The Israeli army continued its nearly daily killings in dramatic fashion today in Gaza City. An Israeli warplane fired missles at a car traveling in the city, killing two suspected militants without a trial and without warning. Two bystanders were also killed in the attack, including an eight-year-old boy.
The major US newsmedia websites that we monitored in the Media Project all have no headline about this attack, nor have they mentioned the almost daily killing of Palestinians by Israelis in the last few weeks. The Israeli army appears to have escalated its offensive, killing dozens since the first of the year.
The major US newsmedia websites that we monitored in the Media Project all have no headline about this attack, nor have they mentioned the almost daily killing of Palestinians by Israelis in the last few weeks. The Israeli army appears to have escalated its offensive, killing dozens since the first of the year.
Trials are for citizens. Missiles are for murderous cowards who hide behind their 8-year-old children.
I, for one, can't wait for the Israeli elections to be over. I'm sure most Palestinians feel the same way. Because while the campaign is going on, all the Israeli politicians will do all they can to have an argument closest to Laslos' -- which goes basically like this:
1) Palestinians aren't citizens and therefore don't deserve basic human rights.
2) Therefore, it is acceptable to fire missles from aircraft at Palestinians while they drive on crowded streets, simply because someone in the Israeli government determines that this particular Palestinian might be guilty of a crime. Even when it kills innocent bystanders.
3) We have to fight terrorism with terrorism.
This kind of argument, which is repugnant, comes to the fore in these crucial weeks for the Israeli election. I yearn for the days when the Israeli government lives up to its admirable and just ideals -- when the Israelis demand that their government live in peace with their neighbors rather than ruthlessly lay seige to them.
Let's see what happens with the Israeli election, because the onus for finding the way to peace is on the Israeli government.
Hamas has just won the pali vote, and you are distressed by the upcoming Israeli election? Wow, I'm...amazed.
Erik, tell me one thing, one "onus," that you consider to be on the so-called palestinian people. Just one thing. I would like to hear.
--LM
I have said many times before, and I will say again that the onus is on the Palestinians to stop all violence directed toward civilians. Suicide bombings, homemade rocket attacks -- all of these must stop immediately if we are to acheive peace.
But these attacks are a symptom of the conflict -- not the primary cause. The primary cause of the violence is the brutal, ruthless Israeli military occupation which has continued for more than 38 years.
And since gaining a parliamentary majority, Hamas has offered to extend the unilateral cease-fire with Israel, ending all its armed operations. Israel has not responded in kind, and Israeli military operations which kill Palestinian civilians continue daily.
Hamas has offered to stop all its armed operations if the Israeli government withdraws all illegally settled Israeli citizens and all soldiers to within Israel's 1967 borders. Israel has ignored this peace offering.
Israeli leaders are the ones refusing to sit down for peace talks at this time. The onus for peace is on them. Let's get ready to pressure them to make peace as soon as this election is over.
Good, now we are getting somewhere.
Erik, if you think that the pali attacks are a "symptom" of Israel's post-'67 occupation (and not the "cause" of the conflict), how do you explain the PLO charter, which calls for the annihilation of the Israeli people and was written in 1964? The so-called Israeli occupation did not occur until 1967.
(Please see http://www.pna.gov.ps/Government/gov/palestinian_national_council.asp and after reading that page, click on the underscored words to read the PLO charter.)
Furthermore, how do you explain the international Arab attack in 1948, one day after Israel became a nation, led by Grand Mufti (and literal Nazi)Haj Amin-al Husseini, Yasir Arafat's uncle? This was 19 years before the so-called occupation! Please, I need to know how you explain this.
On the topic of Hamas, they may indeed observe a hudna—a temporary ceasefire prior to achieving Israel's ultimate destruction— but this in no way should be understood in a Western definition of "ceasefire." It is unique to Islamic warfare, and the official charter of Hamas explicitly states, "[peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement. For renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion; the nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of its faith, the movement educates its members to adhere to its principles and to raise the banner of Allah over their homeland as they fight their Jihad: 'Allah is the all-powerful, but most people are not aware.'" --Article 13
This is a quote from the official Hamas constitution (Please see http://www.ict.org.il/articles/h_cov.htm for the entire text). This is the binding law that upholds the actions of the new PA government! Can you imagine if our U.S. Constitution contained such things? Can you imagine what kind of country ours would be, our what kind of people Americans would become if they had to live by this law?
How do you justify them, Erik?
There is no justification for violence that targets civilians.
The PLO Charter was amended.
The Israeli government has never comitted to allowing the existence of a soverign Palestinian state. How can the Israeli government, then, continue its unilateral aggression against the Palestinian people?
The power dynamics are such that no matter what the Palestinian people believe, the Israeli nation will remain strong, prosperous, and viable. Israel will not have full security, however, until the occupation is ended.
The Hamas faction within the Palestinian "government" (which has no actual power of governing) needs to be engaged at the negotiating table if there is any hope for a lasting peace.
The commenter above clouds the issue with declarations and statements which are, of course, bluster. Let's focus on actions. Israeli actions are unprovoked violence. The PA is ready to negotiate. Let's get started.