reply to Jennifer: Thank you for being brave enough to use your actual name and email. I am getting pretty tired of the many cowards in here who spew their invectives while hiding behind a pseudonym. What do they think I am going to do to them? Send them some spam?

I have read some of Starhawks communications from the West Bank. She writes well, but filled with emotion and her own personal anguish. She completely neglects to write about the suffering that is going on a few miles away in the households of Israeli families who have lost family members to the violence or are nursing back to health a maimed loved-one.

Whenever you read any of these accounts from ISM workers, or Israeli "Peace" groups, note what they actually saw with their own eyes and what someone there told them....so-called eyewitness accounts. Almost all the reports of atrocities are "eye-witness" accounts which tell how innocent the Palestinians are and how evil the IDF was. Without going to the other side and finding out what THEY say about the same incident is bad reporting. THis is what Starhawk does. She only reports one side. She doesn't check. She doesn't verify. She uncritically passes on these "stories" to the general public. She has jumped on the current liberal bandwagon issue, and she can safely condemn Israel, because unlike the 21 other Arab/Muslim countries, she could be jailed or killed if she spoke out against them.

Israel stands for democracy,freedom of speech, freedom of religion, womens rights, gay rights, literacy, science, freedom of the press, and caring for the indigent. The Arab/Muslim countries stand for monarchy, military dictatorships, state-censored press, Islam only allowed, no womens rights, jail or death for gays, honor killings, illiteracy, suppression of scientific research, and Jihad.

If we want a peaceful world, we should be convincing the Arab countries to leave Israel alone and in peace. But thats a lot harder and more dangerous than condemning Israel.