If I was surrounded by a set of nations that wanted everyone I've ever known to be exterminated then I'd sure as hell want to defend myself - violently if need be.

Western culture gets so abused for slavery as well, but people don't know this (because they're ignorant):

- Arabs were trading slaves almost a THOUSAND years before the Europeans.

- An estimated 200 MILLION African slaves were traded by Arabs.

- These people were castrized immediately. That's why there are no Africans in Arab countries.

- Arabs had (way) more white slaves than whites had black slaves

- These Westerners that bought slaves bought them from Africans who were waging war amongst themselves.

- Who was it again who opposed slavery? Oh yes, Western society put that to an end.

Basically this.

I believe Israel ultimately wants peace, but their enemies are worse than the Nazis.

I'm impressed by the immense ignorance of people posting here.

They say that Russia attacked Ukraine first, bombed Ukrainian civilians, annexed Crimea and even shoot down the Malaysia Airlines plane... Are you kidding me?

1. There was a Coup d'etat in Ukraine. Right wing protestors, backed by the violent neo-nazis of Svoboda party outed the government from Kiev and set a new right wing government where Svoboda (Again, NAZIS, people, learn a little) played an important role. The US, EU and FMI supported the new government because they wanted to harm Russia, and promised the new government millions of Euros in exchange of certain policy reforms (reforms that would lower the work and rights standards and harm sovereignty, which is the reason why the reforms were rejected by the parliament and the government recently resigned). You can Google a little and learn that this is all true (and, in fact, it would be nice to Google a little before you post the absurd things you're posting).

2. Because of this Euromaidan Coup d'etat (which was initially sold as a "struggle for freedom and against corruption", but the truth is that it was a bunch of nationalist, nazis and ultra-orthodox demonstrating against the pro-Russian government), the people of Crimea, Lugansk and Donetsk, regions populated by people of russian etnicity, declared independence from Ukraine. Crimea also organized one referendum in which the option of joining Russia won. IT WAS NOT AN ANNEXATION, it was a voluntary union that went through referendum.

3. The government of Kiev (capital of Ukraine), seeing the country loosing territory, started a war against the new independent terrtories, mainly the Republics of Lugansk and Donetsk. KIEV (not Russia) has been bombing the streets of the cities in these republics causing thousands of civilian victims. Russia has supported the rebels of Donetsk and Lugansk, but Russia HAS NOT started a war.

4. About the Malaysian Airlines plane bombing, IT IS NOT CLEAR what happened. People here is assuming that it was Russia or the rebels who bombed the plane, but here in Europe (lucky we still have plural media not as biased as the US one) lots of newspapers and agencies say that the rebels didn't have the capacity to fire planes at that altitude, and that in fact it was probably Kiev who shoot down the plane. What interest could Russia have in bombing a civil aircraft?? It would totally go against their interest. On the other hand, there is no proof that the Donetsk rebels have such weapons, but if they were the ones bombing the plane, it was probably a terrible mistake in which they mistook a commercial plane for a military one.

About Israel:

1. Israel was established in 1948 in an Arab territory in which Jews were less than 1/3 of the population and owed less than 1/7 of the land (this statistics come from te UN commision created at that time to research about the situation). Despite that, the Jewish state got more than 66% of Palestine. That's, partially, why Arab states rejected the UN plan; because it gave to a minority the majority of the land and clashed the arab's own wish for independence.

2. The UN in 1948 was composed of less than 1/3 of the world nations. Russia, who was against the creation of the state of Israel, was not present in the voting that approved the establishment of the Jewish state (which they would have vetoed). Therefore, pretending that the 1948 backing of the state of Israel gives them any legitimacy is absurd.

3. GAZA HAS NOT STARTED THE WAR. Since way before 1948 the Zionists have wagged war against the Palestinians, devastating Arab towns in the area, expelling their residents and occupying their land. There are now more than 3 million Palestinian refugees that were expelled from their lands by Israel. And Israel keeps occupying Palestinian land in the West Bank. THAT IS WHY some Palestinian armed groups (not all Palestinians) fire rockets to Israeli settlements built in what previously was Palestinian land. If Israel wants peace, they better stop acting as a colonist and give the Palestinian territories to their legitimate owners.

4. Of course, Israel won't be punished, despite he has wagged war with every neighbor country and committed thousands of human rights violations, because it is a key strategical ally for the US and the EU.

So PLEASE, PEOPLE, learn a little history and investigate the actual facts before coming with statements that are usually used to justify wars and war crimes and to forgive the executioner.