Independent Media Centre Ireland     http://www.indymedia.ie

Israel- Expansionism even as Joe Biden arrives to negotiate a settlement between Israel and the bele

category galway | crime and justice | opinion/analysis author Friday March 12, 2010 11:45author by donkylemore - self

..imbalance of power in Middle East - a drastic solution

The UN mandate 424 demands that Israel return to it's pre '67 borders.
She has refused to do so in 40 years.
Israel 's hegemony in the region is manifest in her military and social expansionist policies .
She ignores the rest of the world , perpetrates whatever atrocities she chooses with impunity. When criticized by the Goldstein report she attacked Goldstein , then attacken the UN for having the timerity to criticize her invasion of Lebanon and killing of over 1400 civilians.
There is one bizarre and paradoxical for a recalibrating the balance of power in the Middle East....

Even as Joe Biden's plane were touching down this week the caterpillar tracks of the bulldozers were already crunching their way into the heart of Palestinian Jerusalem in another vicious land grab from their poorer neighbor . More settlements go up in the ancient city as Mr Obama's highest serving officer comes to negotiate a deal between Israel and Palestine .
The avuncular Mr Mitchell has endured derision and scorn during his tenure thus far in the Middle East chiefly at the hands of Israel. Initially all seemed to auger well for some movement towards a resolution concerning the 2 state proposal and a final settlement in Jerusalem. Ms Clinton's appearance on the scene seemed to enhance such hopes. But back home after his magnificent Cairo address , Obama seemed to shut down and lost his enthusiasm for reining in Israel or even ameliorating her hegemony in Palestine .
The building of settlements in Jerusalem not only breaches UN decree every day- it is a betrayal of the deal struck by Clinton with both sides.- remember that famous photo shot of both sides shaking hands on the White House Lawn ? Remember Arafat at the UN - ''Dont let me drop the olive branch'' he said - Kalashnikov in his other hand when he addressed the UN in the 70's
He pleaded , implored . Israel expanded their army and invaded Lebanon in a gesture to show their military supremacy in the region . The Un were sent in to ensure that Isreal return to it's pre- '67 borders . It has not done so in over 40 years .
Would such a flagrant infraction of a UN brokered mandate by any other nation on earth.?

But Mt Obama's seems to be thinking - perhaps wisely- in a parallel world. His focus would be on whether Israel is really shaping up to a nuclear strike on Iran.
If he can not stay the hand of Israel regarding a preemptive nuclear strike on Iran - Obama could introduce the MAD deterrent by giving a bomb to the Iranians - Or the Palestinians for that matter.
The world will not criticize Israel for her repeated land grabs on the Palestinians for fear of the Israelis playing the Holocaust card - and how effective a silencer that is..
It is like the Irish playing the Famine card to the Brits . Eventually you have to come up with a more potent proposal than nostalgia , while always respecting the tragedy of the atrocity.
Dialogue eventually worked in N. Ireland .

It worked because when the UVA and UVF were doing body building exercises in the Maze the IRA were studying a political approach.

And we almost have peace there at last.. of course there were IRA body builders in the Maze also and it is these factions on both sides who are responsible for the recent troubles.

But back to Messrs Obama and Biden . What will they do if anything?

Comments (43 of 43)

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author by HBpublication date Sat Mar 13, 2010 19:44author address author phone

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120672§ionid=3...20203

wo Israeli tanks have crossed their technical fence near the border with Lebanon two kilometers south of the disputed Ghajar village.

The United Nations peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, also known as the UNIFIL, were present in the area along with Lebanese Armed Forces to make sure that the Israeli forces did not cross the UN demarcated Blue Line.

UNIFIL spokesperson Neeraj Singh told Press TV no violation has occurred as the Israeli tanks did not actually cross the Blue Line.

This is while Lebanese airspace is being constantly violated by Israeli fighter jets which at times break sound barriers over villages in southern parts of the country.

In late February, several Israeli fighters invaded Lebanese airspace overnight and hovered over the southern towns of Sidon, Marjayoun and Hasbaya.

Earlier in the month, Lebanese Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Elias Murr expressed concerns over continuous, near-daily Israeli airspace violations, saying the Israeli war planes had flown over Lebanon on 6,500 occasions.

The UN considers Israeli violation of Lebanese airspace to be against Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 33-day war Israel waged against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in the summer of 2006.

While the Lebanese military reports on an almost daily basis airspace violation by Israeli fighter planes, it does not normally open fire on intruding aircraft.

In 2000, Israel finally moved to abide by a UN Security Council resolution that called on Tel Aviv to end the almost two-decade-long occupation of southern Lebanon and withdraw its forces from the areas beyond the borderline it set.

Related Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120672§ionid=351020203
author by HBpublication date Sat Mar 13, 2010 19:54author address author phone

Actually the US had already approved the construction in Jerusalem - http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2010/03/actually....html

Hadn't the prime minister announced to Israel, the world and the United States, in a move seen at the time as a great Israeli victory, that the construction freeze in the settlements does not include Jerusalem? Then why blame that lowly official, the interior minister, who implemented that policy?

What's the big deal? Another 1,600 apartments for ultra-Orthodox Jews on occupied, stolen land? Jerusalem won't ever be divided, Benjamin Netanyahu promised, in another applause-winning move. In that case, why not build in it? The Americans have agreed to all this, so they have no reason to pretend to be insulted.[same again]


And yet according to The Guardian, Obama was ""incandescent with anger" and according to the Washington Post:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday that Israel had sent a "deeply negative signal" about the U.S.-Israeli relationship and urged him to take immediate steps to demonstrate it was interested in renewing efforts at a Middle East peace agreement


I don't know, the games people play....(to be continued forever)

author by hBpublication date Sun Mar 14, 2010 15:39author address author phone

having stuck two fingers up to it's benefactor (to the tune of billions of Dollars) the Israelis now appear to be pretending to regret being so rude to one so generous

Israel to investigate timing of settlement announcement
(http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/03/14/israel.biden/...nt%29)

Jerusalem (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set up a team to investigate why officials announced new settlement construction in disputed territory while U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was visiting the country.

Netanyahu announced the probe after a meeting with ministers Saturday.

"There was an unfortunate incident that was unintentional, and it was hurtful and surely should not have occurred," Netanyahu said Sunday morning. "We appointed a team that will find the chain of events in order to ensure procedures that make sure incidents like this do not happen in the future."


Notice that it is not the building on stolen land which they regret - merely it's announcement as a big 'F.U.' to Biden

author by HBpublication date Mon Mar 15, 2010 01:04author address author phone

the Palestinians need the current Peace 'Process' like a woman needs a fish . . oh no . . . wait. . . .

Stupidity and the "peace process" - http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2010/03/stupidit....html

Foreign Policy writer Mark Perry reports an interesting story, interesting because of course nobody knows exactly who decide to leaks which part of what transpired somewhere behind the closed doors of the Pentagon. Allegedly, Gen. Petraeus, the Proconsul of Arabia, who aims high and probably sees himself as a future president, threw the White House a gauntlet when he asked that Gaza and the West Bank be transferred from EUROCOM to CENTCOM. This is of course very serious. It signals a development that Chalmers Johnson has already predicted as the natural trend in a militarized global empire. As the government in Washington slowly bleeds both its capacity to act and its legitimacy, power is shifting to the Proconsuls, who are in fact the governors of the different provinces and command the only U.S. governing institution that is well funded and functional, the military.

It does not signal a breach in the relations between Israel and the U.S. The problem for American dominance is not Israel, which is and will remain a valuable ally, but the out of control populist right wing in Israel which has developed a sort of bulimic land eating disorder, and needs to feed more and more often on Palestinian land to feel satiated. That populist right wing is also a problem for the Israeli ruling class, but primarily to the extent that it matters to the US. As long as the US allows it, the Israeli ruling class would rather not confront it. Let the fanatics, as far as the Israeli center is concerned, get their daily nibble at the Palestinian expense. The predatory relation is already deeply institutionalized; the whole Israeli military apparatus is organized around the colonization process; it can be slowed down or sped up, but it cannot be dismantled with serious damage all around. The US will not risk serious damage to Israel, unless it is pushed really hard by its Arab clients. They, in their turn, couldn't care less, except occasionally when they fear that things have gone too far and they need to get a bone that they can hang on their breast as proof to their people that they are not totally venal but can get some respect from Washington. It's a political game whose object for all the players is none other than the ultimate goal of politics according to Raymond Aron, "to make things last." In its Middle East version it is often known as the bicycle principle, in the words of former Israeli FM Meridor: “the peace process [is] like being on a bicycle; one must keep pedaling lest you crash and fall off.” Except it is cycling on training rollers and need not actually go anywhere.

We are now in one of these moments when, because of a few momentary lapses, the bicycle seems about to fall off the rollers. Enter Proconsul Petraeus. We wish him to fail. But that is a far fetched expectation given that all he needs to do is remind all the bikers in the room of the importance of pedaling. But trust the commentariat and the blogosphere to read it as some kind of cosmic battle between Israel and the U.S., Netanyahu and Obama, the Lobby vs. the Army, Cpt. America vs. The blue-white Hulk.

The silly phrase of the day belongs to Mark Perry, who hyperventilates like he was just given the go order for the invasion of Normandy:

America's relationship with Israel is important, but not as important as the lives of America's soldiers. Maybe Israel gets the message now.


Really? That must be why the Bush administration couldn't find money for body armors in the half a trillion dollar a year defense budget, not to mention the Walter Reed scandal or other moments when the truth about how much the ruling class cares about the grunts emerges in broad daylight. Soldiers are cheap, really cheap. They are made in large batches from unemployed and looking forward to a life of un- and under-employment youth. The supply is growing, and I have full faith in the White House to create the economic conditions that will keep it growing for a while.

Go to your beds now, and wait for the next occasion to hyperventilate.

author by Fred Johnstonpublication date Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:58author address author phone

This video amply testifies to how the IDF intend, having created Palestinian ghettoes, to re-create conditions in them, consciously or otherwise, which mimic those in which European Jews suffered seven decades ago: this is the imposition of a malicious curfew, complete with mediaeval tacking of notices to doors, warning demonstrators and their sympathisers to stay out of the area. This imposition will remain until August. Is the Israeli consciousness so irretrievably damaged? So let's hear what Europe has to say about this. And how are we getting on here in Ireland with an explanation about the use of Irish passports in Dubai by Mossad? Next they used our identities and no one protested . . .

Related Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J9LdZykj38
author by donkylemorepublication date Tue Mar 16, 2010 14:33author address author phone


I don't know if you are referring to the UNIFIL mission between 1979-1999 but it would seem that you are.
Permit me to state that I can testify that not alone did Israel not return to thr pre 67 borders as UN resolution 424 required them to do , the Isrealis ' reinvaded ' into the UN Buffer Zone or a regular basis during the UNIFIL Mission.

I served on 6 tours of duty with UNIFIL. I was a MO .
On more than one occasion my ambulance was fired on by the LAWI ,( Israeli sponsored local Militia ; mercenaries also referred to an SLA - formerly the forces of Major Haadat ) and the village we were located in was visited by heavy Israeli tanks whose tracks tore up roads knocked walls , terrified all around.
On one occasion they came right through the village and right up to the gates of our Regimental Aid Post - small primary medical care unit - stopped at our gates and fired a firerd some bursts of 0.5 machine gun fire over our roofs for about 10 mins .
The purpose was to send a very clear message to the Irish battalion who the Israelis accused/ suspected of providing shelter to the Hizbullah when launching their mortar attacks into N.Israel ( from S Lebanon)

These were recorded as '' INCREPS- acronym for ''incursion reports '' and they were sent on to New York where they were I presume duly filed and mothballed.
There were many INCEPS which were frequently unreported, This was because there was a reluctance on behalf of some macho UNIFIL officers who were loath to see our mission so easily overwhelmed by Israel.
I have had the misfortune to have to place the little mutilated bodied of Muslim children into adult body bags many times. It is a harrowing memory which will never leave me .- children Mutilated at the hands of Israel.
I have been denied access to bring our mobile clinics to the outlying hinterland Muslim villages in our area at the whim of Israeli forces ,without being given any reason why or being forewarned in advance.
I can only assume that this served to deprive these impoverished mountain people who had no other access to medical care - and of course to humiliate us.
I can attest to the brutal attack by the Israeli Air Force on a FIJI UN compound- Operation Grapes of Wrath - where over 120 civilians were killed -mostly women and children.

But Mr John Ging's recent observations regarding violations of the laws of war and the use of white phosphorus is more vivid and searing in the public 's imagination. Moreover , while I do not know Mr Ging I feel that his calm and measured assessment of what he witnessed during Operation Cast Lead convinces more spontaneously the veracity of Israeli atrocities ; Am I right in thinking that Mr Ging has a legal background?

Anyone who served in the Irish Defence Forces during the UNIFIL mission will attest to how the Israeli army treated their Lebanese Arab neighbors .
While our government has been reserved about denunciating Israel , at least Minister Martin has been the first EU Minister for Foreign Affairs to go to GAZA.
He didn't stand on some humiliating ceremony and await Israel's permission to enter through Israeli territory . He traveled the less formal and much less commodious route through Arab territories .
In this regard he must be applauded .

But as long as the US persist in refraining from imposing sanctions against Israel the UN will remain an emasculated force , and UN missions will lack the necessary mandate or indeed the military hardware to make their mission effective .

author by Fred Johnstonpublication date Tue Mar 16, 2010 19:56author address author phone

Anyone who missed the RTE radio news this evening is missing history. Driving across the North Galway countryside I learned that US General Petraeus has told the Senate (as I recall) that Israel's recent behaviour of settlements and the two-fingers to the US it constitutes is a grave threat to US people and presence in the Middle East as it dilutes the US strong-arm image before the Arab nations. Now that's serious talk, because, unless I'm missing something, it is reminiscent of the kind of military muttering once ratcheted up against Iraq. No, the US are not about to invade Israel and Netanyahu will be thrown out anyway in time no matter how he much he sacrifices to bow to the hardliners. But it is the hardest kind of talk yet to emerge from the US, where some cap-doffing politician (or President) usually makes pathetic noises over things Israeli. But when the top brass military start muttering darkly, the cuddle days are over. Now - let's get an answer on those passports.

author by hbpublication date Sat Mar 20, 2010 21:31author address author phone

Wonderful satire, based on the 'Leave Brittany ALONE!' meme -
it very accurately captures the histrionics employed by Pro-Zionists the world over -

For a good example of such hysteria see the second video below, where Dr. Norman Finkelstein, at the University of Waterloo, replies to emotional blackmail attempt of a young female Zionist

Caption: Video Id: PcwQ5sKUmEY Type: Youtube Video
Leave Brittany alone!!


Caption: Video Id: cNQSV3BBtZ4 Type: Youtube Video
Finkelstein confronts crocodile-teared young Zionist hysteric


author by hbpublication date Sat Mar 20, 2010 23:51author address author phone

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_5708.shtml

Darfur aid dollars funding West Bank settlements

ASMARA, Eritrea -- Persons working with aid organizations assisting the victims of the Darfur conflict have passed on the news that they have confirmed through their contacts in the so called “Save Darfur Coalition” that millions of dollars raised to help the Darfur refugees have ended up in Israeli bank accounts. These accounts help fund programs that include illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

These sources inside the pro-Israel organizations that control the “Save Darfur Coalition” estimate that over $100 million was raised for Darfur, though the exact amount may never be known due to the murky nature of the financial statements these organizations submit. What is known is that over half the money raised for Darfur was consumed by “operational expenses” for these organizations, meaning bloated salaries, expense accounts and the multimillion dollar publicity campaign that helped generate the donations. Only about 10 percent of the donations received ever made it to the Darfur refugees, with several million ending up in Israeli bank accounts.

The Darfur funds were diverted to Israel by either co-mingling the funds with those used to support the Israeli projects or through a more complex system of grants to other “aid” or “relief” organizations that allowed the eventual destination of the funds to be almost impossible to trace.

Related Link: http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_5708.shtml
author by Frank Adam - private citizenpublication date Thu Mar 25, 2010 15:21author address author phone

What is the fuss about a pair of tanks temporarily taking up forward positions on their side of the currently recognised border ? It is after all Arab governments that started the war on Israel by rejecting UN 181 - and then being very slow twigging their silly mistake and lacking moral fibre to climb down to peace - at least by Egypt and Jordan are one up on imperialist Syria and Iraq.

Do you realise or remember that the Lebanese-Israeli frontier is the 1923 legit frontier? That as there is no outstanding territory nor other dispute with Israel apart from political posing, or being forced to pose by Syria, Lebanon could sign a peace with Israel tomorrow and defuse half its problems? The other half with imperialist Syria are of course less simple....

author by HBpublication date Thu Mar 25, 2010 16:44author address author phone

'Do you realise or remember that the Lebanese-Israeli frontier is the 1923 legit frontier? That as there is no outstanding territory nor other dispute with Israel apart from political posing,"


As per usual, Frank is lying through his teeth

http://www.shebaafarms.org/briefhistory.html

Israeli Occupation of the Shebaa Farms:

During the 1967 Six Day War Israeli forces seized a piece of Lebanese territory called the Shebaa Farms, a 25 square kilometer area consisting of 14 farms located south of the Shebaa, a Lebanese village on the western slopes of Mount Hermon. Since Lebanon was not a participant in the Six Day War, UN representatives were biased for Israel, pointing out that the 1923 Anglo-French demarcation and the 1949 Armistice line clearly designated the area as Syrian territory. The UN backed Israel and certified its pullout from Lebanon.

However, Lebanese and Syrian officials insisted that Syria had officially given the territory to Lebanon in 1951. Lebanese officials pointed to the fact that a number of residents in the area have land deeds stamped by the Lebanese government.

Lebanese army maps published in 1961 and 1966 specifically pinpoint several of the Shebaa Farms, including Zebdine, Fashkoul, Mougr Shebaa and Ramta, all of which are designated as being lebanese. Lebanese Ministry of Tourism maps also show the Lebanese-Syrian border running west of the Shebaa Farms. Syria has officially acknowledged the Farms are Lebanese.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms belong to Lebanon. Assad told a news conference in Paris before ending a state visit to France, Beirut and Damascus will demarcate their countries' border at Shebaa Farms after Israel withdraws from the region. They will then submit a new map to the UN.

The Lebanese Resistance has vowed to keep up resistance operations in the area until Israel withdraws.

author by Frank Adam - private citizenpublication date Sat Mar 27, 2010 19:42author address author phone

If Sheba Farms really are Lebanese, why was Syria in occupation in 1967 ? but of course Syria never recognised Lebanese independence, nor exchanged ambassadors with Lebanon till eighteen months ago.

If Syria really has "given" this area to Lebanon, all that is necessary to clear this faked up territorial detail between Israel and Lebanon as compared and contrasted to Syria is sign a frontier amendment convention between Syria and Lebanon and deposit an attested copy with the UN - but till "yesterday " that would have recognised Lebanese independence which was against Syrian imperialist policies - also aimed at Israel and Jordan.

Finally those so free lying with "Liar" because they have not done any reading beyond Arab pamphlets could usefully remember it needs one to know one. Negotiations need some empathy and brushing under the carpet awkward facts does not progress any settlement.

author by Mepublication date Sat Mar 27, 2010 20:01author address author phone

"Finally those so free lying with "Liar" because they have not done any reading beyond Arab pamphlets could usefully remember it needs one to know one."


That's just stupid Frank, that's the sort of silly childish thing one used to hear in the playground. Not only is it silly it is also demonstrably untrue. Essentially you are admitting you are a liar, and also claiming that HB must also be a liar for pointing out that you are a liar - boy, that is stupid reasoning.

So I take it then you will be able to point out some of the lies that HB has told here, yes?

We already know that you lie frequently because you have been caught out lying numerous times, Frankie. And you appear to be admitting this when you made your 'takes one to know one' statement above. So to prove that your latest childish statement is not just more lies why don't you provide some reliable proof that clearly demonstrably proves HB is lying? That way we could be sure that you actually are capable of telling the truth, . . . . even if only on this one isolated occasion.

author by Finn McCumhaill.publication date Sat Mar 27, 2010 21:41author address author phone

The real problem in the Middle East is about religious superstitions.

They all invoke unconscious dead people whose bones were bleached centuries ago.

We Irish love "The Tain".

But we don't regard it as explaining the whole universe.

Every Irish child knows this:

Me fein, Finn McCumhaill, created Lough Neigh by sweeping up a lump of land and and threw it into the middle of the Irish Sea.

Where I swept it up is called Lough Neigh.

Where it landed is called The Isle of Man.

Why won't people believe me?
.

.

author by donkylemorepublication date Sun Mar 28, 2010 03:18author address author phone

To Frank;

''
Silly Frankie
author by Me publication date Sat Mar 27, 2010 21:01Report this post to the editors

"Finally those so free lying with "Liar" because they have not done any reading beyond Arab pamphlets could usefully remember it needs one to know one."

Frank . You have brought the misfortune ME to his tipping point . He is a little unwieldy at this stage . First the rattle is thrown out , later the hair pulling .. Metaphorically he is at the hair pulling stage . But I would grade this to be about 4 on his Richter scale. The scale goes up to about 6. Lets be generous and settle for 7- shall we?. Fine . That's settled
His line of clinical deterioration is amply demonstrated here. In fact it would be a psychiatrists joy to behold it.
First the didactic extract from wikepedia- the history lesson. ( maybe Reader's Digest -or Rupert Murdoch ?) Then the challenge , then the petulance despair , vituperation follow in a torrent - a sudden sequential blizzard .
But on a note of caution here .I would urge you to refrain from using arcane language , or any erudite phraseology - ME has a loathing for Latin quotations ; Must've been the school he attended .. if he did attend.
I was called an Israeli bully fro quoting Ovid or was it Cicero ? vide my piece about arming Hezbollah with the bomb- the MAD argument .
I joke you not.
I am watching this development with a keen interest . ME makes for an immediate profile of a fictional character . He writes his own script .

In fishing parlance it would be time for you to STRIKE ,,but I see you ignore this pestilence and let him nibble away as the corks bods up and down. You would make for a fine dry fly angler - perhaps you are one .

You are right of course. Bigger fish to fry.. to mangle another metaphor .

author by mepublication date Sun Mar 28, 2010 03:45author address author phone

donky: I was called an Israeli bully fro quoting Ovid or was it Cicero ?"

no donky, that's just not true, now is it? no one said you were any israeli-anything. I clearly said only that you were making preposterous claims (like you just did in that last post, so at least yer consistent). You have yet to substantiate your ridiculously preposterous claim and now it appears that due to your frustration you are attempting to find common ground with Frank, a proven liar. I guess you two old geezers deserve each other

I also said your little tantrum was ridiculous and that using latin did not make you look any less ridiculous, something else you have now chosen to make up lies about. Tsk Tsk.

You're nearly as dishonest as lil' ol' Frankie,

author by donkylemorepublication date Sun Mar 28, 2010 12:41author address author phone

This is what ME finally wrote on the opinion which I posted re Blair , the baroness EU etc going to Midddle East and instead give the bomb to Hezbollah , in the bizarre belief that the MAD construct might apply / balance the imbalance of power be tween Isreal and the Palestinians-(And No they're not all Hezbollah !- ) and end Israeli hegemony in the region .
But here was the voluble and ever affable ME on my commentary

****
''
You're like the Israelis: they too thought that being big, in their case militarily, they'd kick Hezbollah's ass good and proper, but Nasrallah thought them that size isn't everything, it's what you do with it that counts , . . . . big-boy ;-)''
****

It seemed to me he was going in the same direction with Frank.
The incremental deterioration to this point on ME's behalf is as I've said s case study for the psychiatrists .; Rarely do you get such a vivid clinical manifestation of the persecuted , the loss of rational argument , the collapse of the erstwhile measured persona .
He reminds me of a spinning top ; keep whipping it and it will stay upright spinning ; but stop thrashing it and it wobbles and comes down with a crash.
*

'' You're like the Israelis: they too thought that being big, in their case militarily, they'd kick Hezbollah's ass good and proper, but Nasrallah thought them that size isn't everything, it's what you do with it that counts , . . . . big-boy ;-)''
*

That was it .
What do the golfers call it when they hit the driver at its most efficatious spot and the drive takes off like a Lear jet- ''The sweet spot '' or the '' hot spot'' ?
ME has plenty of them.
****

author by Mepublication date Sun Mar 28, 2010 12:52author address author phone

totally out of context and you know it - you had just had the most amazing foot-stomping tantrum because I refused to answer a question in a manner that suited you.

AND it was obviously meant in jest - hence the little ';-)' symbol at the end there, donky. That's why people use those symbols, donky, to signify when they are making comments which are not meant to be taken seriously. Little did I know, you had no sense of humour

You and Frankie should get on well together

author by HBpublication date Fri Apr 02, 2010 17:34author address author phone

Non Violent Activist leaders targeted in Palestinian E.Jerusalem

In recent weeks, municipal police in Jerusalem have been targeting key activists who fight against the settler take-overs of Palestinian homes in Sheikh Jarrah. A neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, Sheikh Jarrah has hosted weekly protests for nearly a year by a broad coalition of Israelis and Palestinians. Saleh Abo Dayeb was among the leaders who was recently arrested. Police claimed he pushed back a settler who attempted to photograph him and that in this supposed attack he committed a terrorist act against the state of Israel. The judge found no evidence that Abo Dayeb was even involved in the alleged altercation. A week later, Mikhael Solsbury, one of the key Jewish solidarity activists was also arrested due to his involvement in organizing the weekly protests. In his case the judge also found no evidence and again noted police misconduct. The Real News' Lia Tarachansky spoke to activists, lawyers, settlers, and residents of Sheikh Jarrah to understand the struggle and the recent repression

Caption: Video Id: PYvvanGSQQE Type: Youtube Video
Non violent Activists targeted by israeli Thugs


author by Sean Ogpublication date Sun Apr 04, 2010 13:05author address author phone

Is it not good and re assuring to know that there are Israeli courts and judges who are asked to give legal rulings regarding the events staged in " East Jerusalem " ?

author by Frank Adam - private citizenpublication date Sun Apr 04, 2010 16:52author address author phone

The 1923 Franco- British frontier convention still stands - because no subsequent treaty has superseded it - and UN two state policy still stands since UN 181 that the Arab parties - inclusive those claiming to speak for those Arabs self declared as "Palestinians" since 1968 - rejected in and since 1947.

So as I proposed above why do Syria and Lebanon not formally clarify their frontier in Shebaa Farms and then Israel will transfer the acres in question as it evacuated Lebanon in 2000.

After all these sixty years of stonewalling blockheadedness Syria has at last recognised Lebanon and exchanged ambassadors so what are we waiting for ? And why can not the PA and PLO also recognise Israel's right to be as Jewish as Ireland is Irish ? Both do put up with peaceful minorities rather well!

author by HBpublication date Sun Apr 04, 2010 17:19author address author phone

recognise Israel's right to be as Jewish as Ireland is Irish


Frankie, you silly racist, 'Jewish', is a religious classification, not an ethnic one. But you already know this because you have said as much elsewhere, so you are obviously just being a silly racist- your desire for Israel to be recognised as 'Jewish' stems merely from your pathological desire to give free reign to your racist hatred of non-Jewish people by being allowed to discriminate against all non-jewish residents of Israel.

If you were asking for Israel to be recognisesd as 'Israeli' you'd have no problem.

and all of this coming from a person that refuses to recognise Palestinians as Palestinian - what a racist hypocrite you are Frankie.

http://www.ptimes.org/main/default.aspx?xyz=BOgLkxlDHte...6U%3D
The shamelessness of asking Hamas to recognize Israel

On numerous occasions, Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas demanded that Hamas should accept all outstanding agreements and understandings with Israel.

This obviously includes recognizing the “legitimacy” of Israel, a Nazi-like entity based on mass murder, ethnic cleansing, land usurpation and lies.

Recognizing Israel is one of the most contentious issues impeding an agreement between Fatah and Hamas.

Fatah and the PLO had recognized Israel even though Israel never recognized a PalestinianState. The absence of reciprocity is one of the most scandalous aspects of the hapless Oslo agreement between Israel and the PLO.

Abbas, the survival of whose regime depends more on Western-Israeli backing and less on popular Palestinian support, argues that the international community won’t recognize and cooperate with a prospective Palestinian government of national unity unless such a government recognizes Israel, abandons resistance to Judeo-Nazism and accepts outstanding agreements between the PA and the Zionist entity.

While seeming ostensibly logical to some Westerners, Abbas’s clauses are misleading, illogical and utterly unconvincing. . . .

author by HBpublication date Sun Apr 04, 2010 17:23author address author phone

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/recog....html

The PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security.

The PLO accepts United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.

Israel-PLO Recognition (September 9, 1993)

author by Sean Ogpublication date Sun Apr 04, 2010 17:55author address author phone

Recoginsing Israel so that they the PLO know where to allow "marrtyrs " to blow up and maim 1000s since Oslo 1993

So what about Hamas - like CIRA RIRA INLA Prov IRA etc etc -any echoes ?

author by Frank Adam - private citizenpublication date Sun Apr 04, 2010 19:01author address author phone

Perhaps the Mad Exile of the mythically theoretically perfect World could look at this conference report and note that Arabs call themselves Arabs as well as Palestinians, and Palestinians call themselves Arabs - and speak it!

author by Finkelsteiin kicks Zio-Racist asspublication date Sun Apr 04, 2010 23:49author address author phone

Russia Today CrossTalk: Norman Finkelstein vs.Zio-Racist

Caption: Video Id: WTJvx5Y-jkY Type: Youtube Video
Norm vs. Racist monster - Part 1


Caption: Video Id: rUFhWF7glJg Type: Youtube Video
Norm vs. Racist monster - Part 2 (Part 3 below)


Related Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svENH7WGeMY
author by Frank Adam - private citizenpublication date Mon Apr 05, 2010 17:02author address author phone

The house of Israel is not the only nation and religion to wear both Venn diagramme circles at once.

By its religious requirements being Jewish is at once a religion and an ethnicity as is the case of the Moslem World which is very loud about being an umma defending El Aqsa or Mecca when it suits.

Further the four nations of the British Isles each have their own majority variant of Christianity which - as any Irishman knows only too well, is what discriminates between English and Irish, or between Scots and English - besides the accents, haggis and geography.

author by HBpublication date Mon Apr 05, 2010 17:33author address author phone

Highlights of how Israel displaced Palestine, the issue’s religious roots and how the conflict continues today.

Caption: Video Id: s1ABEEB660g Type: Youtube Video
Story of Palestine - From A to X


author by HBpublication date Mon Apr 05, 2010 17:41author address author phone

Jews against Zionism.
These Anti-Zionists tell are willing to tell the world the truth about racist Israel

Caption: Video Id: gmS7rD_4mPA Type: Youtube Video
Anti-Zionist Jews That Lived In Palestine Tell Their Story


author by HBpublication date Tue Apr 06, 2010 14:00author address author phone

How can you delegitimise something (in this case the Zionist state) when it is NOT legitimate?

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=da...&col=

Zionism’s assertion that Israel was given its birth certificate and thus legitimacy by the UN General Assembly partition resolution of 29 November 1947 is pure propaganda nonsense, as demonstrated by an honest examination of the record of what 
actually happened.

In the first place the UN without the consent of the majority of the people of Palestine did not have the right to decide to partition Palestine or assign any part of its territory to a minority of alien immigrants in order for them to establish a state of their own.

Despite that, by the narrowest of margins, and only after a rigged vote, the UN General Assembly did pass a resolution to partition Palestine and create two states, one Arab, one Jewish, with Jerusalem not part of either. But the General Assembly resolution was only a non-binding proposal — meaning that it could have no effect, would not become binding, until and unless it was approved by the Security Council.

The truth is that the General Assembly’s partition proposal never went to the Security Council for consideration. Why not? Because the US knew that, if approved, and because of Arab and other Muslim opposition, it could only be implemented by force; and President Truman was not prepared to use force to partition Palestine.

So the Partition plan was vitiated (became invalid) and the question of what the hell to do about Palestine — after Britain had made a mess of it and walked away — was taken back to the General Assembly for 
more discussion.

The option favoured and proposed by the US was temporary UN Trusteeship. It was while the General Assembly was debating what do that Israel unilaterally declared itself to be in existence—actually in defiance of the will of the organised international community, including the Truman administration.

The truth of the time was that Israel, which came into being mainly as a consequence of Zionist terrorism and pre-planned ethnic cleansing, had no right to exist and, more to the point, could have no right to exist unless ….. Unless it was recognised and legitimised by those who were dispossessed of their land and their rights during the creation of the Zionist state. In international law only the Palestinians could give Israel the legitimacy it craved.

As it was put to me many years ago by Khalad al-Hassan, Fatah’s intellectual giant on the right, that legitimacy was “the only thing the Zionists could not take from us by force.”

The truth of history as summarised briefly above is the explanation of why, really, Zionism has always insisted that its absolute pre-condition for negotiations with more than a snowball’s chance in hell of a successful outcome (an acceptable measure of justice for the Palestinians and peace for all) is recognition of Israel’s right to exist. A right, it knows, it does not have and will never have unless the Palestinians grant it.

It can be said without fear of contradiction (except by Zionists) that what de-legitimises Israel is the truth 
of history.

And that is why Zionism has worked so hard, today with less success than in the past and therefore with increasing desperation, to have the 
truth suppressed.

author by HBpublication date Tue Apr 06, 2010 17:26author address author phone

JERUSALEM — Israel's [racist] foreign minister warned Palestinians against plans to unilaterally declare independence next year, saying in an interview Tuesday that such a move could prompt Israel to annex parts of the West Bank and annul past peace agreements.

Avigdor Lieberman also made harsh comments about Turkey, Israel's increasingly alienated ally, saying the Turkish prime minister was coming to resemble Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

Lieberman, who heads an ultranationalist [racist] party, has become known for [being a very obvious racist] that has earned him critics abroad and inside Israel.

His remarks Tuesday on Palestinian independence took aim at a Palestinian policy that has emerged as U.S. attempts to restart peace talks have stalled. .. .

Avigdor Lieberman -Israel's openly racist Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman -Israel's openly racist Foreign Minister

author by Frank Adam - private citizenpublication date Tue Apr 06, 2010 17:31author address author phone

As HB admits the Arab community in Palestiine objected to partition - announced they would fight it for months previous - so if Israel came into being by force it might just be because the Arab parties were threatening force and ethnic cleansing anyway - and I can remember that all the press and media reported in 1967 that the Arab states bragged aloud they would, "Throw Israel into the sea."

Now if HB is moderately HB and not H7 he can also bend to consider that one reason for the US War of Independence was the refusal of the colonists to abide by [HM] treaties with the Indians. Besides it would be nice to know on what basis North Korea exists; and surely he is not going to object to Singapore seceding from Malaysia any more than Ireland seceding from the UK - against majority opinion???

Incidentally given the detailed geography of British Palestine, the Arab community under UN 181 was to have collected about 80% of the then agricultural land and though Israel was scheduled 56 % of the country, over half of it and over 80% of the Israeli portion was Negev Desert.

Final question about HB 's inferred doctrine that Israel does not, or should not exist? Where does he propose to put its nearly six million Jews given the Moslem Arabs have been driving out the Christian Arabs quite steadily since European empires dissolved?

author by HBpublication date Tue Apr 06, 2010 17:43author address author phone

Is a political entity, a Zionist experiment in State sanctioned racism. It's demise need not in any way threaten the existence of the people within it's borders. Removing 'Israel' does not remove it's people - it merely remove the racist discriminatory political entity known as 'Israel'. Only a racist-paranoid would make the automatic assumption that removing the racist political entity known as 'Israel' would automatically threaten the existence of the people within it's borders.

Just because the Israelis immediately tried to exterminate all non-Jews when it founded it's illegal state, does not mean that everyone else would like to behave that way - that's just projecting your own paranoid-racist thoughts onto others

author by HBpublication date Tue Apr 06, 2010 17:52author address author phone

http://indymedia.org.il/article/2010/1/en/hamas-accepts...arter

Hamas accepts 'Israel’s right to exist’

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH - printed in The Jerusalem Post

Hamas has accepted Israel’s right to exist and would be prepared to nullify its charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel, Aziz Dwaik, Hamas’s most senior representative in the West Bank, said on Wednesday.

"The [Hamas] charter was drafted more than 20 years ago," Dwaik noted, adding that his movement would even be prepared to "nullify" the document.

"No one wants to throw anyone into the sea," he said.

author by HBpublication date Tue Apr 06, 2010 22:33author address author phone

Is there even any such legal classification as 'israeli'?

According to the Israeli Gov't, the answer is a resounding "NO!"

This 'Israeli' obsession with many different and varied racial/national classifications is identical to the racial obsession practiced by the racist Apartheid South African Gov't in it's heyday

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20.../1135

Court asked to define ‘Israeli’

HAIFA // A group of Jews and Arabs are fighting in the Israeli courts to be recognised as “Israelis”, a nationality currently denied them, in a case that officials fear may threaten the country’s self-declared status as a Jewish state.

Israel refused to recognise an Israeli nationality at the country’s establishment in 1948, making an unusual distinction between “citizenship” and “nationality”. Although all Israelis qualify as “citizens of Israel”, the state is defined as belonging to the “Jewish nation”, . . . .

The interior ministry has adopted more than 130 possible nationalities for Israeli citizens, most of them defined in religious or ethnic terms, with “Jewish” and “Arab” being the main categories.

The group’s legal case is being heard by the supreme court after a district judge rejected their petition two years ago, backing the state’s position that there is no Israeli nation. . . .

The government opposes the case, claiming that the campaign’s real goal is to “undermine the state’s infrastructure” – a presumed reference to laws and official institutions that ensure Jewish citizens enjoy a privileged status in Israel. .. . .

“There are even two laws – the Law of Return for Jews and the Citizenship Law for Arabs – that determine how you belong to the state,” he said. “What kind of democracy divides its citizens into two kinds?” . .. .

The distinction between Jewish and Arab nationalities is also shown on interior ministry records used to make important decisions about personal status issues such as marriage, divorce and death, which are dealt with on entirely sectarian terms. . . .


Only Israelis from the same religious group, for example, are allowed to marry inside Israel – otherwise they are forced to wed abroad – and cemeteries are separated according to religious belonging.

author by Sean Ogpublication date Wed Apr 07, 2010 10:10author address author phone

Here is a news report in the Israeli "left wing " daily paper Ha Aretz about another Israeli Court hearing which is of some interest and relevance to the topic under discussuion on thsi thread .
_______________________________________________________________

Israeli Arab gets 5 years, 8 months for spying on IDF chief - Gabi Ashkenazi

By Ofra Edelman, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service

The Petah Tikva District Court on Tuesday sentenced an Israeli Arab man to five years and eight months in prison for giving Hezbollah information about the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff.

Rawi Sultani, a 23-year-old resident of Tira who attended the same gym as IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi,
was charged late last year with collecting information about the chief of staff's daily routine.

Intelligence officials suspect the Lebanese militant organization was seeking to assassinate Ashkenazi as revenge for the Damascus killing of its second-in-command Imad Mughniyeh, which it blames on Israel.

Sultani allegedly gave the Hezbollah agent information about the gym's location, access roads and security arrangements, how many security guards Ashkenazi had, what weapons they carried, and where they were stationed inside the gym, as well as what Ashkenazi wore and which route he took to the gym.

The indictment states that a Hezbollah agent established contact with Sultani in 2008, when he participated in a Balad party delegation to a Morocco summer camp, along with delegates from other Arab states.

He allegedly met a man named Salman Hareb there.
Hareb introduced himself as a Hezbollah activist, and showed camp participants Hezbollah-made films from the Second Lebanon War.

At one point, Sultani allegedly told Hareb that he works out at the same gym as Ashkenazi.
The two agreed to keep in touch.

About a month later, Sultani received an e-mail from Hareb, and the two began a correspondence on e-mail and Facebook, the indictment says.

Hareb invited him to meet abroad, and Sultani suggested they meet in Poland, where he was going for a family trip, the indictment says.

A day or two before Sultani left Israel, Hareb told him he could not get a visa to Poland, and was sending his brother Sami in his place.

Sultani allegedly met Sami Hareb in Poland on December 23, 2008. Sami Hareb presented himself as a Hezbollah activist, and asked Sultani to help the organization collect information on Israeli sites, military bases and public figures. Sultani allegedly agreed.

Sami Hareb then asked Sultani for details about the gym, Ashkenazi's routine and his security arrangements. Sultani allegedly gave him detailed answers, and set another meeting, at which point he was given information about a secure e-mail address and a CD bearing encryption software.

Hareb allegedly explained to Sultani how to use the software, and gave him money to buy more CDs to hide the one with the encryption software.

Hareb also allegedly asked Sultani if he knew of Palestinian students abroad who would be willing to help Hezbollah, and Sultani allegedly gave him contact information for several of his friends. Hareb then asked to Sultani to gather more information on the country club and Ashkenazi's routine, and Sultani allegedly agreed.

When Sultani returned to Israel, Salman Hareb contacted him via e-mail, but Sultani allegedly did not respond to all his requests. On June 28, Sami Hareb called Sultani, who agreed to follow up on the discussion in Poland.

The prosecution said Sultani conspired to give an enemy useful information, knowingly maintained contact with a foreign agent, and knowingly gave an enemy useful information.

In its request to extend Sultani's remand, the prosecution said he had confessed both to the police and to the Shin Bet.

The state also claims it has statements from other participants in the Morocco summer camp regarding Salman Hareb's activity there, a note in Sultani's handwriting about the secure e-mail address, testimonies from Sultani's friend and brother stating he told them he had met with a Hezbollah agent in Poland, call records from Sultani's phone and the CD with the encryption software.

Sultani's father on Tuesday said that the defense establishment has blown the case out of proportion.

Attorney Fouad Sultani, who served as his son's defense lawyer, said that despite the harsh sentence it was proved that the case was not as serious as prosecutors had claimed.

Sultani added that prosecutors dropped the charge of conspiracy to commit a crime as part of the plea bargain. His son did, however, confess to contact with a foreign agent and passing information to an enemy.

Sultani also said that had these same offenses been committed by a Jew, the suspect would have gotten off with a warning.

"The defense establishment, however, sought to harm ties with the Arab world by way of an exaggerated indictment," Sultani said, adding that his son had been the subject of persecution over his political activism.

"Everyone knows that the charge of meeting a foreign agent is problematic in terms of its definition as all contact between an Israeli Arab citizen and a citizen of the larger Arab world can be interpreted as contact with a foreign agent," Sultaini said. "The defense establishment is using indictments to intimidate and prevent contact between Arab citizens [of Israel] and Arab states."

author by Sean Ogpublication date Thu Apr 08, 2010 12:27author address author phone

Another Jerusalem Post report worth looking at

Palestinians report boost in tourism to W. Bank for Easter
By RON FRIEDMAN
08/04/2010 05:32

Police report states 464,000 tourists traveled to territories,
137,000 of whom were int'l passport-holders
and 83,000 were Israeli Arabs.

The Palestinian Authority has announced a 50-percent rise in tourism activity in March compared to the same period last year.

A report by the PA Tourism and Antiquities Police, released on Tuesday, said tourism in the Palestinian territories had increased during March, with a considerable rise in guests registered in local hotels.

The police report stated that 464,000 tourists had traveled to the West Bank, 137,000 of whom were international passport-holders and 83,000 were Israeli Arabs.

The number of guests staying in hotels saw a 50% increase compared with last year’s figures, the report said, noting that 81,154 travelers had booked hotels –
70,047 foreign nationals,
9,426 locals,
and 1,681 Israeli Arabs

. Last March, only 39,521 tourists stayed in West Bank hotels, the statement read.

Palestinian tourism professionals approached by The Jerusalem Post said they were unaware of the precise statistics, but credited the rise in tourism to the natural ebb and flow of the seasons and to a calmer and more peaceful atmosphere in the region.
Last year saw the IDF’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, which negatively affected all tourism in the region.

“It makes sense that numbers are up.
After all, this is the holiday season, and many pilgrims choose to visit the region’s ho
ly sites during Easter,” said Johnny Sayegh, director of Inspiration Tours, which operates out of east Jerusalem.

“Everything affects tourism – security, politics, the economy. Lately things have gotten better. It’s been quiet, so the tourists are coming.”

Sayegh said most of the tourist groups with which he worked were groups of pilgrims visiting the West Bank to see the biblical sites, mainly Bethlehem and Jericho.

“I have many clients from Western Europe and the English-speaking world.
Most of them are Catholic pilgrims,” said Sayegh.
He added that in the last few months, there had been a marked increase of visitors from Eastern European countries like Poland, Georgia and Romania.

George Abdalla, who, together with his father Gabriel, runs Sinbad Tour Travel Agency, said that in addition to the traditional pilgrimage tours, he enjoyed marketing what he called “alternative tours.”

“Some people aren’t interested in visiting churches and graves,” he explained. “For them, I gladly offer three-day spa packages at the Dead Sea or four days of leisure in Eilat.”

Abdalla said he had recently sent tourists on a visit to a kibbutz in the Negev, where they could see modern agricultural techniques and absorb the desert tranquility.

According to Abdalla, one of the main impediments to the development of Palestinian tourism is the Israeli security measures, namely the checkpoints.

“Israeli checkpoints have a huge effect on our itineraries,” he said. “They are unpredictable, and they take a long time to go through.
We always tell our clients that schedules are subject to change because of the checkpoints. People tend to understand, but it’s a genuine hassle.”

Abdalla believes that the West Bank has a huge potential for tourism, saying the competitive prices and the good service are natural drawing points.
He also said tourism was immensely important for the development of the Palestinian economy.

“Tourism is an economic engine that helps lift other industries. A group of 60 tourists who visit generate income for many people in a varied range of industries. In the West Bank, it is the most welcome form of business and should be the government’s No. 1 priority, even before agriculture,” he said.

While the majority of Palestinian tour operators, like Sinbad and Inspiration, work mainly with pilgrims, an emerging phenomenon in the West Bank is foreign nationals who come to see the effects of the conflict firsthand.

Rami Kassis, director of the Alternative Tour Group (ATG), specializes in promoting “justice tourism” – tours and pilgrimages that include critical examinations of the history, culture and politics of the Holy Land.

Kassis said that the people using his company’s services were student groups on fact-finding missions, church groups concerned with issues of social justice, international solidarity groups and NGOs, and political organizations that wanted to learn about the conflict. Kassis takes groups to visit refugee camps, communities affected by the security barrier, local peace activists and universities.

He said that while his company was one of the smaller tour providers in the West Bank, it provided these tours for between 2,000-2,5000 people a year.

ATG’s Web site also features a special section for Jewish travelers wishing to visit the West Bank.

“Jewish travelers wearing Star of David jewelry, the kippa, or loudly referring to themselves as Jews may be misunderstood to be Israelis and supporters of the Occupation,” he said.

“This is not to say that Israelis are necessarily in danger in Palestine – many Israeli activists work side by side with Palestinians.

However, Israelis can be a target of Palestinian militant groups.
Jewish travelers are encouraged to keep all of these details in mind, and to be selective in whom they tell about their heritage.”

He added, “It is our hope that, as more Jews who oppose Israeli policies visit Palestine and make their positions known to Palestinians, this selectiveness will be less necessary.”

author by HBpublication date Thu Apr 08, 2010 14:57author address author phone

Five Year Old survivor of the Gaza massacre fights Israel, using the Law
http://palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1346

7 January 2009: ten days after the beginning of the Gaza massacre ‘Operation Cast Lead’ Israeli soldiers drove into the Ezbet Abed-Rabbo neighbourhood, located east of Jabalia town in the north of the Gaza Strip. Using loudspeakers they ordered inhabitants to vacate their houses, including Khalid Abed-Rabbo, his mother, wife and three daughters.

Carrying white flags, Khalid and his family stood in front of their house. Approximately fifteen metres from the house, an Israeli tank was stationed; on top of it two soldiers were eating snacks. When a third one appeared from the tank’s hatch he opened fire directly at the family. The horrible result: Amal and Su’ad, two daughters of Khalid who were three and nine respectively, were killed. The five year old Samar and her grandmother Su’ad had life-threatening injuries.

But even then, the nightmare for Khalid and his young household continued. The soldiers hindered Khalid at every possible opportunity in his attempt to reach the hospital with his injured family members. First they commanded ambulance driver Sameeh Al-Sheikh to leave without his ambulance. Around two hours after the shooting, during which time two of the girls bled to death, Khalid and his wife Kawther, received permission from the soldiers to carry the girls and their grandmother, with the help of neighbours, to the hospital on foot. When secondly three men on a horse-drawn cart wanted to take the injured, they were met with heavy fire, as were the medics. One man on the cart, Adham Khamis Mohammad Naseir, died of his injuries.

The testimony of Abed Rabbo family can be watched in “Gaza Strophe”, a documentary about Operation Cast Lead, on www.gaza-strophe.com. Khalid Abed-Rabbo starts his story at minute 2.15.

Samar: 5 yr old survivor of Gaza Massacre
Samar: 5 yr old survivor of Gaza Massacre

author by Frank Adam - private citizenpublication date Sat May 15, 2010 20:40author address author phone

Or , "Let him who is guiltless cast the first stone." When the UN agreed there should be a two state solution to the Palestine impasse of two nationalist communities wanting their own state, the Arab leaders of the time - and since - proclaim(ed) ethnic cleansing and returning Israeli Jews back to Europe while forgetting the majority of them are in families from the Arab World. The simple proof is in the PLO and Hamas "charters" black on white; and in the Arab actions of destroying the Old City synagogues of Jerusaelm in or after 1948 quarrying cemeteries and after "Oslo" failing to protect "Joseph's Tomb outside Nablus from a destructive and murderous mob.

Israel which is a result and creature of the Enlightenment - which does not preclude defending oneself from border reiving, theft and street violence besides conventional war - has indeed sought a majority Jewish nation state but has never objected to minorities in the absolutist way which the Palestine Authority refuses to accept any Jewish settlement, as Israel accepts its 20% minority Arab settlement of overwhelmingly Moslem Arabs. For comparison that is twice the minority percentage of Jews in pre- Hitler Poland or Arabs in France at present.

Perhaps those who regularly call uncomfortable stats and arguments, lies, could note that the Arab war with Israel is relatively a low casualty side show of cumulatively 20 000 (max) dead on each side, compared to the 60 000 Egyptian and Yemenis killed in Nasser's interference in the 60's; the 400 000 black Sudanese killed by Arab Sudanese in Darfur; the million killed (50/50) in the Iraq -Iran War of the 80's; the 100 000 killed in the Lebanese civil war 1976ff let alone since when the Syrians have had assassinated two Lebanese presidents; and of course Algeria - "The country of the million martyrs," while forgetting to dissect that half the fatalities of the War of Independence were from the civil war within and another 200 000 in the civil war of the GIA's (Groupes Armées Islamiques) in the 90's. If Israel had ever behaved like Arabs or Germans let alone Kipling's comments in the Battle of East & West - or even General Dyer at Amritsar; there would not be four million Arabs currently in Cis-Jordanian Palestine.

The Palestine lobby and constituency are riven with psychological transference and projections, "And add some extra just for you," such as trying - very trying - to relive or repeat in the safety of their own lives the thrills of their forefathers somewhat more justified struggles. When Columbus found America there were estimated to be 25 million Indians in America - well now there are not; but there are 35 million (US) Americans claiming Irish ancestry. Lay off the frenzy and try to persuade your "friends" to cut their losses for the offer they have spurned so often (8x) - if they really want a state rather than living as violent scroungers of international welfare.

author by hbpublication date Sat May 15, 2010 21:39author address author phone

http://mondoweiss.net/2010/05/student-protests-force-is....html

Student protests force racist liars to consider lying a little less frequently

The Israeli Foreign Ministry is considering stopping speaking events around the world in the face of protests that seem to follow them where ever they go. From a recent article in Maariv, "Foreign Ministry officials are considering stopping the lectures by senior figures around the world, particularly in Britain. The reason: The outspoken verbal attacks by students and pro-Palestinian activists, which render them ineffective."


People the world over are beginning to wise up - Israel is finished - it's only a matter of time - the future War Crimes Trials of the murderous Fascist Racist Zionists will make interesting viewing

http://www.wanted.org.il/ -Anyone who has information about the israeli War Crimes Suspects when they are outside of the Israeli borders, please report immediately to a human rights lawyer. Relevant for countries with universal jurisdiction - All calls will be treated in confidence

Wanted - FOR WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY - lying Fascist Racist Zionist scumbag and Ex-E.M. of Criminal  Fascist Racist Zionist entity kkknown as 'israel'
Wanted - FOR WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY - lying Fascist Racist Zionist scumbag and Ex-E.M. of Criminal Fascist Racist Zionist entity kkknown as 'israel'

author by non-voterpublication date Sun May 16, 2010 23:00author email thackeraddy at gmail dot comauthor address author phone

Thanks very much to HB for the wanted posters, I'll be putting some of them up around my way and would urge others to do the same..
I fear these racist war criminals will not be brought to justice this side of a terrible war . But they must be made fully aware that ,like the nazis , they will eventually be defeated , brought to justice and punished severely for their crimes .. The failure to apply Nuremberg's precedents after the Vietnamese war allowed its perpetrators free rein to unleash fresh horrors . Never again.

author by Frank Adam - private citizenpublication date Sun May 16, 2010 23:37author address author phone

What happens to Jews this decade or generation, happens to others next decade or generation.

Neither Spain, Russia nor Germany have recovered from their authoritarian blinkered frenzies to "purify" themselves of heretics, Jews and other minorities. The Arab World in 1945 was in a reasonable position to climb out of the Third World but is now well overtaken despite, "the silver spoon of oil," by S.Korea & the BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and others.

The bile aimed at Israel disregards the vicious aggression of the Arab states and society since 1947 if not before; and given the sideshow scale of the conflict raises nice psychological questions as to why the critics of this conflict are so passionately one sided and neglectful of Arab misdemeanours and boneheaded incompetence - that is if it really is about an Arab state in Palestine? and not about Moslem supremacy?

author by hbpublication date Mon May 17, 2010 00:10author address author phone

What happens to Jews this decade or generation, happens to others next decade or generation.

What happened to Jews 6 decades ago has been endlessly repeated for the last 6 decades - by Israeli Jews on Palestinian victims. The rampant very obvious hypocrisy of the racist Zionists such as Frank Adam would be astounding were it not so predictable


http://www.indymedia.ie/article/96041

Indymedia Ireland is a media collective. We are independent volunteer citizen journalists producing and distributing the authentic voices of the people. Indymedia Ireland is an open news project where anyone can post their own news, comment, videos or photos about Ireland or related matters.