It really is a tragic photo that exemplifies the the victims of global conflicts. Heartbreaking really.

On the topic of the photo though, I do think that it can be viewed as anti-Israeli if not pro-Palistinian. The fact of the matter is that there are hundreds of innocent civilians being killed every year by attacks. The rockets fly from Gaza and Israel sends retaliatory strikes. The world condemns Israel's strikes while they are silent on the other side. Clearly this is hypocracy at it's best.

Remember the Israeli family who's house was invaded and they were slaughtered (father, mother, little kids)? They lived near Gaza in a settlement and were killed because they were living in a disputed area. Remember the rocket attacks on Israeli cities, clearly they were not intended to hit military installations- they are intended to kill anyone.

Solution- I think the best solution would be to move the UN to Israel, the epicenter of global conflicts. Maybe that would force world leaders to figure out how many faiths can live near each other, what rights nations have, what rights ethnic groups have, and how to stabolize the Middle East with nuclear proliferation and militarization continuing to be a building problem.

the UN doesnt give a rats ass about israel as they have repeatedly run away (1973) and cant even do anything about syria or sudan..i do agree this is nothing but pro pali terror sympathysizing, as i have seen hundreds of vids and literally close to thousands of pics with little syrian kids with thier heads blown open/off, decapitated, etc..so where's the outrage for that?

The idea of making the UN work at the heart of whatever darkness prevails in a world they have worked tirelessly to stabilize despite the cynicism of the three prevailing superpowers lacks merit.

Instead, let's put the actual authors of many of the world's sorrows in harm's way- let's make the officers of the World Bank work in the ruins of the countries they've broken on the rack of debt.

Let their leaders live with those consequences, and let their children (who may not yet be so jaded as to harbor no decency) be directly educated regarding exactly how their parents have worked to shape a world they must inherit.

And the judges were.. Hamas,hezbollah.Noam Chomsky,Naomi Klein..and the Al quida ambassador to Gaza!!

"Why should the Arabs make peace? If I were an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country. Sure, God promised it to us, but what does that matter to them? Our God is not theirs. We come from Israel, it's true, but two thousand years ago, and what is that to them? There has been antisemitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that? They may perhaps forget in one or two generations' time, but for the moment there is no chance." David Ben-Gurion, first prime minister of Israel

"For eight years now, they have sat in the refugee camps of Gaza and have watched how, before their very eyes, we have turned their lands and villages, where they and their forefathers previously dwelled, into our home." General Moshe Dayan, Israeli military hero - 1956

It's funny Theo,

You keep posting these quotes of Israeli leaders trying to see the other sides point of view, no matter how irrational it is, and you really think that you are making a case against Israel.

Ben Gurion, was pointing out the humanity of the enemies to his people, that's not a common thing to do in the middle of a war.

As for Moshe Dayan, he actually tried to draw attention of his people away from the Arab crimes for the sake of peace.

You will have a much harder time finding an Arab leader do either of those things.

I'll keep posting them until someone comes up with a far better argument than you have not to.

The Palestinians have plenty of money to buy rockets to launch into Israel. They launch them indiscriminately and at random. But they don't bother to build bomb shelters for their own civilians. They even have the audacity to launch their attacks from civilian areas to test the restraint of the Israeli response.

That is partly because Hamas also relishes the photo opportunity of tragic results of the Israeli response attack. They love to stir the belligerent emotions of their Muslim brothers with the images of dead children.

The picture is sad indeed, but the blame is not the Israelis. It is the clearly and distinctly on Hamas for putting them in harms way. If they REALLY cared about the deaths of these chidren, they'd offer protection or stop their belligerence altogether.

This is not a political war, this is sectarian, because the Gazans are 99.99% Muslim, (they burned the last Christian bookstore in 2007 and butchered Ayyad its manager). They are the pet cause of the Islamic world. But instead of accepting a situation and building a new life, (as the Greeks did after the Muslims took their capital Constantinople), they linger at the border and make belligerent missile launches into Israel that threatens their own citizens with a response.

Shame on Hamas for jeoprodizing the lives of these children.

Too bad this picture doesn't tell the whole story.

The "rest of the story" reveals Hamas's accountability for what's in this picture.

Agreed. Terrorism, regardless of the motivation or the mechanism, is always evil.

It doesn't matter if it's accomplished with a missile fired from a jet (or a drone)- or a suicide bomber in a car- it's always wrong when children are murdered in the name of politics, regardless of the "value" of the target.

Any nation which regards the death of a child as "regrettable collateral damage" has lost it's soul- and the virtues which once made it worth defending from barbarians it now emulates.

This is exactly what was meant when Neitsche said: "Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one."

maybe they would if there actually was one...because it's never actually happened..

So stop with the islamist-suicide-bomber-attacking-innocent-israeli-children's-buses propaganda already. . go there and what you will actually see are israeli settler kids not even 12 carrying semi automatics while walking the palestinian's streets, a little provocative and scary...

Cindy another sufferer of moral dyslexia who sees the world upside down and blame the victims not the aggressors.Since 1948 when the Arabs rejected their own state they have committed some of the worst atrocities against a soveriegn state.Stop inventing tall and phony stories .Or go to Gaza and see what the Isalmic terrorist state of Gaza looks like.Maybe you can get the job of Minister to Create Information! But remember you are an infidel and your days will probably be very numbered!

are you really so stupid to say that more Israeli civilians die than those in the occupied areas. Here are two little kids and this whole post is the two passport americans defending Israel. It is a picture of 2 little kids. They are kids, not arab, not jew just kids. I am a middle aged white guy, top 10% of wage earners and I am tired of whiny 2 passport Israelis. I am at the age where those two would be grandchildren and if they were my grandkids, my children, brother or sister I would spend the rest of my days seeking revenge. You are creating more terrorrists faster than you can kill them. And bart martin-3773750 I don't need your revisionist history please, there were and have been attrocities on both sides. Now who was that guy oh yeah Begin, who blew up the King David Hotel, oh what was that ships name, oh yeah USS Liberty, oh and what was that spies name, the one that was a mossad agent spying on the US, oh yeah Jonny Pollard right. Get off your high horse, I am not pro-arab I just don't think the ROI (return on investment) justifies the unwavering support for Israel and as one of the 50% of people that pays taxes in this country I have a right to that opinion.

DM57 You are so right on. We in the US have to deal with a very well organized, very political pro-Israeli faction, not even counting the crazy nut-job evangelicals who consider Muslins as Satan's children. We need a level playing field, but the big money Jewish organizations in the US give a lot of money to Congressmen, and they have a willing ear. I thought that it might change with a president with leanings towards Muslims, but it has not been the case. It is not a Repub or Demo issue, they both have soiled dealings with pro-Israeli lobbies. The justification for murder is not "God gave us this land".

Ad'm -How about showing pictures of the Palestinians killed by bombs, which Israeli pilots dropped from F16s. They killed 1400 people in 2006 alone. In the same year, the Israelis conducted massive bombing attacks on Lebanon, killing more than 1000.

My guess is the Palestinians in your comment, were reacting to this action commented on by Dayon. "For eight years now, they have sat in the refugee camps of Gaza and have watched how, before their very eyes, we have turned their lands and villages, where they and their forefathers previously dwelled, into our home." General Moshe Dayan, Israeli military hero - 1956

Thanks Theo- The comment is now part of my library of Israeli quotes.

As you all are raving about how sorry you feel for poor Palestinians you are trying to repress one simple fact: none of those oh-so-horrible thing would be happening if Palestinians were not attacking Israel (same goes for Lebanese).

If it there were no rocket-attacks on Israel from Gaza, these two boys would be still alive.

However, there would be no way to take such a wonderful picture, and you three would not be able to post your colorful comments, Hamas could not possibly allow that.

Yes like Stalin's Russia, China's Mao and Germany's Hitler. All non-religious and pure ideology like your name portrays.

Nonsense on your part!

Nobody I know would describe those tyrants as paragons of rationality and critical thinking. Stalin had unscientific agricultural leaders who created massive famines among other atrocities. And Hitler, well, Gott Mit Uns on NAZI belt buckles says more than I need to.

In fact, all the regimes you mention were excellent representations of quasi-religions, not Constitutionally secular societies like ours.

So these kids deserved to die because of something some palestinian terrorist did? And how does killing palestinian children who had nothing to do with any rockets valuing human life in Israel? So since Israel apparently doesn't value human life (see picture) they don't deserve peace?

Or did you just feel like saying something and your comment came out?

let me hear you demand outrage for all the syrian kids who were killed...why not scream how these a holes conduct guerilla urban warfare, which only endangers the non combatants..oh yeah, the palis definitely love life and are 100% innocent. hypocrite

Hamas deliberately places missiles in populated areas near houses.hospitals mosques and government buildings.Then they fire rockets at Israel.The people of Gaza should overthrow their leaders who are sacrificing their babies! Choosing this photo is obscene given the situation in the mideast!

When you begin to make any sense, I'll heed your words.

So is it alright for Mexico to start claiming land in the US? or Canada? Building Mexican and Canadian settlements on US soil and clianing it as theirs?

If they did and used military force to back it up would we not be entitled to back it up with attacks of our own to claim it back?

Love how some of you justify Israeli violence when they've been the aggressors, while people fighting to keep their homeland are labled terrorists. But then again most of my fellow Americans are more intersed in what their favorite star was wearing at the oscars to be bothered with whats really going on outside the US.

You know, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Palestine. The Christians there are Palestinian, and they are suffering under israeli oppression as well. Israel is a scary racist state- their rule: "if your not a Jew, it's okay to kill you..."

So for all these "christians'' here who are okay with palestinian kids getting killed and thinking an israeli child dying is more of a human tragedy (because of some kind of twisted- brainwashed connection we are made to believe we have to the Israeli-Jewish state), SHAME ON YOU. what would Jesus think?

Bethlehem located in Judea was part of ancient Israel. It was the birth place of King David. During the first century, there were 2 Bethlehems: 1 in Judea and 1 in Galillee. How do you know that the Rabbi Jesus wasn't born in the Bethlehem located in Galillee as the remains of an old and forgotten church which had a cave within its structure have been found there?

it's shame on you people .. criticising Hamas and Iran, not the killer him self... this is blind image of the unfair support to Israel... a small country has nuclear weapon but we have to ban Iran and North korea or any other country to have any nuclear activity but Isreal has right to kill and destroy..

This is a fight for real estate. The Broker is Yahweh. I despair that no interest rate will ever be too high for these faith-based cultures.

adnen.when israel shows support of terror groups like hamas or hizbulloh then yeah, they might be bad..but they arent and the rest of those meat heads are. so up yours.

one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter....."terror groups" what lame media hogwash and getting so old.

Cindy.still standing on your head ??

hey lone soldier, take one of your passports shove it up your azz and take the other and go to Israel. It is gutless wonders like you that are turning the American (1 passport Americans) against Israel. Israel became a state in 1948 right so lets see, we have had Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanastan since then. Brits have died, Aussies, French, as our allies, but not a singel Israeli. We are their alli they are not ours and we pay. We get nothing in return, nothing. It is time for Israel to put their big boy pants on and stand on their own. Minimum they have 50 nukes, nobody is going to hurt them, and Israel tends to find like minded countries, they were the last supporter of aparteid South Africa. Also dumb azz, be an american, born in American but of arab heritage Palistenian and see how you are treated in Israel. Know a family good Americans, rarity actually pay federal taxes, that are harrassed and abused constantly when visiting relatives in the West Bank. So lone soldier, put the barrel in your mouth and just firmly pull that trigger

DM,

Israel offered to fight for US in every war since the 70s, but was rejects. However, they have always been sharing their tech and intelligence with us.

We can talk about other US allies with whom you seem to have no problems:

Try being an American born in America, but Jewish and see how much you would enjoy a trip to any of the Arab states, or Turkey, or perhaps Pakistan.

Did you know that Pakistan receives just as much of US aid as Israel does? Care to tell what makes them our ally.

You also seem to be at peace with your tax money going to Egypt.

And come to think of it, the same Palestinians also get aid from USA. Do you think a Jewish American would be able to feel safe in Gaza or at West Bank.

And none of those sates are set any conditions where to spend their aid money, unlike Israel, who is obligated to spend all the aid in USA, so it all comes right back here, to create jobs.

Also, DM, for your sake I hope none of the tech in your house includes a chip from Intel, which were invented in Israel.

If you have been using any of the evil Israeli technology, all that's left for you is to "put the barrel in your mouth and just firmly pull that trigger".

AMD also has R & D facilities inside Israel, not only Intel but other major technology firms have R & D facilities there too.

Zionism, as a political movement, is only about 100 years old. What about all of the other wars and conflicts which happened more than 100 years ago?????????

Ignoring the elephant in the room (faith) isn't going to reduce the violence against future children. Mutually exclusive religions are indispensible elements to the violence-equation in this area of the globe.

...else we should grow too fond of it... is the correct phrasing, I believe.

A better quotation, perhaps, might be:

"Only the dead have seen the end of war..." -Plato

Sorry, I was quoting off the cuff. And you are probably correct. No matter how you look at it, what we humans need to realize is that all war leads humanity, in the end, to just more graveyards.--zapper

Sadly, the dead in this picture are children--and that is so wrong. Wrong for all, children and adults alike.

They both need to stop. Every time the Palestinians stop, the Israelis build another house. Every time the Israelis build a house, the Palestinians lob another rocket. Every time the Palestinians lob a rocket, the Israelis lob 10 back. The Palestinians stop. And the cycle repeats. They are both the spawn of Abraham and I'll say again, no good thing has ever from from the Middle East.

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes..."

The fact that you see it as black and white as you do speaks volumes about your absolute LACK of understanding on this matter. If it were that simple, it would have been over by now. Alas it isn't, no matter how much you would like it to be so that everything fits inside the tiny little box in your field of vision where you believe everything belongs.

excuse me? the palestinian's brought this onto themselves? read man, read an OBJECTIVE history on PALESTINE 1918-1948 before you make such an ABSURD statement....wooooooow, the lack of education here scaresssss me.

People who ask "What would Jesus do?" scare me.

The Palestinians brought it on themselves?

U R Jokin'.

Yes, Palestinians brought it on themselves:

1) Back during the 19th century, when they started attacking early Zionist settlements for extortion.

2) In that period 1918-1948, when they so nothing wrong with grabbing refugees running for their lives and tossing them straight back to the nazis.

3) In 1948, when they refused the partition plan and started a pointless war instead.

4) Countless times since then, by starting yet another wave of terrorism, every time they get a chance to start building a state on the land that Israel simply handed over tot hem, in exchange for nothing.

Senseless killing will continue as long as religion is used to justify stealing land and killing those that would dare to defend their land. No, I'm not anti-semetic, I dispise all religions equally.

Biblical borders?

Israel annexed the whole country from the people who were living there at the time. Read the quotes of Israelis in post #1.5 above.

Israeli territory was stolen from the Arabs. You cast hate upon those whose land you have stolen and call them the terrorists, when the real terrorists are the Israelis.

"For eight years now, they have sat in the refugee camps of Gaza and have watched how, before their very eyes, we have turned their lands and villages, where they and their forefathers previously dwelled, into our home." General Moshe Dayan, Israeli military hero - 1956

Israel never stolen any land, and no matter how many times you guys repeat that lie, it will never be true.

Palestinians started a pointless war and lost the land in the process, that was so pathetic that Moshe Dayan expressed sorrow for them, but that does not absolve Palestinians of responsibility for their actions, and does not entitle them to yet another do-over in a war that they brought on themselves.

Eli,

You should really read an article about Israeli annexing that actually violates international law, and the agreement set forth in 1946 by the UN.

I don't know, but I do know that the "photo" looks like a very good oil painting, or a scene from a video game, or just a computer generated image. The colors are too uniform, the shines on the heads of all of the balding men are too perfect and uniform. The people way in the back are too detailed, the man's ear with the light shining through it and it's shadows on his face are way too perfect geometrically and uniform. This looks like a computer generated image. There is an obvious difference between this photo and real photos. I should know, I spend all day looking at real photos.

Did you ever hear about Joan Of Ark or Margarite Thatcher?

americandaughter,

Actually, shaming all of mankind is a bit over the top. No, not a bit. A lot.

According to Steven Pinker, as evidenced in his gargantuan, best selling book on the topic of violence, we may be living in the most peaceful era of our species' existence.

Those cultures that are not in harmony with cosmopolitanism, empathy, and above all reason, should probably earn the lion's share of your derision and/or sympathy.

Ian561

When the Palestinians begin to value human life they will have peace

That post, from # 5.0 previously, really says it all!

Those Palestinian children were victims of Hamas's actions.

It is clear that both sides are guilty of atrocious aggressions, however it seems that Israel has gained much more through the ongoing conflict (in terms of geography). Here is a good link that illustrates how Palestinian land is illegally annexed by Israel: Also look for the map of annexed territories created by Middle East expert Juan Cole.

As a social worker I have personally met an American woman who had her teeth knocked out for buying the wrong cigarettes. I met a woman whose husband poked holes in her diaphragm so that she would get pregnant against her will. Not to mention the scores of domestic abuse and uxoricide (didn't a Florida man stab his wife over a hamburger) cases reported everyday in this country. But clearly this type of behavior is only attributable to wicked Muslims!

As a serviceman, I met an infant that was tossed onto a pile of garbage and left to die in the boiling Iraqi sun by muslims.

I met a 3y/o boy shot because the local terrorists wanted to make sure he did not grow up wanting revenge for their murder of his father. He was sitting next to the body of his mother, she had been raped and murdered in front of him by muslims.

I'm sure you excuse the women murdered by husbands, girls bathed in acid for wanting to learn to read, children molested by muslims as part of their "cultural heritage". After all, they have been doing it for centuries.

I'm not talking about "behavior", you missed the point. Spend some time in the middle east, you won't hear about the women raped and impregnated or beaten and murdered, because it is not a crime there. 

If only everything was as narrow as your mind,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and blame free as the murderers you excuse.