The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Israel and Its Own Civilians

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As the debate continues to rage about the number of civilian casualties on both sides, one aspect of the story isn't receiving enough attention. Supporters of Israel have rightly noted IDF efforts to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza and pointed out that Hamas leaders purposely hide themselves and their arsenals among civilians, who are used as human shields to give Israel pause, or alternatively, to gain propaganda victories from civilian deaths. Less focus has been given to explaining that one of the main reasons that the death toll is relatively low on the Israeli side is that Israel goes to great lengths to protect its own civilians. Every building in Israel must be equipped with a bomb shelter and they have developed an alert system to warn civilians about incoming rocket fire. The IDF has a Homefront Command branch specifically dedicated to coordinating civil defense and educating the public about what to do in the event of a given attack. Furthermore, if any Israelis are injured, the nation has developed among the best emergency response medical services in the world. So, putting this together, if you have one side that puts its energy into protecting its own civilians and another side that tries to keep its civilians in harm's way -- even putting aside the variable that one party has a more powerful military -- it isn't surprising to see more casualties among the Palestinians than the Israelis.

View all comments (7) | Leave a comment

Jeremiah| 1.6.09 @ 3:43PM

Gaza is one of the most densely populated land masses in the world.

Using civilians as "human shields" is hardly the issue.

Let's try to maintain some kind of sanity in the commentary about this issue.

If all you want to argue is "Arabs are evildoers, and they deserve to die," then come out and say it. All this pussyfooting around isn't helping anything.

J David| 1.6.09 @ 3:51PM

Islamic radical terrorists that use the population that voted them into power deserve to die long, horrible, tormented, agonizing deaths until every single one of them writhes his last twitch on the bloody ground. They want this, as it brings them glory in their imaginary hereafter, and Israel, and her allies(USA for one) should reward their wishes at EVERY opportunity.

J David | 1.6.09 @ 3:54PM

I'm wondering WHERE in this paper the bald-faced lying weasel read "Arabs are evildoers, and they deserve to die"...Hmmm, maybe the post if from Gaza...

J David| 1.6.09 @ 4:00PM

As Rush likes to say, "Elections have consequences", and when haters of Israel vote in a political party bent on suicidal, if necessary, efforts to eliminate the only democracy in that region from the face of they earth, which is the very reason for the existence of Hamas, then they will have to bear some consequences.

L. Ross| 1.6.09 @ 4:17PM

Jeremiah:

I wouldn't say that Arabs ar evildoers and deserve to die, but I would say muslim fanatics are evil doers and they deserve to die. People who vot muslim fanatics into power deserve to suffer the consequences of their vote.

Roy| 1.6.09 @ 4:57PM

Ah, that liberal subtlety and sensitivity to shades of grey nuance, where the only two options in the world are reward people who randomly blow rockets off at civilians, or "Arabs are evildoers and deserve to die."