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"Fans of Israel’s Beitar Jerusalem football team have been involved in new racist rampages, this time..."

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 16:41:03 -0500

“Fans of Israel’s Beitar Jerusalem football team have been involved in new racist rampages, this time sparked by the signing of Gibril Kadiyev and Zaur Sadayev, two players from Chechenya. Beitar fans object on the grounds that the players are Muslim.

A mob of Beitar fans rampaged at the Malha shopping mall in Jerusalem after a match against the predominantly Arab team Maccabi Umm al-Fahm on 29 January at Teddy Kollek Stadium.

The mob can clearly be heard shouting “Death to the Arabs” (mavet la’aravim), “Death to Arcadi,” (arcadi met) a reference to club owner Arcadi Gaydamak, and “A Jew has a soul and an Arab is a son of a whore” (yehudi ze neshema, ‘aravi ze ben zona).

Last March Beitar fans were also caught on video as they rampaged through the same mall assaulting Arab workers and shouting “Death to the Arabs.” Yeah, it’s awful. I have to note that pretty much everyone in Israel (at least all the people I know) hate those guys, fans of this group are known for being racist fucks. They don’t represent the population.”

- Ali Abunimah, “Israeli fans chant “Death to Arabs” and a Jewish player feels “loved” by his Palestinian team” (The Electronic Intifada)

Gaza Quiz

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 14:42:55 -0500

lovenerdeen:

An uneasy cease-fire has been declared ending Israel’s attack on Gaza, Operation Pillar of Defense. Take this quiz to see how much you know about the situation.

It’s great for those of you have no prior knowledge to the situation in Gaza as well as those who have some knowledge but want to expand on it. Reblog this as text and click read more if you want to see the answers. Reblog for your followers who could be gaining awareness about the situation which is something Gaza majorly needs right now because believe it or not most people hardly know any facts and it’s a responsibility for those of us who know the truth to spread it around.

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Desomnd Tutu

How did the people of Gaza come to be where they are?
A majority of them are descendants of refugees who in 1948-1949 fled or were driven out by Israeli forces from territory that was supposed to be part of the Arab state of Palestine but was taken over by Israel, and they were never permitted to return.

Some of them are descendants of residents of the Arab town of Majdal, who, after the 1948-49 war were evacuated from different parts of the town and concentrated in a neighborhood surrounded by barbed wire (to make way for Jewish settlers) and then expelled to Gaza.

Gaza was conquered by Israel in October 1956 and subjected to massacres; Israel withdrew under international pressure in March 1957.

Gazans came under Israeli occupation in 1967 when Israel—in a war in which, in the words of Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1982, “we had a choice … We decided to attack [Egypt]”—conquered the Sinai (since returned to Egypt), Gaza, East Jerusalem (annexed), the West Bank, and the Golan Heights (annexed).

All of the above.

In 2005, Israel under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon “disengaged” from Gaza. Which of the following statements about the disengagement is true?
Israel’s Gaza “disengagement” was a unilateral move, not worked out with any Palestinian leaders at all.

Israeli settlers were removed from Gaza, but more new settlers moved to the West Bank in 2005 than left Gaza and more Palestinian land was taken over on the West Bank than was given up in Gaza.

Ariel Sharon’s chief aide, Dov Weisglass, told an interviewer for an Israeli newspaper: The significance of the disengagement plan “is the freezing of the political process. And when you freeze that process you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and you prevent a discussion about the refugees, the borders and Jerusalem. Effectively, this whole package that is called the Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed from our agenda indefinitely.”

All of the above.

Israel says that its occupation of Gaza ended in 2005. Which of the following conditions that exist to this day raises a question about whether there has actually been an end to Israeli control of Gaza?
Israel prohibits Gaza from engaging in air commerce with or air travel to or from other nations.

Israel prohibits Gaza from engaging in sea commerce with or sea travel to or from other nations.

Israel prohibits Gazans engaged in fishing from going more than 3 nautical miles off shore, denying them access to 85% of their fishing waters.

Israel has declared a formal no-go zone for Palestinians inside Gaza covering more than 3 percent of the total land area and another 14 percent within which entry is effectively restricted due to a real risk of gunfire, excluding from Palestinian use 35% of the land suitable for farming.

The Israeli army carries out incursions into this zone a number of times a week.

All of the above.

Which of the following reflects the Israeli attitude toward Gaza and its people?
The statement in a 1956 Knesset speech by Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion: “If I believed in miracles, I would pray that Gaza would be washed down into the sea.”

The statement by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1993: “If only it [Gaza] would just sink into the Sea.”

The fact that in Israeli slang, “go to Gaza” means “go to hell.”

All of the above.

The Palestinian organization Hamas rules within Gaza. Which of the following is true regarding Hamas?
A descendant of the Muslim Brotherhood, it was promoted in its early years by Israel and the United States, which were eager to establish a counterweight to the then-dominant secular Palestinian organization Fatah.

It won a plurality in the Palestinian legislative elections in January 2006.

It took over Gaza in 2007 after Fatah, working with Israel and the United States, launched a failed coup against it.

All of the above.

Hamas refuses to accept the three Israeli-U.S. conditions: that it recognize Israel, renounce violence, and agree to accept all agreements previously accepted by the Palestinian Authority. Which of the following is true?
Israel and the United States have refused to recognize an independent Palestinian state, with Washington even blocking UN recognition of nominal Palestinian statehood.

Neither Washington nor Tel Aviv has renounced violence (to say the least).

Nonviolent protest against the Israeli occupation has been brutally repressed.

Israel “previously accepted” the Fourth Geneva Convention, but when the World Court found Israel’s construction of the Wall on the occupied West Bank to be in violation of that convention, Israel refused to remove it and the United States supported its refusal.

Israel signed the Oslo Accords which state that “The two sides view the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as a single territorial unit, whose integrity will be preserved during the interim period” and yet has pursued a policy of trying to separate Gaza from the West Bank.

Hamas has indicated on numerous occasions that it was willing to accept an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, along with a truce that could last 20, 30, or 50 years, or even indefinitely.

All of the above.

Israel says it can’t trust Hamas to maintain cease-fires. Which of the following is part of the historical record?
A study found that from 2000 to 2008, it was “overwhelmingly Israel that kills first after a pause in the conflict” and that this pattern “becomes more pronounced for longer conflict pauses,” with Israel unilaterally having interrupted 96% of the periods of nonviolence that lasted longer than a week and 100% of the periods of nonviolence lasting longer than 9 days.

In 1997, Hamas leader Khaled Meshal made an offer to Israel through King Hussein of Jordan for a thirty-year cease-fire. Israel ignored the offer and then tried to assassinate Meshal in Amman.

Following its 2006 electoral victory in Gaza, Hamas secretly conveyed a message to the Israeli government that it “would pledge not to carry out any violent actions against Israel and would even prevent other Palestinian organizations from doing so,” if Israel stopped its undercover assassination program and ended its military attacks in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel did not reply.

In June 2008 a six-month truce was arranged between Israel and Hamas, and broken by Israel on the night of Nov. 4-5, 2008.

All of the above.

Israel claims that its blockade of Gaza is simply a means of keeping out weapons from the territory. Which of the following is true?
The blockade has always included a ban on almost all exports from Gaza, crippling the economy, while having no connection to weapons imports.

Dov Weisglass, an adviser to former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, explained that “The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.”

The Israeli Ministry of Defense did a study in 2008 of the minimum daily humanitarian food needs of Gaza and then, until June 2010, Israel proceeded to allow in less than that amount.

Among the items Israel prohibited being imported into Gaza before June 2010 were notebooks, cilantro, sage, jam, chocolate, French fries, dried fruit, fabrics, and toys.

Even though food is now allowed into Gaza, Israel still restricts exports, imports of basic construction materials, despite a shortage of approximately 250 schools and some 71,000 housing units, and restricts travel between Gaza and the West Bank.

All of the above.

Which of the following describes conditions in Gaza on the eve of Operation Pillar of Defense?
The people of Gaza have lower per capita incomes than they did in the 1990s, despite improvements over the past three years.

The unemployment rate in 2011 was 29% and during the first quarter of 2012 unemployment stood at 47% for women and 58% for people between 20 and 24 years old.

44% of households were food insecure in 2011 and another 16% were vulnerable to food insecurity.

10% of children suffer from stunting (long-term exposure to chronic malnutrition).

39% of people lived below the poverty line.

Currently, more than 90% of the water supplied through Gaza’s aquifer does not meet the safety standards of the World Health Organization and is unfit for drinking.

All of the above.

Israel launched Operation Pillar of Defense on November 14, 2012, claiming it needed to respond to an unrelenting barrage of rockets from Hamas. Which of the following is an accurate statement of the lead-up to November 14?
From October 30, 2012, until Nov. 10, 2012, there were a total of 4 rockets fired from Gaza, which fell in open areas causing no casualties or damage.

On November 4, Israeli forces shot and killed a 23 year-old mentally-challenged Palestinian walking approximately ten meters from the fence on the Gaza side. The Israeli military did not allow a Palestinian ambulance to retrieve the body for two hours.

On Nov. 8, Israeli troops operating within Gaza were fired on by Palestinians; Israeli fire killed a Palestinian boy.

On Nov. 10, Palestinian armed factions fired on an Israeli military vehicle patrolling on the Israeli side of the fence, injuring four soldiers. Israel responded by firing tank shells hitting a residential area, killing 5 civilians, including 2 children, and injuring 36 civilians, including 9 children.

Palestinian rocket attacks began on Nov. 10, after more than a week of relative quiet.

All of the above.

What happened on November 13, the day before the Israeli targeted assassination of Ahmed al-Jabari, Hamas’ military chief?
Palestinian rocket fire decreased from 64 on Nov. 11, to 35 on Nov. 12, to 1 on the morning of Nov. 13.

Palestinian rocket fire ended, but then, in the words of the Israeli government, “Following the launch of Israel’s operation Pillar of Defense … rocket fire from Gaza resumed on Wednesday evening (14 Nov)…”

Reuters reported that “After five days of mounting violence, Israel and the Palestinians stepped back from the brink of a new war in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, [Nov. 13,] sending signals to each other via Egypt that they would hold their fire unless attacked. … Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of Gaza’s Hamas government, praised the main armed factions in the enclave for agreeing on Monday night to a truce. ‘They showed a high sense of responsibility by saying they would respect calm should the Israeli occupation also abide by it,’ he said.”

A draft proposal for a long-term cease-fire, with mechanisms to ensure compliance, had been agreed to by an Israeli negotiator and Hamas’s deputy foreign minister, and was being submitted to Ahmed al-Jabari and Israeli security officials for their consideration. Jabari, who had authorized the negotiations, received a copy of the proposal the day he was assassinated.

All of the above.

Israel (and the United States) claim that the Israeli attack on Gaza was a lawful act of self-defense. Which of the following statements about self-defense conform to international law and morality?
Military force in self-defense must be a last resort, having exhausted non-military means (such as accepting a cease-fire, negotiating a long-term cease-fire, and, most decisively, ending the occupation of Palestinian territory).

Self-defense is not permissible against someone legitimately resisting illegal occupation (and so, for example, Japanese troops in China from 1937-45 had no right of self-defense against attacks from Chinese forces).

Even when self-defense is permitted, the measures taken must not disproportionately endanger civilians.

All of the above.

If a cease-fire was possible without Operation Pillar of Defense, which of the following is a plausible explanation for why Israel launched its attack?
Because Israel always wants to maintain its deterrent power, meaning that fear of its massive military response will keep subject people in line.

Because an election is coming soon in Israel and wars and Palestinian rockets tend to help politicians’ electoral prospects.

To test out the Iron Dome system and send a message to Iran.

Because Pillar of Defense weakened Mahmud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, while strengthening Hamas, which serves the Israeli interest in being able to insist there is no partner for peace.

All of the above.

Which of the following statements was made by an Israeli official or personality?
Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai: “We must blow Gaza back to the Middle Ages, destroying all the infrastructure including roads and water.”

Israel Katz, Israel’s transport minister and member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, on 11 November: “we must detach from Gaza in a civilian manner—electricity, water, food, and fuel—and transition into a policy of deterrence, just like in Southern Lebanon.”

Avi Dichter, Israel’s Minister of Home Front Defense: “there is no other choice, Israel must carry out a formatting action in Gaza, actually format the system and clean it out, the way we did in Judea & Samaria during Operation Defensive Shield.”

Knesset member Michael Ben-Ari of the National Union party: “Brothers! Beloved soldiers and commanders—preserve your lives! Don’t give a hoot about Goldstone! There are no innocents in Gaza, don’t let any diplomats who want to look good in the world endanger your lives[;] at any tiniest concern for your lives—Mow them!”

Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, son of Israel’s former Chief Rabbi and spiritual leader of the Shas party, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef: “The army has got to learn from the Syrians how to slaughter and crush the enemy.”

Gilad Sharon, the son of former prime minister Ariel Sharon, in the Jerusalem Post: “The residents of Gaza are not innocent, they elected Hamas. The Gazans aren’t hostages; they chose this freely, and must live with the consequences….We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza. The Americans didn’t stop with Hiroshima—the Japanese weren’t surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki, too.”

All of the above.

Which of the following is a UN statistic regarding the casualties of Operation Pillar of Defense?
More than twenty-five Palestinian civilians were killed for every Israeli civilian killed (103:4).

More than twenty-five Palestinian combatants were killed for every Israeli combatant killed (55:2).

Israel, with its arsenal of highly advanced “smart” weaponry, fired without being under pressure, killed as high a percentage of civilians among all those it killed (65%) as did Hamas (67%), with its inaccurate rockets fired under great pressure.

All of the above.

Which of the following is true regarding U.S. military aid to Israel?
Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance in the world since 1945, having received $115 billion in bilateral assistance, about two-thirds of which has been military aid and which in recent years has been almost entirely military aid.

U.S. military aid to Israel has helped transform Israel’s armed forces into one of the most technologically sophisticated militaries in the world and has helped Israel build a domestic arms industry that ranks as one of the top 10 arm exporters.

One of the main Israeli weapons used to attack Gaza have been F-16 aircraft, provided by the United States. From 2000 to 2009, the United States paid for and delivered at least 93 F-16D fighter jets, valued at $2.48 billion, and licensed and paid for at least 13,559 spare parts and co-production parts for Israel’s arsenal of F-16s.

All of the above.

In which other way has the United States aided Israel in its assault on Gaza?
The Obama administration blocked a United Nations Security Council statement calling for a cease-fire on November 20, 2012 to end Operation Pillar of Defense.

President Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu “no country can be expected to tolerate rocket attacks against civilians,” but failed to note that no people should have to live under occupation, with bombs and shells falling on them, killing far greater numbers of innocent civilians.

The United States has blocked efforts to hold Israel responsible for its previous assault on Gaza, by rejecting the Goldstone Commission Report.

President Obama declared that Israel cannot be expected to negotiate with Hamas.

The United States has defended Israel’s right to stop humanitarian aid ships bound for Gaza.

The Obama administration, by its use of targeted drone killings, has normalized the practice that Israel now uses to such murderous effect.

The United States has over many years blocked efforts to move in the direction of a long-term solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, among many other acts vetoing a Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories.

All of the above.

Which of the following is a way to put pressure on the Israeli government to end its occupation of Palestine, and on the United States government and corporations which support that occupation?
Support the work of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation to cut off U.S. military aid to Israel.

Support the work of Jewish Voice for Peace and its “We Divest” campaign to pressure TIAA/CREF to divest from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation.

Support the work of Code Pink and its Stolen Beauty campaign to boycott beauty products made in the occupied territories.

Support other campaigns that aim to achieve justice for Palestinians.

All of the above.

Read More

I’m not going to comment on everything (arguing with people like you has become boring), but I just want to say: no one says “go to gaza”. maybe you meant “lech le’azael (go to Azazel)”- Azazel is a place in israel, in the Negev. two thousand years ago, they used to sacrifice goats there. The phrase stuck. For all the rest, I wish you may live a long, healthy life hating Israel and all that stuff, I couldn’t care less. Goodbye.

ya-habibti-ya-masr: When Zionists or Pro-Israeli’s say that Palestine was never a state or never...

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:48:07 -0500

ya-habibti-ya-masr:

When Zionists or Pro-Israeli’s say that Palestine was never a state or never existed they are actually admitting that they are heartless bastards who don’t care about justice. They are admitting that a place where thousands of people live and have lived for over centuries but isn’t a independent state gives them enough right to enter that place, get rid of all it’s people, destroy cities and kill houndreds of people so they can live there.

Dude, have you ever even heard of the disengagement plan?

leaveobashar: The empty seat where Sara Al-Dalou used to sit...

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:43:25 -0500

leaveobashar:

The empty seat where Sara Al-Dalou used to sit before she was murdered by an Israeli rocket that hit her home in Gaza.

Thanks @Nora0315

This is sad. It really is. The death of children is always awful. But taking this picture of the empty seat and spreading it on twitter is not mourning, people who are mourning don’t do such things. This is nothing more than disgusting propaganda. I will never support a faction that uses the death of its own children as an appeal-to-emotion in hopes of rallying the world to its cause. If Hamas truly had any mercy for their own children, this is very far from what they would do. Seriously, things like that make me sick.

Ceasefire announced. Alarm goes off in Be’er Sheva.Palestine. Gotta love ‘em.

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:23:05 -0500

Ceasefire announced. Alarm goes off in Be’er Sheva.

Palestine. Gotta love ‘em.

"eAt the most basic level, Israel’s actions in Gaza are inextricably bound up with its efforts to..."

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:35:36 -0500

“eAt the most basic level, Israel’s actions in Gaza are inextricably bound up with its efforts to create a Greater Israel that stretches from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Despite the endless palaver about a two-state solution, the Palestinians are not going to get their own state, not least because the Netanyahu government is firmly opposed to it. The prime minister and his political allies are deeply committed to making the Occupied Territories a permanent part of Israel. To pull this off, the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza will be forced to live in impoverished enclaves similar to the Bantustans in white-ruled South Africa. Israeli Jews understand this quite well: a recent survey found that 58 per cent of them believe Israel already practises apartheid against the Palestinians.”

- John J. Mearsheimer (via i-l-l-i-n-o-i-s-e)

A) Israel already, without Gaza and the West Bank, streches from the Jordan river to the medditerranean. But I know what you mean. The only thing that bothers me is the phrase you used- “Greater Israel”. Israel is tiny. West Bank and Gaza included.

By the way, that article in Haaretz about the Apertheid- they corrected it the next day. Even for Haaretz, which is a paper that constantly exaggerates and streches them to suit its needs, this was a gigantic editing of people’s voices, and they appologized for the “mistake”, even though it was in a tiny box at the end. Seriously, you have to be more careful about what you read in the newspapers, especially surveys and stattistics.

Israel Bombing Residential Areas, Civilian Infrastructure in Gaza

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:27:49 -0500

Israel Bombing Residential Areas, Civilian Infrastructure in Gaza:

Via Electronic Intifada, Israeli attacks on Gaza “have caused serious damage to civilian infrastructure including homes, schools, sports facilities and a hospital in many parts of Gaza City,” according to the the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights:

Israeli forces have launched dozens of airstrikes on Gaza City, targeting governmental and civilian facilities and other objects mostly located in densely-populated areas. The targets have included the building of the Council of Ministers in the west of the City, which was completely destroyed and a number of nearby houses damaged; the building of the police command in the center of the City, which was completely destroyed and a number of nearby housesdamaged; the building of the Civil Department of the Ministry of Interior in the south of the City, which was attacked for the second time, causing damage to al-Quds Hospital and a number of public and UNRWA school; and Palestine Stadium in al-Remal neighborhood in the center of the City, which was extensively damaged.

Also, this video of the al-Zaytoun quarter, a residential area in Gaza, being bombed by what is reportedly “a bomb or missile dropped by a US-supplied Israeli F-16 jet.”

The New York Times reports that “Israel broadened its assault on the Gaza Strip on Saturday from mostly military targets to centers of government infrastructure.”

The purpose behind this is clear: as Interior Minister Eli Yishai said, “The goal of the operation is to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages. Only then will Israel be calm for forty years.”

Using the word “Intifada” to describe Israeli actions is probably the most hypocritical thing I have seen in a very long time. As a matter of fact, it’s also *really* offending. Do you even know what that word means?

highest-level-of-love: I think we all need to understand the difference between Jews and...

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:25:05 -0500

highest-level-of-love:

I think we all need to understand the difference between Jews and Israelis.We Muslims hate when people stereotype us as terrorists, so stop confusing the two!! It’s not fair to Jews and quite frankly, you sound really ignorant…

Actually, the “Jews” part is to distinct them from Arabs, including Israeli Arabs. “Jew” is used in the context of an ethnicity.

Seriously? That’s how what makes you support the...

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 15:39:00 -0500

Seriously? That’s how what makes you support the Palestinians? Do you know why more Palestinian children are dead than Israely ones? Because while Palestinians are busy waving around pictures of dead children all around the internet, Israelis warn their citizens on how to react when the alarm sounds. When Palestinians burn flags and throw rocks on soldiers, Israelis build shelters and develop a missle- intercepting system. You want statistics? I’ll give you statistics- more the ten thousand rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel until 2012. Less than two hundred were fired into Gaza.

Let me ask you a question- I would fire a nuke into a county, and miss, and no one would be hurt, would it mean I did nothing? of course not. Israel simply defends itself better, and makes far less use of its people as stattistics to make it look better. In israel, when a soldier dies, they send a high officer to tell their family. In Palestine, you have to watch the lists on TV to make sure none of relatives were killed.

Do you know why there are more Palestinian prisoners than Israeli ones? Israel doesn’t send its soldiers to their obvious imprisonment. It doesn’t send them to obvoius suicide missions and to be used as cannon meat. Who is, actually, that one captive that you mentioned? Is that Ron Arad? I don’t think he counts, he is presumed dead. When Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, was taken captive and tortured, the State of Israel chose to release 1027 prisoners, all sentenced to life for terrorism. 569 Israelis were killed for these people, and they were all released in exchange for one prisoner. I would like to see the Palestinians do that.

and… settlements? Really? why not choose a more biased category? Why not put on the camparison table “Public announcement encouraging total destuction of the other party”, or “suicide bombings?” Israel has done worng things, it’s true, and I am not getting into the settlement issue, which is an issue. But you cannot compare Israelis and Palesitinans on ground of an Israeli crime, and you can’t compare illegal setteling with constant 15- year rocket fire.

By the way, did you know that just a few days ago Hamas released a public video warning Israelis to stay out of buses and cafe’s, because they will begin commiting suicide bombings again? I think that very kind of them. I always appreciate a head’s up.

This is the story to watch right now.

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 15:06:15 -0500

This is the story to watch right now. :

justfouryears:

The Israeli-Gaza conflict.

Cairo is going crazy over it. There was an anti-Israel protest on AUC campus today, with kids wrapped in Palestinian flags, as well as medium-sized protests in Tahrir this weekend.

Basically, the two sides have got troops lined up at the border, ready to go.

It’s crazy that this is happening several hours away from where I am right now.

Even in Egypt we don’t know what’s going to happen. They could back off or this could blow up into a war. As an American living in Egypt, I have to say I hope to GOD that Obama does not give active support to Israel, through weapons or troops on the ground—more so than he already has, that is. I know he’s said he’ll back them. But I think if we get entrenched in this, it’s the end of our relations with this whole region. Then again if we DON’T get involved, Israel could very well cease to exist over the next few years. We also don’t want a second holocaust.

For Egypt, it’s complicated, because Hamas has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi’s party, although Morsi has for the most part been trying to talk it out. I just worry he will have to bend to the stance of his party and break the peace treaties.

As far as Egypt goes, this is the last thing they need right now, given everything else going on. It’s dragging attention away from the constitutional and humans rights issues in their own country.

Speaking from Israel, I, for one, was seriously hoping for a far more active Egyptian reaction to the situation. Right now, when anger flares between Israel and the Palestinians, it should be Egypt’s time to take sides- a state that is clearly torn between the Arab world and the Western world- and realize that it is a state, rather then a terrorist organization. It’s true that Egypt’s reaction was better than most of us would have expected, yes, but nowhere near what we were hoping for. Especially now, briefly following the Arab Spring, this is an opportunity for Egypt to join Israel’s forces and turn the fragile thing they call “peace” into a real alliance- maybe even dragging jordan in. From there on, a solution the the Israeli Palestinian conflict would be much simpler to achieve, and maybe even peace in the middle east. Nevermind, though. Egypt has come a long way, and has taken the issue much better than Mubarak would have, brokering negotiation between the powers. All we can wish for is that the Egyptians will continue to take that growth further, and perhaps, in a few years, be the key for the peace we all want.

asanjadelafleur: The ugly truth! What news are you watching?...

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 17:25:39 -0500

asanjadelafleur:

The ugly truth!

What news are you watching? Seriously? I keep looking for those “Israelis are victims” broadcasts and all I keep finding is lousy “Palestinians are victims” ones.

sexio-ramos: seriously can someone explain me why is isreal and gaza in war?? I, myself, support...

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 17:09:27 -0500

sexio-ramos:

seriously can someone explain me why is isreal and gaza in war??

I, myself, support Israel, but assuming you know nothing of the issue, I will try to be as neutral as possible, and give you facts instead of opinions. I apologize if I fail, since this is not a simple task.

Quick briefing of history- Jews started setteling in the land a few thousand years ago. Their history there, although bery interesting, is irrelevant, so I’ll cut to the chase- the area was conquered by the romans some two thousand years ago, the jews rebeled, and the romans exiled them. some settled in the arab world, some in europe, and for most of the time between then and now they lived in isolated communities, keeping to themselves. Meanwhile, in the land the romans called “Palestine” (the phillistines were ancient enemies of the jews), arab nomads began to settle, and build homes. Now, in Europe, people had begun to distrust Jews, and then hate them, a phenomenon known as “Antisemitism”. Toward the end of the 19th century the hate reached a breaking point, and many jews fled beck to the land of Israel- their ancestral home. Most of those who stayed in Europe died in the Holocaust.

This created a very unpleasant state of affairs- two different nations, one homeland. So when the British mandate has ended, and the officers withdrew, the land was left with a British partitoion plan- a map, dividing the territorry between Jews and Arabs. The arabs did not agree with the plan, so on the next day they attacked the new State of Israel, in what Israelis call “The War of Independence”, and Arabs call “The Naqba”- meaning, the disaster. Anywho, Israel won, bigtime, and took the entire area to itself, although many arab settelment remain, mainly in the areas known as “The Gaza Strip” and “The West Bank”.

for the sixty- some years that followed, Israel was in constant war. I could go on and on about territories taken, territories given, occupation, disengagement, but the thing is, Palestinians want a country, Israel wants to survive.

So nowadays, as liberation attempts, constant rocket fire is directed from gaza towards israeli towns in southern Israel, and israeli fire is directed at Arab rocket launchers, in which many Palestinian casualties occur (this is the part where most people would argue with me, but I’m just delivering what both sides claim). From this point on, you could have endless debates on who’s right and who’s wrong, but that’s pretty much it for dry info.

I hope it helped.

Opinion on this Gaza Israel mess?

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:03:23 -0500

ilovejohnclaytonmayer:

I’m kind of sick to my stomach at the moment, you truly must be inhuman to kill another human being let alone children, I will never understand this world.

You might understand if you stop believeing to everyone on tumblr and in the media and looking for the actual facts.

Oh, you know: PSA for you "edgy" people out there

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:12:43 -0500

Oh, you know: PSA for you "edgy" people out there:

realitydoctor:

If you say things like “both sides are at fault” or “I just want peace I don’t care about who’s doing what” then I have a PSA for you: You’re not being edgy or cool. You aren’t saying the wise thing. You are suggesting that standing up against a colonial apartheid system is the wrong thing to do….

“I have an opinion, and I’m don’t know anything about it so I prefer blaming anyone who doesn’t agree with me with being a Nazi idiot. Shut up. No, shut up.”

people like you make me smile.

L I O N E S S.: It has become our duty to spread real awareness on the Arab-Israeli...

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:03:56 -0500

L I O N E S S.: It has become our duty to spread real awareness on the Arab-Israeli...:

stuckbetweeniraqandahardplace:

loopersgonnaloop:

stuckbetweeniraqandahardplace:

It has become our duty to spread real awareness on the Arab-Israeli conflict, it is now our responsibility to shed light on what is really going on. Because now one thing is for sure, the media is not representing the real situation now, and as usual the news is only showing one “victim.” Israel.

“Genocide”????
Excuse me, darling, but if Israel gets bombarded with 200+ Palestinian missiles (That they probably got from Iran, Syria and Lebanon), while doing absolutely NOTHING, I assume that you’re a little bit underestimating ”poor Gaza’s” power.
We are sick and tired of terrorists bombing our cities all the time. We want to live a peaceful life as much as the citizens of Gaza.

THE ARMY IS ATTACKING ONLY TERRORISTS AND MISSILE LAUNCHERS. MAYBE YOU SHOULD BLAME YOUR PRECIOUS HAMAS FOR PUTTING ROCKET LAUNCHERS NEAR SCHOOLS AND HOUSES OF INNOCENT PEOPLE.

Furthermore, the army even handed out sheets of paper with fair warnings about coming attacks, in order to prevent the cost of spare human life.

You should be focused on a way to stop terrorists from doing their business, and by that less people will get hurt.

You’re excused for your weak argument, darling. And you’re about to see just how wrong you are.

First of all, Palestine does not throw missiles, they throw rockets. It is your precious Israel that throws missiles. Want to know the difference between the two? The rockets that are thrown barely makes any damage, and hardly ever results in casualties or the loss of human life. However missiles have explosive warheads on top of it, which leads to the destruction of neighbourhoods and the deaths of many.

Am I underestimating Gaza’s power? Or have you completely missed the part of how Gaza is occupied by Israel? You do realise the Gaza blockade is what is essentially leading to a famine, constant power cuts, and not a steady supply of water? Gaza has far too many domestic issues to even try and override Israel’s power. Haha, Gaza has no power sweetheart. You should try your best to remember that.

If the army is only attacking terrorists, then please tell me how an 11 month old was killed. Explain that to me, how is it that a little 7 year old was killed? Or a 13 year old boy was shot dead? And other numerous innocent victims? As far as I’m concerned an 11 month old cannot be a terrorist.

And aww, how considerate of the IDF! Sending a warning to families that they are about to be killed, before they kill them. Now again, please inform me on how these papers can stop the result of innocent human lives considering they don’t include warnings on when they will be bombed?

You should condemn your governments actions, and call for them to stop, and even when you do it won’t stop anything. But the least it will do is make you a human.

Your’e right. Absolutely. There are far more Palestinian casualties than Israeli ones. Not to mention the fact that Palestinians fire rockets, not missiles, because they aren’t actually planning on hitting civilians, they just want to play Who Throws Bombs Further with Israel, as a friendly competition. Very enthusiastic players, to boot, firing thousands of them every year just to make the friendly competition a little more challenging.

But now seriously. There is no denying that Israel is far stronger tha Gaza, no one is saying that. This does not make it OK for Palestinians to continually bombard israeli settelments. Palestinians die more than Israelis do because this is a war, and because whenever Palestinians attack Israel retaliates, and more efficiently that they do. If Israel wants to wipe out Gaza so bad, why doesn’t it just go ahead and do it? there’s no denying that it is able to. Instead, we deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza (yes, we do), and attack missile launchers that Hamas places in schools. Palestinians may die from it, and yes, It’s sad, but Israel has every right in the world do defend Its citizens from a similar fate, and had Israel stayed quiet in all this time, there were no people in southern Israel by now, and Tel Aviv would have been a ruin. Not only that many kids in Israel have died too from constant attack, many can barely leave their homes on behaf of all the alarms, let alone go and throw rocks at Palestinians.