Proportionality

The new word used to describe the Israeli/Gaza conflict is proportionality. Since the war started 800 Palestinians and 30 Jews have been killed. This is deemed unfair meaning that if 800 Jews had been killed everything would be better. This is the fourth time in the past 8 years that we have seen this type of war. Each time Hamas starts a conflict and the Jews respond and the press warms up to condemn the deaths of innocent civilians. After a period of time Hamas relies on the world press to show enough pictures of dead children that Israel will finally with draw but each time Hamas gains some benefit by sacrificing the lives of a few thousand of their citizens. They mix their military in the civilian population knowing they will be killed in an Israeli attack. It is very easy to do because the Jews call up the people in the target area warning them to get out so Hamas sends them into that area with cameras ready. The biggest complaint that Hamas has is that they must pass through Jewish check points to get in and out of Gaza. This is time consuming and a huge expense for Israel. Since Hamas has avowed in their constitution that their goal is to wipe Israel off the map, the Jews have check points to search for weapons such as the rockets that are now raining down or Israel. This process will likely continue until Hamas agrees to the presence of a Jewish state which is not likely to happen until the younger generation grows up and maybe not then. Some people say the Jews should not respond to the rocket attacks since the rockets are unguided and most times fall in non-populated areas. I wonder if these people would be so nonchalant about it if they lived in Israel.