DEBKA, March 3, 2008, 5:30 AM (GMT+02:00)
This week, the prime minister came under heavy US pressure to break off the operation. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice threatened to call off her visit which was scheduled for Tuesday, March 4 and lay the blame on Israel for the breakdown of peace talks with the Palestinians, although Mahmoud Abbas formally suspended all contacts with Israel until its army ended its Gaza incursion. She accused Israel of undermining the Bush administration’s entire Middle East strategy by its stepped-up Gaza offensive.
DEBKAfile reports: No official word of explanation was offered for the sudden pullback of Israeli ground and armored units from northern Gaza before dawn Mon. March. 3, beyond the terse announcement that stage one of Operation Hot Winter had ended.
Our military sources report that this step sharply contradicted the vocal assurances given by Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and defense minister Ehud a few hours earlier that the operation would press on until the Hamas missile-rocket offensive against Israeli civilians was brought to an end.
Up until late Sunday night, Qassam rockets continued to explode in Sderot and Katyusha rockets in Ashkelon. If this continues, Israel will resort to air, surface missile or artillery responses and short forays into Gaza as before.
DEBKAfile’s military sources said this reversed instruction from the government to the IDF in mid-offensive was astonishing and unprecedented. Senior officers were in no doubt that Palestinian Hamas terrorist leaders would rush to claim victory and declare the Israeli army had been beaten into a retreat by their “martyrs”.
Our political sources disclose that Olmert, during his absence in Tokyo last week, was far from happy with the way acting PM Tzipi Livni and Barak handled the sharp spike in Palestinian missile attacks. He felt they had caused an unnecessary escalation of the crisis to the point that a major military operation was unavoidable.
Olmert held that short, sharp military strikes would have defused the crisis and obviated the need for a broad military offensive in Gaza, which he had consistently prevented.
U.S/NATO MERCILESS WAR on Serbs. Christians & Jews Treated as ENEMIES
Democracy?
We are witnessing the death of Western civilization.
In the 1990s, based on the excuse of a phony massacre that NEVER took place, the U.S. and NATO waged a ruthless war on the side of the KLA Muslim terrorist organization against Christian Serb innocents.
The media, the supposed guardian of our freedom, deliberately deceived the public, eagerly cooperating in this dreadful crime against humanity.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com
Rewarding terrorism, deception in Kosovo
January 14, 2008
By Andy Wilcoxson
Eight years ago, the United States and its NATO allies bombed Serbia …
President Clinton compared Kosovo to Nazi Germany’s Holocaust against the Jews. He said Serbia’s alleged persecution of Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians, like “the ethnic extermination of the Holocaust,” was a “vicious, premeditated, systematic oppression fueled by religious and ethnic hatred.”…
After eight years of searching, evidence of genocide against Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians has not materialized…
Although the Serbs were accused of genocide, and the Albanians were said to be their victims, a Serb was three times more likely to be killed or abducted than an Albanian, and Serbs made-up a disproportionately large share of the Kosovo war’s refugees…
In addition to biased coverage of the Kosovo war, our news media may have deliberately misled public opinion by staging fake news footage designed to make the plight of the refugees look worse than it actually was.
Goran Stojcik, a Macedonian ambulance driver who worked in the refugee camps during the war, testified under oath at the Hague Tribunal that he had eye-witnessed Western news crews stage-managing fake news footage in the refugee camps.
He said, “CNN was the most prominent in stage managing things that were to be filmed.”
He gave examples of news crews coaching refugees on how to act in front of the cameras. In one example, he said a news crew threw a refugee child into the mud to make him cry for the camera.
At a minimum, the media was quick to report accusations against the Serbs that later turned out not to be true…
The KLA has been credibly linked to Osama bin Laden…
It was no secret that the KLA was a terrorist group. In 1998, Robert Gelbard, the U.S. special envoy for Kosovo, told the Agence France Presse wire service that “the KLA is, without any questions, a terrorist group.”…
Two years before the war started, the KLA published a communiqué in the Albanian media that said, “Through this communiqué, we would like to state clearly to the current Serbian political leadership that they must withdraw from our territories as soon as possible, or our attacks to liberate the country will be fierce and merciless.”
One year before the war started, the KLA published another communiqué threatening the international community with “a greater slaughter than in Bosnia-Herzegovina” and warning the Serbs of a fate “worse than their Russian brothers in Afghanistan and Chechnya” unless their demands were met..
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The KLA openly boasted of how it murdered ethnic Albanian “collaborators.”…
If the United States supports Kosovo’s independence, we will not only betray Serbia, our ally through two world wars, we will put power in the hands of the self-same terrorists who murdered their own people…
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59675
Will the U.S. and NATO one day bomb Israel as they bombed Kosovo’s Christian Serbs?
Muslim immigrants openly declare their goal is Islamic conquest of our countries.
In the war against Jews, US/EU and the nations heavily finance the Palestinian Authority terrorist organization. The U.S. provides weapons and ongoing military training to the PA – the PA uses the training and weapons against Jews.
Israeli leaders under intense U.S. pressure, perpetrate vicious ethnic Jew cleansing, release thousands of Muslim terrorists from Israeli jails and surrender militarily stategic Jewish land and assets to global terrorists committed to Jewish annihilation.
Islamic contempt and venomous hate is the reward for infidel America’s support and empowerment of global jihad against Kosovo’s Christian Serbs and Israel’s Jews. Daily, hourly, global jihadists seek America’s destruction.
1999 U.S./NATO WAR On CHRISTIAN SERBS
U.S./NATO took the side of the KLA Muslim terrorist organization and waged ruthless war on Christian Serb innocents.
Alija Izetbegovic stated in the ISLAMIC DECLARATION that:
– “there can be neither peace nor coexistence between the Islamic faith and non-Islamic social and political institutions”;
http://www.balkanpeace.org/cib/bos/bosi/bosi01.html
NATO BOMBING — RETURN TO BARBARISM
For National Post, May 31, 1999.
For 69 days the democratic countries of the West have been systematically smashing to pieces a modern European state… The air strikes have degenerated into a war of annihilation against the Serbian people.
Even before the bombing, its economy had collapsed as a result of economic sanctions. …
It was a country that presented no threat either to its neighbors or to European security. Prior to the NATO air attack it was balancing on the edge of survival.
Despite this, our NATO leaders — without consulting their parliaments or their people — have chosen to bomb Yugoslavia into submission.
NATO has judged Serbian people to be collectively guilty of daring to defy an ultimatum, which no sovereign nation could have accepted.
The civilized world is now standing by witnessing the destruction of a country and annihilation of its people.
NATO is using the most dreadful weapons of modern warfare: cluster bombs and cruise missiles. Many of the weapons being used contain depleted uranium, which will spread deadly radioactive dust throughout the region, contaminating for generations water, soil and crops.
NATO’s unprovoked attack is a blatant violation of every precept of international law.
To their everlasting shame, our NATO leaders have chosen war over peace in Kosovo. They have abandoned diplomacy in favor of bloodshed. .. They have smashed the framework of world security. They have guaranteed that we will start the new century as we did this one, with killing and carnage. They have left us with a terrible legacy. With six months to go before the millennium, they have taken us back to barbarism.
http://www.deltax.net/bissett/a-bombing.htm
Thanks, Ted. My comment finally made it. Now, I’ll try for more!
Wow – I tried submitting my comment for the third time and this time tried with the ‘Link’ – my comment still did not go through. Too bad, I had a whole bunch of comments for this evil betrayal of tiny, global-jihad embattled Israel.
U.S./NATO WAR On Serb CHRISTIANS. We Bombed the Wrong Side
NATO War Crimes and links to Al Qaeda confirmed former UN Commander in the Balkans
We bombed the wrong side?
by Lewis MacKenzie
National Post, 6 April 2004
http://www.globalresearch.ca
Five years ago our television screens were dominated by pictures of Kosovo-Albanian refugees escaping across Kosovo’s borders to the sanctuaries of Macedonia and Albania. Shrill reports indicated that Slobodan Milosevic’s security forces were conducting a campaign of genocide and that at least 100,000 Kosovo-Albanians had been exterminated and buried in mass graves throughout the Serbian province.
NATO sprung into action and, in spite of the fact no member nation of the alliance was threatened, commenced bombing not only Kosovo, but the infrastructure and population of Serbia itself…
Those of us who warned that the West was being sucked in on the side of an extremist, militant, Kosovo-Albanian independence movement were dismissed as appeasers.
The fact that the lead organization spearheading the fight for independence, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), was universally designated a terrorist organization and known to be receiving support from Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda was conveniently ignored.
…Those Serbs forced to leave joined the 200,000 who had been cleansed from the province since NATO’s “humanitarian” bombing in 1999…
Since the NATO/UN intervention in 1999, Kosovo has become the crime capital of Europe. The sex slave trade is flourishing. The province has become an invaluable transit point for drugs…
The objective of the Albanians is to purge all non-Albanians…from Kosovo The campaign started with their attacks on Serbian security forces in the early 1990s…
There was no genocide as claimed by the West — the 100,000 allegedly buried in mass graves turned out to be around 2,000, of all ethnic origins, including those killed in combat during the war itself.
The Kosovo-Albanians have played us like a Stradivarius. We have subsidized and indirectly supported their violent campaign for an ethnically pure and independent Kosovo…
When they achieve independence with the help of our tax dollars combined with those of bin Laden and al-Qaeda, just consider the message of encouragement this sends to other terrorist-supported independence movements around the world.
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/MAC404A.html
Maj-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie, now retired, commanded UN troops during the Bosnian civil war of 1992.
Today the UN approved sanctions against Iran.
My guess is that the price for getting the resolution passed was that Israel stop its Gaza offensive.
Didn’t I read the following quote posted on Israpundit a day or two ago? for the life of me I can’t remember who said it….:)
Yeh, right
Felix, there are many instances where I do not agree with you , however, I do this time when you say the Olmert and his co-conspritors are traitors to Israel. Cowardice and corruption have their own Brotherhood and it is them. I am so ashamed of our President (US) and the State department that I sit in dispair. It is no longer manditory to say what Israel should or should not do because it is a waste of time. No longer is there a true opposition to this government. If it were so, a million man march on the Knesset, backed by the IDF, would evict Olmert and declare Martial law until new elections were held. Nothing short of this will work and until then, Israel will continue to erode.
Yamit
I am beginning to see where you are coming from.
Right, Israel is both a very strong country with a strong army and with nuclear weapons. For a revolutionary socialist there is no sense of baulking at that fire power. In 1933 Trotsky was out of power in the Soviet Union but he wrote about the necessity for the Red Army to move down and to have it out with the Germman Nazis there and then. And he certainly would have done so, as would Lenin. I am in agreement with you on the need for Israel to defend itself by all and every means necessary.
There is potential strength but there is a deadly weakness in the Israeli ruling class.
I have a number of disagrements with you however. Firstly you tend to talk of Israel in the abstract, while I talk of Israel as it really is, a society which is made up of classes, and which is led by an Israeli ruling class, which is has been, and will be betraying the Jewish people to Fascism.
So “Israel” is not an abstraction which is how you seem to keep representing it.
The first thing that revolutionaries have to address is how to remove this Olmert regime from power and to replace it with a revolutionary government. If that is not done then there can be no saving of Israel, because as I said this Israeli ruling class are intent on creating the conditions for NATO to take over in Judea and Samaria, and the ethnic cleansers of Fatah and Hamas will follow behind, and Nato will be providing them with the cover for their decapitations and terror, as in Bosnia and Kosovo while the Israeli ruling class will look on and applaud. In other words we are dealing with an Israeli ruling class which has deep hatred for Jews. If this ruling class under Ben Gurion was prepared to shoot dead Jews who were swimming from the Atalena then they will not turn a hair at seeing Jews decapitated by marauding Islamist Fascists who are being protected by NATO.
Bill, as much as I know your love of words and your seeming blind faith in the power of the written and spoken word I would like to remind you that in the Oct. War of 1973, very late in that 3 week war did Nixon agree to Supply Israel with armament and ammunition that was in short supply even though the shipments arrived after Israeli victory was assured, because he feared that with out that aid Israel would nuke the Egyptians and Syrians. Here we see the effect on a Superpower of an implied threat by Israel, fear of what they knew we could do is what got us what we needed not words, not love of Jews but respect for Power and strength. We need to take this concept and refine and the expand it to the whole Israeli Arab/Muslim conflict. I say leave Hamas in place as with out them the peace preocess full steam ahead. We need to outlast Bush. First and foremost!
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I’d have to say Ehud Olmert has found his alibi and savior – Condi Rice!
Bill
An acceptance of reality is the beginning of wisdom in this situation.
The situation in Israel and in the Jewish Diaspora is not unlike that of the Serbs, there is a complete crisis of leadership, and there is no conscious and ORGANIZED leadership which is on hand and able to challenge this venal Israeli ruling class AT PRESENT led by Olmert, Livni and Barak.
I believe very strongly that these Israeli elitist politicians and political class around Olmert, Barak and Livni are CONSCIOUSLY preparing the conditions for NATO rule in Palestine, and if Kosovo is the example and precedent the Islamofascist ethnic cleansers will follow in the wake of NATO. In any case Jews will not remain there in any shape or form.
I am working on understanding the roots of this betraying Israeli ruling class but let me say that its roots are not in the Exile half so much as in the policies and programme of social democracy (Ben Gurion) and in Stalinism (Sharon, Hass, Levy)
If true the allegation that Olmert folded under pressure from Rice is absolutely reprehensible. He should have told her to pack her luggage and prepare to leave Washington, which she will be doing in a few months anyway. On the other hand there seems to be some evidence that Olmert says he won’t stop the Gaza actions until the rockets are stopped. Does anyone have this sorted out?
Felix,
You are absolutely right. I have difficulty internalizing the the truth. The US has been the most important backer of the PLO and now Fatah. Why not Hamas also. For a while the US wanted Hamas out of the picture. Maybe they now support reconciling them just as S. Arabia wants. There, I said it and am glad.
Felix like most Jew I will try to ans. with a question or a Question through a story:
Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks) is known as the holiday marking the giving of the Torah, not the holiday marking the acceptance of the Torah. Giving the Torah was indeed a matter for weeks; for it to be accepted, dozens or even hundreds of years had to pass, and some say – it still hasn’t been really accepted.
Giving the Torah was a one-time act, a ceremony. It isn’t a process; it was a miraculous event, an act of Divine grace bringing together the time, the people and the conditions that were right for the gift, the inspiration, the great Heavenly grant, the insertion of spirit into body, of soul to flesh and blood. Theories of history can do no more than go around in circles, explaining the conditions and circumstances of the recipients, but they can never use rationality or explanations to penetrate the revelation, the giving.
Historians are good at explaining a posteriori the necessity in events. But with hindsight they cannot explain the events at Mt. Sinai. And the factual emphasis on the “giving” as opposed to the “acceptance” proves there is no point in talking about a “ripening of conditions” or a “necessity of circumstances” or a “link in a chain of events.”
An act of genesis is at the basis of the entire description of the giving of the Torah. It isn‚t the continuation of a chain of events but the breaking of a chain, a breaking that that cannot be explained with words from our sociological or historical vocabulary.
All the events of the hundreds of years that followed were no more than an immanent accepting of the previous transcendental giving. The judges and kings and prophets fought among themselves and with their nation for the acceptance of the Torah. This battle is subject to analysis and research and explanation, just as is everything in nature that followed the first moment of Genesis.
The secret of this genesis is also the secret of many other phenomena. It is the secret of the beginning of life, of true poetry, of the birth of ideas. Doctors can see all the secrets of pregnancy and birth but only the secret of the original life of the seed – is still a deep secret.
Therefore one does not decide on ideas. Ideas are given by revelation and they exist. You decide and fight for their acceptance, to spread them or allow them to penetrate. Therefore Mt. Sinai was held over the heads of the nation during the giving of the Torah [in the legend in which Israel was offered a choice between the Torah or being buried under the mountain], because the Torah is not the result of evolution, during which all the right conditions were quietly and calmly prepared till the bodies were ready and eagerly awaiting it. It is always a revolution, meaning something coming in opposition to what the nation is ready for and consciously desires.
Now, from the world of the Torah in general to one part of it: sovereignty.
In the past few generations, only a few extraordinary prophets taught sovereignty, gave the Torah of modern Hebrew sovereignty.
But great is the distance from this new revelation to its acceptance. And apparently it, too, must pass through two stages: first the stage of being forced upon the people from above, and only afterwards, the stage of learning it from below, from inside.
And if you want to know where we stand today on our journey through the desert, let it be told: we are standing before the golden calf.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: {P}
2 {S} A time to be born, {S} and a time to die; {N}
{S} a time to plant, {S} and a time to pluck up that which is planted; {N}
3 {S} A time to kill, {S} and a time to heal; {N}
{S} a time to break down, {S} and a time to build up; {N}
4 {S} A time to weep, {S} and a time to laugh; {N}
{S} a time to mourn, {S} and a time to dance; {N}
5 {S} A time to cast away stones, {S} and a time to gather stones together; {N}
{S} a time to embrace, {S} and a time to refrain from embracing; {N}
6 {S} A time to seek, {S} and a time to lose; {N}
{S} a time to keep, {S} and a time to cast away; {N}
7 {S} A time to rend, {S} and a time to sew; {N}
{S} a time to keep silence, {S} and a time to speak; {N}
8 {S} A time to love, {S} and a time to hate; {N}
{S} a time for war, {S} and a time for peace. {N}
9 {S} What profit hath he that worketh in that he laboureth? 10 I have seen the task which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith. 11 He hath made every thing beautiful in its time; also He hath set the world in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to get pleasure so long as they live. 13 But also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy pleasure for all his labour, is the gift of God. 14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it; and God hath so made it, that men should fear before Him. 15 That which is hath been long ago, and that which is to be hath already been; and God seeketh that which is pursued. 16 And moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there. 17 I said in my heart: ‘The righteous and the wicked God will judge; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.’ 18 I said in my heart: ‘It is because of the sons of men, that God may sift them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts.’ 19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; for all is vanity. 20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all return to dust. 21 Who knoweth the spirit of man whether it goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast whether it goeth downward to the earth? 22 Wherefore I perceived that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his works; for that is his portion; for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
Ted and Jeremiah,
The italicized comment is not a quote from the Independent as Ted surmises. Rather it appears to be Jeremiah’s take on what that story signifies and further the comment provides Jeremiah’s assessment of the view held by much of the world as regards Israel and the Palestinians.
For the most part, Jeremiah’s observations of much of the world’s attitudes towards Israel are fairly stated.
That such attitudes towards Israel and as regards the Palestinians are held by much of the world, is what is outrageous.
Jeremiah is correct in stating that when it comes to Israel, perceptions are often more important then facts.
We can complain forever that these perceptions are not bone fide statements of the world’s attitudes, but rather are knowingly made malicious and perverse statements of belief, calculated to pressure Israel to do or not do things that will advance the world’s interests, but not Israel’s.
Complaining likely will not do the job.
Israel must stand firm in pushing for her own interests. That means holding fast against the tide of anti-Israel sentiment and doing what is best for Israel. To that end Israel must become fully engaged in the battle of words and ideas. The world Jewish community, must set aside their differences and unite behind Israel’s rights including the right to defend itself in such manner that the Hamas threat will be elminated or at least quelled for a time.
Felix is right that the GOI does not appear up to this task and there is no opposition MK or party that seems willing to push the GOI to act in Israel’s best interests or to push the GOI out of office and bring in a new government that will not only put Israel’s interests first, but will have and implement a plan that will do so far better then the current GOI.
I have made these points in an article:
The issue now of the United Front, a revolutionary socialist strategy, developed in the main by Leon Trotsky in the 20s and 30s, must be put into operation. It includes all of those who are prepared to fight against US and EU Imperialism. It will include only those organizations who will oppose the creation of the Islamist states of Kosovo and Palestine. It will exclude very definitely those groups and individuals who support same. It will be a revolutionary Front made up of youth, workers and fighters who stand on principled ground. The collaboration of Jewish organizations with US Imperialism has to stop here.
Jerusalem Posts
You write
To that I would say that the new Nazis are the US Imperialists and the EU Imperialists in Germany, France and above all in Britain and they are preparing a new form of rule for the world, which involves the creation of Islamist states in a necklace which extends from Afghanistan through the Balkans and Iran to the Middle East.
But you leave out one vital factor JP. That is that the present Olmert Israeli ruling class would also prefer dead Jews to Jews who will challenge their Ben Gurionist dictatorial rule.
The Israeli ruling class are in this along with Rice and the US Fascists.
Yamit88
You write among many things
Why do you not address this to the present traitors who compose the Government of Israel? They are the ones who are running the show.
When you talk about Israel you have to accept that there is a present problem. Israel is led by traitors.
So your writing is meaningless unless you can explain how the present Olmert Government be forced from power. And what Government will then replace it.
Ted
You pose the question
Why just pose the question Ted? Surely you know enough by now from all the discussion we have had over Croatia (Catholic Clerical Fascism), Bosnia (Izetbegovician Islamofascism) Kosovo (Albanian gangland stalinism cum Islamofascism) and much else besides Yugoslavia, say Afghanistan, to understand the strategy of the US?
Are you really mystified? If not why the mystery!
Gary
You have indeed hit the nail on the head with your question.
The answer is that nobody can do this who is at present in any position of leadership on the Jewish side. There is a decidedly traitorous Government and the whole of the Jewish Establishment, such as Eltad, are unable to come up with one single viable stategy.
I could continue but I fear upsetting many good people on Israpundit.
Gary, there is a strategy which the Israeli Government are complicit in, that is to create a situation whereby Jews in Israel will accept a NATO troop involvement, and behind that NATO force will march the Islamofascists of Hamas and Fatah, to ethnically cleanse Judea and Samaria.
Thus making the creation of the latest of the Islamist US states feasible. Palestine!
Jerimiah
The Independent quote with which I am sure you agree, is outrageous.
Israel has the right to stop the rocket attacks even if it causes casualties 50 times what it suffers. Both the law and morality allows it. If it takes even more deaths to stop the rockets, so be it.
Perceptions are driven by propaganda and propaganda is driven by agenda. At least it acknowledges that the perceptions don’t accord with the facts. I will choose the facts over their perceptions any day.
With the whole world ganging up on Israel to relinquish its rights, it is Israel that is the David rather than the Goliath and that also is a fact.
Ted
You write
Ted, you really with great respect are very foolish. The US does not want Hezbullah destroyed. Whatever gives you that idea! The US and the EU Imperialist ruling classes are going to rule in the new epoch along with the help of Islamofascism.
Why do you find that so hard to internalise Ted?
Is it because you want to continue with and refuse to make a break from US Imperialism.
Olmert could always say no politely now couldn’t he? No pressure Olmert doesen’t want to invade Gaza and Condi is his ladder to step down!
This just reinforces my opinion that the US Administration would rather have dead Jews than dead Palestinian “friends”… and they’re nothing but an extension of the Saudi oil gluttons… in other words, Bush, Baker & co., are reviving their families previous Nazi collaborations.
How much of the West increasingly sees Israel….
At one time the views expressed in the UK paper the Independent would have seemed to many extreme and unjustified. But every time (and there have been many such times since the beginning of the Second Intifada) that Israel inflicts pain and misery at levels 5 to 10 times what it suffers, the world becomes just a bit more convinced that the Palestinian complaints and demands are genuine, while the Israeli claims and justifications are bogus. For small countries like Israel and aspiring countries like Palestine, the facts are far less important than the perceptions. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians can get along without some measure of good will from the USA and EU. Israel started out with all the moral capital on its side, but it is losing it by the day. The Palestinians increasingly look like victims with legitimate demands to be protected from an aggressive and avaricious Israel. Israel is losing the PR war. And that matters. It matters a great deal more than Israel seems to realize. It fancies it can carry off its David and Goliath myth forever. But it has become Goliath, and the word is getting out.
A POINT OF VIEW:
Why is Darfur Important to Israel
Zvi Menachem
The present situation in Sudan and its leader Omar al-Bashir holds some important lessons for Israel. The Khartoum government has ignored the pleadings and warnings of the Western nations to stop the Sudanese army and their surrogates, the Janaweed, from continue to slaughter and ethnically cleans the southern Sudan. The Khartoum government consistently denies their support of the Janaweed.
What can Israel learn from this? The first lesson is to imagine themselves in the position of the southern Sudanese. The UN has proven ineffectual. The token troops are impotent and the Khartoum government manages to thwart all but the meager attempts of the NGOs to alleviate the dire suffering and continuing death toll. The entire world looks on and does nothing about the Chinese support and arms transfer to the Sudan government. What would the world do if Israel were to find herself in a similar situation where a coordinated attack by all her adjacent, surrounding, enemies, supported by Iran, China and Russia were to occur? I can envision speeches at the UN, an outraged press, and aid in the form of emergency evacuations for “key” people. An ineffectual token UN force… and not much more.
What else can Israel learn? The next lesson is to imagine themselves in the position of the Sudanese leaders. I don’t mean to envision Israel perpetrating ethnic cleansing; something unimaginable, but Israel being forced to consider Gaza as an independent country; an enemy who has declared war against her. The aim of war, as Clausewitz noted, is to destroy the enemy’s ability to wage war by attacking its infrastructure.
What would the world do if Israel ceased its supply of all electricity and fuel…stopped all goods from entering Gaza and declared an embargo of Gaza? In addition, Israel would declare a 20 mile free-fire zone; a zone in which all targets would be considered with no regard to the civilian populations. The population would move away from that zone and anything moving would be considered a military target. Next, significant parts of the Gaza infrastructure would be bombed; water treatment plants, sewerage plants, electrical production facilities and transmission points. One must remember, the Western world insisted upon elections in Gaza and the population, in a democratic, free, fair and monitored election, chose Hamas’ leaders who at the time of campaigning, were candid in their goal of militarily attacking Israel and wiping Israel off the map.
So here we have a democratically elected government carrying out the wishes of their electorate to wage war and destroy a neighbor. I predict that the Western world, after shrill admonishments, will do nothing.
Eventually, the Palestinian population will rise up against Hamas and install a government who will cease hostilities against Israel, neutralize the Hamas remnants, and look after the welfare of their people. Then, and only then, will the West and Israel support their new government.
Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade rescinds truce with Israel
Months ago, Israel pardoned hundreds members of Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and released a thousand more from Israeli jails. All of them signed a laughable promise to never-ever again engage in terrorism against Israel.
After Israel invaded Gaza, Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade rejected its earlier commitment and vowed to resume suicide bombings in Israel.
Those who seek peace or truce with Palestinians need take a lesson, if they are able to learn.
Ignorant Jews: Is war legal?
Defense Minister Barak requested a legal opinion from Justice Minister Friedmann on attacking Gaza’s residential areas during the war in Gaza. One need not be a jurist to answer. Any yeshiva student knows the answer, “As they have no mercy on you, so you shall have no mercy upon them.”
I expect that a ceasefire has been brokered by the USA. Hamas will have got what it wanted.
When we went into the Lebanon War, the USA made it Kosher and stood by Israel for weeks. She wanted Hezbollah destroyed.
Here it was different. I thought the US also wanted Hamas destroyed. Apparently, not so.
The US called for an end to the violence, which means it wants a ceasefire. Undoubtedly it will be on terms set out by Hamas. No shooting at all but no restriction on military build up. Then it will continue to shoot.
The big question is, why don’t they want Hamas destroyed????
So who will stop Hamas from firing thousands of rockets with growing lethality and sophistication into Israel? This is an abdication of Israel’s right to self-defense and the abandonment of their duty to save their citizens from slaughter.
What difference does it make that the US blames Israel? I would rather take the blame for defending Israel than make the death of Israel and Israelis into a Bush legacy. That US ship now in the Mediterranean is probably there to threaten Israel, not discourage Hezbollah nor protect the Lebanese.
In my opinion, Israel has handed the key to Israel over to the USA. The USA has aligned itself with Arab countries, broken its promise to Israel, and hopes to appease the Muslim world with the blood of Israel.
This suggests to me that Israel has far more leverage than its capitulation suggests. If Israel is central to US strategy surely Israel could get a better deal than the Saudi Plan.
If Israel can’t resist this, she can resist nothing. That means the Saudi Plan is a done deal if the US insists on it. Obviously Israel has an understanding with the US that we mere mortals are not privy to. There is a grand strategy out there that involves the who middle east and we are lead to believe there are real negotiations.
Jerusalem will be divided. The fence will be the border.