War in Gaza

posted by Peter Rothberg on 12/29/2008 @ 3:01pm

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Since Saturday, Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 325 people, including civilians and children, according to a wide range of sources. The attacks have left more than 1,400 people wounded, medical facilities wholly unable to respond to the crisis and desperate shortages of fuel, food and medicine.

CARE International has responded swiftly to the growing catastrophe, starting on December 27, the day the attack began, with provisions of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals that were in short supply. CARE, along with its partner the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, intends to continue providing emergency medical supplies and winterization equipment like heaters, blankets, and window coverings to families who have had their homes damaged in the bombing. Contributions to help continue this work can be made through the CARE.org website and should be sent with a note that the funds are for CARE Gaza emergency response.

Gaza's people were already vulnerable and its institutions and infrastructure fragile as a result of more than a year of economic blockade in response to Hamas' aggression against Israel. The blockade has denied the Strip fuel, spare parts, building materials, cash, agricultural inputs, medical supplies, or equipment. In particular, the health system has been hard hit by increased demand and an inability to secure supplies or to repair or replace equipment.

On Saturday, medical teams from the Medecins sans Frontieres evaluated the needs of the main medical structures in Gaza, in particular Kemal Edwan hospital in the north and Shifa Hospital, the area's main referral hospital, and found them completely inadequate to the task at hand.

Since July 2007, MSF has been providing post-operative care and physiotherapy to hundreds of people wounded by fighting in the Gaza Strip. In March 2008 a pediatric clinic was opened in Gaza for children under 12 years of age.

Today, a team of three MSF doctors and nurses is working in Shifa Hospital, helping with the triage of wounded and--depending on the security situation--using the MSF ambulance to refer cases to the MSF clinic. Click here to help support this work and hope that calls from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and numerous world leaders for an immediate cease-fire will soon be heeded. No matter your views on Israel and Palestine, it's absolutely insane, in my view, for anyone to think that Israel can successfully bomb its way to peace and security.

Comments (59)

Peter,

You should dig a little deeper into this group CARE...they may not be what they appear to you...

Posted by YourJomamma at 12/29/2008 @ 3:08pm
Tell me what you know.

CARE was suggested by Sara Roy, a scholar currently at Harvard, who is widely considered one of the leading experts on Gaza.

Posted by Peter Rothberg at 12/29/2008 @ 3:11pm
Are the Israelis allowing this form of aid into Gaza? For the last several months, Israel has been strangling Gaza with sanctions which bar this sort of aid. Blankets might lead to comfort.

Posted by syfriendly at 12/29/2008 @ 3:23pm
Thanks for the excellent post, Peter.

Now is a perfect time for us to renew our interest in the Israel-Palestine deadlock. And it's the perfect time to put pressure on our incoming president to bring some substantive change we can believe in.

Here's Josh Frank to add some punch:

As President-Elect Barack Obama vacationed in Hawaii on December 26, stopping off to watch a dolphin show with his family at Sea Life Park, an Israeli air raid besieged the impoverished Gaza Strip, killing at least 285 people and injuring over 800 more.

It was the single deadliest attack on Gaza in over 20 years and Obama's initial reaction on what could be his first real test as president was "no comment". Meanwhile, Israel has readied itself for a land invasion, amassing tanks along the border and calling up 6,500 reserve troops.

On Sunday's Face the Nation, Obama's Senior Adviser David Axelrod explained to guest cost Chip Reid how an Obama administration would handle the situation, even if it turns for the worst.

"Well, certainly, the president-elect recognizes the special relationship between United States and Israel. It's an important bond, an important relationship. He's going to honor it ... "

Posted by b_kool_66 at 12/29/2008 @ 3:26pm
....While bombs fall on a suffocating Palestinian population and Israeli forces prepare for a ground invasion, Obama is monitoring the situation from afar after a talk with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other Bush administration officials. This isn't leadership; it's a continuation of a policy that has left Palestinians with little recourse, let alone hope for lasting peace.

"The president-elect was in Sderot last July, in southern Israel, a town that's taken the brunt of the Hamas attacks," David Axelrod told Chip Reid on Face the Nation. "And he said then that, when bombs are raining down on your citizens, there is an urge to respond and act and try and put an end to that. So, you know, that's what he said then, and I think that's what he believes."

If Axelrod is correct, and Barack Obama does indeed support the bloodshed inflicted upon innocent Palestinians by the Israeli military, there should be no celebrating during Inauguration Day 2009, only mass protest of a Middle East foreign policy that must change in order to begin a legitimate peace process in the region.

End quote.

Whole article: tinyurl.com/8hrjdc

Posted by b_kool_66 at 12/29/2008 @ 3:26pm
On the topic of this tragic event, I want to state that I believe firmly that Israel's actions are not in any stretch of the imagination "justifiable". They've responded to a death toll of 0 with a death toll in excess of 300 and growing steadily. They've responded to rocket attacks which produced no economic impact on Israel with a devastating air bombardment that will reduce the already miserably suffering population of Gaza to a level of unimaginable despair. This was not only brutal, savage, and cruel beyond belief - Israel has lost any moral standing - they've killed more Palestinians in one day than probably the death toll of all Hamas suicide bombings in Israel added - but strategically the stupidest imaginable step to take. Hamas has been given no option now but to fight, and nothing to lose. Gazans live in an overt prison colony, economically strangled, unable to flee, and now facing a massive air bombardment as well. Hamas is the only hope these people have, and Hamas itself only maintains its relevance if it does whatever it can to attack Israel. Bring on the suicide bombers, and blame every death and injury on an Israeli regime that went from a year without a single dead Israeli from the hands of Hamas to a possible Third Intifada. Incompetence and brutality together, what a combination.

Posted by syfriendly at 12/29/2008 @ 3:31pm
I think PE Obama needs to change the policy we have regarding Israel, we are too tied up with them and have been for years. You can't have a fair fight here when only side has all the military might for use at any time, plus backing from the US. Palestinian blood is not a different colour to Israeli blood and pain and suffering is not only for Israel to endure. This conflict will go on and on as long as we in the US keep kissing the backsides of Israel....when are we going to get a backbone and put them straight?

Posted by Caj at 12/29/2008 @ 3:53pm
When the Jordanian parliament burned the Israeli flag in protest, it merely sealed the deal. Despite western attempts to appease the Arab nations, their main goal has always been the destruction of Israel. This country went to war after one attack - and yet we expect Israel to sit quietly and peacefully while they are attacked on a daily basis? The lack of outcry in this country when Hebrew University was bombed was appalling. When the family restaurants and youth clubs in Tel Aviv and Safed and Jerusalem were bombed, there was no world outcry. But cry me a river for Hamas and Hezbollah. Everyone in this country runs around freaking out over Al Qaeda, but in Israel they live with terrorists on a daily basis. How dare anyone living in the comfort and safety of this country criticize Israel's decision to strike back at the terrorists who rain death and destruction on them every day.

Posted by Greytdog at 12/29/2008 @ 4:25pm
Peter,

Sorry....

I mis read CARE for CAIR...former is fine, it is the later that is dubious...

My bad.

Posted by YourJomamma at 12/29/2008 @ 4:26pm
Sure....why don't we insist that Israel just lay down and die and get out of the Arabs way. Let's finish what Hitler started, right Herr Caj?

Posted by lvliberty1 at 12/29/2008 @ 3:58pm

What a load of nonsense, I see we are back onto the holocaust again are we, as soon as anyone defends Palestine we have to hear about Hitler yet again. Haven't they played that old story over and over again,yes, it was awful and shouldn't have happened but you can't relive that as an excuse every time. Israel are at fault here by occupying Palestinian land whether you like it or not....they do not have a God given right to that land, only in their minds.

Posted by Caj at 12/29/2008 @ 4:27pm
How dare anyone living in the comfort and safety of this country criticize Israel's decision to strike back at the terrorists who rain death and destruction on them every day.

Posted by Greytdog at 12/29/2008 @ 4:25pm

You explain to me how come Israel are not deemed as terrorists as they are doing unspeakable acts and yet Hamas is automatically called a terrorist?? Is it because we don't hold with Hamas being the chosen leaders of Palestine, that is not a good enough reason. Israel can do what they do and it's called "defending their people"....but Palestine does any retaliation and it's called an act of terrorism!!! That is some messed up logic if you ask me....both sides are killing each other but it's alright if you are killing Palestinians because they don't come under the umbrella of regular people they are expendable. Israel is a rogue nation and it needs to be reined in, too much playing ball with them over the years and that needs to stop.

Posted by Caj at 12/29/2008 @ 4:44pm
Look at the American supporters of Israel, babbling and shrieking as a people they've never met engage in a total brutality. Truly, there is no hope -

Posted by syfriendly at 12/29/2008 @ 4:53pm
For the actual human beings reading these posts - that discounts any mindless supporters of Israel's "action" - here is the current body count:

Dead: 360+ Wounded: 1600+

There are total now of about 2000 casualties. If you pause to consider the population of Gaza - which is about 1.5 million - versus the population of the USA, which is about 300 million, a factor of 200 greater, one can conceive of the death toll as being equivalent to a US terror attack in which killed 72,000 people and injured a total of 400,000. This would be worse than 20 9/11 attacks in 2 days, in terms of the impact needed on the US to produce the same basic relative impact.

Think about that: what Gaza is enduring is worse than 20 9/11 attacks.

As for Israel, the people need to consider that, if they are as they claim, a beacon of "democracy", then the everyday citizen of Israel can consider himself liable for what his government has done. And so when, inevitably, Hamas counterattacks - and counterattack they will, doing far less damage than the Israelis but with every weapon at their disposal - the citizen of Israel needs to understand that he is responsible for what has been done in Gaza. By the same "reasoning" by which Israel inflicts collective punishment upon the people of Gaza, let the Israeli understand that the collective punishment Gaza will inflict on him is justified.

Thus the cycle of violence continues -

Posted by syfriendly at 12/29/2008 @ 5:06pm
Peter, how do you go about sending a donation to CARE "with a note that the funds are for CARE Gaza emergency response"? I found no way to attach a message, nor any place for comments or specification, from the link you sent. The only option I found (from the Donate Now link) was to simply donate to CARE itself, without any knowledge of where the money goes. Perhaps you could give directions?

Posted by mattb206 at 12/29/2008 @ 5:29pm
Of course they do. It is theirs for over 3000 years to begin with.

Posted by lvliberty1 at 12/29/2008 @ 4:38pm

And you know this how exactly...is it because they sit at the right hand of God or what????? How can you possibly know that land has been theirs for over 3,000 years..who told you that or is it from a book or could it be a bible I wonder!!!! Oh, yes I forgot they were the chosen ones were they not....what a load of tosh.

Posted by Caj at 12/29/2008 @ 6:36pm
Is LVL reminding anyone else of Rese?

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 12/29/2008 @ 6:41pm
It seems your argument is not with me, but with history. I'm not posting way out future predictions or conspiracy theories like Rese. I'm stating with documentation that people like yourself accept the Arab spin without looking at the actual history. You are certainly free to become strident or accusing based solely upon lies and your own ill-informed opinion, but you and the others have not provided one document disproving the historical documents I have provided. As it seems was appropo when uttered by Jack Nicholson, "you can't handle the truth". Posted by lvliberty1 at 12/29/2008 @ 7:00pm

Hahahahah. LVL you are funny.

I don't care who started it. I haven't bought anyone's spin. You have obviously bought into the "Israel is incapable of doing wrong" spin but that is besides the point. I am interested in a solution, not in who did what to who.

Mutual concessions and a meaningful effort on the part of both parties part is the solution. Your pipe dream that all the Arabs will leave is just that a pipe dream. Gaza is their home. They aren't going to give it up. Israel isn't going anywhere either. Their country has been there for 70 years now and it has become their home.

So why not start offering realistic solutions that don't involve one side giving up everything and the other side making no concessions? Basically you are saying that Arabs must give up their homes and their lands. Would you if you were in their shoes?

"As it seems was appropo when uttered by Jack Nicholson, "you can't handle the truth"."

This is particularly funny to me. You are reading one side of the issue and declaring it the truth. Historical documents are useful only if you are willing to pa equal attention to the opposite side of the coin.

(continued)

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 12/29/2008 @ 7:36pm
However, sharing was not part of the Arab psychological makeup then nor now.

Posted by lvliberty1 at 12/29/2008 @ 4:40pm

nor ours.

just ask the folks down at the reservation.

Posted by frosty zoom at 12/29/2008 @ 7:37pm
larry,

is this what your god calls for:

"An Israeli bomb struck the refugee camp's Imad Aqil mosque around midnight, destroying the building and collapsing several shops and a pharmacy nearby. The force of the blast was so massive it also brought down the Baloushas' house, which yesterday lay in ruins. The seven eldest girls were asleep together on mattresses in one bedroom and they bore the brunt of the explosion. Five were killed where they lay: Tahrir, 17, Ikram 15, Samer, 13, Dina, eight and Jawahar, four."?

Posted by frosty zoom at 12/29/2008 @ 7:40pm
"History is written by the lions"

You've taken to one side of the coin because your religion says that Israel lays claim to the land because that is the will of God. So your claim that they are owed the land is just as superfluous as the claim that the Arab's do.

The reason I said you remind me of Rese is not because of WHAT your posting it's the fact that you are posting pages and pages and pages without realizing that it makes us less likely to read it than if you posted a link instead. Forum etiquette generally says to post a link instead of thirty pages of copy and paste.

You can claim your version of the truth all you want. Obviously you haven't learned enough from your experience on the earth to realize that when you are dealing with history there are always only VERSIONS of the truth. What they teach Russian children about the Cold War is different than what they teach American children about the Cold War.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 12/29/2008 @ 7:42pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 12/29/2008 @ 7:40pm

Their lives don't matter, they are Arab. They are psychological deficient.

"However, sharing was not part of the Arab psychological makeup then nor now." Posted by lvliberty1 at 12/29/2008 @ 4:40pm

See LVL says it so, so it must be so.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 12/29/2008 @ 7:44pm
What I also find funny LVL is that at the same time as you are claiming that everyone else has bought into a false history, you are claiming that the history you are posting is the truth. What makes you know that? What makes your history any MORE true than the history you are claiming is a lie?

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 12/29/2008 @ 7:46pm
I'd certainly be interested in seeing if you can. Posted by lvliberty1 at 12/29/2008 @ 8:00pm

I'm disputing the claim of the British to be able to rewrite borders. Again I point you to Africa if you want proof of where that gets you. I learn from from history. History has proven that when an outside force comes in and changes the lay of the land that people are going to end up angry and fighting. Look at history if you want proof. Why then should you have expected this situation to end any different? Again. I don't care about the history, I care about a pragmatic solution.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 12/29/2008 @ 8:42pm
Oh and by pragmatic I don't mean asking 1.5 million people to leave their homes. Nor do I mean asking other countries to take in a displaced 1.5 million people. Even asking 500,000 people to leave their homes is a ridiculous thought. On top of that how are they supposed to travel there? Most of them barely have enough money to keep themselves alive, let alone travel to another country. Is Israel going to pay to relocate 1.5 million people? The US? I'd love to see the logistics on that one.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 12/29/2008 @ 8:44pm
Hey Lvliberty1, you are an institution of history re-fabrication.

The Israelis signed a truce with Hamas for six months, during which the Israelis had 135 incursions into Gaza murdering 30 Palestinians. It is also during that truce that Gaza was placed under the whim and mercy of the Israeli racist government. Food to Gazans was restricted; fuel supply for Gaza's single electric power plant was intermittent at best. Gaza's Airspace, territorial water and ports were under Israeli control. Furthermore, the Israelis have kept 25% of land in Gaza in a so-called security zone; barring Palestinians from entering that zone. Gaza was dying slowly in the dark. When Palestinians fired some of their homemade primitive rockets; the Israelis began their murderous campaign. In essence, the Palestinians were presented two bad choices by Israel; to die from starvation or be blown to pieces by the American made F-16 and Apache helicopters.

So enough of your B.S fairytale about Israel giving back all Gaza back to the Palestinians?

Posted by CripThink at 12/29/2008 @ 8:49pm
Israel is another great example of failed colonialism -- just like other places that were divvied up without respect to facts on the ground. We're stuck with it now, like a lot of places, but the US has to pull out of the "special relationship" quagmire and pursue some other policies. Continuing the policies we've had in effect for how many decades has not resulted in any progress. How many years do we pursue failed policies before we admit they're a failure? The relationship with Israel in its current form seems to have won us more enemies than friends, which I can't say is in our nation's best interest.

Posted by Bozic at 12/29/2008 @ 9:17pm
Well Bozic, your are correct about Israel, however, I won't pin any hope on American shift of policy when it comes to the Middle East.

The Whit House and our Congress are mere occupied Israeli territories. Obama has surrendered to AIPAC since the early campaign days; The Israeli lobby has twisted his arm so hard that I doubt he would ever think of playing Middle East Peace out of fear of the Israeli lobby. He has given the task to the new-born Zionist Hillary Clinton. Clinton has made her commitment to Israel unquestionable from day one. She appointed two assistant secretaries, James Steinberg and Jacob Lew and plans to appoint three special envoys: Dennis Ross, Martin Indyk and Richard Holbrooke; all are Jews and ardent Zionists. Thus, as unfortunate it seems, we shall remain a milking cow for Israel. They bilk us of near 6 Billion Dollars annually, while using their massive media and financial muscles here in America, to stifle and intimidate any one who dares to criticize Israel's racist policies.

Posted by CripThink at 12/29/2008 @ 9:35pm
As George Carlin once noted Arab freedom fighters are called terrorists, while Israeli terrorists are called commandoes.

That people will totally ignore the kill ratio between Israel and the Palestinians shows the moral compass of many in the US points to Fucked Up.

Posted by onthehelm at 12/30/2008 @ 09:57am
Ben-Gurion, asked near the end of his life, if he thought the Arabs would make peace with Israel, answered:

"Why should the Arabs make peace? If I was an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country. Sure God promised it to us, but what does that matter to them? Our God is not theirs. We come from Israel, but two thousand years ago, and what is that to them? There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: We have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?"

[from The Jewish Paradox : A Personal Memoir. Nahum Goldmann]

Posted by commentator at 12/30/2008 @ 10:18am
How about the quotes from Arabs that I provided? Anything you have to dispute them? Posted by lvliberty1

How about providing some of the comments from warmongers like Netanyahu, Shas etc well that will be honesty right, which you are not...

Stop the propaganda...Stop supporting murders of innocent women and children...

Posted by freenation at 12/30/2008 @ 11:34am
Posted by b_kool_66 at 12/29/2008 @ 3:26pm

Amen to Frank!

The problem here continues to be not only the unconditional support our government gives to Israel, but the unconditional support the American people give to our political system per se and to its leadership, party identification notwithstanding. Obama, as cowardly as he is in the circumstances, is simply the outward expression of the will of a governing class with interests so inimical to those of the American people that, now, the two fairly can be characterized as enemies. Somehow, in some moral way, we need to expel the excrescences that govern us. Not one of the bacteria currently in place should left with anything whatsoever to say about our welfare. Can we hope?

Posted by john lowell at 12/30/2008 @ 1:27pm
It's because there are no quotes from Netanyahu or others that compare with the Arab quotes. There are no Jewish quotes that Arabs have no right to exist or have Arab nations. the murderers of innocent women and children are not the Israelis. It is Hamas purposely using them as sacrificial lambs for their own purposes. Posted by lvliberty1 at 12/30/2008 @ 12:52pm

Bahahahahahahaha. My God. You are so brainwashed that you actually believe there is no Jew in the world who ever says that Arab's should not exist? My God you are a case study.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 12/30/2008 @ 2:09pm
Saying that all Gaza residents are to be held accountable for Hamas rocket attacks is tantamount to saying Americans are free game for all Bush has done to the world during the last 8 years. After all, he was "freely" elected.

Not to mention what the "eye for an eye" would have to be for the last century of US foreign policy.

Posted by rortiz at 12/30/2008 @ 5:31pm
how can they cry oppression. when they have allowed it all along from hamas..

Posted by STUDIO8VINTAGE at 12/30/2008 @ 6:20pm
Oh and removing comment! isnt that a little communistic? only allow what you want! this site is as bad as the people it critisizes!!!!

Posted by STUDIO8VINTAGE at 12/30/2008 @ 6:31pm
The Israelis are not Jews - they have entirely abandoned all the moral principles of the scriptures and their religiosity is an empty farce of immoral devotions - God requires mercy , turning the other cheek, and letting Him exact the vengeance for any trespasses against one- for the Israeli sycophants on here the blood and suffering of Palestinians is morally inconsequential - as if God Himself will not avenge the blood of each of them , as if their blood does not cry from the soil , yes Israel and the US sit in their comfortable houses with full stomachs but the day of God's vengeance will be as swift and merciless and was the air raids in dense civilians areas - teenagers leaving a UN compound after training session in Gaza were obliterated by Israeli air power , etc etc. God will show no mercy to those who have shown no mercy - as Christ says woe to you who are full now , for ye shall hunger, woe to you who laugh now for ye shall mourn and weep, and woe unto you when all men speak well of you for so they do of the false prophets - Israelis may glibly and arrogantly pretend that their blockades and attacks were of no consequence and could not have provoked vain rockets but the day of reckoning for their bloody hands is soon and inevitable

Posted by nonukes at 12/30/2008 @ 8:13pm
You come in with a juvenile response rather than trying to make a substantive rebuttal-because you don't have one. Posted by lvliberty1 at 12/30/2008 @ 2:42pm

No it's because substantive rebuttals aren't worth it sometimes because they will never change your Arab hating opinion.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 12/30/2008 @ 9:02pm
You come in with a juvenile response rather than trying to make a substantive rebuttal-because you don't have one. Posted by lvliberty1 at 12/30/2008 @ 2:42pm

No it's because substantive rebuttals aren't worth it sometimes because they will never change your Arab hating opinion.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 12/30/2008 @ 9:02pm
Oh and before you start going off about how I have no right to make the claim that you hate Arabs and that that is juvenile in making that assumption, I point you to this comment

"It amazes me to continually read the anti-Jewish sentiments of the left here. You'd think this was a site designed to draw out Hitler lovers.

Like all anti-Jews, you leftists seem to thrive on the idea that Israel is evil and Arabs good."

So don't bother. From someone who is dating a Jew I can tell you I am not anti-Jewish.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 12/30/2008 @ 9:06pm
Peter, it's a shame that at the end of a perfectly admirable call to humanitarian aid that you had to slip into the kind of moral equivalency that stacks the deck against Israel before dialogue even starts.

"...and hope that calls from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and numerous world leaders for an immediate cease-fire will soon be heeded."

Were there any endorsements in The Nation of calls for Hamas to stop its violations of the cease-fire that was already in place? I doubt it, but I would love to be proven wrong.

"No matter your views on Israel and Palestine, it's absolutely insane, in my view, for anyone to think that Israel can successfully bomb its way to peace and security."

I hope you find it equally insane that anyone can think that Hamas can successfully bomb its way to its goals, which don't seem to be peace and security.

Posted by brettmac at 12/30/2008 @ 10:39pm
A group to consider when donating to the support of Palestinian refugees is ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid), at http://www.anera.org. ANERA is a leading provider of development, health, education and employment programs to Palestinian communities and impoverished families throughout the Middle East. I have been helping them for several years.

Posted by malvern41 at 12/31/2008 @ 12:28am
Whether we like it or not Israel is the biggest aggressor here and they like to dominate not only that region but they also dominate us. We are not free to see what is really going on, we are so blinded by our "special relationship" with Israel that nothing they do matters. People around the world demonstrating against Israeli actions and not one word of condemnation from us...why is that!!!! We are so deep in the pockets of Israel it really is pathetic and we claim to be such a caring nation.....but who are caring about here, not the Palestinians that's for sure.

Posted by Caj at 12/31/2008 @ 10:13am
Israel left Gaza in the hands of the Palestinians and Hamas and the result was the creation of a total disaster by a bunch of thugs, Hamas, who have only one goal, the destruction of Israel. Nothing will change until those vermin are flushed out. Israel should just go peddle-to-the-metal until it is done otherwise there will Never be peace. Egypt will block the exits in the south (they don't want Hamas there either).

Posted by pyeatte at 12/31/2008 @ 12:11pm
Way, way, way more people in Israel get killed by bad drivers than by Qassams.

Bad drivers are an existential threat to the State of Israel.

The State of Israel should assassinate them, bulldoze their houses, destroy the livelihoods of their families and disrupt every other aspect of their lives, deny them medical care (heck, make sure their hospitals run out of supplies so that no one can use them!!), etc., etc., etc.

But wait--those drivers are Jews...they are not A-rabs.

So much for that idea.

Posted by linda_chicago at 12/31/2008 @ 12:25pm
Anyone genuinely interested in gaining perspective on Obama's relation to these Middle Eastern developments will appreciate this article by Mike Whitney posted at Counterpunch today:

http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney12312008.html

Here, Whitney, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite commentators on the economic crisis, brings to the Gaza/Obama question a trenchance rarely if ever seen elsewhere. The article is truly worth reading.

Posted by john lowell at 12/31/2008 @ 2:16pm
Israel left Gaza in the hands of the Palestinians and Hamas and the result was the creation of a total disaster by a bunch of thugs Posted by pyeatte at 12/31/2008 @ 12:11pm

What a ridiculous statement if anyone in that conflict are thugs it's Israel...they are the bully boys of the Middle East and yet want to be seen as the victims!!!! Israel just want to own the whole region and the sympathy of the world...well that won't happen, the world is sick of Israel and their bully boy tactics and time they were reigned in by the US.

Posted by Caj at 12/31/2008 @ 4:08pm
Everyone only feels its unfair only because isreal has better arms and airplains.. in if your going to start something with someone more well equipped than you. then you get whats coming to you. and thats everything. and its only a distraction to get our attention out of the hills in pakastan. where we are finishing bin ladins group...they did it in pakastan and in india all you jew haters need to stop drinking the hate koolaid and open your eyes to whats really happening not the ellusion they give you... like they give to palistine....palistines responsible for what happens to them like we are responsible for who we put in our white house.

Posted by STUDIO8VINTAGE at 12/31/2008 @ 5:57pm
Let me start out by saying that I NEED the progressive community very badly because my life situation places me at odd's with racists, bigots, xenophobes, etc, and the Jewish community has always been there to help similarly situated persons such as myself fight for the good life, however, I've recently become scared that we have lost one of our most valuable ally's in the war against hate and intolerance; the Jewish community as a whole. I see both Jewish and non-Jewish progressives bending over backwards to avoid mentioning the obvious, and this scares me too. I see oppression, repression, and outright manipulation occurring throughout the progressive community when it comes to the issue of Israel, and this doesn't just concern the war crimes Israel is committing against the Palestinians' now, but includes the largely Jewish generated mess on wall street/banking/financial systems, not to mention the political betrayal by Jewish Democrats, that facilitated these major disasters. I see a "big fat pattern" connecting the rape of our financial system with the rise of Israel as the world's third most powerful military. How do a mere six million Jews in the desert afford to spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year on military weapons/training/bases/settlements? Where are they getting all this money? Certainly not from the Europeans, Japanese, Middle Easterners, Chinese or Russians, and certainly not from some poor third world country. No, all this money is being sucked out of the United States via the financial system, Jewish businesses (Comcast, CVS Pharmacy, Google, etc) and most especially the stock/commodities markets, which we all know is where Jewish power originates. I see a collective takeover of the entire internet grid in the US by Jews, and the control of con

Posted by badlawdog at 12/31/2008 @ 11:49pm
Again isreal needs it all because if we left it up to the rest of the world, they would let the arabs have there way with them. and what are these war crimes you keep talking about. isreal dosnt need to have free trade with them. and EGYPT CLOSED THE BORDERS not isreal. and as long as you bring in ROCKETS instead of economics. thats why they wont do business with them. and being economically jealous dosent help your third reich speech

Posted by STUDIO8VINTAGE at 01/01/2009 @ 12:21am
oh again what war crimes???? war was declaired after the rockets. only islamic militants are always at war....

Posted by STUDIO8VINTAGE at 01/01/2009 @ 12:22am
The burden is on the palistines to stop the terrorist violence originating from Gaza into Isreal. If the citizens of Gaza are not willing to stop the terrorist, then Isreal has every right to defend itself by any means necessary, that means elimate everyone and everything in the Gaza strip. Isreal should also go ahead an elimate (nuke) Iran along with the Gaza strip to end the violence once and for all. The other countries in the middle east who hate Isreal would never bother with them again for fear of being elimated themselves. If I was the leader of Isreal, I would bring the PAIN!

Posted by bryant1028 at 01/02/2009 @ 12:37pm
Lvliberty1 and jojojo often use the deceptive propaganda that Israel wants negotiated Peace settlement with the Palestinians; facts on the ground point to the contrary.

Mahmud Abbas, the so-called moderate Palestinian President, has been negotiating peace with Israel since 1993. Here are summary of what he got from the Israelis so far:

.Settlements-building in the occupied West Bank has increased four folds .Army checkpoints in the occupied West Bank have increased by over 102 checkpoints .The Israeli Army has so far demolished 75,000 Palestinian homes and commercial structures. . Israel has confiscated over 80% of the West Bank water resources . Israel has built a wall, annexing 20% of the most fertile land of the West Bank. . Assassination of Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli forces has never stopped.

The Israelis use the so-called Peace negotiation to solidify their occupation and to transfer more Jewish settlers to the occupied territories. Let's listen to what the Israeli newspaper HAARETZ said about this issue:

"They used to say about Yitzhak Shamir that he conducted peace negotiations with our neighbors as long as they never ended … Every prime minister after him, with the exception of Yitzhak Rabin, behaved exactly like he did, though they added whistles and bells to the foot-dragging. If the rumors are true and history really does have a muse, he will one day convene a press conference and utter his verdict: Shamir, Shimon Peres, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert are in fact the same dancer - one step forward, two steps back"

Posted by CripThink at 01/02/2009 @ 5:59pm
Gaza belong to egypt before 67. and now they gave it out of peace. but there has been no peace. palestine should be greatful it was givin to them. and now the expect to walk around isreal freely blowing sh-t up at will. isreal does not need to open its borders to them and thats why they are at odds. why dont they attack egypt for doin the same but they wont. its only out of hate(jealousy) of the jews. that they do what they do.. "they have the money and we dont" trade business not rockets...

Posted by STUDIO8VINTAGE at 01/02/2009 @ 7:21pm
"if anyone in that conflict are thugs it's Israel..." posted by Caj. Give me a break! Israel is Not the thug. Lets see now, Israel does not attack Egypt, Israel does not attack Jordan - I wonder why...could it be these two countries do not shoot missiles and send suicide bombers against it? Hamas is a insane evil movement bent on one thing - killing all Jews in the Middle East. If that goal were to be attained, all Jews in the rest of the world would be the goal. This malignate pack of rats is backed by Iran which shares the same goals. I guarentee you if someone was doing that to us, the second missile would be the last. Israel has been more than patient. It is time to act - finally.

Posted by pyeatte at 01/03/2009 @ 6:56pm
Israel has been more than patient. It is time to act - finally.

Posted by pyeatte at 01/03/2009 @ 6:56pm

Israel is the biggest aggressor here there is no doubt about that...if you can equate the military might of Israel compared to that of Palestine, I don't know what you are smoking!!! Israel more than patient, are you kidding me...they are just the bully boy's of the Middle East and want to own the whole region. They just move into Gaza as if they already own the place and you don't think the Palestinian people have a right to be mad!!! What planet are you on, that you can even think these blatant thugs can just bring their tanks into Gaza and send planes over head and drop bombs and that is alright!! The Israeli Government have no wish to have peace, until they own all the region and can dominate, just like they dominate us here in the US. I don't see Israel as a peaceful nation at all,unless they have full control that is...and Palestine has every right to do what it has to do to keep them out of Gaza...just who do they think they are?

Posted by Caj at 01/03/2009 @ 9:14pm
Again, Israel does not fight people who leave them alone. Israel moved out of Gaza and turned over control to Gaza and its citizens to see if they could build a civilized and peaceful society. What happened? You got a country run by a terrorist organization, Hamas. Instead of building a fuctional society, they started firing missils and trying to send suicide bombers into Israel. So yes, Israel is right to send in the "marines" to try to start to clean up this sewer. The final cleaning, of course, must be done by the Palestinians themselves. But first they must become sick and tired of dying, and then sick and tired of being sick and tired of dying. Maybe then... or maybe not. Until then, Israel has an absolute right to protect themselves.

Posted by pyeatte at 01/04/2009 @ 01:10am
Here's a bit from the LA times which puts the Palestinian dilemma into context and shows that Hamas does not speak for all Palestinians:

"Each faction now views the Israeli offensive as an opportunity to gain at the other's expense. Fatah officials have sent messages of hope to their supporters in Gaza that Hamas will be driven from power.

Hamas' top political leader, Khaled Meshaal, has called for an uprising in the West Bank, "a peaceful one against the Palestinian Authority and a military one against Israel."

The potential for rebellion in the West Bank, however, is limited. The Israeli army patrols the territory heavily, and Abbas' security forces, built up with Israel's blessing, have arrested dozens of Hamas activists in recent months.

In addition, Palestinians say they are reluctant to rally behind any national cause not backed by all political factions.

"People are frustrated by this internal division," said Hani Masri, a political analyst in Ramallah. "They see each faction working alone, for itself, unable to bring about any improvement for the Palestinians as a whole."

That disillusionment, he said, helps explain why unrest over the violence in Gaza has been less intense in the West Bank than in some Arab capitals."

Posted by lrjones4 at 01/04/2009 @ 03:35am
The war in Gaza is rather like a vicious circle. The more the Israeli army strikes back the more terror they create. No escape.

Posted by Jimmy09 at 01/04/2009 @ 08:21am
Jimmy09: The alternative is to do nothing against terror which would ultimately result in the destruction of Israel, which I suspect, would be the desired outcome by many readers of The Nation. The stated charter of Hamas is the unconditional liquidation of Israel and the Jews, Sieg Heil! I believe we have been down this road once before. I have sympathy for the Palestinians but not for the crazy radical movements inside their society. Abbas is their best hope for now.

Posted by pyeatte at 01/04/2009 @ 1:45pm