"I for one want to see no dead Jews or Palestinians, and I can rock-solid assure you that neither do Jim and Maggie."
This needs to be carved in stone on this forum
The accusation is no more than a replacement for a lack of response - a thread-closer if anything is.
It's about time these peopple moved away from the term "Jews" anyway - they are the only ones who use it
Perhaps the golden rule should be:
It is antisemitic to - "Hold Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel."

Joe
Whether you are one of us or not, your statement is extremely ageist
Taking a humanist stance on what is happening has nothing to do with how old you are (hopefully)
While this killing continues some of us will continue to condemn it.
If you consider that to be "stubborn" then you are working from a different dictionary than mine
It's all very well tyying to be all things to all men (and women but....

One of the worst features (just) of this whole affair has been the cowardly silence of our media and Governments
This was dealt with excellently in the letters page of the Irish Times where (apart from one letter) the response has been overwhelmingly a sympathy for the Palestinian cause

Sir, - The killing of over 50 people in Gaza, including chil¬dren, and the maiming of thou¬sands more by the Israeli mili¬tary has prompted The Irish Times to call on global and re¬gional powers to calm tensions in the hope that a two-state solution can be achieved post-Trump. Although you state that in doing so they should use whatever tools are at their disposal, you noticeably fail to identify these.
One measure clearly sug¬gests itself from the grotesque contrast you rightly note be¬tween murderous violence in Palestine and full diplomatic recognition in Jerusalem. To avoid pariah status is central to the Israeli mission and explains the recent hysterical attempts in Britain and elsewhere to equate criticism of Israel with racism. Although it clearly en¬gages in war crimes, including the slaughter of unarmed civil¬ians, it manages to be treated as an equal among nations.
The principal tool at the dis¬posal of all of us, individuals and, most importantly our gov¬ernments is implementation of the boycott of Israel that Pales¬tinian civic society groups have been calling for since 2004. Is¬rael is not a normal state as this week’s events yet again demon¬strate. Rather, they show that it is well past rime we engage in se¬rious discussion about its cultur¬al, diplomatic and economic iso¬lation. -Yours, etc,
Patrick O’hagan, Newcastle. Co Down.

Thart was a response to the paper's leader article

ISRAEL-PALESTINE THE WORLD MUST NOT LOOK AWAY
The contrast was grotesque. As Israeli and American dignitaries stood smiling on a
platform in Jerusalem, hailing the trans¬fer of the US embassy to the city as a step towards peace, dozens of Palestinians were being gunned down by Israeli snipers at the fortified fence that keeps them in Gaza.
Israeli forces shot and killed more than 50 Palstinians during protests at the Gaza border yes- jterday. Health officials said 1200 other Palestinians were wounded. Those lost lives can be added to the toll of more than 40 other Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli forces at the same location over the past six weeks. The UN and the EU have called for independent inquiries into the bloodshed, but Israel has refused.
The two events yesterday - the inauguration of the embassy and the Gaza protests - took place on the 70 th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel, and a day before Palestinians commemorate 70 years since the Nakba, or catastrophe - the mass displacement of 750, 000 Palestinians, who left or were forcibly evicted from their homes in what is now Israel in 1948.
As the day illustrated in horrific fashion, the anniversaries fall at a time of acute tensions and almost total political stasis. The despondency pre¬dates Donald Trump’s rise to power, but his reckless decisions in the Middle East-to call them policies implies a level of strategic thinking they scarcely warrant - have made the situation more dangerous while creating new problems that will remain to be dealt with long after his disgraceful presidency comes to an end.
His decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital delighted many Israelis and US evangeli¬cals, but it has dashed any remaining hope that a peace process can be initated at least for the dura¬tion of his term in office. Instead of seeking to assuage Palestinians by offering them a commensurate gesture, such as a promise that East Jerusalem will become capital of a future Palestinian state. Trump sought to punish them by withholding money from the United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees.
The longer the current hiatus continues, the more difficult it becomes to resolve the conflict. And the more dire life becomes for Palestinians. That is because the humanitarian situation in Gaza grows more alarming by the week, Israeli politics are moving to the right, illegal settlement-building continues apace, intra-Palestinian reconciliation has stalled and Hamas refuses to re¬nounce violence. The world cannot turn away,, however. In the absence of US leadership, an even greater onus falls on other global and region¬al powers - not only to work to calm tensions but to use whatever tools are at their disposal to en¬sure that by the time a new peace process can be¬gin in the post-Trump era, the conditions on the ground still allow for two viable states side by side.

Theresa May has now called for an enquiry into the killings and the UN has called a special session to discuss the issue
Hopefully we'll begin to see a sea change
Jim Carroll