Palestine

[Stavros]

Odelay, if you are not already familiar with it, I recommend John W. Dower's book Cultures of War -Pearl Harbour, Hiroshima, 9-11, Iraq (published in 2010). It is a fascinating study in the way American administrations have dealt with these events and how the language and imagery common in one merges into another, just as all are also characterised by what Dower refers to as:
"...surprise attack, a colossal failure of US intelligence, terror involving the targeting of noncombatants, the specter of weapons of mass destruction and 'mushroom clouds', rhetoric of holy war on all sides."

Amazon.com: Cultures of War: Pearl Harbor / Hiroshima / 9-11 / Iraq (9780393340686): John W. Dower: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51wxk7y-XGL.@@AMEPARAM@@51wxk7y-XGL

[Prospero]

The smoking gun....
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.609125

[Prospero]

and Amos Oz sums up my own feelings...

http://www.dw.de/oz-lose-lose-situat...ael/a-17822511

[Ben]

Cash, Weapons and Surveillance: the U.S. is a Key Party to Every Israeli Attack:

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2...s-surveillance

[yosi]

and Amos Oz sums up my own feelings...

http://www.dw.de/oz-lose-lose-situat...ael/a-17822511

Amoz Oz: I would like to begin the interview in a very unusal way: by presenting one or two questions to your readers and listeners. May I do that?
Deutsche Welle:Go ahead!
Question 1: What would you do if your neighbor across the street sits down on the balcony, puts his little boy on his lap and starts shooting machine gun fire into your nursery?
Question 2: What would you do if your neighbor across the street digs a tunnel from his nursery to your nursery in order to blow up your home or in order to kidnap your family?

[Stavros]

The smoking gun....
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.609125

a) we know that Hamas has been firing rockets from residential areas, Hamas (or its supporters) has posted its own videos so there is no need to rely on the Indians -


b) I can only re-iterate that Hamas knew from the start what it was doing and what the Israeli response would be.

c) It is a pity that the focus on the actions of Hamas, or for that matter the Israeli response, does not focus on the underlying cause, which is the siege of Gaza.

[Stavros]

Amoz Oz: I would like to begin the interview in a very unusal way: by presenting one or two questions to your readers and listeners. May I do that?
Deutsche Welle:Go ahead!
Question 1: What would you do if your neighbor across the street sits down on the balcony, puts his little boy on his lap and starts shooting machine gun fire into your nursery?
Question 2: What would you do if your neighbor across the street digs a tunnel from his nursery to your nursery in order to blow up your home or in order to kidnap your family?

Yosi, why do you only quote one section of the interview with Amoz Oz?

Why didn't you quote this remark -?
My suggestion is to approach Abu Mazen [Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas - the ed.] and to accept the terms - which the whole world knows - for a two-state-solution and coexistence between Israel and the West Bank: Two capitals in Jerusalem, a mutually agreed territorial modification, removal of most of the Jewish settlements from the West Bank.

Amos Oz might be right when he says humour is the best way to derail fanaticism (How to Cure a Fanatic, 2004), but when he says he believes in violence, he undermines his moral arguments for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, because until the resort to violence ends, there can never be true peace.

[yosi]

c) It is a pity that the focus on the actions of Hamas, or for that matter the Israeli response, does not focus on the underlying cause, which is the siege of Gaza.

And what is the reason of the siege of Gaza? the endless import of missiles and rockets and arms by Hamas........

A big part of this siege was done by Egypt , who destroyed hundreds if not thousends of tunnels in the Egyptian/gaza border as a results of Hamas attacking and killing Egyptian soldiers in Egyptian territory.

this is the reason why Egypt "love" Hamas so much.

I agree that a solution must be found , for both sides , the Palestinians and Israelis , but as long as the fanatic terrorist Hamas in there , there is no chance for a solution , can you talk with a fanatic religious organisation with logic and reason? their latest actions prove otherwise.

[yosi]

GazaUnderAttack images accurate?

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28198163

[Stavros]

And what is the reason of the siege of Gaza? the endless import of missiles and rockets and arms by Hamas........

A big part of this siege was done by Egypt , who destroyed hundreds if not thousends of tunnels in the Egyptian/gaza border as a results of Hamas attacking and killing Egyptian soldiers in Egyptian territory.

this is the reason why Egypt "love" Hamas so much.

I agree that a solution must be found , for both sides , the Palestinians and Israelis , but as long as the fanatic terrorist Hamas in there , there is no chance for a solution , can you talk with a fanatic religious organisation with logic and reason? their latest actions prove otherwise.

It is more complicated than that -Hamas had links to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt which is why the Egyptian government acted against Hamas; the siege of Gaza was imposed by Israel as collective punishment for Hamas winning an election, before that plenty of Gazans worked in Israel without being a threat, just as Israel, having decided it cannot and will not talk with Hamas decided to punish both Hamas and Fateh for forming a unity government in April. As I have said before, Hamas may have the profile of an extremist oganisation, as is the case with the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Provisional IRA prior to the Good Friday Agreement, but unless pragmatic moves are made to reduce the confrontational policies of both sides, and make those small but vital gestures of confidence which work toward peace, Hamas in its isolation will continue to develop the non-pragmatic, utopian ideology that in practical terms has delivered absolutely nothing since it was created in 1987. I detest Hamas just as much as you do, but they do represent enough Palestinians to merit a place at the table; as was the case with Fateh, that is the reality. Netanyahu wants to control every aspect of the peace process to guarantee Israel gets what it wants, whereas the reality is that Israel must make concessions. By turning every moment into a life or death struggle, Netanyahu is making it impossible to hold meaningful talks since every attempt to move the peace process forward will be depicted as a threat to the existence of Israel. The Palestinians are in a weak position, they don't have many powerful friends, and the friends they do have are often insincere, yet instead of exploiting this situation to deal with the Palestinians, whose leadership has always accepted arrangements that benefit Israel more than the Palestinians, Netanyahu is trying to destroy Palestinian political institutions -as if the obliteration of Hamas would remove an Islamist threat from Gaza, which it would not. There are plenty of people who think the details of the Good Friday Agreement gave the Provisional IRA more than it deserved, but there has been a kind of peace there, power sharing does exist, and however distasteful it might be, it shows that sometimes a party has to sit down with its worst enemy to talk before any progress can be made.