Let us not forget about the character of the the assaults on densly populated, civilian targets. The “human shield” accusation against Hamas is a sly attempt at refraiming the issue away from proportionality and civilian targeting. By the IDF’s definition the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising would have been guilty of using “human shields.”

If you want a good definition of human shiled, look to the 2005 Israeli Supreme Courts condemnation of the practice of marching Palestinians in advance of their patrols- a practice which by some accounts continues.

But these are all just a small chapter in the continuing humans rights crisis of the illegal and immoral occupation of the West Bank of Palestine and the rise of the blatant ethnic cleansers in Israeli politics Netanyahu and Liebermann, as opposed to the cryptic ones Barak and Livini- and arguably every government since Israels inception.

For those of us who carry no brief for Hamas rocket launching criminals and would love to see Israel rejoin the civilized world by finally doing justice by the Palestinians, recent events have been heart breaking.