Archive for the 'Israel/Palestine' Category
The Israeli and U.S. posture toward Hamas is fundamentally self-contradictory. It involves saying that a certain form of behavior is unacceptable and then making impossible the use of alternative behavior. It involves saying that we don’t like a group because it has used violence instead of peaceful negotiations, and then refusing to negotiate with it. The same self-contradictory posture was exhibited in 2006, when Hamas did the most that any party could do to be accepted as a legitimate, peacefully installed representative of its people—it contested and won a free and fair election—but then Israel and the United States refused to recognize the election result. That not only contradicted the rationale for not talking to Hamas but also contradicted a supposed commitment to democracy.
Greater unity and cooperation between Fatah and Hamas is fundamentally a good thing for whatever possibility remains of a negotiated two-state solution, because a single Palestinian negotiating team that can plausibly and legitimately speak for the Palestinian people as a whole is necessary for reaching such an agreement. The reality of the Gaza Strip cannot be wished away. In the meantime, however, this latest announcement has become yet another excuse for Netanyahu not to negotiate seriously or not to negotiate at all.
NY Post “Saudi Coverup” Story: http://nypost.com/2013/12/15/inside-the-saudi-911-coverup/
Were Israelis Detained on Sept. 11 Spies?
If Israel doesn’t ease off a little while they (and their proxy, the US) are strong, they may be forces of give up a lot when they (and the US) become weak.
Israelis ‘defecated’ in medical clinic “I’m not spreading propaganda,” George Stephanopoulos’ orthodox-nun sister vows, but Israeli soldiers last week “defecated” on the floors of a West Bank medical clinic they raided. They’re also looting Palestinians’ homes there, claims Sister Maria Stephanopoulos, a nun at the Convent of St. Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem.
“October 24, 2012 “Information Clearing House” – Nazareth – Six and a half years go, shortly after Hamas won the Palestinian national elections and took charge of Gaza, a senior Israeli official described Israel’s planned response. “The idea,” he said, “is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.”
Although Dov Weisglass was adviser to Ehud Olmert, the prime minister of the day, few observers treated his comment as more than hyperbole, a supposedly droll characterisation of the blockade Israel was about to impose on the tiny enclave.
Last week, however, the evidence finally emerged to prove that this did indeed become Israeli policy. After a three-year legal battle by an Israeli human rights group, Israel was forced to disclose its so-called “Red Lines” document. Drafted in early 2008, as the blockade was tightened still further, the defence ministry paper set forth proposals on how to treat Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Health officials provided calculations of the minimum number of calories needed by Gaza’s 1.5 million inhabitants to avoid malnutrition. Those figures were then translated into truckloads of food Israel was supposed to allow in each day.”
This is very, very, very, very disturbing.
Yes, the Israeli plan provides a minimum number of calories. It’s like slipping a noose around someone’s neck and saying “don’t worry, I’ll give you a chair to stand on.” They’ve established a system through which Palestinians are a pen-stroke away from an artificial famine.
Just days after announcing plans to dramatically expand settlements, including in occupied East Jerusalem, the Jerusalem city government is passing out demolition orders covering some 200 blocks of Palestinian apartments in East Jerusalem.
The orders will, according to locals, wipe out the homes of over 15,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, with no apparent planning as to where they will actually go having been made. (Read more)