In the news

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2709433/The-Islamic-State-Killing-Fields-Terror-group-releases-horrifying-video-showing-drive-shootings-suicide-bombings-dozens-victims-rounded-executed.html
A number putting the tally beyond 1500 dead over the past day or so is making the rounds....
(while I wrote this, more than 3 rockets where launched by HAMAS)

1.82M Palestinians in the Gaza strip according to Wikipedia (bastion of truth), 1,360 Palestinians dead according to the most recent news article I could find (published 3 hours ago), and the conflict is 24 days old.

Some back of an envelope maths indicates that to achieve their goal the Israeli's would have to continue the conflict (based on the above figures) for a further 87.5 years.

Hopefully the rest of the world can't wring it's hands for that long.

Don't count on it.

They've yet to start the shaking of fists

^^ Don't worry, they've got more ammo and soldiers now so they'll be able to step up the slaughter and get their hands on more Palestinian land a little sooner than your calculations.

And Israel will make Gaza unliveable well before that: http://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/press-releases/gaza-2020-liveable-place

Of course it can, a palestinian child's life is fucking worthless.
I'm beginning to suspect that EdwardZ is paid by Israel... his contributions elsewhere are lacking, and all he does is promote ancient Zionist propaganda, lazily copied from other sites.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/08/14/israel-students-social-media/2651715/

Or he's just a dick. I mean he's a dick either way.

There is no defence for the indiscriminate murder and war crimes committed by Israel.
~Anyone who thinks this is acceptable cannot call themselves anything other than an accessory to mass murder and war crimes. Standing and doing nothing whilst this tragedy occurs is despicable. As are the events in Iraq and Syria*.

*Where an uncountable number of dead are piling up in a day:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28456961

I'm beginning to suspect that EdwardZ is paid by Israel...

For all the good he's doing their cause, he may as well be paid by Hamas.

87.5 years.

If we are going to use it in HAMAS TV's "Tomorrow's Pioneers".. Please.. get the math straight. You left off the rate of population regeneration. Gaza, afterall, has an incredibly high birthrate--- the 13th highest in the world. Last year 53000 children were born. Between 2000 and 2013, the number of Gazans increased by more than 687,000 people. By the end of this decade it's expected that Gaza will have a population in excess of 2.1 million. In 1967 Gaza had, by contrast, a population of around 350,000. HAMAS can sacrifice more than 200 children per day and not see a population decline. That's more than 14,000 virgins per day!

I didn't say he needed to be effective. But just a means of spewing propaganda, where the traditional methods don't reach.

I mean look at the post above mine, What a fucking asshole.

Troll level: Infinite

If we are going to use it in HAMAS TV's "Tomorrow's Pioneers".. Please.. get the math straight. You left off the rate of population regeneration. Gaza, afterall, has an incredibly high birthrate--- the 13th highest in the world. Last year 53000 children were born. Between 2000 and 2013, the number of Gazans increased by more than 687,000 people. By the end of this decade it's expected that Gaza will have a population in excess of 2.1 million. In 1967 Gaza had, by contrast, a population of around 350,000. HAMAS can sacrifice more than 200 children per day and not see a population decline. That's more than 14,000 virgins per day!

Possibly why Israel seems to be concentrating on killing Palestinian children?

'population regeneration'

If you're not getting kids murdered by snipers, schools bombed out etc you generally just call it population growth and you don't need to cast it as some kind of exercise in trying to frustrate Israeli expansion plans as they ship in more internationally sourced families to inhabit the houses they've built in disputed territories.

You're a fucking sick man EdwardZ, so fuck off and troll someone else.

please do not feed the troll. seriously.

popcorn

EdwardZ

My personal middle-East troll technique is to refer to people based on the religious beliefs that ultimately define the conflict.

i.e. "Israel bombed the UN school" becomes "Jewish people bombed the UN school". Or "Hamas has built tunnels through which a few fighters popped up and shot people" becomes "Muslim people built tunnels through which a few fighters popped up and shot people".

It has the nice effect of offending almost everyone equally, but in a way that makes it clear that the whole situation is a failure of humanity... though a very normal one, where would we be without constant war somewhere?

I also find the whole conflict interesting... it's basically an attempt to reverse history and create a set of favourable circumstances that never historically existed.

To all those who make arguments like "Well we can't just put the borders back to "... Israel are showing that history isn't static, you can move borders and re-write stuff... then defend it long enough that moving from the current position seems infeasible.

All you need is enough weaponry and the willingness for so much bloodshed and you really can do whatever the hell you like, and eventually... after enough time has passed... history will be on your side. Why should you move? You're there now.

^^That tends to paint with a rather broad brush though, does it not?

We didn't refer to "Roman Catholic terrorists" during the troubles, for example.

Not that I'm objecting, just interesting how we choose to call these things.

^^That tends to paint with a rather broad brush though, does it not?

We didn't refer to "Roman Catholic terrorists" during the troubles, for example.

My goal achieved, and maybe we should have? There was a lot of support based on religious beliefs, and there is in this conflict too. The rights/wrongs, the details involved, the atrocities... all brushed aside as people seek to support their own kind, who must be right/good as they believe in the same God.

Include those supporters in the blame and perhaps some of them might start distancing themselves from the mad fuckers throwing bits of metal at each other (on both sides).

I'm not sure either Northern Ireland or the Middle East are really anything to do with religion, more that entrenched and divisive histories mean reconciliation of any sort is massively unlikely to happen as it doesn't suit the people making the decisions/taking an active role. In both cases it's the people who aren't involved in perpetuating the conflict (eg. civilians, children) who lose out.

I'm not sure either Northern Ireland or the Middle East are really anything to do with religion

Erm.

Hattie:

My personal middle-East troll technique

I just don't know where people find the time to talk about the Middle East with all the gay marriages causing climate change like they are.

I swear there was at least three gay marriages and a good measure of heavy petting's worth of downpour here earlier and it disrupted the Commonwealth TT.

I'm not sure either Northern Ireland or the Middle East are really anything to do with religion, more that entrenched and divisive histories mean reconciliation of any sort is massively unlikely to happen as it doesn't suit the people making the decisions/taking an active role. In both cases it's the people who aren't involved in perpetuating the conflict (eg. civilians, children) who lose out.

As I understand the situation, the assumptions that Israelis are Jews and Palestinians are Muslims is about as reliable as assuming that Pakistanis are Muslims and Indians are Hindu.

I'm not sure either Northern Ireland or the Middle East are really anything to do with religion

Erm.

Okay. Maybe I should have added "anymore" or "solely".