Doc's Talk: Farcical Election War

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Farcical Election War

Steven Shamrak
Op-ed

When I heard that Israel had begun the bombardment of Gaza, as would any supporter of Israel , and as a Jew, I said "at last". After so many years of unanswered rocket attacks from Gaza , the Israeli government has at last taken responsibility for the safety of its citizens. realized that it is the military-grade Katusha rocket attacks that 'persuaded' the Kadima/Labor government toward action against Hamas. At the same time, having had experience of the previous Lebanon war of 2006 and knowing the political ineptness of the current government, I restrained my optimism and expectations. It took only a couple of days for my limited optimism about this operation to evaporate completely. I realized that:

1) Air strikes have lasted for too many days.

2) The Hamas leadership has remained untouched.

3) There was as usual, no coordinated effort to present Israel' s point of view to the world in the press - the "Media war" has been lost again!

4) The ground offensive was delayed for too long, incursions were too limited and there was no real objective to clear Gaza of its terror-infested enemy population, which is the source and breeding ground of anti-Israel terrorism.

As a result, the Israel-'friendly' press and international community of anti-Israel 'comedians' have had time to prepare and launch their usual anti-Israel media campaign and political assault! The International Red Crystal (which is still calling itself the Red Cross) and the other relief organizations immediately joined this hypocritical mob.

Most of the reports from Gaza are being submitted by Palestinian 'journalists', who are employed by the international press agencies, with the approval of Hamas. A few days ago I saw on TV one of these so-called reporters informing the world about the 'humanitarian disaster' - from the safety of a hiding place at his home! As usual, no one has even tried to discredit or question the factual validity and legitimacy of their reports!

Jews are well used to this type of behaviour by anti-Semitic world organizations. During WW2, the "New York Times" blamed Jews for the trouble in the Warsaw ghetto during the uprising and the Red Cross made whitewash reports about the conditions of Jews in the camps and ghettos. Recently, there were no condemnations in the press while rockets from Gaza continued to terrorise Jews in southern Israel for several years. Nobody is concerned about the suffering of Jewish children and adults in Sderot from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (up to 75%). The emergency sessions of the UN Security Council were not calls to condemn Hamas! This is absolutely the same ugly behaviour the international community and press exhibited both before and during the last war in Lebanon, when Hizbolah was firing Katusha rockets at Israel and kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. They began to scream only after Israel entered Lebanon. (cont... below)

Twenty Terrorist Rockets Hit Israel on Shabbat!

Only Israel under pressure to end the war against terror.

Rubbish Must be Swept Out from Jewish Gaza. Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal called for an end to Israeli attacks, the removal of its forces from the Gaza Strip, and a lifting of the Gaza blockade. At the same time he gave no commitment to peace or even a ceasefire!

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Quote of the Week: "If terrorists win there [Israel ], the terrorists will be on our doorstep next. We are all engaged collectively in trying to stop terrorism... If Hamas wanted to really make a difference for the Palestinian people, they would work hard in rebuilding Gaza and not work hard on trying to destroy Israel and kill innocent people. This is one of those clear-cut cases." - Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York city.

Hamas Rockets and Media Indifference. Since the launching of Operation Cast Lead, more than 450 rockets have been launched onto Israel. (The international press has shown little interest for Israeli victims of Hamas terror. They prefer to show 'news' reports made by 'unbiased' Hamas approved reporters. Surprisingly, when I watched DubiTV I did not see staged civilian and children victims on the screen. Most of the wounded were Hamas fighters!) The IDF stopped firing its guns in Gaza at noon Friday and will honour the daily three hour "humanitarian ceasefire" - Hamas fired a missile into Ashdod shortly after 12:00 despite the ceasefire. Hamas response to the UN is more rocket fire. (but Israel is blamed!)

Rocket Struck Kindergarten in Sderot. Around 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, Hamas terrorists fired four Kassam rockets towards Sderot. One of the rockets exploded near a kindergarten that was empty. Luckily, classes in most schools bordering Gaza have been closed since the outbreak of war.

Faking News the French Way. French public television network France 2 revealed on Tuesday that they had aired photographs that allegedly showed destruction caused by the Israel Air Force during Operation Cast Lead, which were in fact taken during a different incident in 2005, one in which Gaza civilians were killed by an explosion caused by their own terrorists in the Strip.

Abbas Supports Hamas. PA President Mahmoud Abbas has ruled out taking over Gaza . ''There is no way we can work to destroy the Hamas in order to replace them.'' (Fatah and Hamas; both terrorist organizations with the same objective.)

Hypocrisy of the 'Loaded' Headlines: "Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process Is Irreversible" - The UN Security Council - I totally agree. From the beginning of the fake peace process, it has been going irreversibly nowhere. It has accomplished nothing but has brought an escalation of terror attacks against Jews in Israel ! There have been over 10,000 mortar and rocket attacks during the past eight years.

The UN Gaza School was a Weapons Dump. The UN and the mainstream media are wailing and accusing Israel of war crimes (yes, again) after the IDF returned fire at a UN school from which Palestinians were firing mortars. The explosives and booby traps installed in the school by Hamas then blew up. (They have no right to complain when Israelis return fire and the building explodes . Where were the UN personnel as Hamas operatives brought in the explosives and installed the booby traps? Were they preventing or, most likely, helping Hamas to set up the explosives - even if only by inaction and ignoring Hamas' activities?)

Hamas Puts Gaza Civilians at Risk. The Israel Defense Forces issued a news release saying paratroopers found a map that "describes the location of explosive devices and firing positions in the middle of the civilian population in the dense neighborhood, which endanger the life of the civilians."

Farcical Election War - Part2.

by Steven Shamrak

Israel is able to end terrorism within the country quite easily. However, the biggest problem Israel has is the Israeli government and its chronic unwillingness to deal with the core source of the problem: Israel has lost its vision! What is our national goal, the one that guided Zionist pioneers toward establishment of the Jewish state on the land of our ancestors? Why are we afraid to pursue our rightful goals? Why don't we have the leadership to guide and inspire us? On the other hand, our enemies are still actively pursuing the same goals they had 60 years ago - the destruction of the Jewish state and killing Jews. We are not living in a Ghetto anymore! It is time to realise this and become masters of our own destiny.

They say that Jews are smart! One would think that after the military, moral and political fiasco of the 2006 Lebanon war, the present Kadima/Labor government would have learned the lesson. It would be easy to end all hostile attacks from the Gaza by clearing this little block of Jewish land of all enemies. But, regrettably, there is no government in Israel that is ready to put the interests of its own people first!

It took Israel only six days to defeat Egypt, Jordan , Lebanon and Syria in the 1967 war. In 1973, Israel forced these enemy countries to stop pestering Israel. They still are playing anti-Israel political games, but not once militarily since then. Those days, Israel did not have the sophisticated weapons it has now. The main ingredient of the success was the patriotic, Zionist ideological enthusiasm of the Jewish citizens, not Muslim, of Israel , and their will to survive. Where are those qualities now?

The main question is, why did Israel start the current Gaza operation? And the answer is disturbingly simple: The leader of the Labor party (Barak) and his comrades in the Kadima party had realised that an election is coming up and most of Israel's voters are pissed off with the corrupt and self-hating attitude of the existing governing coalition, which has done nothing to protect the people from their enemies. Likud and other pro-Zionist parties have started receiving support from the public, which could bring them election victory. Therefore, this retaliation was launched not to destroy Hamas or reduce its power and rocket arsenal, not even to temporarily end the terror experienced by the Israeli population. The pure, unadulterated selfish reason of political survival was the main reason! The plan was: Make a pretence of war to show that the government is fighting enemies and then obtain a temporary 'LULL' that would last until the election in order to manipulate public opinion! After the election, if they win it, the status quo will be restored and the sale of Jewish land will go on!

There are no plans to clear the enemy population from Gaza even though it would end the terror attacks irreversibly! There is no political will to end the terrorisation of Israels citizens by its enemies once and for all. Why? Because the ugly reality of Israel is that most of the politicians in Israel are self-serving, corrupt, disloyal individuals who do not care about the people and the future of Israel . They have been using the threats of the enemies as a tool for voter manipulation in order to stay in power, and as a justification and a smokescreen to hide their shady deals! It has worked for quite a while. When people are constantly living in fear of war they do not care about a 'little' governmental corruption, which has become the main business of the Israeli government! This must end - Vote these traitors out of power!

Livni, Barak Holding Back IDF. National Union party Chairman Yaakov "Ketzaleh" Katz said on Friday that the "diplomatic hesitation" displayed by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak has "prevented" the IDF from crushing Hamas. "Two weeks in to the operation and the security situation has not changed."

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

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