88 Comments on Qassam Rockets in Sderot, Israel
Leave a comment
Recent Comments
Sesame Street & The Origin of Om nom nom nom, 1308 comments
- henrysvg: @neverforget09112001 I’m aware of that but is this...
- PCgamer0001: u have low standards
- shemalekuntface0011: Beautiful Japanese models at: divinejapanidols[...
- leafninja247: OM NOM NOM!
Know Your Meme: Auto-Tune featuring Professor “Weird Al” Yankovic, 2064 comments
- whosthisguy23: check out whosthisguy23
- shemalekuntface0110: Beautiful Japanese models at: divinejapanidols[...
- linktwo: Weird Al :D
Sweater Curse, 99 comments
- TheReasonWhyGuy: No, you can’t, at least not anymore… since...
- ZohrraKa: Dude you can just sub the know your meme playlist.
- ZohrraKa: I agree Aliyns, for me it was come for the memes stay for the...
Ewwww, what a slippery slope. I’m not sure of what you want to show here, but reporting a single side of such a complex situation has more to do with propaganda than independant journalism, don’t you think ?
How can you say this is one-sided when 1000s of these missiles have been lobbed into Israel over the past year and continue to be lobbed by the hundreds on a daily basis regardless of who they kill or maim. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been poured into Gaza & The West bank by countries such as the US, Europe and even Israel to help them better their lives…
Have they built one hospital, one school, or any infratstructure? The simple answer in NO! Hamas is now in power and does not even recognize Israel’s right to exist. Watch the following slide show and educate yourself. See how small this sliver of land really is, and how it has been transformed, while palestinians and the rest of the Arab world sit on their duffs and blame, blame, blame and complain.
Educate yourself. Watch this slide show.
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened/
The MSM is the one feeding you propaganda as they are no friend of Israel, especially the British press.
See what I meant by “slippery slope” ? ;-) Indeed, I’not sure all this flamebait will help bringing Peace in this region…
There is no denying that the Israël people suffer, and nobody will claim that launching rockets is a good idea. But the reasonning stops there, or this argument becomes a fallacy : we can’t conclude all Palestinians are bastards because there is a civil war going on… It’s time to admit that the “good guys” and the “bad guys” only exist in the US pulp fictions.
I’d be interested in reading some comment from the RB team to see what they meant by this raw video.
Thanks anyway for the polite advises (even coloful texting, wow).
Facts are facts that blind people like you refuse to see. That is all I wished to point out as many like you Sylain are brainwashed by pro-palestian propaganda and swallow it, hook, line and sinker.
Les pauvres palestianians! What Israel has had to endure since its creation is no Pulp fiction? Only in your mind my friend. And you forget the millions of Jews forced to leave Arab countries. And where’s the civil war you speak of? A civil war? Man even the MSM missed that one. A few gun battles and you call it a civil war? Furthermore, nobody called all palestinian bastards but you. Seeing the + rating, I can only assume there are people out there just as ignorant as yourself. Which is why I posted that slide show.
I’ll say it again. Educate yourself!
As for slippery slope, afraid of a little truth are we? Those rockets don’t form by themselves in cumulo nimbus clouds then fall to the ground by themselves.
Wow, B… I’m surprised by your obvious blinders on this issue. Go back and recall all the many thousands of Palistinians that have been killed by Israeli jets — all the homes that have been bulldosed — all the olive tree farms that have been taken over by Israeli settlers — the list is far too long for me to go on here.
And, yes, lobbing rockets is not the answer… nor is a huge wall separating innocent workers and families. (I’m too tired from a long day at work to continue the lists — on both sides.)
A ’slippery slope’ it indeed is! (my best Yoda)
And insulting and calling someone ‘ignorant’ on this discussion has only reduced my respect for you.
-s
I seem to recall a number of wars initiated by a band of Arab countries who got together and tried with all their force and might to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth…and failed time and time again.
And that goal is still alive and well today with people like the leader of Iran, with Hamas and those freedom fighters (aka terrorists) Hezbollah who want to destroy Israel and set up an Islamic Palestine. Yes people die in wars, but according to your logic Stephbabe, it’s only okay when they are Jews.
I think I’ll manage just fine without your respect.
And just one more note: since the wall went up “suicide/homicide bombings” in Israel have dropped 95%. Now wouldn’t you want your government to protect your kids, your family and friends as they routinely took a bus or went out to eat at a local restaurant?
Minus me all you want, Israel shall live on!
no one doubts that on this forum, as far as I can tell
Perhaps you should change your on-line name from ‘B’-man to ‘Z’-man.
-s
Am Yisrael Chai!
What I gather from you, b-man, is that Sylv ain is saying you have to show fairness and report an entire story, and you’re whining that people aren’t focusing on only your side of the story.
I could give you just as emotional a tirade on Palestinian suffering, but it would be just as lacking as yours in completeness.
The issue is too complex for an entire semester-long college class, let alone a 3-minute Rocketboom episode. I kinda wish they didn’t go there, it’s more charged of an issue than interviewing John Edwards, who pleasantly surprised me as a Republican.
The Palestinian side of the story is on virtually every major TV network and on the front page of every newspaper around the world. The BBC devotes an entire 10 minute report on its BBC Worldservice News everytime Israel so much as burps, so unless you’ve been alseep for the last 10 years, the overload & incessant whining of palestian suffering is deafening.
It’s amazing that Israel is not allowed to tell its story in a 3 minute piece. This was a story about a town under constant rocket attack, not just by ordinary rockets, but explosives that contain nails and schrapnel that are constructed to tear an Israeli body (whether infant or grandmother) to shreads. Where’s the humanity in that? You need the other side to condone such atrocities. I didn’t see one post today that said, I don’t condone these types of attacks on Israelis. All I heard was, look at the PR guy blabbling away at how Israel is suffering but where’s the other side of the story. Again, open your TV to any channel, look at the front pahe of any newspaper and you’ll have your “other side of the story. But unfortunately not the whole story for as those 1/2 dozen YouTube videos below show, there is an ugly infestation taking place in the Islamic world where the so-called moderate muslims sit by and don’t say a word. Those few videos provide a clear snapshot of a society hell bent on Israel’s destruction. The Palestinians have had numerous opportunities for peace, to achieve their own statehood, but each time their leaders chose to respond by either launching a war, an infatadah or launching a barrage of 1000s of rockets on israel as was done last summer….and the Palestinians are used as ponds in a dangerous game where Israel’s destruction is number one on the Arab agenda.
I’ve followed this issue for a long time and with hope, but how do you achieve peace with people like Hamas & Arafat whose mandate is your total annihilation..
Arafat was the biggest PR guy the palestinians ever had. He’d say one thing to his muslim brothers in arabic and a totally opposite thing in broken English to appease the money donors around the world. Plus, he didn’t do it for 3 minutes, but for 30 years!
I agree with B-man. It’s not that complicated. Almost everyone over there hates the Jews, so their mission is to kill them. Simple.
Of course it’s only one side, but I’m sure that the MSM (mainstream media) does pretty well on showing us the other side of the conflict, while this stays pretty much concealed. The most appaling part is the usage of water pipes provided as “humanitarian” aid. So much for my taxes.
May I second Sylv ain, and wish that tomorrow’s edition will show us what is happening on the other side of the fence? Just to be sure that we have both sides of the story. Thanks !
Hmm, I think Rocketboom is a very unfortunate name for a show covering this topic, but then again thats probably stating the obvious. I think whether this was one sided or not it was informative as it was something I’d never heard of before.
Hmmm. I adhere to the old adage Disarm the Palestinians and there will be peace in Isreal and Palestine: Disarm Israel and there will be no Isreal. Please note how none of the other Arab bretheren who claim to support Palestine want these people either.
alllucky7s, that’s good one with rocketboom.
i don’t think it’s one-sided report. it’s just telling what’s happening outta there
I can tell you what happens on the other side of the fence. They will make JoCo wear some sort of head scarf against her will and then probably kidnap her with lots of media attention until their demands are met. Which will be met with the standing headline: “Journalist held hostage in Gaza”
Exactly!
Just to clarify, who is “they”? I do hate to paint a whole community with the same brush. This ‘us’ and ‘them’ thing really bugs me generally. More in common between people than you might think.
Okay, very interesting, and obviously provocative. I appreciate that. One sided? Sure. The trap in this is: the piece seems to want to communicates while trying not to communicate. First, this is a 3 minute format, and it just can’t contain nor compress such a complex, multi-layered issue with much success. The downside is it tends to trivalize the conflict, or polemicize it, that is the intended, or unintended consquences of this broadcast, and I really hope rocketboom (by the way, the similarity between the explosive and your branding is rather grotesque) takes some responsiblity for this. Look, I like rocketboom, it is an interesting vlog because it has a voice, but it’s best at evocating a feeling or mood, at presenting a snapshot which makes you think, or just makes you feel something. The snapshot presented her stops thinking. It tends to force a silence on the viewer. Shuts them up by the meta-message — we’re not saying anything here, we’re just witnessing, so whatever you think is your thought and that is okay. That’s a fallacy and cop-out, and part of the problem of the current climate in the US. We’re conformist, losing our powers to analyze and engage in genuine critical thinking, we’re reactionary, and as result, the spinmeisters win. This snippet supports that culture, and that’s the unfortunate part of it all. It lacks courage, intellectual honesty, and a fresh perspective. I know that may be harsh, and it may be the result of trying to stuff such a large issue into such a tiny screen and tiny amount of time, good for tiny ambitions. If anything, this piece highlights the limitations of the vlog form. It can’t contain size, scope, and dig too deeply in the current format. So, in the end, it overreached its capabilities. But you know what — that kind of failure is often a good thing, if it is assessed properly.
Uh, OK!
You must be an old man, old man. No feeling? Right, raining nails and metal bits mixed with the explosives to cause the most amount of damage is mind-numbing. Perhaps a few hundred punctured spleens, ripped out livers, eyes, brains and intestines would have moved ya? I doubt it.
I totally agree. Today’s entry is not a special report, and this 3mn long statement is not even from RB.
So, either the RB team stands up and tell us what they meant and put this effective moment of PR into perspective, or let’s skip today’s hickup altogether and wait until tomorrow 8-)
go back into your cave!
This IS a Rocketboom special report and it was put together by us at Rocketboom. Rocketboom does not follow any guidelines like “you must report fair and balanced.” In fact, we claim to be one sided. We often show stories that have other sides.
Personally, I dont believe there is such a thing as fair and balanced. There is no objectivity, in my opinion. Everything is subjective and one sided.
This is just a story about the world, take it for what it is.
Meanwhile, lets hear more from you then about “the other side of the story”.
Thanks Drew. Acknowledging the bias in today’s post clarifies it and dismisses any reproach you could get since balance was not sought in the first place !
I still think today’s provocative post is rather a testimony though, as I was used to comments, irony, humour, (…). But that’s fine, the comments show a variety of opinions on a 3mn video :)
Drew, I adamantly disagree with about ‘no such thing as fair and balanced’.
But taken only as ‘a slice of reality’ (and not as an ‘accurate assessment of the situation overall’), I thought this was a great RB episode.
I’ve always understood RB to be aiming for a fairness in its unbalanced approach. E.g. showing one side of a story but at least wrapping somewhat of a framework around it. In this story I just see and hear a PR person talking (including a number of dodgy and incomplete facts) to me for three minutes.
I agree with you an there being no objectivity, and I would be much amazed if anyone here would claim he/she was truly objective. That said, isn’t claiming “we do not follow any guidelines about reporting fair and balanced” a bit easy when you are reporting and opinionating about a complicated and multi-faceted subject as this. I have Israeli and Palestine friends / colleagues who watch RB, don’t they at least deserve some real effort in making a story the one time RB is reporting on their issues?
So in fact, should I now bookmark RB in my “obviously biased against.. what… radical Palestines who make rockets from water-pipes funded by the EU and Israel” folder? That’s about all this was about, such a shame that you lost this opportunity.
Oh, and something on that “other side” (how many sides are there, are normal everyday people who’re trying to survive the “other” side?), a story about -sometimes deadly, and always unnecessary- bullying: http://www.myfavouriteplaces.org/wl/pivot/entry.php?id=52
Pepjin wrote:
“In this story I just see and hear a PR person talking (including a number of dodgy and incomplete facts) to me for three minutes.”
Funny, Yasser Arafat jerked his people around for 30 years with his 3 minute tirades. They didn’t seem to mind at all.
And when he died, they found $5 billion dollars stashed away in a Swiss bank account. Oh for shame, for shame…
And how would that be related to this? If all you can argument is by way of an ad hominem attack you are obviously only interested in more fighting and more hatred. (quite clearly shown in your other, rather distasteful and ignorant, comments here) For what it’s worth this video is showing -some- normal everyday people, the ones not in controlling positions. Power happens to corrupt, plenty of examples on the Israeli side as well.
Baby, I hate to tell you, I AM an old man. We were talking about a lack of objectivity in 1971, when I was a reporter on the Pontiac Press. We started something called New Journalism. Whatever. So, nothing new there. The problem here, I hope you understand, is your lack of understanding both of your medium and message. What is startling is the raw footage, the style of the piece, not the content. The piece is style over substance, which is what Rocketboom has always been about, and that’s fine. I appreciate it on that level. But if you’re going to set us up with a provocative opening, with this PR guy on steroids, yammering on and on, you need to pay that off, otherwise, sorry, it’s total bullshit. An exposed life is not an examined life. That’s the fallacy here. You examined nothing, but I honestly think you thought you did, but are afraid to admit it — why else all the cuts on Joanne and others, ah, observing, assessing, chewing the cud. Please. A snapshot, even if it is unfair and unbalanced, because you believe that ideal is impossible, does not let you off the hook, which I believe your statement is trying to do. You opened up a can of worms, and it was a bit like voyeurism married to a serious attempt to examine an issue. As voyeurism it succeeded, as a serious look at things, it fell flat. Finally, if you don’t believe in an ideal, like “fair and balanced,” what do you believe in? Why are you afraid to let us know? I find that intellectually dishonest. If you think there are no absolutes, no ideals, fine, that’s okay. But please understand, that infers the following: everything is just bullshit in the end, and, as a result, you support the status quo, change is not possible, and you’re complacent and conformist. Which I find ironic, since Rocketboom touts itself as groundbreaking — no? The “new way” to communicate. In the end, I am asking you to really examine what you are doing. You refuse to. Maybe it’s too painful, because it flies in the face of your narcissistic assumptions or, educationally, your self-esteem has been subsidized to the point of idiocy. In the end, I enjoy Rocketboom as a small kind of fortune cookie experience. But sorry, buddy, but you bit off more than you can chew, and are making excuses.
We are subjective, but within Rocketboom there are many perspectives. Even though opinion on the situation in the Gaza Strip varies even among Rocketboom staff, no one among us doubts that today’s story is both interesting and contains information that — if we can remain open to it — provides details that we hadn’t heard elsewhere.
We would never try to reduce a 100 year conflict to a three minute report on Rocketboom (of all places). To do so would be naive and irresponsible. Have you read the news coming out of the Gaza Strip today? That story is anything but simple, but when we get the opportunity to share an interesting perspective, we do it.
Among the field reports we have under development is a story about people who work on “the other side of the fence” but don’t expect us to present it as a “counterpoint” to today’s story as that would be both inaccurate and highly unfair to the people in the story.
If you have one takeaway from Andrew’s post above make it this: “We often show stories that have other sides.”
I hear you, but I think you have to always guard against claiming that, because you reject the notion of balance, that nothing you can do would be wrong or misleading. I don’t think you crossed that line today but you did perhaps bump up against it.
You\’ll get no argument from me here, leron. I totally agree.
Dude, this will be the last time, promise.
First, you state this report contains information “we hadn’t heard elsewhere.” Okay, I am still tapping my ears with that one.
I spoke with two producer friends who work for ABC and CBS (okay, I know, mainstream), they’ve been in and out of Gaza for 20 years. They laughed, no kind of snickered when they heard your claim. But, hey, this is the digital age, so Google it, if you don’t believe me. Out of the possible 40,900 results for “Kasam Israel,” on the very first page, you get a report, March 6, 2006, of kasam attacks by NPR. Go to the next page, and you have CNN reporting on it. You also have a YouTube video of a kasam attack, 5/21/2007, which, I suspect, was your inspiration for this little ditty.
But if you spell things correctly and do a “Qassam” Google search, you get 574,000 results, and reports by none other than the BBC on the first page of the search. So, ah, maybe you haven’t heard about these things, but people who have other sources of information, or a broader range of intellectual curiosity and are not shutins playing with their blogs and YouTube uploads, might’ve known that.
Finally, you now have in development a story “about people who work on the other side of the fence.” Great. But what is so mind boggling is your rationalizing that it is not, ah, “counterpoint.” If that’s not a counterpoint, then what is? What is this vlog, some kind of Kafkaesque joke? Or, is it the product of a lack of rigor and standards? Okay, sorry, that’s right, you don’t believe in any of that kind of bullshit — so you’re exempted. Slippery, dude.
Your honesty is always appreciated. The media whether Fox or CNN or the other networks have been proven over and over again not to be objective.
Thank you for being honest and thank you for having the guts to cover such a difficult subject. It is what makes Rocketboom the emerging new medium of choice.
Lots and lots of hatred and no love. The idea that this is a two sided issue is incorrect but only extremely so. As usual those who are on the periphery who are providing weapons and profiting outrageous fortunes while maintaining a safe distance, are responsible for all casualties of war. The resultant victimization of the innocent men, women and children by those who shamelessly instigate conflict in order to generate and maintain vast stores of disproportionate wealth garnered via the brutal suffering of those who earnestly (though quite mistakenly) believe they are “caught” in a justified racist, religious war, yield their rights as rational thinking individuals to be self determined and self actualizing people. Either side of the fence one stands on is the wrong side of the fence. Until all parties fully comprehend that their true enemy is the malevolent armament dealers and take a stand against that enemy, they will continue to sacrifice each other as if it was accomplishing something other than filling graves and maiming their flesh. I fail to comprehend how it is possible for someone to conceive that God is on his side when he is so busy destroying God’s magnificent creatures in the very name of God. This is a grossly arrogant assumption fostered by everyone involved. God is not on anyone’s side. God is the living breathing unity of every living creature on this planet. Until we realize that we are divided by our absurd misconceptions of who and what God is, the warmongers will take advantage at every possible opportunity to profit from the blood of the innocent victims and be the only party to claim victory as they have divided and conquered so effectively.
Stop killing each other in the name of anything and you will lose the justification for killing each other! Then there will be peaceful cooperation and humanitarian fellowship. Give peace a chance. Plant an olive tree in your enemies yard and he will become your brother.
David L. Nelson
Sorry, but that is simplistic. If only it was that easy. What you have there is hate layered on hate and unless you had Hezbolah disarm and disband, Israel would be destroyed if they let their guard down. It is hard to give peace a chance when the other side wants you taken off the face of the earth.
Drop in on Montage City soon.
If this happened to your country, regardless of the aggressive power, why wouldn’t you fight back? The Jewish population should be allowed to be in the holy land, but not at the misfortune or debilitation of the Palestinians.
Myths & Facts Online
A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mftoc.html
great! so the best unbiased place to get balanced info is called the jewish virtual library?
validates all your other comments!
Go watch some palestinian-islamic videos below…but of course they will be meaningless to you… watch prancing kindergarten children putting on a Jihad play….while their parents applaud. Man that’s how everyone should raise a family.
Why don’t you dispute the facts instead of making meaningless, snarky comment. Today’s episode is very telling of RBs demographics…very interesting.
Because it came from a virtual Jewish Library it’s biased, right?
You want to debate those facts then show me facts to the contrary. Go ahead ksalan…and back them up with respectable references.
It’s hard to know what to feel about a story like this. I’ve lived in the middle east for many years and I’ve seen the bitterness from both sides of this conflict. However, while rocket attacks on civilian populations are reprehensible and indisputably wrong - given the social and economic conditions in Gaza and the West Bank - they are strangely understandable. As a counterpoint I would be interested to see Rocketboom cover the Palestinian refugee camps, movement restrictions or housing demolitions in the Occupied Territories, which are all equally wrong.
I imagine if you lived in San Diego, you wouldn’t mind if the Mexicans started to lob 100s of rockets into your backyard, streets, schools, hospitals and neighborhoods each week. You would be very understanding that the poor Mexicans are justified in killing any American that moves. In addition, you would be outraged if the US government retaliated in any way to stop these attacks.
Why are over 5 million palestinians still in refugees camps in Jordan? They are not allowed to become citizens, they have no rights, they cannot go to school and become educated professionals. What no outrage? Their own arab brethern just keep them in pig pens fanning the flames of hatred towards Israel. Interesting, no? And not a peep from all the watchdog groups that condemn Israel every chance they get.
thank you rocketboom! now i see clearly…the israelis are the victims here!!
but, you know…they should respond and crush the bastards and occupy some of their land. it’s just that simple. wow! and you’re not biased…you didnt say a word. you just let me see for myself.
you reported and let ME decide!
One sided, fair & balanced, yadda yadda. Who cares?
I found this highly educational. It doesn’t matter who’s doing it to whom. The fact that this is happening at all is worthy of discussion and is properly shared with people who wish to consider themselves informed. Whoever thinks that RocketBoom should not have shared this can just go stick their head back in the sand. ‘The most violent element in society is ignorance.’ ~ Emma Goldman
Still sucks, no matter who’s doing it.
you really didn’t know israelis and palestinians are fighting each other with rockets and bombs in the middle east?
if so, rocketboom can’t help you.
Let me see the Jews bring life to crappy land and make the most of opportunity given them. While the Palestinians kill and maim innocents. One side takes aid and creates while the other side takes aid, destroys and still has slums. Wake up people. The leaders among the Palestinians don’t care about the people, all they care about is killing Jews. Just ask their children.
WRONG. Palestinians are not concerned with killing Jews, they are concerned with removing Zionists. Jews and Zionists are two different things.
Oooo, can of worms… As a pure news item, I found it quite interesting but I certainly would not call it education as such. However, as Drew says, that isn’t what it purports to be. I think the problem is that that was not clear from the beginning which led to the possibility or inference that RB was asserting this as a fair and balanced piece.
I’ve heard the mantra several times that RB does not purport to be bound by journalistic considerations of impartiality but only via comments and personal interviews with Drew and JC. Perhaps this - quite important - disclaimer ought to exist on the ‘about us’ section of the website or more prominently stated elsewhere. I do think your responsibility extends to that. What do you think RB?
I should say that this is probably the first time that I would say that this forum has been more stimulating than the actual episode. An active forum is certainly an asset - let’s all accept though that just as RB is opinion so are these comments. Fair comment shouldn’t be criticised and to assert fact about a complex situation such as the Mid-East conflict is asking for trouble. The only generalisation I would make is that all generalisations are bogus.
I’m sure there was a very good RB episode (one of the best) a short while ago about ‘logical fallacies’. Well, simply because it is demonstrated that shells have fallen on Sderot it neither means that shells have not fallen on Gaza or that Israel is only a victim here. End of. (see, I’m still down with the kids’ lingo…)
I want my kids wearing headbands and carrying Kalishnikovs too. What wonderful parents these must be to raise children to kill because they are told to. Israel is showing tremendous restraint in not creaming these people in Gaza once and for all. There is no future there. So why worry about it. As far as Mr. Arms merchant rant: It is way beyond that. I spit on Islam if it encourages children to kill themselves for it. Same goes for the women who live under the feet of their men because some camel jockey in the 7th century had issues with his wives. What stupid crap. Now we are getting muslim creep in this country. And we will be too stupid to realize it until it bites us in the ass. Maybe when Hilary is prez she can embark on a mosque building campaign so that everyone can be sensitized to this horseshit. Charles Martel had it right. Who was he? He is best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, which has traditionally been characterized as an event that saved Europe from the Islamic expansionism that had conquered Iberia. “Charles’s victory has often been regarded as decisive for world history, since it preserved western Europe from Muslim conquest and Islamization.” We need a new Charles Martel and fast. If he had lost, I doubt that we would be on Rocketboom or any other website since those people are incapable of creating anything other than self righteous outrage.
Well said Tycobrahe!
DREW AND CO. Hello??? ARE YOU READING?!? Think this forum might need moderating a bit?!?
tycobrahe, I accept your opinion but, without debating with you the strengths and weaknesses of ‘clash of civilisations’ theory (which goes beyond quoting Wikipedia), I think your submission is not acceptable.
RB - most forums are moderated for offensive material on religion or race for example. This forum is supposedly for all Rocketboom viewers including your Muslim ones. I am neither Muslim or an arab but I think some this is EXTREMELY borderline - ‘camel jockey’, spitting on Islam?
Come on, this is not right…
If you are going to touch this kind of material, knowing the kind of political reaction it will spark, I think it is time to introduce a fully moderated form or reporting links. URGENTLY!!!!
Take look Beagle…
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yncV2AYGA8Y
That YouTube video featured the “other side…”
Children in Gaza perform a monstrous “play,” dressed as suicide bombers and terrorists, waving knives and guns, in front of a crowd of doting parents. The little girl with the dark green head dress is wearing a sucide belt, by the way.
“Teach your children well…”
And in other news, the Likud does some right-wing racist and extreme stuff too. Let’s all judge Israel by what an extremist minority does!
Yes Sulyman F, the Likud put their children on TV and make them say things like the palestinians are sub-human pigs and monkeys and that they should be blown to bits any chance they get…plus they invite other 7 year olds to call in…maybe I missed that show. Must have been watching the popular mini-series on The Elders of The Protocols of Zion…yes, now I remember… that show got better ratings than “24″
Well, you can always stick your head in the sand. That is what they want you to do over there. Remember, we have first ammendment rights. And if you give up your first ammendment rights you will find your head in the sand sooner or later because you failed to speak up until it was too late. That is how all totalitarian mindsets work. Do you think a Cindy Sheehan would have lasted 90-seconds in an Arab country spouting what she has the right to spout over here? No way. She would have been stoned to death or come to her end by some other barbaric means employed by these people. Many of us have tried to be civil, but it is impossible to reason with the unreasonable. And this should be debated and debated and debated. After all if they can call us the great Satan, why can’t we make up funny names about them? Its a two way street in this country. Unless of course you adhere to the shouting down of guest speakers on college campus’ as your idea of free speech. The Nazis used to do that too. And look where that got them.
This is all over the place.
I would point you to our very own Joanne Colan’s episode on ‘logical fallacies’ in respect of your reply.
No one doubts your 1st Amendment rights. Two wrongs do not make a right. Yes it should always be debated; without recourse to fundamentalism by any party. Some ‘funny’ names are, of course, not funny at all and, in certain contexts, illegal. No, last time I checked, I neither shouted anyone down or was a Nazi. But I like the you’re ‘with us or against us approach’. You’re consciously running a Bush right?
yes, I see it, it’s awful. Your carefully selected Youtube clip clearly demonstrates to me that every Palestinian is a terrorist…
I’m sorry it’s wasted on me - I’m not about to view a grey situation in black and white. You may say I sit on the fence. But frankly I think I can see better from here.
Frankly, this forum interaction is becoming depressing. What happened to my enjoyable, happy/enlightening dose of Rocketboom????????
“I spit on Islam if it encourages children to kill themselves for it. Same goes for the women who live under the feet of their men because some camel jockey in the 7th century had issues with his wives. What stupid crap. Now we are getting muslim creep in this country.”
Hey I’m a Muslim, and I’m quite offended by what you said. I’ve always been against terrorism, and I even tell people that Israelis have a right not to live in fear, the same as Palestinians. If you hate terrorists, go ahead, but don’t blame all of us for what a few lone extremists do. Do you see me hating all Jewish people for what Baruch Goldstein did? Why are you offending all Muslims, and all non-Arab Muslims, for what something someone in another country does? It’s not like they represent me.
Sheesh, I was hoping Rocketboom wouldn’t go too political, it will bring out the worst in people, like tycobrahe’s bigoted rant. Frankly, its the same rhetoric they used against Jews in Europe before the holocaust; they’re taking over, they don’t fit in, they can’t be trusted, they aren’t Christian, etc.
Oh, you left out They blow themselves up. Oops, that’s not Jews. That’s your team.
Sulayman F , when are you and your moderate muslim brethern going to take to the streets and march against such terrorism. When? When? When?
There are a billion muslims in the world. How about just a million man march. Denounce the terrorists, make placards. Tell them to leave your religion alone, that Islam is a peaceful religion, not one where doctors band together to blow up innocent kids who are going dancing on a Saturday night, as was the case in London.
Why don’t you organize that march. Where’s the outrage from your muslim community against the Islamic “doctors” in the UK who were building car bombs. Against the muslims who are murdering buddhist monks? About the muslims who are murdering Christians in Sudan? If you are offended make your voice heard, tell, those doctors, thugs and other terrorists, “WE ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE”
The S-I-L-E-N-C-E is deafening.
B-Man, if such a million man march were to take place, it seems you would be the first to run into the street demanding the march participants be jailed for being a mass of non-christians joining forces publicly regardless of their message or reason for convening.
The lunatics are running the asylum. Stant is their leader.
the bigoted “I spit on Islam” attitude is just the tip of the iceberg of hate that keeps the palestinians firing their rockets.
And as the great prophet Heywood Broun once said:” We must bring ourselves to realize that it is necessary to support free speech for the things we hate in order to ensure it for the things in which we believe with all our heart.”
And this little bon mot: “A liberal is a man who leaves the room when the fight begins”
Or Robet Frost: A liberal is a man too broad minded to take his own side in a quarrel.
Adios.
It is a sorry thing I know, but I will take that as the compliment it was not intended to be. Here, ‘liberal’ does not have the same bad rep as it appears to have in the US.
And although I am (in this case), the last to ‘leave the room’, it is past midnight so I’m out. I’ll turn off the lights.
RB - you owe me some answers and comments (see above). And a nice cheery episode tomorrow.
Here’s more from “The Other Side” and if you think this is selective, this stuff is shown on their airwaves daily. They watch it like we watch Star Trek reruns.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSwpAX1xvrc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN9cvLcZRsw&NR=1
Funny how the comments about a landfill in Africa received comments full of compassion, empathy and sorrow, as it should have. The majority of people in Africa live in deplorable conditions. But mention Israel or show what Israel has to put up with on a daily basis and the hatemongers come out of the woodwork.
Thanks for today’s episode Drew. Glad you had the cahones to show a little slice of life in Israel as you were recently there for a hi-tech blog conference…(something that would never occur in any of the oppressive tyrannical muslim regimes that surround Israel) Subjective or not, it is a reality affecting thousands of innocent Israeli lives on a daily basis.
Where’s my rocketboom? my nice, light, 3-minute, fun and not-so-polarizing, rocketboom?
Bby the way i learned nothing new and if you’re next show depicts the palestinian side i will learn nothing new.
And in 2 minutes or 3 or 10 you wont be able to show anything new and you wont be able to find, propose or affect a solution to a painful complex problem like this one.
The only thing you’d be able to do is stroke emotions to push agendas. I hope that’s not what you intended. or maybe you just discovered that controversey is juicy and hot-button issues really do WORK!!
That’s it :)
I personally come to RB for a daily fun and / or mind-tickling video blog. It’s a nice break from the real world; people building rocket powered (no pun intended) cameras to peek at their neighbours cat, hyped news on some i b or mPhone, a grand pillow fight in New York, or a guy wrapping a camera on his cat to peek at the neighbours rocket. One reason I don’t come to RB for are polarizing reports on situations even the rational thinking part of the locals have no opinion on.
This post had no sponsor. I certainly hope you’re not looking into controversy simply to boost your visitor numbers or outreach.
Nice spot Pepjin, indeed there is no sponsor for this episode. Can’t imagine why.
If it’s why I suspect it is then someone had a pretty good idea of the controversy before it aired.
Please, please bring back Fantasyland. Like this. Hey, we can get this on our TV too! It won’t be long the way we are going.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-UD8kzTJIU&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Ftechnorati%2Ecom%2Fvideos%2Fyoutube%2Ecom%252Fwatch%253Fv%253Dj%2DUD8kzTJIU
Sesame Street for Palestinians….no comments from anybody? Hmmmm, reality too much for ya? Is this the way to raise children, to brainwash and instill hatred from the ages of 5 or 6 ? This video is just the tip of the iceberg….it’s vile and dispicable…kinda takes your breath away, don’t it!
I think somebody expressed a desire to see something entertaining rather than all this political nonesense. I couldn’t agree more. Now what if these were your kids!
In this country it would be called political pornography for children. It would probably get your fined or jailed. But, hey they’re different over there so I guess it is OK.
Regular little Leni Riefenstahls this bunch. I give you a look into the future. Please note that none of these kids are Norwegiens or Swiss or Chinese or Japanese or Africans. Nope. Not a one. I won’t say what they are because that would be un-PC. And PC seems to take precedent here on this board. But watch and enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s70KlZwb9RE&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S995NCeaUg&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dPb1bF-s4M&NR=1
…and there you have the other side of the story brought to you daily on mainstream Muslim TV.
Sorry I’m late. Did I miss anything?
Look, words. Nice.
B-Man, you and I have gone down this road before, and lord knows I’m not anxious to go back. As soon as I saw this story I knew you would be having a busy day. I bet your fingers are sore.
You are passionate on this, B, well past the point of anger, and I understand that. The terrible statistics you cite are not gibberish. And let us all take a minute and imagine that wherever we are, there are people on the next block cutting up the sewer pipes into missiles and shooting them at us, loaded with nails and whatever half-assed crap they can find that blows up. Compare that to what most of us face every day, even in the worst neighborhoods, and you’ll realize there’s evil at work here, old evil, something terrible. How could anyone be so full of hate.
But like old man and some others, I had a problem with this piece too. Drew, all due respect, you can’t just pretend you’re a mirror when you pick up a camera. What you choose to show and not to show your audience is always a judgment call, even if you’re trying to be “objective.” Messages have weight.
And when it comes to Israel there is often a pumped-up PR guy ready to tell you these stories with great fervor. And always with them the horror stories are followed by, “and that’s why we do the following….”
Perhaps the explainer has a better sense of the message RB is sending today than Drew and Joanne do.
Terrible things happen to Israelis. But they do some terrible things too. I don’t want to get int a pissing match over who dis what when. The reality on both sides today is desperate and brutal. An inability to even being talking about the terrible things, because of this old grudge and that, because of this new evil and that, is the same stupid hubris that’s kept the Middle East in chaos for 10 centuries.
It’s not different in my mind that the people who cut off all debate about the Iraq war by declaring their opponents cowards and traitors. Remember those days? (I think they formally ended this week.) There was no room for actual discussion. Likewise there is none in and around Israel.
The Jews are to blame, the Arabs are to blame, there is a whole host of other characters with blood on their hands too. We will not solve this in a generation, or even five. That’s the truth regardless of whose side you want to take.
My advice to all the Boomers: Watch the show, think about the terrible things being described, know they are real, and seek out more information. Be aware of the explainer’s agenda, don’t discount it, but be skeptical as well. Come away from today’s piece with a sense of how horrific things truly are thereEven if you don’t have enough context to say why, I think you can still taste that in today’s show. That’s a start.
Shalom.
Be aware of the explainer’s “agenda”
And what would that be my good man? And what’s with the friggin PR guy fixation…have you ever seen palestinians rant…most interviewers can’t get a word in edgewise.
You’re right, busy day…I’ve got blisters on my fingers…should have chimed in sooner….
jeez, this is insane.
the bigoted “I spit on Islam” attitude is just the tip of the iceberg of hate that keeps the palestinians firing their rockets.
80 comments so far - that says a lot.
I thought this slice of life on the Gaza border was educational and interesting. I knew Drew and Joanne were in Israel for a few days, so I was hoping they would venture out and show us something about what life is like there, and they did.
I disagree that “this story failed.” It’s good to have high expectations, absolutely. But this slice of video isn’t trying to be more than that. Like much of what you see online, it requires you to be smarter. This is one perspective, but only one of many to help you form an opinion about the Israel/Palestine conflict. Many more opinions in the comments — ignited by the video. This really shows how RB has become more participatory with threaded/rated comments.
I think Rocketboom would have failed by not showing us this video.
It’s not as complicated as it sounds. The Palestinians feel the entire land of Israel is occupied territory and are fighting to regain it. Israel is in an existential battle for it’s existance. Israel goes out of it’s way, risking the lives of it’s soldiers and spending billions of dollars on sophisticated weapons to AVOID civilian casualties. The Palestinians go out of their way to inflict as many civilian casualties as possible.
Arafat layed the groundwork for the corruption of an entire society and Hamas and radical Islam is just extending that. When in the history of humanity have children been taught to love death more than life? Secular or religious- when a society embraces that kind of values…where do you go from there?
Finally a sane person who is not blinded by biased media coverage…the truth is out there if you just dig a little deeper.
Disgusting. Your site coverage of Israel by a security forces point of view, will never escape you from here out. Three visits by the \”good security person\” who explains how they need technology to defend themselves against a poor imprisoned people, and you help him illustrate it using google. He actually says \”The Israeli governemnt has been heavily criticized because they didnt take action\”!??
Are you nuts - RB, you have just illustrated the words of an idiot right-wing security tour. Go live in Israel, you deserve it.