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What Happens Next?

After fleeing the first attacks in Gaza City, a Palestinian journalist weighs the options for his family.

Newsweek Web Exclusive
Dec 30, 2008

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  • Posted By: Dolmance @ 04/05/2009 6:48:31 PM

    Why would the civilized world care about people who voted for a Hamas government, whose operatives regularly shoot their fellow Arab citizens in the legs or throw their political opposition off roofs?

  • Posted By: akrams @ 01/19/2009 1:46:44 PM

    Jewish people have no right to call Palestine their land, Palestine is the land of all religions, and Jewish people have stolen it with the help of UK, yes in the far history some jewish people lived their but before them there were another ones, you can't call it yours, Palestinians lived their for hundreds of years, and now you call your land.
    talking about destroying the archeological finds, go and find who is destroying the Aqsa mosque by digging beneath it.
    The problem in Israel is that it does everything bad it call itself innocent.

  • Posted By: isjust @ 01/11/2009 3:36:52 AM

    Can you tell me a bit about the history of the Palestinians? i.e. where did their name come from? where are they recorded in history? who were their leaders before Yassir Arafat? What regions did they live in and when? Now compare these questions with the Jews.. now tell me, who is occupying and terrorizing who? Who is trying to steal who's land? Do you know that in the Arab section of Jerusalem the Arbs are digging up Jewish archeological finds and are destroying them so as to make it look like Jews have nothing to do with Jerusalem?
    The sad part is that the Muslim extremists have managed to get into the average Muslim's head and say.. "unless you believe in our brand of Islam, you are nothing"

  • Posted By: Getitout @ 01/04/2009 6:14:51 PM

    If anyone couldn't see it, I believe I can tell what Israel have really in mind for Gaza. One is to make the city inhabitable. Two is to allow anyone that desire to leave, to relocate into the West bank. So I can see now about one million and a half Palestinians minus Hamas to relocate to the West Bank. Their problems in the south is solved. Who's going to stop them, the United States?.

  • Posted By: moto89 @ 01/03/2009 3:22:07 PM

    To all the ignorant people, a simple formula will outline the current problem in the Middle East:

    1) Zionists (extremist Jews) wanted a homeland for the Jewish people, there???s no problem with that BUT: to have a homeland for the Jewish people on land STOLEN from the Palestinians is the sole reason that makes Zionists and Israel illegitimate and aggressors.

    3) after the Arabs conceded to the defeat by Israel, Israel was not contempt with what they got ----> so they kicked Palestinians out of their homes in Gaza and west bank, demolished them and built nice new gates communities with beautiful villas, and replaced the people with extreme Zionist settlers.

    3) The Palestinians didn???t no what to do, they were obviously very angry, having their homes raided and stolen by extremists. They couldn???t negotiate with thugs and robbers; --> what cud they negotiate on, it were their homes, why should they compromise. Would you?

    4) The Palestinians can???t go to the authorities because the Israeli authorities sanctioned the act of raiding and robbing Palestinians of their homes and land.

    5) The PLO or Yasser Arafat???s organisation (currently under the leadership of Mahmud abbas) negotiated and compromised the Palestinians land. These negotiations didn???t work as the terrorist entity controlled by Zionists never gave back any land and instead expanded illegal settlements in west bank.
    6) The US preached democracy and it was heard, and after Hamas (the Resistance movement) won, the world did not recognise it.

    7) Now instead of the world trying to solve the core problem of occupation and illegal settlements in west bank. They are now trying to eliminate the group that truly seeks to liberate Palestinian from Israeli aggression.

    NOW I ASK YOU PEOPLE WHAT ARE YOU COMPLAINING FOR?

    DIDNT YOU WANT DEMOCRACY, SO ACCEPT HAMAS'S LEGITMACY.

    DONT YOU AND THE REST OF WORLD CALL ON HAMAS TO RECOGNISE ISRAELS RIGHT TO EXIST (on stolen Palestinians land), --> WHY DONT YOU ASK ISRAEL TO ACCEPT THE RIGHT OF PALETSINE TO EXIST WIHTOUT THE ILLEGAL ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS CONTAINING 400,000+ EXTREMISTS ZIONIST JEWS.

    WHY ARE U ASKING HAMAS TO STOP FIRING ROCKETS, WHEN THE CORE PROBLEM IS OCCUPATION, SO ASK ISREAL TO STOP AND WITHDRAW FROM SETTLEMNETS

    FEW ACTIONS THAT NEED TO TAKE PLACE:
    1) ISRAEL STOPS AGGRESSION, HAMAS STOP ROCKET FIRE AND AGREE TO LONG TERM TRUCE WHEREBY ISRAEL LIFTS THE BLOCKADE AND ACCEPT THE STATE OF PALESTINE TO EXIST
    2) HAMAS AND FATAH UNITE AS ONE VOICE
    3) ISRAEL WITHDRAW ALL ILLEGAL SETTLERS FROM THE ILLEGAL SETTLEMENTS FROM WESTBANK TO THE PRE-1967 BORDER
    4) WORLD SUPPORTS THE NEW STATE OF PALESTINE AND ACCEPT HAMAS AS A LEGITAMATE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

    • Posted By: bighappy @ 01/03/2009 9:14:12 PM

      Did you copy it from Arab school book? Even adult Arabs would not believe half of these gossips.

  • Posted By: setareh @ 01/02/2009 5:51:33 AM

    at last that day will come...
    the day that all the world will get rid off u and your vicious acts.and then the ones who have to go to the hell are u Israelians!!!

    • Posted By: bighappy @ 01/02/2009 6:18:22 PM

      Dayly pray of Hamas dogs.

  • Posted By: Chapalody @ 01/02/2009 5:24:18 PM

    Who is the world would want to live under a terrorist organization who after they won the elections never made the switch from being terrorist to government officials. It's easier and no civilians get killed if you govern by the pen instead of the AK47. Hamas hasn't fully understood that politics is just as deadly as killing someone. It's a shame that it took the Israeli military to send messages telling the Gazan's to leave their homes if Hamas has stashed weapons in them. You would think Hamas would be the ones telling the Gazan's to leave instead of the Israeli military. Then again if no civilians get killed Hamas couldn't go to the United Nation and the world to have Israel condemned.

  • Posted By: auden24 @ 01/01/2009 6:54:00 PM

    The cruelty of Americans towards the Palestinians - as seen in the comments here - frightens me tremendously. I don't know how you imagine you are somehow superior people - I don't know where your hatred and anger come from.

    Your cruelty is only rivaled by your ignorance of history and your gullibility to the US media, with its cliches and jingoism.

    You have so closed your hearts and minds to the Palestinian side of this conflict, the heart and soul of which is the dispossession of the Palestinians to create the state of Israel.

    As I say, the comments here are frightening in their hatred and ignorance. How have you people ever tried to educate yourselves on this issue? Do you merely get your information from the nightly news, which is so heavily biased in the US? What books have you read that challenged your point of view? Do you actually know how Israel was founded, namely through ethnic cleansing, as Israeli historians are now finally confirming?

    What do you have at stake in closing yourselves on this issue? It completes baffles me that most Americans do not wish to be better informed. Why the strange fanatacism? And what does it have to do with the US?

    • Posted By: Sawdustmaker @ 01/02/2009 4:13:36 PM

      It seems to me the you are the one ingnorant of history, I have absolutely no hatred of the Palistenian people, but I do lay some ot the blame on their situation for there own inability to stand up to the inman;s and hate mongers they seem to adore so much. The land Isreal is occupying is as much theirs as any claims the Palestiinians have on it. You ask where we get our information from, well I don't get mine from just the media in the US. Funny as it may sound to you I even check out Al Jezeera to get their slant on certain stories.

      You ask why the strange fanatacism. Well most of us over here ask the same question when Palestinians let Hamas teach their kids from birth to hate Isreali's so much that they strap on a bomb and commit sucide. Sadly, some of these kids do it so Hamas will give their family money. If Palestinians had spent the last 60 years working with what they had to the betterment of their people instead of allowing themselms to be pawns of Inman's, Hamas, Syria, Iran, Egypt and others who have their own pollitical agenda there wouldn't be any conflict.

      Unfortunately, all the above use the Koran and islam to keep the people as slaves to their bidding. As so many have said before, until Palestinian Mother and Fathers love their children more than they hate us there will be no peace.

  • Posted By: jassber @ 01/02/2009 5:14:35 AM

    what the hell these Israelian people are doing ? killing children ,women and any one in the world for having territory and land.where is your humanity? where is your morality? who do you think are?are you superior to all human?
    shame on you people that killing people is like a game for you!!!!

  • Posted By: muskrat12 @ 01/01/2009 11:02:22 PM

    Israel gave you Gaza !!! For years you fought , and fought for the right of self rule...The stupid people vote in Hamas after just a short time. ( A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION) Hamas drops bombs on Israel for months..Now you scratch your heads and wonder why you are being picked on ??? Man...This is just black and white..Palastinians need to stop acting like a bunch of retards

  • Posted By: muskrat12 @ 01/01/2009 11:01:30 PM

    Israel gave you Gaza !!! For years you fought , and fought for the right of self rule...The stupid people vote in Hamas after just a short time. ( A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION) Hamas drops bombs on Israel for months..Now you scratch your heads and wonder why you are being picked on ??? Man...This is just black and white..Palastinians need to stop acting like a bunch of retards

  • Posted By: boscobear @ 01/01/2009 9:39:17 AM

    If Hamas did not hide in civilian areas, then there would less innocent people killed. Better yet, if Hamas made peace with Israel, there there would be no reason for Isarel to attack these areas.

  • Posted By: snash96 @ 12/31/2008 8:58:30 PM

    ive got an idea...move to Israel. all ya gotta do is to promise that you won't work with Hamas or conspire with anyone affiliated Hamas. Then you'll have a pretty good life. (execpt if Hamas sucide bombers or anything strikes in that same Israeli town)

  • Posted By: liman8 @ 12/31/2008 6:39:49 AM

    I can feel the pain suffered bu palestienians by bloodthirsty Israelians. Nothing is more painful than to be at the mercy of a coward enemy. Israelis are afraid of everything including peace. The never-ending rounds of negociations were to no avail, mainly because of Israel's stubborness. Eventually, Israelis should choose between restoring stollen terrtories to their right owners or suffer wars and instability.

    • Posted By: bighappy @ 12/31/2008 2:46:12 PM

      how many times did you repeat it? Let's count:
      "Raf-Raf-Raf-Raf-Raf" - 5 times.

  • Posted By: JB619 @ 12/31/2008 5:35:10 AM

    " In the car on the way home," "He just sat in front of the television all day" "I went over in my mind how we might stockpile food, water and other necessities."
    wait I thought you people had no food or gas? Isn't Hamas alway saying how there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza?
    f'n liars.
    Interesting thing is that the Pals have a higher standard of living then any other Arab in the world. Look it up!

    • Posted By: bighappy @ 12/31/2008 2:42:50 PM

      I bet most of them did not earn a penny of this. All is from UN and Iran.

  • Posted By: OBND @ 12/31/2008 8:55:37 AM

    The Palestinian people have some historic gripes with what happened after WWII to their lands. However, poor leadership for 60 years now has placed a terrorist organization in control of the Gaza government. Just like in Ireland, it will take hundreds of years to resolve and create a lasting peace. The window of opportunity for a fair resolution will close quickly. Within 20 years the West will be energy independent and thus, the Arab world will lose it's opportunity. I did not like Bush, but he tried to bring democracy to the Arab world and both governments and terrorists fear this type of government. Thus, the Arab world with its terrorism will return to desert land again. When the money dries up, so will the terrorism. Then we will still be left with many unjust situations such as the Palestinians. Israel, is to blame for historically not negotiating fairly. However, no one in the free world will blame them for protecting their citizens - not after 9/11. If the Arab world things they can rally the Western world with propaganda with women and children being killed - well it won't work. We've seen how the Taliban treat women, in fact how the Arab world treats women. Although innocent deaths are TRAGIC, we are not fulled that terrorist care about children. So let them battle for another hundred years and perhaps at some point, by chance perhaps, some reasonable, visionary leaders might come forth (perhaps a woman to straighten out the men) and not a truce, but a lasting peace can come to a land that is holy to many, many around the world. In the meantime, we will just see more of the same. The U.S. and Western world will continue to fortify Israel; Iran will continue to support terrorism.

    • Posted By: JB619 @ 12/31/2008 9:59:29 AM

      Probably the most intelligent post yet. Thank you.

  • Posted By: deutschmann @ 12/31/2008 9:30:23 AM

    I feel very bad about what happens in Gaza. I do not like wars especially against civilians. I hope war stops and there will be peace between both Palestine's and Israelis! Why is there not enough space for every one? STOP KILLING civilians.everywhere!

  • Posted By: liman8 @ 12/31/2008 6:39:11 AM

    I can feel the pain suffered bu palestienians by bloodthirsty Israelians. Nothing is more painful than to be at the mercy of a coward enemy. Israelis are afraid of everything including peace. The never-ending rounds of negociations were to no avail, mainly because of Israel's stubborness. Eventually, Israelis should choose between restoring stollen terrtories to their right owners or suffer wars and instability.

  • Posted By: liman8 @ 12/31/2008 6:38:59 AM

    I can feel the pain suffered bu palestienians by bloodthirsty Israelians. Nothing is more painful than to be at the mercy of a coward enemy. Israelis are afraid of everything including peace. The never-ending rounds of negociations were to no avail, mainly because of Israel's stubborness. Eventually, Israelis should choose between restoring stollen terrtories to their right owners or suffer wars and instability.

  • Posted By: liman8 @ 12/31/2008 6:38:57 AM

    I can feel the pain suffered bu palestienians by bloodthirsty Israelians. Nothing is more painful than to be at the mercy of a coward enemy. Israelis are afraid of everything including peace. The never-ending rounds of negociations were to no avail, mainly because of Israel's stubborness. Eventually, Israelis should choose between restoring stollen terrtories to their right owners or suffer wars and instability.

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