ss31704

STAR: Thanks for that link... I am saving it for future reference!

Well, to get Biblical, I would cite the passage in Nehemiah, I believe it is, where those who built the wall had buidling materials in one hand, and weapons in the other...... Hey, ss31703:

You also have to remember... what is said is that the Lord helps those who help themselves. Therefore, keep your powder dry and your weapon loaded.

The crux of the PAL/Israeli conflict can be morally weighed by that tactics that each side uses. The Israelis can be accused of excess of overdoing the stringent military responses... of accidental killing of children and women noncombattants, etc. which the PALs have been complaining about for a long time... in fact, since the ascension of Israel as a State. However, the philosophy of morality... of engaging children with dynamite belts to blow themselves up for their parent's "glory", the philosophy of teenage martyrs and younger, the idea that children are good to die for the parents' sake, is totally alien to Western culture. We have been brought up to defend the rights of the helpless and the downtrodden. We SAVE the women and the children on a sinking ship, first. The idea of having my kids die for me is abhorent. Our lot is to make them have a BETTER life than we have had, not to die for a cause before we, ourselves, do. This is why, in my opinion, that the US public will NEVER get behind the PAL and where they make a fatal mistake in trying to gain US sympathy. No matter what they do, no matter what Israel does, making children into weapons and deliberately bringing them into warfare, has not been practised by any other civilization and will not be looked upon sympathetically by any Western (or Eastern, for that matter) culture.