1300 People Killed, 5400 Injured in Occupied Palestine

[Dash-Ate]

Endless Propaganda: The War on Terror is a Hoax

Paul Craig Roberts
Counterpunch
Wednesday, February 4, 2009

According to US government propaganda, terrorist cells are spread throughout America, making it necessary for the government to spy on all Americans and violate most other constitutional protections. Among President Bush’s last words as he left office was the warning that America would soon be struck again by Muslim terrorists.

If America were infected with terrorists, we would not need the government to tell us. We would know it from events. As there are no events, the US government substitutes warnings in order to keep alive the fear that causes the public to accept pointless wars, the infringement of civil liberty, national ID cards, and inconveniences and harassments when they fly.

The most obvious indication that there are no terrorist cells is that not a single neocon has been assassinated.

I do not approve of assassinations, and am ashamed of my country’s government for engaging in political assassination. The US and Israel have set a very bad example for al Qaeda to follow.

(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)



The US deals with al Qaeda and Taliban by assassinating their leaders, and Israel deals with Hamas by assassinating its leaders. It is reasonable to assume that al Qaeda would deal with the instigators and leaders of America’s wars in the Middle East in the same way.

Today every al Qaeda member is aware of the complicity of neoconservatives in the death and devastation inflicted on Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Gaza. Moreover, neocons are highly visible and are soft targets compared to Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. Neocons have been identified in the media for years, and as everyone knows, multiple listings of their names are available online.

Neocons do not have Secret Service protection. Dreadful to contemplate, but it would be child’s play for al Qaeda to assassinate any and every neocon. Yet, neocons move around freely, a good indication that the US does not have a terrorist problem.

If, as neocons constantly allege, terrorists can smuggle nuclear weapons or dirty bombs into the US with which to wreak havoc upon our cities, terrorists can acquire weapons with which to assassinate any neocon or former government official.

Yet, the neocons, who are the Americans most hated by Muslims, remain unscathed.

The “war on terror” is a hoax that fronts for American control of oil pipelines, the profits of the military-security complex, the assault on civil liberty by fomenters of a police state, and Israel’s territorial expansion.

There were no al Qaeda in Iraq until the Americans brought them there by invading and overthrowing Saddam Hussein, who kept al Qaeda out of Iraq. The Taliban is not a terrorist organization, but a movement attempting to unify Afghanistan under Muslim law. The only Americans threatened by the Taliban are the Americans Bush sent to Afghanistan to kill Taliban and to impose a puppet state on the Afghan people.

Hamas is the democratically elected government of Palestine, or what little remains of Palestine after Israel’s illegal annexations. Hamas is a terrorist organization in the same sense that the Israeli government and the US government are terrorist organizations. In an effort to bring Hamas under Israeli hegemony, Israel employs terror bombing and assassinations against Palestinians. Hamas replies to the Israeli terror with homemade and ineffectual rockets.

Hezbollah represents the Shi’ites of southern Lebanon, another area in the Middle East that Israel seeks for its territorial expansion.

The US brands Hamas and Hezbollah “terrorist organizations” for no other reason than the US is on Israel’s side of the conflict. There is no objective basis for the US Department of State’s “finding” that Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist organizations. It is merely a propagandistic declaration.

Americans and Israelis do not call their bombings of civilians terror. What Americans and Israelis call terror is the response of oppressed people who are stateless because their countries are ruled by puppets loyal to the oppressors. These people, dispossessed of their own countries, have no State Departments, Defense Departments, seats in the United Nations, or voices in the mainstream media. They can submit to foreign hegemony or resist by the limited means available to them.

The fact that Israel and the United States carry on endless propaganda to prevent this fundamental truth from being realized indicates that it is Israel and the US that are in the wrong and the Palestinians, Lebanese, Iraqis, and Afghans who are being wronged.

The retired American generals who serve as war propagandists for Fox “News” are forever claiming that Iran arms the Iraqi and Afghan insurgents and Hamas. But where are the arms? To deal with American tanks, insurgents have to construct homemade explosive devices out of artillery shells. After six years of conflict the insurgents still have no weapon against the American helicopter gunships. Contrast this “arming” with the weaponry the US supplied to the Afghans three decades ago when they were fighting to drive out the Soviets.

The films of Israel’s murderous assault on Gaza show large numbers of Gazans fleeing from Israeli bombs or digging out the dead and maimed, and none of these people is armed. A person would think that by now every Palestinian would be armed, every man, woman, and child. Yet, all the films of the Israeli attack show an unarmed population. Hamas has to construct homemade rockets that are little more than a sign of defiance. If Hamas were armed by Iran, Israel’s assault on Gaza would have cost Israel its helicopter gunships, its tanks, and hundreds of lives of its soldiers.

Hamas is a small organization armed with small caliber rifles incapable of penetrating body armor. Hamas is unable to stop small bands of Israeli settlers from descending on West Bank Palestinian villages, driving out the Palestinians, and appropriating their land.

The great mystery is: why after 60 years of oppression are the Palestinians still an unarmed people? Clearly, the Muslim countries are complicit with Israel and the US in keeping the Palestinians unarmed.

The unsupported assertion that Iran supplies sophisticated arms to the Palestinians is like the unsupported assertion that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. These assertions are propagandistic justifications for killing Arab civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in order to secure US and Israeli hegemony in the Middle East

[niss]

Last update - 20:06 04/02/2009
UN: Hamas seized food and blankets from needy Gazans
By The Associated Press and Haaretz Service
Tags: israel news, humanitarian aid

Hamas police in Gaza broke into a warehouse full of United Nations humanitarian supplies and seized thousands of blankets and food packages, a United Nations spokesman said Wednesday, a rare public clash between the international agency that feeds much of the territory and the militant group that rules it.

The incident highlighted difficulties facing donors seeking to bypass Hamas while helping Gazans survive and rebuild after Israel's three-week military offensive.

"Hamas policemen stormed into an aid warehouse in Gaza City Tuesday evening and confiscated 3,500 blankets and over 400 food parcels ready for distribution to 500 families," said United Nations Relief and Works Agency spokesman Christopher Gunness.
Advertisement
"They were armed, they seized this, they took it by force," Gunness said, terming the incident absolutely unacceptable.

Police seized the aid after UNRWA officials refused to voluntarily hand it over to the Hamas-run Ministry of Social Affairs, he said. Similar aid packages were distributed to 70,000 residents over the past two weeks, Gunness said.

Ahmad Kurd, the Hamas official in charge of the ministry, did not deny the aid was seized. Other Hamas officials defended their actions.

Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu demanded an apology and said UNRWA was spreading false news. Ihab Ghussein, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the incident occurred because the UN was storing the blankets in an area not authorized to be distributed.

UN officials said the aid was kept in a local storage facility because the organization's regular warehouses were full. The UN, human rights groups and Palestinians have often complained that a blockade by Israel and Egypt has left Gaza critically short of vital supplies.

Senior UN official John Ging said aid distribution would continue. "We are not going to punish the refugees for the irresponsible actions of a few," Ging said.

"The stakes are very high," Ging said. "Whatever donors give us by way of assistance has to be fully accounted for".

The ability of Hamas to provide aid is crucial to maintaining support for its rule in the territory.

Gaza residents are facing more hardship since Israel's devastating three-week military offensive, which ended Jan. 18. The operation, aimed at halting rocket fire by Palestinian militants, killed 1,300 including hundreds of civilians and left thousands destitute after their homes were damaged or destroyed.

Kurd said the Hamas government had already distributed $50 million in emergency relief to residents and promised additional payments for hardship cases.

On Wednesday, Benjamin Netanyahu, the hard-line candidate for prime minister who is leading in polls a week before Israel's election, charged that Israel's offensive was stopped too early. He said Wednesday that the military should have been allowed to put an end to Hamas arms smuggling from Egypt. He also said, "There is no choice but to uproot the Iranian-backed regime in Gaza."

The United Nations is expected to take a leading role in rebuilding Gaza, because Israel and the international community will not deal with Hamas, labeling it a terror organization.

Some international donors have expressed concern that funds meant to rebuild Gaza could fall into the militant Islamic group's hands, and the UN had been trying to calm those fears.

"We are very concerned, but this is an isolated incident, we hope," said Alix de Mauny, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, one of the largest donors to the Palestinians. "We will react accordingly if this develops beyond an isolated incident," de Mauny said. The EC contributed $626 million to the Palestinians in 2008.

Israeli officials say the incident vindicated their long-standing claims that Hamas routinely confiscates aid meant for needy Gazans.

"We have said in the past that we know Hamas is stealing humanitarian aid and donations from international organizations," said military spokesman Peter Lerner.

However, Gunness said this was the first time Hamas seized UNRWA supplies. "Does anyone really think that the Americans, who are our single largest donor, or the Europeans, who are our largest multination donor, would give us aid in the generous way they do if they thought that aid would go to terrorists?" Gunness asked.

The West Bank-based government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a fierce rival of Hamas, is also sending $600 million in aid, hoping to earn the loyalty of Gaza residents. Hamas expelled forces loyal to Abbas when it overran Gaza in 2007.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who heads Abbas' Western-backed government, said the project would cover all houses destroyed or damaged during the Israeli military offensive.

"The amount of the project is $600 million. Most of it will come from donors," Fayyad said in a speech, adding that the details would be announced in the coming days.

Egypt is to host an international conference in coordination with Abbas's Palestinian Authority on March 2 on Gaza reconstruction, whose cost has been estimated at $2 billion. Saudi Arabia has said it would donate e1 billion.

Last week, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit urged Europe to help with fast aid for the Gaza Strip, saying the reconstruction meeting would require damage assessments and the support of the European Union, the United Nations and others.
Last update - 20:06 04/02/2009
UN: Hamas seized food and blankets from needy Gazans
By The Associated Press and Haaretz Service
Tags: israel news, humanitarian aid

Hamas police in Gaza broke into a warehouse full of United Nations humanitarian supplies and seized thousands of blankets and food packages, a United Nations spokesman said Wednesday, a rare public clash between the international agency that feeds much of the territory and the militant group that rules it.

The incident highlighted difficulties facing donors seeking to bypass Hamas while helping Gazans survive and rebuild after Israel's three-week military offensive.

"Hamas policemen stormed into an aid warehouse in Gaza City Tuesday evening and confiscated 3,500 blankets and over 400 food parcels ready for distribution to 500 families," said United Nations Relief and Works Agency spokesman Christopher Gunness.
Advertisement
"They were armed, they seized this, they took it by force," Gunness said, terming the incident absolutely unacceptable.

Police seized the aid after UNRWA officials refused to voluntarily hand it over to the Hamas-run Ministry of Social Affairs, he said. Similar aid packages were distributed to 70,000 residents over the past two weeks, Gunness said.

Ahmad Kurd, the Hamas official in charge of the ministry, did not deny the aid was seized. Other Hamas officials defended their actions.

Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu demanded an apology and said UNRWA was spreading false news. Ihab Ghussein, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the incident occurred because the UN was storing the blankets in an area not authorized to be distributed.

UN officials said the aid was kept in a local storage facility because the organization's regular warehouses were full. The UN, human rights groups and Palestinians have often complained that a blockade by Israel and Egypt has left Gaza critically short of vital supplies.

Senior UN official John Ging said aid distribution would continue. "We are not going to punish the refugees for the irresponsible actions of a few," Ging said.

"The stakes are very high," Ging said. "Whatever donors give us by way of assistance has to be fully accounted for".

The ability of Hamas to provide aid is crucial to maintaining support for its rule in the territory.

Gaza residents are facing more hardship since Israel's devastating three-week military offensive, which ended Jan. 18. The operation, aimed at halting rocket fire by Palestinian militants, killed 1,300 including hundreds of civilians and left thousands destitute after their homes were damaged or destroyed.

Kurd said the Hamas government had already distributed $50 million in emergency relief to residents and promised additional payments for hardship cases.

On Wednesday, Benjamin Netanyahu, the hard-line candidate for prime minister who is leading in polls a week before Israel's election, charged that Israel's offensive was stopped too early. He said Wednesday that the military should have been allowed to put an end to Hamas arms smuggling from Egypt. He also said, "There is no choice but to uproot the Iranian-backed regime in Gaza."

The United Nations is expected to take a leading role in rebuilding Gaza, because Israel and the international community will not deal with Hamas, labeling it a terror organization.

Some international donors have expressed concern that funds meant to rebuild Gaza could fall into the militant Islamic group's hands, and the UN had been trying to calm those fears.

"We are very concerned, but this is an isolated incident, we hope," said Alix de Mauny, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, one of the largest donors to the Palestinians. "We will react accordingly if this develops beyond an isolated incident," de Mauny said. The EC contributed $626 million to the Palestinians in 2008.

Israeli officials say the incident vindicated their long-standing claims that Hamas routinely confiscates aid meant for needy Gazans.

"We have said in the past that we know Hamas is stealing humanitarian aid and donations from international organizations," said military spokesman Peter Lerner.

However, Gunness said this was the first time Hamas seized UNRWA supplies. "Does anyone really think that the Americans, who are our single largest donor, or the Europeans, who are our largest multination donor, would give us aid in the generous way they do if they thought that aid would go to terrorists?" Gunness asked.

The West Bank-based government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a fierce rival of Hamas, is also sending $600 million in aid, hoping to earn the loyalty of Gaza residents. Hamas expelled forces loyal to Abbas when it overran Gaza in 2007.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who heads Abbas' Western-backed government, said the project would cover all houses destroyed or damaged during the Israeli military offensive.

"The amount of the project is $600 million. Most of it will come from donors," Fayyad said in a speech, adding that the details would be announced in the coming days.

Egypt is to host an international conference in coordination with Abbas's Palestinian Authority on March 2 on Gaza reconstruction, whose cost has been estimated at $2 billion. Saudi Arabia has said it would donate e1 billion.

Last week, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit urged Europe to help with fast aid for the Gaza Strip, saying the reconstruction meeting would require damage assessments and the support of the European Union, the United Nations and others.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1061426.html

[Four1oh]

The bleeding hearts have sure been quiet lately...

[sky's the limit]

The bleeding hearts have sure been quiet lately...

Well,

I think wasting my time on a few people who seem to want to justify these actions isn't the best use of my day.

There are obvious atrocities on both sides - this is why these things should not be happening in the first place. I for one, don't have the energy to argue with people who think this is a game of tit-for-tat. Not anymore.

stl

[2R]

I have a question. I heard that the palestinians SOLD their land way back when to the Israelis and/or the UN sometime after WWII. Is that true?

Interesting perspective.Does that mean if i sell my house i sell my country as well ?

[niss]

I have a question. I heard that the palestinians SOLD their land way back when to the Israelis and/or the UN sometime after WWII. Is that true?

Interesting perspective.Does that mean if i sell my house i sell my country as well ?

Interesting perspective, what country would that be?

[2R]

I have a question. I heard that the palestinians SOLD their land way back when to the Israelis and/or the UN sometime after WWII. Is that true?

Interesting perspective.Does that mean if i sell my house i sell my country as well ?

Interesting perspective, what country would that be?

Take yout pick ,as there seems to be a pattern here in the violent history of the world.

No one can doubt your blind obidience and loyalty to your race and religion .But please take a moment to think about how wrong it is to slaughter children in a civil war .I would point out that anyone who uses your loyalty and love of your fellowman to engage in unjust unlawful murder is not your true friend .

[Four1oh]

The bleeding hearts have sure been quiet lately...

Well,

I think wasting my time on a few people who seem to want to justify these actions isn't the best use of my day.

There are obvious atrocities on both sides - this is why these things should not be happening in the first place. I for one, don't have the energy to argue with people who think this is a game of tit-for-tat. Not anymore.

stl

How about a response to the truth that came out? The fact that a school did not get bombed as Hamas and their supporting media reporters said?

[niss]

Interesting perspective, what country would that be?

Take yout pick ,as there seems to be a pattern here in the violent history of the world.

No one can doubt your blind obidience and loyalty to your race and religion .But please take a moment to think about how wrong it is to slaughter children in a civil war .I would point out that anyone who uses your loyalty and love of your fellowman to engage in unjust unlawful murder is not your true friend .

What civil war? This was a war between an independent nation and a semi independent de facto government.

This was not unlawful murder this was war with civilians caught in the crossfire. These were civilian casualties who died in a war. They were not rounded up and executed. Apply some context to the situation.

And you asked did they sell their country as well?

Well their country was the ottoman empire, then they were occupied by the British, then the Egyptians & Jordanians. So they sold their own land, but they never had an actual country.

[Four1oh]

When you have a war against an army who dress as civilians, hide amongst the civilians, even targets civilians and then blames the other side for civilian casulties, wtf are you supposed to do?

[Four1oh]

Egypt holds $11M in Hamas money bound for Gaza


REUTERSFEBRUARY 5, 2009 9:02 AM


ISMAILIA, Egypt - Egyptian authorities prevented senior Hamas member Ayman Taha from returning to the Gaza Strip on Thursday because he had more than $11 million in cash in his bags, police sources said.

Taha was part of a Hamas delegation which has been in Cairo this week for talks with Egyptian intelligence on a long-term truce between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in Gaza.

Hamas officials will return to Cairo on Saturday to resume the talks, the Egyptian state agency MENA said.

The police sources at the Rafah border crossing into Gaza said the border authorities were contacting the Egyptian finance ministry to ask for instructions on Taha's money.

They said the money comprised $9 million in U.S. dollars and 2 million euros ($2.56 million).

The five other members of the Hamas delegation, including Jamal Abu Hashim and Salah el-Bardawil, were allowed to cross.

On two previous occasions Egypt has allowed the Palestinian foreign minister at the time, Mahmoud el-Zahar of Hamas, to go back into Gaza carrying about $20 million in cash each time.

The money was needed to pay salaries at a time when Western sanctions made bank transfers difficult.

The sanctions are still in place, and Israel also recently prevented the Western-backed Palestinian Authority from transferring cash to the Gaza Strip to pay its staff there, according to Western and Palestinian officials.

Egyptian Finance Ministry officials were not immediately available to comment.

© Copyright (c) Reuters
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Egypt+ ... story.html



Now I wonder what all that money was for. Humanitarian aid? No, wait, they just plunder that when they see fit; god forbid any aid goes to any members of Fatah.

[JakeYYZ]

Has the UN gone to the dark side?

UNRWA suspends Gaza aid after Hamas steals food and supplies
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on Friday said it is suspending humanitarian aid in Gaza until further notice, after Hamas seized control of its warehouses and stole 200 tons of food and supplies.

The agency said it made the decision after Hamas personnel seized an aid shipment on Thursday. Earlier this week, Hamas police took thousands of blankets and food parcels meant for needy residents.

In a statement, UNRWA said 10 truckloads of flour and rice that had been
delivered into Gaza on Thursday were taken away by trucks affiliated with the Hamas-run Ministry of Social Affairs. Earlier this week, Hamas police took thousands of blankets and food parcels meant for needy residents.

UNRWA said the suspension would remain in effect until the aid is returned and the agency receives credible assurances from the Hamas government that such thefts will end. There was no immediate reaction from Hamas.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1062219.html

That’s a Disproportionate Response! Collective Punishment! It’s Genocidal!!
What if Hamas shot rockets at the UN? What if they shot, oh say, about 10,000 rockets? What would they do then?

[2R]

So the children will be starved to death now instead of being bombed ,mortered or shot.
When the summer heat comes disease will follow, the lack of water and electricity will cause the disease outbreaks in the gaza ghettoes.

[niss]

So the children will be starved to death now instead of being bombed ,mortered or shot.
When the summer heat comes disease will follow, the lack of water and electricity will cause the disease outbreaks in the gaza ghettoes.

And who would you directly blame for this situation?

Let me guess, its Israel's fault they need the aid that was taken by Hamas?

[bob sacamano]

Well, I ask myself, why are the palestinians still alive? They should've been nice and died when israelis were massacring them.

So really, it's their fault for still being alive and not getting their blankets.

[bob sacamano]

God's chosen people folks;

[reality check]

Johann Hari: The nightmare of Netanyahu returns

This is the man calling for the re-occupation of Gaza to 'liquidate' its elected government

Friday, 6 February 2009


Israel is about to make a misjudgement as disastrous – and deadly – as the attack on Gaza. In a few days, it looks as if it could elect Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister once again.


This is a man calling for the violent re-occupation of Gaza to "liquidate" its elected government. This is a man who says he will "naturally grow" the West Bank settlements. This is a man who says he will "never" negotiate over Jerusalem, or the Golan Heights, or control of the West Bank water supply.

This is a man who says establishing a Palestinian state would leave Israel with, "an existential threat and a public relations nightmare reminiscent of 1938 Czechoslovakia". This is a man who Yitzhak Rabin's widow said helped create a climate of hate that led to his murder.

The political beneficiaries of Operation Cast Lead have been Israel's hard-right. The opinion poll numbers have surged for Netanyahu's Likud and for the even more extreme Avigdor Lieberman. They say the only problem with the 23-day bombing of Gaza – killing 410 children, and hugely strengthening support for Hamas – is that it did not go far enough. The world urgently needs to look at these individuals – and ask how this came to pass.

The key to understanding Netanyahu lies with his father, Benzion. He is a distinguished scholar of medieval history who believes the world is eternally and ineradicably riddled with genocidal anti-Semitism. When he arrived in British Mandate Palestine, he declared that the majority of Jews there were naïve and idealistic. They had to immediately seize the entire Biblical land of Israel – taking all of the West Bank and stretching right into present-day Jordan. There could be no compromise, ever, with the Arabs, who only understand force. The man he calls his mentor, Abba Ahimeir, described himself proudly as "a fascist".

Today, Benzion's son routinely compares dealing with the Palestinians to dealing with the Nazis. He can only understand their anger as a resurfacing of Europe's irrational, murderous hate. He insists they have no right to a share of the land because they "stole" it – in 636AD. Accordingly, Netanyahu rubbishes every peace initiative offered by Israel. His reaction to Yitzhak Rabin's decision to sign the mild and moderate Oslo accords with Yasser Arafat reveals the depth of his opposition to compromise. He warmly addressed crowds that chanted "Rabin is a Nazi" and "through blood and fire, Rabin shall expire". He called the former prime minister "a traitor", shortly before Rabin was murdered by a Jewish fundamentalist who agreed.

The other person who has surged ahead in the polls – and looks likely to be Netanyahu's coalition partner – is Avigdor Lieberman, a Russian ex-nightclub bouncer who says the model for dealing with the Palestinians should be Vladimir Putin's 1990s bombardment of Chechnya, which caused the death of a third of the entire population. He wants the political parties elected by Israeli Arabs to be criminalised, snapping that they should be dealt with "like Hamas".

Perhaps even more depressing than their rise is the flat and flat-lining response form the other parties. Both Kadima and Labour militantly defend the blockade and bombing of Gaza, not least because their leaders – Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak – led the charge in Cabinet. Even Barak has picked up the comparison to Putin and started approvingly quoting the new Tsar of Russia. The brave pro-peace parties like Meeretz are shunted far to the margins of the debate.

How did this happen? It is essential to remember that the Israelis didn't end up in the Middle East out of a wicked desire to colonise and kill, as some people now gleefully claim. They are there because they were fleeing genocidal Jew-hatred. That doesn't justify a single crime against a single Palestinian – but if we forget this, and the unimaginably vast trauma that lies behind it, we cannot understand what is happening now.

Over the past few months, I keep returning to an extraordinary essay written by the great Israel novelist Amos Oz in 1982. The Likud Prime Minister Menachem Begin had compared the Palestinian leadership to Adolf Hitler, so Oz wrote: "You display an urge to resurrect Hitler from the dead so you may kill him over and over again each day... Like many Jews, I feel sorry I didn't kill Hitler with my bare hands. But there is not, and there never will be, any healing for the open wound. Tens of thousands of dead Arabs will not heal that wound. Because, Mr Begin, Adolf Hitler is dead. He is not hiding in Nabatiyah, in Sidon, or in Beirut. He is dead and burned to ashes."

Israeli society consists, Oz says, of "a bunch of half-hysterical refugees and survivors". The 2,000-year trauma of the blood libel, the Inquisition, the pogroms, Auschwitz and Chelmno and the Gulag Archipelago, have produced a distorted vision, where every shriek of pain directed at Israel can sound like the rumble beginning in the massed crowds at Nuremberg.

This means that Israel is missing opportunities for peace. Even much of Hamas – an Islamist party I passionately oppose – is amenable to a long ceasefire along the 1967 borders. That isn't my opinion; it is the view of Yuval Diskin, the current head of the Israeli security service Shin Bet. He told the Israeli Cabinet before the bombing of Gaza that Hamas would restore the ceasefire if Israel would only end the blockade of the Strip and declare a ceasefire on the West Bank. Instead, they bombed, and the offer died.

The former head of Mossad, Ephraim Halevy, says that Hamas, "will have to adopt a path that could lead them far from their original goals" if only Israel will begin the path of compromise. This would drain support for rejectionists such as Osama Bin Laden and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and make it easier to build international coalitions.

Instead, too many Israelis – imprisoned by their history – seem determined to choose the opposite path: of Netanyahu and Lieberman and ramming an endless alienating boot on to the throat of the Palestinians. It doesn't have to be like this. We can only say to them with Amos Oz, as urgently as we can: Adolf Hitler is not hiding in Gaza City, or Beit Hanoun, or Hebron. Adolf Hitler is dead.

[Four1oh]

Bob, what's your point?




etc. etc. etc.

[bob sacamano]

I had a whole reply for you, but once I re-read it, I realized that there was nothing new in what I said.

The answer to your question is in the pictures themselves.

[Inverted2]

Bob, what's your point?




etc. etc. etc.

Alright, my halloween costume search for next year is over!!!!

[2R]

I wonder when they will install crematoriums for the Gaza Ghettoes to dispose of all those who wil die from the diseases's that poor water ,sanitation ,and poor nutrition will cause.
It seems history is indeed about to repeat itself

[...]

I think we can agree that public forums only bring together people that have common ideas and perceptions going against other with opposite ideas and perceptions on life and beliefs.

What do I think you ask?.....I can't wait for December 21, 2012.

If nothing happens on that day...I'M GOING TO BE SOOOO PISSED OFF!!

[Four1oh]

Can I save you the trouble, BD? It'll be just another day...

[bob sacamano]

[Spokes]

I give up. What happens in 2012?