I don't know how much we should or should not spend to defend Israel, I do know that it's simplistic thinking to believe that this is just a matter or warring religions that will never end and that we should just let them shoot it out....if that's the case please explain to me which principle of which religion is being fought over on either side.....in other parts of the world I think we've referred to this as an attempt at ethnic cleansing and were quite appalled, racism?...hate crimes?? I don't think we've seen it so boldly proclaimed by the aggressors elsewhere, yet we shrug as if they're not serious....I agree with Spence, this has little to do with religion but disagree that it is at all "constructive" unless you think that once and for all the issue will be decided by whether or not an Israel still exists after the smoke clears, we know that one side is not going to stop until Israel ceases to exist, and they've stated this time and again....I guess like so many issues here in the US...we're just sick of hearing about it...let the Islamists have their way...
Turkish Prime Minister: ‘Israel Is A Terrorist State’November 19, 2012 12:32 PM
(CBSDC/AP) — A top Turkish official has claimed that Israel is committing acts of terrorism by bombing Hamas targets in Gaza.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told the Eurasian Islamic Council conference in Istanbul that the Jewish state is systematically mass-killing Muslims.
“Those who associate Islam with terrorism close their eyes in the face of mass killing of Muslims, turn their heads from the massacre of children in Gaza,” Erdogan said, according to Reuters. “For this reason, I say that Israel is a terrorist state, and its acts are terrorist acts.”
Egypt PM decries Israeli 'aggression' on Gaza
Egypt's new Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, viewed by Hamas as a protector, denounced Israel's attacks as "a blatant aggression against humanity".
"I tell them in the name of all the Egyptian people that the Egypt of today is not the Egypt of yesterday and that the Arabs of today are different than the Arabs of yesterday," he said after weekly Muslim prayers at a Cairo mosque.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which brought Morsi to power in an election after the downfall of former President Hosni Mubarak, has called for a "Day of Rage" in Arab capitals on Friday.
Thousands gathered in Egyptian cities to protest, including at the ancient mosque of al-Azhar in Cairo.
Thousands also marched in Lebanon's biggest Palestinian refugee camp, Ain el-Hilweh, and in the country's capital.
Tunisia's foreign minister will visit Gaza on Saturday as part of a delegation to offer support to Hamas and increase Arab pressure on Israel.
Israel must be tried for war crimes: Iran
by: By Mohammad Davari From: AAP November 20, 2012
ISRAEL is solely responsible for the conflict in Gaza and should be tried for "war crimes", Iran says, stressing that the Palestinians must be "armed to defend" themselves.
"Neither Iran nor Hamas seek conflict or war, or aim to endanger the lives of innocent people," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in his weekly briefing on Tuesday.
The guilty party is "the criminal Zionist (Israeli) regime, which should be tried for war crimes."
Israeli threats do not work on Lebanon: Mansour November 20, 2012 01:19 PM The Daily Star
Cyprus' foreign minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, right, and her Lebanese counterpart Adnan Mansour, speaks to the media during a press conference after their meeting at foreign ministry in divided Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
BEIRUT: Lebanon will face an Israeli attack with “appropriate means,”
Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said Tuesday, adding that his trip to Gaza along with an Arab delegation is aimed at showing solidarity with the Palestinians.
“I affirm that Lebanon will face [an Israeli attack] via the appropriate means and Israel knows this very well,” Mansour told reporters at the Rafik Hariri International Airport.
"The Israeli threats are always there for Lebanon and Israel knows very well that such threats don't work in the face of Lebanon,” he added.
His comments came in response to a question about whether Israel would attack Lebanon after the Army discovered two rockets Monday set to be launched at the Jewish State near the occupied Kfar Shuba Hills.
Hamas leader on truce prospects: "Maybe never"
After years of existing as an international pariah - with Syria and Iran as its primary allies - Hamas has been emboldened by the support it now receives from key regional powers such as Egypt, Turkey and Qatar.
Meshaal warned that the Middle East has changed with the Arab Spring, and he called on Muslim countries to stand together against Israel.
Asked by CBS News if Hamas wants peace with Israel, Meshaal responded with a message for the United States:
"If God is willing, the American people will wake up and realize that it will benefit them to support the 350 million Arabs, not Israel, to be with the 1.5 billion Muslims and not Netanyahu's gangs ... Don't reverse the picture. The killer should offer this peace, not the victim."