defense at all. The only possible defense it could be is the "bomb them into submission" defense, which just makes the people in Gaza even less likely to want peace with such a brutal oppressor."
So what's your solution? Put the UN in place? That was tried in 1967. Nassar told the UN to get out and they did. If the UN was in Gaza, they would protect Hamas until Hamas got strong enough to take on the Israelis. Then the UN would pull out and Hamas would attack.
To tell the truth, I don't care if Israel kills every Arab man, woman and child in Gaza....but I'd much prefer that the Gazans decide to give up their arms and try peace. Get them to do that and MAYBE (though I doubt it) most of the posters on this thread won't complain about Israeli "atrocitities". -
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AnteUp9 months, 4 weeks ago
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Yeah, cherev -
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It WAS true! Oxfam has cemented over the access to the water several times,
only to have the settlers break the cement and drop chemicals and dirty diapers
in the water source for the Palestinians.
Hey - just this past weekend there was an article here about Amnesty charges
that settlers are mixing rat poison with barley and sowing it in West Bank fields
that belong to Palestinians and their................well, DEAD flocks! They even found
wild deer who had succumbed to the settlers chemical terrorism. Too bad - huh?
So Hillary apologized to everybody and their dog that she had been too friendly
in hugging Mrs. Arafat - that if she had known what Ms.Arafat had been saying
to the crowd about the well water - she NEVER would have hugged her.
She did the appropriate amount of groveling - but guess what?
The story about the water contamination by settlers was TRUE.-
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AnteUp9 months, 4 weeks ago
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Well - maybe you should let Oxfam know.
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I've found a new group of Israelis and Palestinians, Ta'ayush, that work
together to protect the Palestinians while grazing their sheep, etc.
Why cherev - WHY do these Israelis and Palestinians risk getting roughed up
or compromising friendships or jobs to stand against terrible unfair situations
in their own land. Why is it THAT important to them - if nothing untoward is happening?
Palestinian farmers and shepherds are being treated fairly in the West Bank?
Do you honestly believe that, cherev? -
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cherev9 months, 4 weeks ago
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"Why on earth would the Israeli army engage in such a senseless evil act."
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Go ahead. Answer your own question.
Is it possible that this is propoganda doctored up by the Arabs and their allies in the media?
I recall several years ago when Suha Arafat accused the Israelis of poisoning the water supply and Arab children, while Hillary Clinton sat by smiling and nodding. That turned out to be true as well, right?
And then there was that instance of that little boy who was shot while cowering with his father in a cross-fire. The media ganged up on Israel over that one. Even the Israeli army apologized. Of course, it turned out to be staged, but that didn't get much play in the mainstream media.
Believe what you want.
Have a nice day. -
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paramale9 months, 4 weeks ago
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I am usually pro-Israeli, but this is a total outrage !!! Why on earth would the Israeli army engage in such a senseless evil act. I think they should be sued in international Court and I think the Israelis owe the world an explanation. If they want the world not to consider them evil - they certainly made a major PR mistake here. I, and I imagine millions of others, am outraged.
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Justice4All9 months, 4 weeks ago
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I was pro-Israel until several years ago when I started travelling. There is a lot that never makes the news in the US and a lot that I never qustioned.
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Now that I see that US taxpayers dollars are going to a country that drops phosporous on civilians I tend to speak up. I should of spoke up when US tax dollars were going to Saddam Hussein to buy weapons to use against his own people. Now I see history repeating itself. -
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jovial9 months, 4 weeks ago
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I understand the fact that "boys will be boys". But if a group of my friends get together and decide to burn your house to the ground for kicks. Shouldn't my group of friends and I be held responsible? Or should we just say, "Awww, forget about it. Sh!t happens! A bunch of guys just letting off some steam."
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lvrofwolves9 months, 4 weeks ago
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I've done some stupid things in my life, shooting at peoples abandoned property, old cars etc...you know, NOT living things, in cages no less.
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This wasn't a stupid act, it was many sick acts, whoever did it, regardless if it was 1 or 20.
Slaughtering caged animals in a zoo....the outrage would be there regardless of where or by who. I'd feel the same way regardless of who did it, or their reasons.
Story sounds intentional and senseless..well except for making people feel outraged.
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Bkumm9 months, 4 weeks ago
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Here it is. I've finally figured out how to frame this whole problem the right way.
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For all of those people who support what the Israelis are doing:
Would you support the Palestinians if the roles were reversed?
For all of those people supporting the Palestinians:
Would you support the Israelis if the roles were reversed?
I would support the Israelis if the roles were reversed.-
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canadianrancher579 months, 4 weeks ago
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I am not trying to justify what happened in this zoo, but wonder how many of the people posting here have not done some stupid things at some point in their lives when with a bunch of people or friends. At times in my life I have seen people who are out hunting and they do some stupid things like shooting up abandoned yardsites or old cars or even steel bins. For some reason I don't think this was something that was planned or ordered but just a stupid act. As far as any of us know this could be the results of a single individual, remember war is hell and how it affects people is unpredictable.
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Edmar149 months, 4 weeks ago
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And you all actually believe that Israel just came into the zoo and killed the animals for the sheer pleasure of it. Learn the history of the Middle East and you'll find that this type of ploy has been used over and over by the arabs since the war of attrition in the early 1970's. They couldn't beat Israel on the battlefield, so they use the propaganda weapon to beat them in world opinion. Israel isn't perfect, but they had no reason to kill the animals and those of you who believe everything that you read are just the kind of people that Hamas and the other militant groups love. They count on your being naive. Congratulations, score one for Hamas. Mark Twain was right when he said "it is better to keep your mouth shut and appear to be a fool than to open it and erase all doubt." Have a nice day.
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soeze_keyser9 months, 4 weeks ago
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Funny how when I googled bignewsnetwork.com I saw that their corporate offices were in Dubai, UAE. Just like all the other video that seems to be coming out of Gaza, this news is anti-Israel. Stories like IDF soldiers spray painting graffitti on Palastinian homes, only the graffitti is in English, not Hebrew. The the endless parade of children being taken into emergency rooms, while the reporters tell how they are desperately short of medical supplies, food, and water. How did the Israeli's develope those artillery rounds and bullets that only seem to hit kids?
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Two things that there is no shortage of in Gaza are rockets to fire at Israel and video cameras to show wounded and dead children.
Shame on the people of Gaza for using dead children for propaganda and shame on the world for believing that propaganda. -
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SFCGuyW9 months, 4 weeks ago
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Targetting the zoo makes military sense since numerous earlier news media reports & the UN show that Hamas was using it to launch rockets and mortors into Israel. Ripping out the harddrives makes sense because Hamas might have used those computers to communicate and any intelligence that can be gathered from them could be militarily helpful - Hamas has a long history of using civilian places, especially places such as hospitals, schools, mosques and even zoos and theatres to launch rockets at Israel and even at other Muslim nations. They also have a long history of seizing civilian modes of communications to talk to each other without using radios. As for the killing of the animals, since this is only one news outlet reporting this it is questionable. However, killing any animals who had escaped their pens and killing those who were showing signs of starvation is understandable. Because it was in the middle of a battle zone the zoo keepers could not safely be allowed into the zoo and the soldiers could not take care of the animals while engaging their enemy.
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Readers have to understand, Israel was not at war with Gaza, they were at war with Hamas, who was hiding while firing on Israel from withing Gaza and it's civilians. Israel made extyensive steps towards preventing large scale civilian deaths while Hamas deliberately endangered those very same civilians by using them as human shields in which to fire on Israel from behind. Even several Muslim nations have noted this and publically called for Hamas to stop doing this. Hamas is the evil in this war.-
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hyperbola9 months, 4 weeks ago
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Israel is a failed, racist genocidal state that needs to be ended every bit as much as the nazi regime needed to be ended. We need to start supporting jews rather than zionist killers. Here is an israeli jew with the right idea about what is going on. This should not be supported by ANY American.
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The Old Testament and the Genocide in Gaza
http://www.propeller.com/story/2009/01/17/the-old-...
There is not much doubt amongst Biblical scholars that the Hebrew Bible contains some highly charged non-ethical suggestions, some of which are no less than a call for a genocide. Biblical scholar Raymund Schwager has found in the Old Testament 600 passages of explicit violence, 1000 descriptive verses of God’s own violent actions of punishment, 100 passages where God expressly commands others to kill people. Apparently, violence is the most often mentioned activity in the Hebrew Bible.
As devastating as it may be, the Hebrew Bible saturation with violence and extermination of others may throw some light over the horrifying genocide conducted momentarily in Gaza by the Jewish state. In broad daylight, the IDF is using the most lethal methods against civilians as if their main objective is to ‘destroy’ the Gazans while showing ‘no mercy’ whatsoever.
...Interestingly enough, Israel regards itself as a secular state. Ehud Barak is not exactly a qualified Rabbi and Tzipi Livni is not a Rabbi’s wife. Accordingly, we are entitled to assume that it isn’t actually Judaism per se that directly transforms Israeli politicians and military leaders into war criminals. Moreover, early Zionists believed that within a national home Jews would become ‘people like all other people’, i.e., civilised and ethical. In that very respect, Israeli reality is pretty peculiar. The Hebraic secular Jews may have managed to drop their God, most of them do not follow Judaic law, they are largely secular, and yet they collectively interpret their Jewish identity as a genocidal mission. They have successfully managed to transform the Bible from being a spiritual text into a bloodsoaked land registry. They are there, in Zion i.e., Palestine, to invade the land and to lock up, starve and destroy its indigenous habitants. ..
...As far as genocide is concerned the difference between Judaism and Zionism can be illustrated as follows: while the Judaic Biblical context is soaked with genocidal references, usually in the name of God, within the Zionist context, Jews are killing Palestinians in the name of themselves i.e., the ‘Jewish people’. ... Seemingly, in the Jewish state, the Hebraic subject reverts to mass killing as soon as he finds a ‘name’ to associate with.
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HOUSEMD9 months, 4 weeks ago
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i would not doubt that hammas did this themselves to make the isreali's look bad in the eyes of the arab world. they already hide behind womens skirts and send their kids to their deaths carring sucide bombs, what can be new from these pigs?????
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hurlapa9 months, 4 weeks ago
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**** pro-israili pro-inhumanity you guys are the real ****in murderers,
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its embarrasing how you support such treatment to humans. You guys should read more about this issue rather than just saying nonsense. Palestinians are humans!!!!
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