Something had to be done in Gaza. Something. Anything, really. So why not a Hail Mary?
Since the beginning of the second intifada in 2000, more than 8000 rockets and mortars have been fired into southern Israel from Gaza. And who could blame Jerusalem for trying to put an end to it? After all, as every single Israeli security expert reminds anyone proffering an alternative to F-16s, would any other country tolerate attacks on its civilian population with the patience and dexterity Israel has shown? What if Houston or Atlanta were being attacked like this?
Even Israel's President and 'elder statesman' Shimon Peres found himself wondering, what does Hamas hope to accomplish by constantly firing rockets? "What do they expect, that we won't respond?" And it's a great question, but it's also painfully simplistic. This is not merely a matter of broad principle about patience in the face of incessant attack. There's a reason Israeli talking points this past week have focused almost exclusively on the big picture of the last seven years--because the last seven months have demonstrated a painfully inconvenient fact: whatever its demerits (and there are many), Hamas has discipline. Period.
Far more so than the PLO ever did, when Hamas pledges to reduce tensions, it does just that. One need not believe that the group's leadership is virtuous or courageous simply to admit that their ranks follow orders. In the months that followed the June 19 "lull" (tahadiya) in fighting between Israel and Hamas, the number of rocket and mortar attacks plummeted and stayed down for nearly five months--creating the very climate that the IDF now claims to seek with Operation Cast Lead.
If Hamas had no discipline, this argument wouldn't fly and a Hail Mary like Cast Lead might be strategically worthwhile, but the best case scenario by any metric is a long-term version of the lull that put Israelis at great danger only after Israel launched an attack on Gaza on November 4th, effectively ending Hamas' restraint.
While the explicit goal of this latest operation is to cease all rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel, senior IDF and intelligence officials have privately signaled in a disparate chorus that this goal is unrealistic anyway, even with a ground invasion. Israelis couldn't even prevent rocket/mortar fire when they occupied Gaza before 2005, and back then Hamas was plagued by Fatah's rivalry and amateur rocket technology.
'But nevermind that,' Jerusalem insists. 'Details will only confuse you. Would you or would you not just sit by and do nothing in response to rocket fire on your homes?' Apparently, it's that simple. It's irrelevant that Israel was benefitting tremendously from the lull and the near-deafening silence (.pdf) it produced in the southern Negev desert.
Source: Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (Israel)
Rocket fire alone was reduced from a monthly average of 179 to less than 3--with the remainder attacks being attributed (according to Israeli intelligence) to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, no less.
Yet like any country, when Israel launches a military operation, especially a controversial one, the public relations and propaganda offensives rely on any and every rhetorical ploy to garner support, even when Israeli security officials are privately saying--usually "on background"--that the southern Negev will not be completely calm until Hamas wants it to be completely calm, and the closest Israel has ever come to that was during the above lull.
Here's another example. During previous lulls or ceasefires between Israel and Palestinian militants, it's always remarkable to listen to Israelis decry their enemies for "exploiting" the ceasefires to dig in and prepare for the next battle, as though Israelis spend that same time on holiday, hoping for the best. In fact, in the past week, the Israeli press has reported on the abundance of self-congratulation in Jerusalem over how much intelligence had been gathered for this operation, how many stockpiles and weapons caches had been tracked (and subsequently targeted), and how much disinformation it had spread to confuse the enemy.
So it seems that when Israelis plan for the worst, it's because they're competent warriors who scorn the unprepared, but when Palestinians plan for the worst, it's because they're drooling for martyrdom. (Rest assured, some certainly are.) And it was this apparent drool that prompted Israel to terminate its obligation to the lull on November 4th by attacking Hamas' tunnels burrowing beneath Gaza towards Israel. (It was through a cross-border tunnel like this one that Hamas captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in the summer of 2006. So understandably, it's a soft spot.)
For perspective, it is normal for Hamas to dig such tunnels, and equally normal for Israel to destroy them, though in a lull--and for a tunnel that had not reached Israeli soil yet--the killing of six Hamas militants in the operation doesn't quite compute. If preparing for the next big fight is considered a violation of the lull, then it is endlessly ironic that Israel's surveillance of Hamas' tunneling was itself just as preparatory as the tunneling itself--like an indignant student insisting his classmate was cheating, and citing as visual proof, "Because I was cheating off of him too." Woops.
But here's where strategy becomes dangerously indistinguishable from propaganda. Israel has every right to defend itself; it has done so superbly and honorably on many occasions. It can prevent every attempt by Hamas to develop weapons and tunnels, as it did on November 4th. It can even feign surprised outrage whenever Hamas retaliates, as any competent foreign ministry would in the days before a powerful military operation. Perhaps Barak thought he was playing the old time-in/time-out game, but one IDF official even tried to tell the NY Times that because this was a "pinpoint" operation aimed at a specific "imminent" threat, the op shouldn't be considered a truce-breaker, and Israel remained committed to the truce. Water under the bridge, right?
But the same common sense that compelled Shimon Peres to wonder about Hamas' expectations surely compels Israel to consider if Jerusalem's own attacks could actually go unanswered. Naturally, that thought process is utterly absent in the foreign ministry's outreach of outrage because their goal is to recruit as much support as possible. And to that end, the MFA seems to be playing with graphs on its website in order to paint the lull as worthless.
But more ominously, while propaganda usually serves as a tool to support a nuanced and methodical military operation, Cast Lead seems to have been launched by a simplistic caricature of Israeli self-defense itself, blossoming in the foreign ministry's press releases. Talking points are being confused with chokepoints, and with a caricature calling the shots, it's no wonder that what seems to pass for "strategy" is actually just a target list mixed with a little cloak and dagger.
Instead of talking about whether the smuggler's paradise beneath the 9-mile Egypt-Gaza border could be countered without (or even with) a long-term Israeli occupation, Jerusalem is talking about the need to "retrieve the power of deterrence" and to teach Hamas a "lesson." Yes, we heard you the first ten times. But what is your plan? What will prevent Hamas from re-arming once you deftly destroy all of its arms depots? An "international force"? A moat or underground wall along the Egypt-Gaza border? Or perhaps a giant trench-digger to excavate the tunnels. Have you thought that far ahead? A 500+ body count in Gaza and a 300% increase in attacks on southern Israel better have a silver lining.
Either way, in its public justification for the operation, by focusing so much on the last seven years (and not the lessons of the last seven months), Jerusalem indicated that raw principle was all it dared to employ in determining the appropriate strategy for Gaza. Right when Olmert and Barak needed to sift through the fine print--which demonstrated that Hamas, as evil and wicked as it is, has discipline--it longed for neat and simple principles that begged equally blunt instruments. After all, 'something' had to be done. Something that matched our fury, something that vindicated our failures in Lebanon, something that deterred our enemies, something that taught them a lesson, and something that didn't make us feel suckered and alone.
These are completely understandable and justifiable feelings for Israelis to have, but the somethingness of Israel's resolve has hijacked its strategy. And the propaganda machine is not along for the ride, but revving at the wheel of a Merkava.
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Israel Assaults Hamas In Gaza
SCROLL DOWN FOR SLIDESHOW ***UPDATE*** 12/29 11:45PM Israel continued to pound Hamas targets in Gaza for a fourth straight day: Israeli warplanes killed 10 Palestinians...
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Israel Masses Troops, Tanks For Possible Ground Invasion
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel widened its deadliest-ever air offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers Sunday, pounding smuggling tunnels and government strongholds, sending more tanks...
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Axelrod: Obama Understands Israel's Urge To Respond
One of Barack Obama's chief spokesmen repeated on Sunday that it would be counterproductive for the president-elect to weigh too deeply into the crisis between...
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Hamas Calls For Martyrdom After 280 Palestinians Die (VIDEO)
Israel has continued airstrikes on Gaza for the second day. The death toll has risen to 280, reports Al Jazeera. It also reports that Hamas...
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Gaza Crisis Complicates Obama's Policy In Mideast
CRAWFORD, Texas — The deaths of hundreds of Palestinians in Israel's deadliest-ever air assault on Hamas further complicate President-elect Barack Obama's challenge to achieve a...
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Defiant Hamas hits Israel with dozens of rockets
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian militants sent a deadly barrage of missiles flying deep into Israel on Monday, demonstrating that Hamas still had firepower...
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Progressive Jews See Potential Conflict With Obama Over Gaza
The flaring of tensions and violence in the Gaza Strip has created more than just another sensitive foreign policy crisis for Barack Obama to juggle....
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Why Did Israel Attack Gaza?
Why has Israel launched the deadliest attacks on Palestinian territory since the 1967 Six Day War? Israel's onslaught is a reprisal for a week-long barrage...
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US, UN, EU and Russia urge immediate Gaza truce
UNITED NATIONS — Key world powers trying to promote Mideast peace urged Israel and Hamas on Tuesday to immediately stop fighting in Gaza and southern...
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Israel weighs 48-hour halt to Gaza air campaign
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel, under international pressure, is considering a 48-hour halt to its punishing four-day air campaign on Hamas targets in Gaza...
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Israeli airstrike kills a top Hamas leader
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — An Israeli warplane dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on the home of one of Hamas' top five decision-makers Thursday, instantly killing...
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Israel Invades Gaza: Info, Updates, Video
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO ***UPDATE*** January 4th, 9:38PM The Times of London reports that Israel's rain of fire on Gaza is thought to be caused...
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Israeli troops and tanks slice deep into Gaza
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Thousands of Israeli troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships surrounded Gaza's largest city and fought militants at close range...
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Diplomats Converge On Israel In Push For Truce
Scroll down for video GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israel seized control of high-rise buildings and attacked houses, mosques and smuggling tunnels as it pressed...
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Diplomatic Pressure On Israel, Hamas Intensifies
UPDATE 6 pm Heavy fighting broke out in Gaza's populated streets Monday night as Israel dismissed calls for a truce, reports the Telegraph. Explosions were...
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Day Four: Gaza War Postings
I've been zigzagging my way between Israel and the West Bank to avoid IDF checkpoints. When we enter the Palestinian territories where emotions ran high, my Palestinian driver almost has a fit when he finds out that my cameraman is an Israeli.
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Photos From Israel That You Won't See on the News
Israel is not media savvy -- we have installed warning systems and bomb shelters. No casualties means no photos, which means that many incidents aren't even covered by the media.
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To Succeed in Israel/Palestine Where Clinton Failed, Obama Needs a History Lesson
If Obama limits his negotiating horizons to the failed visions of his Clinton-era Mideast team, the situation in Israel-Palestine is going to get a lot worse in the coming years.
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The CNN-NPR-NYT Middle East Conspiracy
When people complain about bias in the media, it's always bias against their own point of view, and never in favor of their side. Nowhere is this more true than in coverage of the Middle East.
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No Exit for Civilians in Gaza in the Midst of War
In similar situations around the world, civilians caught in the midst of conflict would have the option of seeking safety in neighboring countries as refugees. Gazans have no such option.
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Evidence Grows That Israel is Using White Phosphorus in Gaza
Today, at least two UN officials have flatly declared that three or more white phosphorous shells were part of the attack today that set a UN building and compound ablaze in Gaza City.
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Gaza Death Toll: 375 Palestinian, 4 Israeli
Israeli politicians continue to labor under delusions that this military operation can "clean up" their "problem" once and for all.
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Israel, Stop! Just. Stop.
Killing lots of people on the other side is not only ineffective, it is counterproductive. It hurts your cause. It gets more of your own people killed in the long run. Israel, you are so better than this.
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Israel and Gaza: Stop the Violence Now!
Israelis and Palestinians have been trying to prove to each other that they can survive never ending violence, an eternal occupation, and a perpetual cycle of denial that the two cannot exist together.
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Changing the Reality in Gaza
Counting on international pressure to bring a quick end to the Israeli onslaught may prove to be misplaced as Israel is now determined to never allow a return to the status quo ante.
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Understanding the Gaza Catastrophe
The people of Gaza are victims of geopolitics at its inhumane worst: producing what Israel itself calls a 'total war' against an essentially defenseless society.
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Gaza: Lessons We Should Have Learned
The horrors that are unfolding in Gaza are but a tragic replay of past confrontations.
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Arab-Israeli Rage
More than anything, it seems that the Arab world needs to produce it's version of Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi that can smartly and gracefully lead their people to a dignified future.
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Hamas and the Death of a Better Future
To me, Gaza is personal. As an Israeli infantry officer, I served in Gaza before, during, and after the 2005 Disengagement.
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In Gaza, A Doctor's Voice Tells of Shaking Houses, Breaking Windows
Four days after Israeli air attacks against the Gaza Strip began, hospitals are already overwhelmed by the influx of wounded patients.
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Al Jazeera English Beats Israel's Ban on Reporters in Gaza with Exclusive Coverage
Some may call it propaganda but I call it hardcore reporting. If you are not watching Al Jazeera English's coverage of the War on Gaza, you are missing much, if not, most of the story.
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Why Aren't More Americans Dancing To Israel's Tune?
The surprising trend in American opinion on Gaza may be because the same pundits who are cheerleading Israel's assault once sold the occupation of Iraq, and with a nearly identical set of arguments.
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A Minnesota College Newspaper Editor on Israel-Hamas Conflict, from Tel Aviv
There are 6 sets of parents in America right now who might be wishing that their kids weren't college newspaper editors.
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Israel as Mini-Me
We are both settler states -- the Puritans, who escaped oppression in the Old World only to mete out oppression in the New, unfolded their Zionist project in the 17th century with their "city built upon a hill" as the New Jerusalem.
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Maybe Hamas is Not so Stupid
Judged as a piece of political theater, Hamas has succeeded in presenting Israel as the golem on the block.
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Israel: Attacks on Gaza will Likely Backfire
If you're a civilian living in Gaza and an Israeli missile strikes your home killing your loved ones what are you to do? . Chances are you're going to take up arms and attack anyone and everyone you feel is responsible for the death of your family.
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Gaza: The War On Children
Israel has accused Hamas of intentionally attacking from civilian-populated areas, driving up casualties among non-combatants to provoke anger against Israel. But do children have to pay the price?
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The Future of Civilization
No war, no military action, no act of self-defense or revenge has a legitimacy that exempts the perpetrators from responsibility for the consequences they create.
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What Was Israel Supposed to Do?
Every day now, I hear someone saying, "What was Israel supposed to do? Hamas keeps firing rockets into their country." So, here is a quick list of the things they were supposed to do.
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Jews are Soul-Searching About Madoff -- What About Gaza?
The future of Judaism and the moral standing of the US Jewish community are being threatened. It is happening in Gaza. And unfortunately there is far too little handwringing about it in the Jewish leadership.
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Did Israel Use Disproportionate Force?
The tide of public opinion seems to invariably side with the underdog, regardless of who's to blame. Hence, Israel now finds itself in the awkward yet familiar position of defending its actions.
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More Birth Pangs in the Middle East?
Israel finds itself in a similar position the United States found itself in Vietnam: The more it flexes its military muscle the politically weaker it becomes vis-à-vis a determined, largely civilian enemy.
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Israel's Extensive PR Campaign
Last Friday, at the height of the attacks, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced without a hint of irony: "We are peace seekers."
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What Was Hamas Thinking? Understanding the Events in Gaza
So what are Hamas's strategic imperatives? Hamas still behaves like a traditional guerrilla or terrorist group -- such groups are interested in relative, not absolute, victory.
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Accused of Funding Hamas, Controversial Charity Collects Money in Lebanon for Palestinians in Gaza (VIDEO)
On Beirut's waterfront road, young men dressed in green jackets with the Etelaf Al-Khair logo on their backs are handing out fliers with images of bloodied Palestinian children and holding donation boxes.
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Georgetown Newspaper Editor Reports on Sderot-Gaza, and Recording With Rockets
In a recording studio in Sderot, a few miles east of Israel's Gaza strip, Sergio Arditi felt the steady pulse of Rock and Roll give way to the sporadic vibration of bombs.
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Israel: There Has To Be A Better Way
The war between Israel and Hamas is not as two-dimensional as the United States Senate would like to believe. This is a complex and asymmetric war that will not end favorably for either side.
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Where Is Israel Going?
Does the Gaza war improve Israel's long-term (or even short-term) situation? I am not questioning Israel's right to respond. But that is the wrong question.
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Israel's Blitzkrieg on Gaza Proves Politically Expedient, Disproportionate and Unstoppable
While the threat of rockets launched from Gaza can seem menacing, or even "terrorizing," it is incomparable to the terror that millions of Palestinians endure on a daily basis.
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Famed Israeli Journalist Decries Civilian Casualties in Gaza -- But Who is Amira Hass?
Hass is not only an Israeli but both of her parents are Holocaust survivors. She has become the most prominent Israeli journalist to make it her mission to report as often as possible from Gaza and the West Bank.
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Defending Condi: Olmert Shames Himself in Kick-in-the-Teeth Attack on Rice
Olmert's statements certainly send a signal to many in the incoming Obama administration that while there are convergent American and Israeli interests -- friendship and trust are eroding.
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The Phony War Crimes Accusation Against Israel
If Israel were ever to be charged with "war crimes," that would mark the end of international human rights law as a neutral arbitrator of conduct.
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Palestine's Guernica and the Myths of Israeli Victimhood
After hundreds dead and counting, it is Israel who refuses to re-enter talks over a cease-fire. They are not intent on securing peace as they claim; it is more and more clear that they are seeking regime change -- whatever the cost.
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Israel May Win in Gaza, Hamas Won't Lose and Moderate Arab Leaders and Obama Will Worry
With or without intention, Israel has incited millions across the Arab world to praise Syria and Iran, both dedicated to the Palestinian cause, and perhaps just as many to condemn Egypt and more moderate countries.
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Christmas Spirit Shattered in the Holy Land
A tense atmosphere in anticipation of more bad news and an air of sadness has engulfed East Jerusalem in the aftermath of the Gaza attacks. The spirit of Christmas has all but died.
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Calling Out Bush's War in Gaza
Is it in the interest of humanity that we Americans engage in the charade that the Israeli government is an autonomous actor in this matter?
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Fanaticism and Contempt
Once the master of revolutionary war, Israel cannot seem to grasp the essential nature of asymmetrical warfare.
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IDF Photos of Hamas Targets in Gaza Before Strike
Israel Defense Forces released aerial photos of the Hamas facilities targeted by fighter pilots on Saturday's Operation Cast Lead. The red outline indicates the Hamas facilities targeted.
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America is Primarily at Fault for the Conflict in Gaza
The Bush administration demanded -- against the advice of nearly every expert in the field and the Israeli government -- that the Palestinians hold elections. They did. Hamas won.
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Bomb A Ghetto, Raise A Cheer -- The Video
On January 11, an estimated 10,000 people rallied in front of the Israeli consulate in New York in support of Israel's attack on Gaza. The event was a festive affair that began and ended with singing and joyous dancing.
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Gaza on YouTube: Film at 11!
In lieu of actual reporting, all you have to do is log on to the Israel Defense Forces' YouTube Channel and you can see images of Israel pummeling Gaza, and sit in on "the first ever" Twitter press conference.
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NY Times Responds Weakly Today to Israel's 'Incursion' -- As Shells Kill Dozens at U.N. School
It takes until paragraph #8 for the Times, to mention that, by the way, Israel "must" allow foreign journalists access to Gaza, especially since its highest court so ordered.
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Gazans in Peril
The human tragedy that has befallen Gaza's Palestinians -- Hamas supporters or not -- warrants every American to take cognizance because of its consequences for a durable Middle East peace.
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Hold Your Fire: Children and Civilians In Gaza
If the killing of unarmed civilians by terrorist groups is wrong, Israel's killing of unarmed Palestinian civilians and our defense of Israel's conduct cannot be right.
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War Diary from Sderot
Not in my name and not for me did you go into this war. The bloodbath in Gaza is not in my name nor for my security. Behind this accursed leadership of Hamas live human beings.
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Overwhelming Force Is the Only Way to Fight Terrorists
The destruction of Hamas benefits the Palestinians far more than the Israelis. It is they that must live under the cruelty of an organization that terrorizes its citizens even more than its enemies.
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Israel's Invasion Inspires One-Sided Commentary in U.S. Media
The invasion, to no one's surprise, did begin today -- so any further criticism will now come too late. But as in the past, U.S. media coverage and commentary has overwhelmingly backed Israeli actions.
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After Years in Exile, My Grandfather Returns to Gaza
My family had been trying to speak with my grandfather since Saturday, after Israel began its onslaught on Gaza. But we haven't managed to reach him.
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Gaza and the Obama Effect -- Ending the War
It might be pushing the envelope to call Obama the peacemaker here, but it's hard to deny that his impending entrance to the world stage has an effect.
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Killing the Messenger: Targeting the Press in Gaza
As is with the current situation with Gaza, when Israel is performing air strikes, everyone is vulnerable -- militants, civilians, and journalists alike.
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Obama's Silence
As January 20 approaches, Obama will have to make a lonely decision - to remember his 2007 words about Palestinian suffering and his campaign pledge to talk unconditionally with adversaries.
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Jordanian MPs Burn Israeli Flag
Nationalist MPs shared together in a clear act of national consensus as they torched the Israeli flag at the outset of the parliament's session Sunday.
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Video Reveals that a Lack of Moral Center Is Central to Hamas's War Strategy
The whole world is quick to condemn Israel for civilian deaths in Gaza, but there is utter silence over Hamas's blatant disregard for the lives of its own citizens.
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Israel/Palestine Debate Is Shifting
With each fresh round of bombing, Israel's reputation gets worse, allowing growing numbers of people who might never have said a critical word about that country to finally speak up.
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Goodnight My Love, See You in Heaven -- Diary From an Aid Worker in Gaza
The situation has now reached such a critical point that doctors frequently confront dilemmas such as these -- to treat the child who is bleeding to death or the baby who has severe head injuries?
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The U.N.'s Richard Falk: Gaza a Victim of Geopolitics
The people of Gaza are victims of geopolitics at its inhumane worst: producing what Israel itself calls a "total war" against an essentially defenseless society that lacks any defensive military capability whatsoever.
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Israel in Gaza: Three Wrong Arguments
The Reid/McConnell resolution is a perfect articulation of one voice in the American debate over Israel's actions in Gaza. Here are a few objections that should be raised.
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Dead Children In School Uniforms In Gaza City: A Nagging Thought About 'Collateral Damage'
I wish I could parse the politics and figure out where I stand on this shiny new conflict, but I'm stuck on its opening act.
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Israel, Gaza and Iran: Trapping Obama in Imagined Fault Lines
While there certainly is an underlying rivalry between Israel and Iran that has come to fuel many other otherwise unrelated conflicts in the region, not every war Israel fights is related to Iran.
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The True Story Behind This War is Not the One Israel is Telling
The Israeli government wants peace, but only one imposed on its own terms, based on the acceptance of defeat by the Palestinians.
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Weighing Proportionality in Gaza
The losses on both sides will be all in vain if the final outcome of the war does not substantially improve both the prospects for an eventual Israeli-Palestinian peace.
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I've Seen This One Before
The only thing more predictable than a Jets football season is the ongoing saga that is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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Reportage from Israel/Gaza
We can't ignore this fact: Gaza is becoming not the embryo of the so-desired Palestinian State, but the advance base of a total war against the Jewish State.
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Proportionality and Disproportionality: A Guide to Arguments about Gaza
Even if the guns fall silent the charges and counter-charges of violations of international law will continue. Already the airwaves are full of talk that Israel's "disproportionate" response is a violation of international law.
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Obama -- Please Say Something!
In just over two weeks Obama will be unable to avoid saying something and the world will be looking to him and demanding to hear his opinion on the crisis in Gaza.
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Reading The Pictures: Is That A Snuff Film The Israeli Air Force Has Posted On YouTube?
 What troubles me most is how the IDF, in the name of transparency and smart public relations, has not only posted quite a few videos of bombing runs, but continues to show one in question.
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How Israel is Wrong and the Palestinians are Misguided
Israel is occupying the West Bank (and effectively Gaza because they control the borders, the airspace, etc.). What are they going to do with it -- hold on to it forever?
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Lessons Learned from the 2006 War Being Implemented in Gaza
While many have spoken about the lessons Hamas has learned from Hezbollah over the years, it appears the Israeli political and military establishment has learned one or two of its own.
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It's Overtime for Hamas' Leaders and Time for Them to Go
As long as Hamas rules its Gaza roost with its iron fist, any hope for a two state solution is just not in the cards. Hamas plays with a crooked deck.
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Kuwait's Political Machinations Lower U.S. Stocks as War on Gaza Raises Oil Prices
As the American dollar declines and bombs drop on Gaza, the likeliness of regional countries becoming drawn into the conflict are mounting.
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Has Israel Revived Hamas?
It is abundantly clear that Hamas movement has been brought back from near political defeat while moderate Arab leaders have been forced to back away from their support for any reconciliation with Israel.
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American Jewish Responses to Gaza: Old & New
In the past several years, the emergence of pro-peace American Jewish organizations has provided an alternative voice on critical Middle East issues.
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Hamas Is Largely to Blame for Israel's Gaza Offensive
How is it that Hamas, a terrorist organization that refused to extend the truce and fired rockets at civilians on a daily basis, gets so much sympathy, with Israel condemned for defending itself?
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Israel's Risk
What we're watching in Gaza is not so much low-intensity warfare as the continued fracture of the post-Soviet international order.
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Why Do So Few Speak Up for Gaza?
Why is it that there is such widespread acceptance, beginning with the apologetic arguments of George Bush, that whatever Israel does is always justified as necessary to the survival of the Jewish state?
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Why Israel Was Right to Invade Gaza
How should Israel attempt to protect its people, long-term, if it merely acts defensively in a tit-for-tat manner? That would be a horribly naïve response given its history.
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Brzezinski: Obama Must Press Agreement on Israelis and Palestinians
In order to get beyond the superficial analyses one might find on Morning Joe, I called up Zbigniew Brzezinski to offer him a serious opportunity to talk about Obama and the Israeli-Hamas conflict.
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Gaza Clouds Obama's Prospects
Clearly, Hamas and its hard-line supporters in the region reject the goal of an Israel at peace with its neighbors and secure within its boundaries.
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Gaza, Qaddafi, And Starbucks
Along with the images of bloodied children, scenes of destruction and carnage in Gaza, debates on Arab disunity have increased in the Arab media.
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Obama's Silence on Gaza is Deafening
Obama has massive political capital, and could have injected himself into the crisis before it happened and could have lent his credibility to a situation that has spiraled dangerously out of control.
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Attack on Gaza: As Usual, U.S. Media (And Most Liberals) Silent -- As Israeli Newspaper Raises Doubts
The foreign press, and even Haaretz in Israel, carries more balanced accounts than the American media.
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Israel's President Shimon Peres, On the Attacks in Gaza
Peres: "It is the first time in the history of Israel that we, the Israelis, cannot understand the motives or the purposes of the ones who are shooting at us. It is the most unreasonable war, done by the most unreasonable warriors."
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My Kuffiyeh Says I Care
It's New Years Eve in Beirut, and everyone is wondering what to do. In times of war, going about one's usual business can be a form of protest. In times of solidarity, the code of conduct is vague.
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Israel, Hamas, Gaza: Plenty of Us in America Just Need to Shut Up
Something labeled "Subject: Fwd: Some Differences Between Hamas and the Nazi Party" showed up in my inbox Monday night.
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Selective Memory Is a Problem when dealing with the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict
Irrespective of time and chronology, trading land for peace continues to be the most logical and appropriate way to address the conflict which has bridged the 20th and 21st centuries.
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Obama Camp "Prepared To Talk To Hamas," Says the Guardian
The Obama administration's emphasis on "talk" with Hamas will bring a significant moral shift in U.S. policy -- but it will not do away with some of the core grievances vis-a-vis U.S.-Israel relations.
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Mitchell Bard is Wrong On Israel
Hamas did not start this conflict. Here's an extensive time line of events, making clear that Israel broke the ceasefire, not Hamas.
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AP Reporter Watches Own Home Destroyed, via YouTube, in Gaza
In one of the most moving accounts of the war in Gaza, Ibrahim Barzak, the AP's chief correspondent there for 17 years, today wrote of watching his own home destroyed on YouTube.
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Protesters in Beirut Demand Action from Arab Leaders on Gaza, Focusing on Egypt as Demonstrations Rise (VIDEO)
Millions across the Arab world are demonstrating, demanding that Arab governments do more to support Palestinians trapped in Gaza.
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Eyeless in Gaza
I wish I didn't believe that the events now unfolding in the Middle East are too complicated for unalloyed outrage. I wish the arguments of only one side rang wholly true to me.
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Ceasefire
The first reason for a ceasefire now is to stop the killing. The second is to ensure that a year or two from now we are not all wishing that Hamas was still in charge.
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Livni and Barak's Gaza Calculus
If hundreds of innocent deaths helps secure a real security mandate for the moderate-to-dovish Kadima/Labor and Israeli-Palestinian peace, that's political calculus Livni and Barak were willing to take.
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Iraqi Parliamentarian to His People: "It's Not Between Palestinians and Israelis, it's Between Terrorists and Moderates"
I spoke over the phone with Iraqi Parliamentarian Mithal al-Alusi, head of the Iraqi Nation Party in Baghdad -- he says, interestingly, a significant number of Iraqis are not reflexively anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian.
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What's Next on Gaza/Israel and Why Americans Should Care
So here we are, in a dangerous escalatory cycle that is already sweeping the region, with scores of Palestinian dead, horrific images, a highly-charged blame-game and no obvious exit-strategy. What needs to happen next?
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Was Israel Punked by Hamas? Are Progressives Attacking Israel Being Punked too?
The only way the Israeli and Palestinian people have a shot at peace is for outsiders to put pressure on both sides to make it happen and to stop the violence. It can be done.
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Israel and Hamas: Two to Tango
What is going on in Gaza is that it is not the result of a sudden decision or an immediate and intolerable provocation by one side or the other -- this thing has been in the planning by both sides for months.
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Even in Sderot, Israelis Say No to Endless War
The people I met in Sderot were not calling for war, they were calling for negotiation. They knew that they would be the ones to catch the brunt of an attack on Gaza, not Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem.
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Hamas Is Responsible for the Civilian Casualties in Gaza
By choosing tactical advantages over the safety of its citizens, the terrorist organization chose its military goals over the safety of its fellow Palestinians in Gaza.
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Indifference to the Dead and Dying
Collectively punishing the mothers and children of Gaza does not just violate international law, it does not just kill the people of Gaza, it kills any chance of a future peace.
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The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Is An Ancient Story
I've been living in Israel now for almost a decade, and have survived biological warfare threats from Saddam, Intifada #2, terror attacks targeting Israeli civilians, and the war with Lebanon. But today, I feel pissed off.
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Self-Deception and the Assault on Gaza
From the civilian deaths in Gaza will spring more hatred and terrorism. Yet no people are so prone as Americans and Israelis to think admiringly of our own good intentions.
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Letter From Beersheva
I am here in Beersheva -- on the "almost" frontlines of the conflict with Hamas -- to tell you the first thing to go when missiles start to fall nearby, is your diet.
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How to Defeat Hamas -- Face Up to the Truth
Making Hamas into a unique demon is pure propaganda. But no form of Islamic extremism will end until moderate Muslims stand up for their religion.
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Two Paths Ahead for the Palestinians: Nonviolence vs. Violence
There are only two paths ahead, one for Hamas and one for the Israelis, that each must take in order to solve this conflict once and for all.
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In the Shadow of Airstrikes in Jerusalem
With the coming war and intifada on my mind, I realize that thousands of rockets have been fired into Israel in recent years, yet because we in Jerusalem don't get hit by them, it has always seemed removed.
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It's Time for a Sustained Focus on a Lasting Middle East Peace
What we continue to lack is the kind of real political solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that could finally make a "ceasefire" endure.
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Gaza: Fight at the End of the Tunnel?
Any ceasefire must include an ironclad commitment by Egypt to cooperate fully with Israel to shut Hamas' tunnel network once and for all whatever Hamas' political or military wings decide tomorrow in Cairo.
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The Lesson Israel Should Have Never Learned
Israel, torn in anger and exaggerated feelings of vulnerability, is unlikely to stop bombing until it realizes that is has once again shot itself in the foot.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XEXsbTLfXE
Palestinian authorities express their frustration that Hamas does NOT allow Gazans wounded in fighting to be evacuated to Egypt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdHKbIJCsvc&feature=related
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dFEyyZiTrT8&eurl=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/20091614528406629.html
Seems casualties are leaving via the Egypt border but Egypt will not allow in doctors during to "the security situation"
The fact remains that the "cease fire" was used by hamas to arm, the ceasefire included the return of Gilad Shalit, who as of yet has been unheard from nor visited by the Red Cross.
If hamas wants to be accorded sovereignty or for that matter any palestinian entity then maybe they should start acting like a state.
the State of Israel was founded by UN charter- the arabs could have had a state at that point without any conflict but whoops they missed that opportunity.
http://palestinian.ning.com/forum/topics/the-other-side-of-the-story?page=1&commentId=1970466%3AComment%3A38165&x=1#1970466Comment38165
And yes Hamas probably did use the ceasefire to re-arm, that's what tends to happen during ceasefires (all the more reason that Israels actions in breaking the ceasefire on the 4th, killing 7 Palestinians on Gaza soil was stupid)
Are you seriously expecting us to believe that during the ceasefire Israel completely ceased production, importation and distribution of weapons? Or are we back to "It's OK because we're God's chosen?"
Yes the Palestinians could have had a very reduced state left out of the remains of the land they used to occupy, odd that like any other occupied country in history they would refuse to accept this
And finally how can Palestine act like a state when every time they build a government building or police station Israel destroy it in 'self-defense'? Israel is pursuing a very obvious policy of ghettoization of the Palestinians using blockades, terror and military bombardment to keep them from having any industry, governance or future
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/519.html
http://www.fomny.com/Video/Arabic/Aljazeera%20English/Aljazeera-eng.htm
Egyptian Minister expresses his frustration at Hamas for sabotaging the truce.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XEXsbTLfXE
Palestinian authorities express their frustration that Hamas does NOT allow Gazans wounded in fighting to be evacuated to Egypt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdHKbIJCsvc&feature=related
You are simplefying wha Israel seeks in OCL. Sure they want to reduce/eliminate the amount of rocket attacks but they also cannot allow upgraded weapons like the Grad rockets, they also want Gilad returned, they also want recognition of Israel, and an end to teahcing children the merits of martyrdom.
Tompoe:
Israel obviously does not control Gaza borders or they never would have allowed the type of weaponry in to gaza. Hamas and the UN seem to function poorly but functioning- don't expect a high functining society when there was nothing prior. Gaza's rule was handed to them when Israel removed itself- certainly Israel did not like that the citizens chose hamas - how would you like Israel to respond to a terrorist entity that explicitly calls for the elimination of Israel in their charter? The UN is not an honest broker in this.
Israel has no borders and ignores international law while it continues to expand. Gazans - Hamas - are simply trying to stop Israel from treating Gaza the way the Nazis treatd the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. They are supported in their efforts by American monetary and military weapony support.
One wonders how well Palestine would do had it the support of the US treasury and weaponry.
Morevoer, I'd also read that Israel moved out of Gaza YEARS AGO, and that what Hamas had to do when it took Gaza over to have normal relations with Israel was to honor prior agreements with the PA (which it claimed to represent) and agree not to attack Israel. Not much to ask for, really. Hamas, being ideologically committed to the destruction of Israel, did not want to agree to thise things.
Hardly parallel to the FInal Solution that you compare it to.
Read that quote and ask yourselves: What does Hamas have to lose?
http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=83&x_article=775
From CAMERA:
The quote is found on numerous anti-Israel sites, in addition to MIFTAH’s, but the facts do not check out. While Shlomo Lahat was indeed re-elected as mayor of Tel Aviv in 1983, no record was found of any “Chairman Heilbrun.” The quote was traced to a 1988 book, The Hidden History of Zionism, by radical Marxist Ralph Schoenman (dismissed by mainstream historians as a crazed conspiracy theorist), and is one of many bogus quotes in the book attributed to Israeli leaders. According to Schoenman’s footnote, the quote by Heilbrun was hearsay relayed to him in private conversations:
Cited by Fouzi El-Asmar and Salih Baransi during discussions with the author, October 1983
Needless to say, Schoenman’s scholarship, upon which many anti-Israel Web sites depend, leaves much wanting. CAMERA contacted former Mayor Lahat who attested that he has never employed, known or heard of any such person as “Chairman Heilbrun,” and that the reported incident never took place. Lahat also emphasized that he would never allow any of his employees to make such statements, as it completely contradicts his own sentiments about Palestinians.
This scenario played out at least 6 times a day in November - according to your numbers - well over 6 weeks before the "expiration" of the cease fire. Is this an acceptable situation? Would you live under these conditions?
Yes, the situation in Gaza, today, is much more horrible and intolerable. But Hamas has the ability to stop the attacks and the bombing would end. Everybody knows that.
Israel attacked hamas first, on November 4th (And if you think that wasn't planned to slide under the radar and go unnoticed, remember what you were doing on November 4th. That's not a coincidence.) It was only AFTER the first strike by Israel that Hamas, as any fool could have foreseen, started launching rockets again.
Israel, not Hamas, broke the cease-fire.
"Hamas has the ability to stop the attacks and the bombing would end. Everybody knows that."
Bologna! Israel wanted to get their assault in before the new US president took office, because they knew that President Obama wouldn't allow them to do it once he took office. Listen to the statements from the Israeli officials. Their goal is not to stop the attacks. (As the article above pointed out, before this latest round of Israeli aggression, there were no attacks) Their goal is the extermination of Hamas.
Leave aside their arguments about how they don't want to deal with Hamas radicals - they had Fatah around for a while, but Arafat's home and office were under siege from the Israeli military while he was supposedly in office. Not that Fatah were great either, but they were certainly more cooperative.
http://yad-vashem.org.il/about_holocaust/studies/vol35/Mallmann-Cuppers2.pdf
"Sovereignty" is only granted if countries support U.S. policies. It's almost like we will not recognize a state if people's free will is not aligned with our policies. Israel and America's unwillingness to respect the Palestinian's vote exposed the fraud and hegemony in America's goal to honestly spread democracy. Everything disintegrated after that moment. Instead of Fatah (which is what foreigners wanted), we got Hamas (which is what the people wanted). If the free will of the people is not respected, how can the Palestinians ever expect to achieve sovereignty?