Gaza and Beyond: Israeli ruse. by Howard

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Gaza and Beyond: Israeli ruse.

POSTED BY: HOWARD
UPDATED: Friday, November 4, 2005 18:33
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Monday, October 31, 2005 2:48 PM

Opportunity Knocks
by Remi Kanazi
October 30, 2005

Formal talks between Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon were put on hold this week. The first face to face dialogue between the two since the "disengagement" of the Gaza Strip was sidelined for a second time because of a difference in "objectives." Israel essentially intends on acting as the High Court, examining Palestinian requests, while Palestinians -- trying to break Israel's cycle of unilateral procedure -- demand action and fundamental change. This postponement symbolizes the Palestinian people's unending struggle in their efforts to achieve justice.

It is not a coincidence that Israeli forces have already invaded the Gaza Strip in the post-disengagement era, reserving the "right" to reinvade in the future. The power and the decision to exert it rests firmly in Sharon's hands as it has since the start of US President George Bush's "war on terror." The world witnessed the onslaught of Israel's Operation First Rain two weeks ago. According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), the invasion left 8 Palestinian civilians dead, 35 civilians injured, and over 300 arrested. By taking on the role of a strict warden, Sharon will show mercy on the Palestinian prisoners, so long as they exhibit their ability to fall in line and follow his orders. Until then, it is lights out in the Occupied Territories.

Regrettably, President Abbas sits silently in the background, without political or military ammunition. Palestinian web portal, The Electronic Intifada, quoted a Palestinian police officer stating, "At least give us enough bullets to protect people and protect our stations." The evolution of competent and equipped security forces in the Occupied Territories is exactly what Sharon is trying to avoid. Sharon's minions cleverly proclaim that they cannot give the Palestinian Authority (PA) weapons, ammunition, military vehicles and other security equipment until Abbas and the PA have earned Israel's trust. Both parties know, however, that the PA cannot combat militant groups, or better yet, create a firm presence and authority, without first having the proper equipment.

Sharon's credo is to maximize the lawlessness of the conflict. This furthers the greater agenda: the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the appropriation of Palestinian land by way of extension of the Apartheid Wall. The infighting in Palestinian society has emboldened Sharon's modus operandi and exemplifies the lack of rule in Gaza. All the while, Sharon plays the part of the "peacemaker" who is just waiting for the Palestinians to get their act together.

Since the "disengagement" of the Gaza Strip little has been mentioned of the 30 Palestinians killed, the many more wounded, the houses destroyed, or the continual restriction of movement. While Abbas has called for the release of the 7000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, next to nothing has been said of the torture of Palestinian prisoners, or the objectivity of the Israeli courts sentencing the Palestinians apprehended.

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) will recommend that the Israeli government "release additional Palestinian prisoners" in a move to strengthen the position of President Abbas. Any concession from Israel is welcome. One must look, however, at what is being conceded. In the last month, Israeli forces have detained nearly 600 Palestinians. If the IOF continues its mass arrest campaign, then releases 400 prisoners as it had in June of this year, the magnitude of the release will be quite small. The Palestinian Prisoners Committee and the Red Cross Committee told Al Jazeera that "most of the [Palestinians] released [in June] were prisoners whose sentences were due to end or had already ended." Israel is using smoke and mirror maneuvers to appease the international community while the situation on the ground remains the same or worsens. The Bethlehem based Ma'an news agency reported this week that Walid Khaled, held already for 51 months without being charged, will be detained for a twelfth consecutive term under a renewed Israeli order. This "administrative detention," is in stark contrast to international law, which according to human rights group B'Tselem, "prohibits the transfer of detainees outside of occupied territory." Based on IOF numbers (which are believed to be much higher), B'Tselem found that 596 Palestinians were held in "administrative detention" as of August of this year.

The occupation presses forward, suffocating the will of the majority of the Palestinian people who want an end to the conflict and violence. It is not enough to throw the Palestinians a bone once in a while. The Palestinian leadership must straighten its spine and demand that the international community pressure Israel to make fundamental concessions. The issues concerning the control of the borders, water, airspace, ports and goods coming in and out of Gaza remains unresolved. The deteriorating conditions of poverty, malnutrition and unemployment in the Occupied Territories, as the world witnessed prior to the second Intifada, wane on Palestinian public opinion. Those in Israel who support peace must not forgo this opportunity to initiate calm and bring justice to a besieged people. A "window of opportunity," is only meaningful if Israeli society takes advantage of situation and demands cooperation from its leadership. It would be a shame if the state of Israel became known for, "never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity."

Remi Kanazi is the primary writer for the political website www.PoeticInjustice.net. He lives in New York City as a Palestinian American freelance writer and can reached via email at remroum@gmail.com

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Monday, October 31, 2005 3:56 PM

SEVENPERCENT

Quote:
Originally posted by Howard:
Opportunity Knocks
by Remi Kanazi
October 30, 2005

Formal talks between Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon were put on hold this week. The first face to face dialogue between the two since the "disengagement" of the Gaza Strip was sidelined for a second time because of a difference in "objectives."

Ahhhhhh- Objectives - So that's what they're calling Palestinian suicide bombers this week. Because it was just all milk and cookies over there 'til those rotten Israelis stopped the peace process this time.

Please. Anyone who watches/reads/listens to the news knows that talks broke down after suicide strikes and rocket attacks by Palestinian militants (and subsequent Israeli counterstrikes). This author insults everyone's intelligence by couching a rocket attack in terms of a "difference in objectives."
This is the news that was:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/27/AR2005
102700425.html?nav=rss_world

Quote:
"At least give us enough bullets to protect people and protect our stations." The evolution of competent and equipped security forces in the Occupied Territories is exactly what Sharon is trying to avoid.

Tell them to borrow some from the people launching rocket strikes, shooting at Israeli civilians, and using suicide bombs in markets.

Quote:
who is just waiting for the Palestinians to get their act together.

It's not just Sharon waiting for them to get their act together.

Quote:
The Palestinian leadership must straighten its spine and demand that the international community pressure Israel to make fundamental concessions.

Would that be the international community that includes, say, these guys?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051028/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_israel

Who said, and I quote, TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's ultraconservative president — spurning international outrage over his remarks about Israel — joined more than a million demonstrators who flooded the streets of the capital and other major cities Friday to back his call for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Kanazi's article is a joke.

------------------------------------------
He looked bigger when I couldn't see him.

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Monday, October 31, 2005 8:11 PM

DREAMTROVE

This is a dangerous subject, because it leads to lots of things that sound like racism. My personal views on the matter are simple:

1. Israel is out of control
2. Palestinian terrorism is out of control.
3. Solution: Separate them.

Ethnic violence based on a level where the pure hated of each other vastly exceeds the worst bigotry in the US is an insoluable problem.

4. Ariel Sharon must go. I'd be happy if he was shot.
5. Islamic Jihad and Hamas aren't political parties, they're terrorist organizations.
6. Mossad needs to get out of other people's countries.
7. Palestinians need to get out of jewish territories.
8. Jews need to get out of palestinian territories.
9. Israel has to stop moving the border and building walls.
10. Israel has no place in gaza. It shouldn't fly over gaza's airspace, it shouldn't set foot on gaza's soil.

It's important to realize that gaza was not a part of biblical israel. Any historical map will show this. Gaza has to be treated as a foreign occupied country, and Israel needs to leave it the *&&% alone.

Palestinians need to stop attacking children as intentional military targets, and major palestinian leaders need to stop endorsing this. Palestinians should consider not diseminating Nazi propoganda among their people.

This is just a very long list of things that are mostly never going to happen. So I only see one solution.

Keep 'em separated. Build a big wall. Palestinians should get Gaza, the original west bank minus the jewish settlements. Any part of regular israel with is essentially soully inhabited by palestians, israel need to relinquish any claim to, so it can create a clear dividing line. It'll be real jagged, but it can be done.

Jerusalem doesn't get to be anyone's capital. It becomes an independent city state like the vatican. The outlying residential areas join their respective countries.

Anyone who has a problem with this solution should understand my goal here is to stop people from slaughtering each other.

It's worse than it seems, because not only is it bad and demoralizing, but it has become the principle focus of both nation's energy. This far worse than northern ireland, it's more like the developing problem in south africa. These people are preventing each other from functioning, and they are preventing themselves from functioning by their obsession.

While were at it, the president of Iran should resign.

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Monday, October 31, 2005 9:09 PM

HOWARD

Thank you writing with such a thoughtful
consideration.

In my opinion you are missing the point
separation is the problem. When Israeli
musicians recently played a concert in
Ramallah they commented how Israeli TV
never shows the human life and culture
of the otherside.

I do not believe the two-state solution
can work now. It could 20 years ago.
I believe that no matter how much blood
on both sides has been spilt they a federation
in which ALL people should have the same legal,
political, social and economic rights. If this
had happened in 1948 history would have been
very different. I feel the same way about India
and Pakistan what has two nationalism achieved
but nuked up and apart!

The Israelis have done so much damage that a
viable Palestine has gone already. You can not
run a country that is chopped into little pieces
with someone else controlling import/export
and airspace and sea-lanes.

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez said after coming away
from the UN summit in NYC and being pissed off
at how far from the real world the UN is; that
Jerusalem should be universal capital for the
world with UN headquarters there. Closer to the
world's problems not shielded away in Manhattan.

As for the nutcase Iranian President, he is a
nothing of a guy who was never meant to be
President. But two problems occured in the
recent Iranian elections. One the liberal
reformers were split across three candidates
and George Bush had pissed off so many Iranians
with his Axis-of-Evil crap that many people
voted for the hard-line Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
only out of nationalist indignation at the Bush
gang not being able to keep their mouth's shut.
Bush won the election for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad!

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Monday, October 31, 2005 10:13 PM

DREAMTROVE

Howard,

As I said, I have to be careful not to offend anyone here. But there are a couple of sides to this, so I'll post what I think are the main problems of integrated misrael:

1. Palestinians will always be an oppressed underclass.
2. Palestinians will always be able to conduct low tech terrorist attack on israeli civillians.

The list could go on, but it doesn't need to.

I think that because of our own history, we are lead to the conclusion that integrated societies work better than segregated ones, but it's not always the case.

Consider this mild example:

In japan there are people who hold a social status similar to gypsies in eastern europe because their ancestors came many centuries ago from korea, instead of from china 50000 years ago like the rest of the japanese. The are often poor and homeless and viewed as shiftless bums by many members of the mainstream society.

But genetically and culturally, these people are basically the same as the south koreans just across the straits who are leading a first world country that on all accounts is competing successfully and even edging out japanese companies for a technological edge.

Clearly the "being under the thumb" korean descendents are suffering in a way that the self-rule koreans are not.

Self rule palestinians with a total block against israeli occupation and manipulation might show a marked improvement, no matter what the land they lived on was. Gaza is a decent piece of land, and the west bank, though weak, is in many ways better than the land in most arab countries.

The recently stolen land is an issue. But I'm sure an equitable arrangement could be reached. Once there were no longer palestinians under the thumb, I think the tendency to become terrorists would at least greatly diminish if not totally disappear.

It's also important to realize that mortal enemies might never integrate.

Consider the situation in Northern Ireland. The conflict between Teutonic German descendants and native Irish Celts was really the initial conflict, which is about 1400 years old. It was because of this longstanding conflict that the reaction against the english settlers in the early 1600s was so strong. Now it's been a 400 year settlement/occupation, and sure, the IRA laid down arms, but tollerance is not growing. But remember this gesture is really because the IRA thinks it can win more ground in politics, and doesn't want to be on the wrong end of the war on terror.

Now take that and think about Israel/Palestine. These people really hate each other. They see this as a biblical war. That settlement/occupation, began in 1919. In 300 years the palestinians might lay down arms. Palestine, btw, does want to be on the wrong end of the war on terror because it sees it as the right end.

The hard sell of course is none of this. The hard sell is convincing the arabs that any permanent jewish state is acceptable.

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Wednesday, November 2, 2005 10:25 PM

HOWARD

The majority of Palestinians accept the
existence of Israel that is not the issue.

Though what right there was to reinvent it
in modern times I don't know.

Why should the concept of a "Jewish State"
be acceptable? That is like asking for a
White State. Israel can exist but as a
normal country not one based upon Jewish
exclusivity.

It is NOT a biblical conflict for most
Palestinians. It is a legal one. They
have property deeds from British and
Turkish rule that proves how the Zionists
stole everything from them. In contrast it
is Jewish colonists especially those from
the United States who quote scripture
as their rationalisation.

On the other topics, actually there is a
group of Japanese-Japanese who are
discriminated against. They sell leather
goods a tradition from when their ancestors
lived outside the Samuri city walls, hunted
and ate meat. The Samuri did not eat meat at
the time Fish yes but meat was taboo. So
the meat-eaters who lived outside the walled
cities became leather goods makers and
retailers. When the society reintegrated they
became second class citizens and a taboo for
inter-marriage. Humans are so stupid.

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Friday, November 4, 2005 6:33 PM

DREAMTROVE

Okay, at the risk of getting slammed, and first, with the disclaimer, I'm poor, I hate nazis, and part of the reason for both of those is my wealthy ancestors were all killed at Auschwitz. I'm not jewish, and few people know this, but only about 1/2 of the people at auschwitz were jewish. The total camp death toll was 11 million, 6 million of those being jews.

I know this will get slammed, but nonetheless:

Why is the idea of a white state unacceptable?
No civil rights afirmative action champions ever seem to speak out against the black states that already exists. There are several countries which will not grant equal rights to white and even ethnically cleanse them.

So why not?

Why not a jewish state? I think the idea of setting up Israel was a fine one. Look at what happened to them in Europe.

Those japanese you spoke of are of korean descent. I already posted at length about them.

I'm not by any means a racist, I'm white and I contribute to the NAACP, and have even helped win some affirmative action battles for them up here. But I also can't help but notice that integration, though sometimes a success, is also sometimes a disasterous failure.

If a country were to decide to split itself into two nations, one white and one black, and here I'm not talking about the US which I think is more often functional integration, but South Africa, which is a disaster, then why not? Maybe they'd stop killing each other. Divide up the land, and the natural resources (fairly by population) and then say, okay, you take this, you take that.

I don't see that this is an inherently wrong idea. Ditto with Jews and Palestinians. The Israelis will always squash the Palestinians like bugs as long as they can. If they have deeds for the land, pay them for it. I'm sure there's an emminant domain law in Israel that will offer more than adequate compensation.

It's like I say about slavery reparations. If someone took something, let them pay for it. In the case of slavery, it would be wrong to charge the tax payers, but it wouldn't be wrong to charge the very wealthy southern families and industries which got rich off of slave labor. Everyone knows, for example, that one of the biggest profiteers of slavery was the tobacco industry. Well they turned that slavery into a multi-billion dollar industry. They probably owe some folk.

Let the wealth Israeli landowners, often granted that land by the govt. pay for what they took. Let the white south african companies pay for the apartheid labor and seized land. Any settlement where the aggreived party gets a bucketload of cash goes over quite well. Look at what the EU was allowed to do.

But while I'm on the subject, which I'm not likely to be on again.

There are many Arab only states as well, a whole lot of Muslim only states, and a lot asian only, and pacific islander ones. One whites and jews are really getting kicked out of this only only club.

Also, it's worse than that. China is not only giving special rights to genetically Chinese over whites now in govt. but also using race as a reason to seize other people's entire countries. I don't see the left making noise about that. Even Taiwan who they do not share a race with but Americans think they do, and Hong Kong where they shared one of two races. And no, there was no lease deal with red china. there was a lease deal with the emporer. Given the empire's collapse, Hong Kong should have become independent at the end of the lease, of if it prefered, it could have declared at that point that it was in fact imperial china, and been correct.

Integration, which the left loves, has been not only a primary source of violence for millennia, but is the principle, if not the sole cause of oppression.

My korean example is the people you mentioned in japan are genetically identical to their korean cousins. the japanese treat them like eastern europeans treat gypsies, and make similar claims, that they are 'genetically inferior' and that's why they can't get jobs, etc. meanwhile the koreans, genetically the same, across the straights, are kicking japan's ass lately in the free market. The same is true of the east indians, the cloest genetic relatives of gypsies, re: the eastern europeans, ie. kicking there ass in the free market. So much for genetic superiority.

Really what this is all about is racial and ethnic minorities get screwed in integration, every time, because it is in the majority ethnic groups best interests to screw them over.

As I said, this isn't the problem in America that it is other places, but some places, like Israel, it is really truly awful, and not going to get any better in these people's lifetimes.

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