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Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Thread (pg. 30)
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| Krypton |
Hamas wants a truce! (Towards bottom).
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Israel steps up threats to invade Gaza Strip
By Dan Williams Tue Oct 30, 7:18 PM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel escalated its threats on Tuesday to invade the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in response to Palestinian rocket fire after a plan to withhold key utilities drew objections from legal experts and foreign powers.
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Since quitting Gaza in 2005, Israel has mounted regular commando raids and air strikes on rocket crews but the salvoes have not ceased. Two such operations on Tuesday killed at least four Hamas policemen and wounded six Palestinian civilians.
Islamist Hamas's takeover of the territory in June stoked calls in the Jewish state for a big military sweep.
"Every passing day brings us closer to a broad operation in Gaza," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told reporters. "We are not looking forward to it (and) we would be happy if circumstances prevented it."
Israel, which controls official Gazan border crossings, began reducing the amount of fuel pumped to Gaza this week. It also wants to reduce power supplies but has put that on hold.
The sanctions prompted UN and EU delegates to urge Israel not to impose "collective punishment," illegal under international law, on Gaza's 1.5 million residents.
Israel's attorney general also opposes cutting electricity supplies to Gaza on humanitarian grounds.
Britain said it was "deeply concerned" by reports that Israel had reduced Gaza's fuel supply and was considering power cuts, and had spoken to the Israeli government about the matter.
"We remain firmly committed to Israel's security and recognize its right to act in self-defense.
"But measures taken by Israel in response to violent extremists should be consistent with international humanitarian law and not cause suffering to innocent civilians," Foreign Secretary David Miliband and International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said in a statement in London.
ROCKETS ARE DISRUPTIVE
The crude Palestinian rockets disrupt life in Israeli border towns, sometimes causing casualties. Though Hamas has not claimed recent salvoes, Israel's top brass say the group is building up a small army in anticipation of a confrontation.
Weighed against an invasion of Gaza is Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's upcoming peace conference with Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas under U.S. auspices. While Olmert may want calm, he is also under pressure from right-wing coalition partners to hit Hamas hard.
"The present situation will not last," Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon, a close Olmert confidant, told Reuters when asked during an interview about a possible Gaza invasion.
"I prefer that we use sanctions. I believe that the implementation of sanctions will be effective. But we have our doubts about it," he said, but added: "If they (Hamas) stop sending rockets over, our need for the weapons of sanctions, or other weapons, will not be an issue."
On Monday, Israel suffered its second combat death of the month in Gaza when special forces clashed with Hamas gunmen. Two gunmen and a Palestinian civilian were also killed.
Hamas has offered Israel a long-term truce, though its charter calls for Israel's destruction. Gaza militants have fired more than 80 short-range rockets and mortar rounds into Israel this month, the Israeli army said |
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| Krypton |
Not again!!:o :o
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Israel says army ready for Gaza invasion
By LAURIE COPANS, Associated Press Writer 10 minutes ago
JERUSALEM - Israel's army has completed plans for a large offensive in the Gaza Strip and is only waiting for government approval, the military chief said Wednesday, shortly after two Palestinian militants were killed by Israeli tank fire in the coastal area.
Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said that until he receives the go-ahead for a broad operation, Israel would continue with its policy of airstrikes and brief ground incursions to halt Palestinian rocket attacks.
"If it is necessary, we are prepared for the possibility of action," Ashkenazi told Army Radio. "Until then I think it is our duty to exhaust all other avenues and to operate every day and night in order to provide security."
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has repeatedly said that the time for a widespread ground invasion of Gaza is drawing closer. But on Tuesday, he said now is not the time for a broad operation, which would likely result in heavy casualties to Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza's crowded urban landscape.
In Wednesday's violence, Israeli tanks fired shells toward a group of Hamas militants on the outskirts of the town of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip after dawn, Palestinian doctors and residents said. Two of the Palestinians were killed and four wounded, one critically, the doctors said.
The army confirmed the strike, saying the militants were preparing to fire mortar shells toward southern Israel.
Israel's attack brings to about 30 the number of militants in Gaza that Israel has killed in the past 10 days.
Israel's army frequently launches cross-border attacks and airstrikes on Gaza militants, but it has been unable to stop the rocket fire from the Hamas-controlled territory.
This year, Gazan militants have fired 2,000 rockets and mortar rounds, the army spokesman said. The rockets have killed 12 people in recent years and cause widespread panic in southern Israeli border towns.
Israel blames Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, for allowing the attacks, even though the group has not been directly involved in most of the rocket launchings.
In addition to military action, Israel has sealed Gaza's borders since Hamas took control of Gaza in June, allowing only food and humanitarian supplies into the area. Israel considers Hamas, which has killed more than 200 Israelis in suicide bombings, a terrorist group and refuses to have contact with it. A Hamas militant was killed and another two were wounded when explosives they were handling blew up prematurely in Gaza City Wednesday evening, Palestinian medics said.
Following its takeover of Gaza, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fired the Islamic group from the government and installed a rival Western-backed administration in the West Bank. Israel formally launched peace talks with Abbas at a summit in the U.S. last week.
As part of the peace efforts, Abbas has launched a crackdown on West Bank gunmen to try to show Israel that he can meet Palestinian obligations to impose law and order in areas under his control.
In the West Bank city of Nablus, 13 Palestinian militants wanted to by Israel surrendered to Abbas' forces — a rare instance of gunmen willfully handing themselves over to Palestinian security.
Hussein Jabbour, a military intelligence official, said the men surrendered in hopes of obtaining amnesty from Israel. Several months ago, Israel offered amnesty to about 200 West Bank gunmen in exchange for them disarming and pledging not to carry out future attacks.
"This is a message to Israel that these Palestinians want peace and want (Israel) to deal with their issues," Jabbour said. He said the men were taken to a Palestinian security compound. There were no plans to turn them over to Israel. It was not clear what kind of attacks the men were involved in.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian policeman during an arrest raid in Bethlehem, Palestinian officials and the Israeli military said.
A Palestinian security official said the soldiers shot at a group of policemen as they stood outside near a security compound.
The Israeli army said troops came under fire while trying to arrest wanted militants. The soldiers fired back and hit an armed man. Only after the firefight did the soldiers realize they had shot a policeman. The mission was aborted and the army left the area without making arrests.
Israeli and Palestinian officials are launching a joint investigation into the incident, the military said. |
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| Anas Attia |
Hey guys,
Just wanted to share a mix which relates to this topic, I try to convey what it is that i believe in, through the music. I hope you have a listen and enjoy.
This is a mix I’ve wanted to put out now for quite some time, I’ve enjoyed making it, and have had long discussions about it with a bunch of friends of mine, and so far so good, so I hope you enjoy it also. I hope that the message, along with the the musical styling would be refreshing for you.
www.anasttia.com/music.html
there is also a small debate that just started occurring on my facebook page ...
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?u...0872&topic=3526
thanks a lot
take care
peace. |
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| Krypton |
Tragedy. 8 Israelis killed.
EDIT: I just heard this attack may be in retaliation for the assassination of Imad Fayez Mughniyah. Eye for an eye it appears for both sides. But, two wrongs never make a right.
| quote: | Palestinian gunman kills 8 in Jerusalem Jewish school By Alastair Macdonald
1 hour, 5 minutes ago
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Palestinian gunman opened fire in a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem on Thursday, killing at least eight people and wounding about 10 in the most lethal attack in Israel in two years, emergency services said.
"It was a slaughterhouse," said Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, head of the Zaka emergency service after surveying the scene at the Merkaz Harav seminary, one of the most prominent Jewish educational centers in the holy city.
Jerusalem police chief Aharon Franco said a lone gunman carried out the attack and was killed by an off-duty Israeli army officer who lives nearby and ran to the school after hearing gunfire. Police had said earlier there were two gunmen.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but it was greeted with celebrations in the Gaza Strip, where a recent Israeli offensive killed more than 120 Palestinians, about half of whom were identified as civilians.
Israeli media reports said the gunman was a resident of Arab East Jerusalem. The school is in the Jewish western part of the city.
An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said "terrorists are trying to destroy the chances of peace but we will certainly continue peace talks" with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinian leader condemned the Jerusalem attack.
Witnesses said the gunman entered the crowded seminary and fired an automatic weapon at students in its library. Franco said the attacker killed eight people, and emergency services said about 10 were wounded.
Police said it appeared most of the dead were in their 20's.
"He hid the weapon in a cardboard box," Franco said.
It was the most lethal attack in Jerusalem since 2004 and caused the highest Israeli death toll since April 17, 2006, when 11 people were killed in a suicide bombing during the Passover holiday in Tel Aviv.
U.S. CONDEMNATION
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who visited Israel and the occupied West Bank earlier this week and persuaded Abbas to resume peace talks he suspended over the Gaza assault, called Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to express condolences.
"This barbarous act has no place among civilized people and shocks the conscience of all peace-loving nations. There is no cause that could ever justify this action," Rice said.
Yitzhak Dadon, who told reporters that he shot the gunman, said the attacker, wearing torn jeans, fired at the students with an AK-47 assault rifle. Witnesses said the shooting spree went on for about five minutes.
"I saw the gunman and he fired a long burst in the air. But then he disappeared," Dadon said. "I saw him again when he approached the door of the library. I shot him twice in the head. He started to sway and then someone else with a rifle fired at him, and he died."
Some 50 ambulances raced to the area in scenes reminiscent of a series of suicide bombings in Jerusalem after a Palestinian uprising began in 2000. Students at the school were attending a study session marking the start of Adar, the most festive month of the Jewish calendar.
Outside the seminary, a crowd shouted "Death to the Arabs."
In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, gunmen fired in the air to celebrate the attack, three days after Israel ended a ground offensive it said was aimed at curbing cross-border rocket fire.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas official, said the group "blesses the heroic operation in Jerusalem, which was a natural reaction to the Zionist massacre."
A loudspeaker in Gaza City blared the message: "This is God's vengeance."
(Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Adam Entous in Jerusalem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; writing by Jeffrey Heller; editing by Tim Pearce)
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080306...khenQio_5EUewgF |
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| Krypton |
But let's not forget about the Palestinian suffering under occupation. Israel will never have peace until it ends.
| quote: | UN rights council condemns Israel Thu Mar 6, 1:28 PM ET
GENEVA - The U.N. Human Rights Council has condemned Israel's offensive in Gaza and called on Palestinians to stop rocket fire into Israel.
The resolution passed Thursday said Israeli incursions into the Palestinian territory inflicted collective punishment on the civilian population.
Israel launched the offensive last week in response to Palestinian militants barraging southern Israel with rockets. More than 120 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza officials say. Four Israeli have also been killed.
The 47-member rights body approved the resolution 33-1 after a debate on the situation in Gaza. Thirteen countries abstained. The resolution was sponsored by Pakistan and Muslim countries. Russia, China and India support it, European countries abstained, and Canada voted against it.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080306/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_israel_palestinians;_ylt=AmI1T_qolclclqQ_qlzU0GULewgF |
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| hardcore trancer |
| Damn I wish Cyrus King was around to make some quality Anti-zionist posts like before.:( |
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| George Smiley |
| quote: | Originally posted by Krypton
Tragedy. 8 Israelis killed. |
I didn't think it was possible for anyone to be as stupid or as sick as the person that committed these murders. Brushing aside the obvious impact this will have on the wider peace process (and the implications for his fellow countrymen) it was a school for s sake :mad: |
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| George Smiley |
The BBC has some clues as to the motive of the attack:
| quote: | The fact that the school is at the heart of the settler movement in the occupied West Bank may have been the reason why it was targeted, BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen says.
Many of its students are on special courses that combine religious study with service in combat units in the Israeli army.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mi...ast/7282679.stm |
It is still a ing stupid act and will completely derail the peace process... |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| It's interesting to me that as a tactic, terrorism has a 100% failure rate. It's never succeeded in achieving political goals and it has usually merely brought about more pain and suffering among the base population of support as well. |
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| George Smiley |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
It's interesting to me that as a tactic, terrorism has a 100% failure rate. It's never succeeded in achieving political goals and it has usually merely brought about more pain and suffering among the base population of support as well. |
Well there's two sides to that debate. One side is how you describe it above, but the other side of the debate is that Palestinian terrorism has served (very successfully) to highlight the plight of the Palestinians around the world. There is enourous sympathy for the Palestinians internationally, yet there are people in much worse situations that do not enjoy similar levels of support. When peace has come close, it has done so with pressure from outside (usually America) - if peace is to be achieved, and if a viable Palestinian state will be created, international pressure will have played a huge role in the settlement and that international pressure has come because of the Palestinian terrorists activities (and subsequent Israeli activity) |
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| LazFX |
This is a real ed up situation...
both sides need a "timeout" |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by George Smiley
Well there's two sides to that debate. One side is how you describe it above, but the other side of the debate is that Palestinian terrorism has served (very successfully) to highlight the plight of the Palestinians around the world. There is enourous sympathy for the Palestinians internationally, yet there are people in much worse situations that do not enjoy similar levels of support. When peace has come close, it has done so with pressure from outside (usually America) - if peace is to be achieved, and if a viable Palestinian state will be created, international pressure will have played a huge role in the settlement and that international pressure has come because of the Palestinian terrorists activities (and subsequent Israeli activity) |
Yet Palestinians will continue to honour their POS terrorists as 'holy martyrs'... :rolleyes:
| quote: |
Mahmoud Abbas's official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper has honored the killer of the eight high school students gunned down this week with the status of Shahid - Holy Islamic Martyr.
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>>Source<<
The Palestinians are great with their International media propaganda that's for sure - they have that down pat... |
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