Most of the Palestinian casualties have been adult males

[DanTex]

17. I mostly agree, however...

There is a legitimate question of whether Bibi or some of the other right-wingers see civilian casualties in Gaza as a benefit or a cost. Clearly, if it's a cost, it's not a cost they care very much about. But it is also possible that this recent invasion of Gaza has a collective punishment aspect to it, punishing the Gaza civilians for their support of Hamas.

Of course, Likud is going to deny this, but you know, Likud isn't the most credible organization around.


Another point. While it's true that the US and other Western countries also kill civilians, on DU at least, there is near universal condemnation of these acts. I don't think there is a single DUer who thinks the Iraq War was a good idea. Most DUers think that Bush and Cheney are war criminals. If the US went around slaughtering civilians, and Dick Cheney stood up and assured us all that this was necessary for self-defense, then pretty much nobody here would take his side.

However, when it comes to Israel, there are people here defending the actions in Gaza. There are people who believe Bibi when he says that this is necessary for Israel's self-defense. So a big part of the reason you get this kind of response is that there are actually people here who defend Israel's actions.