CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Alright. Time to Nuke it all from orbit. It is the only way to be sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Israeli boats firing on Gaza. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Bodies for Ballots They say when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. But when you are a politician and all you have is a hammer, you must convince voters every problem looks like a nail. This is the only thinking that can explain Israel’s behavior in escalating bombardment of Gaza. The Israeli spin machines are out in full force in the hopes of convincing Israelis and the rest of the world that the attacks on Gaza are in self-defense. But anyone following the situation closely and over time will tell you that cannot be the case. Gaza is a tiny territory where 1.7 million Palestinians, most of whom are refugees, are denied the right to return to their homes simply because they are not Jewish. It is from this besieged territory that militants have fired mostly rudimentary projectiles at Israel. While Israeli officials are quick to rattle off the numbers of projectiles fired from Gaza, rarely do they tell you what they fire into Gaza, what the effects of this fire is and what the fallout from it is. For context, consider this: more Palestinians were killed in Gaza yesterday than Israelis have been killed by projectile fire from Gaza in the past three years. But the Israelis are also keeping another issue quiet. If you follow the dynamics of fire you will learn two things. First, the vast majority of projectiles from Gaza result in no injuries or deaths. Second, most of them are fired during “flare ups” which are initiated, more often than not, by Israeli strikes which cause significant casualties. Hamas has in the past worked to clamp down on factions firing projectiles, like Islamic Jihad and others. But when Israeli strikes target these organizations and kill and injure Palestinians in Gaza, it ignites responses that lead to flare ups. Israel does not like to admit it doesn’t have the military might to accomplish something. But when it comes to relations with Palestinians, and with Gaza in particular, there is no military solution. Israel has tried assassinating Palestinian leaders for decades but the resistance persists. Israel launched a devastating and brutal war on Gaza from 2008 to 2009 killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, but the resistance persists. Why, then, would Israel choose to revert to a failed strategy that will undoubtedly only escalate the situation? Because it is far easier for politicians to lie to voters, vilify their adversaries, and tell them ‘we will hit them hard’ than to come clean and say instead, ‘we’ve failed and there is no military solution to this problem.’ With Israeli elections around the corner, the right-wing Israeli government chose the counter-productive path of escalation even though civilians would pay the price and their domestic opposition rallied behind them. Trading bodies for ballots is an equation Israeli leaders are happy to be engaged in, especially since all the ballots are Israeli and the bodies are almost always Palestinian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 These reports are incorrect. Internet now taken down in Gaza. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Timeline of the last few days. The larger point about the timeline is that these acts of planned aggression by Israel happen after a US election, and before an Israeli one. It is their preferred window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Taking a pop at Tel Aviv wasn't the wisest idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted November 15, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted November 15, 2012 Doing pretty much anything militarily in that region isn't the wisest idea if you give even a second thought for humanity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Some journalist on twitter claims the Israeli MoD has authorised the mobilisation of 30,000 reserve troops. link Could be bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 The Israeli's live in a neighbourhood that has always been rough, surrounded by countries whose already religious societies are currently being swept by a new wave of fundamentalism that interprets compromise as weakness and treats it with contempt. Neither side is blameless but if you poke a lion often enough it shouldn't come as a surprise when you get bitten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 I thought Tony Bliar's comments on R4 earlier were interesting. When asked what he thought the route cause was he said that Israel was retaliating and if Hammas stops then Israel will stop. Good to see the peace envoy has taken a view on blame. When asked 'as a christian' if he was happy with recent events and deaths, his answer was that it was 'complicated'. But then I suppose condeming military action was going to be equally 'complicated' for the middle east peace envoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 I thought Tony Bliar's comments on R4 earlier were interesting. When asked what he thought the route cause was he said that Israel was retaliating and if Hammas stops then Israel will stop. Good to see the peace envoy has taken a view on blame. When asked 'as a christian' if he was happy with recent events and deaths, his answer was that it was 'complicated'. But then I suppose condeming military action was going to be equally 'complicated' for the middle east peace envoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 I thought Tony Bliar's comments on R4 earlier were interesting. When asked what he thought the route cause was he said that Israel was retaliating and if Hammas stops then Israel will stop. Good to see the peace envoy has taken a view on blame. When asked 'as a christian' if he was happy with recent events and deaths, his answer was that it was 'complicated'. But then I suppose condemning military action was going to be equally 'complicated' for the middle east peace envoy. I seem to recall that Blair had to cosy up to the Israeli's in order to secure a billion £ deal for Wataniya mobile and also for British Gas to drill just offshore of Gaza probably doesn't want to upset Israel for when he needs to make even more money of course that doesn't affect his role as peace envoy in any way ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 UN teacher killed in Gaza. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Reports that two Iranian Fajr-5 rockets struck in the area of Tel Aviv (fired from Gaza). Ground invasion looks almost certain now, imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Some journalist on twitter claims the Israeli MoD has authorised the mobilisation of 30,000 reserve troops. link Could be bullshit. It could also be Netanyahu getting in one last body shot before he's voted out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Ground invasion is not a product of two missiles. They will have planned this for weeks. Internet down again. Warplanes louder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Reuters are following it well and have a live stream up here although it is understandably dodgy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 The rockets landed in the sea. Again, its more evidence that the Israeli side of the story always gets far more press than the Palestinians. Maybe if the **** stopped building houses near the border with Gaza the rockets into Israeli territory would slow down a bit too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Obama's complicity is acknowledged and thanked, but the tweet has been deleted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 I seem to recall that Blair had to cosy up to the Israeli's in order to secure a billion £ deal for Wataniya mobile and also for British Gas to drill just offshore of Gaza probably doesn't want to upset Israel for when he needs to make even more money of course that doesn't affect his role as peace envoy in any way ..... Blair is getting £4m a year, reportedly, for his roles, one of which is "peace envoy". It is a sick joke that a war criminal can be a peace envoy. Still, once you've awarded Kissinger the Nobel Peace Prize, I suppose anything goes. His appearance on BBC radio news this evening was appalling. Calls for Gaza to stop sending rockets, so that the "retaliation" can end. Lying, duplicitous, amoral scum. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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