Followers

Friday, January 25, 2008

Escape from Gaza or Voluntary Transfer?

By Mike Whitney

24/01/08 "ICH" -- -- Forget everything you've read about the “Great Escape” from Gaza. It's all rubbish. The whole farce was cooked up in an Israeli think tank as way to rid Palestine of its indigenous people. Here's an excerpt from the Israeli newspaper Arutz Sheva which explains the real motive behind the incident:

“MK (Israeli Knesset member) Aryeh Eldad is hailing the Arab exodus to Egypt as proof that voluntary transfer is indeed an option.”

“The Israeli left continues to claim that there is no such thing as voluntary transfer, and simply ignores reality,” Eldad said. (Arutz Sheva)

Voluntary transfer. Bingo.

So the fleeing Palestinians just fell into a trap. Now they've been banished to Egypt by their own volition. We'll have to wait and see how many are allowed to return.

The media has played its traditional role in the Gaza fiasco, trying to make it look like Hamas' "terrorist masterminds" struck a major blow against Israel. It's just a way of diverting attention from Israel's role in the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Here's the way Ha'aretz summed it up:

“Hamas chalked up a real coup. Not only did the organization demonstrate once again that it is a disciplined, determined entity, and an opponent that is exponentially more sophisticated than the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority are now forced to find a new joint border control arrangement, one that will probably depend on the good graces of Hamas....The Hamas action yesterday was anything but spontaneous. It was another stage in the campaign that began in Gaza's night of darkness on Sunday. As Gaza was plunged into widely televised blackness, Palestinian children armed with candles were brought out on a protest march and organized into prime-time demonstrations in support of the Egyptian and Jordanian branches of the Muslim Brotherhood.” (“Gaza border breach shows Israel Hamas is in charge, Ha'aretz)

Nonsense. Israel is not the victim any more than Palestinian children are "armed" with candles. The candles are a symbol of hope; something that is sadly lacking under Israeli rule. The truth is that Israel was getting battered in the media for cutting off food, water, energy and medical supplies to 1.5 million civilians (some of whom died in the hospital when the power was turned off on their respirators) so they looked for a way to do an about-face without appearing weak. Ha'aretz would like us to believe that our sympathy for starving women and children is the result of the propaganda we've seen in the "Palestinian-owned” media.

What a laugh; the “Palestinian-owned” media.

Hamas poses no threat to Israel and it controls nothing; certainly not the border. They've even suspended all suicide attacks since they won democratic elections a year and a half ago. But that is not enough for Israel whose goal is to extinguish any trace of Arab solidarity or Palestinian nationalism. Nearly all of the 4,000 articles now appearing on Google News follow this same absurd narrative about 'clever terrorists' who've out-foxed Israel and liberated their people. It's just another way of concealing the criminal brutality of the 60 year long occupation. In truth, Hamas probably had nothing to do with the destruction of the wall. It's just part of Israel's plans to exile more Palestinians.





According to the article in Arutz Sheva, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak decided to follow orders from Hamas' chief Khaled Mashall and “ignore Israeli calls to close the border. Mashaal seemed to indicate that Hamas was asserting sovereignty over northern Sinai, calling upon the Arab world to take advantage of the Islamist group's new stronghold to provide aid directly without Israeli interference.”

Now, that's a stretch. In other words, US puppet Hosni Mubarak—-who gets $2 billion a year in aid from the United States---has suddenly decided to take orders from the head of a group that is on the State Dept's list of terrorist organizations so that he can fulfill his obligations as a “loyal Arab”?

Ridiculous.

Besides, Hamas has no interest in northern Sinai or any other territorial ambitions. Its only purpose is to resist Israeli occupation.

So far an estimated 350,000 residents of Gaza have fled across the border since Wednesday. The Egyptian police have done nothing to stop them from entering the country. "A significant number have remained in Egypt...traveling south to Egyptian population centers.”

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported on 1-24-08 that:

“Israeli officials proposed that Egypt take over responsibility for sustaining the Gaza Strip.

Israeli media quoted members of the Olmert government as saying Thursday that, after Palestinians overran the Gaza-Egypt border, there was an opportunity to demand that Cairo take care of the needs of the coastal territory.

"We need to understand that when Gaza is open to the other side, we lose responsibility for it. So we want to disengage from it," Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told Army Radio. "We are responsible as long as there is no alternative." (JTA)

Are we expected to believe that in the last 24 hours Israel decided willy-nilly to relinquish control over parts of the Gaza Strip? Israel has devoted a considerable amount of time to building settlements in a way that removes any possibility of creating a contiguous Palestinian state. It is highly unlikely that their plans for Gaza are taken any less seriously. In fact, we are probably seeing a manifestation of those plans right now via the expulsion of 350,000 Palestinians.

The Jerusalem Post's Yaakov Katz clarifies how the destruction of the border wall serves Israel's long-term policy objectives:

“Without even knowing it, Egypt helped Israel on Wednesday to complete the disengagement from the Gaza Strip. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he opened the crossing for Gazans since they were "starving due to the Israeli siege," what he did proved to the world that his country is perfectly capable of caring for the Palestinians when it comes to food and medical care.

Wednesday's events and particularly Mubarak's decision to open a floodgate into his country for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, demonstrated that there are alternatives to Israel when it comes to being Gaza's provider. " (Jerusalem Post)

That says it all, doesn't it? The Palestinians are regarded as a mere nuisance and a drain on Israeli resources. Now that the wall has conveniently been knocked down, the problem appears to be solved.

Hamas had nothing to do with blowing up the wall. And if they did, they were just unwitting accomplices in Israel's masterplan to drive more Palestinians off the land and to absolve themselves of any responsibility for the ones that remain.

This is just another grim chapter in Bush's “New Middle East”.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Why Don't You Bomb Yourself And Save Us All

By Gilad Atzmon

11/01/08 "ICH " -- - "President Bush had tears in his eyes during an hour-long tour of Israel's Holocaust Memorial on Friday and told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the U.S. should have bombed Auschwitz to halt the killing" http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2008/01/11/1219288-bush-us-should-have-bombed-auschwitz

This is what the president Bush said today at the end of his formal visit to Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.

You see Mr. President, it couldn't work out, because at that time Hitler was working for America, killing 'red communists'.

At the time, America and Britain had an armistice with Nazi Germany in mind.

You simply couldn't just admit that Hitler was a butcher. No one makes peace with industrial mass murderers.

As if this is not enough, at the time your military intelligence didn't really buy the story of Nazi Germany involvement in mass liquidation. Consequently, your country didn't open its gates to Jewish refugees.

However, if you are truly shocked by Nazi inhumanity and regret your country's impotence at the time of the war, now is the time to act.

You can always save the Palestinians.

You can, for instance, just threaten to bomb Tel Aviv, Haifa or Jerusalem...

This will be enough to liberate the Palestinians in Gaza concentration Camp.

In case you are still motivated by a genuine humanist call, you may consider bombing yourself, and saving the rest of the Iraqi people from the genocide you apparently inflicted on them.

Mr President, it is never too late to save humanity from yourself and your ilk.

Santa Bush



By Raja Chemayel

George Bush visiting today Israel,
has heard that there are Palestinian- Christians in Gaza
and that some Christians celebrate Christmas now in January.

George thought it would be a good thing if he offers
support to the Christian Palestinians exclusively
so that jealousy and favouritism might split the Palestinian society.
Like in the Lebanon..... or Serbia.....or Bosnia.....etc. ....

Dressed as a Santa Claus and with a bag full of presents,
he went to visit a Palestinian- Christian family in Gaza ,
of course.


Once there,
George noticed that Palestinian- Christians are
as bad as ......the Palestinian- Muslims ,
and there is no difference at all
because both are Ayrabs and Terrorists
" who want the destruction of Israel" ,
as they say.......


It was too late to leave and to go back to Tel Aviv,
with his presents.
Still George wanted to somehow abort his nice deed, as a Santa.

When everybody sat down for the distribution of the presents

George , the Santa , asked to the parents :
Why are the children so thin and meagre ??

The mother answered :
This is Gaza you know ? Dear Santa !
The Children do not eat well nor enough

George , the Santa, stood up promptly and said :
What do I hear ?? ......those children do not eat well ??
they must be punished for that disobedience
I shall leave back and not give the children any presents !!


Which he did immediately .
and took back to Israel those presents.

Monday, January 07, 2008

Report: U.S. soldiers killed by Iraqi beat pregnant woman

Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- The Iraqi soldier who shot dead two U.S. soldiers opened fire because their unit refused to stop beating a pregnant woman, a hardline Sunni group said in its website Saturday night.

The U.S. military said Saturday that an Iraqi soldier killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded three others during a combined operation in Nineveh province on Dec. 26. Iraqi General Mutaa al-Khazraji has said the soldier proved to be an "insurgent infiltrator."

However, in a statement released Saturday night, the Muslim Scholars Association identified the Iraqi soldier as Qaisar Saadi al-Jubory and said the Iraqi soldier had shot the U.S. soldiers after he witnessed them beating a pregnant woman.

"His blood rose and he asked the occupying (U.S.) soldiers to stop beating the woman. Their answer through the translator was: 'We will do what we want.' So he opened fire on them."

Iraqi and American officials have denied the accusation.

"There is no indication that that is true and the matter remains under investigation," said U.S. military spokesman Colonel James Hutton.

The U.S. military command in Baghdad said the Iraqi soldier ran away after the shooting but was later captured.

Two Iraqi soldiers are being held in connection with the incident. General Khazraji said the men are in Iraqi custody.

(Agencies)