Friday, January 16, 2009
GROUNDHOG DAY
American novelist, essayist and law professor, Thane Rosenbaum's Op Ed in the Jerusalem Post - For Israel, every day is Groundhog Day is essential reading for those who want a clear and concise summation of Israel's dilemma in dealing with its neighbours.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
U.N. Agency That Runs School Hit in Gaza Employed Hamas and Islamic Jihad Members
OK. I know the source is Fox News and there might be some readers who might question Fox as a news source but this story has a strong ring of authenticity about it - U.N. Agency That Runs School Hit in Gaza Employed Hamas and Islamic Jihad Members.
"The United Nations agency that administers a school in Gaza where dozens of civilians were killed by Israeli mortar fire last week has admitted to employing terrorists to work at its Palestinian schools in the past, has no system in place to keep members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad off its payroll, and provides textbooks to children that contain hate speech and other incendiary information."
The report goes on to say:
In 2004, former UNRWA Commissioner-General Peter Hansen told the Canadian Broadcasting Company, "I am sure that there are Hamas members on the UNRWA payroll and I don't see that as a crime." He added, "We do not do political vetting and exclude people from one persuasion as against another."
It seems that UNRWA would like us to think that things are different these days because a "spokesman for UNRWA adamantly said that the agency is now free of terrorist connections."
Of course, the tooth fairy still works for UNRWA.
"The United Nations agency that administers a school in Gaza where dozens of civilians were killed by Israeli mortar fire last week has admitted to employing terrorists to work at its Palestinian schools in the past, has no system in place to keep members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad off its payroll, and provides textbooks to children that contain hate speech and other incendiary information."
The report goes on to say:
In 2004, former UNRWA Commissioner-General Peter Hansen told the Canadian Broadcasting Company, "I am sure that there are Hamas members on the UNRWA payroll and I don't see that as a crime." He added, "We do not do political vetting and exclude people from one persuasion as against another."
It seems that UNRWA would like us to think that things are different these days because a "spokesman for UNRWA adamantly said that the agency is now free of terrorist connections."
Of course, the tooth fairy still works for UNRWA.
WATCHING HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Marc Garlasco, a senior military analyst for Human Rights Watch accused Israel at the weekend of firing artillery shells with the incendiary agent white phosphorus into Gaza. HRW suggested that Israel was not taking all feasible precautions to minimize the impact of white phosphorus on civilians.
"What we're saying is the use of white phosphorus in densely populated areas like a refugee camp is showing that the Israelis are not taking all feasible precautions. It's just an unnecessary risk to the civilian population, not only in the potential for wounds but also for burning homes and infrastructure," said Garlasco in this Associated Press article.
Garlasco's claims were aired widely in the world's media and BBC World ran a story about a Palestinian burns victim in a Gaza Hospital with doctors claiming that the injury was caused by a shell doused in phosphorous.
Less widely aired was the revelation a day or two later in this story - ICRC: Israel's use of white phosphorus not illegal.
"The international Red Cross said Tuesday that Israel has fired white phosphorus shells in its offensive in the Gaza Strip, but has no evidence to suggest it is being used improperly or illegally."
The rebuttal has received a minute amount of coverage in comparison to the original story, providing yet another instance of NGO's and media sensationally attacking Israel followed by near silence when that version gets debunked.
Of course, when there are reports that Palestinian mortar shells which are aimed at civilians and not used to illuminate the sky contain phosphorous, nobody wants to know. Here's one such report - Phosphorus mortar shell detected in Negev.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
TOO LATE FOR PALESTINE
It might be an opportune time to go back more than 50 years to 1958 and visit the archives of The Economist - Too Late for Palestine?
"PRESIDENT Nasser, who has a taste for anniversaries, was expected to celebrate one at Gaza last weekend. It is exactly a year since the Israelis left the strip, and prophets had whispered that he might declare a Palestinian republic there. Instead he made only a weak gesture; perhaps he is not sufficiently sure of his strength in the refugee areas not under his control to claim the allegiance of Palestinians everywhere. He gave Gaza a legislative council dominated by Egyptians and Egyptian-appointed members, and an executive council appointed by the Egyptian minister."
Back in the days before the Israelis came along it appears that not enough was being done by the Arab occupying masters of Gaza and the West Bank. Still, the locals weren't sending suicide bombers and missiles into the streets of Cairo and Amman either. Nor did the "occupation" seem to trouble them even if they had no universities, few schools and hospitals and a miserably low standard of living.
Still, it could have been worse if the federation of Iraq and Jordan would have worked, the Palestinians might have become vassals of Saddam Hussein. That would have been really lovely!
"PRESIDENT Nasser, who has a taste for anniversaries, was expected to celebrate one at Gaza last weekend. It is exactly a year since the Israelis left the strip, and prophets had whispered that he might declare a Palestinian republic there. Instead he made only a weak gesture; perhaps he is not sufficiently sure of his strength in the refugee areas not under his control to claim the allegiance of Palestinians everywhere. He gave Gaza a legislative council dominated by Egyptians and Egyptian-appointed members, and an executive council appointed by the Egyptian minister."
Back in the days before the Israelis came along it appears that not enough was being done by the Arab occupying masters of Gaza and the West Bank. Still, the locals weren't sending suicide bombers and missiles into the streets of Cairo and Amman either. Nor did the "occupation" seem to trouble them even if they had no universities, few schools and hospitals and a miserably low standard of living.
Still, it could have been worse if the federation of Iraq and Jordan would have worked, the Palestinians might have become vassals of Saddam Hussein. That would have been really lovely!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
HUMANITARIAN AID WATCH
Since the beginning of the Israeli operation in Gaza, Israel has overseen:
Since the beginning of the Israeli operation in Gaza, Hamas has:
Where's the proportionality?
- The delivery of 17,793 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza;
- The evacuation of 449 dual nationals from Gaza;
- The delivery of 3,000 units of blood donated by Jordan to Gaza:
- The delivery of 5 ambulances donated by Turkey to Gaza;
- The transfer to Gaza of 5 ambulances from the West Bank on behalf of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and
- The evacuartion of 34 people to Israel for medical needs, including two injured children.
Since the beginning of the Israeli operation in Gaza, Hamas has:
- Announced it doesn't care about the fate of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who until very recently was the only Jew in Gaza.
Where's the proportionality?
Monday, January 12, 2009
NOT FIT TO BE PRINTED
After all that was made of last week's Gaza school incident in which some Hamas people and some Palestinians civilians were killed near and in a school, one would think this story from Haaretz would be attracting interest in all of the world's news outlets - WATCH: IDF uncovers booby-trapped school next to Gaza zoo (that's the zoo where Hamas Al Aksa TV teaches their young kiddies how too bash, taunt and otherwise molest zoo animals just for the fun of it).
"Israel Defense Forces troops this week uncovered a school in the Gaza Strip rigged by Hamas militants with a large amount of explosives."
Today's edition of Haaretz also carried this human interest story - Sources: Hamas leaders hiding in Israel-built Shifa Hospital basement.
"Senior Hamas officials in Gaza are hiding out in a "bunker" built by Israel, intelligence officials suspect: Many are believed to be in the basements of the Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City, which was refurbished during Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip."
That's the same hospital where those two Norwegian nuff nuffs from medicines sans etiqutte have been holding court with the pride of Gaza's journalists (mainly Hamas mouthpieces) producing a massive propagandafest so that Annie Lennox can feel good as she stumbles her way through incoherent rants in front of rabid Islamofascist lunatics who then get off invading and severely damaging a Starbucks franchise while calling on the Juices to be gassed.
Look away. There's nothing to see here.
"Israel Defense Forces troops this week uncovered a school in the Gaza Strip rigged by Hamas militants with a large amount of explosives."
Today's edition of Haaretz also carried this human interest story - Sources: Hamas leaders hiding in Israel-built Shifa Hospital basement.
"Senior Hamas officials in Gaza are hiding out in a "bunker" built by Israel, intelligence officials suspect: Many are believed to be in the basements of the Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City, which was refurbished during Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip."
That's the same hospital where those two Norwegian nuff nuffs from medicines sans etiqutte have been holding court with the pride of Gaza's journalists (mainly Hamas mouthpieces) producing a massive propagandafest so that Annie Lennox can feel good as she stumbles her way through incoherent rants in front of rabid Islamofascist lunatics who then get off invading and severely damaging a Starbucks franchise while calling on the Juices to be gassed.
Look away. There's nothing to see here.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
THE AGE OF THE HOAX
It seems we are entering the Age of the The Hoax. In the Middle East, we're being fed with a constant stream of hoaxes from the Pallywood studios like the mad doctor escapades, the UN school "investigation" (here's some recently released IDF vision taken from a schoolyard in Gaza on 8 January) and more while, at home, we've had the Quadrant hoax that brought the "Gotcha" revelations in our media this week.
The Age of the Hoax extended this week even into the letters section of the Age Newspaper. On Thursday, it published this piece from a Raya Rusho of Greensborough, an outlying suburb of Melbourne:
WHEN LACK OF 'BIAS' IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE
I HAVE been trying to remain unbiased for many years concerning the continued violence between the Palestinians and Israel, especially as I believe it is imperative to maintain an open mind on such heated issues.
However, I can no longer justify staying unbiased when I read and hear about unjust, inhumane and extremely unreasonable acts of violence against innocent victims who have now clearly a justified moral stance against their Israeli attackers.
I can no longer say "perhaps we should try to consider both sides of the argument". I cannot but abhor the actions of the Israeli Government.
We all now know the Palestinian plight. I only hope we can all begin to take the side of the most oppressed in this situation.
Raya Rusho, Greensborough
Unfortunately for Ms. Rusho and the Age, Vex News smelled a rat and carried out some research on the author of the letter and discovered that she was lying when she claimed to have been "unbiased" and had an "open mind" about the conflict.
A very brief Google search uncovered the fact that she is an Arab who has previously lived in Libya and Syria, an atheist architecture student at Melbourne University and, most probably, an unrepentent anti-Semite. Here's what Raya Rusho wrote on the BBC website in 2001:
"The Israelis have gained enough power and money to prey on those weaker than them. It's only a matter of time before the Jews lose that power and money and they are left to fend for themselves. With this they'll have a taste of their own medicine … "
Judge for yourself whether, nine years later when she penned her letter to the Age, she had an open mind about the conflict.
For its part, the Age which accepted the Rusho letter should now inform its readers that it was also the victim of a hoax perpetrated by someone who clearly lied about being an open minded observer of this tragic conflict.
The Age of the Hoax extended this week even into the letters section of the Age Newspaper. On Thursday, it published this piece from a Raya Rusho of Greensborough, an outlying suburb of Melbourne:
WHEN LACK OF 'BIAS' IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE
I HAVE been trying to remain unbiased for many years concerning the continued violence between the Palestinians and Israel, especially as I believe it is imperative to maintain an open mind on such heated issues.
However, I can no longer justify staying unbiased when I read and hear about unjust, inhumane and extremely unreasonable acts of violence against innocent victims who have now clearly a justified moral stance against their Israeli attackers.
I can no longer say "perhaps we should try to consider both sides of the argument". I cannot but abhor the actions of the Israeli Government.
We all now know the Palestinian plight. I only hope we can all begin to take the side of the most oppressed in this situation.
Raya Rusho, Greensborough
Unfortunately for Ms. Rusho and the Age, Vex News smelled a rat and carried out some research on the author of the letter and discovered that she was lying when she claimed to have been "unbiased" and had an "open mind" about the conflict.
A very brief Google search uncovered the fact that she is an Arab who has previously lived in Libya and Syria, an atheist architecture student at Melbourne University and, most probably, an unrepentent anti-Semite. Here's what Raya Rusho wrote on the BBC website in 2001:
"The Israelis have gained enough power and money to prey on those weaker than them. It's only a matter of time before the Jews lose that power and money and they are left to fend for themselves. With this they'll have a taste of their own medicine … "
Judge for yourself whether, nine years later when she penned her letter to the Age, she had an open mind about the conflict.
For its part, the Age which accepted the Rusho letter should now inform its readers that it was also the victim of a hoax perpetrated by someone who clearly lied about being an open minded observer of this tragic conflict.
THE UN TRUCK SCAM EXPOSED
On Thursday the UN dramatically announced the cancellation of deliveries of humanitatian aid to Palestinians in Gaza because of the death of a Palestinian aid worker contracted to the UN and the wounding of two others after a UN truck was fired on near the Erez Crossing.
Ture to form, the UN accused the IDF of doing the firing (although there is a long history of Palestinian terrorists firing on this crossing) and these reports were widely disseminated in the global media.
A different story is now emerging - IDF: Army didn't fire on UN truck driver.
"On Friday, the Post reported that contrary to foreign press reports, it was not certain that an IDF tank shell hit the aid truck, and that in all probability, the aid workers were hit by Hamas gunfire. The foreign press reports were based on UN sources, who later admitted to the Post that they were not sure in which direction the truck was headed when it was hit, and could also not say with certainty that tank shells were responsible.
"Foreign press reports said the dead Palestinian and two others were hit by tank shells. An MDA medic at the scene told the Post that soldiers in the field had said Hamas snipers targeted the aid workers. A Post probe revealed that the two wounded Palestinians were being treated at Barzilai for gunshot wounds.
"Reacting to the IDF's assertion that it did not fire on the UN convoy last Thursday, UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said the UN 'was careful to source its information from eyewitnesses on the ground.'"
Quite.
Mr. Gunness is always very carefult to quote from sources on the ground and damn whether they are credible or reliable or otherwise. A very definite pattern is emerging here and it's time an independent inquiry was carried out into the operations of UNWRA in the region.
Ture to form, the UN accused the IDF of doing the firing (although there is a long history of Palestinian terrorists firing on this crossing) and these reports were widely disseminated in the global media.
A different story is now emerging - IDF: Army didn't fire on UN truck driver.
"On Friday, the Post reported that contrary to foreign press reports, it was not certain that an IDF tank shell hit the aid truck, and that in all probability, the aid workers were hit by Hamas gunfire. The foreign press reports were based on UN sources, who later admitted to the Post that they were not sure in which direction the truck was headed when it was hit, and could also not say with certainty that tank shells were responsible.
"Foreign press reports said the dead Palestinian and two others were hit by tank shells. An MDA medic at the scene told the Post that soldiers in the field had said Hamas snipers targeted the aid workers. A Post probe revealed that the two wounded Palestinians were being treated at Barzilai for gunshot wounds.
"Reacting to the IDF's assertion that it did not fire on the UN convoy last Thursday, UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said the UN 'was careful to source its information from eyewitnesses on the ground.'"
Quite.
Mr. Gunness is always very carefult to quote from sources on the ground and damn whether they are credible or reliable or otherwise. A very definite pattern is emerging here and it's time an independent inquiry was carried out into the operations of UNWRA in the region.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
DROP THE DEAD RABBIT
Thanks to the Jawa Report we can meet the new replacement at Hamas' Al Aksa TV, we can all meet the new replacement of the Juice eating Rabbit; "Muslima, the porn queen of Hamas." It's on LiveLeak. Log in carefully but do it very soon before the usual fatwas and death threats are made to the people running Live Leak.
For thos with poor memories, the bunny replaced the bee which replaced Farfour the Mouse. All died at the hands of those nasty zionists.
Muslima's in a different category. She and 71 others are awaiting the next Hamasnik to poke his head out of a foxhole.
For thos with poor memories, the bunny replaced the bee which replaced Farfour the Mouse. All died at the hands of those nasty zionists.
Muslima's in a different category. She and 71 others are awaiting the next Hamasnik to poke his head out of a foxhole.
MORE OF DOCTOR MADS
Norwegian doctors Eric Fosse, right and his colleague doctor Mads Gilbert ham it up in this Associated Press snapshot for an audience of reporters after arriving at the Egyptian border crossing terminal of Rafah from Gaza, where they had been working the media over there. Doctor Mads the Norwegian activist who also apparently is medically qualified is now on tour and has arrived at Rafah after mooching around Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital like a bad smell. Augean Stables does quite a Fisking of the good doctor's latest work in CNN Steps in the Pallywood Doodoo: Heartrending footage Staged by Norwegian Doctors.
Further news is emerging that implicates these actors in an elaborate hoax. The so-called "freelance photographer" who filmed that staged hospital scene, Ashraf Mashharawi, has direct links with Hamas and doctors around the world are lining up expressing the opinion that the video is staged and that the "CPR" shown is an obvious fraud, for many reasons.
Judging by the Keystone Cops manner of care being given to Doctor Mads' patient by that efficient looking assistant, we should be left in no doubt as to why he's losing patients at an alarming rate.
Call in the Red Cross for heaven's sake!
Further news is emerging that implicates these actors in an elaborate hoax. The so-called "freelance photographer" who filmed that staged hospital scene, Ashraf Mashharawi, has direct links with Hamas and doctors around the world are lining up expressing the opinion that the video is staged and that the "CPR" shown is an obvious fraud, for many reasons.
Judging by the Keystone Cops manner of care being given to Doctor Mads' patient by that efficient looking assistant, we should be left in no doubt as to why he's losing patients at an alarming rate.
Call in the Red Cross for heaven's sake!
Friday, January 09, 2009
JUST WONDERING
Israeli cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen tells it as it isThe United Nations Security Council today passed Resolution 1860 calling for an immediate cease-fire in Israel's offensive in Gaza - Haaretz.
Israel's Foreign Minister says Israel will "continue to act only in its interests and according to its own security needs" while Hamas says "the group is not interested in the resolutiom because it does not meet the demands of the movement."
Just wondering how the media will treat this. Will the headlines trumpet that Israel, and Israel alone, is not heeding the Resolution or will they be honest and emphasise Hamas' position that it's simply not interested?
I'm also looking forward to the day when the Age reveals to its readers the fact that Hamas is murdering suspected collaborators at an alarming rate without the benefit of a trial. Remember, this is the Age which wants people to think Hamas is a boy scout troup and a democratic beacon for the Palestinian people. The latest journalist to report on these summary executions is an unlikely character - far left wing Israeli Amira Hass in Hamas executes collaborators and restricts Fatah movement.
"Estimates of the number of suspects executed range from 40 to 80, but amid the prevailing conditions shelling, fear of walking the streets and media blackouts it is virtually impossible to verify the numbers or identities of the dead."
My bet is that along with the UN and the Red Cross, the usual suspects in the media will be true to form, look the other way and add 80 to the number of Palestinian civilian dead in this conflict and just blame Israel without checking any of the facts.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
INVESTIGATE UNWRA: 99.9% CERTAIN IT HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE
A debate took place on CNN last night between Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor and UNWRA's Christopher Gunness about the incident in which more than 40 Palestinians were killed following Hamas mortar fire and IDF return shelling in the area of an UNWRA school in which Palestinian civilians were taking refuge.
Palmor told CNN's Finnouala Sweeney that Israel "know(s) for a fact that a Hamas squad was firing mortar shells from the immediate vicinity of the school, from the school grounds."
At this point Gunness objected asking Palmor to clarify the point as to whether Hamas were "in an UNRWA compound or not?"
When Palmor clarified that "the immediate vicinity" meant "right next to the wall," a sneering Gunness appeared to be in raptures as if he had won some major point in a PR battle against the Israeli. Gunness said based on UNRWA's investigation, the agency is "99.9 percent certain" there were no Palestinian militants in or on the grounds of the school that was sheltering civilians when it was shelled by Israeli forces.
Of course, Gunness' was being far to cocky because it is also clear that the IDF did not fire shells into the school grounds and that Palmor's version that Israel was targetting terrorists by returning their fire and not the school is therefore correct. According to Jason Koutsoukis in the Melbourne Age, "three tanks shells exploded just outside the school grounds, causing pandemonium inside." The IDF has suggested that the "pandemonium" is the likely result of secondary explosions.
UNWRA says it wants a "full, transparent and independent inquiry" to determine exactly how this occurred and I agree. The inquiry should however, not be confined to this single incident but should also cover allegations made in the past that UNWRA employs Hamas operatives, that UNWRA facilities and schools are used as cover for terrorists and as places in which they store weapons.
Hopefully, such an enquiry will not take as long as the United Nations itself takes to conduct enquiries. Speaking on the same CNN programme, Palmor noted that a U.N. inquiry into a 2007 incident in which terrorists used a UN compound to fire on Israeli forces has still not been fully investigated.
"How can we be sure that a new investigation will be credibly held by the same people?" Palmor asked.
The same people can't hold any investigation.
I'm 99.9% certain they have something to hide.
Palmor told CNN's Finnouala Sweeney that Israel "know(s) for a fact that a Hamas squad was firing mortar shells from the immediate vicinity of the school, from the school grounds."
At this point Gunness objected asking Palmor to clarify the point as to whether Hamas were "in an UNRWA compound or not?"
When Palmor clarified that "the immediate vicinity" meant "right next to the wall," a sneering Gunness appeared to be in raptures as if he had won some major point in a PR battle against the Israeli. Gunness said based on UNRWA's investigation, the agency is "99.9 percent certain" there were no Palestinian militants in or on the grounds of the school that was sheltering civilians when it was shelled by Israeli forces.
Of course, Gunness' was being far to cocky because it is also clear that the IDF did not fire shells into the school grounds and that Palmor's version that Israel was targetting terrorists by returning their fire and not the school is therefore correct. According to Jason Koutsoukis in the Melbourne Age, "three tanks shells exploded just outside the school grounds, causing pandemonium inside." The IDF has suggested that the "pandemonium" is the likely result of secondary explosions.
UNWRA says it wants a "full, transparent and independent inquiry" to determine exactly how this occurred and I agree. The inquiry should however, not be confined to this single incident but should also cover allegations made in the past that UNWRA employs Hamas operatives, that UNWRA facilities and schools are used as cover for terrorists and as places in which they store weapons.
Hopefully, such an enquiry will not take as long as the United Nations itself takes to conduct enquiries. Speaking on the same CNN programme, Palmor noted that a U.N. inquiry into a 2007 incident in which terrorists used a UN compound to fire on Israeli forces has still not been fully investigated.
"How can we be sure that a new investigation will be credibly held by the same people?" Palmor asked.
The same people can't hold any investigation.
I'm 99.9% certain they have something to hide.
THE AGE OF PERFIDY
If the Melbourne Age were a responsible newspaper, then the head of whoever was responible for this latest outrage in its war on Israel would be rolling tomorrow:-
World
Israel shells Lebanon after rockets fall
That's right!
Terrorists in Lebanon fire rockets at Israeli civilain targets and the headline tells us that it's those nasy Israelis doing the shelling again. Firing back at the war criminals who initiated the incident.
Is it possible for people to get any sicker than this?
(Sorry, rhetorical question - the answer is probably, yes)
World
Israel shells Lebanon after rockets fall
That's right!
Terrorists in Lebanon fire rockets at Israeli civilain targets and the headline tells us that it's those nasy Israelis doing the shelling again. Firing back at the war criminals who initiated the incident.
Is it possible for people to get any sicker than this?
(Sorry, rhetorical question - the answer is probably, yes)
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
THE AUSTRALIAN HELPS FILL IN THE BLANKS
You wouldn't know about it if you read the Fairfax Press which now appears to be acting like a willing helper for the callous Hamas of using Palestinian civilians as pawns in their public relations warfare against Israel and the Jewish people, but thanks to the The Australian newspaper, readers are able to understand just the depths and the depravity of this terrorist organisation. John Lyons' bloodcurdling report [Hamas terror: every Jewish child now a target]should be compulsory reading for its cheerleaders over at Fairfax who continue to suppress any part of the role of Hamas in a litany of war crimes including its criminal use of Palestinian civilians inside Gaza's schools.
"Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar has warned that Jewish children are now legitimate targets, in a bloodcurdling precursor to tanks rolling into the Islamic militant stronghold of Khan Younis yesterday."
Just in case you didn't get it the first time, this beast is not talking about Israelis or Zionists. He's talking about Jews.
Jewish children anywhere.
The Australian also carries an Op Ed by New Republic editor Marty Peretz West must guarantee Gaza resolution in which he succinctly covers most of the major issues of this war in a nutshell including most of the salient issues that the Age refuses to cover when reporting on events from the region.
"Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar has warned that Jewish children are now legitimate targets, in a bloodcurdling precursor to tanks rolling into the Islamic militant stronghold of Khan Younis yesterday."
Just in case you didn't get it the first time, this beast is not talking about Israelis or Zionists. He's talking about Jews.
Jewish children anywhere.
The Australian also carries an Op Ed by New Republic editor Marty Peretz West must guarantee Gaza resolution in which he succinctly covers most of the major issues of this war in a nutshell including most of the salient issues that the Age refuses to cover when reporting on events from the region.
GAZA NEEDS TO BE FREED FROM TERRORIST CONTROL
Ambassador Reda Mansour - January 6, 2009
Some of the Arab and Muslim demonstrators who recently came to our offices were holding signs that said "Free Gaza." Many Israelis would raise that same sign, me included, but for different reasons.
People tend to forget that as of August 2005, Israel has not been in Gaza, and that the Gazans have been under Hamas control since June 2007. Indeed, Gaza needs to be freed from many different extremist forces.
Gaza should be freed from Hamas, a terrorist organization that seized the strip by force. Since the takeover, Hamas has run Gaza's economy into the ground and now nearly half of the work force is unemployed. Hamas has built a Taliban-style state in Gaza and introduced many of the Islamic Shari'a laws, institutionalizing the persecution of women and minorities.
Hamas has transformed Gaza from a free territory to a large bunker, a place where rockets are stored under families, schools and places of prayer.
Unfortunately, Gazans not only live among this militarization but are now a tool in Hamas' aggression. The terrorist organization has developed a strategy of using innocent civilians as human shields. When Israel warns that the houses of Hamas operatives and commanders will be targeted, the terrorists bring in innocent citizens, often by force, in an effort to increase the likelihood of civilian casualties. Hamas' leaders rely on the strict Israeli moral code, hoping to avoid being attacked or that a strike will allow them to score points in the media by sacrificing their own people, creating what looks like acts of Israeli military aggression.
Gaza should be freed from the intervention of Iran, a state that openly admits to financing Hamas. Iran is also helping Palestinian terror organizations with training, intelligence and equipment. Some of this "aid" is channeled through Hezbollah in Lebanon — yet another Iranian proxy organization. Hezbollah and Iran use the Gazans to maintain regional political relevance in their empty agenda against Israel.
Gaza should be freed from some of the Arab satellite channels like Al-Jazeera. These television stations engage in the direct incitement of the Arab and Muslim world. Everything is acceptable in their eyes to raise their ratings, including long shots of bodies and injuries. Some of these channels do not dismiss any editing trick and consider propaganda as a normal part of their news reporting.
As far as Israel is concerned, Gaza is free and it is the decision of its inhabitants as to what the area's destiny will be. They can continue to buy into the self-defeatingpromises of terrorist organizations and extremist ideologies.
Even worse, they can continue to let these organizations use them as human shields and demolish their hopes and futures.
Gazans can truly be free only by declaring Gaza a terror-free zone. The people of Gaza have many resources in their hands to achieve success. Gaza could use its beautiful Mediterranean coast to attract Israeli and Egyptian tourists.
It can renew the flower and fruit exports to Europe that Israel left behind. The airport that was built there can be reopened. The seaport that is planned and even the natural gas fields in its waters could be built.
The people of this region need to make the decision that Gaza will become a model of peace and stability and, hopefully, the beginning of the two-state solution: Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace.
Ambassador Reda Mansour is an Israeli Druze and the current consul general of Israel to the southeastern United States. Mansour is also an accomplished author, having published a number of award-winning poems and short stories. The ambassador is a longtime activist for dialogue between Israelis and Arabs.
This article appeared in The Tennesean on 6 January 2008 at http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090106/OPINION03/901060315/1008/OPINION01
Some of the Arab and Muslim demonstrators who recently came to our offices were holding signs that said "Free Gaza." Many Israelis would raise that same sign, me included, but for different reasons.
People tend to forget that as of August 2005, Israel has not been in Gaza, and that the Gazans have been under Hamas control since June 2007. Indeed, Gaza needs to be freed from many different extremist forces.
Gaza should be freed from Hamas, a terrorist organization that seized the strip by force. Since the takeover, Hamas has run Gaza's economy into the ground and now nearly half of the work force is unemployed. Hamas has built a Taliban-style state in Gaza and introduced many of the Islamic Shari'a laws, institutionalizing the persecution of women and minorities.
Hamas has transformed Gaza from a free territory to a large bunker, a place where rockets are stored under families, schools and places of prayer.
Unfortunately, Gazans not only live among this militarization but are now a tool in Hamas' aggression. The terrorist organization has developed a strategy of using innocent civilians as human shields. When Israel warns that the houses of Hamas operatives and commanders will be targeted, the terrorists bring in innocent citizens, often by force, in an effort to increase the likelihood of civilian casualties. Hamas' leaders rely on the strict Israeli moral code, hoping to avoid being attacked or that a strike will allow them to score points in the media by sacrificing their own people, creating what looks like acts of Israeli military aggression.
Gaza should be freed from the intervention of Iran, a state that openly admits to financing Hamas. Iran is also helping Palestinian terror organizations with training, intelligence and equipment. Some of this "aid" is channeled through Hezbollah in Lebanon — yet another Iranian proxy organization. Hezbollah and Iran use the Gazans to maintain regional political relevance in their empty agenda against Israel.
Gaza should be freed from some of the Arab satellite channels like Al-Jazeera. These television stations engage in the direct incitement of the Arab and Muslim world. Everything is acceptable in their eyes to raise their ratings, including long shots of bodies and injuries. Some of these channels do not dismiss any editing trick and consider propaganda as a normal part of their news reporting.
As far as Israel is concerned, Gaza is free and it is the decision of its inhabitants as to what the area's destiny will be. They can continue to buy into the self-defeatingpromises of terrorist organizations and extremist ideologies.
Even worse, they can continue to let these organizations use them as human shields and demolish their hopes and futures.
Gazans can truly be free only by declaring Gaza a terror-free zone. The people of Gaza have many resources in their hands to achieve success. Gaza could use its beautiful Mediterranean coast to attract Israeli and Egyptian tourists.
It can renew the flower and fruit exports to Europe that Israel left behind. The airport that was built there can be reopened. The seaport that is planned and even the natural gas fields in its waters could be built.
The people of this region need to make the decision that Gaza will become a model of peace and stability and, hopefully, the beginning of the two-state solution: Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace.
Ambassador Reda Mansour is an Israeli Druze and the current consul general of Israel to the southeastern United States. Mansour is also an accomplished author, having published a number of award-winning poems and short stories. The ambassador is a longtime activist for dialogue between Israelis and Arabs.
This article appeared in The Tennesean on 6 January 2008 at http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090106/OPINION03/901060315/1008/OPINION01
THE AGE SLAUGHTERS THE TRUTH
The Age on line edition is carrying this one-sided AFP report headlined on its home page as follows:-
Israeli school slaughter
6:04am Air strike kills 45 taking refuge inside Gaza Strip school flying UN flag, medics say.
The story carries a different headline - Israeli strike kills 40 in UN school. It tells about the deaths of up to "45 people seeking refuge in a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip" (i.e. the school was run by UNWRA - one of the largest employers of Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip) is a totally one-sided version of the incident suggesting this was a callous attack on innocents. This version is typical of AFP fairness and balance in that the 490 word article written by an unamed "journalist" ends with the following 22 words which is the only part of the story that deals with the Israeli side of the story:-
Israel said it would investigate the attacks on the schools. It accuses Hamas of using schools, mosques and residential areas for cover.
For some more balance, let's see what the Jerusalem Post report 30 reported killed in blast at UN school says:-
"At least 30 people were reportedly killed and 53 wounded in an explosion in a UN-run school in the town of Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinians. The IDF issued a statement saying the school grounds were used by terrorists to fire mortar shells at the troops. According to the IDF, among the dead were members of a Hamas launching cell, including operatives Immad Abu Askar and Hassan Abu Askar."
And this:
"Defense officials told The Associated Press that booby-trapped bombs in the school triggered the secondary explosions which killed scores of Palestinians on the site."
The fact that Hamas uses schoolyards to fight its wars is nothing new and comes as no surprise. Nor is the fact that the Age has chosen to ignore many reports in the past of this phenomenon. - to its everlasting shame, they're all there in its blank pages. And to make matters worse, it opens its opinion pages to an arch terrorist who has genocidal intent towards the Jewish people - Gaza: the great divide - 1
And to understand the extent of the Age's bastardry in publishing lop sided report after lop sided report on what's happening in Gaza, Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic is a good read - The World's Pornographic Interest in Jewish Moral Failure. For good measure, he also discusses the pornography of Hamas and others using and recycling photographs of dead Palestinian children for propaganda - a practice that continues because so many in the media let them get away with it!
FOOTNOTE: The Australian Newspaper is not afraid to avail its readers of the truth about the Hamas leadership in hiding. Today's reporting on the situation in Gaza by the Oz is a case in point - more later.
Israeli school slaughter
6:04am Air strike kills 45 taking refuge inside Gaza Strip school flying UN flag, medics say.
The story carries a different headline - Israeli strike kills 40 in UN school. It tells about the deaths of up to "45 people seeking refuge in a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip" (i.e. the school was run by UNWRA - one of the largest employers of Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip) is a totally one-sided version of the incident suggesting this was a callous attack on innocents. This version is typical of AFP fairness and balance in that the 490 word article written by an unamed "journalist" ends with the following 22 words which is the only part of the story that deals with the Israeli side of the story:-
Israel said it would investigate the attacks on the schools. It accuses Hamas of using schools, mosques and residential areas for cover.
For some more balance, let's see what the Jerusalem Post report 30 reported killed in blast at UN school says:-
"At least 30 people were reportedly killed and 53 wounded in an explosion in a UN-run school in the town of Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinians. The IDF issued a statement saying the school grounds were used by terrorists to fire mortar shells at the troops. According to the IDF, among the dead were members of a Hamas launching cell, including operatives Immad Abu Askar and Hassan Abu Askar."
And this:
"Defense officials told The Associated Press that booby-trapped bombs in the school triggered the secondary explosions which killed scores of Palestinians on the site."
The fact that Hamas uses schoolyards to fight its wars is nothing new and comes as no surprise. Nor is the fact that the Age has chosen to ignore many reports in the past of this phenomenon. - to its everlasting shame, they're all there in its blank pages. And to make matters worse, it opens its opinion pages to an arch terrorist who has genocidal intent towards the Jewish people - Gaza: the great divide - 1
And to understand the extent of the Age's bastardry in publishing lop sided report after lop sided report on what's happening in Gaza, Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic is a good read - The World's Pornographic Interest in Jewish Moral Failure. For good measure, he also discusses the pornography of Hamas and others using and recycling photographs of dead Palestinian children for propaganda - a practice that continues because so many in the media let them get away with it!
FOOTNOTE: The Australian Newspaper is not afraid to avail its readers of the truth about the Hamas leadership in hiding. Today's reporting on the situation in Gaza by the Oz is a case in point - more later.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
BAD MEDICINE
Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert (pictured above) recently arrived in Gaza ostensibly to support the humanitarian aid effort at Al Shifa Hospital. According to Wikipedia he is also "solidarity worker and politician" with "broad range international experiences, in particular from locations that merge medical and political issues."
If we cut the bullshit out of that description, we're left with the fact that he's out there to act as a propaganda mouth piece for the Hamas regime. Gilbert is not simply the medicine man who arrived out of the blue but a partisan observer who has long been active in pro Palestinian organizations in Norway, a member of a revolutionary socialist party and an apologist for the 9/11 mass murderers: -
"I am upset over the terrorist attack, but is equally upset over the suffering which the United States has created. It is in this context 5,000 dead people must be seen. If the U.S. government has a legitimate right to bomb and kill civilians in Iraq, they have also suppressed a moral right to attack the United States with the weapons they had to create. Dead civilians is the same whether they are Americans, Palestinians or Iraqis."
I highlighted the word "but" because apologists for war criminals almost always have a "but" with which to justify criminal acts. "Suicide bombings are terrible but the bombers are under occupation". Get the picture?
It's also ironic that the doctor also seems to promote the cycle of violence theory which can be used to justify any futher violence after the initial act. For some reason however, this doesn’t give Israel the right to defend its own citizens from Hamas rocket attacks.
These days, although Gilbert is supposed to be operating on patients at Al Shifa Hospital (where Hamas leaders have been in hiding disguised as doctors and nurses), the peripatetic Doctor Mads is becoming quite a media celebrity as the front man for the Hamas media road show. He is not only in contact with Norwegian media but is fast becoming a regular on CNN, BBC, ABC and Al Jazeera and is appearing daily accusing the Israel of murder and making a diverse range of other unsubstatiated and fanciful claims including that the Israeli’s are using "fuel air explosives and depleted uranium" in missions against Hamas - Attacks condemned as supplies dwindle and deaths rise.
Gilbert is playing games with his readers here because there is no evidence to support his statements. Nor is there any record of Israeli use of depleted uranium which is used only for anti-tank kinetic energy penetrators. Since Hamas does not have a single tank, the Israelis certainly have no use for depleted uranuim in Gaza.
Further, the claim that Israel has a depleted uranium tipped bomb is a fiction – no such weapon exists except in the fertile imaginations of pro-Hizbullah propagandists from back in the Second Lebanon War days. And now, it seems in the mind of Dr. Gilbert who made his mind up about these imaginary weapons within days of arriving in Gaza and without any apparent scientific analysis of anything to support his nonsensical conclusions.
I have no problem with Gilbert, the international humanitarian aid worker, but he is also a propagandist who has shown with his fantasising about depleted uranium and other wild accusations levelled at Israel that he can't be trusted. As such, should not be given the credibility associated with appearances on international news services.
If we cut the bullshit out of that description, we're left with the fact that he's out there to act as a propaganda mouth piece for the Hamas regime. Gilbert is not simply the medicine man who arrived out of the blue but a partisan observer who has long been active in pro Palestinian organizations in Norway, a member of a revolutionary socialist party and an apologist for the 9/11 mass murderers: -
"I am upset over the terrorist attack, but is equally upset over the suffering which the United States has created. It is in this context 5,000 dead people must be seen. If the U.S. government has a legitimate right to bomb and kill civilians in Iraq, they have also suppressed a moral right to attack the United States with the weapons they had to create. Dead civilians is the same whether they are Americans, Palestinians or Iraqis."
I highlighted the word "but" because apologists for war criminals almost always have a "but" with which to justify criminal acts. "Suicide bombings are terrible but the bombers are under occupation". Get the picture?
It's also ironic that the doctor also seems to promote the cycle of violence theory which can be used to justify any futher violence after the initial act. For some reason however, this doesn’t give Israel the right to defend its own citizens from Hamas rocket attacks.
These days, although Gilbert is supposed to be operating on patients at Al Shifa Hospital (where Hamas leaders have been in hiding disguised as doctors and nurses), the peripatetic Doctor Mads is becoming quite a media celebrity as the front man for the Hamas media road show. He is not only in contact with Norwegian media but is fast becoming a regular on CNN, BBC, ABC and Al Jazeera and is appearing daily accusing the Israel of murder and making a diverse range of other unsubstatiated and fanciful claims including that the Israeli’s are using "fuel air explosives and depleted uranium" in missions against Hamas - Attacks condemned as supplies dwindle and deaths rise.
Gilbert is playing games with his readers here because there is no evidence to support his statements. Nor is there any record of Israeli use of depleted uranium which is used only for anti-tank kinetic energy penetrators. Since Hamas does not have a single tank, the Israelis certainly have no use for depleted uranuim in Gaza.
Further, the claim that Israel has a depleted uranium tipped bomb is a fiction – no such weapon exists except in the fertile imaginations of pro-Hizbullah propagandists from back in the Second Lebanon War days. And now, it seems in the mind of Dr. Gilbert who made his mind up about these imaginary weapons within days of arriving in Gaza and without any apparent scientific analysis of anything to support his nonsensical conclusions.
I have no problem with Gilbert, the international humanitarian aid worker, but he is also a propagandist who has shown with his fantasising about depleted uranium and other wild accusations levelled at Israel that he can't be trusted. As such, should not be given the credibility associated with appearances on international news services.
While Gilbert is in the spotlight ranting about a shortage of medicine available to Gazans, perhaps the media might deign to investigate reports that Hamas has set up an independent hospital in the Gaza Strip to treat operatives wounded in fighting with the IDF. According to this report in the Jerusalem Post, Hamas "is pilfering a significant portion of the medicine allowed into the strip."
Sadly for the people of Gaza, I somehow doubt that the thought of Hamas stealing medicine from them is going to make this doctor mad at all.
Sadly for the people of Gaza, I somehow doubt that the thought of Hamas stealing medicine from them is going to make this doctor mad at all.
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