Hamas Admits to Using Human Shields

[shadowyphantom.livejournal.com]

Alright, just found out about this video from a friend of mine [edit], and I wanted your reactions to it.

Watch on YouTube

[EDIT]

Since mijopo complained of a lack of commentary, I will indulge him/her/it.

I find Hamas nothing more than a brutal terrorist group; I don't find the fact they've been using human shields particularly shocking (one would have to expect that from terrorists). Rather, their blatant pride at admitting the fact is a bit more shocking, if they want good press that is. I also find it shocking that they are still obtaining better press than Israel.

I think they should be dealt with as any terrorist group would be dealt with; they should be found out and exterminated. They pose a serious threat to not only Israel, but other nations and people as well. The fact that they are using human shields should not endear people to them; rather, it should shock and repulse people. They stated that they are willing to sacrifice their own in order to wipe out Israel; that makes me rather frightened for anyone in their sights.

Voltaire warned against fanaticism, and this is fanaticisnm at its finest; they are so extreme that they would willingly have their civilians slaughtered.

I do hope that was up to your exacting standards, mijopo.

[EDIT]

Apologies to all for excessive commenting on my part; I have the genes my father gave me, and that includes a big @#$%ing mouth.

I especially apologize to uberarcanist for being a nit-picky slack-jawed junkslut.

Comments

[uberarcanist.livejournal.com]

It's a little bit "too perfect". Nevertheless, I've never said Hamas were moral exemplars but nothing in this video justifies Israel's actions even if it's been translated properly.

[tvuutietyle24.livejournal.com]

Nothing? Hamas has been shooting rockets for 8 years! Israel has more patience than I would personally have had.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

Hey! You've returned during my hiatus! That haircut is a immense improvement :)

[mijopo.livejournal.com]

I think that if people are going to use YouTube videos in place of intelligent discussion, it'd be fantastic if they'd just post a link or, failing that, LJ cut them.

[uberarcanist.livejournal.com]

Oh come on. Don't be a snob...though videos with no accompanying text aren't so great.

[hollie-is-right.livejournal.com]

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/024431.php

[shadowyphantom.livejournal.com]

The video speaks for itself.

[shadowyphantom.livejournal.com]

Besides, I believe your problem is with the subject matter, rather than the lack of commentary on it.

[lordtwinkie.livejournal.com]

Operation get behind the darkies!

This is why there are civilian casualties, Israel has to shoot through them to get to Hamas

[uberarcanist.livejournal.com]

Why does Israel shoot in the first place? Also, please give an answer aside from "to get at the rocket launch sites that Hamas will rebuild the second Israel goes back".

[kinvore.livejournal.com]

"Have you ever heard of the Emancipation Proclamation?"

"I don't listen to hip hop."

[tvuutietyle24.livejournal.com]

They've been obtaining better press because the media deliberately closes its eyes on the dark sides of Palestinians. Hamas wins the PR of this war because the western media helps it out by diabolising Israel and pity Palestinians.

[madali.livejournal.com]

Do you want the media to ignore the plus 1,000 dead?

[ihatepeoplealot.livejournal.com]

I've never heard a single news source, western or other, that's said Hamas does not use human shields, or that hamas is a "good guy".

[airiefairie.livejournal.com]

True. And what do you think is the reason for this unfairness from the media?

[madali.livejournal.com]

I don't know Arabic, but I do know the culture, and it is obvious the video is misinterpreting it. Its like how any Arab who wants to give his life for a cause becomes a lover of death and wants 72 virgins, but a soldier doing the same is sacrificing his life for his country and gets a purple medal.

Its like taking a German back in WW2 seeing Churchill's famous line "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." putting it on Youtube, and posting it saying, "See! These guys love blood and tears!"

Obviously, the what the video is saying is that they are a brave people and everyone in the city is brave and they will all defend their hometown. The problem with a term like "human shield" is that allows the attacker to do anything it wants and excuse its action by that idea alone. To get to the target, he has to go through the shield, and if the shield is human, then he can't be blamed, right? It is something that can used in any war. If Hamas has to resist the attack, they are forced to resist it in any way they can. The only way any group defends its land s by being in that land.

If Tel Aviv is ever attacked, don't you think the IDF would be defending it from Tel Aviv? Should every death and destruction be excused because the IDF is in Tel Aviv?

In any war, millions of people would escape the war by moving away to other lands. The difference is that in this war, the lands are all blocked, so the people are stuck.

I am disgusted by the "human shield" excuse. Think of any war, and the aggressor could have used it.

[shadowyphantom.livejournal.com]

They deluded themselves into thinking what they are doing is brave. In actuality, they are putting out women, children, and the elderly out in front of them to fend off Israeli fire. That isn't bravery - it is cowardice at its finest. Just because they think it's right doesn't make it so.

I will admit the problem is the extremists of Islam - they are distorting our opinions of Arabic culture at large. However, I'm not saying kill every Arab - I'm saying sniff out the buggers that are bombing crap and are cuckoo enough to kill their own women, children, and elderly. They are a threat, to not only Israel, but to other nations and people. They won't stop with Israel if they win this conflict. They'll move on to other nations filled with "infidels."

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I haven't watched the video (I go by the adage if you're too lazy to write up the material, I'm too lazy to watch your video), but the starting subtitle does give me a hint of the content.

I am sure, therefore, that you understand the difference between voluntary human shields, that is civilians who impose themselves against an aggressor's invasion, and involuntary human shields, consisting of those people forced against their will as a barrier.

(For starters, one is a warcrime and other isn't)

[shadowyphantom.livejournal.com]

Look again, then. Wrote something there before I went to bed (between 1:00 and 2:00).

Who is to say they're voluteering? Hamas can say that until they're blue in the face (by the way, I don't recall them doing so), but I wouldn't believe them.

[shadowyphantom.livejournal.com]

Besides, using human shields, with the participants willing or unwilling, is still goddmaned creepy and screwed up to the extreme. It means they don't hold to any set of standards; if they're willing to kill off their people, what's stopping them from killing anyone else off?

[mijopo.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting the commentary (I still wish people would LJ cut YouTube videos, but, hey, I'll compromise.)

I agree that Hamas is a terrorist organization, but it doesn't follow from that that Israel gets to use any means possible to eliminate them. They are still constrained by laws and moral principles constraining warfare, e.g, proportionality, distinction (not harming non-combatants), and not being aggressors (if they were the ones who initially violated the ceasefire). If nations want to put an end to terror, they should not practice it.

[shadowyphantom.livejournal.com]

What else should Israel/the world do with Hamas, then?

Terrorist groups don't stop with one set of people, you know; look at 9/11, and the subsequent bombings in London and Spain.


Hamas will move onto other people/nations; make no doubt about it. Their big beef is with Israel at the moment, however.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

Human Shields are disgraceful, but isn't that kind of what the illegal settlements are?

[shadowyphantom.livejournal.com]

Murder or theft? Pick your poison.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

I find Hamas nothing more than a brutal terrorist group

Hamas is a terrorist organization. They are not *only* a terrorist organization. They are also the government chosen by the people to support them (they got the most votes, not the *majority* of the votes, but more than any other party), and they are also a group that does a lot of civic work in Palestine.

You have to understand that if you want to understand why Palestinian citizens wold support them. George Bush's administration has done horrible things and I hate that asshole. But he's still an American president and I'd defend the U.S. if it were under invasion.

[shadowyphantom.livejournal.com]

I realize why "normal" Palestinians support them. My hypothetical question was directed towards the American press.

Thanks for the last statement; as would I.

[hunterkirk.livejournal.com]

It does not surprise me that the Palestinians use children and women as body shields for their attacks and then show of the dead women and children as war crimes after they are killed in a attack on a missile site. This kind of stuff is common place in Palestine and the train the women and children there to accept it as a honor.

What surprises me is that the Main Stream Media does not know this stuff and that they get all so upset when it happens blaming Israel for the deaths that the Palestinians helped create. I would bet each of the families that lost these children and women in these attacks will be celebrating their martyrdom.

[shadowyphantom.livejournal.com]

The Main Stream Media panders to boneheads who love extremist Muslims. That's why they're supporting Palestine.