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The War of Ideas in the Middle East
Can I just add my tiny voice to the torrent of critcism about the US "intervening to protect civilians" when they did no such thing in Egypt,Bahrain, Yemen,or Gaza-indeed applause and approval for the killing of civilians if they are Palestinians.Can I also say that bearing in mind the hundreds of thousands of civilians killed by the US in Iraq,Afghanistan,Pakistan,Somalia,Libya and by proxy in Palestine, that a convincing argument can be made for the world-wide responsibility to protect civilans FROM THE US.
How sad and desperate the Palestinians are to find some way to progress the illusory "peace process"-that is probably a misspelling,PIECE process is more accurate,as in while we pretend to be seeking PEACE we will continue to steal the rest of Palestine,piece by piece,while crushing your spirit and killing your children.Read Ilan Pappe: The Ethnic Cleansing Of Palestine.NATO!the bombers of Serbia,the Police for the organ harvesters of the pseudo-state Kosovo'the murderers of Afghan children gathering firewood,the war criminals of Libya-killing civilians to "protect civilians"-85 dead at Majer,Libya,August8.The same people who handed over 3500 men and boys at Srebinica THIS is who the Palestinians want to trust to protect them from the Israeli bombs missiles and shells,I weep for you Palestine,and now I must go and force a vomit to remove the flavour of NATO what a travesty it has become,A MUTAL DEFENCE PACT,turned into the killing machine of American empire;attacking countries which pose no credible threat to Europe or the US, using the US glove puppet the thoroughly discredited UN as the cover for their deathly rampages.
The "whataboutery" mentioned is tired old canard and easily dismissed,this is how I do it:sarcasm-"oh I see I must first address world poverty and find a cure for AID before I tackle Israeli crimes"and then more pointedly " I do not accept that you give a flying f... about the poor benighted Tibetans or the huddled masses of Sri Lanka or any other human rights issue,your question is a pitifull and transparent effort to divert the discussion away from the most egregious human rights abuses of the last half century".
The "myth" of Palestinians being instructed to flee is more properly a complete and outright lie,and the point is that even if it were true how does this in any way alter the right of return?Another lie,one of what I call the foundational lies is the myth of the Jews[adherents to a religion,not "a people"] 2000 year connection with Palestine.My question is even if this were true-for most European,Ashkenazi Jews it certainly is not-how does that in any way diminish the rights of the people living there for thousands of years continuously?The greatest foundational lie is that the Zionists ever intended to live at peace with the Palestinians,that anything other than forced expulsion,land theft,rape and murder was to be the fate of the Palestinians.
A pity the article refers to the "Syrian border" when of course it is no such thing notwithstanding the illegal annexation of the Syrian Golan-not recognized by any country in the world.I believe it is important to use appropriate language when referring to Israel's many breaches of international law, eg-illegal colonies,illegal blockade,illegal occupation etc.As to the killing of unarmed protesters IN OTHER COUNTRIES by the Israeli military,sadly this would come as no surprise to any reasonable observer of Israel's murderous behaviour with regard to unarmed civilians since BEFORE the state existed.
The bankrupt beggar of Europe,now an active partner in the illegal blockade of Gaza, how low is brought the birthplace of Democracy.
Seems to me that Guiora is in the same class of "legal mind"as John Woo and Alberto Gonzales-you know, the toture is ok do-uo in the Bush Whitehouse.
eee,hasbarist,racist and liar; Israel is not at war with Hamas,Israel is a murderous illegal occupier of Gaza and the West Bank,conducting an illegal blockade of Gaza and stealing the land and water resources of Palestine.
Well put Khelil,just a word for pabelmont,I can recomend a biography The Lion King; Hussein Of Jordan it is clear that he and his grandfather Abdullah gave away Palestinian rights to secure the Hashemite dynasty.
Israel, as any semi-literate person must be aware attacked Egypt on June 4 1967 and has been in illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza ever since.In 1973 Egypt and Syria attacked Israeli occupation forces in the Sinai and Golan-Israel's supposedly heroic surrounding of the Egyptian 3rd Army was achieved by continuing to advance on and kill Egyptian troops standing down in compliance with the cease-fire agreement for 3 days after that cessation of hostilities was confirmed by all belligerents including Israel.Hezbollah learned that lesson very well and refused a cease-fire request by the Israelis as they were driven out of Lebanon in 2000.Hows that for easily verifiable historical fact as opposed to tired repetition of Zionist myths.
Whenever discussing the "I/P" situation,and whatever tired regurgitation of the false Israeli narrative-Israel the victim,existential threat,biblical connection,"certain ahem demographic changes",no partner for peace-and on and tiresomely on,one should just respond: yeah but it's all those illegal colonists in all those illegal colonies on illegally stolen Palestinian land.Hello Congress,Obama European Union by Netanyahu's own count nearly 10% of Israel's population-including the Facist racist nutjob FM Lieberman live outside Israel on stolen land.repeat after me "It's the occupation,it's the occupation,it's the occupation".
Here are some simple questions the "media" seem unwilling to ask Obama:When you talk about "Israel's right to self-defence",why do you not mention Palestinians right to self-defence?,when you demand that Hamas renounce violence why do you not demand the same of Israel?when you demand that Palestinians acknowledge "Israel's right to exist",why don't you explain that no other country on Earth either demands or gives this to any other country on Earth?When you demand that Israel be acknowledged as "the Jewish state"what do you propose as the status of the 1.3 million Palestinian Israeli Muslims and Christians?and finally when you state that Israel must be able to defend itself, how will a de-militarized Palestine be able to defend ITSELF?
Correect me if I am wrong but I believe Palestine will ask the UN General Assembly to recognize a Palestinian state,so no US veto is possible,all reliable information I see is that already well over 100 countries have indicated their intention to support this I think that makes it a "fait accompli".
what utter scabrous cowards the mainstream media touts are,I have not read or heard anyone ask the obvious questions-it's ok for people interested in justice for the Palestinians to know what Netanyahu means by "profound demographic changes" but how about informing the great mass of slightly interested and badly misinformed people that ALL 650,000-lets use his figure-colonists in their over 130 illegal colonies have no right to be there and that it is a war crime and a crime against humanity.Another valid question is: having been given more than half of Palestine stolen 23% more in 1948 and illegally occupying the rest for 44 years what DO you think the native population is entitled to?
Ladies and gentlemen,boys and girls;all this talk about Israel's "defensible" borders Israel;4th largest military in the world,hundreds of F15 and F16 planes,hundreds of attack helicoptors,artillery,missiles,tanks...and between 200 and 400 nuclear weapons.The USA could not "push Israel into the sea".This has nothing to do with defending Israel,it is all about the relentless drive to ethnically cleans all of Palestine of it's native Palestinian people.
The volume of accurate easily verifiable historical records which show the true nature of the Zionist enterprise and how Israel was created along with the ongoing efforts to complete the ethnic cleansing of Palestine is so huge one wonders how any normal,rational,literate person could possibly interpret it any other way.The only possible conclusion is that of wilfull ignorance for to confront the truth DOES call into question the legitimacy of the state of Israel.
"Imagine my shock" says Michele,"when I discovered that some other people lived in that area and claimed the land was theirs" he continues with a look of genuine amazement."I have spent most of my life with my head all the way up my rectum, and had no idea it was not all Israel's".
I must take issue with your comment "Deir Yassin...mindless act of terrorism"It was in fact a carefully calculated act mass killing,rapes the disembowelment of some corpses and parading them through the streets so as to sow terror in the survivors and spread the news far and wide.You can read this in Benny Morris: Righteous Victims and Ilan Pappe:The Ethnic Cleansing Of Palestine
Good to see the most moral army in the world bravely protecting their thieving,illegal colonist brothers and sisters from the nasty natives.
In relation to Israel "witholding"tax revenue,who could be surprised,considering they have been stealing everything else for 64 years;land,houses,valuables,water,Palestinians national identity.
We should all rejoice that Egypt is to open the Rafah crossing,the siege of Gaza has been a disgrace,condemning Palestinians to malnutrition,homelesness,lack of clean water etc.To hear Israel whine that Egpyt is breaking an "international agreement"induces a hearty if cynical laugh-this from the serial breaker of international law,serial invader of neighbouring countries,repeat ignorer of UN resolutions,44 year long illegal occupier of Palestine-another example of the perpetrator claiming to be yhe victim.
Nicely put,I like the Counterpunch term for mainstream media:Fawning Corporate Media-FCM.I think really another term needs to be added:"generous offer";as if Israel legally is in any position to "offer" anything except the keys to the illegal colonies as they stream back across the border.On a serious note I firmly believe that people with an interest in justice for Palestinians need always to use the appropriate terms ie:illegal colony,brutally oppressive illegal 44 year occupation,illegal colonists,illegal apartheid wall etc.
While at the library check out a copy of Righteous Victims and The Birth Of The Palestinian Refugee Problem -Benny Morris-historian,racist and enthusiast of ethnic cleansing.Read stirring tales of the slaughters im Lydda,Ramle,Deir Yassin and dozens of others.Read Ilan Pappe-The Ethnic Cleansing Of Palestine-on such thoughtful extra measures as having driven out the Palestinians roadblocks are set up to rob the survivors of valuables and anything thought useful to the killers in their newly cleansed homes.Read how a filthy band of Jewish terrorists captured a Palestinian child,gang-raped her for 2 days then murdered her.Pangs of guilt 40 years on led to a story in Haaretz in 2003-a subsequent trial saw the heaviest sentence of 2 years jail for the actual murderer.Want some more reading tips?
Not forgetting the reaction to the 2006 exercise in democracy in the ME-Palestine remember,Hamas majority,shrieks of outrage from Israel,siege,mass killings 08/09-all with the approval of the US and the European Union.
NYT reaction to the use of weapons is but one of a nearly endless array of double standards regarding Israel's near daily assaults and crimes against Palestinians.A valid question to ask is how many dead Palestinians and over how many years is required before the "international community""intervenes",what level of death and destruction,theft of land,collective punishment illegal siege etc in Palestine before the holier than thou "West"-killers of over 1 million Iraqis 1991-2003-declare a "humanitarian disaster' in Palestine?The really tragic thing in my view is that Israel could be stopped in it's tracks without resort to force, by the US ceasing all aid-financial,weapons,diplomatic-for the love of God[Allah] the US vetos a Security council resolution which EXACTLY mirrors it's stated position on the "settlements".
I echo your sentiments and would add that Hamas,Hezbollah,Iraqi insurgents etc have an undeniable right to violently resist a brutal military occupation-although not to kill civilians.
I confidently predict that this emphatic rejection of any even partial retraction of the "Goldstone Report" by the other 3 members will rapidly sink from sight.Mainstream coverage of all aspects of the I/P conflict is so abysmally unbalanced[notwithstanding articles such as this Guardian peace].
Shot in the knee...sadly she can be considered lucky I have read reports that a disproportionately high number of Palestinians shot[dead and wounded] are head,neck and chest-more likely back-shots.