An israeli child from the town of Sderot was severely wounded  by a rocket fired from Gaza, his leg had to be amputated because of this. This has created a big unrest between Israeli people, which had already been calling for the Israeli army to launch a major offensive since Hamas took full control of Gaza 8 months ago.  To show their beliefs they briefly blocked the entrance into a main high way to Jerusalem holding pieces of exploded rockets and insulting Olmert, the Israeli prime minister. So far, 12 israelis have been killed by rockets in 6 years, and over the past week military attacks have killed 20 people in gaza. Economic sanctions have also been made in Gaza, and some fear a “humanitarian crisis” since both food and fuel are restricted. 

After reading this news, what intrigued me most is trying to figure out who I thought was “right” in the issue. When reading about the peoples protests I thought they had to be right, but, then how can it be that 12 israelis died in 6 years and 20 people died in one week in gaza? I found this very confusing. I researched the number of deaths and casualities and for some reason there is always more on the Hamas side than on the other. Then I went on to read about what the people on the Hamas side said, and I could see that the weren’t as they are usually described to us: “crazy terrorists”. A leader from Hamas said: “In Judaism, in Christianity and in Islam there are scriptures that allow for self-defense. We are only defending ourselves.” They argue they are protecting themselves from Israeli occupation and agression. After reading about it, I arrived to the conclusion that maybe both sides hold some guilt in this conflict since they’re both not able to listen to the other side, and they both use violence as a means of communication; instead of trying to negotiate.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E5B3A58B-00E7-47F1-A443-94F2A9DC950B.htm