Hamas supports the international consensus - blocked by the U.S - which calls for a peaceful settlement based on the 1967 borders - Israel's legal borders.
What do you support? Do you support Israel's illegal occupation and encroaching land-grab?
Is that a joke? Hamas' charter not only calls for the destruction of Israel but calls for the killing of all Jews.
“The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: ‘The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’”
I have been involved for almost 25 years to making sure that Israel is properly supported with both funding and political support.
I think Americans should be fucking disgusted that $4 Billion of their fax dollars are being sent to Israel every year so that it can continue an illegal occupation and murder unarmed men, women, children and babies.
And because we are lucky enough to live in a society with freedom of expression and not in Gaza under Hamas, you are free to have that opinion. Needless to say, here in the States, people do not feel that way. As I posted earlier 66% of Americans polled last week on that very question think that the US should continue military aid to Israel at current levels or higher.
Getting back to supposed genocide and my point about selective moral outrage. Here are the thoughts of American Corey Feldman, who is now serving in the IDF on that very issue.
"I would like to address the thousands of people that have suddenly woken up from their complete disregard for human rights abuses just in time to criticize Israel for the supposed genocide it is committing in the Gaza strip. U.N. Resolution 260, Section III, defines genocide as action taken with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Let’s begin by discussing some examples that meet this definition. In Syria, President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime has specifically targeted and killed over 170,000 Sunni civilians in the past three years, and uprooted 2.5 million people. In North Korea, it is estimated that as many as 120,000 people are currently being held in detention camp; 400,000 people have died in these camps from torture, starvation, disease, and execution. In Darfur, President Omar Al-Bashir, according to the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, has kept 2.5 million refugees, “under genocidal conditions, like a gigantic Auschwitz.” Since 2003, over 480,000 people have been killed by government troops and their proxies solely because of their ethnicity, which is the very definition of genocide. How many of the people in Santiago, Paris, London, and Jakarta that today line the streets outside Israeli embassies to cry out against the “Gaza Genocide” have protested the Syrian, North Korean, or Darfurian Genocide? In what cities are they hosting events for “North Korean Apartheid Week”? When was the last time they held a Darfur “Die-in”? Where is their outcry in the wake of Egypt’s refusal to allow a Tunisian airplane filled with medical supplies to cross into Gaza?
A survey last month by the anti-defamation league found that 26% of those polled — representing approximately 1.1 billion adults worldwide — harbor deeply anti-Semitic views. If you are searching for these people, you need look no further than the streets outside of Israeli embassies across the world, where anti-Semites disguised as humanitarians from Sydney to Boston demand an end to the imagined Gaza genocide. When a sadistic North Korean dictator imprisons and starves his people, they are silent. When Arabs kill one another in Syria and Darfur, they fail to protest. But when Israel acts to defend herself in the wake of thousands of rockets fired at her civilian centers, suddenly they cry foul.
Despite the false rhetoric of these hypocritical individuals, Israel has gone to great lengths to protect civilians in the recent conflict, as well as historically. Colonel Richard Kemp, commander of British forces in Afghanistan, reported that in the 2012 Gaza operation, Israel, “did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in the combat zones than any other army in the history of warfare.” Then, like now, Israel was accused of committing genocide. In the name of objectivity, rather than discussing tactics, such as the dropping of leaflets, the sending of texts, and the making of phone calls to the residents of houses scheduled to be bombed in an effort to avoid civilian casualties, actions of mercy completely unprecedented in the history of warfare, let’s talk about the numbers. Of the 604 report casualties in Gaza, as of Sunday, 82% were men, and 66% of those men were between the ages of 18 and 38, which is an age range that one could safely assume contains the majority of the terrorists Israel has targeted in it’s bombing campaign. In contrast, while nearly 50% of Gazans are under 14 years of age, this group accounts for only 18% of the casualties, statistics which are hardly indicative of the targeted killing of children (these numbers were arrived at through careful analysis of data provided by Al-Jazeera reporting). While it is impossible at this point to know the proportion of civilians killed versus enemy combatants, what is known is that Israel has killed 200 confirmed militants. I believe it is far from a stretch in light of the statistics listed above to assume that another 100 enemy combatants lie among the dead of Gaza. By these conservative estimates, we can assume that approximately 300 civilians have been killed in the Gaza strip, which I do not deny is a terrible tragedy. Let us step away from the emotional side of this equation for a moment, however, as hard as that may be, and try to qualify these numbers in an attempt to reasonably determine whether or not Israel is targeting civilians.
The Gaza strip is an area nearly twice the size of Washington D.C. with roughly three times the population. Israel has dropped well over 600 tons of explosives on the Gaza strip in the last two weeks. According to the civilian death count arrived at in the previous calculation, we could assume a death of one civilian per 2 tons of explosives. Let us put this into context so it’s easier to visualize.
The M-67 fragment grenade used by the U.S. military contains approximately .4 pounds of explosives, and has a kill radius of 5 meters, or 16.5 feet. If one were to qualify in terms of M-67 grenades the number of casualties in Gaza, that would mean that for every 10,000 grenades dropped on Gaza, representing a kill-radius of 31.3 miles, nearly half the width of Israel at its widest point, one civilian was killed. To offer some perspective, the United States, during the “Shock and Awe” phase of the war in Iraq, killed one hundred people every eight hours for three straight weeks. In a deadly campaign of bombing and artillery strikes over that period, 6,700 people were killed, most of whom were civilians, at a rate of nearly 320 per day. In Rwanda, 800,000 people were killed in 100 days with machetes. Israel has killed, by a conservative estimate, as few as 300 civilians, despite dropping 600 tons of explosives on one of the more densely populated areas of the world, and we are meant to believe that Israel is waging an intentional campaign of ethnic cleansing? Really?
Let us now contrast Israel’s efforts to avoid civilian casualties to the actions of Hamas. Hamas maintains a charter which states, clearly and unapologetically, that “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it….” It further notes: “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them.” The Hamas charter is a near perfect fit for the U.N.’s definition of genocide, and Hamas stands by it’s charter. It has fired close to 13,000 rockets at Israel, at a rate of nearly 3 per day for the past 12 years. During that same period, 1,235 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian acts of terror, most of them by Hamas operatives. And while Hamas sends rockets and death into Israel, Israel sends aid into Gaza; Israel transfers over 100,000 tons of humanitarian goods into Gaza every month – nearly 5,000 truckloads of everything from food and clothing to agricultural equipment and construction supplies. In the past two weeks, hundreds of truckloads of food and supplies have continued to reach the people of Gaza even as Hamas continues to target Israeli civilians with rockets, so I ask you to consider objectively please: Who is trying to commit genocide against whom?"
Is that a joke? Hamas' charter not only calls for the destruction of Israel but calls for the killing of all Jews.
“The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: ‘The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’”
No, it's not a joke, it's a fact. Google it. I'm on an I-phone right now, so it's difficult. Hamas support a peaceful settlement based on the '67 borders, in line with the rest of the World.
Hamas have modified their position since the Hamas Charter. But it doesn't surprise that you'd refer to that in your lame attempt to excuse and justify the ongoing occupation and land-grab.
Did the Communist manifesto prevent an end to the Cold War?
I could post dozens of quotes from Israeli leaders stating that they intend to occupy all the land between the river and the sea.
And because we are lucky enough to live in a society with freedom of expression and not in Gaza under Hamas, you are free to have that opinion. Needless to say, here in the States, people do not feel that way. As I posted earlier 66% of Americans polled last week on that very question think that the US should continue military aid to Israel at current levels or higher.
Of course they do. And that has nothing whatsoever to do with the blatant pro-Israel bias in the U.S does it.
How many Americans still think that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11?
You must be proud of yourself going on public message boards trying to excuse and justify mass murder, including the murder of women and babies.
If Israel is ever brought to account over its crimes, and forced to abide by international law - even if that requires mass boycotts and sanctions - and goes the same way as Apartheid South Africa, then I hope you can look back honestly at the position you took on this issue and realized that you were on the wrong side of history. Then again, I doubt it.
You must be proud of yourself going on public message boards trying to excuse and justify mass murder, including the murder of women and babies.
If Israel is ever brought to account over its crimes, and forced to abide by international law - even if that requires mass boycotts and sanctions - and goes the same way as Apartheid South Africa, then I hope you can look back honestly at the position you took on this issue and realized that you were on the wrong side of history. Then again, I doubt it.
There have been no crimes to account for so that's a strawman argument. Considering the US and other major democracies have continually stated Israel's right to defend itself and they all consider Hamas a terrorist organization, good luck with the boycott and sanctions. I will proudly stand with Israel and you can stand with the terrorists. More importantly, I and many others will be working to continue to ensure Israel has the continued political, economic, and military support of the United States.
Is that a joke? Hamas' charter not only calls for the destruction of Israel but calls for the killing of all Jews.
“The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: ‘The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’”
No, it's not a joke, it's a fact. Google it. I'm on an I-phone right now, so it's difficult. Hamas support a peaceful settlement based on the '67 borders, in line with the rest of the World.
Hamas gave modified their position since the Hamas Charter. But it doesn't surprise that you'd refer to that in yourane attempt to excuse and justify the ongoing occupation and land-grab.
Did the Communist manifesto prevent an end to the Cold War?
I could post dozens of quotes from Israeli leaders stating that they intend to occupy all the land between the river and the sea.
Meshal says this all the time. Here's just one example. Doesn't quite seem like he's supporting an Israeli state within the 67 borders, does it? Oops.
Washington Post December 8, 2012 JERUSALEM — In a fiery speech Saturday before a mammoth rally in Gaza City marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas, Khaled Meshal, the political leader of the militant Islamist group, pledged that it would never recognize Israel and called for an Islamic Palestinian state on the territory of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The bottom line is when you stand with an organization considered to be terrorists by every major democracy in the world, it's difficult for people to take you seriously.
There have been no crimes to account for so that's a strawman argument.
No crimes to account for? Really? Are you sure about that?
Every single human rights organization has found Israel guilty of multiple war crimes, including the deliberate targeting of civilians, the deliberate targeting of medical personnel, dropping white phosphorous on residential areas, torture, house demolitions as a form of collective punishment, and extra-judicial assassinations, e.t.c.
But then I realize that Israel's apologists have a problem with facts, and with reality.
The report, Trigger-happy: Israel’s use of excessive force in the West Bank, describes mounting bloodshed and human rights abuses in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) as a result of the Israeli forces’ use of unnecessary, arbitrary and brutal force against Palestinians since January 2011.
In all cases examined by Amnesty International, Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers did not appear to be posing a direct and immediate threat to life. In some, there is evidence that they were victims of wilful killings, which would amount to war crimes.
“The report presents a body of evidence that shows a harrowing pattern of unlawful killings and unwarranted injuries of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the West Bank,” said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.
“The frequency and persistence of arbitrary and abusive force against peaceful protesters in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers and police officers – and the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators – suggests that it is carried out as a matter of policy.”
There have been no crimes to account for so that's a strawman argument.
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2009/democracy-now-analysis-of-goldstone-report/ AMY GOODMAN: A United Nations fact-finding mission has found Israel, quote, “punished and terrorized” civilians in its three-week assault on Gaza earlier this year and cited strong evidence that Israeli forces committed “grave breaches” of the Geneva Conventions. More than 1,400 Palestinians, about a third of them women and children, were killed in the assault. Thirteen Israelis died.
The 575-page report came at the end of a six-month inquiry and was based on dozens of interviews and investigations. The inquiry was led by Judge Richard Goldstone, the former chief prosecutor of the international courts for Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Judge Goldstone said Israel deliberately attacked civilians and failed to take precautions to minimize loss of civilian life.
JUDGE RICHARD GOLDSTONE: We came to the conclusion, on the basis of the facts we found, that there is strong evidence to establish that numerous serious violations of international law, both humanitarian law and human rights law, were committed by Israel during the military operations in Gaza. The mission concluded that actions amounting to war crimes and possibly, in some respects, crimes against humanity were committed by the Israel Defense Force.
... NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: Well, the report is the last in a large number of reports that have been issued on the Gaza massacre. There were two significant reports issued by Amnesty International, five reports issued by Human Rights Watch, and a whole slew of Israeli-based human rights organizations have issued reports. But this was the most awaited report of all of them. It was commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council. And Richard Goldstone, as you mentioned in your own introductory remarks, is a significant international figure, legal figure.
So the report basically is consistent with the findings of the other human rights organizations, that Israel targeted civilians, Israel targeted civilians who were carrying white flags, Israel systematically targeted the Palestinian infrastructure. The findings were consistent with those of the other human rights organizations: Israel is guilty of a very significant number of war crimes. And also, the findings which were—other reports, the same conclusions, that the Palestinians were not using hospitals to hide Hamas officials. There’s no evidence that the ambulances Israel targeted were carrying Hamas militants or ammunition. And most significantly, in terms of the coverage during the Gaza massacre, the report found, as did Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, there’s no evidence whatsoever—and I would want to underline that—there’s no evidence whatsoever that Hamas was guilty of human shielding. But on the other hand, there is significant evidence, actually copious evidence, that Israel was guilty of human shielding.
There have been no crimes to account for so that's a strawman argument.
The occupation itself is a crime. Under international law It's illegal to acquire territory as a result of war. And the settlements constitute a crime against humanity and a breach of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
http://www.btselem.org/settlements/international_law The establishment of settlements in the West Bank violates international humanitarian law which establishes principles that apply during war and occupation. Moreover, the settlements lead to the infringement of international human rights law.
The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from transferring citizens from its own territory to the occupied territory (Article 49). The Hague Regulations prohibit an occupying power from undertaking permanent changes in the occupied area unless these are due to military needs in the narrow sense of the term, or unless they are undertaken for the benefit of the local population.
The establishment of settlements results in the violation of the rights of Palestinians as enshrined in international human rights law. Among other violations, the settlements infringe the right to self-determination, equality, property, an adequate standard of living, and freedom of movement.
Hamas supports the international consensus - blocked by the U.S - which calls for a peaceful settlement based on the 1967 borders - Israel's legal borders.
What do you support? Do you support Israel's illegal occupation and encroaching land-grab?
Is that a joke? Hamas' charter not only calls for the destruction of Israel but calls for the killing of all Jews.
“The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: ‘The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’”
Hamas willing to accept Palestinian state with 1967 borders Hamas leader in Gaza addressed group of European MPs who sailed to Strip to protest Israel's blockade. Nov. 9, 2008
The Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said on Saturday his government was willing to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
The Hamas leader spoke at a meeting with 11 European parliamentarians who sailed from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip to protest Israel's naval blockade of the territory. Haniyeh told his guests Israel rejected his initiative.
...In response to a question about the international community's impression that there are two Palestinian states, Haniyeh said: "We don't have a state, neither in Gaza nor in the West Bank. Gaza is under siege and the West Bank is occupied. What we have in the Gaza Strip is not a state, but rather a regime of an elected government. A Palestinian state will not be created at this time except in the territories of 1967."
The only reason the Israeli's can continue to commit war crimes, and crimes against humanity as a matter of routine is because they're protected and shielded by the U.S.at the United Nations. If it wasn't for the 100% unconditional support and protection it receives from the U.S, then the Israeli leadership, past and present, would be dragged before the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
Hopefully, this latest massacre of Palestinians will at least inspire them to sign up to the ICC - something the U.S and Israel dread, and have done everything in their power to prevent. As soon as the Palestinians sign up as members of the ICC the U.S and Israel know they'll be fucked.
the majority of people think it's a genocide, everyone except israelis and the US govt that is..
This is not true either. You left out the governments of Canada, the UK, France, Japan, the Czech Republic, Germany, etc. Plus, the US population overwhelmingly supports Israel.
I said the governments are supporting it, not the people of these countries...
US media doesnt only have a bias in this situation, it's outright lying to the american people. And if you don't believe that i suggest start reading international media outlets..it's a totally different picture being presented..aka, the truth.
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The Juggler
Behind that bush over there. Posts: 47,458
I have been involved for almost 25 years to making sure that Israel is properly supported with both funding and political support.
I think Americans should be fucking disgusted that $4 Billion of their fax dollars are being sent to Israel every year so that it can continue an illegal occupation and murder unarmed men, women, children and babies.
And because we are lucky enough to live in a society with freedom of expression and not in Gaza under Hamas, you are free to have that opinion. .
sorry. if i could intervene for just a second....he's from china.
Yup, fucken evil thugs and blood thirsty barbarians. Thank you jon snow and dr Gilbert for doing what you guys are doing in the line of this massacre taking place. You guys are doing a hell of a lot more then those fucken Arab leaders!
Thanks for posting this video, truly appalling. Not targeting women and children? Get the fuck out of here! Facts after facts and some on here say they'll support Israel to the end! Well, awesome, you should be a proud fucking human being.
I think Americans should be fucking disgusted that $4 Billion of their fax dollars are being sent to Israel every year so that it can continue an illegal occupation and murder unarmed men, women, children and babies.
And because we are lucky enough to live in a society with freedom of expression and not in Gaza under Hamas, you are free to have that opinion. Needless to say, here in the States, people do not feel that way. As I posted earlier 66% of Americans polled last week on that very question think that the US should continue military aid to Israel at current levels or higher.
Byrnzie, as an American I am disgusted at my tax dollars funding Isreal.
Lucky, they didn't poll me! I strongly disagree with my country's continued military aid to Israel.
Also, after catching up on the last few pages Bernzie you have made some excellent points that seem very tough to argue against.
I think Americans should be fucking disgusted that $4 Billion of their fax dollars are being sent to Israel every year so that it can continue an illegal occupation and murder unarmed men, women, children and babies.
And because we are lucky enough to live in a society with freedom of expression and not in Gaza under Hamas, you are free to have that opinion. Needless to say, here in the States, people do not feel that way. As I posted earlier 66% of Americans polled last week on that very question think that the US should continue military aid to Israel at current levels or higher.
Byrnzie, as an American I am disgusted at my tax dollars funding Isreal.
Lucky, they didn't poll me! I strongly disagree with my country's continued military aid to Israel.
Also, after catching up on the last few pages Bernzie you have made some excellent points that seem very tough to argue against.
Peace.
Please continue to speak up Abe! Let your voice be heard. And ya that byrnzie fella sure knows some shit ey? That's the kind of leaders the world needs. Ones who have the balls to say it like it is and who actually have a spine. I believe byrnzie teaches in china, too fucken bad he wasn't PM of England.
Byrnzie, as an American I am disgusted at my tax dollars funding Isreal.
Lucky, they didn't poll me! I strongly disagree with my country's continued military aid to Israel.
Also, after catching up on the last few pages Bernzie you have made some excellent points that seem very tough to argue against.
Peace.
Please continue to speak up Abe! Let your voice be heard. And ya that byrnzie fella sure knows some shit ey? That's the kind of leaders the world needs. Ones who have the balls to say it like it is and who actually have a spine. I believe byrnzie teaches in china, too fucken bad he wasn't PM of England.
^^^I will try and yes he does! I find it very difficult to find the truth because of all the bullshit lies American media feeds us.
Comments
“The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: ‘The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’”
"I would like to address the thousands of people that have suddenly woken up from their complete disregard for human rights abuses just in time to criticize Israel for the supposed genocide it is committing in the Gaza strip. U.N. Resolution 260, Section III, defines genocide as action taken with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Let’s begin by discussing some examples that meet this definition. In Syria, President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime has specifically targeted and killed over 170,000 Sunni civilians in the past three years, and uprooted 2.5 million people. In North Korea, it is estimated that as many as 120,000 people are currently being held in detention camp; 400,000 people have died in these camps from torture, starvation, disease, and execution. In Darfur, President Omar Al-Bashir, according to the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, has kept 2.5 million refugees, “under genocidal conditions, like a gigantic Auschwitz.” Since 2003, over 480,000 people have been killed by government troops and their proxies solely because of their ethnicity, which is the very definition of genocide. How many of the people in Santiago, Paris, London, and Jakarta that today line the streets outside Israeli embassies to cry out against the “Gaza Genocide” have protested the Syrian, North Korean, or Darfurian Genocide? In what cities are they hosting events for “North Korean Apartheid Week”? When was the last time they held a Darfur “Die-in”? Where is their outcry in the wake of Egypt’s refusal to allow a Tunisian airplane filled with medical supplies to cross into Gaza?
A survey last month by the anti-defamation league found that 26% of those polled — representing approximately 1.1 billion adults worldwide — harbor deeply anti-Semitic views. If you are searching for these people, you need look no further than the streets outside of Israeli embassies across the world, where anti-Semites disguised as humanitarians from Sydney to Boston demand an end to the imagined Gaza genocide. When a sadistic North Korean dictator imprisons and starves his people, they are silent. When Arabs kill one another in Syria and Darfur, they fail to protest. But when Israel acts to defend herself in the wake of thousands of rockets fired at her civilian centers, suddenly they cry foul.
Despite the false rhetoric of these hypocritical individuals, Israel has gone to great lengths to protect civilians in the recent conflict, as well as historically. Colonel Richard Kemp, commander of British forces in Afghanistan, reported that in the 2012 Gaza operation, Israel, “did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in the combat zones than any other army in the history of warfare.” Then, like now, Israel was accused of committing genocide. In the name of objectivity, rather than discussing tactics, such as the dropping of leaflets, the sending of texts, and the making of phone calls to the residents of houses scheduled to be bombed in an effort to avoid civilian casualties, actions of mercy completely unprecedented in the history of warfare, let’s talk about the numbers. Of the 604 report casualties in Gaza, as of Sunday, 82% were men, and 66% of those men were between the ages of 18 and 38, which is an age range that one could safely assume contains the majority of the terrorists Israel has targeted in it’s bombing campaign. In contrast, while nearly 50% of Gazans are under 14 years of age, this group accounts for only 18% of the casualties, statistics which are hardly indicative of the targeted killing of children (these numbers were arrived at through careful analysis of data provided by Al-Jazeera reporting). While it is impossible at this point to know the proportion of civilians killed versus enemy combatants, what is known is that Israel has killed 200 confirmed militants. I believe it is far from a stretch in light of the statistics listed above to assume that another 100 enemy combatants lie among the dead of Gaza. By these conservative estimates, we can assume that approximately 300 civilians have been killed in the Gaza strip, which I do not deny is a terrible tragedy. Let us step away from the emotional side of this equation for a moment, however, as hard as that may be, and try to qualify these numbers in an attempt to reasonably determine whether or not Israel is targeting civilians.
The Gaza strip is an area nearly twice the size of Washington D.C. with roughly three times the population. Israel has dropped well over 600 tons of explosives on the Gaza strip in the last two weeks. According to the civilian death count arrived at in the previous calculation, we could assume a death of one civilian per 2 tons of explosives. Let us put this into context so it’s easier to visualize.
The M-67 fragment grenade used by the U.S. military contains approximately .4 pounds of explosives, and has a kill radius of 5 meters, or 16.5 feet. If one were to qualify in terms of M-67 grenades the number of casualties in Gaza, that would mean that for every 10,000 grenades dropped on Gaza, representing a kill-radius of 31.3 miles, nearly half the width of Israel at its widest point, one civilian was killed. To offer some perspective, the United States, during the “Shock and Awe” phase of the war in Iraq, killed one hundred people every eight hours for three straight weeks. In a deadly campaign of bombing and artillery strikes over that period, 6,700 people were killed, most of whom were civilians, at a rate of nearly 320 per day. In Rwanda, 800,000 people were killed in 100 days with machetes. Israel has killed, by a conservative estimate, as few as 300 civilians, despite dropping 600 tons of explosives on one of the more densely populated areas of the world, and we are meant to believe that Israel is waging an intentional campaign of ethnic cleansing? Really?
Let us now contrast Israel’s efforts to avoid civilian casualties to the actions of Hamas. Hamas maintains a charter which states, clearly and unapologetically, that “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it….” It further notes: “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them.” The Hamas charter is a near perfect fit for the U.N.’s definition of genocide, and Hamas stands by it’s charter. It has fired close to 13,000 rockets at Israel, at a rate of nearly 3 per day for the past 12 years. During that same period, 1,235 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian acts of terror, most of them by Hamas operatives. And while Hamas sends rockets and death into Israel, Israel sends aid into Gaza; Israel transfers over 100,000 tons of humanitarian goods into Gaza every month – nearly 5,000 truckloads of everything from food and clothing to agricultural equipment and construction supplies. In the past two weeks, hundreds of truckloads of food and supplies have continued to reach the people of Gaza even as Hamas continues to target Israeli civilians with rockets, so I ask you to consider objectively please: Who is trying to commit genocide against whom?"
Read more: The Israeli genocide in Gaza | Corey Feldman | Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-israeli-genocide-in-gaza/#ixzz38SRuAtqt
Follow us: @timesofisrael on Twitter | timesofisrael on Facebook
Hamas support a peaceful settlement based on the '67 borders, in line with the rest of the World.
Hamas have modified their position since the Hamas Charter. But it doesn't surprise that you'd refer to that in your lame attempt to excuse and justify the ongoing occupation and land-grab.
Did the Communist manifesto prevent an end to the Cold War?
I could post dozens of quotes from Israeli leaders stating that they intend to occupy all the land between the river and the sea.
How many Americans still think that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11?
If Israel is ever brought to account over its crimes, and forced to abide by international law - even if that requires mass boycotts and sanctions - and goes the same way as Apartheid South Africa, then I hope you can look back honestly at the position you took on this issue and realized that you were on the wrong side of history. Then again, I doubt it.
Washington Post December 8, 2012
JERUSALEM — In a fiery speech Saturday before a mammoth rally in Gaza City marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas, Khaled Meshal, the political leader of the militant Islamist group, pledged that it would never recognize Israel and called for an Islamic Palestinian state on the territory of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The bottom line is when you stand with an organization considered to be terrorists by every major democracy in the world, it's difficult for people to take you seriously.
Every single human rights organization has found Israel guilty of multiple war crimes, including the deliberate targeting of civilians, the deliberate targeting of medical personnel, dropping white phosphorous on residential areas, torture, house demolitions as a form of collective punishment, and extra-judicial assassinations, e.t.c.
But then I realize that Israel's apologists have a problem with facts, and with reality.
Israeli forces have displayed a callous disregard for human life by killing dozens of Palestinian civilians, including children, in the occupied West Bank over the past three years with near total impunity, said Amnesty International in a report published today.
The report, Trigger-happy: Israel’s use of excessive force in the West Bank, describes mounting bloodshed and human rights abuses in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) as a result of the Israeli forces’ use of unnecessary, arbitrary and brutal force against Palestinians since January 2011.
In all cases examined by Amnesty International, Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers did not appear to be posing a direct and immediate threat to life. In some, there is evidence that they were victims of wilful killings, which would amount to war crimes.
“The report presents a body of evidence that shows a harrowing pattern of unlawful killings and unwarranted injuries of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the West Bank,” said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.
“The frequency and persistence of arbitrary and abusive force against peaceful protesters in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers and police officers – and the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators – suggests that it is carried out as a matter of policy.”
AMY GOODMAN: A United Nations fact-finding mission has found Israel, quote, “punished and terrorized” civilians in its three-week assault on Gaza earlier this year and cited strong evidence that Israeli forces committed “grave breaches” of the Geneva Conventions. More than 1,400 Palestinians, about a third of them women and children, were killed in the assault. Thirteen Israelis died.
The 575-page report came at the end of a six-month inquiry and was based on dozens of interviews and investigations. The inquiry was led by Judge Richard Goldstone, the former chief prosecutor of the international courts for Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Judge Goldstone said Israel deliberately attacked civilians and failed to take precautions to minimize loss of civilian life.
JUDGE RICHARD GOLDSTONE: We came to the conclusion, on the basis of the facts we found, that there is strong evidence to establish that numerous serious violations of international law, both humanitarian law and human rights law, were committed by Israel during the military operations in Gaza. The mission concluded that actions amounting to war crimes and possibly, in some respects, crimes against humanity were committed by the Israel Defense Force.
... NORMAN FINKELSTEIN: Well, the report is the last in a large number of reports that have been issued on the Gaza massacre. There were two significant reports issued by Amnesty International, five reports issued by Human Rights Watch, and a whole slew of Israeli-based human rights organizations have issued reports. But this was the most awaited report of all of them. It was commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council. And Richard Goldstone, as you mentioned in your own introductory remarks, is a significant international figure, legal figure.
So the report basically is consistent with the findings of the other human rights organizations, that Israel targeted civilians, Israel targeted civilians who were carrying white flags, Israel systematically targeted the Palestinian infrastructure. The findings were consistent with those of the other human rights organizations: Israel is guilty of a very significant number of war crimes. And also, the findings which were—other reports, the same conclusions, that the Palestinians were not using hospitals to hide Hamas officials. There’s no evidence that the ambulances Israel targeted were carrying Hamas militants or ammunition. And most significantly, in terms of the coverage during the Gaza massacre, the report found, as did Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, there’s no evidence whatsoever—and I would want to underline that—there’s no evidence whatsoever that Hamas was guilty of human shielding. But on the other hand, there is significant evidence, actually copious evidence, that Israel was guilty of human shielding.
Fucksake...
And the settlements constitute a crime against humanity and a breach of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
http://www.btselem.org/settlements/international_law
The establishment of settlements in the West Bank violates international humanitarian law which establishes principles that apply during war and occupation. Moreover, the settlements lead to the infringement of international human rights law.
The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from transferring citizens from its own territory to the occupied territory (Article 49). The Hague Regulations prohibit an occupying power from undertaking permanent changes in the occupied area unless these are due to military needs in the narrow sense of the term, or unless they are undertaken for the benefit of the local population.
The establishment of settlements results in the violation of the rights of Palestinians as enshrined in international human rights law. Among other violations, the settlements infringe the right to self-determination, equality, property, an adequate standard of living, and freedom of movement.
Hamas willing to accept Palestinian state with 1967 borders
Hamas leader in Gaza addressed group of European MPs who sailed to Strip to protest Israel's blockade.
Nov. 9, 2008
The Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said on Saturday his government was willing to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
The Hamas leader spoke at a meeting with 11 European parliamentarians who sailed from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip to protest Israel's naval blockade of the territory. Haniyeh told his guests Israel rejected his initiative.
...In response to a question about the international community's impression that there are two Palestinian states, Haniyeh said: "We don't have a state, neither in Gaza nor in the West Bank. Gaza is under siege and the West Bank is occupied. What we have in the Gaza Strip is not a state, but rather a regime of an elected government. A Palestinian state will not be created at this time except in the territories of 1967."
If it wasn't for the 100% unconditional support and protection it receives from the U.S, then the Israeli leadership, past and present, would be dragged before the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
Hopefully, this latest massacre of Palestinians will at least inspire them to sign up to the ICC - something the U.S and Israel dread, and have done everything in their power to prevent.
As soon as the Palestinians sign up as members of the ICC the U.S and Israel know they'll be fucked.
US media doesnt only have a bias in this situation, it's outright lying to the american people. And if you don't believe that i suggest start reading international media outlets..it's a totally different picture being presented..aka, the truth.
okay carry on.
"...I changed by not changing at all..."
Thanks for posting this video, truly appalling. Not targeting women and children? Get the fuck out of here! Facts after facts and some on here say they'll support Israel to the end! Well, awesome, you should be a proud fucking human being.
Lucky, they didn't poll me! I strongly disagree with my country's continued military aid to Israel.
Also, after catching up on the last few pages Bernzie you have made some excellent points that seem very tough to argue against.
Peace.
Respect to you.