Ok, it took two days to read everything written here (busy with exams) and it is time for me to say something. And I won't really delve into the topic of the thread as much as I will into the basics.
First thing, I am Palestinian. I live in the West Bank and I know what it is like to live here. I also have many Israeli friends, and even more Jewish friends (there's a difference).
I noticed that everyone on this thread is either black or white as in they hate Israel or love them and make anything they do completely justified and alright.
I would also love to clearify that I despise Hamas and I despise Fateh.. they're both equally bad, corrupted people and in Hamas' case, they use Islam as a wrapper for everything they do which is completely wrong. As a Muslim, I can tell you that their actions have nothing to do with what our religion teaches us. Actually, I know enough about Islam, Christiniaty and Judaism to tell you that Islam and Judaism are more similar than you think!
And I would love if some of the people who wrote in this thread stopped calling us terrorists. You obviously don't know all the facts and haven't done your homework properly. And for the guy who commented on how all the videos he sees of the people of Gaza always show them as healthy happy people, I can hook you up with a MILLION videos on youtube that suggest otherwise.. that just shows you how controlled the media is, nobody should believe EVERYTHING they hear and this is also true for the topic of this thread.
Now, you should know that I spent two weeks in a peace camp with fellow Palestinians and Israelis in England about three years ago and I was shocked by the things I was told. I was shocked how the Israelis thought that Hamas take kids into mosques and brainwash them into bombing themselves (that's just a myth...), or how convinced they were that their soldiers were treating us well on borders and checkpoints.. I am not going to generalize but the vast majority of soldiers (either males or females) that work on checkpoints cannot get any meaner. And while we are on the topic of checkpoints, can you tell me why there's a checkpoint between Ramallah and Bethlehem which are both Palestinian territories with no Israeli territories in-between? What is the point of spending two hours on a checkpoint that serves no purpose but to make people's lives harder?
I do not exactly hate Israel, I owe my Israeli friends for that. I have managed to see a more humane side of Israel, but I really demand people to look more into it. Israel is not the best thing ever like some of you claim, but it's not exactly the worst thing ever either.. after all, everything they do is for the good of their own people. And I believe that the Holocaust happened, and that Jews truly suffered.. but we are suffering too, everyone's suffering actually.. but at the end of the day, Israel has better education, has better paying wages (and I can go on and on) while we barely have any of those things.. they fight with helicopters and destructive planes (don't know the exact names, never been good with weapons) and we fight with Qassam weapons which are btw very weak weapons, have any of you actually seen one explode? Have you seen how small the explosion is? It's not exactly as dangerous as a nuclear bomb like many make it seem. With that said, I am NOT with firing Qassams neither am I with the blockage, the Gaza War last year, the recent Israel raid, my brother getting shot on his way back from school when he was 15 or me being treated rudely when I have done absolutely nothing (once again, not generalizing).
Anyway, I just wrote a bunch of things.. not really sure if it all came together or not, or if it really adds anything to the conversation here but my point is, DO MORE RESEARCH PEOPLE. And this is directed towards EVERYONE, nothing is ever what it seems, especially for those who don't live here.
