Thank you, Mr. Johnson, Ms. Myntii, and Mr. Marsden for your debating — that alone is something we seldom get to see in public around Minnesota.  But I have to take the side of Mr. Johnson and Ms. Myntii, as I feel obliged to point out that a number of Mr. Marsden’s contentions and beliefs are what I consider damaging, or at least highly inaccurate.  
I have followed the subjects and actions being discussed most of my life.  At one point, I seriously considered going to Israel to join the Israeli Defense Forces, the IDF, to be trained into their army.  Looking at current events and in hindsight, I’m glad I didn’t.  My father was an Army Air B17 pilot flying out of North Africa to bomb Italy and Germany during World War II.  To my knowledge, not many of those air crews survived their assigned 50 missions.  I have to say I’m glad he survived. Not long after WWII he was asked to join the new Israeli Air Force and he declined.  So, I have watched the Israel and IDF story unfold in detail.
Mr. Marsden, you fail to say Hamas is a democratically-elected government. You say the IDF is among the best in the world at avoiding civilian casualties.  You couldn’t be more wrong on this In reality, they are very good at purposely and knowingly creating civilian casualties.  There is definitely something wrong with your world expert on urban warfare. I can only guess your contentions and beliefs are a result of the massive amounts of propaganda that the IDF creates and promotes and is repeated by others in Israel and the U.S. I won’t detail all the disgusting and horrendous things done by the IDF to Palestinians, or anyone who opposes their narrative, not to mention the ten or more Americans they have murdered. You might try reading Haaretz or Middle East Eye newspapers, or listen to Chris Hedges interviews to learn how bad it really is.  Jews for Peace are not fringe, they are mainstream.  
   The Warsaw Ghetto of WWII is Gaza and the West Bank of today.  There is not a significant difference between the two atrocities except that a majority of the Palestinians are still alive and we can keep it that way if, as a country, we choose to stop the carnage. Israel needs to be sanctioned. We need to stop arming it and then encourage it to become a secular country for all people. Palestinians are people just like us. How can anyone condone purposely starving people or using them for target practice while they attempt to get food?      
Doug Lande
Isabella