One Year Later, Palestinians Live in Rubble While Israel Blocks Aid
I don't know what to say. The United States not only permits this, we subsidize it - at great personal cost to our country. After all, why were we an Al Qaeda target in the first place?
Yes, we'll tie ourselves in knots to keep a taxpayer dollar from getting anywhere near an abortion, yet we continue to fund the slow starvation of the Palestinians.
Very sad:
One year after Israel launched its three-week offensive in Gaza that killed more than 1,300 Palestinians and damaged or destroyed over 50,000 homes in a campaign aimed at stopping Hamas rocket fire, the survivors are still living in rubble. And it is not for want of money that thousands of residents of the coastal enclave remain homeless this winter: Moved by the plight of Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinians who were already reeling from a two-and-a-half year economic siege imposed by Israel with help from Egypt and the U.S. even before Israel's air and ground assault had begun, international donors earlier this year pledged over $4.5 billion to repair war damages. But that aid has failed to reach Gaza, according to Palestinians and relief agencies who accuse Israel of imposing Kafkaesque rules that bar entry to vital reconstruction materials and items as bizarre as glass, most schoolbooks, honey and family-sized tubs of margarine.
Says Chris Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations' Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), "Because the Israelis are not allowing in any reconstruction material, that $4.5 billion is just a paper figure." With over 80% of Gazans now surviving on humanitarian handouts from UNRWA, Gunness adds, "Palestinians are becoming more desperate and more extreme."
Relief officials estimate that Gaza needs 40,000 tons of cement and 25,000 tons of iron to start repairing the homes, hospitals, schools and shops destroyed during Israel's offensive. But so far, according to GISHA, an Israeli legal rights group, the Israelis have allowed only 19 trucks carrying construction material into Gaza since the war ended last January. "You could say that Israel has bombed Gaza back into the mud age," says UNRWA's Gunness, "because that's what they're building their houses out of now — mud."
Without parts to replace machinery damaged in the war, 97% of Gaza's factories have shut down, raising unemployment to over 43%. With scarce sources of income, many Gazans would probably starve if not for food handouts from the U.N. and other agencies. Over 40,000 Gazans have no electricity, 10,000 have no running water in their homes, and because Israel bans entry of the spare parts needed to run its sewage treatment plant, every day 87 million liters of sewage is dumped into the Mediterranean (which washes up on Israel's beaches, too.)
Although the international community occasionally protests Gaza's ongoing tragedy, so far no real pressure has been applied on Israel to loosen its stranglehold. One senior official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government recently confided to a U.N. colleague that Israel's goal for Gaza was: "No development, no prosperity, no humanitarian crisis." The U.N. official interpreted that to mean that Israel would provide Gaza with an intravenous drip of relief to keep its 1.5 million inhabitants alive, but just barely, in hopes that the people would overthrow the Hamas government they voted into power in the last Palestinian elections. But that hasn't happened yet, nor is it likely to; Hamas smuggles arms, money and supplies into Gaza through tunnels from Egypt, and, increasingly, joining the militants has become the only source of a monthly wage for young males. In the meantime, said John Ging, UNRWA's chief officer in Gaza, the Israeli siege is "facilitating the destruction of a civilized society." Before the siege Palestinians in Gaza prided themselves on the excellence of their schools and industriousness of their workforce, many of whom, in more peaceful times, found jobs across the fence in Israel.
It's all very criminal.
Read The Goldstone Report:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcounci...
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
Protect criminals while invading other countries for the resources..
How can Israel complain how they are treated. In fact doesn't Israel have tens of thousands of Palestinians in their prisons...And made the statement that one of their citizens is worth over 1,000 of the Palestinians.
Isn't Israel still building their homes in the Gaza strip's land.
Isn't Israel still blocking Gaza from receiving supplies and food for a human and decent living place for these people and their children....
The policies in which our country supplies Israel with our tax money for their national debt , giving them military and even nuclear aid (wink,,, wink) while we turn our backs on the inhuman treatment they are doing to the innocent women and children and others which stinks to high heaven..
We have become what we attack others for... Do we see the other nations in the middle east or any where attacking these countries except for minimum efforts when we pay them in soon type and form.....
None
pure and simple...We need to slam the congress for supporting this with 4 to 10 Billion dollars a year!
Read J Street and ignore the Aipac lobby..It is time to quit donating to the criminal element of elect Israeli govrn't! The Gold stone report is right...
It's not just Apartheid, it's another Lodz Ghetto.
Just as was done to the jews in Poland, the Palestinians are being slowly squeezed and starved to death, bombed and shot all the while. The only difference being, the Israelis know they can't get away with the same forced removals they were once victims of.
This is why the Busheney cabal walk free - a mutuality of war crimes.
We make sure ours are NEVER held to account and they do the same.
Someday this will change - it has to.
I think Bush and Cheney might be convicted of war crimes posthumously - we shouldn't have to wait that long.
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
This is going on NOW! We are all culpable for permitting this to continue. The Zionist lobby led by DEMOCRATS like Lieberman has a stranglehold on the foreign policy of America. Mrs. Clinton makes little noises now and then about Israeli violations of UN agreements, but you never hear her saying the things that need to be said about the evil treatment of the people of Gaza.
I know the Israelis will argue there are two sides to every story, but the Palestinian side is not being heard by Americans at all!
Candideinnc
Ghandi was wrong. The tyrants and murderers are only held to account when they lose power and protection.
Just ask Idi Amin and the Shah of Iran.
They've been perpetrating it for 50+ years. Do they really have a goal (genocide?), OR is having their country be hate-filled, frightened, and at perpetual war advantageous to them?
The West Bank was supposed to be part of a Palestinian state, but it was seized by Jordan right off the bat when the British Mandate ended (and Abdullah I of Jordan had planned on taking it going back to at least the 1946-47 partition talks). Egypt took official control of the Gaza Strip, another part of the planned Palestinian state, upon the armistice that ended the 1948 Arab-Israel War. Then, in 1971, there occurred inside of Jordan events known as Black September, when the Jordanian government killed at least 1000 Palestinians (Arafat claimed the number killed was in the 20,000-25,000 range), and booted thousands of Palestinians out of Jordan.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
right?
You don't even have to ask if Israel wants genocide for Palestinians.
They consider them less than human and mortal enemies of the state.
All actions of Israel toward Palestinians are designed to remove them from the face of the earth.
We help. We are complicit.
Israel wants to do to the Palestinians what was done to the jews: Force them to "wander the world" for 2000 years.
Israel wants nothing but the complete and total ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, whether by exile or mass murder.
"The Palestinians have a homeland — it is the Palestine that is called Jordan."
- Ariel Sharon
Because they hate freedom.
Given that we are the most generous, peace-loving people on Earth, I can't imagine any other reason.
Except for our aid and support for Israel to use military weapons we give them as we turn our backs on the inhuman treatment Israel does to the innocent men , women and CHILDREN..
They are slowing starving the citizens in Gaza strip while they steal their land to build homes for the Israeli citizens..
They have blockaded their country and restrict all news or any other source that would be able to show the inhuman treatment they are causing to them..
Our elected officials have to pass their support for Israel before they will be supported for election...
AIPAC is one of the largest organizations which interviews each candidate..
Ex-President Carter was said to have cried after seeing the disaster and destruction Israel has done to the innocent children , women and men in the Gaza strip...
None
"After all, why were we an Al Qaeda target in the first place?
"Because they hate freedom.
"Given that we are the most generous, peace-loving people on Earth, I can't imagine any other reason."
All I can say is, Oh PLEASE!! Give me a break.
Y'all want Palestinians to get AIDs?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
What would you like them to do? Lets let them run around Israel blowing up buses and schools. I have been reading this blog for about five years and never commented. This article is ridiculous. I have been to Israel and I can tell you that the Palestinians would kill any Israeli or Westerner at the drop of a hat. I know you supper Leftys think that we should all hold hands and sing and the world will be safe. Come on people dont be so simple. When Israel was an uninhabitable swamp no one wanted to live there, Including the Palestinians. Oh and by the way none of these fanatastic Arab countries will take them in or even lift a finger to help them.
Before you all start ranting that I am some right wing Lunatic. I am an avowed Atheist who believes in pretty much every Demoratic Ideal. I genuinly feel bad for these people especially the children obviously this misery will only fanatasize them. I dont have an answer, but dont villify the Israelis. We have one failed attack and the whole country goes crazy they on the other hand have one attack a week. Think about how you would react EVEN SCARIER THINK ABOUT HOW WE AS A PEOPLE WOULD REACT.
Let the flaming begin....sigh...
reading this blog for 5 years,,,,yet only a member for less than a half hour.
Why do I not believe you at all?
Palestinians may not be innocent...but neither is effing Israel.
You may not be a troll, I really don't believe you one iota.
Out of curiosity, was this blog even around in 2004?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
... and I wouldn't dismiss his claim so quickly. I myself have been reading this blog for several years before posting my first comment.
However, that doesn't change the fact that his excuses for Israels blockade of Gaza are ridiculous!
"It's called the American Dream. Because you have to be asleep to believe it!" George Carlin
that after reading said blog for 5 years, this particular story gets him/her to go thru registration just to post nonsense, with incriminating phrases such as "supper Leftys" and whining about "being flamed". And acting like saying that he/she is an Atheist will get him sympathy from us oh so pagan liberals.
It smeels awfully trollish to me.
"It smells awfully trollish to me."
To paraphrase a certain well-known fact of life:
If a person writes like a troll, speaks like a troll, and acts like a troll, then it's a pretty good bet that he IS a troll!
The rest of your message is loaded with good sense.
It's very subjective, no?
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
I knew you guys couldnt handle it. I read these posts and Yes I just registered. In fact it was my first post on any blog(I read at least 6 different ones). You cant speak to my assertions so you try to deflect the truth by attacking me. My points are valid, however there is always a grey area in every argument. You villify me just because I can keep 2 or 3 seperate thoughts in my mind at once.
I agree with probably 90 percent of the post on here but there are exceptions this just happens to be one of those times. Perhaps I am biased because I was raised Jewish. However, I assert until you spend some time in Israel and see what they put up with on a daily basis alot of you (not everybody)just wont understand.
Guess what if you always push on one side of an issue regardless of facts and logic your just lying to yourself. I have been reading this site and had it in my favorites since 2003 or 2004 (definitely before the 04 election). BTW I voted for Kerry and Obama.
If you want full Disclosure in 2000 I voted for Bush. In 92 I voted for Bush. In 96 I voted for Clinton. Being Pragmatic is something I am not ashamed of. If you want to be a blind follower join the Truthers or the Palinites.
Not everyone that has a different opinion than you is wrong or a plant.
hi,
Ill start by saying Im a jewish American.
I wont flame you, because I grew up with the same biases. However, as I grew older I began to question the news I was spoon fed. So I had to see things myself.
After 8 years of living and working in the Palestin Territories, my perspective has completely changed. Israel's occupation alone is bad enough - would you be surprised if Americans after 32 years of occupation by a foreign military power would turn to violence and suicide bombings? I wouldnt. I will never condone such acts, but I can understand them.
Gaza is hell on earth - but its a man-made hell. Not because of Hamas, it was very much the same before 2007.
My point is that when you only hear about suicide bombings and yet Israeli attacks that leave hundreds more civilians dead are just a footnote, then you dont see the full picture.
My suggestion? Visit Palestine. See it for yourself. See what occupation is like, (or in the case of Gaza, a total seige).
After years of living and working in that environment, I know for sure one side is right and one side is wrong. Its hard to see from America, but experiencing it changes everything.
Quick proof: You will find 1000s of Israelis who support Palestinian equal rights and freedoms -- but you will never ever find a Palestinian who supports Israel's right wing. That to me proves just how wrong Israel is in this case. (and no, its not all Israelis, but its especially the last two center-right regimes that are the most racist).
I still live in the West Bank and work in Gaza. See the reality of life in Gaza here: www.gazaspeaks.com
Cheers
and im sorry, but your perspective is a bit skewed
and your comparison is badly worded
how many israelis support hamas' view on what should happen to israel? that is how you should have worded the comparison
and when was the last time you heard about a terrorist attack in israel from the mainstream media
there was one last week...killed an unarmed rabbi
And no one had to register to comment until about a year ago.
This site gets millions of page hits a year, but probably not a million comments. You read much more into length of registration than you should, Liberalicious.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
I was a reader for a long time before I was a registered commenter, too. (There might also have been a time when you could comment without registering--my memory is actually foggy on that point, though I know the registration and comment management systems have changed within the past five years.)
As to his comments: I agree, at least in a broad sense. Susie didn't bold the only text in the article she quoted that would matter to an innocent Israeli reader: a campaign aimed at stopping Hamas rocket fire. Also, we were a target of Muslim extremists well before they started peppering their press releases with talk about how they'd forgive and forget if we stopped supporting the "Zionist entity."
I have given up on having any kind of extensive involvement in discussions on the subject of Israel on these message threads; no one is seriously interested in rational discussion with an ardent supporter of Israel. I am the enemy, and comfortable with that fact. I bother to post here only because of the new wrinkle of charging someone with being a troll based on his registration being new. We were all new at some point. I imagine most of us made our first posts soon after registering, and also imagine that most of us lurked for a while (maybe not five years, but a while) before registering.
How many Israeli citizens were killed by Hamas' rockets?
How many Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers, including rockets, bombs, WP rounds.
How many Israeli citizens lost all their infrastructure, water supply, homes &c.
"I'm such a martyr...sigh"
"...supper Lefty...?" Is that a token socialist you have to holiday dinners?
me-oww!
If they're offering tuna casserole surprise, with quivering cubes of lime Jello with a grape in it, on a wilted bed of lettuce, served by hausfraus in faded print dresses, you know it's a Talibaptist's dinner.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Israel is blocking essential material for rebuilding the infrastructure in Gaza, which was destroyed BY Israel, and all you have to say is "what would you like them do"??? Unbelievable...
In case you really have been to Israel, then you're even less qualified to judge the situation than an outsider, who only knows the conflict from the newspapers! Because all you get from the Israeli is their side of the story, mixed with lots of propaganda against the Palestinians.
"It's called the American Dream. Because you have to be asleep to believe it!" George Carlin
Arabs love to embrace the Palestinians for the cameras, but couldn't give a damn about them, and they have a shitload more land than Israel.Israel could own a square mile and you can be sure the Arabs would be clamouring for it.
But I have a few questions for you.
Israel was created in 46-48. Before that. Who do you think farmed that land?
Now, I understand that you're an atheist.. That's a good thing.
In the Bible. It says that some King or Pharaoh allowed the Jews to leave Egypt. And that they wandered the desert for 40 years.
So, Israel can lay no claims to that land .
Do you think it's right for the Israelis to starve out the Palestinians?
Your arguments are old. Sorry. But they are.
Or how about the on going occupations of more Palestinian lands?
What say you about the ongoing theft of Palestinian lands?
It's as plain as day. They don't even try to hide it. They just keep taking Palestine's land. Yeah, That'll make some friends there.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Actually if one reads Joshua, repeatedly the Children of Israel attacked towns, received surrender from the rulers, and then killed the rulers and slaughtered every man, woman and child in that town, on God's orders, and they did this repeatedly.
Now, who were they slaughtering, if the land was simply abandoned and up for grabs?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Please dont quote scripture to me it means nothing to me. I am against expansion of the settlements. I would even favor pulling out of the settlements already there. However they still have to defend themselves against an organization(Hamas) that has vowed the destruction of Israel.
and I have no religious dog in this race either.
Here's the problem.
We are talking about humanitarian aid being blocked.
Innocent people are being starved to death by the actions of the Israeli government.
The military situation is a different matter. We all know there is equal hatred from both sides.
However, our government sucks that Israeli ass as much as possible to ensure those bad Palestinians don't get anything necessary for survival.
We have a choice. We could say to Israel - "Hey, fuckwads! Stop with the blocking of humanitarian supplies. Innocent people are dying. If you keep it up, we stop your gravy train."
But no, we sit there silently and by our inaction are complicit in the continuation of human suffering. Keep kicking that dog. He's sure to love you back when he gets to a point of sheer desperation and survival.
WTF???
I think it's more about politicians not wanting to be labeled anti-semitic and pro-terrorism. Except for possibly some limited areas, any national-level politician campaigning on ending aid to Israel would not stand a chance. Then there is the whole Bible prophecy thing (not to mention the issue of "god-given land") and the Second Coming. If there is no Israel for all the Jews to gather, Jesus can't come back. Anyone taking action that could potentially end Israel would be taking action against the Bible God and labeled an evil-doer. While some Christians may not agree with Israeli policies, they want Israel to exist at any cost. And you can't really fault the Isreali brutality - the Old Testament god was extremely brutal when it came to "invaders" and other peoples.
I've seen some stuff, man. And some thangs...
I'd be interested in hearing your take on the history of both
countries.
My point was merely that the Palestinians were there first.
Regardless of the Bible, or what it says.
I think it's fairly obvious that Palestine was there first.
I certainly do not agree with Hamas or Hezbollah's tactics.
But Israel has crossed the line. Their pursuit of more and more land, has flowed downhill to us now. It has jeopardized the security of this nation now. Why do you think we're having the trouble we're having now?
Oh, one more thing. I have no religious dog in this either.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
American support should not be blind with reagrd to the Iraeli Palestine issue.
I think Israel can be as wrong as any other government and the unending and unqualified support from within our government borders on insane on some of the most significant problems in the region.
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
"Before the siege Palestinians in Gaza prided themselves on the excellence of their schools and industriousness of their workforce, many of whom, in more peaceful times, found jobs across the fence in Israel."
But then they kept shooting rockets at Sderot and Israel said "that's a deal you don't get... jobs here for you, rockets on the heads of our children."
And that's where we stand. When the Palestinians choose leadership that seeks peace (whether "Hamas" or someone else), then there will be something to talk about. Until then it's "you want to do violence? We'll show you what violence feels like."
The indigenous Jewish resistance to imperialist Arab claims of sovereignty in Palestine will go on until Palestinians seek genuine peace.
Yes of course Israel bears responsibility. I used to be a "leftist" in Israeli terms, but so what? Israelis can swear on a stack of Koran's and Torah's and anything else that they want to find a path to peace. The eliminationist Hamas has a different agenda. There really isn't much of a Zionist "left wing" in Israel anymore, the last decade of Palestinian rejectionism pretty much killed it and drove it into the arms of the Israeli right. I spent years arguing against the Israeli right, against those who said "only by force", only to find that the constituency for compromise and peace in Israel has shrunk.
Perhaps some Palestinians feel that they have been driven to the right, toward an eliminationist stance, to complete and total warfare against Zionism, by the actions of the Israeli state. Undoubtedly there is a mutuality and a mutual responsibility in operation here.
Still, big bad Israel didn't just wake up one day and make Gaza the hell hole it is today. That was a consequence of decisions, and reactions, and responses by Arabs and Jews. What we read above here, a one sided portrayal, is just propaganda. If propaganda makes you happy, go ahead, drink up. If it's reality you want, you'll have to dig deeper.
Just keep telling yourself that.
A former award-winning journalist and lifelong class warrior, keeping a jaundiced eye on the Washington elite.
I was referring to your propaganda, as much as anything.
"The United States not only permits this, we subsidize it - at great personal cost to our country."
Never mind that "personal cost to our country" is nonsensical... Let's assume you mean simply "at great cost".
" After all, why were we an Al Qaeda target in the first place?"
What exactly are you suggesting? The price of freeing ourselves from Al Qaeda's hatred is what...? But never mind, I know what you mean. I do not think that Al Qaeda's problem with the west is exclusively about Israel. I hope you are not suggesting that we screw Israel so that Al Queda will love America.
"Yes, we'll tie ourselves in knots to keep a taxpayer dollar from getting anywhere near an abortion, yet we continue to fund the slow starvation of the Palestinians."
Oh oh oh! can I be pro-choice and pro Israel? And can I support Palestinian rights too? Thank you!
Let's have publicly funded abortions AND support Israel's right to exist and ability to defend itself... and then let's really confuse people by working for Palestinian rights and self defense too. Or is it all simple trade offs as you postulate, Israel or the Palestinians?
"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." —President George W. Bush, Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005"
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
from a surprising source, the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/842722...
that Israel has wingnuts too, just like everywhere else. And they're running the show by a small percentage.
http://rawstory.com/2009/12/israeli-police-ch...
I totally agree - it is always the extremists no matter which religion or cause.
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
with wingnuts (extremists), we have to get them the hell out of the policy making kitchen, period, before they blow us all up.
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/
but because of our physical presence in the middle-east, "infidels" defaming the land of allah.
to be blunt, both sides bear enough blame, it's not as though the palestinians are all white bedecked angels. oh, and throw in syria, jordan and egypt as well. up until the fall of the wall, the US and the USSR played one side against the other, as they jostled for influence and oil.
i note that hamas, whose sole purpose for existing is to destroy israel, recently celebrated its first year in power. apparently, the citizenry was far less impressed, and stayed home in droves.
i take this as a positive sign, that the palestinians want a functioning government, able to do those things reasonably expected of an elected body. it would be nice if israel clamped down on the illegal settlements, which serve only to provide legitimization for hamas to continue its terrorist activity.
they all seem to be slow learners over there.
Two different feuding families through the generations end up drawing different historic accounts about Abraham...and here we are...
Well, I see the IDF bloggers have found this thread. Keep up the good work gang.
I just finished reading Robert Alter's translation of the five books of Moses (aka the Torah) and it left me feeling quite depressed about any solution to the Palestinian question. If you are a true believer, God gave Israel to the Jews with instructions to kill every man, woman and child who tried to keep it from them. If you're orthodox, that's what you have to believe, because that's what God said in very unambiguous terms.
That doesn't leave a lot of room for the Palestinians.
Any solution then will have to come from a moderate Israel, and I'm not sure that exists any more.
? Nothing is "moderate" anymore. All this is scribbled down.
Yet, the Dome of the Rock stands on top of one of the most holy places in Judaism...One would think the true Hebrew god would allow for the removal of the Dome and the building of the Third Temple, and provide the protection needed from enraging the entire Muslim world. Or, maybe not...
I've seen some stuff, man. And some thangs...
this cannot be stopped.
this will not stop until these people tire of killing one another.
they have been killing one another over this land for thousands of years.
then when israel created a nation it became a continual on going war.
if you come back after 2000 years and create a nation problems will arise.
we support israel because we have relgious ties to us with the old testament.
because we support israel we will suffer the terrorists will come to us.
we are not victims we are part of this on going war.
americans prefer to be victims that way they can keep their self righteousness and arrogance.
So what excuse is there for brain-washing women and children to strap bombs to their chests?
Well, last time I checked, North Africa wasn't populated by a majority of Arab people until Mohammed's followers came along. And the same hypocrites who complain about the problems between Israel and the Palestinians seem to ignore how the latter group is trying to "finish the job" over in Sudan.
"Yes, we'll tie ourselves in knots to keep a taxpayer dollar from getting anywhere near an abortion, yet we continue to fund the slow starvation of the Palestinians.
"Very sad:"
Very stupid too, in view of Israel's past behavior towards the United States. Don't forget that Israel committed an act of aggression towards the US by attacking the USS Liberty around the time of the 6-day war. Can you imagine the hell that would have been due for payment if that was done by an Arab country? I can. But I guess that anything goes as long as it is America's colony in the Middle East that gets its rocks through belligerent behavior.
and the killing and bombing of Muslims in the Middle East when they get tired of getting bombed here in the United States and realize they are never gonna be safe til the U.S. changes its attitudes toward oil reserves in that part of the world. We need a change in direction.
Republicans are liars and simply cannot be trusted.
If Israel wasnt around who do you think all that Muslim hatred will point too. Right directly at us. Not because we did anything to them just the fact that western society is succesfull is enough to make them despise us.
I know you all hate Bush (Yes he turned out be a Dumbass and a Warmonger) but he did have one true statement in my humble opinion "They hate us for our freedom" The rest of it is just an excuse.
Hamas is a terrorist organization that they elected to be there leaders. Should Israel just let Hamas destroy the country they built out of a waste land? I believe they have no choice they must get rid of Hamas any way they can.
i believe that american policy has been to the detriment of majority of people in the middle east, since oil became a commodity
and only got worse since the cold war
we have propped up corrupt regimes that have kept their people poor and ignorant...which has led to them embracing radical islam
and those goverments use hate towards israel and america in order to keep the people from looking inward
now take a look at iran...that meme isnt working anymore and i believe that ultimately it wont work in any of the muslim countries
I choked when I saw you bought Dumbya's line, "They hate us for our freedom." They hate us because we fund the killing of their brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers and children. It is really that simple. We sell the guns and ammo to the Israelis--or, rather, give it to them.
No, Hammas is not blameless. But trying to stop a schoolyard fight between two very bad and belligerent children by giving one of them a knife doesn't seem a terribly adult or responsible thing to do. That is the situation we are in. You can't at this point, say "This side is right and this side is wrong." We are way, way past that. You can stop adding fuel to the fire.
Candideinnc
http://www.paltoday.com/arabic/News-64161.html
yup, definitely looks like civilization as we know it is coming to an end for the gazans
btw, why no mention of egypt building an "apartheid" wall on its border with gaza, or the fact that egypt stopped an aid convoy as well as peace marchers today...and does not allow in any of the materials listed in the blog piece?
of one street market selling cheap Chinese crap and that's all there is to it? I thought nothing was getting through the borders?
Cmon Joe L or John M, You can do better!
They have to do something about this shit.
Nuke document was forgery
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49833
No it couldn't be our propping up of the corrupt and despicable regime in Saudi Arabia. Or having our troops trespassing on Islamic holy sites. Or the betrayal of Afghanistan after their war with the Soviet Union. Or our support of thugs like Hosni Mubarak.
No, it's only the Jews, because really, it's already been sixty plus years, so it must be safe to use that old canard... How progressive.
You think a 19-year-old kid listens to a recruiter for Al Qaeda and thinks, "Hey, Israel hasn't done anything to me for 60 years!" They look at the Israel-Palestine situation and the general control that Israel has over American military action and foreign policy in general TODAY, not 60 years ago.
I'm not disagreeing with you that other factors are also important, maybe even collectively more important than Israel, but it's silly to suggest that Israel is an "old" problem. The Israeli government currently has its hands in a lot of Arab pies.
like Islam and Christianity are religions based on love and respect for humankind.
Believers are so wonderful to the world around them it makes me wonder if John was right. I can only Imagine.
Imagine if Reagan had given money to Hamas -- then they'd be "freedom fighters" and we'd all have to love and support them!
no one ever mentions Gaza's border with Egypt through which all things lacking could be imported. If the promised aid actually materialized, of course.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
Egypt won't let it through their side, either.
One has to be factual concerning the Middle East....there has been a lot of "smoke and mirrors" happening throughout news organizations....including the UN.
One has to check sources....no matter where they come from...for accuracy. And then re-check. That part of the world operates on a different plane than we do in the "west"...the thinking and reasoning there has trouble translating into western thought. Add into the mix that things are said in native tongues to certain listeners...while others are given a different version.
Let's look at an article in the New York Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/12/2...
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