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Gaza Death Toll: 375 Palestinian, 4 Israeli
The death toll continues to mount on this the third day of Operation Solid Lead intended by Israel to break the back of Hamas and uproot its capability to rain missiles on southern Israel. CNN reports 375 Gazans are dead. The UN estimates that 60 are civilians.
I find it extraordinary that considering the firepower the IAF is using against Gaza that not only is Hamas able to continue its barrage, but that some of the rockets have proven lethal. In the entire several week period leading up to the end of the ceasefire, several hundred militant rockets didn't kill a single Israeli. It seems that now the Palestinians are out for blood and intend to make every missile count, which may be why there are now Israelis dead.
Israeli politicians continue to labor under delusions that this military operation can "clean up" their "problem" once and for all:
"The government is determined to remove the threat of fire on the south," he [Interior minister Meir Sheetrit] said, referring to rocket attacks on southern Israel by Hamas forces. "Therefore the Israeli army must not stop the operation before breaking the will of Palestinians, of Hamas, to continue to fire at Israel."
And here is Barak:
Mr. Barak said that Israel would widen and deepen the attack if necessary and told Israeli lawmakers that it would continue until Hamas no longer had the ability to fire rockets into Israel.
...Mr. Barak had told lawmakers that Israel had nothing against the citizens of Gaza and that it had more than once offered its hand in peace to the Palestinian nation. "But we have an all-out war with Hamas and its offshoots," he said.
If Israel has nothing against the citizens of Gaza then why has it killed at least 60 of them who are civilians? Did it offer Gaza the hand of peace by ending the siege which it was required to do under the terms of the last ceasefire? How does Barak distinguish between the "citizens of Gaza" and Hamas? As far as Gazans are now concerned, even if they were not supporters before they are all Hamas. Hamas resists. How can any Palestinian who loves his nation not fall into line? This is the tragedy of Israel's assault. It has cemented Hamas' standing for years to come in the consciousness of not only Gazans and Palestinians in general, but the entire Arab world.
It may be that Barak really believes the rhetoric he's using, but does he really expect anyone else to? Perhaps Israelis and their Diaspora supporters, but this type of hogwash has got to fall on deaf ears everywhere else.
Meanwhile in Crawford, the Bushites are fiddling while Gaza burns:
In Crawford, Tex., a spokesman for President Bush renewed calls for the parties to reach a cease-fire, but said Israel was justified in retaliating against Hamas's attacks. "Let's just take this one day at a time," said the spokesman, Gordon Johndroe.
Good advice for those Gazans too as they hear the thumping of the Apache helicopters hunting down wanted Hamasniks: just 'take it one day at a time.'
What is the role of the glorious IAF besides raining terror down on Gazans? You can see video on Israeli TV of the pilot's gunsights as they take out 60 Gaza tunnels used not only to smuggle weapons, but also food and medicine (one of the few sources of it) for the population under siege. If you are Israeli, this is how your tax dollars are put to work--your air force takes target practice on tunnels. Oh and it has destroyed five mosques and the entire Islamic University, a hotbed of Hamas activity. And finally, the air force undertook the heroic task of destroying the main prison, which mainly housed Fatah prisoners--who are ostensibly Israel's ally--and accused collaborators awaiting trial. The Times reports that the prison was the sole source of protection for the alleged collaborators. Without it, many of them have been hunted down and killed. This is how Israel supports Palestinians who do its bidding.
This night also brings chilling news that the Israeli navy has attacked a Free Gaza ship in international waters as it was making its way to Gaza, bringing doctors and medical supplies (see this CNN video report). The boat also carried former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney. Six navy ships surrounded the Destiny firing live ammunition and rammed it causing severe damage. Israeli personnel accused the boat of harboring terrorists. Not only was the Israeli action a violation of international law, but how can you justify engaging in violence against a civilian ship with unarmed passengers whose only intent is to engage in humanitarian work?
Considering that Free Gaza notified the Israelis of the ship's intent, how can the Israelis possibly expect anyone to believe their claim that they only engaged in hostile action because they didn't know the boat's purpose? Couldn't they have used their radio equipment to ask before ramming.
The ship is now headed for Lebanon where it should be able to undergo repairs and hopefully return to make another attempt to enter Gaza.
This is the snarling, mad dog Israel which I find so detestable under these circumstances. And to be clear to those who would deliberately misconstrue this statement--I do not see Israel this way in an absolute sense. But in the context of this military operation, Israel is baring its fangs for all the world to see how ugly it can be. And it makes me angry and ashamed as a Jew and critical Zionist.
I agree that rockets raining down on southern Israel is intolerable. But so are starving Gazan children caused by Israel's siege. There is a solution here: end the siege, end the rockets. It's that simple.
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@baffy
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Are you serious? Do you really think that the regular murder of Palestinian civilians is not terrorism? If you do, you should be in an institution.
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First off, Palestinian civilians have not been "murdered".. They were killed as the result of collateral damage. They were killed because their leaders (Hamas) decided to place military hardware in civilian areas..
I guess, from a certain perspective, one could say that their deaths were the result of terrorist acts committed by Hamas....
The innocent Palestinians are as much a victim of Hamas as much as the innocent Israeli civilians who have been killed....
The fault for their deaths lie completely and solely at the feet of Hamas.
Michale.....
CONT
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A prison I suppose. The point is, Gaza is totally controlled by Israel. That is occupation in the worst way.
"Gaza failed" as you put it because Israel made sure it did.
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As I have shown, Israel is not the only country that has a border with Gaza. Gaza failed because Hamas was and is more concerned about killing Israelis than they are about feeding, clothing and taking care of their people.
These are the facts, whether you choose to believe them or not..
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I also noticed your comment "putting down a few hundred terrorists etc". You should volunteer for the IDF. They need people like you to keep the genocide going.
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Sorry, but I have done my bit for king and country...
Do you have a problem with putting down terrorists?? Does anyone???
Michale.....
Do you know what you call the brutal and merciless killing of 300 terrorists??
A good start...
Michale.....
@baffy
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I actually meant the entire occupation - West Bank, East Jerusalem etc. In the case of Gaza what would you like to call it? Israel controls borders, coastline, airspace, food, utilities, medicine, people in/out etc.
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Every nation controls their borders how they see fit..
But there are two aspects you fail to take into account.
1> Hamas doesn't seem to have ANY problem smuggling in missiles, weapons and other military hardware. Why don't they, instead, smuggle in foodstuffs and medicine for their people. I am sure you would agree that everyone would be better off, no??
2> Egypt controls THEIR border with Gaza even MORE stringently and strictly than Israel does. Since both Egypt and Israel are so restrictive with their respective Gaza borders, the only logical and rational conclusion is that GAZA is the problem and not Israel...
CONT
@MPeter
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What is going on in Gaza is a crime against humanity.
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Oh puulleeeessseeeee.....
Putting down a few hundred terrorists is not a crime at all, let alone a crime against humanity...
Get out of the basement once in a while and see the real world...
It'll be an eye opener...
Michale.....
@baffy
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End the siege, end the rockets. Yes, but also end the 40 year illegal and brutal occupation.
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The occupation ended in 2005.. Israel was testing Gaza to see if they would use this time to become a productive state/entity fit enough to join the world community.
Gaza failed miserably...
Michale....
I actually meant the entire occupation - West Bank, East Jerusalem etc. In the case of Gaza what would you like to call it? Israel controls borders, coastline, airspace, food, utilities, medicine, people in/out etc. A prison I suppose. The point is, Gaza is totally controlled by Israel. That is occupation in the worst way.
"Gaza failed" as you put it because Israel made sure it did.
I also noticed your comment "putting down a few hundred terrorists etc". You should volunteer for the IDF. They need people like you to keep the genocide going.
Have I missed something? Has Hamas recognized Israel's right to exist? It's that simple.
israel has not existed as long as the arabs have in the land of Palenstine. get real people. get the facts right!
visit ifamericanknew.org
peace
And your point is?
Please check out this site!
http://ifamericansknew.org/
-123 Israeli children have been killed by Palestinians and 1,050 Palestinian children have been killed by Israelis since September 29, 2000.
-8,341 Israelis and 33,034 Palestinians have been injured since September 29, 2000.
-During Fiscal Year 2007, the U.S. gave more than $6.8 million per day to Israel and $0.3 million per day to the Palestinians. (Who is down with this?)
-Israel has been targeted by at least 65 UN resolutions and the Palestinians have been targeted by none.
-1 Israeli is being held prisoner by Palestinians, while 10,756 Palestinians are currently imprisoned by Israel.
-0 Israeli homes have been demolished by Palestinians and 18,147 Palestinian homes have been demolished by Israel since 1967.
-Israel currently has 223 Jewish-only settlements and "outposts" built on confiscated Palestinian land. Palestinians do not have any settlements on Israeli land.
So why are Palestinian "terrorist"? I think it is time to be truthfulllll and really state who the mad terrorist are!!!
You simply equate the number of dead with terrorism.
You are mistaken in your assessment...
Michale....
I repeat...have I missed something? Has Hamas recinded their goal of utterly destroying Israel?
End the siege, end the rockets. Yes, but also end the 40 year illegal and brutal occupation.
DIDOOOO!!!
stop it all
One question: I dont think Israel will stop until THEIR MISSION is done.
It is ethnic cleansing one way or another; horrific and inhuman and immoral.
The WESTERN powers are doing nothing becuase they are manipulated by AIPAC and other strong arm Jewish/Zionist groups.
The VICTIM role is outliving it's usefulness.
HUMANITY HAS NO SKIN COLOUR.
If the US gave up protecting Israel then Israel wouldnt act so arrogantly.
Hopefully President Obama will be more even handed and treat both sides with RESPECT and make peace and justice a priority.
We as Americans cannot support aparteid and ethnic cleansing which is what it seems the
Israeli government is set on as its end game. Also US cannot support the establishment of
religion, so the billions we send over there to use to establish a pure Jewish state and to dehumanize and oppress the Palestinian people seems to be illegal.
Until Israel treats the Palestinians with RESPECT by removing the check points, blockades for food, medicine, water and fuel, and starts RESPECTING their duly elected democratic government [even though we may not like them] and stop destroying the homes left by the settlers, and stop putting up barricades and attacking their police and leaders, and killing their children, there never will be peace. If they do that, I bet the protests, rock throwing, and mortars will cease from the Palestinian side. You can't just impose a cease fire unless the concerns are addressed too.
agree SAM It's sick!! STOP USA BACKING OF ISRAEL!! NO RELIGIOUS WARS!!!
What is going on in Gaza is a crime against humanity. Israeli politician chose a perfect moment to attack; a moment when there is a power vacuum in Washington. Bush and Obama are both on vacation, one on his way out, the other on his way in, but none with power do much about it. It is frustrating and heartbreaking to watch the unfolding tragedy.
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