The Story You Aren't Hearing About Israel
Did you hear about the two policemen who stopped to help a driver stuck with a flat--and were shot to death in the head at point-blank range?
Did you know about the 120-kilogram bomb planted in a parking lot adjacent to a shopping mall where thousands of people were milling about the stores, restaurants, and movie theaters?
No, of course, you didn't. These are just two everyday incidents of the ordeal confronted by people in Israel while the world and the political leaders look away. Outrages like these do not make it into the Western media, which exhibit the familiar phenomenon of monitoring only the conflicts that are the flavor of the month. And when they do turn to Israel, sporadically, it is with the excitement of thinking they can expose Israeli wrongdoing: the New York Times just drummed up a front-page story alleging the deliberate murder of innocent civilians by Israeli soldiers during the Gaza war, a poorly investigated report that turned out to be yet another urban myth and then was shamefully corrected by the Times only on the inside pages and only by blaming Israel for the false report. (Remember another urban myth alleging thousands of citizens massacred in the battle against terrorism in Jenin in 2002 when it turned out no more than 54 died, most of them combatants?)
Ordinary Israelis despair of the cruel bias. The policemen died because Israel eased restrictions on movement in the Nablus area of the West Bank. Hundreds survived in the attack on the mall near Haifa only because a woman reported hearing an explosion. Security found it was a detonator that expired without setting off a car bomb that would have lacerated the crowds with sharp metal and ball bearings.
The willingness to give a free pass to terrorism was, of course, manifest most luridly in the Gaza war. Hamas fired thousands of rockets with the short-term aim of murdering as many innocent civilians as possible in the service of the longer-term ambition to terrorize Israel.
Then, when Israel finally responded (with military restraint and humanitarian aid), it was faced with world demands for an unconditional cease-fire. Ironically, the fiercest criticism in the Arab world about Israel's conduct in Gaza stems from Israel's failure to achieve a decisive victory, for the Arab world rightly perceives not Israel but Hamas as a threat: It knows full well that Hamas is a fifth column for Iranian influence.
Once the cease-fire was achieved, the world lost interest in Israel. Except that now, in a fit of selectively lethal amnesia, it is on the verge of providing the selfsame murderous Hamas with a huge influx of funding that will rebuild the authority of a terrorist organization dedicated to killing Jews.
The tragedy for the Palestinians as much as the Israelis is that they do not have leadership strong enough to make peace. Hamas wants perpetual war: No one can doubt that it aims not to have a two-state solution but to have a "no state" solution--that is, to have the State of Israel stop existing. For its part, "moderate" Fatah is hopelessly corrupt and weak and seemingly incapable of reform or of enforcing law and order on its people. That is why an Israeli-Palestinian peace remains a dream today and why what Israel can offer the Palestinians is less than what any Palestinian politician is willing or able to attempt.
Even the language of peace is eroding. The Palestinians say they support two states for two peoples but refrain from saying that one of those is the Jewish people. Most recently, a major Palestine Liberation Organization figure, Mohammed Dahlan, asserted that the Fatah movement hasn't even recognized Israel thus far and that the Palestinian Authority's apparent "recognition" of Israel is to make the PA "acceptable" to the international community, in order to bring in international aid. Who can trust that?
There is justification for the widespread Israeli concern that if a Palestinian state were established, power in Gaza, and then in the West Bank, would soon fall into the hands of Hamas. After all, Hamas won 44 percent of the vote and the mayoralty in several major cities in the last West Bank election. Another unreported fact that reflects on what would happen if Hamas won: The most credible of the Palestinian-run news operations, the Ma'an News Agency, has posted three listings involving a total of 181 persons--all Fatah people--shot by Hamas in Gaza since December 2008.
The Fatah party is facing an election within a year, which may well be won by Hamas. If the Iranian-supported Hamas ultimately succeeds in its 20-year effort to be the principal voice of Palestinian nationalism, Israel will have a neighbor that truly speaks for Iran's goal of seeing Israel "wiped off the face of the Earth."
In a "unity" government, Hamas would undoubtedly be integrated in the security services, which would end Palestinian-Israeli security cooperation covering the majority of the West Bank cities. Hamas wants Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to stop negotiations with Israel and to embrace the political program that allows for "resistance" -- in other words, violence.
No wonder the Palestinian Reconciliation Conference in Cairo ended in failure. Even the lure of billions of dollars in aid has not brought Fatah Sunnis in Judea and Samaria, i.e., the West Bank, any closer to Shiite supporters of Hamas in Gaza. These are two parallel lines that cannot meet, and this division will persist.
And what of Israeli leadership? Now Israel has Binyamin Netanyhu trying to form a cabinet. The world may be skeptical about the will and political ability of a more conservative Likud government to make historic and dramatic decisions that involve painful concessions to the Palestinians in the interest of a two-state solution, but history suggests otherwise. It was Menachem Begin's Likud government that brought about the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. It was Yitzhak Shamir's Likud government that began the peace process at the Madrid Conference in October of 1991. Netanyahu's Likud party and its reservations should not be dismissed lightly, for it was Netanyahu who predicted way back in 1994 that handing over territories to Palestinians would lead to the creation of a fundamental Islamic terrorist base adjacent to Israel.
Israel has taken many risks for peace. The response has been rocket fire, terrorism, more incitement, more vilification, more shedding of Israeli blood, and less security, not to mention an ongoing historic campaign to defame, denounce, denigrate, and delegitimize Israel in every international forum.
Contrary to many reports, Netanyahu has asserted that he is not opposed to a two-state solution, provided it does not put at risk the national security of the Jewish state. The key component would be a record of Palestinian determination and ability to fight terrorism and to live in peace with Israel. Like so many experts, Netanyahu feels that the chances of an enforceable, comprehensive arrangement are low to negligible. In the meantime, as a matter of law and order, he intends to oppose illegal settlements, be they in the West Bank or among Bedouins in Sinai. His major priority would be to promote prosperity on the West Bank, creating an incentive for the Palestinians to make a commitment to peace. He notes that Palestinians in the West Bank remained calm during the fighting in Gaza and didn't engage in mass protests.
Therefore, Netanyahu will focus on improving Palestinian life by lifting roadblocks (100 so far) and reducing checkpoints (they have gone down from 50 to 15) and making other improvements on the ground for the Palestinian community. In this he is supported by dovish Israeli President Shimon Peres, who now has doubts about Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza without first having established a peaceful and democratic Palestinian party to which it could hand the territory. That Palestinian party does not yet exist.
A Palestinian state cannot be created by terrorism. It can be created through the reformation of political and economic institutions so that they reflect democracy, market economics, and real actions to confront terrorism. When there is an effective, Palestinian-based security force with counterterrorism capability in the West Bank, the Israelis will then be prepared to withdraw their defense forces and the Shin Bet from operating there. Hence the importance of the U.S. effort, led by Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, to develop a decent Palestinian security force. The new units have been enforcing order in the cities of Jenin and Hebron, which had been basically lawless. But it is not enough to target car thieves and robbers. The critical counterterrorism ability of the Palestinian security forces is still limited; above all, they must have the will to target terrorist cells and their networks.
Two modest paramilitary forces have been trained to police crime and enforce public order, but not to uproot terror groups. In fact, the PA has increasingly offered safe haven to terror groups. Brig.-Gen. Radhi Assida, the PA National Security Forces (NSF) commander in Jenin, revealed to the Palestinian website Ma'an on January 24, 2009, that PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's NSF had agreed to provide protection to four senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists wanted by Israel. Assida also confirmed that PIJ operatives continue to receive monthly salaries from the PA Interior Ministry, just like their colleagues in the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades.
In the interim, Israel must not wait on events. Israel would be wise (despite the risks) to allow even freer movement in the West Bank; it should help to create more jobs and a better standard of living. Yes, the West must press Israel on these issues, but it must also press the Arab states. They should underwrite the training of PA security forces and invest sensibly in housing and agriculture.
Peace will come only when the Palestinians are liberated from their age-old hatred of Israel and Jews. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for many times, there must be teaching, preaching, and celebrating, from childhood on, that hatred, disrespect, violence, terrorism, anti-Semitism, and war against Israelis and Zionists are unacceptable. Today, it is exactly the opposite.
A great Middle East authority, Prof. Bernard Lewis, recently pointed out in Foreign Affairs how easily the West is misled. In contrast to reports in English, he writes, "the discourse in Arabic--in broadcasts, sermons, speeches, and school textbooks--is far less conciliatory, portraying Israel as an illegitimate invader that must be destroyed." Israel cannot make peace with those whose first priority is to blow up Israeli women and children and who deny the nation's right to exist. As Lewis puts it, "There is no compromise position between existence and nonexistence."
The sad but realistic fact is that we are much closer to the establishment of two Palestinian states, one in the West Bank and one in Gaza, than to reaching a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.
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Mr. Zuckerman warns, "a Palestinian state cannot be created by terrorism.
What he would have liked to have also said, but cannot, is that the Zionist state was not created or expanded by violations of international law and human rights.
It was, though, created from terrorism. Just ask the families of the British killed by Irgun bombs.
Israel was restored by the UN. The actions against the Brits were against Brit military installations. Hamas and Hezbollah do not traget the IDF or Jews. Hamas and Hezbollah target israeli citizens, which often includes Arab Israelis.
NO SALE MORT!
The rest of the world h* tes Israel and now I see why. The tide has turned in the U.S. U.S. citizens are now coming forward and standing up against Israel. That in itself is monumental. We used to back whatever the govt. did, no more.
What are you gonna do when we dump Israel. The U.S. has a history of dumping people when it is no longer convenient for them or its citizens give the political cover. And we are giving them the cover they need.
The Israeli's big problem is that you used the wwii guilt to secure land with extreme violence, at the expense of other human beings, whom the Israeli's of all people should know how that feels.
"A slave's dearest wish is not to be free but to have his own slave"--Longfellow
I've never liked Mort. He's a Zionist who will always champion their cause. Now, I hear that the Israeli government wants to find a way to get rid of the remaining million plus Israeli Arabs. They are already treated as second class citizens. Even the Ethiopian Jews who were allowed to enter Israel are mistreated. The international media doesn't report on these issues as much as the anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, rant that comes out of the Israeli media. As for Netanyahu, this guy is like Bush ranting all the time against Iran. He's a two-gun slinger like Bush shooting from the hips. As long as the Zionists control Israel, they will continue to be a misfit in the Middle East. General George Marshall cautioned President Truman about recognizing the Israel as a state. Israel has been a can of worms from the beginning. They've lied and stolen Palestinian properties and lands. They've continued to defy the US on building new settlements in Palestinian territories. Most of the Israeli people really hate Muslims and Arabs. That is the sentiment that comes out of Israeli media all the time. I have no hope for peace there anytime in the near future, and I certainly hope President Obama follows his own path towards creating peace there, even if the likes of Netanyahu are detrimental to that end.
How much time have you spent in israel? How much time have you spent in the territories? How much first-hand knowledge do you have about anything that takes palce in the Middle East? My bet would be none at all.
Arab israeli citizens are treated just like every other Israeli citizen with one huge exception, they do not have to give time to the IDF.
We can always count on Mort for a good "story about Israel.
It is not story but 'fairy' tale of Netanyahu the Just and his Noble companion Avigdor Lieberman.
Israel ends up being blamed for its success. The Palestinians, the losers and victims of their own failings, are championed as the persecuted. No Arab state wants anything to do with the Palestinians; why? No Arab state provides anything but token aid to the Palestinians; why? The Palestinians break every truce and ceasefire they agree to; why? The Israelis are surrounded by 250 million Muslims that would attack and destroy them if not for their military strength and alliance with the United Sates. Israel, a civilized, just and compassionate country is deceitfully maligned by the international media as well as by the United Nations; why? Thank Zukerman for his truthful insights on the situation.
Interesting how you ask the why of the Palestinians - now here's another question for you.
Israelis are despised throughout the world, with the notable exception of the USA - why?
And don't try the antisemitism, that excuse ran out YEARS ago.
You are not a Jew and are not qualified to comment on anti-Semitism in the world today. It is increasing in every nation except israel. Israel is the only place on the planet where it is always acceptable to be a Jew. It is our homeland and we will not leave it.
When Germany started putting us in camps and killing us the world sat on its hands and did nothing. When the Russians were engaging in pogroms no one in the world cared about the Jews. The fact of the matter is thre world only cares about us when it wants to punish us in some manner.
Why do so many in the world hate Israel and Jews? Because we exist.
How sickening to call the people israel has systematically killed as losers? You blame the victims of state sponsored terrorism. Don't you have any humanity left in you?
You talk about arab states hating the palestinians to bolster your blame game. Since all the arab states want israel out of the middle east - would you listen to that? Hell no, you won't.
I am not a fan of islam as a religion or the ridiculous things it's used to justify - but this wholesale slaughter of innocent people will face consequences - both moral and material.
Gee, if 250 million Muslims are so eager to destroy Israel, why won't the Arab states give any real support to the Palestinians? Could it be that destroying Israel isn't such a big priority to them?
HERE's a story your not hearing about; Yesterday, dozens of Israeli settlers simply walked into a Palestinian home of 8 in East Jerusalem, Kicked its current residents out, and took it over with the help and blessing of the police.
Just IMAGINE this happening to you, and ALL of your neighbors.
When the question was posed after 9/11 "why do they hate us so much", the answer is precisely THIS sort of thing. This will help to inspire future 9/11s and worse if we don't FORCE Israel into compliance with our wishes or remove ALL support until they comply.
By the way Mort, which shared value is THIS? We DESPISE this sort of thing in the US and we throw people in jail who do this. Here, its called a civil rights violation. In the rest of the world, it might be called a HUMAN RIGHTS violation. For Israeli settlers, its called business as usual.
But it's easier to hide behind "They hate our freedom!"
Hey Mort,
Having Jewish blood myself I support the continued existence of a free peaceful and Jewish Israeli state--but INSIDE its 1967 borders and minus the brutal treatment meted out to Palestinians--by DNA evidence the cousins of the Israelis and the native inhabitants of that country--every day. The Palestinians were butchered and evicted from 78% of their country 60 years ago in response to a holocaust that they had nothing to do with. Then the Israelis brutally occupied the remaining 22% of Palestine in 1967 and have been murdering Palestinians, bulldozing homes and farms and illegally settling land not their own ever since. Avigdor Lieberman lives on an illegal settlement in clear defiance of international law, laws which Israel may blithely ignore because their powerful American political lobby guarantees them a free pass. The victims in this conflict have been overwhelmingly on one side. Terrorism is what you do when you don't have F16s, and giving a gun to a Palestinian today is exactly the same as giving a gun to a Frenchman in 1943 (to use a neocon-beloved WWII metaphor)
Im all for supporting the State of Israel and ensuring it has safe borders for all its citizens - my question is how as an American am I supposed to support a "Jewish State" as the new Israeli PM demands. Isn't a State that is intended for just on religion inherently discriminatory? How far do we have to agree to this- will we have to support ethnic cleansing if the number of Christians or Muslims in Israel get too high and threaten a Jewish majority?
Im sincerely open to an explanation on how as American I can support any State with our tax dollars that demands the right to discriminate against based on religion or race?
Great point. For 40 years Israel was demanding that the Arads agree that Israel has a right to exist;
actually no state has a right to exist, but in the last few years that demand has turned into a demand that the Arabs recognize Israel as a Jewish state. What Israel is looking for is an agreement from the rest of the world that it alone, among all the nations of the earth, has a right to ethnically cleanse itself of its' non-Jewish citizens.
Exactly. It makes ZERO sense to me that we prop up the IDEA of a "Jewish State" in the first place. Even if there were no violence in the area, no abuses of power, etc. I have a problem with our Constitution being ignored in favor of the Torah. A religious state of ANY kind is antithetical to our belief in freedom of religion -- a belief which has been enshrined in our Constitution since the begining. I feel the same way about "Vatican City" and Saudi Arabia. No human being should be born into a situation where they are FORCED to give up civic power and control over their fate and their native freedom to some religious council. It's completely un-American for us to support that nonsense.
Lots of babble here. Israel evicted with violence the Palestinians and some of its Prime Ministers were terrorists on the 10 most wanted list of England now Mr Zuckerman who is clearly and simply pro Israel no matter what they do wants to talk about Democracy. Israel was born out of violence as bad as anything Hamas is accused of so Mr Zuckerman do us all a favor stay out of it as you bring nothing to the table.
My mother always said "Two wrongs don't make a right", although I take some issue with your assertion unless it is historically accurate. Israel WAS born out of violence. The violence of the massacres of York, Bristol and the Spanish Inquisition; the violence of the Roman legions against Jewish uprisings; the violence of the Cossacks and the Ottoman Empire; the violence of the Holocaust. All these events in history unwittingly conspired to create a Jewish state, because no matter how safe Jews in America or Europe or elsewhere feel today, and no matter how unsafe they might feel being attacked in their own place, at least they have their own place.
Where Israel's early leaders - especially Ben Gurion - went wrong is - they pursued the Eretz Israel policy and didn't care how many they had to displace and/or kill to achieve it. It irks me that Israel allowed the nutjobs in Hamas and Hezbollah to keep it from pursuing its stated policy of settlement withdrawal and no more bulldozing, and even reparations. If it did, it would hold the unquestionable moral high ground, and Hamas and Hezbollah would be wrong-footed and lose their entire raison d'etre.
You could not be more wrong, not a single Israeli PM was a terrorist. And to make such a claim is not historically accurate.
If Mr.Zuckerm
As the UN was barred from entering Jenin there was no way for them to make a "credible investigation". The UN the report was ultimately based on media reports and other secondary sources...
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Same as Rush Limbaugh's torture argument. We shouldn't torture because our enemies do it, we have to follow our own righteous principles.
Israel would restore some of its moral authority by withdrawing to the Green Line. The reason it can't is because it invited Jews from all over the world to move to Israel so that Israel could expand its territory and fulfill the Zionist promise of "Greater Israel". They even invited non-Jews to go and convert to Judaism to exploit this. And Israel's policy is to just keep on bulldozing the homes of Palestinians, driving farmers off their land which has been handed down from father to son for decades if not centuries, and inviting more Americans, Russians, even Indians, to come, all expenses paid, and live in rent-free housing which the Israeli government is "generously donating".
I am not anti-Jewish nor anti-Israel. I will always defend Israel's right to exist - within the Green Line. If Israel can't get all the people they invited to settle within their proper national borders, then tough.
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Actually, let them build taller structures in Israel to accommodate them. That'll result in most of the settlers leaving, because they don't want to live in high rise apartments in cities. They want their single family housing units and free cars.
Did I mention that probably 3/4s of the settlers don't speak Hebrew and are atheists from the former Soviet Union? So much for Jewish traditions!
There is absolutely no shortage of land in Israel. There is absolutely no reason for the settlers to go into another country to settle except to ethnically cleanse it. It's like saying The US would just spill over into Canada because we don't have enough land. It's just not the case.
When was the last time you visited Israel? When was the last time you spent anytime with Jews in Israel? If the answer is no, as I suspect, your observations are worthless.
The idea that a return to the Green Line, the pre-67 borders, will bring peace ignores history. Prior to 1967 the PLO engaged in terrorism against Israel on a regular basis. Prior to June 5, 1967 Nasser massed over 100,000 troops on the Israeli borders. Why? To drive Israel into the sea and to rid the Middle East of all Jews. The idea you offer about a return to the pre-67 borders will accomplish only one thing, the destruction of Israel. So, when you claim to support Israel, but only within the Green Line you are being dishonest.
What about what you don't hear about on the other side?
Consider the source.
Since there is alot of talk about Palestinians/Hamas are the provocators by firing rockets I am posting this right up front. Here are some facts:
http://www
"First, and most importantly, the ceasefire was remarkably effective: after it began in June 2008, the rate of rocket and mortar fire from Gaza dropped to almost zero, and stayed there for four straight months (see Figure 1, from a factsheet produced by the Israeli consulate in NYC)."
Analysis of entire timeline of killings of Palestinians by Israelis, and killings of Israelis by Palestinians, in the Second Intifada, based on the data from Israeli Human Rights group B'Tselem (including all the data from September 2000 to October 2008).
In Figure 2, this analysis shows that it is overwhelmingly Israel that kills first after a pause in the conflict: 79% of all conflict pauses were interrupted when Israel killed a Palestinian, while only 8% were interrupted by Palestinian attacks (the remaining 13% were interrupted by both sides on the same day). In addition, we found that this pattern -- in which Israel is more likely than Palestine to kill first after a conflict pause -- becomes more pronounced for longer conflict pauses. Indeed, of the 25 periods of nonviolence lasting longer than a week, Israel unilaterally interrupted 24, or 96%, and it unilaterally interrupted 100% of the 14 periods of nonviolence lasting longer than 9 days."
I can't believe I missed that article! Thanks for linking it.
You are most welcome.
This is only a small slice of the story... and why did Israel interrupt the pause?
They were threatened by the "peace offensive.
Israel has proven time and time again that it only engages in diplomacy to make time for their long term goals of destroying the Palestinian state. You want another example of this? "How Israel led Hamas into false sense of security " http://www
Great article. Thanks.
Hamas did not stop firing rockets into Israel during the ceasefire. Another way to say that is Hamas never honored the ceasefire.
Israel, not Hamas, violated the truce: Hamas undertook to stop firing rockets into Israel; in return, Israel was to ease its throttlehold on Gaza. In fact, during the truce, it tightened it further. This was confirmed not only by every neutral international observer and NGO on the scene but by Brigadier General (Res.) Shmuel Zakai, a former commander of the IDF’s Gaza Division. In an interview in Ha’aretz on 22 December, he accused Israel’s government of having made a ‘central error’ during the tahdiyeh, the six-month period of relative truce, by failing ‘to take advantage of the calm to improve, rather than markedly worsen, the economic plight of the Palestinians of the Strip . . . When you create a tahdiyeh, and the economic pressure on the Strip continues,’ General Zakai said, ‘it is obvious that Hamas will try to reach an improved tahdiyeh, and that their way to achieve this is resumed Qassam fire . . . You cannot just land blows, leave the Palestinians in Gaza in the economic distress they’re in, and expect that Hamas will just sit around and do nothing.’
The truce, which began in June last year and was due for renewal in December, required both parties to refrain from violent action against the other. This was seriously violated on 4 November, by the IDF.
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Who told you that? Or, who paid you to say it and how much?
Back up your claim. If Hamas broke the ceasefire you won't have any problem proving this was the case.
Israel has never stopped increasing the size or population of the settlements. For more than 40 years, even counting the year that 8000 settlers left gaza (they controlled 30% of the land, and 1.5 million Palestinian people lived on the rest) the settlements size and population has grown substantially every year.
Forget what is being SAID. simply look at Israels actions, especially over time, and it will tell the story very clearly. Without the total cessation and removal of all settlements and occupation, there will never be peace, because the existence and constant growth of the settlements and the occupation ARE an ongoing act of war.
They are bulldozing 80 palestinian homes in east jerusalem to make room for a "park". think of 80 homes in your neighborhood. Now image armored bulldozers the size of a house being sent in to crush all those houses, after the families, the women, the crying children, are forced to leave, knowing that any new place they go will eventually meet the same fate if things keep going as they have for the last 40 years. that is war. wouldn't YOU fight agaisnt it?
Like the other Arabists writing on this site you demand the end of settlements on the West Bank and the removal of all Jews from the West Bank. Following your argument someone could demand the removal of all Arabs from israel.You reaction to such a demand would be to label that person a racist or worse. Yet you are making that very same argument.
Wrong! They're demanding the removal of /Israeli citizens/ from the West Bank. This would be the classic example of a "straw man." I believe he's a good, good friend of yours, considering how often you "quote" him.
Bubba,
There is a reason that the settlers must be surrounded by an Army. It is because they are illegally, violently, settling outside their internationally recognized borders. Without the Army, they would be forcibly removed by the people whose land they are stealing.
I wonder, are you simply making your arguments in order to see yourself type, or do you honestly believe that your eqivocations, obfuscations, and outright lies are convincing anyone? You DO understand that virtually every single nation on earth save Israel condemns the settlments and occupation, don't you? ( for that matter, most Jewish Americans and Israelis despise them and wish they were gone as well).
Arabs are not bulldozing Jewish homes in Tel Aviv with the specific goal of displacing Jews. The Israeli government is bulldozing Arab homes in the occupied territory with the specific goal of displacing Arabs. See the difference?
As a fellow journalist, Mr. Zuckerman should know better than to accuse other journalists of bias merely because they look at both sides of an issue and provide a balanced viewpoint (erroneous reports aside). And as a Jew, I am sick and tired of crybabies like him whining that we're misunderstood and have been abandoned when he is well aware that we have the unquestioning support of the United States, as well as tacit support from a majority of other Western nations.
As a government, Israel is NOT perfect. If they commit atrocities, they should also be called on it.
I'm sure that Mr. Zuckerman is also well aware that Israel is just as guilty as the P.A. and Hamas of not honouring agreements regarding cease-fires and peace treaties.
As long as the people involved in this conflict refuse to accept responsibility and act in good faith, this cycle of violence will continue.
Mr. Zuckerman, as a respected journalist, please stop feeding the flames and be one of the few people who are working towards laying a foundation of reconciliation rather than blame.
Israel is not as guilty as the PA or Hamas in failing to honor agreements, that is demostrably false.
Israel has stated a number of times that a peace treaty that does not pur us at risk is aq peace plan we will consider. The Arabs have issues with that, so there is no peace.
What the Arabs have issue with is Israel stealing land in excess of its legally recognized borders, sir.
Even if there is some truth in what you are saying...n
Every year for more than 40 years, Israel has maintained and gown the settlements and occupation. Not one single year, despite ANY sort of negotiations or otherwise, have the size and population of settlements not gone up substantially.
One must interpret this to mean that despite all the rhetoric, peace negotiations, years of relative calm, Israel is going to continue policies of apartheid and ethnic cleansing, and has demonstrably never been a partner for peace.
Yeah if frogs had wings they wouldn't bump they ass. Bubba you must really hate palestinians
See Jan McGirk's Profile
Some of the statistics in this article are way out of kilter. Inside the West Bank, for example, the closure system implemented by the IDF includes manned checkpoints, fixed-barriers, earth-mounds and fences—more than 600. These do not prevent Palestinians from entering Israel proper—as the separation barrier and crossing terminals do; these physical obstacles stop Palestinians from moving freely within the West Bank, while protecting illegal Israeli settlements. Seizing land for "buffer zones" appears to be part of the occupation's modus operandi, too, and eliminating the possibility of a Palestinian state. Whenever Israeli checkpoints are dismantled (temporarily), more go up elsewhere. Since I frequently cross between Israel and the West Bank, I see this unfold. Many Israelis, other than the pistol-packing settlers or the soldiers who protect them, do not ever venture into the West Bank. Hence, many Palestinians have never seen an unarmed Israeli.
The NY Times did not "drum up a front-page story alleging the deliberate murder of innocent civilians by Israeli soldiers during the Gaza war"; this scoop about shocking behaviour by troops in Gaza was broken by the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, based on testimony by reserve soldiers at a military academy. The IDF pooh-poohed the damaging allegations, but there has been no independent investigation. The Physicians for Human RIghts (Israel) have documented cases of soldiers firing on Gaza civilians
carrying white flags.
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