Demonstrations held on Gaza Strip conflict

Some 150 people gathered Sunday in San Diego's Balboa Park to voice their views over the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.

According to the San Diego Police Department the demonstrations were peaceful, with some 100 hundred people showing support for the Palestinians, while about half that number showed backing for Israel.

Israel launched a ground invasion over the weekend after several days of an air bombing campaign, focused on removing much of the Hamas leadership and its threat to Israel. After a six-month truce, Hamas and its supporters began lobbing rockets into Israel in recent weeks, killing several civilians.

The United States considers Hamas to be a terrorist organization, and has backed Israel in the conflict. Israel, which has been criticized for the massive military response, relies on the U.S. for much of its military support.

While the retaliation by Israel has been very intense, leading to the deaths of hundreds of people,  it is up to the Palestinians to remove the terrorists from their ranks if they want peace with Israel. Much of the Hamas strategy is to have its terrorists mingle with civilians in hopes of using them as human shields against the attacks from Israel.

Interestingly, where have the demonstrations been when Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorists launch attacks against Israel, with full or partial support from Iran, Syria, Lebanon and others?

Israel must try to do all possible to limit civilian casualties, but the state of Israel also has every right to defend itself. Anything less would be a lack of leadership by its government.

Just imagine if terrorist elements in Mexico were carrying out likewise attacks on the U.S.'s southern border and we did nothing about it. Do you think our government would stand for that?