Last zed of the year?

I mentioned this yesterday, I think. But the photographers have as much influence on public opinion as the journalists. Story in yesterday’s PiPress (St. Paul) showed a grieving Israeli woman being comforted by an Israeli policeman, and a second photo showed a masked Palestininian with a handful of rocks, clearly up to no good. For people who don’t read (and their number is legion), that is a pretty damning visual.

Thank you, Siun. Says so much.. the very fact this is all decided (or not) by the Israelis.. that they would even want such iron fisted control, much less how long and heavy handed they have conducted their iron grip.

You may digg this post right here, firedogs.

thanks siun. don’t know if this was already covered, but benny morris had a new oped in the nyt yesterday (see previous comment for some background on morris): Why Israel Feels Threatened

The fourth immediate threat to Israel’s existence is internal. It is posed by the country’s Arab minority. Over the past two decades, Israel’s 1.3 million Arab citizens have been radicalized, with many openly avowing a Palestinian identity and embracing Palestinian national aims. Their spokesmen say that their loyalty lies with their people rather than with their state, Israel. Many of the community’s leaders, who benefit from Israeli democracy, more or less publicly supported Hezbollah in 2006 and continue to call for “autonomy” (of one sort or another) and for the dissolution of the Jewish state.

Demography, if not Arab victory in battle, offers the recipe for such a dissolution. The birth rates for Israeli Arabs are among the highest in the world, with 4 or 5 children per family (as opposed to the 2 or 3 children per family among Israeli Jews).

If present trends persist, Arabs could constitute the majority of Israel’s citizens by 2040 or 2050. Already, within five to 10 years, Palestinians (Israeli Arabs coupled with those who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip) will form the majority population of Palestine (the land lying between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean).

Friction between Israeli Arabs and Jews is already a cogent political factor. In 2000, at the start of the second intifada, thousands of Arab youngsters, in sympathy with their brethren in the territories, rioted along Israel’s major highways and in Israel’s ethnically mixed cities.

The past fortnight has seen a recurrence, albeit on a smaller scale, of such rioting. Down the road, Israel’s Jews fear more violence and terrorism by Israeli Arabs. Most Jews see the Arab minority as a potential fifth column.

the arab minority, although citizens of israel, aren’t “israel” – at least that is the way i read morris

pretty good article from nathan gardels at huffington post: The U.N.’s Richard Falk: Gaza a Victim of Geopolitics

Clearly, prior to the current crisis, Israel used its authority to prevent credible observers from giving accurate and truthful accounts of the dire humanitarian situation that had been already documented as producing severe declines in the physical condition and mental health of the Gazan population, especially noting malnutrition among children and the absence of treatment facilities for those suffering from a variety of diseases. Could this have been part of pre-attack planning?

As always in relation to the underlying conflict, the facts bearing on this latest crisis are murky and contested, although the American public in particular gets 99 percent of its information filtered through an exceedingly pro-Israeli media lens. Hamas is blamed for the breakdown of the truce by its supposed unwillingness to renew it, and by the alleged increased incidence of rocket attacks. But the reality is more clouded. There was no substantial rocket fire from Gaza during the ceasefire until Israel launched an attack on what it claimed were Palestinian militants in Gaza, killing a half dozen persons. Also, it was Hamas that on numerous public occasions called for extending the truce, with its calls never acknowledged, much less acted upon, by Israeli officialdom. Beyond this, attributing the rockets to Hamas is not entirely convincing either.

A variety of independent militia groups operate in Gaza; and some, such as the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, are anti-Hamas, and may even be sending rockets to provoke or justify Israeli retaliation. It is well confirmed that when moderate Fatah controlled Gaza’s governing structure, it was unable to stop rocket attacks despite its efforts to do so.

What this background suggests strongly is that Israel launched its devastating attacks, starting on Dec. 27, not to stop the rockets or in retaliation, but for a series of other reasons. It was evident for several weeks prior to the Israeli attacks that the Israeli military and political leaders were preparing the public for large-scale military operations against the Hamas. The timing of the attacks seemed prompted by a series of considerations: most of all, the interest of political contenders, the Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, in demonstrating their toughness prior to national elections scheduled for February.

Where are the world’s voices for peace?

starhawk: On Gaza

To know and see the enemy, you must let them into the story. They must become real to you, nuanced, distinctive as individuals. But when we let the Palestinians into the story, it changes. Oh, how painfully it changes! For there is no way to tell a new story, one that includes both peoples of the land, without starting like this:

“In our yearning for a homeland, in our attempts as a threatened and
traumatized people to find safety and power, we have done a great
wrong to another people, and now we must atone.”
Just try saying it. If you, like me, were raised on that other story, just try this one out. Say it three times. It hurts, yes, but it might also bring a great, liberating sense of relief with it.

And if you’re not Jewish, if you’re American, if you’re white, if you’re German, if you’re a thousand other things, really, if you’re a human being, there’s probably some version of that story that is true for you.

Out of our own great need and fear and pain, we have often done great harm, and we are called to atone. To atone is to be at one-to stop drawing a circle that includes our tribe and excludes the other, and start drawing a larger circle that takes everyone in.

How do we atone? Open your eyes. Look into the face of the enemy, and see a human being, flawed, distinct, unique and precious. Stop killing. Start talking. Compost the shit and the rot and feed the olive trees.

Act. Cross the line. There are Israelis who do it all the time, joining with Palestinians on the West Bank to protest the wall, watching at checkpoints, refusing to serve in the occupying army, standing for peace. Thousands have demonstrated this week in Tel Aviv.

There are Palestinians who advocate nonviolent resistance, who have organized their villages to protest the wall, who face tear gas, beatings, arrests, rubber bullets and real bullets to make their stand.

There are internationals who have put themselves on the line-like the boatload of human rights activists, journalists and doctors on board the Dignity, the ship from the Free Gaza movement that was rammed and fired on by the Israeli navy yesterday as it attempted to reach Gaza with humanitarian aid.

Maybe we can’t all do that. But we can all write a letter, make a phone call, send an email. We can make the Palestinian people visible to us, and to the world. When we do so, we make a world that is safer for every child.

the israeli committee against house demolitions: ISRAEL: END THE ATTACKS ON GAZA IMMEDIATELY!

The responsibility for the suffering both in Israel and Gaza rests squarely with successive Israeli governments, Labor, Likud and Kadima alike. Had there been a genuine political process (remember, the closure of Gaza began in 1989), Israelis and Palestinians could have been living together in peace and prosperity already for 20 years. After all, already in 1988 the PLO accepted the two-state solution in which a Palestinian state would arise on only 22% of historic Palestine, alongside the state of Israel on the other 78%. A truly generous offer.

In Israel, however, the effort is to hide its preference for control over peace. Framing its attacks as a response to rockets from Gaza, exploiting an immediate trigger to effectively conceal deeper political intentions and policies, does that. It also conceals Israeli violations of the cease-fire. The fact that the rocket attacks could have been avoided altogether through a genuine political process means that the people of southern Israel are being held hostage by their government as well. Their suffering, and the suffering of the people of Gaza and the rest of the Occupied Territories, must be placed squarely at the feet of the Israeli government.

Israel cannot expect security for its people and political normalcy as long as it occupies Palestinian lands and continues its attempt to impose its permanent rule over the Palestinians by military force. We call on the Israeli government to end its aggression immediately and enter into genuine political negotiations with a united Palestinian leadership. We call on the international community to end its sanctions on Gaza immediately in accordance with international law, initiate an effective political process to end the Israeli Occupation and bring about a just peace – which reflects the will of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.

Thank you for this. May the new year bring some goodness and peace. G’nite.

Siun, yet another great update on reality on the ground in Gaza, so thanks and Happy New Year as best as we can to all . . .

This quote really hits home from the link: “The blogosphere and the new media are basically a war zone in a battle for world opinion,” said IDF spokeswoman Major Avital Leibovich said. She added that the YouTube channel is an important part of Israel’s attempt to explain its actions abroad.”

I don’t think I’ve seen spin that dizzy since Goebbels or Bush.

Imagine, using war footage from the front, on youtube, to demonstrate how merciful and magnaminous Likud/AIPAC and the military war machine of Israel is while killing people stuffed together behind a slender sliver of land they’ve been driven into who have the barest of war capability available to themselves, to defend themselves.

Imagine. What a phreakin tune John Lennon could have crafted from this madness.

Again, thanks for your continued coverage, Siun. I heard The Dignity made it to TYRE? Per Laura Doty, I think, is where I heard it? No dead on board.

Here’s a NEW YEARS wish that they open the borders, open the corridors, and Israel lets relief and aid flow freely for those trapped in that little sliver of land against the Sea.

Thanks for citations. It is good to hear other voices than just those few allowed in our mass media.

Aloha, barbara!

Dang, M’dear! Ya popped off a splendid display of fireworks! Hau’oli Makahiki Hou! *g*

Selise, why don’t any sources attempting to explain the WHY of the Israeli Onslaught include that Natural Gas Bed off the Gazan Maritime Shore? Some $4 BILLION worth of natural gas. That Hamas, and PLO in past, used as lure and leverage with and against Israel?

An economic and resource DESPERATE NEED Israel covets, that Hamas recently said, they would rather develop and sell direct to Egypt?

And which then, given Egypt’s recent behavior, Egypt likely has cut a back door deal with Israel to shut out Gazan/Palistinean claims to those Maritime Waters where the gas lies?

Follow the money despite the historical evidence of polarity . . . cuz there’s STILL always a trail of money and power to follow that drives the usage of religon, ethnicity, and geography to wage war and destruction upon the weak. Always.

Here is what I am telling my jewish friends…tell Isreal to let the Palestinians have what they need, food, medicine and a normal life. Then the rockets will stop if not it is on the Palestinians. Peace

offense
- legal or moral crime: an official crime, or a crime against moral, social, or other accepted standards
- attack: an attack or assault, usually in the military or in sports
- attacking players on team: the players making up the part of a team that attempts to score in a game, as distinct from the defense…

defense
- protection: the protection of something, especially from attack by an enemy
- something that protects: a method or object for protecting something
- armed forces: a country’s armed forces
- justification: an excuse or justification for something
- reasons offered: the set of reasons that a defendant offers in…

Looking at the definitions of offense and defense it appears to me that to call Israels forces defensive is an abuse of the language.
470 hrs & 54 min

imo the current conflict would be happening even if there was no natural gas. of course, i don’t, and can’t, know for certain.

More and more Israeli illegal,immoral,hollowed out ethical conduct and this Israeli wanton militarism mixed with murky political desires must be laid on WashingtonDC. Only Americans can curb and restrain Israel just as Americans plainly are now at the UN or with arms sales or by playing wingman to Israel’s warmongering and any peace process sabotage allowing Israel to do what is befalling Gaza.

As much as Israel is mocking truthtell,international treaties,the United Nations and indeed making a mockery of Jewish historic suffering by this wanton infliction of suffering and death on Gaza it is WashingtonDC that also is doing so by not stopping Israel.

The United States must come to terms with this seriously flawed state of affairs or our destiny will have become all to bound to Israels and for anyone to suggest Israel has any hope of winning anything but ultimate defeat based on population trends alone is surely displaying stupidity and disregard for truth and fact.

If WashingtonDC cannot be turned from the error riddled course it is on and stupidly remains fixated on all American citizens must accept this as being our failure as American citizens to root out the wrong and put in the right.

Israel surely is binding itself to a failed outcome with these mindless and truly cynical attacks and killing sprees on Palestinians and Lebanese.

Americans will share in this failed outcome by not breaking away from it.

It becomes this starkly simple in and with any truthful overview.

“their access has been blocked completely since November 4th.”

That would be the day before Israel went into Palestine and killed 6 people they “suspected” of digging a tunnel thus breaking the truce and starting the rockets in reprisal. Just a co-incidence I’m sure.

epu land and it’s a quiet night, so i’ll put up one or two more.

from the afsc:

Dear President Bush and President-Elect Obama,

As an organization with 60 years of experience working in the Gaza Strip and committed to a peaceful future between Palestinians and Israelis, we are saddened and distressed at the spiraling violence in Gaza over the past five days. As a Quaker organization that cares deeply about the life, dignity, and security of all people, we ask you to take immediate action to end this spiral of violence.

We urge you to take all steps necessary to end the Israeli attacks against Gaza, which have as of this writing taken more than 370 lives, injured thousands, and destroyed many homes and properties. The military strike is in addition to a two year-old siege imposed by the Israeli government, and supported by the U.S. government, that has severely restricted the importation of food, medicine, fuel and other essential goods necessary to maintain the well-being of more than 1.4 million people in the Gaza Strip.

The disproportionate Israeli siege and military assault continue a policy of collective punishment. The time has long-passed to end this policy.

At the same time, we recognize that Hamas’s decision to launch rocket attacks into Israel has threatened the safety of Israeli civilians and incurred tragic consequences for the people of Gaza.

So the cycle of violence deepens. Even today, Hamas threatens to increase the number of rockets fired into Israel in retaliation for the Israeli siege and air strikes. Israel justifies the siege and the attacks because of the rocket attacks. It’s an untenable situation that need not continue.

Violence must be replaced with negotiations. Both the air strikes and the embargo should end immediately. Israel should engage in diplomacy with the Palestinians, including Hamas as elected leaders of the Palestinian legislature. And every effort should be made through the good offices of the Arab states to urge Hamas to re-establish the cease fire and put forth a good-faith effort to end the current violence.

Given its tremendous regional influence, the United States can move the parties toward a peaceful resolution. The U.S. supports Israel militarily, financially, and politically. You have the power to end weapon sales to Israel; weapons that are often used against civilians. We urge that you also stop supporting the embargo on Gaza.

The U.S. government has supported an Israeli militarist strategy that has not, and will not, lead to a lasting peace. Only a solution based in fairness, respect, and security for both Palestinians and Israelis will offer the peace that all so desperately seek and deserve. Only creative dialogue and negotiation, not military force, can lay the path to that solution.

We urge you to use your power and influence well so that U.S. policy can move further along the path to peace. We hope that this New Year is a more peaceful one, in the Middle East, the U.S., and throughout the world.

Sincerely,

Mary Ellen McNish

General Secretary,

American Friends Service Committee

Ya know, I thought I’d never see this headline…

U.S. troops under Iraq’s authority for first time

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The U.S. military in Iraq falls under Iraqi authority on Thursday for the first time since the U.S.-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003, a milestone in the war-weary country’s path to restoring sovereignty.

The U.S. force in Iraq, now more than 140,000 strong, has operated since 2003 under a U.N. Security Council resolution which expired at midnight on New Year’s Eve.

Starting January 1, troops will operate under the authority of the Iraqi government, according to a pact signed earlier this year by Washington and Baghdad.

The pact gives U.S. troops three years to leave Iraq, revokes their power to detain Iraqis without an Iraqi warrant, and subjects contractors and, in some cases, U.S. troops to Iraqi law.

A sign of the times…? ;-)

from American Jews for a Just Peace:

Call to Stop the Bombing in Gaza
Sunday December 28, 2008

Yesterday’s attacks by the Israeli Air Force in Gaza City—the most densely populated piece of land on the face of the earth—indiscriminately destroyed medical and governmental buildings, homes, and other civilian infrastructure. By this morning, about 300 Palestinians, many of whom were women, children, and civil police and traffic officers (so-called Hamas “security forces”) were killed and at least 900 injured. We and many others around the world are concerned about reports from Israel that these attacks may be only the opening fanfare of a sustained military campaign that will, inevitably, create even more casualties for an already besieged people.

American Jews for a Just Peace strongly condemns the Israeli invasion of Gaza, as a cruel and barbarous attack upon a captive civilian population. Israel justifies its attack as a defensive response to Hamas rockets fired into Israel. While the firing of Hamas rockets into civilian areas is not a justifiable response, the reality is that those rocket attacks were provoked by Israel’s own violation of the cease-fire in early November, before it expired, when Israel mounted a series of unprovoked attacks against Gaza that killed six Palestinians. But the Hamas rockets were also the desperately frustrated response to Israel’s sustained and unlawful blockade of nearly all food, medicines, fuel, and other essential supplies to the full civilian population of Gaza since the election of a Hamas government there in 2006. The people of Gaza have already been reduced to living in the dark, without heat and on a bare subsistence diet as consequences of the Israeli blockade.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency has been feeding 750,000 Gazans who can no longer feed themselves. UNRWA reports that it ran out of food on December 18, 2008 as a consequence of Israel’s blockade and was forced to suspend all emergency and regular food aid. Three quarters of a million people now face starvation. Notably, last week Israel expelled an observer sent by the U.N. to assess the situation and has barred journalists from entering Gaza to report events based on their own neutral observance of them.

As American Jews, we are compelled to oppose these violations of widely held and agreed upon rules of ethical conduct by Israel—and by the U.S., in complicity with it. The inhumanity and cruelty of Israel’s violently excessive assaults against Gaza are an affront to the long-cherished Jewish commitment to basic principles of justice and humaneness. As American citizens, we call upon President Elect Obama to push publicly for the immedate cessation of bombing and reinstatement of the cease-fire pending resumption of fairly moderated peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.

hope that helps, teddy.

lol. and a very happy new year to you also (hope my googling got me the correct translation)!

I apologize for not translating it…! *g*

no problem! google is my friend.