Phone Calls!

So Donald Trump called the President of China last week, spoke to him.  Outrageous!

He called Putin!  Scandalous.

He called the Philippine President!   Oh My God.  What has he done!

He spoke to the President of Taiwan!

Liberals are going bat-shit crazy.  They are out of their minds!

My prediction - we will develop a better relationship with Russia than any re-set button accomplished, than any diplomacy by the Secretary of State ever accomplished.  We will have a better relationship with the Philippines (no more son of a bitch comments).  The Chinese will, respect us.  And we will stop pretending about so many things in the world.  Refreshing.

On January 21, 2009, at approximately 12:45-1:00 pm, Barack Hussein Obama made his first phone call as President of the United States.  In the decades past, that phone call had ALWAYS AND EVERY SINGLE TIME been to the Prime Minister of Canada.  Mr. Obama changed all that.  I am sure he consulted with the State Department as has become such an issue, and suggestion to Trump, recently, given that Trump did not ... Obama called ... the leader of the Fatah political party in the West Bank - Mahmoud Abbas.


Yep.

So, liberals, go bat-shit crazy over this, just remember ... Obama had 8 years of phone calls, and none of his foreign policy has worked out well.

The books will be written and will not all be kind.

It looks like Abbas / Palestinians are the last piece of foreign policy Obama works on as he leaves the White House.  Interesting.

Bat-shit crazy.  Off you go.

One day in the life of a student

I was explaining that we really cannot talk about history.  We cannot explain or discuss history because it is, very much, all subjective.  Events are categorically factual, but almost all else is subjective and open to interpretation and opinion.  Therefore, we cannot study it, or rather, should not be able to due to our inability to set aside opinions and bias.

One student stood up and said we could study history, and that he tries very hard to be objective and he didn't believe it would be that difficult.

The issue of Palestinians and Israelis was raised as an example of how difficult it is for people to set aside their opinions and bias when discussing a situation.  The student responded that no, he prided himself on knowing what was happening 'over there' because he was Palestinian and he prided himself on being able to see that there was a difference between the great power of Israel and the rag tag Palestinians who were (not his words but his sentiment) simply wanting to be free of the Israeli oppression.

Later the issue of Libya came up and the aircraft and al qaida seizing the airport and this student stood up again and asked why all Arabs were being lumped together with bombs and terrorism.

Hmmm.  Maybe that was the original point raised, and maybe this is exactly why studying history is difficult.

Israel: Killer of Children ?

Why must the Israelis be so cold-hearted. Why must they insist on killing innocent children by depriving the Palestinians of food and fuel. Why. 

Hmm.

This article essentially says it all, and when finished, read the article that follows.  I believe it is very eye-opening!

Gaza baby dies after respirator runs out of fuel

Posted: Sun, Mar. 25, 2012, 1:52 PM

IBRAHIM BARZAK and DIAA HADID

The Associated Press

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A Gaza man said Sunday his 5-month-old baby died after the generator powering his respirator ran out of fuel, the first known death linked to the territory's energy crisis.

The baby, who was born with lymphatic disorder, had only a few months to live, said his father, Abdul-Rahim Helou, 27. But his parents miscalculated how much fuel a new generator needed to remove fluids that accumulated in his respiratory system, he said.

"If we were living in a normal country with electricity, I think his chances of living (longer) would have been better," Helou said.

Gaza health official Bassem al-Qadri said the baby arrived dead at a Gaza City hospital on Friday night.

The baby's death highlights the human cost Gaza's 1.6 million residents are paying for 18-hour-a-day blackouts, triggered by a cutoff of Egyptian fuel.

Shortages have caused days-long lines for fuel at gas stations, a sharp reduction in public transportation and families left shivering in poorly built apartments during a wet and cold winter.

More than a year ago, Hamas decided to power Gaza's only power plant with smuggled fuel from Egypt, rather than pay for more expensive Israeli fuel, as it had done in the past.

Egypt started cutting off the supplies weeks ago because it was suffering shortages itself.

Israel provided some fuel last week.

AND THEN THE AP FILED THIS STORY. 

(03-25) 12:31 PDT GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) --
The Associated Press has withdrawn its story about a 5-month-old baby who was said to have died Friday after the generator powering his respirator ran out of fuel, the first known death linked to the territory's energy crisis. The timing and reason for the death were confirmed to the AP by a man identified as the baby's father and a Gaza health official, but the report has been called into question after it was learned that a local newspaper carried news of the baby's death on March 4.
A substitute story will be filed shortly reflecting the new information.
The AP

AND THEN THE FOLLOWING STORY WAS FILED:

Hamas blames fuel shortage for Gaza baby’s death

March 25, 2012|Ibrahim Barzak and Diaa Hadid, Associated Press

A Gaza man said Sunday his 5-month-old baby died two days ago after the generator powering his respirator ran out of fuel, but the report was called into question after it emerged that the timing of the baby’s death was misrepresented.

The baby’s death — which was confirmed to The Associated Press by a man identified as the father and a Gaza hospital official — would have been the first linked to the territory’s energy crisis, and the report appeared to be an attempt by Gaza’s Hamas rulers to use it to gain sympathy.

However, the AP later learned that news of Mohammed Helou’s death first appeared March 4 in the local Arabic-language newspaper Al-Quds, in an article written by a relative of the bereaved family.

The baby’s father, Abdul-Halim Helou, said Mohammed was born with a lymphatic disorder and had only a few months to live. He said they miscalculated how much fuel a new generator needed to remove fluids that accumulated in his respiratory system.

“If we were living in a normal country with electricity, I think his chances of living (longer) would have been better,’’ Helou said.

The Al-Quds article contained the same details as the one recounted by the Helou family on Sunday, saying Mohammed died from choking on his own phlegm. The story quoted that father as saying their generator ran out of fuel, causing their son’s respirator to stop working and ultimately causing the baby to choke to death.

The fuel crisis was relevant in early March as well, but Hamas apparently missed the report in Al-Quds — a publication considered loyal to its rival, Fatah — and Hamas was now trying to recycle the story to capitalize on the family’s tragedy.

Confronted by the AP with the newspaper story, the family and Hamas Gaza health official Bassem al-Qadri continued to insist the baby arrived dead at a Gaza City hospital on Friday night.

That timing would highlight the human cost Gaza’s 1.6 million residents are paying for 18-hour-a-day blackouts, triggered by a cutoff of Egyptian fuel.

Shortages have caused days-long lines for fuel at gas stations, a sharp reduction in public transportation and families left shivering in poorly built apartments during a wet, cold winter.

More than a year ago, Hamas decided to fire Gaza’s only power plant with smuggled fuel from Egypt, rather than pay for more expensive Israeli fuel, as it had done in the past.

Egypt started cutting off the supplies because it was suffering shortages itself and because it wanted to avoid absolving Israel from continuing responsibility for the crowded, impoverished slice of Mediterranean coast. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but still controls its land crossings — except the one to Egypt.

There are hundreds of smuggling tunnels under the 15-kilometer (9-mile) Gaza-Egypt border, and Hamas raises funds by “taxing’’ smuggled goods, including fuel.

Israel provided some fuel last week as the crisis worsened.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said he was not surprised by the apparent Hamas attempt to alter details of the baby’s death.

“I don’t believe this case is at all an isolated incident but rather the tip of the iceberg,’’ he said. “Hamas as an authoritarian regime consistently seeks to hide the truth and manipulate the information that is allowed to get out of Gaza.’’

(This version CORRECTS Rewrites throughout to reflect that the baby died 3 weeks, not 2 days ago. corrects previous version, which was KILLED, to show that report of baby dying appeared March 4, not 2 days ago.)

 Maybe because Hamas and the Palestinians have a proclivity toward lies and obfuscation that exceeds even the pathological within our society.  Necessary amounts of fuel are sent into Gaza. If Hamas rations the fuel, it is the fault of Hamas, it is their responsibility, not Israel's.  Israel did not ask for a barrage of rocket attacks, Israel did not ask for the deaths of innocents ... Palliwood doesn't have a problem with fabricating stories and the AP and Reuters seem to gobble up the lies, spreading them into mainstream European press where they get further dispersed to fools and idiots who would believe the earth was flat if a Palestinian told them.

hamas

 

Cairo rally: One daywe'll kill all Jews

Muslim Brotherhood holds venomous anti-Israel rally in Cairo mosque Friday; Islamic activists chant: Tel Aviv, judgment day has come

Eldad Beck

Published: 11.25.11, 20:29 / Israel News

Arab hate: A Muslim Brotherhood rally in Cairo's most prominent mosque Friday turned into a venomous anti-Israel protest, with attendants vowing to "one day kill all Jews."

Some 5,000 people joined the rally, called to promote the "battle against Jerusalem's Judaization." The event coincided with the anniversary of the United Nations' partition plan in 1947, which called for the establishment of a Jewish state.

However, most worshippers who prayed at the mosque Friday quickly left it before the Muslim Brotherhood's rally got underway. A group spokesman urged attendants to remain for the protest, asking them not to create a bad impression for the media by leaving.

'Treacherous Jews'

Speakers at the event delivered impassioned, hateful speeches against Israel, slamming the "Zionist occupiers" and the "treacherous Jews." Upon leaving the rally, worshippers were given small flags, with Egypt's flag on one side and the Palestinian flag on the other, as well as maps of Jerusalem's Old City detailing where "Zionists are aiming to change Jerusalem's Muslim character."

Propaganda material ahead of Egypt's parliamentary elections was also handed out at the site.

Spiritual leader Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb charged in his speech that to this day Jews everywhere in the world are seeking to prevent Islamic and Egyptian unity.

"In order to build Egypt, we must be one. Politics is insufficient. Faith in Allah is the basis for everything," he said. "The al-Aqsa Mosque is currently under an offensive by the Jews…we shall not allow the Zionists to Judaize al-Quds (Jerusalem.) We are telling Israel and Europe that we shall not allow even one stone to be moved there."

'We have different mentality'

Muslim Brotherhood spokesmen, as well as Palestinian guest speakers, made explicit calls for Jihad and for liberating the whole of Palestine. Time and again, a Koran quote vowing that "one day we shall kill all the Jews" was uttered at the site. Meanwhile, businessmen in the crowd were urged to invest funds in Jerusalem in order to prevent the acquisition of land and homes by Jews.

Throughout the event, Muslim Brotherhood activists chanted: "Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, judgment day has come."

Speaking to Ynet outside the mosque following the prayer, elementary school teacher Ala al-Din said that "all Egyptian Muslims are willing to embark on Jihad for the sake of Palestine."

"Why is the US losing in Afghanistan? Because the other side is willing and wants to die. We have a different mentality than that of the Americans and Jews," he said.

Palestinians 

Israel and the Apartheid Slander


By RICHARD J. GOLDSTONE
October 31, 2011



THE Palestinian Authority’s request for full United Nations membership has put hope for any two-state solution under increasing pressure. The need for reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians has never been greater. So it is important to separate legitimate criticism of Israel from assaults that aim to isolate, demonize and delegitimize it.

One particularly pernicious and enduring canard that is surfacing again is that Israel pursues “apartheid” policies. In Cape Town starting on Saturday, a London-based nongovernmental organization called the Russell Tribunal on Palestine will hold a “hearing” on whether Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid. It is not a “tribunal.” The “evidence” is going to be one-sided and the members of the “jury” are critics whose harsh views of Israel are well known.

While “apartheid” can have broader meaning, its use is meant to evoke the situation in pre-1994 South Africa. It is an unfair and inaccurate slander against Israel, calculated to retard rather than advance peace negotiations.

I know all too well the cruelty of South Africa’s abhorrent apartheid system, under which human beings characterized as black had no rights to vote, hold political office, use “white” toilets or beaches, marry whites, live in whites-only areas or even be there without a “pass.” Blacks critically injured in car accidents were left to bleed to death if there was no “black” ambulance to rush them to a “black” hospital. “White” hospitals were prohibited from saving their lives.

In assessing the accusation that Israel pursues apartheid policies, which are by definition primarily about race or ethnicity, it is important first to distinguish between the situations in Israel, where Arabs are citizens, and in West Bank areas that remain under Israeli control in the absence of a peace agreement.

In Israel, there is no apartheid. Nothing there comes close to the definition of apartheid under the 1998 Rome Statute: “Inhumane acts ... committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.” Israeli Arabs — 20 percent of Israel’s population — vote, have political parties and representatives in the Knesset and occupy positions of acclaim, including on its Supreme Court. Arab patients lie alongside Jewish patients in Israeli hospitals, receiving identical treatment.

To be sure, there is more de facto separation between Jewish and Arab populations than Israelis should accept. Much of it is chosen by the communities themselves. Some results from discrimination. But it is not apartheid, which consciously enshrines separation as an ideal. In Israel, equal rights are the law, the aspiration and the ideal; inequities are often successfully challenged in court.

The situation in the West Bank is more complex. But here too there is no intent to maintain “an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group.” This is a critical distinction, even if Israel acts oppressively toward Palestinians there. South Africa’s enforced racial separation was intended to permanently benefit the white minority, to the detriment of other races. By contrast, Israel has agreed in concept to the existence of a Palestinian state in Gaza and almost all of the West Bank, and is calling for the Palestinians to negotiate the parameters.

But until there is a two-state peace, or at least as long as Israel’s citizens remain under threat of attacks from the West Bank and Gaza, Israel will see roadblocks and similar measures as necessary for self-defense, even as Palestinians feel oppressed. As things stand, attacks from one side are met by counterattacks from the other. And the deep disputes, claims and counterclaims are only hardened when the offensive analogy of “apartheid” is invoked.

Those seeking to promote the myth of Israeli apartheid often point to clashes between heavily armed Israeli soldiers and stone-throwing Palestinians in the West Bank, or the building of what they call an “apartheid wall” and disparate treatment on West Bank roads. While such images may appear to invite a superficial comparison, it is disingenuous to use them to distort the reality. The security barrier was built to stop unrelenting terrorist attacks; while it has inflicted great hardship in places, the Israeli Supreme Court has ordered the state in many cases to reroute it to minimize unreasonable hardship. Road restrictions get more intrusive after violent attacks and are ameliorated when the threat is reduced.

Of course, the Palestinian people have national aspirations and human rights that all must respect. But those who conflate the situations in Israel and the West Bank and liken both to the old South Africa do a disservice to all who hope for justice and peace.

Jewish-Arab relations in Israel and the West Bank cannot be simplified to a narrative of Jewish discrimination. There is hostility and suspicion on both sides. Israel, unique among democracies, has been in a state of war with many of its neighbors who refuse to accept its existence. Even some Israeli Arabs, because they are citizens of Israel, have at times come under suspicion from other Arabs as a result of that longstanding enmity.

The mutual recognition and protection of the human dignity of all people is indispensable to bringing an end to hatred and anger. The charge that Israel is an apartheid state is a false and malicious one that precludes, rather than promotes, peace and harmony.


Richard J. Goldstone, a former justice of the South African Constitutional Court, led the United Nations fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict of 2008-9.











Israel

Palestinians: Apartheid State

Not since the Nazi's






PLO official: Palestine should be free of Jews


PLO ambassador to US says 'after 44 years of occupation, it would be in both peoples' interest to be separated' adding that Palestinians need separation to work on national identity. US diplomat subs remarks 'despicable form of anti-Semitism'



Yitzhak Benhorin
Latest Update: 09.15.11, 00:42 / Israel News


WASHINGTON - The Palestinian Liberation Organization's Ambassador to the US Maen Areikat said Wednesday that any future Palestinian state must be free of Jews. Speaking to reporters in the US he said, "After the experience of the last 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated."

Areikat made the statements after being asked about the rights of minorities in a future Palestinian state, USA Today reported. He declared that the PLO seeks a secular state, but that Palestinians need separation to work on their own national identity.

Later Wednesday, Palestinian Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud al-Habash dismissed Areikat's statements, saying that the Palestinian state is to welcome members of all faiths. He asserted that any media attempts to manipulate anti-Jewish statements are politically motivated.

He added that the Palestinian Authority and its ambassador to Washington have a clear stance on the matter.

Minister of Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein also responded to Areikat's remarks. "After an unending de-legitimization campaign and attempts to brand Israel an apartheid state, it appears it is the Palestinians who seek apartheid.

He said the statements are reminiscent of Nazi slogans. "His comments conjure up Judenrein motifs. I wonder if Areikat's remark that both peoples must live separately means that one million Arab-Israelis are not part of his people."

Areikat's comments caused a stir among Jewish leaders. Elliott Abrams, a former US National Security Council official, said in response that according to such plans, Palestine will be the first to officially prohibit Jews or any other faith since Nazi Germany, which sought a country that was judenrein, or cleansed of Jews.

Abrams described the demand as "a despicable form of anti-Semitism" adding that a small Jewish presence in a future Palestinian state would not hurt the Palestinian identity.

The UN's General Assembly is scheduled to address the Palestinian bid for recognition next week, with Israel, the US and several European states strongly opposing it. The Palestinians are slated to win an overwhelming majority at the Assembly as it is controlled by Arab and Muslim states.

Nevertheless, any such resolution would not have practical significance and in order to be accepted as a full member in the UN the PA will need Security Council endorsement.

Meanwhile, Jordan's foreign minister said Wednesday his country supports a Palestinian drive for recognition at the UN but prefers negotiations toward creation of a Palestinian state.

Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh told reporters that Jordan supports the Palestinian campaign, but it should take into account the rights of Palestinian refugees, the fate of Jerusalem and the borders of a future Palestinian state.

He said the "best way" to attain statehood is through "direct negotiations."

Last-ditch effort to prevent UN vote

Meanwhile, a high-level US team kicked off a new round of shuttle diplomacy on Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to contain the diplomatic fallout from the Palestinian statehood push, but the odds of a breakthrough appeared slim as the Palestinians pledged to go ahead with mass rallies to draw world attention to their bid.

US diplomats Dennis Ross and David Hale arrived late Wednesday for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. They were to travel to the West Bank on Thursday to talk with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. No breakthrough has thus been achieved.

In addition to the US efforts, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, and special international Mideast envoy Tony Blair have been meeting with the sides this week. US officials said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been in touch with both Ashton and Blair in recent days.

Barak urged Ashton to prevent the Palestinians from tabling a resolution proposal.

Ashton is proposing a three-part plan: Grating the Palestinians UN observer status similar to that of the Vatican, issuing a Quartet statement accounting both the Israeli and the Palestinian needs, and a UN chief pledge the put forward a recognition resolution in the future.

Germany is opposed to Ashton's plan which has not won European consensus. The US, on its part, wants the plan to be presented to allow each side to voice its reservations.

Both Israel and the Palestinians oppose the plan.



















palestinians

Mentally Ill Sisters: Says a lot.

I believe this says a lot!!

Mentally ill sisters freed from chains in West Bank

August 31, 2011

By Kevin Flower, CNN

We first met Mohedeye and Nedaa Dawabsha sitting quietly on the floor of a small room in their family's modest house in the dusty West Bank village of Duma. Neither of the sisters were able to leave the room.

Connected to harnesses around their waists was a meter-and-a-half of chain links, binding them to a heavy metal locker in the corner of the room.

According to their family Nedaa, 21, had been confined like this for the past 10 years and her sister Mohedeye, 25, for the past two.

Mohedeye and Nedaa suffer from severe mental disability, their older sister Intesar Dawabsha told us, and are incapable of functioning without constant care. Mental illness ran in the family, Intesar explained, but her sister's condition was particularly severe.

"They need someone to take care of them 24 hours, to give them food because they cannot eat properly, they cannot do their basic needs, they cannot change their clothing, they cannot clean themselves, they need someone 24 hours," Intesar told CNN.

The sister's parents, Uthamn and Houda Dawabsha, are both battling illness and are not up to the task of caring for Nedaa and Mohedeye, according to Intesar.

Houda is laid up in bed most of the time and Uthman, who works as an itinerant farmer, says jobs are few and far between and that he's lucky if he makes over fifteen dollars a day.

The Dawabsha family members say the lack of resources mean they were not able to provide the girls with the necessary care -- and it was when the two girls began leaving the home in the middle of the night and entering neighbors' houses that the family resorted to tying them up.

"I'm very worried for my sisters, especially because sometimes they leave at night and they cannot make any difference if anyone will attack them," Intesar explained. "I am very afraid that one day they will be sexually attacked, I'm very afraid they will be raped."

And in this conservative Palestinian village of just over just over 2,000 people, there were also concerns about tradition and family honor.

"I prefer that they will stay in the chains," said Majeda Dawabsha, the girls' cousin told CNN.

"Because the other option is that someone could rape them and you know that the question of honor in this society is very important and the fact that she is disabled doesn't ease the penalty," Majeda said. "All that we have in this place is honor ... to be bound is better than to be killed."





 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
honor and rape

Animals

In Israel, near Samaria, an attack occured on an Israeli family -

The shocking attack occurred around 1 am as the terrorist entered the family home and murdered three children aged 11, 3, and a baby girl along with their parents. The victims were apparently sleeping as the killer came in.



He killed them all.
And so, in the name of decency - all human beings must oppose such evil actions ...


Gaza celebrates; Fayyad condemns terror attack



Rafah residents hand out candy following murder of parents, three children in West Bank settlement of Itamar. Palestinian PM denounces act, says "we categorically oppose violence and terror, regardless of victims', perpetrators' identity"


It says a lot.












terrorist

Palestinian Torture

PA has been torturing prisoners for years, UK group says


By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
01/22/2011 17:15



Ramallah official dismisses report as ‘full of lies,’ says Arab Organization for Human Rights affiliated with Hamas.

The Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank have been using torture on a widespread and systematic basis for several years, according to a report by the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Britain.

Torture techniques used in PA prisons included shabh (hanging) of all kinds, beatings with cables, pulling out nails, suspension from the ceiling, flogging, kicking, cursing, electric shocks, sexual harassment and the threat of rape, the report found.

A top PA official in Ramallah dismissed the report as “unreliable” and “full of lies.”

The official claimed that the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Britain was affiliated with Hamas and other Islamic fundamentalist groups.

At least six Palestinians have died under torture in PA prisons and many former detainees have permanent physical disabilities, the report found.

The human rights organization said that it has documented such “crimes” for three years – from October 2007 to October 2010.

During that period – the report said – PA security forces in the West Bank detained 8,640 Palestinians at a rate of eight arrests per day.

“Every one of those detainees has been subject to humiliating and degrading treatment and stayed in cells for more than 10 days,” the report said. “The analysis shows that an astonishing 95 percent of the detainees were subjected to severe torture, others feeling the detrimental effects on their health for varying periods.”

The report also found that 77% of those who had been detained by the PA security forces had been arrested in the past by Israel.

Representatives of the organization met with victims, or their relatives, and distributed a questionnaire, in secret, to detainees who were held in PA prisons.

“Men and women from all sectors of Palestinian society have been subject to arrest and torture,” the report said. “These include students, workers, teachers, doctors, engineers, university professors and lawyers.”

The study quoted detainees as complaining that the torture most were exposed to was shabh in its various forms (some reported that they were hung from the second floor, upside down, like a slaughtered animal). It said that many others also complained about severe beatings with sticks and hoses, threats of rape and sleep deprivation for lengthy periods.

“In order to put pressure on detainees, close relatives, even minors, are brought to the interrogation center, where they may be tortured in front of the detainee in order to try to force a confession of guilt,” the report said. “Charges laid against detainees by the PA are often the same as those used by the Israeli occupation forces, namely membership in a militia, terrorism, sedition and organizing against the PA.”

The report named the Preventive Security Service as the group responsible for most of the detentions and torture. This group has 17 detention centers.

It’s followed by the General Intelligence Service, which also has 17 detention centers, and the Military Intelligence Service, with only 11 detention centers.

“The detention centers of all security services have one thing in common – they all operate outside the law,” the human rights organization concluded. “Under the current laws in the PA areas, reform and rehabilitation centers are the only places where detention is permitted. Those run by the security services are not subject to any judicial control.”

The organization called for bringing to trial all those alleged to have committed acts of torture. It also urged the donor countries, particularly the EU, to act accordingly.

“However, political considerations and influence means that little is being done in this respect,” the group’s report charged.

“The EU’s response is not consistent with the obligations of states on both the legal and moral levels, where its support for the PA, despite the prevalence of torture, is contrary to international law and the Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Convention in Europe of 1950.”

The report pointed out that the PA had admitted practicing torture when, at the beginning of October 2009, it announced that it was stopping torture in its prisons.

But, the report said, “it turns out that torture has not been stopped; rather, it has grown more frequent and intense. The PA’s announcement was window-dressing and deception.”

In 2008, two detainees died during torture in PA prisons. The following year another four died in PA prisons. In all cases, the PA denied responsibility, claiming that the cause of death was suicide or illness.

The six men were identified as Majd Barghouti, Shadi Shaheen, Muhammad al- Haj, Haitham Amr, Kamal Abu Ta’eima and Fadi Hamadna.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
torture

Palestinians = Just like us, or maybe more like Mexico

They are just like us.



Tourist's body found near Jerusalem



After overnight search, Christine Logan's body found in wooded area; Kaye Susan Wilson, who was found stabbed and bound on Saturday, regains consciousness and recounts terrifying incident. 'Arabs came to kill,' she says

Ynet reporters Latest Update: 12.19.10, 09:59 / Israel News



Israeli police said the body of a female tourist who they feared was kidnapped by Arab assailants while hiking with a friend outside Jerusalem was found Sunday morning.

The woman has been identified as Christine Logan. Her identity has been given alternatively as British and American. Ynet has learned that her body was found in a wooded area, between bushes, a few hundred meters from the road connecting Beit Shemesh and Moshav Mata. Police suspect she was carried to the bushes by the assailant or assailants.

Logan's friend, identified as Kaye Susan Wilson, a 46-year-old tour guide, was also found bound with her hands behind her back Saturday in a mountainous area outside Jerusalem, bleeding from multiple stab wounds. She was hospitalized in Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital critical condition. On Sunday hospital officials said she had regained consciousness and that her condition has stabilized.

Speaking to Ynet Sunday morning, Wilson, not yet aware of her friend's death, recounted the incident. "Christine and I walked down a path in order to climb a small hill. We sat there, and two Arabs passed by and asked 'Do you have any water?' I said, 'I wish.' I felt something was wrong. I turned to (Christine) in English and told her something doesn't feel right and that we should return to the path.

"I pulled out a small knife from my pocket – a women's knife – and we began heading back. I saw that they (Arabs) weren't around, and I told her, 'Wait a second, I'll check to see where we are.' Suddenly I heard a noise. It happened so quickly – they came and attacked us. One of them pulled out a very long knife – like a bread knife with a sharpened edge," Wilson added.

"I was very scared, but my friend became hysterical. I told her to be quiet, but she told them, 'Take the money, take everything,' and they took everything. One of them took the Star of David necklace off my neck like a gentleman, and then they stabbed me 12 times. They came to kill. Nobody walks around with a knife like that for no reason. He stabbed me, but I sensed the knife did not penetrate my heart. I pretended to be dead; I thought they were waiting for someone else to come so I waited a few minutes and then threw myself onto a slope, my hands tied behind my back, and there was something covering my mouth," Wilson recalled.

"I found myself between the bushes, and I didn’t know if they had left already. I just wanted to sleep and felt as though I were about to collapse, but I knew I could not fall asleep. I managed to walk away and made my way to a parking lot, where a strange thing happened. An Israeli vehicle arrived and parked 10 meters from me. (The driver) was looking straight at me, but I couldn't yell so he continued driving. I had to walk another 20 meters, then I saw children; I turned around so they would see that my hands were tied, and they called the police."

A massive manhunt for Logan was launched after Wilson was discovered. Hundreds of police officers and volunteers, accompanied by soldiers from special IDF units, searched every cave and pit in the area.

During the overnight search, a police official told Ynet, "It doesn't look good. The woman has been missing since 4:30 pm and is feared dead. If she were fine we would have found her by now."

During the search the army set up roadblocks and inspected vehicles travelling to the West Bank. Choppers and a number of drones also assisted in the search.

No arrests have been made as of yet. "So far we have searched a number of areas. The first was near the injured woman's car, where blood stains, hairs and signs of a struggle were found. Unfortunately, these signs could not lead us to the assailants' possible escape route," a senior Border Guard officer said.

"The woman (Wilson) was agitated and had trouble speaking, and refused to tell us anything beyond her first name," one eyewitness from the town of Mata, who summoned rescue forces, told Ynet.

"Her clothes were dirty and showed signs of a struggle."





 
 
 
 
 
 
palestinians

Gaza: Under Seige, Prison Camp, Suffering the Indignity of .......

July 28, 2010 Special Dispatch No.3126
Memri.org 
 
Other sources:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/138860
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
gaza



Egyptian Journalist: In Actual Terms, Gaza Is Not Under Siege


Resort in Gaza. Paldf.net, July 21, 2010






In an article in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram on the economic situation in the Gaza Strip, journalist Ashraf Abu Al-Houl wrote about the burgeoning recreation industry and of the low merchandise prices.


Also as part of the interest in the economic situation in Gaza, the PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida published articles describing the expensive resorts that have been established for Gaza's newly rich, and a Palestinian website reported on the new mall recently opened in the city.



The following are excerpts from the articles:




Stores Overflow with Goods




Journalist Ashraf Abu Al-Houl wrote in Al-Ahram: "I was last in Gaza in mid-February. Returning three weeks ago, I found it almost unrecognizable... and the greatest surprise was the nature of that change. I would have expected a change for the worse, considering the blockade – but the opposite was the case; it seemed as if it had emerged from the blockade.


"A sense of absolute prosperity prevails, as manifested by the grand resorts along and near Gaza's coast. Further, the sight of the merchandise and luxuries filling the Gaza shops amazed me. Merchandise is sold more cheaply than in Egypt, although most of it is from the Egyptian market, and there are added shipping costs and costs for smuggling it via the tunnels – so that it could be expected to be more expensive.




"Before I judge by appearances, which can be misleading... [I would like to point out that] I toured the new resorts, most of which are quite grand, as well as the commercial markets, to verify my hypothesis. The resorts and markets have come to symbolize prosperity, and prove that the siege is formal or political, not economic. The reality [in Gaza] proves that the siege was broken even before Israel's crime against the ships of the Freedom Flotilla in late May; everything already was coming into the Gaza Strip from Egypt. If this weren't the case, businessmen would not have been able to build so many resorts in under four months."




Significantly Lower Prices




"[I] began my search for the truth regarding the siege in Rafah, at the Saturday market, which was loaded with large quantities of merchandise and products of various kinds – at prices mostly lower than in Egypt, particularly for food products. Nevertheless, there weren't many customers, and this for two reasons: One, supply is much greater than demand, and two, the workers were all waiting to get paid their wages.




"Business owner Abu Yousuf stood at his shop surrounded by hundreds of cans of food. Their price had dropped significantly in the past two months; in some cases by as much as 50%. Clothing vendor Abu Muhammad Al-Masri noted that there was an unprecedented glut on the clothing market in the Gaza Strip. Clothing comes into Gaza from two sources: the tunnels, which provide large quantities, and the border crossings to Israel, via which even more goods arrive, most of which piled up at Ashdod port [and are now coming into the Strip]. He clarified that the merchants wanted to sell [lots of] goods to get back some of their money... and so had increased the supply in the markets, leading to lower prices.




"During my tour of the Rafah and Khan Younis markets, I noticed that the merchants were drastically marking down their merchandise, so as to get rid of goods smuggled in through the tunnels, and to prevent heavy losses... after Israel has decided to allow in Israeli and imported goods, as part of Israeli government measures to ease the blockade following the Freedom Flotilla massacre.




"Despite the drop in price due to the plethora of goods in the Gaza markets, the residents sense that even lower prices are on the way, due to the easing of the Israeli blockade. The consumers are carefully watching prices, [particularly for] smuggled electrical appliances and cars, and refrain from buying, expecting that merchandise will arrive via the border crossings [leading to a further drop in prices].




"A Gaza car showroom salesman said that he hoped to sell off his inventory and that he was not bringing in any new vehicles for fear of heavy losses, because Israel had decided to allow vehicles into Gaza for the first time since 2006. Anyone walking in the Gaza streets will see hundreds, if not thousands, of cars that entered Gaza from Egypt via the tunnels, and some of them are stolen. At the home and kitchen appliance dealers, there is a tempting array of all kinds of smuggled goods that sellers want to get rid of, due to the ongoing information about new products that Israel has decided to allow into to the city... "




Resorts for the Nouveau Riche




"The Gaza resorts paint a picture of prosperity enjoyed by only a few groups, most of which have become rich from the blockade, because they either own tunnels or else work for the many international organizations in Gaza, headed by UNRWA.




"The Gaza resorts are divided into several [categories], each of which has its own price range. This is not like it used to be, when all the tables on the beach were for the use of all the residents... I noticed that most of the resorts set a certain price for the tables near the sea, and a different price for tables farther away. This is in addition to high fees to enter the resort – no less than NIS 20 – and each activity within the [grounds] has its own fee. In short, a family visit, with a sandwich for each child, can cost up to NIS 500.




"Several months ago, Gaza had only one luxury resort, Zahrat Al-Madain. Today, another one opens up every day, such as Crazy Water, Aqua Park, and Al-Bustan. Most of them are owned by members, or associates, of Hamas. In addition, the Hamas municipalities [also] charge high fees, in Gaza terms, for the use of public beaches."




"'Aed Yaghi, senior official of the Al-Mubadara Al-Wataniyya party, which is headed by Palestinian Legislative Council member Mustafa Al-Barghouti, said, 'These resorts make you wonder. It is logical to invest when times are good – but when Gaza is suffering under siege and there is a possibility of renewed aggression [by Israel], no one knows what profitability there is in building resorts.'




"Walid Al-'Awwad, a member of the Palestinian People's Party political bureau, said, 'In the past two years, money-laundering has flourished in Gaza, as reflected by the construction of numerous resorts – all of which belong to influential individuals who participate in trafficking via the tunnels. Compared to the tunnel owners' increasing wealth, the [status] of the [established] wealthy families has waned... The spread of the grand resorts reflects the emergence of a bourgeoisie. Some of the fluidity in the Gaza market stems from the activity of clandestine elements – distributors of drugs, arms, and tunnel merchandise.'



"Human rights activist and political correspondent Mustafa Ibrahim said, 'Building resorts in the north [of the Strip] is contrary to the most fundamental principles of investment, because they are in regions exposed to shelling and destruction, due to the unceasing Israeli threats. Thus, veteran investors don't dare invest in this area. The elements behind the investment [in the north], who are sometimes hasty, rely on profits from trafficking via the tunnels for funding... This huge investment in the leisure industry is taking place today in Gaza at a time when 80% of the residents depend on aid from UNRWA and other organizations, and unemployment is at 45%. This creates a distorted picture, particularly when merchandise is piling up in the shops in a way that does not reflect the economic situation. Perhaps the current government created this distorted situation in order to show that it had succeeded in breaking the siege..." [1]


The Al-Bustan Resort and Bisan Tourism City




The PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida stated: "The Al-Bustan resort, on the coast, belongs to an Islamic association linked to Hamas. It offers a cafeteria, a restaurant, and fish ponds; it gets 1,000 visitors a day, and about 2,000 during the weekend, says manager Ahmad Qadoura. A Gaza resident whose home was destroyed in the Gaza war, Abu Kamal Al-Awajeh, expressed his resentment over the resorts' high entry fee of NIS 35... He says, 'priority should be given to rehabilitating Gaza and building housing for those whose homes were destroyed by the occupation in the war.' Nearby, the Wa'ed prisoners' association, which is close to Hamas, has built the Al-Hurriya ["Freedom"] Resort.




"In May, Bisan Tourism City was established in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip. Previously a garbage dump, the 270-dunam [site], which belongs to the Hamas government, provides a leisure and vacation [destination] for Gaza residents... It cost $1.5 million, under the oversight of Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad. The city includes an 86-dunam park and a small zoo, and two Olympic-size swimming pools for children and adults. According to its administration, on weekends it hosts some 6,000 visitors... The administration bans hookah smoking and card games, and three religious conventions are held there every week."[2]




Mall Opens in Gaza




The Palestinian website Firas Press reported: "This week, Gaza's first mall opened. The inaugural ceremony was attended by Hamas ministers and officials, along with merchants and investors. Hamas Welfare Minister Ahmad Al-Kurd said, "The mall will participate in meeting the basic needs of the population, against the backdrop of the siege, with merchants bringing in [goods] via the border crossings and the tunnels."[3]










Endnotes:




[1] Al-Ahram (Egypt), July 18, 2010


[2] Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Palestinian Authority), July 22, 2010


[3] www.fpnp.net, July 21, 2010














gaza

Obama - Making Friends

Hamas says asked by US to keep silent on talks





Roee Nahmias
Published: 06.25.10, 19:04 / Israel News
YNet


Islamist group source says senior American officials request contacts remain secret 'so as not to rouse Jewish lobby'

A senior Hamas figure said Friday that official and unofficial US sources have asked the Islamist group to refrain from making any statements regarding contacts with Washington, this following reports that a senior American official is due to arrive in an Arab country in the coming days to relay a telegram from the Obama Administration.

The Hamas figure told the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper that the Americans fear discussing the talks publicly would "rouse the Jewish lobby and other pressure groups in the US and cause them to pressure the administration to suspend all talks with Hamas."

The Hamas figure, who is close to Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of the government in Gaza, added, "This is a sensitive subject. The Americans don't want anyone to comment on it because this would catch the attention of pressure groups (in the US) and cause problems."

He said Hamas' exiled leadership in Damascus is overseeing the contacts behind closed doors.

On Wednesday a Washington-based Arabic newspaper quoted a senior official as saying that an American envoy is scheduled to meet with Hamas representatives in an Arab country and hand them a letter from the Obama Administration.

According to the report, the official said Washington has no choice but to work with Hamas due to its influence in the Arab and Islamic world.









 
 
 
 
 
Israel

Israel: From within.

I would argue that part, a small percentage of this radicalization is due to the heartfelt efforts of the Obama administration.



Arab minority in Israel gets more radical


Report also indicates hostility among Jews



By Benjamin Birnbaum
8:41 p.m., Tuesday, June 22, 2010
The Washington Times


While confronting threats abroad, Israel faces a challenge closer to home — the increasing radicalization of its Arab minority, according to a new report.

The report notes several public opinion trends in Israel's Arab sector since 2003 that reflect a growing alienation from the state and its Jewish majority:

• Support for the proposition that "Jews in Israel are a people who have a right to a state" has declined from 75.5 percent to 60.8 percent while support for "two states for two peoples" has plummeted from 88.8 percent to 65 percent.

• Those who list Israeli citizenship as the most important aspect of their personal identity have dwindled from 29.6 percent to 19.8 percent, while those who identify primarily with the Palestinian people have gone from 18.8 percent to 32 percent.

• The number who believe that "despite its shortcomings, the regime in Israel is a democracy for the Arab citizens as well" has fallen from 63.1 percent to 50.5 percent while the minority that supports using "all means, including violence" to achieve political ends has jumped from 5.4 percent to 13.9 percent.

The report is the latest installment of renowned Haifa University sociologist Sammy Smooha's annual "index of Arab-Jewish relations" and shows a continuation of some hostile attitudes among the Jewish majority, including that only 66.9 percent of Jewish Israelis support preserving the right of Arab citizens to vote.

In the context of ethnic conflict, the report states, "Arabs and Jews are bound to have a basic distrust in each other." But there are degrees of distrust. Matters have gone from bad to worse since the collapse of the peace process in 2000 and the wars and terrorist attacks that followed.

"By any account this was a lost decade for coexistence between Arabs and Jews," Mr. Smooha said in the report. "The situation worsened and bodes badly for the future of their relations."

Given the blood ties between Israel's Arab citizens and their Palestinian brethren in the West Bank and Gaza, Mideast experts see an important parallel.

"The Israelis face two Palestinian problems," said Aaron David Miller, who has advised several presidents on the Arab-Israeli conflict. "The first issue — the question of occupation — deals with where they are. The second — the status of the country's Arab minority — deals with what they are.

"Sixty-plus years after its creation, Israel — where it is and what it is — is still not collectively accepted, clearly by the outside world, but by a vast number of its own citizens," he said.

In turn, those citizens feel less welcome, particularly after the 2009 Israeli elections, which saw a collapse in the standing of left-wing Zionist parties (and of historical Arab support for them) and the rise of the Yisrael Beiteinu party of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who campaigned on an explicitly anti-Arab platform, with slogans like "Only Lieberman Understands Arabic" and "No Citizenship Without Loyalty" (a reference to the party's proposal to strip the citizenship of those who do not sign an oath of loyalty to Israel as a Jewish state).

"This is, for us, the worst Knesset since the establishment of the state of Israel," said Jafar Farah, director of the Mossawa Center, one of many Israeli nongovernmental organizations that advocate for Israeli Arabs. "Twenty-three laws have been submitted in one year by Knesset members that further the discrimination against our community."

However, the Knesset members from Israel's Arab parties have not been shy about showscasing their hostility to the Jewish state. Freshman MK Hanin Zuabi, who last year expressed support for Iran's quest for a nuclear bomb, is facing criticism for taking part in the Gaza-bound flotilla.

The former head of her party, Azmi Bishara, is a fugitive from Israeli charges that he spied for Hezbollah. Years before Helen Thomas told Jews to "go home" to Poland and Germany, Bishara told a Lebanese audience much the same thing. "Return Palestine to us," he said, "and take your democracy with you. We Arabs are not interested in it."

At the time, it seemed Bishara was out of step with his constituents; whether that is still so, given reports like Smooha's, is no longer clear. And, for that, there is blame to go around.

The conflict between Arabs and Jews, Mr. Miller said, "has never been one hand clapping. It really takes two peoples who don't understand one another terribly well or, alternatively, understand one another all too well."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
israel

Turkey: Hamas is not a terrorist organization. Rachel Corrie stopped by Israeli navy

Israeli troops board Rachel Corrie after 4 calls ignored. Erdogan may join next flotilla


DEBKAfile Special Report
June 5, 2010, 10:07 AM



After four calls to change course from Gaza to Ashdod were ignored, Israeli troops were reported to have boarded the Irish-flagged Rachel Corrie some 28 miles out to sea and sailed it to the Israeli port of Ashdod after the ship's pro-Hamas passengers stood by their determination to break the Israeli blockade.

No violence or injuries were reported.

Midday Saturday, June 5, the cat and mouse game between the Israeli Navy, with orders to keep the ship from entering Gaza and the pro-Hamas activists aboard the ship reached its climax. Israeli calls transmitted to the Rachel Corrie ever since dawn met with no response.

Earlier reports during the morning elicited a denial from the Israeli military spokeswoman that troops had boarded the Irish-flagged ship. "At this minute, there's no takeover," she said cautiously.

Turkish security sources quoted Prime Minister Recep Erdogan as preparing to go beyond abusive rhetoric against Israel and considering using his navy to break Israel's siege of Gaza - or even sailing aboard the next flotilla to break the blockade in person on the assumption that Israel would not dare stop him.

According to debkafile's sources in Ankara, the Obama administration is in contact with the Turkish PM and trying to cool him down.

Mike Hammer, spokesman of the National Security Council, urged the Irish boat to sail to Ashdod and deliver materials for Gaza there in the interests of avoiding a confrontation and protecting their own safety and the safe transmission of assistance to the people of Gaza.

Regarding the Gaza blockade, he said "the current arrangements are unsustainable and must be changed." The US is working urgently with Israel, the Palestinian Authority and other international partners," he said, "to develop new procedures for delivering more goods and assistances to Gaza while preventing the importation of weapons."

But for now, the US official called on all parties to act responsibly.

Friday night, Rachel Corrie's 20 passengers rejected a deal reached between the Israeli and Irish governments for UN and Irish officials to attend Israel's inspection of the cargo before sending it overland to the Gaza Strip, insisting on sailing straight to Gaza and delivering the materials themselves. They were also unresponsive to an earlier Israeli offer by Foreign Ministry Director-General Yossie Gal inviting the activists on board the Rachel Corrie to accompany the shipment to the Gaza border.

"We will cooperate with the UN and international organizations in order to ensure that all of the cargo is put to the use of Gaza's citizens," said the Israeli official.

In Washington, Turkish ambassador Namik Tan said his government would break relations with Israel unless it apologized for the commando raid on its flotilla for Gaza which left 9 activists dead after they attacked the troops. In Ankara, prime minster Recep Erdogan said Friday, June 4: "I do not think Hamas is a terrorist organization. They are Palestinians in resistance, fighting for their own land."

Switching from Turkish to Hebrew and English he quoted the Ten Commandments back at Israel saying: Thou shalt not kill."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
temerity

Hamas, Palestinians,and the Flotilla

Hamas is a social organization, providing aid to those who are in need.  Supplying money to the poor to pay for electricity and to buy food, pay for a doctor, or surgery, even for school.  This is the popular myth, and it is in part accurate.  It is more propaganda than it is truth, and more fictional than reality, yet some people accept it, believe it, and act upon the fictional purpose of Hamas as a saving grace for the destitute and hungry, the powerless and poor.  It is purely political, even as it operates a killing arm to force capitulation by the subjugated masses.  It cries out for freedom from Israeli control yet oppresses the masses.  If they were 'free' of Israeli 'control' Hamas would be unable to rationalize its purpose. 

Hamas has sworn to destroy Israel, it lives to destroy Israel.  It exists, the reason d'etre is to destroy Israel.  They wake up each day and dream and think, believe, and act in a manner they believe will end the existence of Israel.  On Thursday, June 3, four kassam rockets were launched into Israel.  This is ongoing.   It matters not how many casualties, but for luck and the general stupidity of hamas, many could have been killed.


How do you make a rocket?  Not difficult.  Neither is a launcher all that difficult to make.  All you need is some pvc piping.  The same type of piping used for ... water / sewage.  Israel placed a blockade around Gaza to prevent material that would be used to rebuild Hamas' ability to attack Israel and or provide cover for Hamas killers and kidnappers.

Israel allows in aid and has tried allowing in piping - you know, piping for the sewage that is building up - all 55 million metric meters that flows into the Mediterranean.  Here is the simple fact - Israel would and will, and has allowed in the piping for that sewage system, BUT hamas send out stupid fools to dig it up, to use the piping for rocket launchers.  If you are Israel, what would you do?
a) continue sending piping to repair and replace the stolen piping used for rocket launchers
b) send rocket launchers to make unnecessary the ripping out of the piping, thereby allowing the sewage to be diverted and saving the Mediterranean.
c) ignore the facts and open the gates, fences, sea lanes and let the chips fall where they will.
d) tell Hamas to stop digging up the piping or you will prevent further pipes from being sent in to be used in the same form, and not for the purpose they were sent into Gaza.

I don't know.  I suppose if you are Roseanne Barr or Helen Thomas, you would choose E, stop occupying Palestinian lands and go home and when all the Jews are gone, they will stop digging up the pipes.

It is a choice for Hamas - dig up the pipes, pollute the land, allow people to get sick and die, or stop digging up the pipes for rocket launchers.  Simple enough.  Where is their passion, dedication, and commitment?  With the people or with death?

So Roseanne would say - it most certainly is with the people (this is my opinion of her position, and I am reasonably confident if it was a direct question, and required a direct answer she would come down on this side)

They cannot build sewage systems and prevent 55 million metric meters of sewage flow into the Mediterranean because the Israelis limit the amount of construction materials into Gaza.

Hamas calls on the world to help them, and it did - billions in aid money was promised.  Under any normal situation, such as Haiti, billions in aid and concrete would flow in, and will be used to rebuild Haiti.  The people of Haiti will receive water and food, clothing, supplies - all free of charge, without restriction or hindrance.  This is what hamas should aspire to be, and to do - but instead, they use the aid to bribe the people, to intimidate and threaten, to coerce and control.  They use piping to save the environment and the community from illness and disease to send bombs and missiles into Israel, with the resulting strikes by Israel against Gaza resulting in deaths, used by Hamas as further proof they need to resist which leads to more flotillas and more rockets and more deaths and more weapons and more ...

 According to Imam Fethullah Gulen, a highly influential Turkish religious figure - the Turkish-led aid flotilla that clashed with Israeli forces was defying authority” for failing to seek permission from Israel before attempting to deliver aid and said that assigning blame in the matter is best left to the United Nations. He also said he only recently heard of the IHH and that “it is not easy to say if they are politicized or not.”   Meaning - they were recently created, maybe a week, maybe a month, maybe about the time someone decided to put the flotilla together. 

The Israeli navy warned the convoy by radio not to approach Gaza, told the captains of the boats they were approaching a blockaded area and asked them to either proceed to the Israeli port of Ashdod or turn back. Activists on board responded that they would continue toward their destination. 

Sidebar:  According to the fringe left and the Arab moderates - Israeli forces are a) killers without conscience, b) killers of babies and the innocent who do not feel anything but blood lst when they kill.  c) instinctively murderous and seek to kill any innocent they see, or d) all of the above.    Answer:  D.  So, if you believe it is D why the heck do you arrogantly and defiantly sale through a blockade if you believe the blockaders are killers of babies and would sink your ship with babies and families on it without a second thought.  Why.  Why.  Why do you put the children at risk, why do you put innocent lives at risk if you believe Israel kills children wantonly.  Why.  Answer:  because you care even less about children and the innocent and would like to provoke the killing of your children in order to attain a political win.  You would like Israel to sink your ship with families and children on board, and if you are sunk by the Israeli navy, you will ensure your children die one way or another to use as propaganda while you wail next to their lifeless bodies.

Expel hamas, renounce violence and murder, stop using rockets to fire into Israel and rebuild your city.  Stop with the violence.  Blow up the tunnels used not to bring in necessities, but to smuggle in weapons, terrorists, and food you will sell to the Palestinians, supplies you will sell, clothing you will sell, aid you will sell - and then you will use the money to buy more weapons to bring death upon the Palestinian people.

When you stop the evil in your midst, I would bet the average workers per capita earnings for a year, in Gaza, that Israel will cease and desist with its defensive measures as they would be unneeded. 

What the US should not do is to send fools like Congressman Brian Baird who urged that the US break the blockade in the same way "we did when we circumvented the Berlin Blockade. We would accomplish this using roll-on/off ships supplying the needed material for Palestinians to rebuild their society."
























foolish fools

Helen Thomas lets us all know why she is still alive and useful - God is afraid of her.

Helen Thomas rips into Robert Gibbs over US response to flotilla massacre



At Tuesday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called on Helen Thomas, who in a very animated fashion, confronted him for refusing to assign responsibility in the raid, which left nine people dead.

Thomas: “The initial reaction to the flotilla massacre, deliberate massacre, an international crime, was pitiful.

What do you mean you regret something that should be so strongly condemned, and if any other nation in the world had done it, we would have been up in arms?

What is this sacrosanct ironclad relationship where a country that deliberately kills people and boycotts every aid.. and abet the boycott?”

Gibbs: Well, Look I think the initial reaction regretted the loss of life as we tried and as we still continue to gather the relevant. ..

Thomas: Regret won’t bring them back.

Gibbs: Nothing can bring them back Helen, because I think if you could that wouldn’t be up for debate. We are.. we believe that a credible and transparent investigation has to look into the facts and we’re open to international participation in that investigation.

Thomas: Why did you think of that so late, why didn’t you initially condemn it?

Gibbs: Why didn’t we think of?

Thomas: Why didn’t you initially condemn it?

Gibbs: Again, I think the statements that we initially released speak directly to that.


*************************************************************
 
This woman.  She is ... I have no words for her.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
fools