War tourism

GAZA BORDER — Moti Danino sat Monday in a canvas lawn chair on a sandy
hilltop on Gaza’s border, peering through a pair of binoculars at
distant plumes of smoke rising from the besieged territory.

An unemployed factory worker, he comes here each morning to watch
Israel’s assault on Hamas from what has become the war’s peanut gallery
– a string of dusty hilltops close to the border that offer panoramic
views across northern Gaza.

He is one of dozens of Israelis who have arrived from all over Israel,
some with sack lunches and portable radios tuned to the latest reports
of the battle raging in front of them. Some, like Mr. Danino, are here
to egg on friends and family members in the fight.

Others have made the trek, they say, to witness firsthand a military
operation — so far, widely popular inside Israel — against Hamas, the
militant group that controls the Gaza Strip.

Over the weekend, four teenagers sat on a hill near Mr. Danino’s, oohing
and aahing at the airstrikes. Nadav Zebari, who studies Torah in
Jerusalem, was eating a cheese sandwich and sipping a Diet Coke.

Big Dan notes:

This is extremely appalling: Israeli civilians watching the Israeli's bombing and killing Palestinian people..."watching the war" on lawn chairs, sipping Pepsi, having a grand old time! This is proof of the lopsidedness of this war: Hamas rockets are so useless, you can sit on a lawn chair without your life being in the least amount of jeopardy and watch the American taxpayer precision guided missiles killing Palestinian children...as you're sipping your Pepsi. There's more of a chance of accidentally getting killed by an Israeli/U.S. taxpayer missile. "Look at that," she shouts, clapping her hands as four artillery rounds pound the territory in quick succession. "Bravo! Bravo!" Scum of the earth. Not human. This is how you act when you think you're "superior" to other people. You watch them getting killed in your lawn chair, sipping a Pepsi, and cheering "Bravo! Bravo!" And clap your hands. It's not a war if one side is watching it on lawn chairs while the other side has over 200+ children massacred. This is disgusting!!!