It Takes Two To Tango

First of all, I want to make it absolutely clear that I am not taking sides in this conflict whatsoever. I don't know enough about it to take sides or justify either side's actions.

Having said that, I still think that this article from CNN about Hilary Clinton's demands to the Palestinians is ridiculous. Or the article in itself is not as ridiculous as the conditions of her demands of Hamas.
Seriously, it takes two to tango. This conflict has been going on long enough for both sides to get their hands dirty, which they both have just in this recent conflict. However, Clinton is putting her demands on Hamas. I know the US supports Israel, but honestly, can that not be part of the problem? If the world's most powerful country wasn't so biased, would it not be easier for us to find a solution to this utterly inhumane war that has destroyed thousands of lives?

Palestine has curfews. It is under military rule. The citizens are only allowed to go out when the Israeli allows them to. Sometimes they have to stay inside for days on end.
The Swedish foreign minister, Carl Bildt, visited Gaza today to assess the situation. Svenska Dagbladet (article in Swedish) reports that based on what he saw there in Gaza, the Israeli military force has consciously and unnecessarily destroyed businesses, something that will have consequences on the financial climate for the Palestines, if they ever will be able to function as its own nation. Business which were never involved in the conflict and businesses which promoted peace and stability for the trade between the two regions. Factories were obliterated by Israeli military forces, leaving these people with nothing.

BBC just recently refused to show an advertisement for humanitarian aid to Gaza because they said they did not want to be perceived as biased. Allegedly, it was out of the same reason they did not want to show footage of a five month old baby that had been run over by Israeli military tanks and left to die on the road. The baby was found five days later, partly eaten by scavengers, several limbs torn off the body. You can find the video on YouTube easily enough if you want to see it.

I am not trying to say here that Hamas has not contributed to the conflict, or even that they are a minor part of this conflict. I am simply asking how this inhumane behaviour can continue?
Palestine is invaded, it has always had the Israeli military inside Palestine or at least close by. The conflict was never fair. This does not justify Hamas shooting rockets into Israel, not under any circumstances. But neither do these rockets justify Israel destroying businesses, factories or running over babies in the street.
And for Clinton to totally ignore this is unforgivable. I never liked that woman, and I like her even less now. I hope Obama does something about this. I hope that the world would stop taking sides and just focus on ending the war and the disaster that has been going on for far too long. The whole business is appalling and saddening, please stop.

An Intelligent US President

Former US president Jimmy Carter shares his views on Israel's position on Palestine and nuclear weapons. I have to say that I think he seems like quite an alright bloke. As far as I can remember (and I can unfortunately mainly only remember the current President Bush) the US presidents have usually been of the species idiot. I can't really say I like Bill Clinton either, even though I can hardly remember any of his policies. Following his wife's campaign to become a presidential candidate I have, however, concluded that he belongs to the same species as Bush.
Were people wiser in the old days? I doubt it. The US history has suffered quite a few incompetent presidents, I mean, even the famous Lincoln himself had his weird policies.
Having spent 8,5 hours in the library today revising Khrushchev, Stalin, Lenin, Trotsky and Bukharin it makes my day a little brighter to see a political leader who isn't totally stupid. To be fair, I don't even know if I would count Carter as stupid at all since I don't know what he did during his term of office.
Anyway, thank you Jimmy Carter for making my day a bit brighter and making me not lose all hope in political leaders. Really, thank you!