Reply #47: a few questions... [View All]

But yes, I think that *if* it can't stop the missiles without killing significantly more innocent civilians than they would then Israel has no right to stop the missiles, and the rest of the world should try and prevent it from doing so.

Let's say the world adopts this policy. So then, if I am a terrorist living in Gaza, wouldn't this policy encourage me to surround my missile launchers and Qassam factories and VIP's, (and so on...) with a whole bunch of kids and civilians? (This has already been done by Hamas and Hezbollah, to great effect.)

This policy gives any army, (either national, legitimate or rogue terrorist), a guaranteed, impenetrable shield. Let's say you're a gunman heading off to fire at a kibbutz. Normally this is a suicide mission. But now all you have to do is strap two or three babies to yourself and no one can touch you! Seriously, unless everyone played by the rules, how would this work? It would just ensure that missiles were always launched from the roofs of nursery schools.

I'm fairly sure that it is explicitly illegal to deliberately target civilians, though, which many of the Palestinian militant groups are obviously doing (although I don't know whether or not the settlers qualify).

It is always illegal to target civilians. Always, always, always. Even if it is a settler. Now, why wouldn't settlers qualify as civilians? You think an 8 year old living in a settlement is somehow fair game?

And it is not "many" Palestinian militant groups who have done this. It is all of them, without exception.