You also reported on the likelihood that the goal of Israel's monstrous destruction of Gaza was "ethnic cleansing,"–or, I'd say, a Purge of the Rightful Owners.

January 04, 2009
Ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza?

The mysterious "Badger" over at Missing Links reports today on "The next step in Gaza: Forced evacuations of residential districts." From this morning's New York Times:
The Israeli Army also dropped thousands of leaflets into some residential districts warning inhabitants to evacuate their homes. Because of “the activity of terrorist groups,” the leaflets said in Arabic, the army “is obliged to respond quickly and work from inside your residential area.”

Earlier this year in March, Missing Links shared media reports of an Israeli plan to remove "tens of thousands of Palestinians from the northern Gaza Strip":
The televised report cited high-level security sources as saying Barak intends to plan for the removal of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the northern Gaza Strip, namely from the region that the resistance uses for the launch of these rockets, and to move them toward Gaza City and to confine them there. The Israeli reporter added that Barak is turning to legal advisers in the Defence Ministry, in order to obtain legal authorization for the removal of the Palestinian civilians. Barak is also asking Professor David Friedmann, minister of Israeli Affairs [Justice Minister], who supports toughening of penalties on Gaza to end the launching of rockets, in order to obtain his authorization to begin execution of the plan.

The reporter said that once [or if] the plan becomes operational, it would start immediately: In the first stage there would be a drop of leaflets advising residents to leave their homes, in addition to special radio announcements in Arabic directed to the residents, and in the event residents didn't obey the warnings, the occupation army would begin bombing the inhabited areas, in order to compel them to leave their homes and go to Gaza City.

Has this plan begun?

Posted at 03:10 PM in Adam Horowitz

http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/01/ethnic-cleansing-in-northern-gaza.html

Samantha Power (SamPo, as Phil calls her is going to be aN Obama aid!!!

Officials familiar with the decision say Obama has tapped Power to be senior director for multilateral affairs at the National Security Council, a job that will require close contact and potential travel with Clinton, who is now secretary of state. NSC staffers often accompany the secretary of state on foreign trips.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/30/samantha-power-returns-pr_n_162452.html

I watched the YouTube thing of Davos and see Peres who I always thought was probably a decent guy and who I thought was one Israeli leader who didn't deserve to be sitting there taking it. And I feel for him personally because of that especially where at one point he gets so upset he's waving his finger and saying "all my life I work for peace."

And I then read this Haaretz story Horowitz notes revealing what has essentially been a non-stop, sub rosa conspiracy between the governments of Israel and its private citizens to steal land and which then actually quotes one of the mayors of these ever-expanding settlements who says … "All of these things are one giant bluff. Am I the one who planned the settlements? It was Sharon, Peres, Rabin, Golda, Dayan."

So "Peres" too. The indignant finger-wagger. Mr. "All my life I work for peace."

How discouraging.

This existence of this database was first mentioned in the NYT about 18-24 months ago. I mentioned it in reply to our resident Hasbara agent Berel in one of his more sanctimonious posts a few days ago when he was waxing eloquent about the inherent innocence of of the Israeli government with respect to the settlements. I have a copy of this NYT article but it's on another hard drive. The NYT article said that Israeli authorities were fully aware of the correct owners of settler land.

Someone had got hold of the Israeli Land Authority (think that's what its called) and another agency's records that proved settler property was still owned by Palestinians.

While settlers, through public bodies which they control, actually perform most of the illegal construction and trespassing, the State finances and provides sweeping and ongoing immunity to these criminal activities.

So does the American taxpayer to the tune of $125 to $185 per person every year of his adult life.

That is news?