Many a times I have watched television give a slanted view of the strife between Palestine and Israel. Whenever you hear of the Palestine-Israeli strife, it is usually one sided. The news will either show how much the Palestinians are suffering under the oppression of the Israelis who are taking their land by force or it will show you the terrorist activities of Hamas against Israel.Even when I hold conversations with my friends who are from he region, no one wants to admit that both sides have committed there fair share of destruction. The Palestinian side wants freedom and autonomy from Israel and is willing to fight to the bitter end for it. The Israeli side is not willing to let go, they refer to Hamas as terrorist and some have even claimed in regard to Hamas that an ant does not go to war with an elephant. This is in reference of course to both countries military forces.
An article in the New York Times titled "Inquiry Finds Gaza War Crimes From Both Sides" came like a breath of fresh air.According to the article, a UN report that came as a result of the investigation of the war in Gaza last winter has found that both Palestinian and Israeli militant groups are guilty of war crimes. Israel assaulted Gaza and terrorized a civilian population and as a result affected Gaza's economic capability. Israel was also responsible for the destruction of food production lines, water and sewerage facilities, using women and children as human shields and use of white phosphorous as a weapon of war.
Palestine on the other hand,fired rockets at Israeli civilians and killed and abused members of the rival Fatah political movement.
Now some may argue that Palestine's list is fairly smaller but considering the size of Palestine's military forces, that is hardly surprising. Who is to say what the extent of damage would be had Palestine had a greater military at its disposal?
Both parties of course argue that they acted in self defense. It is much more eye opening when you look at both sides of the story before you draw conclusions.
