A Different Drummer

This shit must stop - I've got your root causes right frigging here:

BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip: Israeli tank shells ripped through a residential neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip early Wednesday, killing at least 18 members of an extended family, including 10 children, as they slept, health officials said.

Unbelievably horrible. Comments from Palestian and Israeli leadership are both revealing:

"Abbas accused Israel of trying to destroy peace, not promote it.

"This is no doubt a terrible, despicable crime that Israel has committed against our people," he told Palestine TV. "We tell the Israelis, you are not seeking peace at all, but are destroying all chances for peace. You must therefore bear all the consequences of these crimes."

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Israel "has no intention of harming innocent people," but "to our great regret, in the course of the fighting, regrettable things sometimes happen, such as the incident this morning."

Two things, Tzipi - Regrettable? How about "awful", "terrible", something that really hints at what it meants for artillery shells to rip 8 children to pieces? I regret losing my sweet HP TC4200 laptop. I regret not being more assertive of myself in high school. If my organisation had just turned a bunch of children into wallpaper, I'd be more than regretting it.

Second, when you shell crowded residential neighbourhoods, you harm innocent people. The "no intention" card is bullshit.

Looking forward to seeing how this develops - expect revenge attacks (Hamas has gone batshit over this, called for attacks on Americans around the world), flaccid European condemnation of the Israeli actions, American weasel words requesting the Israelis to take more care coupled with tough condemnation of any Palestinian response, and a whole lot of furious words from everyone with an opionion.

Just dont expect anything to change for the lives of the people involved, who seem destined to be the pawn/bitch/shooting practice of the Middle East for a long time to come......

(UPDATE) - This weird Israeli pervert concludes that this was probably an act of "Pallywood" - yup, the Palestinians probably just slammed one of their own artillery shells in the side of the building to prove how ruthless the Israeli's are. It was probably actually a Palestinian sniper who nailed the 12 year old girl yesterday as well......I wonder how common this kind of thinking is among Israelis - his sheer denial-power would make David Irving proud....