Israeli Settlers Poised to Re-settle Gaza After Assault

Israeli Settlers Poised to Resettle In Gaza After Assault

As Israeli troops fight their way into Gaza, scores of determined settlers are prepared to enter in their wake. Israel's "Operation Cast Lead" is reported to have overwhelming support among the Israeli public, but few are as enthusiastic as the former residents of the Israeli settlements in Gaza. As tens of thousands of Israeli troops descend on Gaza in an apocalyptic frenzy, scores of determined settlers are prepared to enter in their wake. The Gaza settlements were dismantled in August 2005 as part of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan. In a single stroke, the Israeli army removed 8,000 people from the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the southwest corner of the Gaza Strip near the Egyptian border and from four smaller settlements in northern and central Gaza. In spirit, many of the Gaza settlers never left the coveted Palestinian territory on the Mediterranean coast. Despite ample compensation from the Israeli government, many have chosen to live in nearby caravan camps in desert towns between Ashdod and Ashkelon, clustered with families from the same settlement of origin. Most of the settlers didn't pack before they were escorted out of their compounds, not believing that the Israeli government would permanently expel them. Some have posted the road signs identifying their old settlements in their camps.

The evacuees have reportedly suffered from high rates of divorce, drug abuse and other problem behavior. Imbued with messianic zeal, for the last three-and-a-half years, they have been mobilizing to resettle the land they believe is theirs by divine right. Settler activists are counting on their historically strong ties to the Israeli military, with some units composed entirely of settlers, to help in their fight. Indeed, some soldiers and reservists currently in Gaza were there three years ago living in cherished settlement communities. On Monday, an article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz described the bittersweet reactions of soldiers who had lived in Gaza settlements and are now back in uniform, noting, "Some see it as a first step toward returning to their former homes."

Earlier this year, Haaretz reported on settlers' plans to follow the Israeli army into Gaza. Boaz Haetzni, a leader of the settler movement, explained, "In our estimation the 'big operation' is only a matter of time; we will follow them in. We will not ask for permission from anyone. The [settlement] groups will be ready ...

These core groups will do exactly what the group that re-established Kfar Etzion did after 1967.

They will return to the lands where they existed in the past and will rebuild them." Kfar Etzion was the first Israeli settlement established in the West Bank after the end of the Six Day War and is now part of a large bloc of settlements connecting Jerusalem to Hebron. In August, settlers and their supporters commemorated the third anniversary of the Gaza evacuation at the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem. The event featured music, prayers, testimonials and updates from volunteers assisting the Gush Katif "refugees." A flyer promoting the event highlighted a biblical passage: "And the threefold cord is not easily broken" (Kohelet 4:12), a reference to the strength of the bond tying the Gush Katif settlers to one another and to the support they receive from the broader community of supporters in Israel and abroad. The program was similar to "A Tribute To Hebron," an event held at the Great Synagogue in late December.
This event, organized by www.thelandofisrael.com, was a fundraiser for the Beit Hashalom settlers, who were evicted earlier in the month from their illegally occupied house in the heart of Hebron.

The night included live music, comedy sketches and a speech by former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Danny Ayalon, a prominent leader of the settler movement. Both events reflect the pattern that has emerged over the last several decades. After Palestinian land is seized by the Israeli army, settlements are established, connected to Israel’s electricity, water and security system, and aggressively marketed to potential residents.

Today, Israeli settlements and the state security apparatus cover over 40 percent of the West Bank. Nearly half a million Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, all of which are considered illegal under international law.

http://www.alternet.org/audits/117812/

Israel – The Sociopathic State (A MUST READ!!)

By: Anonymous American Citizen (who refuses to be silent any longer)

The unconscionable attacks of Israel upon Gaza can be seen as the action of a sociopathic state upon a helpless victim. While the diagnosis of sociopathy is commonly reserved for the individual, it may be used to describe an entire society in a way that illuminates the behavior of that society towards another group of people. Sociopathy is a social concept by definition, and for this reason can be expanded to describe the nature of an entire society, namely Israel.
~

The ruling quality of the sociopath is a complete lack of empathy towards the Other. The sociopath is incapable of feeling for other people. The Israelis have kept the Gaza Strip blockaded, hermetically sealed for a year and a half, causing untold suffering for the 1.5 million people of Gaza, 60% of which are under the age of 15 years old. The lack of empathy for so many helpless human beings is sociopathic. Israel has long held its status as a sociopathic state.
~

At the core of the sociopath’s personality is a deep-seated rage which is repressed and cut off from the conscious mind but which directs the sociopath’s actions. It is this rage which makes the sociopath incapable of feeling empathy for the Other, and which fuels the mercilessness with which he treats others. This rage is the only valid emotion a sociopath has. It accounts for his short temper, his consistent overreaction to the smallest setbacks, and the ruthlessness with which he treats others when they do not bend to his will. ~

The prolonged Israeli blockade of Gaza provoked the firing of homemade rockets by Hamas into Israel as a last resort response. The Israeli reaction to the Hamas rockets was truly beyond the pale. In return for a few rockets, which are all Hamas has to defend its population, Israel pounded Gaza with a fierce “Shock and Awe”-style air force assault, and the remainder of the elite Israeli military stands by to assist. The overwhelming force unleashed on the defenseless little strip says everything one needs to know about the Israeli sociopathic state. The rage is here, the lack of empathy was here for a year and a half when the blockade was in place, the lack of remorse was always there when sick people were allowed to die at border crossings while waiting to reach medical facilities – waiting for no reason but cruelty. ~

Focused solely on himself and his needs, the sociopath has no regard for, and indeed no recognition of, the needs or rights of other people. The "Other" exists as no more than an obstacle to the sociopath’s achieving what he desires. He is ruthless in exploiting or removing others from his path, and kills mercilessly if it serves his purpose. ~

Israel’s current assault on Gaza, its most heinous in years, shows no mercy to the Palestinians. The blockade has already brought Gaza to its knees, and now they are bombing the pitiful land almost to oblivion. Children and women are being killed, along with so-called “legitimate targets.” I would maintain that every “target” is a human being, particularly when the battle is so unequal, so unfair. ~

The sociopath is unable to feel remorse. Emotionally shallow, he abuses others without hesitation. He cannot make friends, much less keep them. He is secretive, paranoid, and authoritarian. Is Israel paranoid? Does it suffer from the delusion that all its Arab neighbors are waiting to destroy it? Of course it does. It threatens attack for no reason – e.g. Iran – and has attacked without provocation in the past – e.g. Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. And even now, with the intolerable treatment it is giving Gaza, have there been any threats from other countries? Of course not. It sits in its sea of nuclear weapons and dares anyone to attack, while it destroys Gaza with impunity. ~

The sociopath lies pathologically and will make promises that he never keeps, yet he continually expects to be believed and will react with outrage if someone refuses to accept his promises as real. At the same time he demands that those around him make and keep promises even knowing that his will not be kept. How many times has Israel broken promises not to increase settlements in the West Bank? Building is going on there even as Gaza is being destroyed. `

Is Israel a sociopathic narcissist, with a sense of entitlement to Palestinian land based on religious “chosen-ness” rather than on the simple truth of theft? Israel is building swiftly over the West Bank. Is it plausible that Israel is going to eventually denude Gaza and take it over again? Why else would they be starving it, and bombing it in their “War to the end”? ~

Israel shows all the signs of the sociopath, most especially now as it makes war upon Gaza. No empathy, utter ruthlessness, paranoia, pathological liar, lack of remorse, narcissistic, and operating out of a deep sense of rage: all the defining characteristics of a sociopath. ~

Now is the time for the international community to stop paying lip service to international humanitarian law and immediately act to protect the occupied Palestinians from their out-of- control occupier. ~

http://www.amin.org/look/amin/articles/e93.htm

'The Scheme is to Give WBank to Jordan, Gaza to Egypt'

Source

Mohamad Shmaysani Readers Number : 766

07/01/2009

After taking part in the Ashura procession in Beirut’s southern suburb to mark the martyrdom of Imam Hussein peace be upon him, hundreds of thousands of participants gathered to listen to Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s speech through a large screen.

Sayyed Nasrallah reminded at the beginning of his speech of the main phases of the Karabala battle and the position of Imam Hussein and his household, companions and his sister Sayyida Zeinab who preferred to die than to give legitimacy to Yazid, a “criminal who distanced himself from the teachings of Prophet Mohammed peace be upon him.”

Sayyed Nasrallah lashed out at some Arab leaders who are still having normal ties with Israel at a time more than 680 people killed in Gaza and advised them to follow the path of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who expelled the Israeli Ambassador in protest at the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

“In front of the Zionist entity that is based on spilling the blood of the innocent and committing massacres, the least thing to do is not to give legitimacy to this entity regardless of the sacrifices. The guardians of the Zionist entity want us to give Israel legitimacy, but the vast majority rejects this. What is taking place today in Gaza, should be a strong motive to reject giving legitimacy to this entity. Not acknowledging Israel, rejecting normalization with it is the least than can be done. Yesterday Chavez expelled the Israeli Ambassador and he set an example for all those who are still receiving Israeli Ambassadors. Some Arab leaders are requested to learn how to reject normalization with this entity. I assure you that the peoples of our nation will punish those leaders for their crimes. They ought to help the resistance instead of pressuring it.”

His eminence criticized the Egyptian regime for keeping the Rafah crossing closed in the face of the dying people of Gaza.
“Yesterday, an Egyptian official asked: does the UN need 600 martyrs and 1500 injured people to take action? Today I ask him, do you need that much victims to open the Rafah crossing?”

Sayyed Nasrallah also commented on the action taken by some Egyptian lawyers against him personally. “A group of Egyptian lawyers close to the governing regime filed a suit against me personally at the International Criminal Court because of my speech nine days ago, when I called for the opening of the Rafah crossing. They considered my call as a call for a coup d’état. I consider this suit, especially in front of those whose consciousness have not yet awaken to the gravity of the massacres, a medal of honor that I will be proud with even after I die. I openly say that we have never antagonized anyone and we will not antagonize those who colluded on us. However we will antagonize those who collude on Gaza.”

The Hezbollah chief addressed the “real US scheme” that was reflected by former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton. “What we heard yesterday from Bolton clearly indicates the real aim of the US and Israel is to end the Palestinian issue by concretizing the state of Israel, giving Gaza to Egypt and giving the rest to Jordan.”
His eminence added that “this necessitates a renewal to our call for all Palestinian factions to unite because the aim is to liquidate their cause, all of their cause, not just Hamas or Fatah.”

Sayyed Nasrallah stressed the Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006 and what is currently happening in Gaza and the steadfastness there, “should put an end to any dispute on the question of a defensive strategy. This mighty army stands helpless and incapable of fulfilling its goals in front of a resistance with modest capabilities yet with a great will and this confirms that the choice of armed resistance based on faith and determination is the best and most effective way to confront the most tyrannical armies in this world. This makes thing crystal clear for us and further illustrates our viewpoint. Even the international community is incapable of condemning a massacre in a UN institution in Gaza just like it failed to condemn the Israeli massacre in a UN base in Qana in 1996. If this is the case, how will this international community be fair to any cause?”

His eminence told the angry participants that “the world is looking at you in Lebanon. We do not know how big is the scheme neither do we know the magnitude of collusion, therefore we have take all probabilities into consideration.”

The leader of the resistance warned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he will not succeed in crushing the resistance in Lebanon or in Palestine. “Olmert told Sarkozy: today Hamas and tomorrow Hezbollah. I tell the defeated and failing Olmert that you will not succeed in crushing Hamas in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon.
We have been hearing threats recently but they do not frighten us and we are prepared for any aggression. If they came to our towns and homes, the Zionist will discover that their war in July 2006 was a picnic compared to we have prepared for them.”

Sayyed Nasrallah vowed the resistance will not abandon its arms and will not leave the battlefield. “Our resistance will remain a title for our history and our sacrifices. I was hoping that the voices that emerged recently in Lebanon to reassure Israel about the border with Lebanon would have responded to Israel’s threats to the resistance and Hezbollah. What drives to rush and give free assurances to Israel at a time this entity is killing-massacre our people in Gaza?”

His eminence concluded his speech saying: “On the tenth day of Muharram, and looking at all these sacrifices, we are in dire need for the spirit, wisdom, love of martyrdom and patience of Imam Hussein peace be upon him. Throughout the past decades, we have been with Imam Hussein at every stage and ready to sacrifice ourselves for what we believe in. After all these years and experiences that proved that our sincerity, path and convictions are right, our people, generation after generation, will not be overcome and will not fear any threat as long as their slogan remains: At your service Imam Hussein. Israel is our enemy and the enemy of our nation. It will remain as such even if some make peace with it. The US administration fosters Israel and protects it, so this administration will remain our enemy and the enemy of our nation if some make peace with it.”

I Thank you for your sincere and kind participation. Let our enemy hear our voice to know that our nation will not change its position:
‘Disgrace...How Remote.”

How far is Cairo ????

Source by Ben Heine

How would you call anyone who knows that
a Military-solution is not a solution and yet,
he tries ,again, to win a military-solution ????
if he ever can .

In the meantime , and so far :
for each dead Israeli there are 106 dead Palestinians
and for each wounded Israeli there are 179 wounded Palestinians
for each Palestinian missilethere are 328 Israeli missiles fired
for each used and old Palestinian- Ambulance
there are 97 brand-new-Israeli ambulances.

I am sure that Cairo has more missiles
and more Ambulances than both Israel and Palestine
but it is using neither ......!!!

Raja Chemayel

Next Year in Jerusalem

Source

One religion , we all know,

used to wish to itself,
to be in Jerusalem....

So each year , at the new-year's-day
they used the slogan :
Next year in Jerusalem !!

Since 1967 , my friends and family
we say the same slogan , ironically,

and with bitterness :
Next Year in Jerusalem !!

This year I say :
Next Year in (the disinfected) Jerusalem !!

The irony remains that when we were inside Jerusalem
they were not forbidden to enter in.....
but now that they are inside Jerusalem ,
we are completely out of it .
( we need a special-permission to spend the Christmas-eve
with our uncle or aunt ,in Jerusalem , who need a permission
to add a floor to their existing house....in Jerusalem ,
and who do not get it , even )


If we are terrorists today ,

it is because we copied them
and if we were to become , also,

supporters of any Apartheid
it is also because of them.

Raja Chemayel

Posted by Тлакскала at 1:19 PM

TO ISRAEL WITH LOVE ...

Source


Israel claimed and still claiming that they don't target civilians. I wonder what would have been the case if they did?!

There is a message in Hebrew from a Palestinian grandfather to Ehud Barak.

Translation:

"I want to say someting ... this little child - what did he do to Barak? WHAT DID HE DO TO BARAK?? Look, look, look what he has in his head (pointing to the bullet hole) look what he has as well here (pointing to the bullet hole in the other little one's torso) .. what does Barak ask for the elections ... this, THIS is what he does to little children (pointing again to the bullet holes in the chest of the second little one). Bullets .. bullets ... bullets he gives to them .. what for??
Look this little kid, three and a half yrears old .. folks, THREE AND A HALF YEARS OLD (pointing to the two bullet holes in his chest) ... really, with YOUR kids, would you agree to that? You would BURN the ones who do that!!"
~
osted by Karin at 9:53 PM

The Victims... watching fireworks over Gaza.

Source

Talmud in Action


Israeli ornitologists in action


A tower of white smoke rose from the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun after another Israeli bombardment Monday morning, and a half-dozen
Israelis, perched on a dusty hilltop, gazed at the scene like armchair military strategists. Avi Pilchick took a long swig of Pepsi and propped a foot on the plastic patio chair he had carried up the hillside to watch the fighting. "They are doing good," Pilchick, 20, said of Israeli forces battling Palestinian militants in Gaza, "but they can do more. ( Angry Arab )


Avi Pilchick (seated, foreground in white shirt) observes military operations in the Gaza Strip along with other Israeli civilians from a hilltop in Sderot, Israel, on Jan. 5. (MCT image via
Newscom)




And this is what they see:

// posted by Gabriel @ 7:05:00 PM

‘Why Not Kill All Gazans?’

January 6, 2009 in News by James Bovard 35 comments

Reading the justifications that Israeli supporters are offering for the IDF assault, I don’t see any rationale being offered that would not justify killing everyone in Gaza.

If a single rocket is fired from Gaza territory, does that mean that everyone living in that area has automatically forfeited their life? The New York Times notes today that Israeli supporters believe that “the issue of proportionality… is a false construct because comparing death tolls offers no help in measuring justice and legitimacy.”

And we are obliged to accept whatever exonerations are offered by the IDF and their apologists. Max Blumenthal had an excellent piece on Huffington Post on the response to the initial IDF attacks on Gaza:
Almost as soon as the first Israeli missile struck the Gaza Strip, a veteran cheering squad suited up to support the home team. “Israel is so scrupulous about civilian life,” Charles Krauthammer claimed in the Washington Post. Echoing Krauthammer, Alan Dershowitz called the Israeli attack on Gaza, “Perfectly ‘Proportionate.’” And in the New York Times, Israeli historian Benny Morris described his country’s airstrikes as “highly efficient.” …. “It was Israel at its best,” Yossi Klein Halevi declared in the New Republic.

The cheering by Bush and top Republicans and Democrats for the bombing of the Gaza concentration camp epitomizes how the American political leadership has learned nothing since 9/11. The United States will be blamed for atrocities committed with American weapons and planes.
[This comment is also posted at my blog here]

---

Brave IDF Soldaten Destroy UN-run Schools Sheltering Refugees

Click on image to enlarge

Oy, these Palestinian people are so naive, I just have to shake my head.

Did the arabs really think that they could escape our bombers and our tanks, and run to find shelter in the UN-run schools after their homes were destroyed?

Nu shoin, the farcockteh hamasniks are finally finding out that there is nowhere to hide.

They seem to have forgotten that the Jewnited Nations is working with us. Don't they remember 1947, when the UN gave us their country, their land and their houses?

The arabs cannot even get a ceasefire resolution passed at the UN! And after sixty years of ethnic cleansing, they still don't get it that no rules apply during war.

If you don't believe me, ask Americe.

United Against terrorism

Americe - the USA, where else?
Farcockteh - all fucked up. "It used to be a nice neighborhood, but now it's all farcockt." As an adjective, it's "farcockteh." "This is a farcockteh neighborhood."

Witnesses to Israel's war crimes

Rami Almeghari writing from the occupied Gaza Strip, Live from Palestine, 6 January 2009




Palestinians take refuge in a UNRWA school in Rafah after being forced to flee their homes in the southern Gaza Strip, 6 January 2009. (Hatem Omar/MaanImages)

"At about 2am early this morning, a group of Israeli soldiers broke into my house. They began screaming loudly, smashing everything in front of them, destroying the house completely," Nasir Hejo, 38, said on Monday, with a weary face, uncombed hair and bare feet.

"They shouted at us, forced out of the house. We wanted to move right after they attacked us. They ordered us to move south. Soldiers began shooting at us, killing my 17-old-year," Nasir stated.

After their flight from their one-story house next to the Tawhid mosque, on the outskirts of Gaza City, Nasir Hejo and 20 family members fled to a school run by the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Israel claims to have attacked 1,000 of what it calls "Hamas targets." Independent media, UN aid officials and human rights organizations have documented that most of these attacks struck private homes, mosques, universities, schools, government buildings, police stations and charities. As of 6 January, the death toll from the Israeli attack approached 600 with thousands more injured.

Surrounded by his crying children at the elementary school for girls, Hejo added that the Israeli army was heavily deployed around his neighborhood, from the eastern part of Gaza City, close to the Handasiya cement company, a local landmark.

Hejo and the other family members fled after being forced to leave by the Israeli soldiers but his wife and brother remained behind to try to handle the death of his son.

"They killed my brother, they attacked our home, they even messed up the salt and sugar cans," Hejo's 18-year-old daughter said while crying on her father's shoulder.

This is just one of many stories of atrocities Palestinians can recount since Israel began its all-out bombardment of the Gaza Strip on 27 December followed by an ongoing land invasion.

About 600 Palestinian men, women and children were also sheltering the school after fleeing a massive onslaught on their homes in the Moghraqa village in southern Gaza City.

Muhammad Abu Sido (Rami Almeghari)

Eisa Abu Sido, 54, who lived in that area, said that his sons Muhammad and Esam were struck a couple of days ago, inside the family's home.

"The 1967 Israeli-Arab war was not as fierce as what is going on nowadays," Abu Sido Said. "That war only lasted six days with no great loss observed, but this is not a war, this is ethnic cleansing."

Standing close to his wife in front of the classroom that is now their shelter, Abu Sido appealed to all the world to save Gaza from the Israeli atrocities.

"For God's sake, I appeal to all nations around the world to save Gaza," he screamed.

The schools' sports field is now full of displaced residents, like the Abu Hwaishel family, who sat in the sun, trying to warm up from the winter weather.

"The situation is so miserable and we are out in the open As you see we are gathering here under sun," said Ibrahim Abu Hwaishel, 45, "when the night falls our flesh creeps from the cold."

UNRWA schools all over Gaza have become shelters for displaced people, but they are by no means safe. On Tuesday, one such school in the Jabaliya refugee camp just east of Gaza City, was hit by Israeli shells, at least 30 civilians who were sheltering there. Another Israeli attack on a school in the same area killed three according to medical officials.

According to UNRWA, thousands of people from various areas of the Gaza Strip have been forced to flee the Israeli shelling day and night. But there are few places to seek shelter in the besieged, densely packed coastal territory.

"The situation in Gaza is deteriorating rapidly, 25 percent of killed are children and women," UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna told EI. "The food assistance we have meets the needs of the people for six days only. We provide blankets and other items to these displaced people, but there is no doubt that their conditions are so difficult, and we are currently evaluating the situation as well as their needs."

Rami Almeghari is contributor to The Electronic Intifada, IMEMC.org and Free Speech Radio News and is a part-time lecturer on media and political translation at the Islamic University of Gaza. Rami is also a former senior English translator at and editor-in-chief of the international press center of the Gaza-based Palestinian Information Service. He can be contacted at rami_almeghari A T hotmail D O T com.


Related Links

• Gaza massacres (27 December 2008)

Uncovered Plot Paid By America For Fatah To Create A Civil War In Gaza With Hamas

After failing to anticipate Hamas’s victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, the author reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever.


The United States has been involved in the affairs of the Palestinian territories since the Six-Day War of 1967, when Israel captured Gaza from Egypt and the West Bank from Jordan. With the 1993 Oslo accords, the territories acquired limited autonomy, under a president, who has executive powers, and an elected parliament. Israel retains a large military presence in the West Bank, but it withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

In recent months, President Bush has repeatedly stated that the last great ambition of his presidency is to broker a deal that would create a viable Palestinian state and bring peace to the Holy Land. “People say, ‘Do you think it’s possible, during your presidency?’ ” he told an audience in Jerusalem on January 9. “And the answer is: I’m very hopeful.
”
The next day, in the West Bank capital of Ramallah, Bush acknowledged that there was a rather large obstacle standing in the way of this goal: Hamas’s complete control of Gaza, home to some 1.5 million Palestinians, where it seized power in a bloody coup d’état in June 2007. Almost every day, militants fire rockets from Gaza into neighboring Israeli towns, and President Abbas is powerless to stop them. His authority is limited to the West Bank.

It’s “a tough situation,” Bush admitted. “I don’t know whether you can solve it in a year or not.” What Bush neglected to mention was his own role in creating this mess.

According to Dahlan, it was Bush who had pushed legislative elections in the Palestinian territories in January 2006, despite warnings that Fatah was not ready.
After Hamas—whose 1988 charter committed it to the goal of driving Israel into the sea—won control of the parliament, Bush made another, deadlier miscalculation.

Vanity Fair has obtained confidential documents, since corroborated by sources in the U.S. and Palestine, which lay bare a covert initiative, approved by Bush and implemented by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams, to provoke a Palestinian civil war.


The plan was for forces led by Dahlan, and armed with new weapons supplied at America’s behest, to give Fatah the muscle it needed to remove the democratically elected Hamas-led government from power. (The State Department declined to comment.)

But the secret plan backfired, resulting in a further setback for American foreign policy under Bush.

Instead of driving its enemies out of power, the U.S.-backed Fatah fighters inadvertently provoked Hamas to seize total control of Gaza.
Some sources call the scheme “Iran-contra 2.0,” recalling that Abrams was convicted (and later pardoned) for withholding information from Congress during the original Iran-contra scandal under President Reagan. There are echoes of other past misadventures as well: the C.I.A.’s 1953 ouster of an elected prime minister in Iran, which set the stage for the 1979 Islamic revolution there; the aborted 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, which gave Fidel Castro an excuse to solidify his hold on Cuba; and the contemporary tragedy in Iraq.
Within the Bush administration, the Palestinian policy set off a furious debate.
One of its critics is David Wurmser, the avowed neoconservative, who resigned as Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief Middle East adviser in July 2007, a month after the Gaza coup.

Wurmser accuses the Bush administration of “engaging in a dirty war in an effort to provide a corrupt dictatorship [led by Abbas] with victory.” He believes that Hamas had no intention of taking Gaza until Fatah forced its hand. “It looks to me that what happened wasn’t so much a coup by Hamas but an attempted coup by Fatah that was pre-empted before it could happen,” Wurmser says.

The botched plan has rendered the dream of Middle East peace more remote than ever, but what really galls neocons such as Wurmser is the hypocrisy it exposed. “There is a stunning disconnect between the president’s call for Middle East democracy and this policy,” he says. “It directly contradicts it.”

Preventive Security
Bush was not the first American president to form a relationship with Muhammad Dahlan. “Yes, I was close to Bill Clinton,” Dahlan says. “I met Clinton many times with [the late Palestinian leader Yasser] Arafat.” In the wake of the 1993 Oslo accords, Clinton sponsored a series of diplomatic meetings aimed at reaching a permanent Middle East peace, and Dahlan became the Palestinians’ negotiator on security.
As I talk to Dahlan in a five-star Cairo hotel, it’s easy to see the qualities that might make him attractive to American presidents.
His appearance is immaculate, his English is serviceable, and his manner is charming and forthright.
Had he been born into privilege, these qualities might not mean much.
But Dahlan was born—on September 29, 1961—in the teeming squalor of Gaza’s Khan Younis refugee camp, and his education came mostly from the street.
In 1981 he helped found Fatah’s youth movement, and he later played a leading role in the first intifada—the five-year revolt that began in 1987 against the Israeli occupation. In all, Dahlan says, he spent five years in Israeli jails

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/04/gaza200804/?

The Good Jew

The lite Zionists continue to breathlessly report on the status of the debate within the 'community', as if anybody could give a rat's ass.

Somebody writes something crazy - well, crazy in the sense that it exactly reflects Israeli national policy - like 'let's kill them all', and somebody else responds by stating that the Jews are moral - unlike everybody else - and probably should kill a little more slowly. Whatever.

But what about all the prominent Jews in the world of entertainment, the arts, and general celebrity? They are not exactly shy about expressing their opinions on anything else. What do they think about the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians? Which prominent Jewish American 'liberal' has come out with a comment that genocide might just perhaps be wrong?

Just one. The Good Jew. The only Good Jew. Roseanne Barr (her blog):

"starting with Rahm Emmanuel

remove israel's influence from american government! Their occupation of and brutality against their neighbors is the real reason we were attacked on 9-11!
Israelis must dismantle their war state and make peace or die.
Israeli soldiers must resist the urge to follow their nazi leaders blindly and refuse to 'obey orders' to kill UNARMED STARVING CHILDREN in Gaza. the UN must step in and must investigate Israel!"

and:

"i told my friend don't go!

I said Israel will attack any boat carrying doctors and medical supplies - they have turned away the red cross already and all medical and food assistance. Israel is a NAZI state. The Jewish Soul is being tortured in Israel. The destruction of the jews in Israel has been assured with this inhuman attack on civilians in gaza. Hamas is the street gang - this is equivilent to los angeles attacking and launching war on the people of watts to attempt to kill the bloods and the crips."

Of course, she's taking hell for it.

40 Palestinians killed in IDF strike on UN school

THIS IS COLD BLOODED MURDER!!!

WHERE IS THE WORLD? WHERE ARE THE JUDGES?

Last update - 17:11 06/01/2009
By News Agencies

Israel Defense Forces tank fire killed up to 40 Palestinians at a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medical sources at two hospitals said.

The attack brought the Palestinian death toll to nearly 600 in Israel's 11-day offensive on the Hamas-ruled coastal territory.

Two tank shells exploded outside the Gaza school, spraying shrapnel on people inside and outside the building, where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge from fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants. In addition to the dead, several dozen people were wounded, the officials said.

Medical officials said all the dead were either people sheltering in the school or local residents.



Also on Tuesday, Israel Air Force warplanes struck a building in Gaza in which the head of Hamas' rocket division was staying. It was not immediately clear whether Ayman Sayam was hit in the attack, which occurred in the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.

"There's nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorized and traumatized," said John Ging, the top UN official in Gaza, blaming the international community for allowing the violence to continue.

"I am appealing to political leaders here and in the region and the world to get their act together and stop this," he said, speaking at Gaza's largest hospital. "They are responsible for these deaths."

The Israel Defense Forces had no comment on the incident, but in the past has accused militants of using schools, mosques and residential neighborhoods to store weapons or launch attacks.

Earlier Tuesday, Palestinian medical officials reported that 10 civilians were killed when a shell fired by an Israeli ship hit their house on the Gaza shore.

Officials in Gaza said at least 20 people were killed in shelling up and down the strip on Tuesday. Only two of the dead could could be immediately confirmed as militants.

United Nations humanitarian chief John Holmes has recently put the Palestinian death toll at 500, with about 125 of them civilians, since Israel launched Operation Cast Lead against Hamas in Gaza.

Gaza health officials, however, have reported that since the offensive began on Dec. 27 more than 550 Palestinians have been killed and 2,500 wounded, including 200 civilians.

Israel's stated goals in the operation are the cessation of Palestinian cross-border rocket fire and the destruction of the Islamist militant group Hamas' infrastructure.

SOURCE

Posted by Karin at 4:44 PM

Israel Elite Brigade Toll Climbs;Gaza Quagmire Deepens

Mohamad Shmaysani

06/01/2009 …

It’s the eleventh day of the Israeli offensive on Gaza and the fourth day of the ground operation. 11 days have passed and Israel has so failed to achieve any clear objective; a reason to dump all calls for ceasefire. On the ninth of January, PA chief Mahmoud Abbas’s term ends and on the twentieth of January US President Barack Obama takes the oath. Time is not in Israel’s favor as elections are a few weeks ahead. The political confusion has been reflected recently on the battleground in Gaza. Israeli elite soldiers are getting killed, at least 3 on Monday night alone and settlers are still haunted by Palestinian resistance rockets. Practically, nothing has changed in Gaza for Israel to save face. The stigma of Israel’s blood thirst in Gaza, however, adds another paragraph to the books of Israel’s reference to massacres.

At least 23 Palestinians were killed in shelling up and down the Gaza strip early on Tuesday. Israeli strikes hit two separate schools run by the United Nations in the Gaza Strip, killing at least five Palestinians, medics and UN officials said. Two people were killed in a strike on a school in the southern of Khan Yunis and three people were killed in an air strike on a school in Gaza City, they said. Both schools are run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
Palestinian medical sources earlier said that 10 Palestinian civilians were killed in Deir al-Balah when an Israeli ship fired shells at their house. Officials confirmed that of Tuesday’s 23 martyrs, only two were identified as resistance fighters.

On Monday, more than 33 civilians, including children, were killed on in the Israeli ground offensive, medics said.

The death toll in Gaza rose to at least 575 martyrs and more than 2,780. Among Monday's 33 civilian victims were 13 members of a Palestinian family killed in an Israeli strike on their home in a refugee camp, Palestinian medical officials said.

Meanwhile, four Israeli soldiers from the elite Golani Brigade have been killed in Gaza Monday night according to Israeli media, bringing the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the ground offensive according to Israeli media sources to 5. 24 other soldiers were injured including the Golani Brigade commander Col. Avi Peled, whose injuries were described as serious, according to Israeli media. The Israeli story was that the soldiers came under friendly fire.

Tactically, elite soldiers being killed by friendly fire has less impact than elite soldiers being killed by a few resistance fighters.

However the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, confirmed that at least ten soldiers have been killed and more than 30 others were injured in an ambush for resistance fighters. Qassam Brigades source said resistance fighters have brought gradually an elite unite of the Golani Brigade to a booby-trapped house in northern Gaza. The source added that when soldiers rammed into the house, it was blown up and resistance fighters then rained the trapped soldiers with bullets and grenades. Israeli helicopters evacuated the trapped soldiers under the cover of heavy fire and bombardment. The Qassam Brigades said it will unveil the details of this “special operation” later.

"We have prepared thousands of brave fighters who are waiting for you at each corner of the street and will welcome you with fire and iron," Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas armed wing the Ezzedine

Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a broadcast Monday.

"We tell you in all confidence that your defeat in the Gaza Strip is approaching with every hour," he said. "As long as the aggression intensifies, your losses will increase and you will sink further into the Gaza quagmire. "God willing, we are at the gates of victory and the Zionists will suffer only defeat and humiliation. The Qassams still have many means and have up to now used only a small part of their forces," Abu Obeida said.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak told lawmakers that Hamas had been dealt a heavy blow: "But we cannot say that its fighting capabilities have been harmed," he said. "Difficult moments lie ahead in this operation and the main test could still be ahead."

Our Country is a Graveyard

Welcome to Israel, happy American immigrants. The price Palestinians pay for your smiles is immense. Enjoy your life built upon destroyed villages and Palestinian graves! Hope the spirits don't rise up one day and make life too unpleasant for you.

Our Country is a Graveyard

by Palestinian poet Mahmud Darwish

Gentlemen, you have transformed

our country into a graveyard

You have planted bullets in our heads,

and organized massacres

Gentlemen, nothing passes like that

without account

All that you have done

to our people is

registered in notebooks

translated by Asad AbuKhalil

Every day we follow the same routine. We try to sleep from 6pm to 6am because there is no electricity. When we sleep we turn the radio up to cover the noise of the drones flying overhead and the bombs. Every day we go out looking for water, food and bread. I'm always buying batteries for the radio. We haven't had electricity for five days and fuel is low so we turn the generator on for two hours a day to charge up our mobile phones and lights. Hani Abu Komali in Gaza City in the Guardian's 'Everyone is looking for their relatives to kiss them goodbye'

posted by umkahlil @ 6:52 AM

Under Siege By Mahmoud Darwish -1942-2008

Under Siege

Mahmoud Darwish -1942-2008

Here on the slopes of hills, facing the dusk and the cannon of time
Close to the gardens of broken shadows,
We do what prisoners do,
And what the jobless do:
We cultivate hope.

***

A country preparing for dawn. We grow less intelligent
For we closely watch the hour of victory:
No night in our night lit up by the shelling
Our enemies are watchful and light the light for us
In the darkness of cellars.

***
Here there is no “I”.
Here Adam remembers the dust of his clay.

***
On the verge of death, he says:
I have no trace left to lose:
Free I am so close to my liberty. My future lies in my own hand.
Soon I shall penetrate my life,
I shall be born free and parentless,
And as my name I shall choose azure letters…

***
You who stand in the doorway, come in,
Drink Arabic coffee with us
And you will sense that you are men like us
You who stand in the doorways of houses
Come out of our morningtimes,
We shall feel reassured to be
Men like you!

***
When the planes disappear, the white, white doves
Fly off and wash the cheeks of heaven
With unbound wings taking radiance back again, taking possession
Of the ether and of play. Higher, higher still, the white, white doves
Fly off. Ah, if only the sky
Were real [a man passing between two bombs said to me].

***
Cypresses behind the soldiers, minarets protecting
The sky from collapse. Behind the hedge of steel
Soldiers piss—under the watchful eye of a tank—
And the autumnal day ends its golden wandering in
A street as wide as a church after Sunday mass…

***
[To a killer] If you had contemplated the victim’s face
And thought it through, you would have remembered your mother in the
Gas chamber, you would have been freed from the reason for the rifle
And you would have changed your mind: this is not the way
to find one’s identity again.

***
The siege is a waiting period
Waiting on the tilted ladder in the middle of the storm.

***
Alone, we are alone as far down as the sediment
Were it not for the visits of the rainbows.

***
We have brothers behind this expanse.
Excellent brothers. They love us. They watch us and weep.
Then, in secret, they tell each other:
“Ah! if this siege had been declared…” They do not finish their sentence:
“Don’t abandon us, don’t leave us.”

***
Our losses: between two and eight martyrs each day.
And ten wounded.
And twenty homes.
And fifty olive trees…
Added to this the structural flaw that
Will arrive at the poem, the play, and the unfinished canvas.

***
A woman told the cloud: cover my beloved
For my clothing is drenched with his blood.

***
If you are not rain, my love
Be tree
Sated with fertility, be tree
If you are not tree, my love
Be stone
Saturated with humidity, be stone
If you are not stone, my love
Be moon
In the dream of the beloved woman, be moon
[So spoke a woman
to her son at his funeral]

***
Oh watchmen! Are you not weary
Of lying in wait for the light in our salt
And of the incandescence of the rose in our wound
Are you not weary, oh watchmen?

***

A little of this absolute and blue infinity
Would be enough
To lighten the burden of these times
And to cleanse the mire of this place.

***
It is up to the soul to come down from its mount
And on its silken feet walk
By my side, hand in hand, like two longtime
Friends who share the ancient bread
And the antique glass of wine
May we walk this road together
And then our days will take different directions:
I, beyond nature, which in turn
Will choose to squat on a high-up rock.

***
On my rubble the shadow grows green,
And the wolf is dozing on the skin of my goat
He dreams as I do, as the angel does
That life is here…not over there.

***
In the state of siege, time becomes space
Transfixed in its eternity
In the state of siege, space becomes time
That has missed its yesterday and its tomorrow.

***
The martyr encircles me every time I live a new day
And questions me: Where were you? Take every word
You have given me back to the dictionaries
And relieve the sleepers from the echo’s buzz.

***
The martyr enlightens me: beyond the expanse
I did not look
For the virgins of immortality for I love life
On earth, amid fig trees and pines,
But I cannot reach it, and then, too, I took aim at it
With my last possession: the blood in the body of azure.

***
The martyr warned me: Do not believe their ululations
Believe my father when, weeping, he looks at my photograph
How did we trade roles, my son, how did you precede me.
I first, I the first one!

***
The martyr encircles me: my place and my crude furniture are all that

I have changed.
I put a gazelle on my bed,
And a crescent of moon on my finger
To appease my sorrow.

***
The siege will last in order to convince us we must choose an

enslavement that does no harm, in fullest liberty!

***
Resisting means assuring oneself of the heart’s health,
The health of the testicles and of your tenacious disease:
The disease of hope.

***
And in what remains of the dawn, I walk toward my exterior
And in what remains of the night, I hear the sound of footsteps inside me.

***
Greetings to the one who shares with me an attention to
The drunkenness of light, the light of the butterfly, in the
Blackness of this tunnel!

***
Greetings to the one who shares my glass with me
In the denseness of a night outflanking the two spaces:
Greetings to my apparition.

***
My friends are always preparing a farewell feast for me,
A soothing grave in the shade of oak trees
A marble epitaph of time
And always I anticipate them at the funeral:
Who then has died…who?

***
Writing is a puppy biting nothingness
Writing wounds without a trace of blood.

***
Our cups of coffee. Birds green trees
In the blue shade, the sun gambols from one wall
To another like a gazelle
The water in the clouds has the unlimited shape of what is left to us
Of the sky. And other things of suspended memories
Reveal that this morning is powerful and splendid,
And that we are the guests of eternity.


-Translated by Marjolijn De Jager.

LIVE FROM GAZA ~~ DAY 10 OF THE ISRAELI BLITZKRIEG

January 6, 2009 at 7:11 am (Ethnic Cleansing, Gaza, Genocide, Guest Blog, Israel, Palestine, War Crimes)

Day 10 of Israeli War On Gaza
Death toll 600, injured 2800, New “Nakhba” & Refugees

By Sameh A. Habeeb, A Photojournalist, Humanitarian & Peace Activist in Gaza Strip.

Gaza Strip, Israeli War on Gaza still rise up in various points through the occupied Gaza Strip. More civilians killed in opposition of Israeli announced aim of hitting the Hamas militants. Monday morning a massacre happened in Al Zaytoun Quarter as Israeli army gathered around 30 persons in one house and then bombed them. Medical sources said that 14 killed and 60 injured. Around 10 of them children some are women and some other youth old people.

The heaviest ongoing bombing of Air forces and artillery shells pushed thousands of civilians to internally I migrate to the western areas of the Strip. Ironically, the western areas are not safer to be taken a shelter by those new refugees as Israeli naval gunboats await for them. Many bombs were fired from these vessels killing family in Al Shati’ camp and injured sveral other in Al Nusairat Refugee Camp.

In the north of Gaza, thousands of Bait Hanon residents of and eastern Jabalia are leaving their homes into the western areas.

Humanitarian conditions severely exacerbated. Civilians don’t have drinking water nor any kind of water for daily use. Add to that, basics of food like bread, cocking oil, rice, beans and sugar are no longer available in the markets.

Meanwhile, medical sector is totally paralyzed due to lack of human resources from cadre and doctors and a severe shortage in medicines and medical tools. The amount of victims is obviously huger than the abilities of the already arduous hospitals which suffer a siege of 18 months.


Deadly Outcomes of Israeli Ground Military Operation:

1- Israeli air force bombarded many houses at Al shati’ Refugee Camp. Medical sources said that 35 Palestinians wounded.

2-Israeli Air strike from Apache helicopters targeted a 3-floor-house for Al Ghandour family in Al Daraj area. An Atmosphere of fear and panic through put residents of the area.

3-Air strike on Omar Bin Abd Al ziz mosque and many people injured in the area.

4-Two Palestinians wounded as Israeli air raid targeted a house in Al Zaytoun area. Another air raid hit a workshop in Al daraj area and many people injured.

5-A number of casualties and wounded as Israeli air force targeted a house near a mosque in Al Zaytoun quarter.

6-Many houses burned and destroyed in a heavy bombing in Al Zaytoun Area.
7-Israeli airforce retargeted Al Uma College in Al Nasir Quarter west north of Gaza Strip.

8-One Palestinian killed and 5 wounded in an air raid on civilian car in Al Shati’ Refugee Camp.

9-A rocket destroyed to rubble “Light society” which is a charity working in support of orphans and needy Palestinians. The society includes a physical therapy section for the poorest. The society is linked to Al Jihad Islamist movement.

10-Three Palestinians killed, 9 wounded in an Israeli air raid due to a bomb turned a house to rubbles in Al Nusairat Refugee Camp.

11-A house for the Popular Front key leader, Jameel Mizhar, partially destroyed in Al Nusairat Refugee Camp.

12-A group of civilians bombed in Al Nusairat Refugee Camp. Many injured but mostly with light wounds.


13-Israeli soldiers occupied most of civilians houses in Juhr El Dik.

12-Three Palestinians died due to their injuries in Egypt. They were lately wounded in Gaza and referred to Egypt.

13-Two civilians wounded due to an air raid targeted a house for Al Samoni family in Al Zaytoun Quarter.

14- A Massacre: Samuni family says: Israeli soldiers gather 30 persons from Al Samoni family in one house. Ten families were in the house from the same clan. Many civilians were killed as artillery shells bombed the house. The number of victims around 14, most of them are children and women. Some are in critical conditions!

15-Two wounded due to a rocket hit the house of Othman Ghaleb in Al Nusairat Refugee Camp.

16-A house of Sayed Baroud in the Al Nusairat Refugee Camp hit. The house was damaged and many neighboring houses too. The houses based in a densely populated Refugee camp.

17-Three Palestinians killed from Abd Al Dayim family due to a bombing in Bait Hanon town north of Gaza Strip.

18- Airstrike from drones near AL huda mosque in Yibna in Rafah town.

19-Israeli tanks and after launching new bases; its soldiers open fire and artillery shells on buildings of Al Zahra’ City. Many buildings partially damaged and burnt.

20-A body of a woman killed three days ago still unreachable due to Israeli heavy fire on Bait lahia town. The killed woman from Abu Samaha family.

21-A new sky rocket destroyed the house of Ibrhaim Abu Al Naja in Rafah City.

22-Israeli soldiers stormed into Abu Khosa house and many people wounded due to Israeli gunfire.

23-A fire ignited in a cement factory near Zimo Crossings east of Jabalia City. The fire resulted in Israeli artillery shells.

24-Israeli soldiers took a school shelter and many civilians in the same school.

25- Air raid targeted a shop of money exchange in Remal quarter mid of Gaza City. Shrapnel hit many shops around and some lightly injured.

26-Doctors in Al Shifa’ hospital: Many burnt bodied arrived to Al Shifa’ hospital and some bodies torn to pieces.

27-Medical statistics: 90 civilians mostly women and children killed with the start of military operation 48 hours ago.

28-Rockets hit some farming and populated spaces in Khan Yonis City. Several trauma cases arrived to Nasir hospital in the city.

29-Two houses bombarded in Al amal quarter. One of the houses belongs to Yasir Hamadan and the other one belongs to Nedal Kollab.

30- A house belongs to Khail family destroyed by an Aritliary shell in Al Zaytoun area. Residents of the house were directky injured in the bombings.

31-Four families trapped in their houses in Jabal El Kashif area north of the occupied Gaza strip.

32-50 people wounded on the ongoing deadly shelling from the Israeli tanks east of Gaza City, Jabal al rayis area. The shelling targeted Mahalh family and many children are being wounded.

32- A five-year-old girl and her grandfather from Al Helu family killed in Israeli shell. The Some of family members are in critical conditions including the mother.

33- A number of tunnels hit in Rafah City south of Gaza Strip.

34-Israeli army destroyed a house to rubbles into Jabalia town near Al salam mosque.

35-Israeli army gets closer and closer to the densely populated area in al zayoutn area east south.

36-Three Palestinian militants killed due to Israeli rockets targeted them in Gaza City.

37-Three children and their mother killed during a shell hit their house in Al shija’ya area east of Gaza. The victims were in their house during the shelling. Their bodies were torn to pieces.

38-A Palestinian bleeds near Al zayotun quarter and paramedics not able to reach him. No news of he is still alive or he died.

39-Abd Al salam hilis, wounded near Jabalia, he is still in the same place and unreachable due to the Israeli heavy fire.

40-A number of civilians wounded and maybe injured due to a bombing targeted their house in Al Zaytoun area. Victims still unreachable due to the flaming situation in that Quarter.

41-A rocket targeted house of Al harzaeen family in Sika area between Al Shij’ya and Zaytoun Quarter.

42-A Palestinian woman killed in her house in Al Moghraqa quarter mid of Gaza City. Three civilians wounded in his area which is out of resistance as Israel occupied it yesterday.

43-Naval gunboats raided on Al Nusairat Refugee Camp and many people wounded in the action.

44-Two Palestinians killed 2 days ago in Bait Hanon, paramedics unable to reach them till now.

45-Two Palestinian women from Hajaj family killed in Juhr El Dik town east sout of Gaza City.

46-Fuel stockpile runs out from Al Awda hospital northern Gaza Strip. Medical Paramedics of the hospital were targeted many times by Israeli fire.

43-Palestinian killed while driving his motorcycle in Gaza due to an Israeli rocket fire by a drone.

44-Bloody clashes between Palestinian factions and Israeli organized army east of Gaza City. Israeli army is firing back using Apache and heavy artillery shells. Many people wounded and no upcoming news if militants are being targeted.
45-Israeli air force targeted many houses in Gaza Strip.


Source

New Jewish Australian Committee for Dismantling of Zionism

We are part of an increasing number of people around the world of Jewish descent who are sickened by the coldly calculated massacre of the Palestinians of Gaza and who utterly repudiate Israel's claim that it acts in the name of Jews the world over.

Like Antony Loewenstein we deplore the 'myth of Israel' as perpetual victim and rational peace seeker, and its stranglehold over media reportage of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The massacre in Gaza cries out not only for immediate condemnation but for historical explanation. As scholars working in the fields of genocide studies and research into the long history of European colonization, it seems clear to us that Israel as in the history of white Australia since 1788 - is a genocidal settler colonial society that since its founding in 1948 continually seeks to destroy the foundations of life of the indigenous Palestinians, their health, dignity, livelihood, personal security, access to education, and political organization, so that the Palestinians can be replaced by colonizing Zionist settlers.

 Recent genocide scholarship has highlighted how much the original definition of genocide (by Raphael Lemkin in chapter nine of his 1944
book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe) linked genocide and colonization as a two stage process of destruction of the home society (not necessarily by physical annihilation qua Nazism) and replacement by the incoming colonizers.

 Such has been the continuing historical pattern of Israel in relation to the indigenous people of the land. In 1948 the Zionist forces violently drove out over 700,000 Palestinians by deploying 'admonitory massacres', as the Israeli historian Ilan Pappé has evoked in horrific detail in his recent

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006). Pappé details the continuous series of massacres in 1948-49 and sporadically thereafter that the Zionists perpetrated against the Palestinians in order to 'Judaize' ethnically-cleansed Palestinian lands. In 1967 the Israeli state conquered the West Bank and Gaza and has aggressively continued a genocidal pattern of replacement and  destruction, creating and expanding Jewish settlements, stealing Palestinian land and ghettoizing remaining Palestinian communities, attempting, through a brutal military occupation, to make life humiliating and unbearable  for the Palestinians. 

 What we are now witnessing is a form of settler colonization reminiscent of nineteenth century

Australia, in which a settler colonial 'logic of elimination' (to quote historian of settler

colonialism, Patrick Wolfe) combines massacre and population sequestration

(reserves) to incapacitate the sovereign self  determination of an indigenous people.

Yet  indigenous peoples have always resisted the genocidal  processes of destruction

and replacement that settler colonialism enacts. 

The indigenous peoples of Australia have magnificently resisted and still do, despite all their

historical sufferings. The indigenous Palestinians as a people are also resisting the disaster that Zionism and Israel have brought upon them, thereby providing the

continuing possibility of a future coexistence between Israeli Jews and Palestinians.                 

 The Decemb 2008 - 2009 Gaza massacre by Zionist Israel poses an intense dilemma for Israel's organized Jewish supporters and

much of the Jewish diaspora, who have for decades cooperated with and been complicit

in the ongoing, incremental Israeli genocide of the Palestinians. Israel is guilty under article II, part C of the UN Genocide Convention, in that it intends to destroy, in whole or in part, an ethnic group by 'deliberately inflicting on

the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part'. 

 Will the Jews of the world continue to be so supportive, or will they historically disavow genocidal settler colonialism in the Middle East and question their own previous support? Historically,

Israel is the imposition of a European nation state, founded on the notion of one people, one religion, one ethnicity, in an area of the

world, the Levant, which through the centuries has been a space where Jews, Muslims and

Christians have lived together in the same societies.



The very idea so precious to Zionism, of Israel as a Jewish state, is absurd, as the great Jewish jurist and Australian governor-general Isaac Isaacs pointed

out in the 1940s.



What if Australia called itself a Protestant state, immediately making all non-Protestants

second class citizens systematically facing abuse, discrimination, and state violence, as

Palestinian Israelis  do to the present day?



Israel/Palestine should become a democratic state, a democracy where all who live in that land are

 full citizens whatever their religion or ethnicity.

The Australian government not that long ago in its apology over the Stolen Generations extended sympathy and understanding to the

indigenous people of Australia.



Why doesn't it extend a similar sympathy to the indigenous people of Palestine? 

 John Docker Ned Curthoys

Committee for the Dismantling of Zionism  

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