What was achieved by the Israeli action?

Background

On 27th December 2008, Israel launched an all-out attack on the Gaza strip. Their objectives were supposedly to suppress Hamas offensive capability by destroying their tunnels used to import weapons, capture or destroy stockpiles of rockets, and to weaken the leadership of Hamas either by killing or capturing the leaders or undermining popular support for them.

Were these really their objectives, and have they achieved them?

Tunnels:

Within a few days of the ending of offensive Israeli action, the BBC filmed people reconstructing some of the tunnels and the International Herald Tribune reports:

RAFAH, Gaza Strip: It was Friday, the Muslim day of rest, but the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt was a hive of activity. Men scraped sandy soil out of holes that had served as tunnels for smuggling, and were one of the main targets of Israel's assault.

Now, less than a week after it ended, Gazans were back, plunging deep underground with lamps to carry rocky loads of soil out on pulleys.

"Everybody's busy rebuilding now," said a manager of one digging team. "In a month, it will be back to normal."

These tunnels were no doubt used to import weapons materials, but they were also used to bring in necessities such as food and fuel because of the Israeli obstruction of border crossings. The tunnels will be rebuilt, and Israel may have to continuously repeat the operation to demolish them, only for them to be rebuilt again.

If Israel are serious about wanting to prevent the movement of weapons through the tunnels, then they need to remove any popular support for the tunnels by allowing the free movement of fuel, food, medical supplies, and people through "official" border crossing points.

At the best of times, access into Gaza via the Israeli and Egyptian crossing points is laborious, bureaucratic, humiliating, and slow. As far as I am able to tell, the Egyptian crossing point has been effectively closed since June 2007. The Israeli crossing points are opened and closed at will by Israel - during 2008 they were closed in January, March, June, July, September, October, November, and December. There may well be more examples, I found the above by trawling the results of ten pages from a google search. The majority of these closures were in response to rocket attacks, but they had no effect on the rocket launches - they were a collective punishment on the Palestinians and therefore a breach of human rights.

...I deplore the all-too-frequent breaches of international humanitarian law -- including rocket attacks against civilians, excessive uses of force in civilian areas, and collective punishment of the civilian population. It is vital that Israel ceases actions of collective punishment, and allows all legitimate and necessary humanitarian and commercial supplies to reach the population.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, February 2008.

However, the tunneling objective was already being worked on, and didn't require offensive military intervention at all according to the 'Slate' web site:

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is already working with Egypt on such a system. Recently, the United States allocated $23 million to Egypt for tunnel sensors. Two months ago, Ha'aretz reported that the corps was teaching Egyptian soldiers how to find tunnels using "instruments that measure ground fluctuations." Last week, the Washington Post said the corps was helping Egypt find tunnels with "sonar equipment." Apparently, what worked in Iraq is now being tried to Gaza.

The Israelis failed in the tunnel part of their stated objectives - if it really was a serious objective in the first place.

Capture or destruction of Hamas weapons stockpiles:

There is little doubt that a significant quantity of Hamas weapons were destroyed, after all, if you lay waste to a region, you are bound to hit some military targets. I have not seen any Israeli propoganda displaying any captured rockets though.

The only way to tell whether or not this objective was achieved is if Hamas resume their rocket campaign, which I hope that they don't. In any case, with the failure of the tunneling objective, Hamas can resupply should they choose to do so, therefore this objective has also failed substantially.

According to an article on Wikipedia, the Hamas rocket and mortar campaign inflicted 8 Israeli fatalities during 2008, 4 of these after the Israeli offensive started. Israeli casualties during the offensive were 13 dead (including 3 civilians). Palestinian casualties are estimated to be at least 1,300 dead and 5,500 injured. The invasion cost more Israeli lives than were lost in the entire year due to rocket attacks, but Palestinian casualties soared.

Weaken the Hamas leaderhip

The Israelis did kill some prominent Hamas leaders, but these will be replaced. As for undermining popular support for Hamas, the operation has most likely had the opposite effect.

Hamas can't control the actions taken by the Israelis, only the Israelis can. People both inside and outside Gaza know this. It wasn't Hamas that destroyed the palestinian infrastructure, targetted UN buldings (including schools) or killed and maimed thousands of Palestinians, it was the Israelis. If anything, support for Hamas will now be much greater than it was before the offensive. Another Israeli failure?

The real reasons for the Israeli offensive.

Given that the Israelis failed to fully achieve any of the objectives which they were said to have set out to accomplish, it is reasonable to suspect that there were ulterior motives for the action.

Elsewhere in my blog I have laid out evidence that Israel is conducting a gradual programme of genocide. This action is yet another large step towards that "ultimate solution". On that basis, the Israeli action can be seen as a success, but I am sure it was not the only factor which determined the timing of the offensive.

Prior to the offensive, Likud (the main Israeli opposition party) was gaining ground in the run-up to the national elections on February 10th. The leader of Likud, Benjamin Netanyahu, was seen as more nationalist than the other Israeli party leaders. By carrying out the assault on Gaza, Olbert expects to garner support for his Kadima party from the more right-wing electorate. Incidentally, Arab political parties are now banned from taking part in the Israeli elections.

Additionally, Barak Obama was shortly due to be sworn in as President of the United States. Obama appears to be far more objective than Bush in respect to the Middle East, and according to The Times, supports a solution based on the 1967 borders. This is not to Israel's liking, and Obama is viewed as less malleable than Bush was. Given that, there was a possibility that carrying out the operation after the installation of Obama may have drawn unprecedented public criticism of Israel from the White House.

Whether the attack on Gaza will improve Kadima's fortunes in the coming election remains to be seen. If not, then the Israelis can still draw comfort from the 1,300 Palestinians which they killed as a consolation prize.

The Genocide continues

Once again, the Israeli Fuhrer (Ehud Olmert, above) is impatient with the progress of his ethnic cleansing programme and has decided to accelerate it. Concentration camp Gaza corpse production has dropped off over the last few months and needs to be adjusted to meet the annual targets. To make things worse, those evil murdering Palestinian terrorists keep taunting the Vaterland with firework parties. He is reported to have screeched:

"Das ist nicht erlaubt! Jede muss wissen das unserer Feurwerken sind viel Grosser, lauter, und kraftiger als dieser scheisslich kleine dingern.

Sieg heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg heil! Sieg Heil!"

etc, which roughly translated means:

"Let's kill a few more Ay-rabs, they're breathing air which could be better employed by Israeli lungs! Those docile Americans and Europeans won't give a shit."

Meanwhile, the only official body which does appear to have a working digestive system, the United Nations, released the following press statement:

Gaza, 27 December 2008

The Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Karen AbuZayd, expressed her horror to the extensive destruction visited upon Gaza Strip today and her deep sadness to the terrible loss in human life. UNRWA, the United Nation’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, strongly urges the Israeli Government to heed calls for ceasing its bombardment on Gaza. Israel is a signatory to international conventions that protect non-combatants in times of conflict. These conventions are worthless if they are not upheld.

UNRWA will exert all efforts to respond as quickly as possible to relieve suffering and pain. The killings and destruction today followed weeks of a tight blockade that prevented UNRWA, and other humanitarian agencies, from assisting the population and mitigating the difficult economic situation. The population is paying the price from the prolonged blockade, absence of basic needs to 1.5 million persons and now a military escalation.

UNRWA recognizes Israel’s legitimate security concerns however, its actions should be in conformity with international humanitarian law and it should not use disproportionate force. UNRWA calls on Israel to guarantee humanitarian agencies unrestricted and secure access into Gaza and respect its obligations under international humanitarian law by ensuring the safety of the Palestinian civilian population.

-Ends-

Not an official document. For information only

For more information contact:

Chris Gunness at +972-54-2402659
Adnan Abu-Hasna +0599428061
Sami Mshasha at +972-54-317094

When will those silly Palestinian boys realise that setting off fireworks only provided a pretext for the NAZIs to justify their extension of the 'purification' of Palestinian territory in preparation for further expansion?

Let me give you some advice - if you want to hurt Israel, don't kill people or frighten them with fireworks - hit them where it hurts, in the pocket! Banks and stock markets are heavily reliant on networked computer technology. No-one in Europe or the USA is going to get too excited if some cables get damaged in Tel Aviv, but break one Israeli fingernail and that justifies whatever the NAZIs want to do! Use your brains if you have any.

Those nasty Palestinians..

The running totals for children killed in Palestine and Israel are both depressing and illuminating. 52 Palestinian children have been killed, nearly all of them by direct Israeli Defence Force action. A single Israeli child was killed, not by the Palestinians, but by the IDF. This child was an eleven-year-old called Mahmoud Ibrahim Mahmoud al-Krenawi, "a Bedouin with Israeli citizenship living in the first recognized Bedouin city in Israel, killed by IDF gunfire to his head and pelvis while picking figs at the home of his half brother during an incursion in Saida, near Tulkarem".

Now, remind me again, which one is the civilised, peace-loving, humanitarian state, and which one is the nasty, evil, terrorist, maniacal state?

Joe McGonagle

Collective punishment

Stepping-up the genocidal process, Israel decided to cut-off fuel supplies to Gaza last month. This wasn't the first time they have done this - in June, they did the same.

Due to Israeli blockades, there are frequent power cuts, affecting water and sewerage services and Palestinian business's. This can only be seen as a continuation of Israeli policy to keep Palestine poor, ignorant, and weak as a form of "acceptable" genocide.

This has drawn criticism not only from the EU, but from the Israeli justice system as well. In response, Israel has threatened to invade Gaza yet again.

Israel's pretext for this is the increased level of rocket attacks from Gaza. These attacks are futile, simply providing Israel with excuses to conduct their programme of Genocide. When will the idiots firing these rockets learn?

Joe McGonagle

Catching up..

It's been some time since I updated this blog. In the intervening time, a lot has happened, both in my personal life, and in relation to Palestine. Apologies to Judith for the lack of activity, but Judith is aware of my current circumstances.

There are now two Palestines - the West Bank, controlled by Fatah, and the Gaza strip, effectively under the control of Hamas.

This plays directly into the hands of those sympathetic to Israel, and the situation was actually induced by the USA and the EU by withholding aid from a duly elected Palestinian Government. One could be forgiven for thinking that the situation was deliberately engineered through collaboration between Israel, the UK and the USA. "Divide and Conquer" strategies have been taking place in Israel and the Occupied Territories since Roman times (See Ch. 8 para. 5 of "War of the Jews", Titus Flavius Josephus, 1st Century(AD)).

While the different Palestinian factions are busy fighting each other, Israel can relax and take the moral high ground - allowing them to conduct "business as usual" with the media attention distracted elsewhere.

The Poodle has been retired, but was rewarded with the post of "International Middle East peace envoy". Fatah (Israel and the USA's preferred government) approve, Hamas doesn't. This is the man who if he didn't actually sanction, turned a blind eye to the transport of war materials (mainly bombs and ammunition) from the USA to Israel via the UK for use by Israel during their last attack on Lebanon. Not an ideal qualification for a middle east peace envoy, is it?

Talking of Lebanon, American-based human rights organisation "Human Rights Watch" recently published two report based on investigation of events which took place during the war. The first, published last month, was "Civilians under Assault: Hezbollah’s Rocket Attacks on Israel in the 2006 War". This is highly critical of Hezbollah’s tactics of hiding close to populated areas, and indiscriminate rocket attacks. The second report (published last week) "Why They Died: Civilian Casualties in Lebanon during the 2006 War" places the blame for excessive civilian casualties squarely on the Israelis. The only extract from the report that I will quote now is from the last paragraph of the section "Israeli Policies Contributing to the Civilian Death Toll" on pages 13/14 of the report.

"...they conducted numerous attacks that were indiscriminate, disproportionate, and otherwise unjustified. Such attacks are serious violations of international humanitarian law. To the extent such attacks were conducted with knowledge or reckless indifference to the civilian nature of those being attacked, then those who ordered these attacks would have the criminal intent needed for the commission of war crimes as defined by international humanitarian law. And to the extent that senior commanders or officials knew or should have known that war crimes were being committed, and were in a position of authority to stop the attacks or punish those responsible and did not do so, they would be responsible for war crimes as a matter of command responsibility under international humanitarian law."

Note the references to "war crimes" above. When victims of war crimes are European (Serbian, Bosnian, Kosovan for example) the perpetrators are hunted down, and if they are caught, they are tried at the European Court of Human Rights. I somehow don't think any Israelis will be tried for war crimes against Lebanon (or indeed Lebanese tried for war crimes against Israel).

When examining the morality aspects, consider the imparity between the two parties. The Israeli Defence Force is well equipped, disciplined, organised, trained, and funded. Hezbollah are poorly equipped, organised, disciplined, trained and funded. Which side ought to be better able to identify and punish war crimes?

A couple of final points before I reluctantly finish this update. There was a rocket attack on Israel from the Gaza strip yesterday, injuring about 70 Israeli soldiers, 4 of them seriously. These attacks do absolutely nothing to highlight the plight of the Palestinians, and actually damage any prospect of gaining international support. No doubt the Israelis will respond with their usual neglect for the safety of non-combatants.

Finally, 8 people were arrested in Israel on suspicion of conducting neo-NAZI attacks on homosexuals, drug addicts, and Orthodox Jews. When the victims are Jewish, it seems that Israel has no stomach for NAZIs, but when the victims are Lebanese or Palestinian, the Israelis are the NAZIs.

Joe McGonagle

Israel 'human shield' suspension

Full article is available at the BBC News web site.

The Israeli army says it has suspended a commander after the unit he led was accused of using Palestinians as human shields in a West Bank raid.

Amateur video footage shot earlier this week showed Israeli soldiers apparently forcing Palestinians to stand in front of their armoured jeep.

Israeli law forbids the military from using human shields.

The Israeli army said it was investigating the incident, which reportedly took place in Nablus.

[end quote]

This is a tactic used by the Israelis on a regular basis, the only unusual thing about this case is that they were caught in the act. When placed on the spot, the Israelis usually excuse their behaviour by saying that the Palestinians use similar tactics. This may be true, but I thought the Palestinians were bloodthirsty terrorists, and the Israelis were peace-loving, honourable, generous victims of the situation?

Pah!

Joe McGonagle

The poodle yelps at LFI Annual Reception

Last September, Tony (poodle) Blair gave a speech at the Labour Friends of Israel. Again, he betrayed a total lack of understanding of the situation, concluding his speech with the following:

"...So it will not be easy but one thing for all the criticism over the past few months, I can tell you this. I have never actually found it hard to be friend of Israel, I am proud to be a friend of Israel."

It reminds me of the scene in "The Life of Brian" where the prisoner was espousing the virtues of his Roman captors.

I can't make up my mind if he is just deluded, uninformed, or morally bankrupt. The sooner he goes, the better, he is starting to sound more like GW Bush every day.

Joe McGonagle

Palestinians carrying out Israeli objectives.

Much though I sympathise with the Palestinian cause, they are their own enemies much of the time.

BBC Journalist Alan Johnson is a good example. Alan was also sympathetic to the Palestinian people and in return for his efforts to expose the reality of Israeli oppression, he was rewarded by being kidnapped and probably murdered by the very people he was helping. The Israelis will be pleased because there is one less person to report on their actions, and also because it supports their projection of the Palestinians as brutal, ruthless murderers.

Another example of Palestinians doing the Israeli's work for them, is the conflict between Hamas and Fatah. If Palestinians go on killing other Palestinians, Israel will eventually be the uncontested "owner" of the occupied territories because there won't be anyone left to challenge them. Once again, Palestinian action lends support to the Israeli projection of Palestinians as bloodthirsty criminals.

The relatively recent flare-up of hostility between Hamas and Fatah was orchestrated by Israel, the USA, and Europe (especially the UK). By withholding financial support, social conditions in the West Bank and Gaza degenerated to such an extent that civil disorder was almost inevitable. This fact could not have been unexpected by the countries who withheld the aid, and they should be held accountable for their part in the humanitarian crisis which developed.

This does not excuse the stupidity of the Palestinians who fell into the trap that was set though. They should have realised that this was the objective of the USA and UK, and refused to carry out their dirty work.

Grow up Palestine and face the facts. Israel exists - no amount of denial will change that. Reluctance to acknowledge that fact and also recognise that they now have the right to exist by virtue of the fact that they have possession of the territory and the military might to hang on to it is like saying that men have the right to bear children, even though they do not have the necessary organs. History dictates that in these circumstances, the group with the power will prevail. What does Palestine stand to lose if they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist, and what do Palestinians stand to gain? Make the concession, gain strength, and when Palestine is in a position of power, wield that power. Just don't do so in the way that Israel is now doing.

Joe McGonagle

Labour Friends of Israel

In December 2006, I emailed a group called "Labour friends of Israel" as follows:

Subject: B'Tselem annual report
Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2006 07:01:13 +0000
From: Joe McGonagle
To: mail@lfi.org.uk

Hello,

Israeli civil rights organisation "B'Tselem" published it's
annual report two days ago. Some of the low-lights are:

* 660 Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces, at least
322 of which were not involved in active hostilities at the time,
and 141 of which were minors. This is in comparison to a total of
23 Israelis killed by Palestinians including 17 civilians, one of
which was a minor.

* Israel demolished in the order of 300 Palestinian homes,
rendering about 1,800 Palestinians homeless. The Palestinians
didn't demolish any Israeli homes.

The report can be read in all of it's gory detail at:

http://www.btselem.org/english/Press_Releases/20061228.asp

Please can you advise:

1) What pressure LFI is bringing to bear on Israel to curtail
their inhumane activities against the Palestinians?

2) Does LFI regard B'Tselem as a reliable source of information?
If not, why is that?

3) What are LFI's views about the contents of B'Tselem's annual
report?

Regards,

Joe McGonagle
(UK voter, Stoke-on-Trent)

Guess what? No response.

Taking a look at the members list of LFI is reminiscent of the "cash for Honours" scandal. Elsewhere, I mentioned a reported scam whereby US grants to Israel were being filtered back to lobby groups and political parties in the USA. Could something similar be happening here? Let's hope the "cash for honours" investigation turns something up.

Joe McGonagle

Israeli and Lebanese silence

In September last year, I sent a letter to the Lebanese Embassy, and emailed the Israeli Embassy and the British Foreign Office, requesting each of their perspectives on the incident which triggered the Israeli attack on Lebanon. I received the following from the UK FCO:

Dear Mr McGonagle

Thank you for your email of 30 September about the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hizbollah on 12 July.

The Israeli authorities are clear that the two Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldiers were abducted by Hizbollah from Israeli territory during an IDF patrol in Zar'it close to the Lebanese border. We are not aware of claims to the contrary by the Lebanese government. Once the soldiers were captured, some IDF personnel went into Lebanon in pursuit, some of whom were killed.

Steven [removed]
Head, Correspondence/Parliament Unit
Middle East Peace Process and Near East Teams
Arab/Israel and North Africa Group
Middle East and North Africa Directorate

W.2.80
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London SW1A 2AH

Email: [removed]@fco.gov.uk

I have had absolutely no response from the Lebanese or Israeli embassies. I find that difficult to understand - if either the Lebanese or the Israelis wanted to clarify the situation, this was their opportunity. I am inclined to put down the Israeli lack of response to embarrassment, but what of the Lebanese response? This really does call into question all of the rumours spreading about the trigger event, and I can quite understand why HMG take the view which they do in the absence of any official refutation from Lebanon.

Joe McGonagle

Blair on Democracy in the Middle East

From a speech by our great leader to business leaders in Dubai on 20th December:


..."Our task is to mobilise that desire and harness it to ensure that all people here can have opportunities for safety, security, democracy, freedom and economic prosperity. Otherwise we allow the forces of extremism to win in the absence of a clear and constantly articulated alternative vision."...

The Palestinians exercised democratic freedom, and in return, Bliar and other Western countries withdrew funding from the Palestinians, crippling their economy, security, and rights to freedom and justice.

..."The lesson of all of this I see as startlingly real, clear and menacing. There is a monumental struggle going on worldwide between those who believe in democracy and modernisation, and forces of reaction and extremism. It is the 21st century challenge. Yet a great part of our own opinion either thinks there is no common theme to it all; or if there is, is inclined to believe that it is our - that is America and its allies - fault that this is so."...

The lesson as I see it is that the West is supporting a ruthless and corrupt state of Israel against a struggling society in Palestine. America and it's allies (including the UK) are complicit in supporting criminal genocidal policies being implemented by the Israelis. Is it any wonder that moslems generally see the UK and USA as bullying, hypocritical, self-interested parties that can't be trusted?

..."Here are elements of the Government of Iran openly supporting terrorism in Iraq to stop a fledgling democratic process, trying to turn out a democratically elected Government in Lebanon, flaunting the international community's desire for peace in Palestine - at the same time as denying the Holocaust and trying to acquire a nuclear weapon capability: and yet a huge part of world opinion is frankly almost indifferent. It would be bizarre if it weren't so deadly serious."...

Here are elements of the Government of the United Kingdom openly supporting Israeli terrorism and genocide, undermining a democratically elected Palestinian Government, ignoring the non-aryan desire for justice in Palestine.

More faces than a Dodecahedron... put the pooch out of his misery, for the sake of the next 600 victims of Israeli tyranny.

Joe McGonagle

Israeli atrocities on the increase in 2006

Israeli civil rights organisation "B'Tselem" published it's annual report two days ago. Some of the low-lights are:

• 660 Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces, at least 322 of which were not involved in active hostilities at the time, and 141 of which were minors. This is in comparison to a total of 23 Israelis killed by Palestinians including 17 civilians, one of which was a minor.
• Israel demolished in the order of 300 Palestinian homes, rendering about 1,800 Palestinians homeless. The Palestinians didn't demolish any Israeli homes.

Clearly, the nasty, ruthless Palestinians aren't as good as the Israelis at terrorism, and the nice, civilised, humanitarian Israelis are getting into the swing of this genocide thing.

Joe McGonagle

What started the war in Lebanon?

In an attempt to gain clarity about the events leading up to Israel's attack on Lebanon, I asked the Lebanese and Israeli embassies in London which version of the incident was correct. One version is that an Israeli patrol was attacked inside the Lebanese border, and another version is that the patrol was on Israeli soil at the time of the attack.

Several months have passed since I wrote to the embassies, but I have had no reply from either as yet. Perhaps the Lebanese and Israelis are both uncertain of the truth.

I also asked the UK Foreign and Commonwealth office which version they accepted, and why. They informed me that they accept the Israeli version, because the Lebanese Government has not denied it.

I am left little option but to assume therefore that the Israeli version is correct, unless any readers have some substantive evidence to the contrary?

Joe McGonagle

Cluster bomb casualties still occuring

In the last few hours of Israel's unwarranted attack on Lebanon, they increased their use of cluster bombs. These are notorious for failing to detonate, and have a similar effect to anti-personnel mines which are illegal. There was no tactical or strategic justification for the use of these weapons, especially at such a late stage in the conflict. The main effect of their use has been to impede the return of the civilian population and the delivery of vital aid to areas which are most in need.

According to a press report, 5 more lives have been claimed by these devices in Lebanon on Christmas eve, and two Belgian soldiers on mine-clearing operations have been injured according to a BBC news item yesterday. Fatalities due to cluster bombs since the official cease-fire on 14/8/06 stand at at least 28.

...and some deluded people still insist that the Israelis are just defending themselves???

Joe McGonagle

Religion - the font of madness.

There were some surprises in the The Times last Thursday (21/12/06). Starting with an article about Rabbi Ahron Cohen, a member of a Jewish anti-Zionist group called "Neturei Karta" who attended a bizarre conference in Iran.

Though I have the greatest respect for Rabbi Cohen's stance on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, and Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people, I think he made a very ill-considered decision to attend the conference. Also present at the conference was a former "Imperial Wizard" of the Klu Klutz Klan (David Duke, typo deliberate), and holocaust denialists such as Robert Faurisson and Fredrick Töben.

In an earlier article in The Times, Cohen is quoted as saying:

"There is no question that there was a Holocaust and gas chambers. There are too many eyewitnesses. However, our approach is that when one suffers, the one who perpetrates the suffering is obviously guilty but he will never succeed if the victim did not deserve it in one way or another. We have to look within to improve and try to better ourselves and remove those characteristics or actions that may have been the cause of the success of the Holocaust."

If we take his statement at face value, this would mean that the Palestinians deserve whatever they get, because God/Allah would have protected them if they were deserving. The same applies to any form of suffering on the planet. Is it only Christianity that (hypocritically) preaches forgiveness and tolerance?

Other aspects of the doctrine of Neturei Karta is that the very concept of a sovereign Jewish state is contrary to Jewish Law, and that they are the only "true" practitioners of Judaism.

What a crazy, mixed up world we live in - not only do we have Sunni, Druze and Shia Moslems tearing each other apart, Catholic, Protestant and plain whacky Christians, but the Jewish faith is also clearly splintered. On balance, the nature of any organised religion of any faith is chaos and killing. Remove religion, and the world would be a happier and safer place for all of us - or would we just find other ways to damage ourselves? Perhaps eye/hair colouring, or preference for certain foods would become new mass-movements to provide reasons for killing each other in addition to political beliefs, racial origin, sexuality, etc?

Joe McGonagle

Child casualties of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict during September 2006

The folllowing information was obtained from www.rememberthesechildren.org.

Palestinian children killed by the civilised, compassionate, democratic state of Israel:

10 September 2006
Jihad Selmi Abu Snaima, 14 of al-Shouka village, east of Rafah Killed by shrapnel from an Israeli shell.

11 September 2006
Ma’ath al-Shayeb, 17 of Kufor Ne’ma village, west of Ramallah, Killed by an explosion of unknown origin. (Comment from Joe - Okay, it is possible that this one was making a bomb to kill the nice cuddly Israelis, but it is possible that he was killed by unexploded ordinance from Israeli action - maybe a cluster bomb?).

12 September 2006
Mohammed ‘Omar ‘Awad Shoriya, 13 of Rakhma village, southeast of Bethlehem, Shot in the back by Israeli forces. (Comment from Joe - those brave Israeli soldiers couldn't even look this 13-year-old terrorist in the eye when they killed him).

14 September 2006
Hanan Mohammed Isma’il Abu ‘Oudeh, 16 of Beit Hanoun, Gaza, Died in an Israeli hospital from gunfire wounds sustained on Sep. 2, when she tried to rescue the bodies of her father and brother during an Israeli ground offensive. (Comment from Joe - she must have deserved it, trying to save a terrorist).

21 September 2006
Ala Saqer Dahrouj Abu Dahrouj, 15, Zeidan Rafiq Mohammad Abu Rashid, 16, Mohammad Selmi Mohammad Masalha, 17 , all of of Jabalya, Gaza Strip, Killed by an Israeli surface-to-surface missile while herding sheep. (Comment from Joe - no doubt the "Sheep" were actually rocket launchers in disguise).

Israeli children killed by the ruthless, evil Palestinian terrorists:

None.

Joe McGonagle

Israelis continue the killing following the Lebanon "withdrawal".

Towards the end of the recent conflict in Lebanon, Israel increased it's use of cluster bombs. There is no obvious military reason for doing so, other than to inflict more casualties _after_ the "end of hostilitities".

Cluster bombs are notorious for failing to detonate, and in effect become anti-personnel mines. As refugees start to return to the areas which they were forced out of by the Israelis, and relief agencies start to move in to the worst effected areas, it is inevitable that there would be more casualties. It is also inevitable that most of the casualties will be children.

In Israeli newspaper "Haaretz" an IDF commander expressed his concerns about the totally inappropriate use of these weapons:

"What we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire towns in cluster bombs," the head of an IDF rocket unit in Lebanon said regarding the use of cluster bombs and phosphorous shells during the war.

Quoting his battalion commander, the rocket unit head stated that the IDF fired around 1,800 cluster bombs, containing over 1.2 million cluster bomblets.

In addition, soldiers in IDF artillery units testified that the army used phosphorous shells during the war, widely forbidden by international law. According to their claims, the vast majority of said explosive ordinance was fired in the final 10 days of the war.

According to UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (Jan Egeland):

“These devices are going to be with us for many, many months, and possibly years”, he said. What was “shocking and completely immoral” was that 90 per cent of the cluster-bomb strikes had occurred in the last 72 hours of the conflict, when everybody knew that there would be an end to hostilities. “It shouldn’t have happened”, he said. Every day, people were maimed and killed by those devices. Civilians were going to die, disproportionately, again -– not during the war, but after the end of the conflict.

So, why would Israel deliberately take actions which would indiscriminately continue killing Lebanese (or international relief workers) beyond the "official end to hostilities"? The only reasons that I can think of are:

1. To inhibit the deployment of relief to the effected areas, thereby increasing the risk of starvation and disease to returning refugees.

2. To increase the Lebanese casualties beyond the cease-fire agreed with the UN.

Are these the actions of a state that was genuinely defending it's citizens, or are they effectively further examples of genocidal policy in Lebanon? The answer should be clear to anyone reading this.

Joe McGonagle

More faces than a Dodecahedron...

Last week I saw both Bush and his poodle Blair giving speeches. I couldn't believe what I was watching and hearing.

Firstly, both of them expressed a willingness to assist with a resolution to the "Palestinian problem". This in spite of the fact that both withdrew funding for the Palestinian territories after HAMAS was democratically elected by the Palestinian people to represent them.

Both of them expressed a desire to encourage democracy in the Middle East. Quite aside from the fact that it isn't up to them to decide what type of government administers any foreign state, when a government which they don't approve of _is_ democratically elected, they immediately withdraw support for it! Which states in the Middle East can credit either Blair or Bush with any sincerity when they rabbit on about democracy?

Blair also whined that he wants to help the Lebanese peope recover from the Israeli attacks. All well and good Tony, but how can you reconcile this with the tacit approval given to the USA to use British soil and airspace to resupply the Israeli war machine during the Lebanese conflict?

It is up to the American people to decide the fate of their President. For myself, I will not support any party that has a multi-headed Hydra for a leader. Labour, it is definitely time for a change of leader, not when the poodle decides it is time for "walkies", but now!

With so many faces, I wonder what the costs of cosmetics are for both Blair and Bush? It cost the Lebanon 1,600 lives and a legacy of thousands of crippled, deprived, and unhappy citizens. The Palestinians are still clinging to survival, in spite of the actions of Israel and British and American support of Israeli genocidal policy.

Joe McGonagle

Israel denies humanitarian aid to Palestinians

Here is evidence of the Israeli policy in respect to the Palestinians (keep them poor, keep them sick, keep them uneducated, and keep them weak).

Source: United Nations Relief and Works Agency

UNRWA PRESS RELEASE
Press Release No. HQ/G/15/2006
24 August 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Children Pay the Price as UNRWA Operations in Gaza are Grinding to a Halt

UNRWA warned on Thursday that the Agency’s Gaza operation is grinding to a halt because of the lack of access in and out of Gaza. The principal goods terminal, Karni, remains closed for the
seventh consecutive day. As a result, shortages of food, fuel and constructions supplies are jeopardizing every element of UNRWA’s Gaza operation at the moment. John Ging, UNRWA’s
Director of Operations in Gaza said that “the food distribution to 830,000 people will not commence as planned next week, unless Karni opens and a solution is found to get the containers quickly through the port of Ashdod, where there are also massive delays because of the fallout from the conflict with Lebanon.”

The Agency has just one week’s fuel supply remaining. Since the Gaza Power Plant was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in late June, the operation of UNRWA health clinics is heavily dependant on generator power. “If we run out of fuel, this will be extremely serious in terms of the storage of medical supplies and the operation of medical equipment at UNRWA’s 18 health centers throughout the Gaza Strip,” John Ging said.

As for construction supplies, UNRWA highlighted that almost none have entered Gaza since late June, which is a particular problem as the Agency prepares for the return of its 194,000 students next week. “The work to repair the schools damaged in the military operations over the past two months is not finished as supplies have run out,” John Ging said. The long-awaited extension to the UNRWA vocational training center in Gaza City is also half-finished and with no alternative accommodation available, UNRWA has been forced to postpone commencement of the seven technical courses involved until November. “Children are once again paying the price in this conflict,” Ging stated.

Ging described the overall humanitarian living conditions in Gaza, as “miserable, frustrating and still deteriorating.” He said that “the opportunities opened up by last year’s disengagement by Israel from the settlements in Gaza are fading. The prospects are very worrying as Gaza is now cut off economically from the outside world and even keeping our humanitarian operations going is an expensive struggle”.

UNRWA is now facing a bill of some 1 million dollars from its Israeli shipping agents in demurrage charges directly arising from the closures of Karni crossing.

For more information please contact:

Jerusalem: Gaza: Gaza:
Johan Eriksson Adnan Abu-Hasna Jamal Hamad
Office: +972-2-5890249 Office: +972-8-6777531 Office: +972-8-6777488
-5890408 Mobile: +972-599428061
Mobile: +972-542402632

Lebanon conflict - casualty statistics

There is a very good article at Wikipedia which attempts to provide statistics about casualties during the conflict. It is very difficult to obtain accurate figures; For example, Israel claims it killed 500 Hezbollah fighters, Hezbollah claim that only 74 were killed. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Because of the propoganda, only an idea of the true casualties can be obtained.

Whichever way you cut the figures, at least 66% of people killed by the Israelis were civilians, whereas only 25% of those killed by Hezbollah were civilians. Importantly, Hezbollah did not have the accurate technology which was available to the Israelis, if they did, their figure would probably be even less than 25%.

Against this, it has been argued (probably correctly to some extent) that Hezbollah sited their forces close to civilians. I still don't think that this argument justifies the differential, given the better technology available to the Israelis, the sparseness of the civilian population in Southern Lebanon (many of the civilians left the area quite early in the conflict), and the fact that the Israelis had the option as to whether or not to attack a particular target.

The only conclusion that I can reach is that Israel were negligent in their targeting policy, or else they were deliberately targeting civilians. Either way, it demonstrates that they considered Lebanese civilians as expendable (in the order of 1,600 were killed outright and 3,600 wounded).

The Israelis must be disappointed that they had to stop killing civilians before they managed to finish the job completely - just as Hitler failed to eradicate the Jews in WWII. Still, they have scope for more success in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, maybe they will manage to complete the task there (the West are still turning a blind eye to the Israeli attempts of genocide against the Palestinians).

Joe McGonagle

Proportions

Since September 2000, 121 Israeli children have been killed in the course of the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

In the same period, 779 Palestinian children have been killed.

So far this year, 1 Israeli child has been killed, and 73 Palestinian children.

What does this say about Israeli morality, political, and military policy? Israel is supposed to be the advanced, civilised state, and the Palestinians the nasty, murderous terrorists. This is not the situation reflected by the cold hard statistics.

www.rememberthesechildren.org is a site which tries to record the details of each child killed on either side. If you are religious, you might like to visit the site and say a prayer for the slaughtered innocents (and the potential terrorists). Whether you are religious or not, please circulate the link to raise awareness of the true situation.

Joe McGonagle

End of the war?

Hostilities appear to have ceased in Lebanon, does this mean that the war is finished?

I think it is unlikely. Israel's actions have increased support for the very groups that they have tried to eliminate. There are now many more Lebanese widows, widowers, orphans, and people crippled or impoverished by the Israeli war crimes.

The attack on Lebanon has increased global awareness of the injustices being perpetrated by Israel (although incredibly many people still don't recognise them as such).

Regardless of what transpires in Lebanon, I shall continue to highlight Israeli injustice on this blog. The fact is, I am spoilt for choice when it comes to material. Items that I intended to place on the blog weeks ago are still crowding my inbox, and I am conscious that many readers have neither the time or the patience to thoroughly read and digest all of my postings here, so I intend to trickle-feed material so as not to present too large a volume for readers to consume in one sitting.

Joe McGonagle

Go get 'em, George (Galloway)

Sorry for the infrequent updates recently, I don't have a lot of time so a more detailed update will appear at a later date.

I am no fan of George Galloway, I suspect his motives and his morals, but in this interview for Sky News (UK), I can't fault him - he speaks the truth, without pulling any punches, making a total fool out of the interviewer in the process. To view the interview, click on the following link (make sure you turn the volume down!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=249JaIaubVw

Thanks to Judith for the lead.

Joe McGonagle

Even 3-year-olds are valid military targets (so long as they are not Israeli)

Here are more examples of the deliberate murder of Palestinian children by members of the Israeli Defence Force.

The first took place on October 5th 2004 in the Gaza strip. Imam Al-Hamas was a 13-year-old girl on her way to school, wearing a school uniform and carrying her books in a back pack. As she passed an Israeli observation post, she was fired on. A transcript of radio traffic between the observation post, the local commander, and the operations room is as follows:

Observation post: "It's a little girl. She's running defensively eastward."

Ops room: "Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?"

Observation post: "A girl of about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death."

[shots fired at Imam]

Observation post: "I think that one of the positions took her out."

Local commander: "I and another soldier are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm the kill. [pause] Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her ... I also confirmed the kill. Over."

Local commander: "This is commander. Anything that's mobile, that moves in the zone, even if it's a three-year-old, needs to be killed. Over."

Links to coverage of this event:

Washington Post
Mindfully.org

The next event is undated. It is an eyewitness account by Chris Hedges, a reporter for the New York Times, recounted during an interview with National Public Radio:

"....over the loudspeaker from an Israeli army Jeep on the other side of the electric fence they were taunting these kids. And these kids started to throw rocks. And most of these kids were 10, 11, 12 years old. And, first of all, the rocks were the size of a fist. They were being hurled towards a Jeep that was armor-plated. I doubt they could even hit the Jeep. And then I watched the soldiers open fire. And it was - I mean, I've seen kids shot in Sarajevo. I mean, snipers would shoot kids in Sarajevo. I've seen death squads kill families in Algeria or El Salvador. But I'd never seen soldiers bait or taunt kids like this and then shoot them for sport. It was--I just--even now, I find it almost inconceivable. And I went back every day, and every day it was the same".

Read a transcript of the interview at Palestine Media watch or listen to the interview at National Public Radio (fast forward 24 minutes into the programme).

The third incident in this blog entry occured in January of this year (2006). 9-year-old Aya al-Astal was killed by Israeli soldiers while wandering close to a fence separating Gaza Strip from Israel. For the full article, visit the Australian Broadcasting Company web site.

I could go on, but the list of child casualties amongst Palestinians is endless and continuing. Your Government wherever you are needs to act to prevent these needless deaths, and curb the Israeli genocidal programme. I can't do that for you - you, the reader needs to bring these facts to light with your local government representative.

Joe McGonagle

THE SHAME OF BEING AN AMERICAN (or an American poodle state)

"The shame of being an American" is the title of an article written by Paul Craig Roberts, who has been an editor for the Wall Street Journal, Economic advisor to the Reagan administration, and holder of numerous academic positions. His full biography can be viewed here.

The article is a condemnation of Israeli and US policy in the Middle East, and supportive of th eplight of the Palestinians and Lebanese. It has really got the rednecks worked up, many of them accusing him of being a communist, anti-semite, traitor to the American nation, etc. It has also been published on numerous web-sites, most of them concerned with Human Rights, conspiracy theories, and yes, some anti-semitic sites as well. The full article can be read here.

One of his accusations in the article is as follows:

" Indeed, Israel, which has one of the world's largest per capita incomes, is the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid. Many believe that much of this "aid" comes back to AIPAC [American Israeli Public Affairs Committee], which uses it to elect "our" representatives in Congress."

Whatever your position, you can't simply ignore what this man is saying - he is well qualified, and has been involved in US policy decisions in the past. He is the author of several books on the topics of economics and politics which have been well received. I would question if anyone else is better qualified than he is to make such a statement as that above, he seems also to be spot-on in respect of some of his other accusations in the article.

Thanks to Judith Jaafar for the lead.

Joe McGonagle

Get out or die (by the way, we won't let you use your vehicles)

In typical NAZI fashion, Israel has dropped leaflets on the Lebanese city of Tyre, telling civilians to leave the area because they are going to bomb the sh*t out of it. In the same leaflet they say that any moving vehicle on the roads in the area will be considered as a military target.

Israel has bombed most, if not all of the bridges and main roads heading North from Tyre. Many of the people currently in Tyre are refugees from other areas of Southern Lebanon. Where are they meant to go, and how are they meant to get there?

The leaflet drop by the Israelis is intended to provide them with an excuse when they kill more civilians - "they were warned that they should leave" they will say, proving that they are after all humanitarian and want to keep civilian deaths to a minimum.

We're not all as stupid as you think, Israel.

Joe McGonagle

163 Palestinians killed in Gaza in July - 48% of them civilians

Almost half the fatalities in the Gaza Strip in July were civilians not taking part in the hostilities

In July, the Israeli military killed 163 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, 78 of whom (48 percent) were not taking part in the hostilities when they were killed. Thirty-six of the fatalities were minors, and 20 were women. In the West Bank , 15 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in July. The number of Palestinian fatalities in July was the highest in any month since April 2002.

Of the incidents B'Tselem investigated in Gaza over the past month, the organization has identified three cases in which Israel may have committed grave breaches of the laws of war. A total of 13 Palestinian civilians were killed in these incidents, including 6 minors, the details of which are as follows:

Full details at the B'TSELEM web site.

Don't forget the plight of the Palestinians...

With Israeli action in Lebanon dominating the news, it would be very easy to forget that the Israelis are still commiting atrocities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

I am pleased to note that B'Tselem, The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories continues to monitor human rights abuse in the region. Not all Israelis are without a conscience, it would seem.

Joe McGonagle

Contact your MP

Not all of our elected representatives agree with Government policy in respect of the Middle East situation. I have been in touch with my local (Labour) MP, Joan Walley, who told me that she wants "to see the UK government call for an immediate cease fire backed up by all the diplomatic efforts that will be needed to secure a way forward" and that she is applying what pressure she is able to.

Thank you Joan, I hope there are more MPs like you. If any other British residents want to contact your own MP, you can do so on-line, just follow the instructions here. Make your message as clear and concise as you can, the wording which I used was as follows:

Subject: Please oppose the Israeli action in Lebanon

Hello Joan,

I am unaware of your position in relation to the Israeli action
in Lebanon, and appeal to you as my MP to take whatever action
you can to oppose the apparent British Government support for the
events now taking place in the Middle East. The actions of our
current Government and also past Governments are a matter of
shame to the British people.

(you should also include your full name and address, and remember, only your local MP is obliged to represent your views!)

Proportional body-count

These were the figures as a 8th August 2006 (day 28 of the criminal slaughter) according to The Independent (UK national newspaper):

Prisoners of War:

Israeli prisoners (held by Hezbollah) - 2
Lebanese prisoners (held by Israel since this outbreak) - not known.

Killed/ missing, presumed dead:

Israelis: 94
Lebanese: 1,008 (45 % of them children, probably considered by the Israelis as "potential terrorists").

Ratio - 1 Israeli to 10 Lebanese.

Wounded:

Israelis: 1,867
Lebanese: 3,293

Ratio - 5.6 Israeli to 10 Lebanese.

Airborne attacks:

Hezbollah (rockets): 3,000
Israeli (Bombing missions): 8,700

Ratio - 2.9 Israeli bombing missions to every Hezbollah rocket launched.

Note that the Israeli missions may involve multiple bomb deliveries, and that Hezbollah rocket technology is far less accurate than Israeli (US) bombing technology.

Other statistics:

Lebanese bridges destroyed: 146
Lebanese people displaced: 900,000 (including 300,000 potential terrorists)

Rate of rocket attacks by Hezbollah (first week - 90/day) (last week - 169/day)
An increase of 88% - what are the Israelis bombing? - potential terrorists I suppose.

Countries against demanding an immediate ceasefire - USA, UK, Israel.
Countries for demanding an immediate ceasefire (AKA terrorist sympathisers) - the rest of the world.

Joe McGonagle