When did you quit being my spokesperson??

:mad: @Ibti and Malika

"The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorise himself." Grand Rapids, Michigan, 29 January, 2003 BUSH: Well, I mean that a defeat in Iraq will embolden the enemy and will provide the enemy – more opportunity to train, plan, to attack us. That's what I mean. There – it's – you know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror. I believe it. As I told you, Osama bin Laden believes it. But the American people – have gotta understand that a defeat in Iraq – in other words, if this government there fails - the terrorists will be emboldened, the radicals will topple moderate governments. I'm worried, Katie, strongly worried about a world if we – if – if we lose, you know, our confidence and don't help – defeat this ideology, I'm worried that 50 years from now they'll look back and say, "How come – Bush and everybody else didn't see the fact that these – this group of people would use oil to affect our economy?" Or, "How come he didn't confront the Iranian threat and its nuclear ambitions?" Or, "Why didn't you support the moderate governments there in the region?" And – I – I truly believe this is the ideological struggle of the 21st century. And the consequences for not achieving success are – are dire. COURIC: You've been saying that al-Qaeda's base of operation has been destroyed and many of the leaders caught or killed. BUSH: Yeah. COURIC: And yet now you're comparing Osama bin Laden to Hitler. So is this a shift in your views or perspective on Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda? BUSH: No, he's always been dangerous. He's always been dangerous. And, yeah, we disrupted their safe haven in Afghanistan, and they want it back. Just like they wanna have a safe haven in Iraq. That's the struggle. And – let me repeat to you what I said about Hitler, just to make sure we get it straight here, that – I said that when a – a person like Osama bin Laden speaks, we better be careful about what he says, listen, pay attention to his words. And that's what we didn't do to Adolph Hitler early on. COURIC: Why hasn't he been caught five years later? BUSH: Yeah, no, that's a good question. I mean, he's hiding. And – we're on the hunt, obviously. CBS News, Washington DC, 6 September, 2006 "I understand small business growth. I was one." New York Daily News, 19 February, 2000 "Information is moving. You know, nightly news is one way, of course, but it's also moving through the blogosphere and through the Internets." Washington DC, 2 May, 2007 "That's George Washington, the first president, of course. The interesting thing about him is that I read three - three or four books about him last year. Isn't that interesting?" Speaking to reporter Kai Diekmann, Washington DC, 5 May, 2006 "I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office." Washington DC, 12 May, 2008

Hello Lily-ji

Nothing is too much, but then again why are you watching instead of playing? Old men-don’t let the age thing get in the way…trot it. (Having a mental image ewwww*) Che-ji-Main thik hu, aap kaise ho?

So I did not try to be logic given that women mostly decide based on emotions, which is the only tool she was using. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Old man, it should be the other way around. Am ok babuji, and my weekend as usual fabulous…did nothing and everything. How about you?

I have returned. Where is CL to take my shoes off and wash my tired feet? :rolleyes: Hello PPL

Troll corner 2 page?? Hello Ppl

Saudis reject oil embargo on Israel Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:35:35 GMT OPEC's top producer says oil-producing states in the Middle East will not respond to Iran's call to halt crude supplies to Israeli supporters. "The oil producers who need their income ... are not going to do that," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said at a Wednesday news conference. "The use of oil, especially at this time, is an idea that is at least past its worth," he said. "The important thing, oil is not a weapon. You can't reverse a conflict by using oil." A senior Iranian commander had earlier in the week urged Muslim countries to cut oil exports to countries supporting Israel and the atrocities it comits in Gaza. "Oil is among major stimuli that can put pressure on Zionist regime's (Israel) supporters in the US and Europe," Brigadier General Mir-Faisal Baqerzadeh, Head of the Foundation for the Remembrance of the Holy Defense, said earlier on Sunday. The Saudi prince said the idea of cutting oil production would only put pressure on oil-producing states causing them to "suffer as much as anybody else suffers." The Saudi prince's remarks come amid dramatic slides in crude prices. Oil prices have lost more than $100 since hitting a record high of above $147 a barrel in July. The global financial turmoil, brought on by the US subprime-mortgage crisis has sharply slashed the demand for oil. Earlier in December, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to remove up to 2.2 million barrels of oil from the market to counter declining demand and the four-month plunge in prices. The slashing came on top of existing reductions of 2 million barrels per day agreed by the group in October and September. The oil producers "need their abilities to build their countries from this resource (oil)," Prince Saud said. "If they are going to make themselves ready to face any actions against them, they need that resource to build their capabilities," he argued. CS/HGH PressTV

Vote against Melanie Phillips ASAP! We cant let her win. Vote for 'Created in Birmingham' instead. http://2008.weblogawards.org/polls/best-uk-blog/ an interesting read in independant http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ fisk/robert-fisk-why-do-they-hate-the-west-so-much -we-will-ask-1230046.html Robert Fisk: Why do they hate the West so much, we will ask Wednesday, 7 January 2009 A child injured in the Israeli bombardment of a UN school yesterday is taken to Shifa hospital in Gaza City More pictures Related Articles Gaza clashes resume after truce Fares Akram's Gaza blog Donald Macintyre: So what will it take for Israel to stop fighting? Deborah Orr: There wouldn't have been Gaza rockets without the blockade Clegg urges Israel arms exports ban Fares Akram: I heard the news... it's time to evacuate my pregnant wife Massacre of innocents as UN school is shelled Brown calls for international action over Gaza crisis So once again, Israel has opened the gates of hell to the Palestinians. Forty civilian refugees dead in a United Nations school, three more in another. Not bad for a night's work in Gaza by the army that believes in "purity of arms". But why should we be surprised? Have we forgotten the 17,500 dead – almost all civilians, most of them children and women – in Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon; the 1,700 Palestinian civilian dead in the Sabra-Chatila massacre; the 1996 Qana massacre of 106 Lebanese civilian refugees, more than half of them children, at a UN base; the massacre of the Marwahin refugees who were ordered from their homes by the Israelis in 2006 then slaughtered by an Israeli helicopter crew; the 1,000 dead of that same 2006 bombardment and Lebanese invasion, almost all of them civilians? What is amazing is that so many Western leaders, so many presidents and prime ministers and, I fear, so many editors and journalists, bought the old lie; that Israelis take such great care to avoid civilian casualties. "Israel makes every possible effort to avoid civilian casualties," yet another Israeli ambassador said only hours before the Gaza massacre. And every president and prime minister who repeated this mendacity as an excuse to avoid a ceasefire has the blood of last night's butchery on their hands. Had George Bush had the courage to demand an immediate ceasefire 48 hours earlier, those 40 civilians, the old and the women and children, would be alive. What happened was not just shameful. It was a disgrace. Would war crime be too strong a description? For that is what we would call this atrocity if it had been committed by Hamas. So a war crime, I'm afraid, it was. After covering so many mass murders by the armies of the Middle East – by Syrian troops, by Iraqi troops, by Iranian troops, by Israeli troops – I suppose cynicism should be my reaction. But Israel claims it is fighting our war against "international terror". The Israelis claim they are fighting in Gaza for us, for our Western ideals, for our security, for our safety, by our standards. And so we are also complicit in the savagery now being visited upon Gaza. I've reported the excuses the Israeli army has served up in the past for these outrages. Since they may well be reheated in the coming hours, here are some of them: that the Palestinians killed their own refugees, that the Palestinians dug up bodies from cemeteries and planted them in the ruins, that ultimately the Palestinians are to blame because they supported an armed faction, or because armed Palestinians deliberately used the innocent refugees as cover. The Sabra and Chatila massacre was committed by Israel's right-wing Lebanese Phalangist allies while Israeli troops, as Israel's own commission of inquiry revealed, watched for 48 hours and did nothing. When Israel was blamed, Menachem Begin's government accused the world of a blood libel. After Israeli artillery had fired shells into the UN base at Qana in 1996, the Israelis claimed that Hizbollah gunmen were also sheltering in the base. It was a lie. The more than 1,000 dead of 2006 – a war started when Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on the border – were simply dismissed as the responsibility of the Hizbollah. Israel claimed the bodies of children killed in a second Qana massacre may have been taken from a graveyard. It was another lie. The Marwahin massacre was never excused. The people of the village were ordered to flee, obeyed Israeli orders and were then attacked by an Israeli gunship. The refugees took their children and stood them around the truck in which they were travelling so that Israeli pilots would see they were innocents. Then the Israeli helicopter mowed them down at close range. Only two survived, by playing dead. Israel didn't even apologise. Twelve years earlier, another Israeli helicopter attacked an ambulance carrying civilians from a neighbouring village – again after they were ordered to leave by Israel – and killed three children and two women. The Israelis claimed that a Hizbollah fighter was in the ambulance. It was untrue. I covered all these atrocities, I investigated them all, talked to the survivors. So did a number of my colleagues. Our fate, of course, was that most slanderous of libels: we were accused of being anti-Semitic. And I write the following without the slightest doubt: we'll hear all these scandalous fabrications again. We'll have the Hamas-to-blame lie – heaven knows, there is enough to blame them for without adding this crime – and we may well have the bodies-from-the-cemetery lie and we'll almost certainly have the Hamas-was-in-the-UN-school lie and we will very definitely have the anti-Semitism lie. And our leaders will huff and puff and remind the world that Hamas originally broke the ceasefire. It didn't. Israel broke it, first on 4 November when its bombardment killed six Palestinians in Gaza and again on 17 November when another bombardment killed four more Palestinians. Yes, Israelis deserve security. Twenty Israelis dead in 10 years around Gaza is a grim figure indeed. But 600 Palestinians dead in just over a week, thousands over the years since 1948 – when the Israeli massacre at Deir Yassin helped to kick-start the flight of Palestinians from that part of Palestine that was to become Israel – is on a quite different scale. This recalls not a normal Middle East bloodletting but an atrocity on the level of the Balkan wars of the 1990s. And of course, when an Arab bestirs himself with unrestrained fury and takes out his incendiary, blind anger on the West, we will say it has nothing to do with us. Why do they hate us, we will ask? But let us not say we do not know the answer. also, Here's your chance to tell US President and his sidekick Dick Cheyney what you think of them, and their decision not to stand on the side of humanity over Gaza.These two email addresses will give you a direct line to vent your spleen - politely, of course. comments@whitehouse.gov, vice_president@whitehouse.gov ciao

Hi Guys join in and sign the petition for arms embargo http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Arms-embargo/ also, this the number for the israeli army - yep.. the leaflet they threw at the palestininas said that if you suspect hamas activity to call on that number - alot of people have called from here and gave em a ear full and apparently they can speak english- its cheap to call from skype apparently! ill try today it wont do much but iritate the shit out of em.. Instructions for How to Sabotage IDF ops in Gaza The Israeli army has spread flyers in the air in Gaza that give a number for Palestinians to call to report on Hamas activities. Here is the number. Please flood it with calls to protest the war on Gaza instead. +972-2-5839749 From the U.S. you dial: 011-972-2-5839749 YOU CAN ALSO SKYPE IT (+972... Read More-2-5839749) They speak Arabic and Engish. I encourage others to make the call sooner rather than later since it will likely lead to a change of the number once these kinds of calls starts - new flyers being sent out - conflicting information - prevents Palestinians from reporting on Hamas activities. and...The Guardian is running a poll on Gaza ITS FREE send A TEXT 'CEASEFIRE' TO 81819 peace out!

Where did this week go? Hello everyone……

Old man- stop insinuating things…I have pure white heart….wana see? Mjomba BOB kumbe sijajua wewe unapenda umbeya kama mimi lol nakutania mjomba. Wala hakuna kitu kama hicho, Usiwe namawazo kama hayo, wajua mia si mgomvi si? Ibti so so come on woman.....

Enjoy the read my dear…. Subject: The Pro-Israeli Propaganda Machine at Work; Resistance inside Israel Here is part of the Israeli media strategy to control the debate and the message communicated in the media. They clearly understand that numbers of messages to media make a difference. Below this are three reports of antiwar resistance inside Israel and commentary on how the Israeli media covers the protests. -------------------- Dear friends, We hold the military supremacy, yet fail the battle over the international media. We need to buy time for the IDF to succeed, and the least we can do is spare some (additional) minutes on the net. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is putting great efforts in balancing the media, but we all know it's a battle of numbers. The more we post, blog, talkback, vote - the more likely we gain positive sentiment. I was asked by the ministry of foreign affairs to arrange a network of volunteers, who are willing to contribute to this effort. If you're up to it you will receive a daily messages & media package as well as targets. If you wish to participate, please respond to this email ------ Hi all, I had a meeting in the ministry of foreign affairs today, and was very happy to hear that their metrics show that Israel's position in the Internet is getting better every day. It means that you're doing a good job! MFA are concerned with the biased public opinion in Europe. So please focus your efforts on European media. What can you do to help? - Identify Internet battle-grounds in different languages, and let me know - Comment / post / vote in the listed links and others; you can use the material attached below - Write letters to authors and editors. Identify yourself as a local resident - Have your friends join this activity Target sites English · http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7459669.stm · http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ bruce-anderson/bruce-anderson-israel-is-in-danger- of-fighting-the-last-war-not-the-next-one-1225816. html · http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ donald-macintyre-is-regime-change-the-ultimate-goa l-1225797.html · http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2009/jan/05/ga za-israel · http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/561719 · http://www.thestar.com/article/561639 · http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle _east/article5447590.ece · http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2009/jan/05/ga za-israel · http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/ 0105/breaking20.html?via=rel ? email the author · http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7811301.stm - scroll down to "are you affected by the violence?" · http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7810888.stm · http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7812286.stm · http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td8YdfNoPBk · http://www.montrealgazette.com/Thousands+protest+I sraeli+government/1141384/story.html · http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/01/05/gaza-atta cks.html#socialcomments · http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/01/04/gaza.html #socialcomments French · http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/index.php · http://fr.messages.news.yahoo.com/search?.mbintl=f rnews&q=gaza&type=O6PMD1fVWsfL5mrs_cPx_nPESgRXC2Aw 7MNWDPWfBdFFY4E-&action=Recherche&srch=1&v=38beqI_ VWsfnnoCaCXbqaRElaMrim2WWpRKvT803bA--&b=&within=su bject&within=msgtext&showthread=tm&postedon=pd&sMo nth=12&sDay=31&sYear=2008&eMonth=12&eDay=31&eYear= 2008 · http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/gaza -------------------- Dear friends, We hold the military supremacy, yet fail the battle over the international media. We need to buy time for the IDF to succeed, and the least we can do is spare some (additional) minutes on the net. The ministry of foreign affairs is putting great efforts in balancing the media, but we all know it's a battle of numbers. The more we post, blog, talkback, vote - the more likely we gain positive sentiment. I was asked by the ministry of foreign affairs to arrange a network of volunteers, who are willing to contribute to this effort. If you're up to it you will receive a daily messages & media package as well as targets. If you wish to participate, please respond to this email ------------- --------- [commentary: They also sent links to post comments on. Guardian features heavily there - which figures, because Guardian talkbacks are notorious for having very vicious anti-Arab comments on any story sympathetic to Palestinians. Another mystery was solved for me when I saw on the list the P-I story about our Saturday rally. I went to the talkbacks on Sunday (hundreds of them), and they were so hostile, and (I must admit), disguised so well as written by people who've supposedly seen the demo, that I thought: what the heck? What happened to tolerant Seattle? So, nothing happened to Seattle, but it shows that these coordinated attacks do work. ----- here is today's list of links that Hasbara asked to go after (P-I was on yesterday's list). They also sent canned material to use.] English · http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/0 4/israel-history-comment-peter-beaumont · http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/05/israel -gaza (I didn't find commenting option?) · http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnist s/guest_contributors/article5446519.ece · http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2158709/p osts · http://www.ireport.com/ir-topic-stories.jspa?topic Id=169745 (comment on Anti-Israeli posts, post your own) · http://palestinian.ning.com/profiles/blogs/ilan-pa ppe-israels-righteous · http://www.nowpublic.com/world/depleted-uranium-fo und-gaza-victims (disinformation) Spanish · http://video.aol.com/video-detail/ataque-brutal-y- sangriento-de-israel-contra-la-franja-de-gaza/3276 528285/?icid=VIDURVENT06 Dutch · http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/2925927/__Chaos _in_ziekenhuizen__.html · http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/2923318/__Veel_ burgerdoden_in_Gaza__.html Material to use · http://www.bicom.org.uk/ · Video - Israel history in 10 minutes - http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/middleeast/What_R eally_Happened_in_the_Middle_East.asp · Video - Amid Gaza violence, Israeli and Palestinian doctors save baby's life - · Video ? CNN's Amanpour interviews Tzipi Livni - http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ClipMediaID =3244332&ak=null · Analysis - Military incursion should be seen as part of War on Terror, Colonel Lior Lotan http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle _east/article5447575.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=7970 93 · Blog from Southern Israel, Morit Rozen - http://soundsofwar.wordpress.com/ ....more later... On protests inside of Israel, with analysis and reports from Rela Mazali, Rebecca Vilkomerson, Gush Shalom and Tom Pessah From Rela Mazali: Israeli news "farteiched und farbessered" To read the English internet version of Haaretz of January 4th, you wouldn't know that some ten thousand marchers had protested their government's policy and attack on Gaza the night before in Tel Aviv or that earlier that day, many tens of thousands (some estimates have quoted 70 to 100 thousand), Jews and Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, marched their protest through the Arab town of Sakhnin in the Galilee. They're not part of the reality constructed by Haaretz's English website. On January 4th, one headline-topping an item picked up from Associated Press read: "Protesters across Europe urge Israel to end attacks on Gaza Strip" with no mention of domestic protests. Haaretz, mind you, is the newspaper often cited as a central example of Israel's relatively critical and truthful media. Though the Hebrew website published items on both the above protests above, Haaretz's report on the Tel Aviv march was headlined: "Hundreds demonstrated throughout the country in protest .". The article actually says that, "thousands participated in a protest march . in Tel Aviv" and that "tens of thousands of demonstraters" protested in Sakhnin (my translation), but the dismissive "hundreds" of the headline might well convince you to skip such insignificant details. Today, one day later, as I'm writing this analysis, the Hebrew website of Haaretz no longer features even this headline; it can only be accessed via the archive and the item itself is only available for purchase. A powerful "die-in" staged on Friday, January 3rd, by about 20 activists, at the entrance to an air force base situated in the posh northern Tel Aviv quarter known as "Tochnit Lamed" (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpeC7P-2LfU), hasn't been reported on to date by Haaretz in English, though the English version of Ynet carried an item on it ( http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3649206, 00.html). In Monday's print version in Hebrew Haaretz included a "box" briefly reporting on this action, which is absent from both the Hebrew and English websites. This is just a quick and superficial survey of how reality is filtered, "farteiched und farbessered" (abridged and improved, as a Yiddish adapter is reputed to have claimed of his rendering of Shakespeare) by Israeli media, in translation to English. From Rebecca Vilkomerson: The arrest and aftermath of the 19 activists from Anarchists Against the Wall who did a "die in" at Tel Aviv's air force base, was extraordinary. There is a video of the arrest (in hebrew) and it clearly shows them being ordered to move to the sidewalk, doing so, and then being arrested anyway (see video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpeC7P-2LfU). They were held for an un-precedented three days before being charged, and in the meantime activists' homes have been entered, computers have been taken, and even additional arrests have been made by the police. The Anarchists have been one of the most effective groups working against the Occupation, and my sense is that the state is taking this opportunity to both to try to deter others from civil disobedience as well as try to do damage to the group, under cover of the invasion and less outcry on invasions of civil liberties in a "democracy." It is also important to note that there are reports that numerous Palestinian Israelis have been arrested from their homes as well since the invasion began, but there has been no focus (at least in the English or Hebrew press) on these actions whatsoever. *** Gush Shalom report on Saturday night's demonstration: http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1231029 668 At the same time as Ehud Barak was ordering the army to start the bloody ground offensive against Gaza, some ten thousand protesters from all over Israel marched in Tel-Aviv in a massive demonstration against the war. All four lanes of Ibn Gvirol St., one of the city's main throughfares, were packed full of demonstrators who marched the two kiolometres from the Rabin Square to the Cinemateque, chanting and waving banners all the way. "One does not build an election campaign over the dead bodies of children!" shouted the protesters in Hebrew rhymes. "Orphans and widows are not election propaganda!", "Olmert, Livni and Barak - war is no game!"' "All cabinet ministers are war criminals!!" Barak, Barak, don't worry - we shall meet you in The Hague!", "Enough, enough - speak with Hamas!" The written posters were similar. Some of them paraphrased Barak's election slogans: "Barak is not friendly, he is a murderer!" (The original Barak slogan says: "Barak is not friendly, he is a leader!") Also: "No to the Election War, 2009!" and "The six-Knesset-seat war!" - an allusion to the polls which showed that in the first days of the war Barak's Labor Party has gained six prospective seats. The demonstration took place after a fight with the police, which tried to prevent or at least limit it, arguing that they would not be able to stop right-wing rioters from attacking it. Among other things, the police demanded that the organizers undertake to prevent the hoisting of Palestinian flags. The organizers petitioned the High Court of Justice, which decided that the Palestinian flag is legal and ordered the police to protect the demonstration from rioters, The demonstration was decided upon by Gush Shalom and 20 other peace organizations, including the Women's Coalition for Peace, Anarchists Against the Wall, Hadash, the Alternative Information Center and New Profile. Meretz and Peace Now did not participate officially, but many of their members showed up. Some thousand Arab citizens from the north arrived in 20 buses straight from the big demonstration of the Arab public which had taken place in Sakhnin. The organizers themselves were surprised by the large number of protesters. "A week after the start of Lebanon War II, we succeeded in mobilizing only 1000 demonstrators against it. The fact that today there came 10,000 proves that the opposition to the war is much stronger this time. If Barak goes on with his plans, public opinion may completely turn against the war in a few days." The giant Gush Shalom banner said in Hebrew, Arabic and English: "Stop Killing! Stop the Siege! Stop the occupation!" The slogan of the demonstration called for the end of the blockade and an immediate cease-fire. On the day of the protest, the extreme Right mobilized their forces in order to break up the demonstration by force. The police made a great effort to prevent riots, and the one-mile march from Rabin Square to Cinematheque Square proceeded relatively quietly. However, when the protesters started to disperse, in accordance with the agreement with the police, a large crowd of rightists started to attack them. The police, which till then had been keeping the two camps apart, disappeared from the scene. The rioters then encircled the last of the protesters, harassing them, pushing them about and at a certain point started to besiege the Cinematheque building, where some of the last protesters had found refuge. They tried to break into the building, threatening to "finish off" the protesters, but at the last moment some police arrived and protected the entrance. The rioters stayed around for a long time. *** From Tom Pessah, Israeli activist and JPN reader: (I am writing in English for the benefit of our friends outside Israel, to encourage them to continue speaking out to get the world to respond to this. I assume most of my Israeli friends can follow this). There is a huge number of protests going on around the country. This blog http://mystical-politics.blogspot.com/2009/01/isra eli-demonstrations-against-bombing.html mentions some. One of the most impressive was outside a base of the airforce, to remind pilots that they are actually killing people, not just bombing targets. In this protest 21 people were arrested, some of whom have been in jail for several days. A significant development is that parts of the zionist left, such as Meretz and Peace Now, have joined the calls for an immediate halt to the war- http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456 536477&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull . Several thousands protested last night in Tel Aviv - http://things.co.il/, and thousands more demonsrated in Sakhnin earlier that day, in what is seen as the biggest protest in the Arab sector for many years. http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=2954 3 Not enough to stop the land invasion, but public opinion is turning in our direction. The counter-protestors yesterday told us we had no right to an opinon, since we don't live in Sderot. It brought me great satisfaction to tell them of the petition by Sderot civilians against the war (thanks Sarah Anne for posting it on Jewish Peace News - http://jewishpeacenews.blogspot.com/2009/01/some-v oices-of-dissent.html ). (I resolved not to let anyone silence me, and the next time someone tries to take my place in the queue at a bank or at a store, I will definitely scream "fifth column!!!! go to Gaza!!! traitor!!!!". Also, those who weren't at the rally missed the counter-protestors' inimitable rendering of HaTikvah, the Israeli national anthem, as some kind of soccer song, to which some us responded quite naturally by screaming stuff about the referee's mother. I guess you should have been there) Yesterday I spoke with M., a 20-year old student at the Hebrew university, who is planning a vigil this week in her campus. This is her first semester ever. In Jaffa, Palestinian activists are undergoing serious intimidation, including being woken up at night by the police for trumped up charges, and then released without being accused of anything. In spite of this they are continually protesting: last week they set up a mourning site for the civlians who died in Gaza, on Saturday many of them came to demonstrate in Tel Aviv, and on Tuesday another protest is planned in Jaffa (יפת פינת הפגנה ביפו ביום שלישי - ארליך, שעה 6). Here are some testimonies - http://www.alternativenews.org/news/english/freedo m-of-speech-denied-to-palestinian-citizens-of-isra el-20090101.html Maybe remember this the next time someone tells you how lucky Arabs are to be citizens of Israel. The police initially said that it would ban Saturday's demonstration if participants were to wave Palestinian flags, and it took a decision by the High Court to allow the protest to happen http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3649253, 00.html. This is, of course, the "flag of the enemy", and Palestinian citizens of Israel are expected to proudly wave the Israeli flag with the Star of David, as an expression of their national identity. I am constantly impressed by people's creativity: a party scheduled for Saturday was not cancelled because of the war, but it turned instead into a protest event, with drag kings dressing up as soldiers and parodying the fighting. A group of Jewish and Palestinian poets brought out a collection of anti-war poems (in Hebrew - you can download it here - http://notes.co.il/mati/51225.asp), and organized a reading outside the house of Barak, the Defense Minister, to emphasize his responsibility for the massive killings. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052047.html - and these are only a few instances that I am aware of, mainly from my area (Tel Aviv). The media is barely covering it, but as a Tel Avivian friend told me, she was hardly aware of the protests against the war until 10000 people passed by her house chanting slogans like (my favorite) - Arabs and Jews refuse to be enemies - Since many Arabs bused into Tel Aviv to be present, this felt especially poignant. Tom Segev wrote in his column this week that "On April 5, 1956, Israel bombed the marketplace in the center of Gaza City. Fifty civilians were killed in that attack, including women and children. Then foreign minister Moshe Sharett thought it was a "savage and ******" operation. But David Ben-Gurion, the prime minister and defense minister, and Moshe Dayan, the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, believed the Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, sought to destroy Israel and therefore his regime must be toppled, via a defeat in a comprehensive war. Therefore, the ministers followed a policy designed to increase tension and escalation, to the brink of war". This was 52 years ago! http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052024.html whereas this market in Gaza was attacked last week - http://www.facebook.com/people/Tom-Pessah/1237509# /video/video.php?v=1037755058264&ref=nf We can either continue to accept this logic, that killing hundreds of people will "teach them a lesson", or we can demand a complete change of policy - a real honest attempt to end the occupation in both Gaza and the West Bank, dismantling settlements instead of building new ones, allowing people access to health care, food, higher education, travel abroad and the right to choose their own government democratically just like everyone else. To all those who say "there is no choice" - why is killing 500 people, very few of whom were engaged in firing rockets, even considered a legitimate choice? where is this leading to? only to the death and wounding of more Palestinian and Israeli soldiers and civilians. Enough is enough. Get up, stand up. .................................................. .............. -------- Jewish Peace News editors: Joel Beinin Racheli Gai Rela Mazali Sarah Anne Minkin Judith Norman Lincoln Shlensky Rebecca Vilkomerson Alistair Welchman ------------ Jewish Peace News archive and blog: http://jewishpeacenews.blogspot.com

Spare the Pieties on Gaza by Jack Engelhard Israel is a Jewish State. Is that your problem? Frankly, given a choice, I prefer the skinheads and other brutes who express their anti-Semitism openly. In such places, we know the enemy. But please spare me the pieties and the righteous indignation of those “good people” protesting throughout Europe You called it “peace” as long as the Arabs were doing the killing and the Jews were doing the dying. against Israel’s defensive operation in Gaza. True, thousands have taken up banners in support of Israel. At the same time, however, the streets of Europe (and even some in America) are in an uproar. These are the “humanitarians” - the good, the noble, the refined, who chant “peace.” Now you’re up and about? Now you speak? Where were you when, throughout the years, thousands of jihadist bombs fell on Israel? The streets of Europe were empty. There were no pictures in the newspapers of grieving Jewish mothers and fathers. You called it “peace” as long as the Arabs were doing the killing and the Jews were doing the dying. All was well with the world. Suddenly, as Israel answered back, you found your Cause; and how self-righteous you are in your Cause. You are the best and the brightest of Europe. You are educated. You attended the finest schools. You care for the birds, the bees, the bears, the trees. You favor free speech and freedom of religion. Strange it is that the one and only place in the Middle East that shares your world-view is Israel, and it is Israel that you slander. Israel is a Jewish State. Is that your problem? At the first hint of Jewish self-defense, how quickly you show your true colors. I’ve seen the photos of your candlelight vigils along the streets and boulevards of Europe, all of it; all these tears in the service of those terrorists whom you call your brothers. Indeed you are related to Hamas (and Fatah) as once before, a mere generation ago, you were related to Hitler’s stormtroopers. Your angelic faces are touching - and disgusting. Your hypocrisy is transparent and nauseating. You speak of disproportion. You want proportion? Give Israel a population of 300 million residing in 22 countries, similar to the Arab Muslims who surround and ambush Israel - instead of five and a half million Jews in one single country. There’s plenty of “proportion” coming from your BBC, which delights in presenting one side of the story and picks up where Der Sturmer left off. Now, with this type of “news”, we know how Europe was conditioned for a Holocaust. Already we see Nights of Broken Glass. Thank you, Europe, for reminding us why America was discovered just in time (and why Israel was redeemed many generations too late). You dare judge Israel? In your deportations, your expulsions, your forced conversions, your inquisitions, your pogroms, you have no moral authority over Israel or even within your own borders. You gave all that up from 1492 to 1942. To those on the Left who sought peace, well, dear peace-lovers, peace brought this on. “Land for Peace” made this happen, as Land for Peace became Land for Jihad. “Painful Concessions” caused this war. “Goodwill Gestures” You have no moral authority over Israel or even within your own borders. backfired. Want more “peace”? Give up the Golan Heights. Give up the entire West Bank. Give up Jerusalem. Imagine the “peace.” As for those “innocent civilians” in Gaza, they were given a choice and they chose Hamas. They chose this pestilence. As for those “refugee camps” - why are they “refugee camps” when Israel handed over all that territory for a nation to be built in peace and security alongside Israel? Why are all Palestinians automatically refugees even after they’ve been given a home? The only true refugees are the thousands of Israelis who were driven from Gaza and still live in trailer parks. No tears for them in this world that still dreams of Auschwitz. On this day, in response to a column I wrote about Theresienstadt, someone responded that I was incorrect; that Theresienstadt was not a prelude to Auschwitz, but rather “a vacation resort.” I wrote back wishing this person a lifetime in such vacation resorts. I wish the same lifetime vacation resorts to all those parading throughout the streets of Europe with banners crying, “Death to Israel.” God bless the IDF! Go Israel!

P.s.Cynical,do u think that Hamas is responsible for all this as ur signature suggests or? What I think is irrelevant my dear, I simply don’t have the time nor inclination to join the SOL bandwagon. The avatar and signature has purpose find it. Cynical lady, to hell with all your zionist list! It’s not my fault that your simpleton, and missing the point behind this thread. Now do me favour and get hold of yourself.

Granted it’s beautiful seeing you all charged up against something. But do you think your recent outburst in SOL/ calling someone in Gaza/reading Quran translates to anything meaningful for the Palestinian people?

Gaza and the Yo-Yo Effect by Tzipora Liron What is going to happen the day after? Everyone who ever tried a diet knows it and hates it. The Yo-Yo Effect. You spend hard weeks fighting against your stomach with strange food regimes, and feeling hungry day and night. Then, you've finally lost 10 pounds. Even the best of military operations has to come to an end one day. With a sigh of relief you go back to your normal life. That is, until one day you discover that the zipper on your favorite dress refuses to close. Slowly, the terrible truth dawns on you: the 10 pounds are back; 12 pounds actually. One doesn't have to be a genius to understand that the only way to prevent this is a permanent profound change of eating habits and awareness. Now stop looking at your tummy and try to apply this to the situation in the Gaza Strip. After almost three years of letting Hamas grow fat in Gaza, thousands of Kassam rockets later, finally something is done. A quick, strong strike. Awesome. When, after Shabbat, the first TV news came in, I felt a sense of relief and satisfaction; this is going to cut Hamas back to ground level, I thought. Combined with a ground offensive, it might stop the Kassam rockets and that trouble with Hamas once and for all. Wait a moment. Once and for all? What is going to happen the day after? The week after? The year after? This is the million-dollar question. Imagine that Operation Cast Lead will be a full, fantastic success. No more Kassam rockets and the Hamas regime disabled. And then? Who is going to fill that power vacuum in the Gaza Strip? I don't know, but I'm fairly sure it won't be a suddenly emerging Arab Peace Now movement. Maybe it will be Mahmoud Abbas, the crumbling leader of the Palestinian Authority whose term will end next month and his last loyal Fatah troopers. How long will he last? What will replace him - a coalition of several assorted Islamist groups? It's also not unlikely that a severely bruised Hamas somehow resurrects itself and creeps back to power. Even the best of military operations has to come to an end one day. The last fighter jet will return to its base, the last tank will rumble away. With a sigh of relief, Israel will return to normal life. Whoever manages to grab control of the Gaza Strip on that day is not going to be our friend. As soon as they've cleared the streets of debris, the Gaza population will begin seething with the desire for revenge and will support anyone who promises it. So, whoever will be in charge, even if they remain silent for a while and lick their wounds, The Gaza population will begin seething with the desire for revenge and will support anyone who promises it. as soon as possible they will begin to rearm themselves and to take revenge by all available means - homemade rockets, terror attacks, etc. The Gaza Strip will have to be sealed again, blockaded at all crossings; they'll have arms smuggled in through tunnels.... Sound familiar? Well, it seems that the 12 pounds are back and the zipper got stuck. Until the next military operation. And the one after that. The only way to prevent that? A permanent profound change of attitude. On our side. The realization that unilateral disengagement was a terrible mistake that brought today's situation about. “Miracle diets” do not work and neither do unilateral disengagements. The problem tends to come back; only, it's worse each time. So how to break out of this circle? First of all, what is needed is the prevention of a power vacuum by reestablishing a strong permanent Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip. However, if that presence is a military presence only, its permanence and even its justification is questionable. You can't forever keep troops in an area with which you have no connection. And public opinion inside Israel will sooner or later wear down and get tired of it. If, however, the terrible mistake of 2005 would be corrected and the Jewish settlers that were transferred and ethnically cleansed out of Gaza were permitted to return, then there would be an incentive and a good reason for a permanent Israeli presence. There would be a connection, a renewed justification, a vested Israeli interest in Gaza. To all who now cry out in agony about “settlers” and “occupation”, please remember exactly in this context the astute observation of ex-IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon last November that in the eyes of Hamas, the majority of the Palestinian public and the majority of Israeli Arabs, we are all “settlers” - in Tel Aviv-Yafo, in Sderot, in Haifa. They - the majority of Arabs, according to polls - do not want us in the Gaza Strip. And they also want us nowhere else. Reestablishing Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip would mean the ultimate defeat of Hamas terror, the worst possible blow to their ideology. It would help put an end to their claim that terror pays and succeeded in forcing Israel to withdraw step by step. Even the general Arab population in Gaza would, in a way, derive benefit from the reestablished settlements; their economic situation was better before 2005. It could become better again, with no need to perpetually seal and blockade the Strip and without a Hamas regime embezzling a huge part of the aid that comes in. And, with a friendly smile in the direction of world opinion, do you realize that the human rights situation in Gaza would actually improve under permanent Israeli control? It would mean the end of the murder of political rivals, as seen in the ongoing Hamas-Fatah power struggle, the end of “collaborators” hanging from lampposts or shot while in hospital, as happened just in recent days, and the end of regularly applied torture and random arrest. Reestablishing Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip would mean the ultimate defeat of Hamas terror. Last July, a Haaretz article quoted a “recent survey of Gaza residents, indicating that 45 percent of them would leave if possible. Their preferred destination: Egypt, of course.” As long as Hamas is in charge, Egypt takes great care to keep its Gaza border sealed. They know why. They don't want them over there, either. Under permanent Israeli rule, that restriction would most likely be eased and Gazans would be free to travel to Egypt without having to break through the barriers by force. A few more bitter words on world opinion and international pressure. Did the international community appreciate Israel for Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement? Did the international community appreciate Israel for bringing about a Hamas state in Gaza? For then having to seal and blockade it? Or for silently enduring thousands of Kassam rockets? Does the international community appreciate Israel for what our fighter jets have to do now? Was there ever a single positive aspect about the disengagement? Did it bring the “peace” envisioned by all those Mideast peace initiatives? If the answer to all these questions is “no”, could it be that something went fundamentally wrong? And could it be that trying to repeat the 2005 mistake in the future in Judea and Samaria would bring about even more terrible results? How far is it from those areas to Tel Aviv? Do we really need a second “Hamastan”? Let's break out of the circle and undo the mistake, forever. Now is the time. Stop the nightmare - reclaim Gaza for good.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/ 3#3267

Sunday Jan 04, 2009 JPost.com Double Standard Watch: Israel's actions are lawful and commendable Posted by Alan M. Dershowitz Israel's military actions in Gaza are entirely justified under international law, and Israel should be commended for its act of self-defense against international terrorism. Article 51 of the United Nations Charter reserves to every nation the right to engage in self-defense against armed attacks. The only limitation international law places on a democracy is that its actions must satisfy the principle of proportionality. Israel's actions certainly satisfy that principles. When Barack Obama visited the city of Sderot this summer, he saw the same things that I had seen during my visit on March 20 of this year. Over the last four years, Palestinian terrorists - in particular, Hamas and Islamic Jihad - have fired more than two thousand rockets at this civilian area, which is home to mostly poor and working-class people. The rockets are designed exclusively to maximize civilian deaths, and some have barely missed schoolyards, kindergartens, hospitals, and school buses. But others hit their targets, killing more than a dozen civilians since 2001, including in February 2008 a father of four who had been studying at the local university. These anticivilian rockets have also injured and traumatized countless children. RELATED The Warped Mirror: 'We are Hamas' - the newest development Abe Foxman: Preventing the weapons flow to Hamas David Harris: Why Israel had no choice Living with Rockets: Hamas's winning strategy The residents of Sderot have fifteen seconds from the launch of the rocket to run into a shelter. The rule is that everyone must always be within fifteen seconds of a shelter, regardless of what they are doing. Shelters are everywhere, but the aged and the physically challenged often have difficulty making it to safety. On the night I was in Sderot, a rocket landed nearby, but there had been no "red alert." The warning system is far from foolproof. In most parts of the world, the first words learned by toddlers are "mommy" and "daddy." In Sderot, they are "red alert." The police chief of Sderot showed me hundreds of rocket fragments that had been recovered. Many bore the name of the terrorist group that had fired the deadly missiles. Although firing deliberately to kill civilians is a war crime, the terrorists who fired at the civilians of Sderot were proud enough of their crimes to "sign" their murderous weapons. They know that in the real world in which we live, they will never be prosecuted for their murders and attempted murders. Barack Obama reacted to what he had seen in Sderot by saying that if his two daughters were exposed to rocket attacks in their own homes, he would do everything in his power to stop such attacks. I hope and believe that President Obama will take the same position he did as candidate Obama. The residents of Sderot were demanding that their nation take action to protect them. Most seem to agree with the Israeli decision to end its occupation of the Gaza Strip, to withdraw its soldiers and settlers despite the reality that during the occupation, rocket attacks increased against the residents of Sderot. But Israel's post-occupation military options were limited, since Hamas deliberately fires its deadly rockets from densely populated urban areas, and the Israeli Army has a strict policy of trying to avoid civilian casualties. The firing of rockets at civilians from densely populated civilian areas is the newest tactic in the war between terrorists who love death and democracies that love life. The terrorists have learned how to exploit the morality of democracies against those who do not want to kill civilians, even enemy civilians. In one recent incident, Israeli intelligence learned that a particular house was being used to manufacture and store rockets. It was a clear military target since their rockets were being fired at Israeli civilians. But the house was also being lived in by a family. So the Israeli military phoned the house, informed the owner that it was a military target, and gave him thirty minutes to leave with his family before the house was attacked. The owner called Hamas, which immediately sent dozens of mothers carrying babies to stand on the roof of the house. Hamas knew that Israel would never fire at a home with civilians in it. They also knew that if, by some fluke, the Israeli authorities did not learn that there were civilians in the house, and fired on it, Hamas would win a public relations victory by displaying the dead civilians to the media. In this case, Israel did learn of the civilians and withheld its fire. The rockets that were spared destruction by the human shields were then used against Israeli civilians. This, in a nutshell, is the dilemma faced by democracies with a high level of morality. The Hamas tactic would not have worked against the Russians in Chechnya. When the Russians were fired upon, they fired against civilians without hesitation. Nor would it work in Darfur, where janjaweed militias have killed thousands of civilians and displaced 2.5 million in order to get the rebels who were hiding among them. Certain tactics work only against moral enemies who care deeply about minimizing civilian casualties. Over the past months, a shaky cease-fire, organized by Egypt was in effect. Hamas agreed to stop the rockets and Israel agreed to stop taking military action against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. The cease-fire itself was morally dubious and legally asymmetrical. Israel, in effect, was saying to Hamas: if you stop engaging in the war crime of targeting our innocent civilians, we will stop engaging in the entirely lawful military acts of targeting your terrorists. Under the cease-fire, Israel reserved the right to engage in self-defense actions such as attacking terrorists who were in the course of firing rockets at its civilians. Just before the hostilities began, Israel offered Hamas both a carrot and a stick. Israel reopened checkpoints to allow humanitarian aid to reenter Gaza. It had closed these point of entry after they had been targeted by Gaza rockets. Israel's prime minister also issued a stern, final warning to Hamas that unless it stopped the rockets, there would be a full scale military response. This is the way Reuters reported it: Israel reopened border crossings with the Gaza Strip on Friday, a day after Prime Minister warned militants there to stop firing rockets or they would pay a heavy price. Despite the movement of relief supplies, militants fired about a dozen rockets and mortar shafts from Gaza at Israel on Friday. One accidentally struck a house in Gaza, killing two Palestinian sisters, ages 5 and 13...the deliveries could ease the tensions that might have led to a military action to end the rocket attacks. Palestinian workers at the crossings said fuel had arrived for Gaza's main power plant and about a hundred trucks loaded with grain, humanitarian aid and other goods were expected during the day." The Hamas rockets continued and Israel kept its word, implementing a carefully prepared targeted air attack against Hamas targets. On Sunday, I spoke to the Air Force General, now retired, who worked on the planning of the attack. He told me of the intelligence and planning that had gone into preparing for the contingency that the military option might become necessary. The Israeli Air Force had pinpointed with precision the exact locations of Hamas structures, in an effort to minimize civilian casualties. Even Hamas sources acknowledged that the vast majority of those killed have been Hamas terrorists though some civilian casualties are inevitable when--as BBC's Rushdi Abou Alouf, who is certainly not pro Israel--reported that "the Hamas security compounds are in the middle of the city." Indeed his home balcony from which he observed the bombing of a compound was 20 meters from that military target. There have been three types of international response to the Israeli military actions against the Hamas rockets. Not surprisingly, Iran, Hamas, and other knee-jerk Israeli-bashers have argued that the Hamas rocket attacks against Israeli civilians are entirely legitimate, and that the Israeli counterattacks are war crimes. Equally unsurprising is the response of the United Nations, the European Union, Russia, and others who, at least when it comes to Israel, see a moral and legal equivalence between terrorists who target civilians and a democracy that responds by targeting the terrorists. The most dangerous of the three responses is not the Iranian-Hamas absurdity, which is largely ignored by thinking and moral people, but the United Nations and European Union response, which equate the willful murder of civilians with legitimate self-defense pursuant to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. This false moral equivalence only encourages terrorists to persist in their unlawful actions against civilians. The United States has it exactly right by placing the blame on Hamas, while urging Israel to do everything possible to minimize civilian casualties. There are some who claim that Israel has violated the principle of proportionality by killing so many more Hamas terrorists than the number of Israeli civilians killed by Hamas rockets. That is an absurd misapplication of the concept of proportionality for at least two reasons. First, there is no legal equivalence between the deliberate killing of innocent civilians and the deliberate killings of Hamas combatants. Under the laws of war, any number of combatants can be killed to prevent the killing of even one innocent civilian. Second, proportionality is not measured by the number of civilians actually killed, but rather by the risk of civilian death and the intentions of those targeting civilians. Hamas seeks to kill as many civilians as it can. It aims its rockets in the general direction of schools, hospitals, playgrounds and other entirely civilian targets. The fact that it has not killed as many civilians as it would have liked to is a tribute to Israel's enormous devotion of resources to the building of shelters and to the construction of early warning systems. Hamas, on the other hand, refuses to build shelters, precisely because it wants to maximize the number of Palestinian civilians inadvertently killed by Israel's military actions. It knows, from experience, that when it forces Israel to take military actions that result in the deaths of even a small number of innocent Palestinian civilians, many in the international community will condemn Israel. Israel understands this sad reality as well, and goes to enormous lengths to reduce the number of civilian casualties, even to the point of foregoing legitimate targets that are too close to civilian areas. Accordingly, Israel's actions satisfy the principle of proportionality as well as the principle of self-defense against armed attack. Until and unless the United Nations and the rest of the international community recognize that Hamas is committing three war crimes--targetting Israeli civilians, using their own civilians as human shields and seeking the destruction of a member state of the United Nations--and that Israel is acting in self-defense and out of military necessity, the conflict will continue and perhaps escalate. If Israel succeeds in destroying the terrorist organization Hamas, it may well lay the foundation for a real peace between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. But if Hamas persists in its capacity to target increasing numbers of Israeli citizens, Israel will have no choice but to persist in its self-defense efforts. No democracy would do otherwise.

1 | Lewis P. Walter, Monday Jan 05, 2009 Don't be discouraged by the ignorant or knowing supporters of the despicable Hamas and other terror groups like them. Here in the U.S. I am afraid there is a residual anti-Semitism in some quarters which inevitably slants news reporting against any actions Israel may take, even self defensive operations. Living across the Detroit River from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, I have used the example of "what if Detroit was being bombarded by rocket fire from nearby Canada?" Obviously, immediate, decisive strikes would result from our side. Why ask Israel to continue to be a sitting duck? Hang tough! 2 | M.Robinson, Monday Jan 05, 2009 There's none so blind as he that will not see. Everything you say seems obvious to you and me, Mr. Harris, and the only reason the 'Palestinian' supporters do not see it is a total lack of understanding of (or concern about) what faces Israel, and then the wider world, if these monsters are allowed to win. They have been blinded by years, decades, of Arab propaganda of which Goebbels would have been jealous. I pray for Israel, and the peace of Jerusalem. 3 | Leon, Paris, Monday Jan 05, 2009 Well said! i wish every government in Europe would read this, not to mention every anti-Israel demonstrator in the streets who has even a shred of integrity and self-respect. 4 | Jeremiah, Singapore, Tuesday Jan 06, 2009 Well written and to the point. The conflict is not only between terrorists and Israel but one of idealogies and culture, one which celebrates life and one which celebrates death. 5 | Asia, Tuesday Jan 06, 2009 A well deserved 5* commentary. It baffles me, how European politicians, with their experience with terrorism, could somehow not appreciate that Israel is doing the right thing, doing its part to weed out terrorism. If Israel is defeated, and USA minds its own business, then the Europe will have to do the job themelves. 6 | amni, hyderabad, Tuesday Jan 06, 2009 INDIA, SHOULD BE LEASED TO ISRAEL. OUR PEOPLE, LEADERS ..ALL HINDUS LACK COURAGE.. NO ACTION AND COURAGE TO TALK AND TACKLE.. I SUPPORT AND ADMIRE QUICK ACTION.. 7 | Klaus, Hamburg, Germany, Tuesday Jan 06, 2009 If this isn't a clear-cut struggle between democracy and despotism, then I don't know what is. But then again, in our world of moral relativism, some would insanely argue that "good" and "evil" or "right" and "wrong" are anachronisms. Israel, ignore your detractors. Anyway, no matter what you do, you won't satisfy them. But you are valiantly helping the rest of us -- Jews and non-Jews alike -- who reject everything Hamas stands for. 8 | Mrs CAROLE BROWN -- NORTH WALES, Tuesday Jan 06, 2009 Just want to offer my support to the IDF , putting their lives on the line for the civilians of Israel. My prayers are with you all at this difficult time. 9 | Ruth London, Tuesday Jan 06, 2009 Asia the reason why European politicians will not stand up for Israel is that they are terrified of Islamic terrorism being unleased in their own countries. The Islamicists have, like the Nazis and other totalitarians before them, used terror to subdue criticism. Just look at how the Spanish are fawning to them. 10 | M.Robinson, London, Tuesday Jan 06, 2009 David Le Page, Cape Town, the reason Israel does not talk with Hamas is because Hamas WILL NOT negotiate. They are interested only in the total destruction of Israel. This is the absolute fact that 'Palestine' supporters cannot seem to get through their thick skulls. You cannot make peace with a bomb; it's going to explode and kill you no matter what you say or do. 11 | Manikam from Malaysia, Tuesday Jan 06, 2009 Islamic terrorism must be stopped no matter what.From Asia to Europe Muslims are a problematic group.Hope Isreal will get to the root of all this terrorist problems and make Isreal a safe place to live.IDF keep flushing those terrorist who claim to be a political party(Hamas) 12 | George, London, England, Tuesday Jan 06, 2009 Fox News had an interesting programme on the son of an Hamas leader who had escaped from Hamas, converted to Christianity, and is now seeking asylum in the US. He had been in a prison where Hamas tortured and killed Muslims who did not obey them. Unfortunately so many people are naive and unaware of the evils of Muslim militant extremists like Hamas, who are true fascists. All those opposed to terrorism need to stick together and fight it together. God Bless You all. 13 | Lawrence, CA, USA, Tuesday Jan 06, 2009 May G-d bless the IDF, Israel, and all of the worlds supporters of Israels' defensive actions. Israel does not want to kill innocents, Gaza forces them to by hiding behind them, using their houses to store guns and ammunition, and killing anyone who disagrees with them. Like yesterday when they were found to have shot Fatah supporters in the legs "so they cannot help Israel"--this to their OWN people. Imagine what they have in store for the rest of the world. 14 | Matthew, Canada, Tuesday Jan 06, 2009 Hamas is as violent, dangerous and fanatic as the Israeli right namely the Likud, and since last week, most of the significant political parties in the Knesset. While Hamas' charter states that there is no place for a Jewish state in Palestine, the Israeli right is still imbued with the dream of Eretz Israel, a Jewish majority land(which effectively means the displacement of a part of its Arab population). However, on the two sides, there are moderates, but their voices are silent when they're needed the most, in times of war. The current situation involves 2 extremisms that are irreconcilable 15 | Jan, Australia, Tuesday Jan 06, 2009 The future is already written. Within a few years Hamas may only be a bad memory. The Hamas quotes sound like the tone of the Quran. But the Torah say those that hate and plot will have their devices turned on them by the God of Israel (Leviticus 19:16-18, Deuteronomy 7:10). Hamas will not prosper as history has already shown, as Jephthah said to the Ammonites when they said Israel had taken their land, 'do you not possess what your god gives you to possess?' The people of Gaza do indeed possess what Hamas's god has has made, they live in the violence they made. But Israel will have Peace. 16 | Michael - Phenix City, Alabama USA, Tuesday Jan 06, 2009 I really often wonder where to go for common sense anymore. Current global indoctrination favors militant Islam and uses websites like rense.com to spread hatred and anger against Israel under the label of anti-zionism. More troubling is that I see how this campaign is gathering minds here in the US because we no longer trust our mainstream media. Especially the young, they are drawn to the rhetoric and propaganda that pretends to be humanitarian but as we both know, carries death wherever it goes. I hope that someone, somewhere will counter this and help bring Americas young back to their senses. Israel and the US need each other like the US and England found they did. Only together will we stand and survive what lies ahead. God bless you and. may God teach us the will to fight and win. 17 | Robert from Seattle, Wednesday Jan 07, 2009 I always thought that if someone refused to recognize my existence...vowed to destroy me...shot rockets at me...and blew themselves up on my buses and in my markets...that person wants to fight me....Hamas is the ELECTED party in Gaza...Hamas represents Gaza...Therefore Hamas and Gaza wanted this fight...now...they have it 18 | Jerry Premo Washington St ate, Wednesday Jan 07, 2009 The Israeli Arrmy must kill or capture every member of Hamas to insure their existance. Jerry Premo Washington state Former military personnel. Also, why does the American Jewish population continually vote for the Democrats when The Republicans are the only political party in America who support the Jewish state? 19 | Mary Sperling, Wednesday Jan 07, 2009 Until I visited Israel, I too was ignorant. Facts I didn't know: 1) History of 1947 intention of Britian to create two states, one Jewish and one Arab in the Holy Lands which didn't happen because 2) Jordan took over the West Bank in 1947, occupied it until 1967, and only in 1988 released its claim. 3) "Palestinians" are Arabs who live in the West Bank, Jordan, parts of Syria, and Lebananon. Jews are viewed as European invaders 4) Christians are being driven out of the Holy Lands, yet the Christian West doesn't complain. Why? 5) Humas as zero tolerance for both Jews and Christians. 20 | R. Markowitz, Western Shomron, Israel, Wednesday Jan 07, 2009 B"H The people of Gaza are held hostage by their own political choice. If they voted Hamas they are all Hamas. If their leader use them as shields or cannon fodder or even fertilizer for next year's crops, you cant blame Israel. Israel is only guilty of ********* and believing in fantasies. Land for peace doesn't work. If we train and arm their security forces, they use these weapons to kill us. All of our humanitarian concerns make us look weak in their eyes. Where were all of the concerned people when missiles were only falling on Israeli children? The world is to blame for its' indifference. 21 | RONIE OF PHIILIPPINES, Wednesday Jan 07, 2009 France,Britain,spain and most of Europe's leaders appears to be tough but in reality they are cowards.they're afraid to make a stand to islamist threat.they are playing blind and ignorant to the true motive and plan of islamist to someday dominate their country.wake up europe! before its too late. israel is doing the right thing of defending their own country,their lives,their freedom so that we too can enjoy life.we should thank and pray for israel's success bcause of doing things beneficial for our existence. GO ISRAEL 22 | Than Lwin, Singapore, Wednesday Jan 07, 2009 No army in the world is more professional than Isreali defence forces, no democracy in the world is more mature than Isreal's, no decision or action is thoroughly debated and well-consulted than the one come from Isreali leaders, nobody's ideology and implimentation of it in it's activities (in terrorism) is more terrifying and more dangerous to civilizations than Hamas' & Hizbullah's. What else choice Isreal can have other than destrying them and taking them out from existance in this world? Despite being an Asian far away their land, I cannot find any reason not to feel for Isrealis. 23 | r nevies london, Wednesday Jan 07, 2009 excellent articulate analysis. it should be front page news on every paper in the world. when so many apparently intelligent people controlling the media in the west are willfully ignorant and indifferent, the only explanation is hatred of the jew. 24 | Stuart Kidder, Tampa FL, Wednesday Jan 07, 2009 A Christian in Tampa who supports the actions of the IDF and your political leaders. Those who vow to destroy Isreal, will not just stop at the river and the sea, but will continue to spread their version of hate and destruction. God bless the nation of Israel. Do what you you must do, do not worry about "international pressure" and don't finish till Hamas is completely wiped out. 25 | John David, British Columbia, Canada, Wednesday Jan 07, 2009 What's that expression, "Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are"? Who are the friends of Hamas? Well, let's see, to begin with, there's thuggish Venezuela, belligerent Iran, and represive Syria. That's more than enough to persuade me, a non-Jew far from the Middle East, that I stand with Israel. Shouldn't the same choice be obvious to anyone who cares not just about the Middle East, but the larger state of the world? 26 | David. California, USA., Wednesday Jan 07, 2009 No other nation in the world would tolerate having Qassams filled with ball bearings and other vicious weapons raining down on its towns and forcing its population to live in constant terror. I pray that G-d may protect the men and women of the IDF and that they may rid the world of the likes of Hamas, for Israel and the civilians' sake. Israel has shown remarkable restraint in dealing with these cowardly terrorists. Where is the international outcry when Israeli children are killed by rockets? Godspeed to Israel and her citizens! 27 | m.raynor USA, Wednesday Jan 07, 2009 Dear Sir, You are right on the ball. The west has become bankrupt in more than one way. The politicians have lost the right to be in the positions they are in,as they will not speak up nor stand up in defence of their voters. They have no moral commitment, to explain to the masses what is at stake.All of the democracies are in the firiing line,if not today then tomorrow. Their own childeren and grand childeren are in danger. Yours sincerely, M.Raynor. 28 | tzina, Wednesday Jan 07, 2009 Thursday 6 pm at Gan Soccer, Jerusalem, Israel there is to be a rally to support OUR IDF TROOPS! Please wear blue and white and bring YOUR ISRAELI FLAGS! 29 | Paul - Netherlands EU, Wednesday Jan 07, 2009 Yea right, most people commenting in the western countries have never been in the M.E. If I hadn't been to Egypt I would not understand why borderguards at Raffah keep the gates closed if they see fellow muslims suffer on the other side of the fence. If I hadn't seen Israel with my own eyes, I wouldn't know the difficulties in living side by side of Arabs, Bedoeins and Israeli (and Druze) while Israeli's come from Russia, France, USA etc.etc. On top of that there are Pals PLUS some hard line Hamas ******. Politicians in their armchairs in Europe etc. should shut up commenting. IDF go !!

Is your name Ibtisam? p.s I see no point in posing a question when the intended recipient is not around…?

Ibtisam- can I ask you question?