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If this is true, im heading out there right now to support them.
The real terrorism is from the rocket firing from Gaza.
What do you expect them to do? Disregard the rockets, and call it a day...
FREE Palestine! END the Occupation! STOP the Bombings! EDIT: BEGIN THE BOYCOTTS! PLEASE READ
- Thread in 'General' Thread starter Started by praise the x i,
- Start date
The real terrorism is from the rocket firing from Gaza.
What do you expect them to do? Disregard the rockets, and call it a day...
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Blame the Jews, what is new in society. Sorry dude, Palestine is the real problem. But you can't talk bad about Muslim societies in todays world. Thispost gets a L.
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A Jewish girl from my school who happens to be in Israel right now had this to say, if the link doesn't work for whatever reason tell me and I'll postthe blog directly
http://www.facebook.com/n...ote_id=47469565956&ref=nf
http://www.facebook.com/n...ote_id=47469565956&ref=nf
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you cant put a fire out with fire.Originally Posted by Kobe Fan
If this is true, im heading out there right now to support them.
The real terrorism is from the rocket firing from Gaza.
What do you expect them to do? Disregard the rockets, and call it a day...
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Looks like we have someone new to the conversation...Originally Posted by Kobe Fan
If this is true, im heading out there right now to support them.
The real terrorism is from the rocket firing from Gaza.
What do you expect them to do? Disregard the rockets, and call it a day...
Be prepared to be ridiculed.
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That article is propaganda garbage. But you aren't biased against Jews, are you MidEastBeast?
What a joke. I mean come on all Hamas wanted to do was sell girl scout cookies.
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I figured if people were throwing out pro-Israeli bias, why not add in some pro-Palestinian bias ?
Author had many good points though. Especially about the west bank.
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The real terrorism is from the rocket firing from Gaza.
Oh, you mean the rockets that are currently not killing anyone? The ones being fired out of frustration because Israel is not living up to the cease-fireagreement?
Oh yea, and of course, terrorism cannot be committed if you're wearing an Israeli military uniform. Even if over at least 62 Palestinian children havebeen killed so far alone. Even if the Israeli military commences with strikes during times in which children are coming home from school. That can't be terrorism, right?
There is simply no denying the discrepancy between Israel's atrocities and Hamas'.
I am saying this with sincerety: please educate yourselves on the crisis that is going on in the Occupied Territories people. Please.
In direct contravention of international law, Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields, utilizing homes, schools and community centers as launching pads, content in the knowledge that if innocent Palestinian civilians are caught in the cross-fire, it will be Israel that is criticized.
The VAST MAJORITY of the violations have been committed by Israel.
I felt that this was pretty insightful:
http://normanfinkelstein....cle.php?pg=11&ar=2348
By Adam Sheets
It is crucial that one has her/his facts straight about Israel's war on Gaza. What events brought about this dreadful situation? What needs to be done to make it stop? These questions will be answered in the content of this article, using concrete facts from a variety of news sources.
Let's first investigate the recent cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. The cease-fire began in June 2008. The terms were as follows:From the outset of the cease-fire, Israel did little to ease its military blockade. As a result, Gazans continued to suffer from a lack of food, fuel, financial aid, electricity, clean water, medical supplies, and more. This has been, inarguably, an attack on innocent Palestinian civilians.
- Israel would drastically reduce its military blockade of Gaza.
- Israel would halt all military incursions into Gaza.
- Hamas would halt all rocket attacks into Israel.
Despite the intense blockade against Gazan civilians, the cease-fire held until November 4, 2008. On that date, the Israeli military made an incursion into Gaza and killed six Palestinians. The Israeli government sought to justify these actions, saying that they suspected these Palestinians of plotting to kidnap Israeli soldiers. Palestinian fighters responded to the attack by launching rockets into Israel. Thus began the unraveling of the cease-fire.
- Gaza faces a humanitarian "catastrophe" if Israel continues to prevent aid reaching the territory by blocking crossing points, the head of the main UN aid agency for the Palestinians said on Friday ... Israel had restricted goods into Gaza despite the truce, which calls on militants to halt rocket attacks in return for Israel easing its embargo on the territory ... Israel also held up deliveries of European Union-funded fuel for the power plant, which generates about a third of the electricity consumed by Gazans... Ailments associated with insufficient food were surfacing among the impoverished coastal strip's 1.5 million population, including growing malnutrition.
--Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 21, 2008 [1]- A former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, has told the BBC she was taken aback by the "terrible" conditions in Gaza on a recent visit. Mrs Robinson said it was "almost unbelievable" that the world did not care about what she called "a shocking violation of so many human rights" ... Israel tightened a blockade on Gaza after Hamas took control there in 2007 ... "Their whole civilisation has been destroyed, I'm not exaggerating," said Mrs Robinson ...Israel says the blockade, under which it has allowed little more than basic humanitarian aid into Gaza, is needed to isolate the militant group and stop it and other militants from firing rockets into Israel. Israel came to a truce with Palestinian groups in June this year, but Mrs Robinson said this had had little effect on people's lives and "just brought a bitter taste in the mouth".
--BBC News, Nov. 4, 2008 [2]- The UN in the Gaza Strip says it will run out of food aid in two days unle Israel's blockade - which it describes as "shameful and unacceptable" - eases. The UN refugee agency UNWRA, which distributes food to half of Gaza's 1.5m people, called the blockade "a physical as well as a mental punishment". Israel is now allowing a limited amount of fuel acro the border, but it is still blocking food deliveries ... In a statement, UNWRA spokesman Christopher Gunne said food distribution operations would end on Thursday unle Israeli authorities allowed deliveries of wheat, luncheon meat, powdered milk and cooking oil without delay. "This is both a physical as well as a mental punishment of the population - of mothers and parents trying to feed their children - who are being forced to live hand to mouth," he said ... "It is a further illustration of the barbarity of this inhuman blockade." ... "It is also shameful and unacceptable that the largest humanitarian actor in Gaza is being forced into yet another cycle of crisis management," Mr Gunne added.
--BBC News, Nov. 11, 2008 [3]- International aid agencies, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, have said virtually no medical supplies were reaching Gaza. --Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 9, 2008 [14]
- The UN has no more food to distribute in the Gaza Strip, the head of relief efforts in the area has warned. John Ging said handouts for 750,000 Gazans would have to be suspended until Saturday at the earliest, and called Gaza's economic situation "a disaster". Israel earlier denied entry to a convoy carrying humanitarian supplies... The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) distributes emergency aid to about half of Gaza's 1.5m population. "We have run out [of food aid] this evening," said Mr Ging, UNRWA's senior official in Gaza. "Unle the crossing points open... we won't be able to get that food into Gaza," he told Reuters news agency ... Also on Thursday, Israel refused permission for a group of senior European diplomats to visit the coastal enclave. It has also prevented journalists, including those from the BBC, from entering the territory.
--BBC News, Nov. 13, 2008 [4]- Since June 2007, Israel has allowed little more than basic humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. Many there hoped that policy would change, five months ago, when Hamas and Israel agreed to a truce. But while there were some increases in the amount of aid allowed in, Israel's strict restrictions on the movement of goods and people into and out of Gaza largely remained... Serious fuel shortages have led to widespread power cuts acro Gaza City. That, in turn, has caused problems in pumping water to homes, and sewage to treatment plants. Israel is preventing many aid workers, and all journalists from entering Gaza too ... "I never thought we would see days like this," says Monther Shublak, head of Gaza's water authority. "The water system was severely stretched even before this crisis, but now, things are much worse. For the last four days, around 40% of people in Gaza City have had no acce to running water in their homes at all." ... "But we are putting all of our resources into sewage pumping. The health consequences of that system totally failing are too worrying to think about, but it could happen unle things change."
--BBC News, Nov. 20, 2008 [5]- Israel has refused to allow cash to enter Gaza in recent weeks to ratchet up pressure on the ruling Hamas militant group. With the supply of currency dwindling, banks have limited withdrawals over the past two weeks, and some have posted signs telling customers they cannot take out any more money ... The United Nations halted cash handouts to 98,000 of Gaza's poorest residents last week, and economists and bank officials warn that tens of thousands of civil servants won't be able to cash their paychecks next month ... "No society can operate without money, but that's the situation we are reaching in Gaza," said Gaza economist Omar Shaban ... Israel and Egypt have restricted movement through Gaza's border crossings since the Islamic militants of Hamas violently seized control of the coastal territory in June 2007. Since then, closures have been eased or tightened, depending on the security situation. But even in quiet times, when Gaza militants refrained from firing rockets at Israeli border towns, only limited shipments of food, medicine and commercial goods were allowed in... Shlomo Dror, an Israel Defense Ministry spokesman, questioned the seriousne of the currency shortage. "We are used to the Palestinians inventing things and we are looking into their claim," he said.
--Washington Post, Nov. 24, 2008 [6]As the cease-fire began to crumble, the violence from both sides intensified. Efforts to redeem the cease-fire ultimately failed.
- At least six Hamas militants have been killed after Israel's first incursion into the Gaza Strip since June's truce. Israel said its troops had uncovered a tunnel along central Gaza's frontier which had been dug by militants intending to abduct Israeli soldiers. Clashes ensued when troops were sent to thwart the threat, Israel said. One militant died, Palestinian reports say. A subsequent Israeli air strike on Hamas positions in southern Gaza killed at least five fighters, medics said. An Israeli army spokeswoman said the air strike targeted militants who had fired mortars at Israeli forces... Tuesday evening's fighting broke out after Israeli tanks and a bulldozer moved 250m into the central part of the coastal enclave, backed by military aircraft, says the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Ramallah. Residents of central Gaza's el-Bureij refugee camp said a missile fired from an unmanned Israeli drone flying over the area injured another three Hamas gunmen. A truce between the two sides had held since it was declared on 19 June. Israel said the raid was not a violation of the ceasefire, but rather a legitimate step to remove an immediate threat.
--BBC News, Nov. 5, 2008 [7]- An Israel Air Force air strike in the southern Gaza Strip killed at least five militants and wounded several others on Tuesday, Palestinians said. Earlier, Israel Defense Forces soldiers killed a Hamas gunman and wounded two others on Tuesday in the first armed clash in the Gaza Strip since a ceasefire was declared in the territory in June, Palestinian medics said ... An Egypt-brokered cease-fire agreement between Israel and the Gaza Strip was signed earlier this year, and went into effect on June 19. The IDF argued that the raid did not constitute a violation of the cease fire, but instead was a legitimate step to remove an immediate threat to Israel from Gaza, which is controlled by the Islamic militant group Hamas.
--Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 5, 2008 [8]- Two weeks ago, an already fragile humanitarian situation resulting from the mounting effects of months of shortages, saw a dramatic downturn. The fighting resumed, with an Israeli army incursion into Gaza and a retaliatory barrage of militant rocket fire.
--BBC News, Nov. 20, 2008 [5]Following the end of the cease-fire, Israel moved closer to an invasion of the territory. The Israeli government claimed that this was the only remaining option to eliminate rocket attacks from Gaza. However, as cited in the sources above, this was clearly not the case. Israel had failed to abide by the terms of the cease-fire. For the overwhelming majority of the six-month truce, Israel had refused to ease its military blockade of Gaza to any significant degree. In addition, it was the initial violator of the cease-fire when it sent tanks and aircraft into Gaza and killed six Palestinians on November 4, 2008. In fact, there is evidence that Israel was planning to strike Gaza even while the cease-fire was still in effect.
- Palestinian armed groups in Gaza remain committed to a truce with Israel if Jerusalem reciprocates, Hamas's Gaza leader said on Friday, even as militants launched more attacks from the coastal territory ... "I have met with armed factions over the past two days and they stated their position clearly: they are committed to calm as long as (Israel) abides by it," said Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas's most senior representative in Gaza. --Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 21, 2008 [9]
- Hamas announced on Sunday that militant groups in Gaza have agreed to cease cross-border attacks if Israel opens crossings into the coastal territory, Ma'an news reported.
--Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 24, 2008 [1- After expressing contradictory positions on Sunday, Hamas' leadership on Monday adopted a united stance: The cease-fire with Israel, which expires this Friday, will not be extended ... Hamas' spokesman in the Gaza Strip, Ayman Taha, said the movement had concluded that there was no point in extending the truce "as long as Israel isn't abiding by its terms" - though he added that talks on continuing the cease-fire were still taking place. Specifically, Taha said, Israel was supposed to have expanded the truce to the West Bank - something Hamas demanded but Israel in fact never promised - and opened the Gaza border crossings, and "this hasn't happened."
--Haaretz Israel News, Dec. 16, 2008 [11]In the interest of peace, Hamas, and especially Fatah, have firmly established that they are willing to participate in negotiations that are based on internationally recognized borders and rights.
- Barak told the assembled lawmakers that the defense establishment spent months preparing for the Gaza operation.
--Haaretz Israel News, Dec. 29, 2008 [16]Since Israel began its strike on Gaza, 4 Israelis and 391 Palestinians have been killed [18]. The White House said that Israel will cease its attack when Hamas has agreed to a truce. Hamas said they are open to any cease-fire propositions. A cease-fire has been proposed, but Israel rejected this offer.
- On June 6, 2006, Haniyeh met Dr. Jerome Segal of the University of Maryland in the Gaza Strip ... At the end of the meeting, Haniyeh dictated a short message he asked Segal to transmit to President Bush ... In the second paragraph, Haniyeh laid out the political platform he maintains to this day. "We are so concerned about stability and security in the area that we don't mind having a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders and offering a truce for many years," he wrote ... Haniyeh called on Bush to launch a dialogue with the Hamas government. "We are not warmongers, we are peace makers and we call on the American government to have direct negotiations with the elected government," he wrote ... In his own letter, Segal emphasized that a state within the 1967 borders and a truce for many years could be considered Hamas' de facto recognition of Israel. He noted that in a separate meeting, Youssuf suggested that the Palestinian Authority and Israel might exchange ambassadors during that truce period. This was not the only covert message from Hamas to senior Bush administration officials. However, Washington did not reply to these messages and maintained its boycott of the Hamas government.
--Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 14, 2008 [12]- The Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said on Saturday his government was willing to accept a Palestinian state alongside Israel within the 1967 borders ... Haniyeh told his guests Israel rejected his initiative ... He said the Hamas government had agreed to accept a Palestinian state that followed the 1967 borders and to offer Israel a long-term hudna, or truce, if Israel recognized the Palestinians' national rights... In response to a question about the international community's impression that there are two Palestinian states, Haniyeh said: "We don't have a state, neither in Gaza nor in the West Bank. Gaza is under siege and the West Bank is occupied. What we have in the Gaza Strip is not a state, but rather a regime of an elected government. A Palestinian state will not be created at this time except in the territories of 1967." ... "Our conflict is not with the Jews, our problem is with the occupation," Haniyeh said.
--Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 9, 2008 [14]- The Palestinian Authority has placed a full-page advert in Israel's Hebrew newspapers to promote an Arab peace plan first proposed in 2002. The Saudi-backed initiative offers Arab recognition of Israel in exchange for an end to Israel's occupation of land captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It also proposes what it calls a just solution for Palestinian refugees. The Israeli government has noted "positive aspects" in the plan but has not formally accepted it ... Peace Now, and Israeli campaign group, welcomed the publication of the adverts. "On behalf of a majority of Israeli citizens who support peace with the Palestinian people on the basis of a two state solution - we embrace the Arab Peace Initiative and urge both governments to endorse it and negotiate the final status agreement in its spirit," a statement from the group said ... The text reads: "Fifty-seven Arab and Muslim countries will establish diplomatic relations with Israel in exchange for a full peace accord and the end of the occupation."
--BBC News, Nov. 20, 2008 [13]- U.S. President-elect Barack Obama proclaimed himself "very impressed" with the Arab League's peace plan when he discussed it with President Shimon Peres during a brief visit to Israel four months ago, Peres said Tuesday ... The plan, originally proposed by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in 2002 and later adopted by the Arab League, states that Israel would receive full relations with the entire Arab world in exchange for a full withdrawal from all the territory it captured in 1967, including East Jerusalem, plus a solution to the refugee problem. The Bush Administration has said it views the plan positively, but its own road map peace plan and the understandings reached at last year's Annapolis summit have served as the basis of its diplomatic program.
--Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 19, 2008 [15]The international community must continue to demand that a cease-fire be implemented. In order to be successful, any agreement must call for 1) an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza, 2) an end to the Israeli invasion of Gaza, and 3) an end to all rocket attacks into Israel.
- "In order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable ceasefire," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
--BBC News, Dec. 29, 2008 [17]- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has rejected international calls for a 48-hour truce in the Gaza Strip to allow in more humanitarian aid... The 48-hour ceasefire plan to allow more aid into Gaza, was proposed by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha told AFP news agency that his group was open to any ceasefire propositions as long as they meant an end to the air strikes and a lifting of the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
--BBC News, Dec. 31, 2008 [18]
![0]](/styles/default/xenforo/NTemojis/alien.gif "Alien 0]")
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Originally Posted by Kobe Fan
If this is true, im heading out there right now to support them.
The real terrorism is from the rocket firing from Gaza.
What do you expect them to do? Disregard the rockets, and call it a day...
You try living under occupation for over 40 years with no rights, no control over your future, and no hope and see what kind of actions you would be takingagainst that occupying force.
Don't compare homemade crude rockets against one of the most powerful militaries in the world using all their might indiscriminately into densely populatedcities in Gaza.
Also, its not about being anti-jew cuz we're not, its about believing in whats right, just, and fair and thats for the Palestinians to be in control oftheir own land.
The rest of the world is on our side, its only through the protection of the United States that allows Israel to go on and do whatever it wants.
Just remember how this country was founded and what steps they took to gain their independence.
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Please read this:
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Originally Posted by TBONE95860
Looks like we have someone new to the conversation...Originally Posted by Kobe Fan
If this is true, im heading out there right now to support them.
The real terrorism is from the rocket firing from Gaza.
What do you expect them to do? Disregard the rockets, and call it a day...
Be prepared to be ridiculed.
I try to be as sensitive towards other opinions as possible.
But the truth is contagious.
Kobe Fan if you haven't read the many articles and posts in this thread before, then you should go ahead and do that before you formulate your stance onthe conflict.
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Oh, you mean the rockets that are currently not killing anyone? The ones being fired out of frustration because Israel is not living up to the cease-fire agreement?
Oh yea, and of course, terrorism cannot be committed if you're wearing an Israeli military uniform. Even if over at least 62 Palestinian children have been killed so far alone. Even if the Israeli military commences with strikes during times in which children are coming home from school. That can't be terrorism, right?
There is simply no denying the discrepancy between Israel's atrocities and Hamas'.
I am saying this with sincerety: please educate yourselves on the crisis that is going on in the Occupied Territories people. Please.
In direct contravention of international law, Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields, utilizing homes, schools and community centers as launching pads, content in the knowledge that if innocent Palestinian civilians are caught in the cross-fire, it will be Israel that is criticized.
The VAST MAJORITY of the violations have been committed by Israel.
I felt that this was pretty insightful:
http://normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=2348http://normanfinkelstein....cle.php?pg=11&ar=2348
By Adam Sheets
It is crucial that one has her/his facts straight about Israel's war on Gaza. What events brought about this dreadful situation? What needs to be done to make it stop? These questions will be answered in the content of this article, using concrete facts from a variety of news sources.
Let's first investigate the recent cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. The cease-fire began in June 2008. The terms were as follows:From the outset of the cease-fire, Israel did little to ease its military blockade. As a result, Gazans continued to suffer from a lack of food, fuel, financial aid, electricity, clean water, medical supplies, and more. This has been, inarguably, an attack on innocent Palestinian civilians.
- Israel would drastically reduce its military blockade of Gaza.
- Israel would halt all military incursions into Gaza.
- Hamas would halt all rocket attacks into Israel.
Despite the intense blockade against Gazan civilians, the cease-fire held until November 4, 2008. On that date, the Israeli military made an incursion into Gaza and killed six Palestinians. The Israeli government sought to justify these actions, saying that they suspected these Palestinians of plotting to kidnap Israeli soldiers. Palestinian fighters responded to the attack by launching rockets into Israel. Thus began the unraveling of the cease-fire.
- Gaza faces a humanitarian "catastrophe" if Israel continues to prevent aid reaching the territory by blocking crossing points, the head of the main UN aid agency for the Palestinians said on Friday ... Israel had restricted goods into Gaza despite the truce, which calls on militants to halt rocket attacks in return for Israel easing its embargo on the territory ... Israel also held up deliveries of European Union-funded fuel for the power plant, which generates about a third of the electricity consumed by Gazans... Ailments associated with insufficient food were surfacing among the impoverished coastal strip's 1.5 million population, including growing malnutrition.
--Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 21, 2008 [1]- A former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, has told the BBC she was taken aback by the "terrible" conditions in Gaza on a recent visit. Mrs Robinson said it was "almost unbelievable" that the world did not care about what she called "a shocking violation of so many human rights" ... Israel tightened a blockade on Gaza after Hamas took control there in 2007 ... "Their whole civilisation has been destroyed, I'm not exaggerating," said Mrs Robinson ...Israel says the blockade, under which it has allowed little more than basic humanitarian aid into Gaza, is needed to isolate the militant group and stop it and other militants from firing rockets into Israel. Israel came to a truce with Palestinian groups in June this year, but Mrs Robinson said this had had little effect on people's lives and "just brought a bitter taste in the mouth".
--BBC News, Nov. 4, 2008 [2]- The UN in the Gaza Strip says it will run out of food aid in two days unle Israel's blockade - which it describes as "shameful and unacceptable" - eases. The UN refugee agency UNWRA, which distributes food to half of Gaza's 1.5m people, called the blockade "a physical as well as a mental punishment". Israel is now allowing a limited amount of fuel acro the border, but it is still blocking food deliveries ... In a statement, UNWRA spokesman Christopher Gunne said food distribution operations would end on Thursday unle Israeli authorities allowed deliveries of wheat, luncheon meat, powdered milk and cooking oil without delay. "This is both a physical as well as a mental punishment of the population - of mothers and parents trying to feed their children - who are being forced to live hand to mouth," he said ... "It is a further illustration of the barbarity of this inhuman blockade." ... "It is also shameful and unacceptable that the largest humanitarian actor in Gaza is being forced into yet another cycle of crisis management," Mr Gunne added.
--BBC News, Nov. 11, 2008 [3]- International aid agencies, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, have said virtually no medical supplies were reaching Gaza. --Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 9, 2008 [14]
- The UN has no more food to distribute in the Gaza Strip, the head of relief efforts in the area has warned. John Ging said handouts for 750,000 Gazans would have to be suspended until Saturday at the earliest, and called Gaza's economic situation "a disaster". Israel earlier denied entry to a convoy carrying humanitarian supplies... The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) distributes emergency aid to about half of Gaza's 1.5m population. "We have run out [of food aid] this evening," said Mr Ging, UNRWA's senior official in Gaza. "Unle the crossing points open... we won't be able to get that food into Gaza," he told Reuters news agency ... Also on Thursday, Israel refused permission for a group of senior European diplomats to visit the coastal enclave. It has also prevented journalists, including those from the BBC, from entering the territory.
--BBC News, Nov. 13, 2008 [4]- Since June 2007, Israel has allowed little more than basic humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. Many there hoped that policy would change, five months ago, when Hamas and Israel agreed to a truce. But while there were some increases in the amount of aid allowed in, Israel's strict restrictions on the movement of goods and people into and out of Gaza largely remained... Serious fuel shortages have led to widespread power cuts acro Gaza City. That, in turn, has caused problems in pumping water to homes, and sewage to treatment plants. Israel is preventing many aid workers, and all journalists from entering Gaza too ... "I never thought we would see days like this," says Monther Shublak, head of Gaza's water authority. "The water system was severely stretched even before this crisis, but now, things are much worse. For the last four days, around 40% of people in Gaza City have had no acce to running water in their homes at all." ... "But we are putting all of our resources into sewage pumping. The health consequences of that system totally failing are too worrying to think about, but it could happen unle things change."
--BBC News, Nov. 20, 2008 [5]- Israel has refused to allow cash to enter Gaza in recent weeks to ratchet up pressure on the ruling Hamas militant group. With the supply of currency dwindling, banks have limited withdrawals over the past two weeks, and some have posted signs telling customers they cannot take out any more money ... The United Nations halted cash handouts to 98,000 of Gaza's poorest residents last week, and economists and bank officials warn that tens of thousands of civil servants won't be able to cash their paychecks next month ... "No society can operate without money, but that's the situation we are reaching in Gaza," said Gaza economist Omar Shaban ... Israel and Egypt have restricted movement through Gaza's border crossings since the Islamic militants of Hamas violently seized control of the coastal territory in June 2007. Since then, closures have been eased or tightened, depending on the security situation. But even in quiet times, when Gaza militants refrained from firing rockets at Israeli border towns, only limited shipments of food, medicine and commercial goods were allowed in... Shlomo Dror, an Israel Defense Ministry spokesman, questioned the seriousne of the currency shortage. "We are used to the Palestinians inventing things and we are looking into their claim," he said.
--Washington Post, Nov. 24, 2008 [6]As the cease-fire began to crumble, the violence from both sides intensified. Efforts to redeem the cease-fire ultimately failed.
- At least six Hamas militants have been killed after Israel's first incursion into the Gaza Strip since June's truce. Israel said its troops had uncovered a tunnel along central Gaza's frontier which had been dug by militants intending to abduct Israeli soldiers. Clashes ensued when troops were sent to thwart the threat, Israel said. One militant died, Palestinian reports say. A subsequent Israeli air strike on Hamas positions in southern Gaza killed at least five fighters, medics said. An Israeli army spokeswoman said the air strike targeted militants who had fired mortars at Israeli forces... Tuesday evening's fighting broke out after Israeli tanks and a bulldozer moved 250m into the central part of the coastal enclave, backed by military aircraft, says the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Ramallah. Residents of central Gaza's el-Bureij refugee camp said a missile fired from an unmanned Israeli drone flying over the area injured another three Hamas gunmen. A truce between the two sides had held since it was declared on 19 June. Israel said the raid was not a violation of the ceasefire, but rather a legitimate step to remove an immediate threat.
--BBC News, Nov. 5, 2008 [7]- An Israel Air Force air strike in the southern Gaza Strip killed at least five militants and wounded several others on Tuesday, Palestinians said. Earlier, Israel Defense Forces soldiers killed a Hamas gunman and wounded two others on Tuesday in the first armed clash in the Gaza Strip since a ceasefire was declared in the territory in June, Palestinian medics said ... An Egypt-brokered cease-fire agreement between Israel and the Gaza Strip was signed earlier this year, and went into effect on June 19. The IDF argued that the raid did not constitute a violation of the cease fire, but instead was a legitimate step to remove an immediate threat to Israel from Gaza, which is controlled by the Islamic militant group Hamas.
--Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 5, 2008 [8]- Two weeks ago, an already fragile humanitarian situation resulting from the mounting effects of months of shortages, saw a dramatic downturn. The fighting resumed, with an Israeli army incursion into Gaza and a retaliatory barrage of militant rocket fire.
--BBC News, Nov. 20, 2008 [5]Following the end of the cease-fire, Israel moved closer to an invasion of the territory. The Israeli government claimed that this was the only remaining option to eliminate rocket attacks from Gaza. However, as cited in the sources above, this was clearly not the case. Israel had failed to abide by the terms of the cease-fire. For the overwhelming majority of the six-month truce, Israel had refused to ease its military blockade of Gaza to any significant degree. In addition, it was the initial violator of the cease-fire when it sent tanks and aircraft into Gaza and killed six Palestinians on November 4, 2008. In fact, there is evidence that Israel was planning to strike Gaza even while the cease-fire was still in effect.
- Palestinian armed groups in Gaza remain committed to a truce with Israel if Jerusalem reciprocates, Hamas's Gaza leader said on Friday, even as militants launched more attacks from the coastal territory ... "I have met with armed factions over the past two days and they stated their position clearly: they are committed to calm as long as (Israel) abides by it," said Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas's most senior representative in Gaza. --Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 21, 2008 [9]
- Hamas announced on Sunday that militant groups in Gaza have agreed to cease cross-border attacks if Israel opens crossings into the coastal territory, Ma'an news reported.
--Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 24, 2008 [1- After expressing contradictory positions on Sunday, Hamas' leadership on Monday adopted a united stance: The cease-fire with Israel, which expires this Friday, will not be extended ... Hamas' spokesman in the Gaza Strip, Ayman Taha, said the movement had concluded that there was no point in extending the truce "as long as Israel isn't abiding by its terms" - though he added that talks on continuing the cease-fire were still taking place. Specifically, Taha said, Israel was supposed to have expanded the truce to the West Bank - something Hamas demanded but Israel in fact never promised - and opened the Gaza border crossings, and "this hasn't happened."
--Haaretz Israel News, Dec. 16, 2008 [11]In the interest of peace, Hamas, and especially Fatah, have firmly established that they are willing to participate in negotiations that are based on internationally recognized borders and rights.
- Barak told the assembled lawmakers that the defense establishment spent months preparing for the Gaza operation.
--Haaretz Israel News, Dec. 29, 2008 [16]Since Israel began its strike on Gaza, 4 Israelis and 391 Palestinians have been killed [18]. The White House said that Israel will cease its attack when Hamas has agreed to a truce. Hamas said they are open to any cease-fire propositions. A cease-fire has been proposed, but Israel rejected this offer.
- On June 6, 2006, Haniyeh met Dr. Jerome Segal of the University of Maryland in the Gaza Strip ... At the end of the meeting, Haniyeh dictated a short message he asked Segal to transmit to President Bush ... In the second paragraph, Haniyeh laid out the political platform he maintains to this day. "We are so concerned about stability and security in the area that we don't mind having a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders and offering a truce for many years," he wrote ... Haniyeh called on Bush to launch a dialogue with the Hamas government. "We are not warmongers, we are peace makers and we call on the American government to have direct negotiations with the elected government," he wrote ... In his own letter, Segal emphasized that a state within the 1967 borders and a truce for many years could be considered Hamas' de facto recognition of Israel. He noted that in a separate meeting, Youssuf suggested that the Palestinian Authority and Israel might exchange ambassadors during that truce period. This was not the only covert message from Hamas to senior Bush administration officials. However, Washington did not reply to these messages and maintained its boycott of the Hamas government.
--Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 14, 2008 [12]- The Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said on Saturday his government was willing to accept a Palestinian state alongside Israel within the 1967 borders ... Haniyeh told his guests Israel rejected his initiative ... He said the Hamas government had agreed to accept a Palestinian state that followed the 1967 borders and to offer Israel a long-term hudna, or truce, if Israel recognized the Palestinians' national rights... In response to a question about the international community's impression that there are two Palestinian states, Haniyeh said: "We don't have a state, neither in Gaza nor in the West Bank. Gaza is under siege and the West Bank is occupied. What we have in the Gaza Strip is not a state, but rather a regime of an elected government. A Palestinian state will not be created at this time except in the territories of 1967." ... "Our conflict is not with the Jews, our problem is with the occupation," Haniyeh said.
--Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 9, 2008 [14]- The Palestinian Authority has placed a full-page advert in Israel's Hebrew newspapers to promote an Arab peace plan first proposed in 2002. The Saudi-backed initiative offers Arab recognition of Israel in exchange for an end to Israel's occupation of land captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It also proposes what it calls a just solution for Palestinian refugees. The Israeli government has noted "positive aspects" in the plan but has not formally accepted it ... Peace Now, and Israeli campaign group, welcomed the publication of the adverts. "On behalf of a majority of Israeli citizens who support peace with the Palestinian people on the basis of a two state solution - we embrace the Arab Peace Initiative and urge both governments to endorse it and negotiate the final status agreement in its spirit," a statement from the group said ... The text reads: "Fifty-seven Arab and Muslim countries will establish diplomatic relations with Israel in exchange for a full peace accord and the end of the occupation."
--BBC News, Nov. 20, 2008 [13]- U.S. President-elect Barack Obama proclaimed himself "very impressed" with the Arab League's peace plan when he discussed it with President Shimon Peres during a brief visit to Israel four months ago, Peres said Tuesday ... The plan, originally proposed by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in 2002 and later adopted by the Arab League, states that Israel would receive full relations with the entire Arab world in exchange for a full withdrawal from all the territory it captured in 1967, including East Jerusalem, plus a solution to the refugee problem. The Bush Administration has said it views the plan positively, but its own road map peace plan and the understandings reached at last year's Annapolis summit have served as the basis of its diplomatic program.
--Haaretz Israel News, Nov. 19, 2008 [15]The international community must continue to demand that a cease-fire be implemented. In order to be successful, any agreement must call for 1) an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza, 2) an end to the Israeli invasion of Gaza, and 3) an end to all rocket attacks into Israel.
- "In order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable ceasefire," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
--BBC News, Dec. 29, 2008 [17]- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has rejected international calls for a 48-hour truce in the Gaza Strip to allow in more humanitarian aid... The 48-hour ceasefire plan to allow more aid into Gaza, was proposed by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha told AFP news agency that his group was open to any ceasefire propositions as long as they meant an end to the air strikes and a lifting of the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
--BBC News, Dec. 31, 2008 [18]
Best Article posted so far.
Sums everything up, with just facts.
Incredible. Thank you so much for posting that.
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Israel cannot give up East Jerusalem.
The moment they do there'll be a revolt.
Israel is not as coherent and tight a society as many would like to believe. It is very fractured.
Giving up East Jerusalem will create just as many problems as it will solve. Instead of fighting Palestinian terrorists, the IDF and the Palestinians will haveto fight Israeli terrorists creating trouble in East Jerusalem.
That'll put the Israelis int he same position as many of the Arab governments today. It'd be mighty difficult for the Israeli government to be seen asworking hand in hand with Arabs to fight other Jews even if those Israeli's are terrorists. Just like it's hard for Arab government to be seen onIsrael's side because, after all, they are fighting other Arabs, regardless of whether those Arabs are right or wrong.
The moment they do there'll be a revolt.
Israel is not as coherent and tight a society as many would like to believe. It is very fractured.
Giving up East Jerusalem will create just as many problems as it will solve. Instead of fighting Palestinian terrorists, the IDF and the Palestinians will haveto fight Israeli terrorists creating trouble in East Jerusalem.
That'll put the Israelis int he same position as many of the Arab governments today. It'd be mighty difficult for the Israeli government to be seen asworking hand in hand with Arabs to fight other Jews even if those Israeli's are terrorists. Just like it's hard for Arab government to be seen onIsrael's side because, after all, they are fighting other Arabs, regardless of whether those Arabs are right or wrong.
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but it's ALL Israel's fault....
find the rest of the article on CNN.com
Yup.....
Hamas keeps firing rockets at Israel
GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Hamas militants fired dozens of rockets into southern Israel on Monday despite a 10-day Israeli military campaign thatreportedly has left more than 500 Palestinians dead.
Neither Israel nor the Hamas leaders in Gaza showed any sign of considering a cease-fire in the face of continuing international pressure to do so.
"I can understand the eagerness of the international community to see the return to calm," Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Europeanforeign ministers in Jerusalem. "This is our dream as well. This is what we are looking for. Unfortunately, there are those who cannot accept the idea ofliving in peace in this region."
Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing, warned Israel that Izzedine al Qassam Brigades will continue rocket strikes "for manymonths" and vowed to strike deeper into Israeli territory. He spoke on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV.
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar also gave a televised address Monday, saying that the leadership in Gaza salutes "the resistance men" andthat their actions were justified because of what Israel has done.
"They [Israeli forces] shelled everyone in Gaza. ... They shelled children and hospitals and mosques," he said. "And in doing so, they gaveus legitimacy to strike them in the same way."
Israel on Monday continued its military assault on Gaza from the air and the ground. Heavy fighting erupted Monday night around Gaza City, the IsraelDefense Forces said. Earlier in the day, Israeli forces took "tens of Hamas militants" into custody, the military said. IDF also said that fightingbetween Hamas militants and Israeli troops left several of the militants injured, but it did not say how many.
Eight Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded during battles with Hamas militants Monday afternoon, IDF said. On Sunday, an Israeli soldier was killed,marking the first military death since the ground operation was launched Saturday night.
The military campaign has not stopped militants in Gaza from firing on southern Israel: 47 rockets and mortars struck Israel on Sunday and at least another40 on Monday, the Israeli military said.
One of the rockets hit a kindergarten in Ashdod, the military said. The school, like all Israeli educational facilities near the Gaza border, wasclosed.
The Israeli military said the ground assault -- which was launched Saturday night -- is the second phase of the operation to stop militants from firingrockets and mortars into southern Israel.
Israel began its air assault on Gaza on December 27 to stop the rocket attacksthat have killed four Israelis since the military campaign began.
"Before the military operation, the equation was that Hamas targets Israelis whenever it likes, and Israel shows restraint," Livni told foreignministers from the European Union on Monday.
"This is not going to be [any] longer the equation in this region. When Israel is targeted, Israel is going to retaliate."
Thousands of Israeli troops, backed by tanks, artillery and helicopters, have pushed deep into Gaza, essentially splitting it into the south and north.
"Every couple of minutes we hear an explosion," Gaza City resident Safa Joudeh said Monday. "We can see tanks coming closer and closer intoGaza."
She said most residents are confined to their homes and are without electricity and running out of food and water.
The ground war has resulted in mounting casualties in Gaza. More than 530 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its operation, including atleast 100 women and children, according to Palestinian medical sources. That number includes 82 Palestinians killed since the ground invasion -- 30 of themchildren and 20 women, the sources said. In addition, 2,750 Palestinians have been injured, most of them civilians, the sources said. iReport.com: Share reactions to "all-out war" in Gaza
Israel also stepped up its psychological campaign Monday, trying to turn Gazans against Hamas.
"Urgent message, warning to the citizens of Gaza," said a recorded phone call to Gaza resident Moussa El-Hadad. "Hamas is using you as humanshields. Do not listen to them. Hamas has abandoned you and are hiding in their shelters."
The Israeli military also dropped leaflets into the streets of Gaza warning residents that the IDF will continue using "full force against Hamas."It also warned that the military "also has other means to deal with Hamas."
"If the army uses them, the toll will be very painful," said the leaflet, signed by IDF command.
A delegation of EU foreign ministers is in Jerusalem to push for a truce, while Egypt is putting pressure on Hamas leaders in Gaza.
Israel on Monday allowed 80 trucks filled with humanitariansupplies to pass into Gaza.
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I don't understand why people think that this will STOP Hamas from firing rockets.
It is absolutely mind boggling the lack of logic so many people have. Why would they stop firing rockets now? They are being killed by the dozens. Theirchildren are being killed. They are watching them die in their arms.
But of course, they shouldn't be angry, they should want to lay down and stop fighting. Things just don't happen like this. People have pride, and thisincites anger within them. This will only create more people willing to fire the rockets.
It is absolutely mind boggling the lack of logic so many people have. Why would they stop firing rockets now? They are being killed by the dozens. Theirchildren are being killed. They are watching them die in their arms.
But of course, they shouldn't be angry, they should want to lay down and stop fighting. Things just don't happen like this. People have pride, and thisincites anger within them. This will only create more people willing to fire the rockets.
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Lack of logic? So Hamas truly doesn't care about their people do they? Who here has a lack of logic? Hamas who knows they are outgun, their people do nothave basic things such as food and water yet they want to continue with their rocket attacks knowing full well that Israel will continue their bombing? Hamashas got to be the dumbest organization in the history of mankind. Seriously.
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It is the people who's children are being killed that will keep Hamas going. They see what Israel is doing and they think that they have to fight back. Terror breeds terror. Killing does not help the situation for Israel, it only creates more members for Hamas.
Also, you fail to realize that these men and women truly belive that they can win. That they have every right to this land (which they do) and that they need to take it back. This is not stupid, this is nationalism, (well, nationalism can be pretty blind at times) and the need for Israel to give the Palestinian people a nation of their own.
Why not try and sit at a table and talk to them, give them a deal of some kind. One that isn't completely one sided like 2000 was. Then maybe progress would be made.
Still don't understand how they have this "right"? Where does it say they have a "right"?
Try to sit at the table? Did you just totally ignore the past 60 years?
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Still don't understand how they have this "right"? Where does it say they have a "right"?
Try to sit at the table? Did you just totally ignore the past 60 years?
This question was answered at least 6 times. Go look through the thread. Maybe you missed it. Maybe you just don't want to hear it. Either wayI'm not typing it out again.
Ignored the past 60 years? How so?
If anyone has, its you. You fail to realize that Israel is still occupying the land illegally. You choose to ignore everyone who tries to explain this to you.Then you come back and ask the same questions so people think you know what you're talking about. Stop. Just because you do this does not make you moreintelligent than anyone here, nor does it make your argument any more correct.
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This question was answered at least 6 times. Go look through the thread. Maybe you missed it. Maybe you just don't want to hear it. Either way I'm not typing it out again.
Ignored the past 60 years? How so?
If anyone has, its you. You fail to realize that Israel is still occupying the land illegally. You choose to ignore everyone who tries to explain this to you. Then you come back and ask the same questions so people think you know what you're talking about. Stop. Just because you do this does not make you more intelligent than anyone here, nor does it make your argument any more correct.
No, it wasn't answered. What that chick posted said "everybody is entitled to FREEDOM", where do you associate FREEDOM = STATE? It isn't thesame thing. Freedom is a Human Right a State is not.
Son, do you know what the Oslo Accords are?
In 2000 Ehud Barak offered Arafat a Palestinian state and he REFUSED!
Barak offered everything Arafat wanted INCLUDING the Muslim and Christian quarters of the Old City. God damn, dude read a %#%!%%# book!
People in Israel turned on Barak for offering that to Arafat. If Arafat would have accepted that plan by Barak he wouldve got assassinated like Yitzhak Rabindid for signing the Oslo Accords.
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people will be against Israel no matter what, Hamas was elected to serve as their government, a government that is recognized internationally as a terroristorganization and their leader is in exile.
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Originally Posted by Petrus
