Wall St was down 94 overnight, its biggest fall in a month, while the local market is down 66.
The Gaza Strip: A Crikey wrap
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As the conflict on the Gaza Strip enters a third week with no ceasefire in sight, the Israelis are claiming near victory while Hamas say the war has ended any chance of lasting peace. The rising Palestinian deathtoll has seen Israeli PR in tatters as some commentators call for sanctions. Others argue that the war is spreading further anti-western sentiment in the Middle East, eroding already tenuous relations and increasing the appeal of fundamentalist terrorism. Here’s what the global media is saying: Israel is “nearing Gaza goals”. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said Israel is nearing the goals of its military campaign in the Gaza Strip, as he signalled it would continue. He urged more patience and effort, as Israel’s troops reportedly engaged in fierce fighting in Gaza City. The Israeli army said reserve units were in place in Gaza, but this did not signal a “new push” against militants. Palestinian medics say 879 people have been killed during the 16-day conflict. Thirteen Israelis have died. — BBC Israeli troops push into heavily populated area of Gaza. Israeli troops pushed into a heavily populated area of Gaza City from the south on Sunday in fierce fighting as senior Israeli officials said that they believed the Hamas military wing was beginning to crack and that Hamas leaders inside Gaza were looking for a cease-fire. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel told the nation Sunday that it was “getting close to achieving the goals it had set for itself” but that “more patience, determination and effort is still demanded.” — International Herald Tribune Hamas: Gaza war ends peace process. Hamas has said that the Gaza war has put an end to chances of negotiations with Israel, calling on Arabs to pressure Tel Aviv to cease its attacks on the Gaza Strip. In a televised speech on Saturday, Khaled Meshaal, the exiled-Hamas political leader, said Israel’s offensive on Gaza, which has killed more than 850 Palestinians, had failed because Hamas was still firing rockets at Israel. “You have finished off the last chance and breath for settlement and negotiations,” Meshaal said. — Al Jazeera Iran warns Hamas not to accept Egyptian truce proposal. Iran is exerting heavy pressure on Hamas not to accept the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel, an Egyptian government official said on Sunday. The official told The Jerusalem Post by phone that two senior Iranian officials who visited Damascus recently warned Hamas leaders against accepting the proposal. His remarks came as Hamas representatives met in Cairo with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Gen. Omar Suleiman and his aides to discuss ways of ending the fighting in the Gaza Strip. The Hamas representatives reiterated their opposition to a cease-fire that did not include the reopening of all the border crossings into the Gaza Strip, Hamas spokesmen said on Sunday. — Jerusalem Post Enough. It’s time for a boycott. It’s time. Long past time. The best strategy to end the increasingly bloody occupation is for Israel to become the target of the kind of global movement that put an end to apartheid in South Africa.The world has tried what used to be called “constructive engagement”. It has failed utterly. Since 2006 Israel has been steadily escalating its criminality: expanding settlements, launching an outrageous war against Lebanon, and imposing collective punishment on Gaza through the brutal blockade. Despite this escalation, Israel has not faced punitive measures — quite the opposite. — Naomi Klein, The Guardian Israel is losing this war. In this war, as in any modern war, propaganda plays a major role. The disparity between the forces, between the Israeli army — with its airplanes, gunships, drones, warships, artillery and tanks — and the few thousand lightly armed Hamas fighters, is one to a thousand, perhaps one to a million. In the political arena the gap between them is even wider. But in the propaganda war, the gap is almost infinite. Almost all the Western media initially repeated the official Israeli propaganda line. They almost entirely ignored the Palestinian side of the story, not to mention the daily demonstrations of the Israeli peace camp. Only when the horrible scenes from Gaza started to appear on Western TV screens, did world public opinion gradually begin to change. — The Progressive Gaza conflict will shake the Arab world. The human cost of Israel’s decision to attack Gaza is being paid by the Palestinians. However, the fallout from this wanton violence is going to have long-term political consequences throughout the Arab world. The Israeli attack on Gaza is likely to bring to the fore political trends that up to now have remained just below the parapet of influence. The situation has brought the Arab world to an historic crossroads, where leaders will either move towards Arab independence from western policies, which is likely to be driven by popular grassroots support, or continue to toe the line of Israel/US influence. Much of this will be determined by the duration of Israeli attacks and the survival or demise of Hamas. — The Guardian Professor Said Abdelwahed: The surrounding violence. My family and I have been surprised by the electric power for the first time after 15 days of utter darkness! It was a moment of excitment for the children. Now they are not scared though aircrafts are over us! Also, we can watch some TV channels as others are jammed. Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabia are among the jammed ones. Now, a blast in the distance! Right now, I can hear sound of heavy machine guns from heliocapters! An aircraft has just hit three missles somewhere in the east of Gaza! Bombing from a tank right now! — Moments of Gaza |
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12 Comments
eric lundberg you have NO understanding of history and James K pass on the syringe when you’ve finished with it first eh. Here’s a brief synopsis from Znet (http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/20209)
” First, remember that the pretext for Israel’s attack is that Hamas refused to renew the June 19/08 ceasefire and started rocket attacks in December/08. But Israel violated the ceasefire in two ways. First, by continuing to starve Gaza (as Israeli officials openly admit and have done for years), and second, by attacking Gaza on November 4/08 and killing six Hamas people. Why is this important? There is a pattern here: Israel has repeatedly broken truces, ceasefires, and peace talks with spectacular assassinations that involve killing large numbers of people. This has been a pattern for many years, and has included the assassinations of many of Hamas’s leaders (Abd-el-Aziz Rantisi, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, and many, many others). It is an explicit part of Israel’s strategy to provoke its opponents and get pretexts for further attacks”
Understand history and don’t give me bullshit about there could have been a plasetinian state in ‘48. wake up and keep your anti-human pro-zionist crap to yourself.
“eric blair’ up to his usual inane un-intelligent and dishonest ‘arguments’ which in this case amounts to quoting ZNET(Regular contributers: Noam Chomsky, Robert Fisk, John Pilger, Howard Zinn, Eleanor Bader, , Bashir Abu-Manneh, Fidel Castro, President of Cuba and Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela.
The ZNET article itself quotes Richard A. Falk!
The Richard A. Falk who claims
1. George W. Bush was complicit in the September 11 attacks
2. Who supports Ayatollah Khomeini and the Iranian Revolution.
He said: “the depiction of Khomeini as fanatical, reactionary and the bearer of crude prejudices seems certainly and happily false … To suppose that Ayatollah Khomeini is dissembling seems almost beyond belief.”
3. In October, 1973, Falk defended Karleton Armstrong, who pleaded guilty to bombing the University of Wisconsin Army Mathematics Research Center. The explosion killed a researcher working there. The New York Times reported that Falk “appealed for full amnesty for all resistors, including those who use violent tactics to oppose the” war in Vietnam. The Times further reported that Falk, “cited the Nuremberg Trials as precedent for defense assertions that private American citizens had “a right, and perhaps a duty” to actively oppose the war by any means”
4. His statements on Israel are infamous. The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, criticized Falk’s appointment by the United Nations Human Rights Council in an address to the council, stating: “He has taken part in a UN fact-finding mission which determined that suicide bombings were a valid method of ‘struggle’. Former US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, criticized Falk’s appointment to the United Nations Human Rights Council, stating that “This is exactly why we voted against the new human rights council” and that “He was picked for a reason, and the reason is not to have an objective assessment — the objective is to find more ammunition to go after Israel”.
moronic contributions which simply ignore Hamas’ stated aims. Their own words. Their own charter.
Hamas is a designated terrorist organisation by the EU for very good reason. Their Islamist agenda has nothing to do with Palestinian nationalism.
I totally support a two state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital of the two states.
Hamas explicitly rejects this agenda, and continues on its adventurist provocations, hiding among the civilian population of Gaza. Its lunatic seizure of power in Gaza put the Palestinian cause back by decades.
The morons that have contributed to this exchange would support the rejectionist Hamas, and if their opinions counted for anything this would doom the Palestinians to more years of misery.
Those who are comfortable to sit in their western armchairs and pontificate about the justness of Hamas (again, review Hamas’ own words) and support their forced “martyrdom” of the Palestinians do nothing to assist a resolution of the matter.
Those who demand of either side that they agree to the impossible doom the Palestinians to misery.
Keep your irrelevant prattling up, if it makes you feel better. Just dont imagine that it is genuine support for the innocent civilians in Israel or Palestine.
Israeli armed forces = NAZI SS……purposefully murdering innocent children, women & men in the name of the State.
A genocide is being committted against the Palestinian people of Gaza, and the US & Europe look on……an absolute disgrace.
The only genocidal maniacs involved in the Gaza situation are Hamas.
You simply have to read their own charter and writings, and those of their sponsors Iran - you dont have to believe me.
That the liberal left in this country (with which in other regards I firmly identify) continue to defend the medieval oppressors Hamas - who would take the poor Palestinians back to the dark ages - is a disgrace.
Israel and Jews know very well that if they were to rely on international opinion, there would be even fewer Jews left in this world. Many of Israel’s critics would be quite comfortable with this outcome.
With decent Palestinian nationalist leadership, there could have been a Palestinian state for the past twenty years. In fact, with decent leadership, there could have been a Palestinian state since 1948.
eric lundberg
Eric Lundberg: The only thing obscene is your sophistry in the face of a genocide against an unarmed populous.
ISRAEL OUT OF THE WEST BANK & GAZA…..NO SETTLEMENTS OF ANY KIND…JERUSALEM UNDER THE CONTROL OF INTERFAITH COMMISSION…..THESE ARE THE MINIMUM CONDITIONS FOR A SOLUTION TO THIS MESS, WHICH HAS BEEN CREATED SOLELY BY ISRAEL.
IDF = NAZI SS….MURDERERS…..
Hamas is not a Palestinian Nationalist organisation. It is an Islamic fundamentalist offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (banned in Egypt). A cursory reading of their charter will demonstrate that they exist, not to bring about a Palestinian state, but to destroy Israel and the secular Arab governments.
This is not something which can be debated. It is simple, demonstrable fact.
Hamas views civilian casualties as martyrs to the cause and does nothing to minimise them.
The overwhelming majority of Israelis (and the Israeli Government) want a two state solution. However, such a solution will never come about if the average Israeli believes that withdrawing from the West Bank will simply create a rocket launching ground as has happened in Gaza.
Hamas is not a movement that will ever accept a two state solution. They will simply keep firing thousands of rockets indiscriminately into Israel to fulfill their obsession with Jihad.
No government in the world could ignore their responsibility to protect their citizens.
Talk of a “holocaust” is obscene. If Israel wished to maximise civilian casualties, if could flatten Gaza. If Hamas had Israel’s firepower there would not be a Jew alive in Israel.
The civilian casuatlies in Gaza are a terrible consequence of the policies of Hamas and the way they have chosen to attack Israel. Israel has never wanted to attack Gaza, and demonstrated restraint over a long period of time.
A solution will be possible between two governments willing to accept withdrawal by Israel from the West Bank and Gaza, with Jerusalem as the shared capital of both states. This has been on the table from Israels perspective before, and will be again.
Hamas would never accept such an arrangement.
For anyone concerned about the civilians in Gaza, and have a bit of extra cash lying around, it might be a good idea to donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians, the website is here: http://www.map-uk.org/
Other good organisations to donate to are:
Médecins Sans Frontières - http://www.msf.org/
Oxfam Gaza Fund - https://secure.oxfamamerica.org/site/Donation2?df_id=1981&1981.donation=form1
Electronic Intifada - http://electronicintifada.net/
thanks for your input daniel, here’s a fine summary by robert fisk. cheers, greg
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-why-do-they-hate-the-west-so-much-we-will-ask-1230046.html
After their Holocaust, you’d have thought Isreal, above all, would have shown some compassion for the women and children of Gaza. How sad, that they have forgotten the suffering of their forefathers, so soon.
Don’t cry people of Gaza, the world hasn’t forgotten you. We, too shed a tear for you.
Eric Blair: thanx for the factually accurate background to the current conflict. In the past I used to rely on facts to argue the case for the Palestinians, but have been been worn down by the sophistry of the Zionist bigots such as Eric Lundberg.
Nowadays I prefer to call a spade a spade, as rational discussion with bigots is impossible. Most of my Jewish friends in Oz & overseas feel much the same way
Daniel: thanx for the info..will see what I can do
Kevin Charles Herbert = FITH Syndrome.
Somebody please call those brave men in white coats armed with syringes full of Thorazine & a straitjacket…..