Friday, July 11, 2014
Caroline Glick: Hamas’s (and Iran’s) fail-safe strategy
Peace can only come to Israel and its neighbors when the Muslim world liberates itself from its hatred of Jews.Alan Dershowitz: The current conflict between Israel and Hamas shatters myths
What is Hamas doing? Hamas isn’t going to defeat Israel.
It isn’t going to gain any territory. Israel isn’t going to withdraw from Ashkelon or Sderot under a hail of rockets.
So if Hamas can’t win, why is it fighting? Why rain down destruction and misery on millions of Israelis with your Iranian missiles and your Syrian rockets and invite a counter-assault on your headquarters and weapons warehouses, which you have conveniently placed in the middle of the Palestinian people on whose behalf you are allegedly fighting? Hamas is in a precarious position. When the terror group took over Gaza seven years ago, things were different.
The current warfare between Hamas and Israel shatters several myths that have been accepted as gospel by many in the international community and the media.United Nations: Most Gaza Casualties Were Warned by IDF to Leave Targeted Buildings in Advance
MYTH 1: The primary cause of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is the occupation of the West Bank and Israel’s settlement policy.
MYTH 2: What is being experienced now is a “cycle of violence”, with equal blame on both sides.
MYTH 3: Muhammad Abbas is part of the solution, not part of the problem.
A new United Nations document says that in most cases where Palestinians have been killed or injured during Israel’s ongoing Gaza campaign, the Israeli army alerted civilians ahead of time who were occupying buildings, that they planned to bomb in Gaza, to leave the premises.The Gaza Rules
“At least 35 residential buildings were reportedly targeted and destroyed, resulting in the majority of the civilian casualties recorded so far, including an attack on 8 July in Khan Younis that killed seven civilians, including three children, and injured another 25,” according to the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Hostilities in Gaza and Israel Situation Report. “In most cases, prior to the attacks, residents have been warned to leave, either via phone calls by the Israel military or by the firing of warning missiles.”
The document was released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) at 15:00 on July, 9, 2014.
According to many critics, Israel is slaughtering civilians in Gaza. It’s “purposefully wiping out entire families,” says an Arab member of Israel’s parliament. It’s committing “genocide—the murder of entire families,” says Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority. Iran says Israel has committed “massacres against the defenseless Palestinians.”CNN’s Jake Tapper Demolishes PLO Spokeswoman
The charges are false. By the standards of war, Israel’s efforts to spare civilians have been exemplary.
Israel didn’t choose this fight. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the terrorist organizations that dominate Gaza, claim that Israel provoked the conflict by arresting Hamas members in the
West Bank. But arrests in one territory don’t justify aerial bombardment from another. Israel didn’t hit Gaza until terrorists had fired more than 150 rockets into Israel and had rejected a cease-fire.
Some of the pictures that purport to show devastation from the Israeli strikes are fakes borrowed from other wars. As of Wednesday afternoon, the death count ranged from 30 to 50 or more, depending on where you mark the onset of the conflict. Every death is tragic, and the longer the assault goes on, the higher the toll will go. Still, given that Israel has launched more than 500 airstrikes, you’d have to conclude that either Israel is failing miserably to kill people or, more plausibly, it’s largely trying not to kill them.
CNN’s Jake Tapper thoroughly demolished and exposed as a liar one of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s foremost purveyors of propaganda Thursday during a tense interview.CNN's Jake Tapper Destroys Fmr PLO Spox
Tapper invited former PLO spokeswoman and legal advisor Diana Buttu to explain why Hamas is launching terror rockets and trying to kill Israeli citizens.
Buttu attempted to push several lies about the conflict, but was quickly shot down by Tapper.
“Why is Hamas launching rockets into Israeli population centers and are any other Palestinians trying to stop them from doing so?” Tapper asked.
Times of Israel Live Blog: Hamas slams PA President Abbas for urging cease-fire
Operation Protective Edge entered its fourth day on Friday. By nightfall Thursday, over 350 rockets had been fired at Israel, about 90 of them intercepted by Iron Dome, and the Israeli Air Force had carried out almost 900 airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. By midday Friday, Palestinian reports said at least 100 Palestinians had been killed. Ceasefire offers are ‘irrelevant’ at this stage, says Israel, because Hamas continues to fire. Chief of Staff Gantz says the IDF is waiting for orders to commence a ground operation, as it masses increased forces on the Gaza border. The Times of Israel is liveblogging events as they unfold.Daniel Pipes: Why does Hamas want war?
Politicians start wars optimistic about their prospects of gaining from combat, Geoffrey Blainey notes in his masterly study, "The Causes of War." Otherwise, they would avoid fighting.The ruinous results of restraint
Why, then, did Hamas just provoke a war with Israel? Out of nowhere, on June 11 it began launching rockets, shattering a calm in place since November 2012. The mystery of this outburst prompted David Horowitz, editor of the Times of Israel, to find that the current fighting has "no remotely credible reason" even to be taking place. And why did the Israeli leadership respond minimally, trying to avoid combat? This despite both sides knowing that Israel's forces vastly out-match Hamas in every domain -- intelligence gathering, command and control, technology, firepower, domination of air space.
What explains this role reversal? Are Islamists so fanatical that they don't mind losing? Are Zionists too worried about loss of life to fight?
The events of the last few days lead to an unpalatable but unavoidable conclusion: Israel can no longer enable its citizens to “live normal lives” without retaking Gaza.Obama, in call with Netanyahu, offers to mediate ceasefire
Restraint and “proportionality” have so degraded its deterrence that it is no longer able to dissuade its enemies from attacking it almost at will. Israel must therefore destroy their ability to do so by seizing – and holding – the areas from which those attacks are launched.
US President Barack Obama on Thursday told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he was worried fierce fighting with Hamas in Gaza could escalate, and offered US help to broker a ceasefire.PA, at US request, pushes Hamas in vain to end rocket fire
“The president expressed concern about the risk of further escalation and emphasized the need for all sides to do everything they can to protect the lives of civilians and restore calm,” the White House said in a statement.
“The United States remains prepared to facilitate a cessation of hostilities, including a return to the November 2012 ceasefire agreement.”
American diplomats led by Philip Gordon, Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for the Middle East, visited Ramallah on Wednesday and held talks with PA officials, senior Palestinian officials said. The Americans urged the PA to reach out to Hamas in an effort to put an end to its rocket fire on Israel. PA officials indeed spoke to Hamas, but were told that “there’s nothing to talk about.”Life in Israel: Running from Gaza Rockets in Ashdod
The Palestinian officials said the US diplomats also met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also expressed no interest in a ceasefire. Netanyahu does not want American mediation, or anybody else’s, and indicated that he intends to continue the conflict with Hamas, the officials said.
IDF Targets Weapons Caches in Civilian Neigborhood
IDF Aircraft Makes a Pinpoint Strike 3 PIJ Terrorists in a Car
Iron Dome game-changer in latest round of fighting
Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system has emerged as a game-changer in the current round of fighting with Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, shooting down dozens of incoming rockets and being credited with preventing numerous civilian casualties.From Berkeley: A blessing on seeing Iron Dome
By shooting down more than 90 percent of its targets, the system is ensuring Israel’s decisive technological edge that has helped it operate virtually unhindered in Gaza.
At the same time, it’s also providing a much-needed sense of security on the home front.
From Berkeley's beloved Rabbi Menachem Creditor of Congregation Netivot Shalom, now visiting IsraelJerusalem mayor: Rockets don't discriminate between Christians, Muslims and Jews
"I just witnessed an Iron Dome intercept of a bomb from Gaza above me and the AIPAC Rabbinic Mission to Israel as we exited the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. Baruch....she'asah li nisim bamakom hazeh. Blessed are you, Adonai, for made a miracle for me in this place."
"I am shaken and I am more resolved than before. This must end, and the accusations against Israel are heinous misrepresentations of a nation-wide reality of bombs that, as of today are being sent by Fatah AND Hamas against the civilian population of Israel.
Please share this widely. I bear testimony to the need for strength and for action. Peace is a long while away, and now is the time for unity in the face of threats to our very existence."
A few hours before six Hamas-launched rockets reached the capital Thursday evening, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat assured city residents that if they follow the city’s protocol when warning sirens go off, they should remain safe.Public Urged to Pray for Seriously Wounded Soldier
In an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post outside his office in Safra Square, Barkat discussed heightened tensions between Arabs and Jews in the city, while reassuring residents that Jerusalem remains one of the “safest cities in the world.” “If you look at the statistics, no one in Israel has been hurt, so Israel knows how to very well defend itself,” he said. “The reality is that generally, it is one of the safest places in the world. Naturally it doesn’t look like that on television, but the reality is that our crime rate is one-tenth [per capita] compared to New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.”
Residents of the Samaria town of Itamar are praying for the recovery of Mordechai Yemin, a resident of the town and IDF soldier who was seriously wounded on Thursday by mortar shells fired by Gaza terrorists.Israel strikes Hamas every 4.5 minutes, military says
Yemin was wounded while in the Eshkol Regional Council area, near Kerem Shalom, in an attack that left another soldier lightly wounded as well.
The soldier from Itamar suffered from a head wound and was hospitalized in the Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva.
Almost 200 rockets rained down on Israel throughout Friday, as Operation Protective Edge to eliminate the missile threat from Gaza continued into its fourth day, the military said in a statement. In response, Israeli strikes on Gaza have come at a pace of one strike every 4.5 minutes since the start of the operation, according to the army’s figures.In Sderot, the bomb-shelter capital of the world
The Israeli Air Force has hit over 2,000 targets in three-and-a-half days, an IDF spokesman said. Palestinian reports count some 90 dead in the coastal territory from the airstrikes, a figure that includes both civilians and terrorists.
Generally, going to Sderot, ever since the first rocket fell there in October 2001, is a trip out of one’s comfort zone, to a town filled with immigrants new and old, who all are forced to live their lives within a 15-second sprint from a shelter.A Look at Israeli Life Just Outside the Gaza Strip
The mayors come and go, the museum of twisted and rusty metal rockets grows. The frustration mounts. What good is it, residents often wonder, being a citizen of the strongest military power in the Middle East when one of the poorest, most wretched enclaves — a slim strip of territory packed mostly with Palestinian refugees — is able to use us as their punching bag?
Many of Sderot’s youth do not remember a world of peace and quiet, because they were born into one where there is no peace and quiet. But the more than 40 children, women, and elderly reportedly killed in Gaza over the past three days serve as a reminder that the very same is true of life in the Gaza Strip, regardless of where the blame rests. I sometimes fear that Moshe Dayan’s haunting eulogy might also be a self-fulfilling prophecy.In Tel Aviv, business is still business — for now
As we left the club house, a young indie singer who lives in Sderot, Tamar Capsouto, who had been listening to Dayan’s briefing, hoisted a guitar, took a seat in the shade, and attempted to offer an alternative in verse. Take a lake and fill it with your dreams, she sang.
If there is one thing stronger than the explosions that have rocked Israel’s South and the Gaza Strip, it must surely be the dreams of this land’s children.
Rockets are flying in the direction of Tel Aviv and other areas once thought out of range of Gaza terrorists, but for now, business is still business, according to several executives, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and others who spoke to The Times of Israel about their experiences this week.Israel’s United Nations Ambassador Plays Air Raid Siren at Security Council Meeting (VIDEO)
While some said that meetings were canceled or moved from the upper floors of office buildings to coffee shops on the ground floor — the better to run to a bomb shelter, just in case — many said that residents and workers in Israel’s financial center still feel more or less immune to the possibility that “their” city could experience a major attack.
“As I speak, there is a storm of rockets being fired by the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza,” Prosor said. “Hamas is intentionally and indiscriminately threatening the lives of three and a half million innocent men, women, and children in Israel from north to south – from Beersheba to Tel Aviv to Haifa.”Ambassador Ron Prosor sounds a siren in the Security Council
The Ambassador added, “In the last three days, 442 rockets have been fired into Israel – that’s one every 10 minutes.”
“Fifteen seconds. That’s how much time you have to run for your life,” he said after sounding the alarm. “Imagine having only 15 seconds to find a bomb shelter. Now imagine doing it with small children or elderly parents or an ailing friend.”Full Transcript
A Strange Way to Say Thank You
While Israel always gets blamed for anything worse than a paper cut among the Palestinians, a website called Elder of Ziyon notes that some Gazan casualties are caused by terrorist rockets that drop short of Israel and land inside Gaza. When they go boom, Hamas fingers the Jews.Israeli, 61, badly injured by rocket hit in Ashdod
In an irony of almost biblical proportions, the Gazan rockets would not be roaring down from the skies if Israel had not generously pried its citizens from Gaza and delivered the strip on a serving tray to the Palestinians. And the thanks Israel gets could not be more vividly displayed.
In this respect, Israel has become a 13,000-square-mile metaphor for the fact that no good deed goes unpunished. (h/t Effect)
A rocket hit a gas station in the coastal city of Ashdod, setting fire to an oil tank, and its explosion seriously wounded a man.IDF Official: Hamas Embedding Itself in Schools, Hospitals
The explosion was the result of a volley of eight rockets launched from Gaza on Friday at Israel’s southern coastal plain. The man, aged 61, sustained burns and other serious injuries from the explosion, but was said to be in serious rather than life-threatening condition on Friday evening. Another two people were injured from shrapnel from the same explosion.
A senior IDF official has told Arutz Sheva that the army has no choice but to launch a ground offensive into Gaza in order to stamp out rocket fire on Israeli civilians, because Hamas and other terrorist groups have embedded their military infrastructure so deeply into the civilian population that it is impossible to reach via air power without causing massive collateral damage.First Lesson of Gaza War: Maintain the Blockade
In particular, the source said Hamas has hidden its missile stockpiles and even embedded launchpads specifically in schools and hospitals - callously using the most vulnerable members of society as human shields. At the same time, the Islamist group is not allowing civilians to leave the area; on the contrary, it is encouraging as many noncombatants as possible to "protect" its positions with their bodies.
As a result, he said, a ground invasion is all but inevitable.
The other usual suspects have chimed in as one might expect. Amnesty International has charged that the blockade is “suffocating Gaza.” Human Rights Watch has complained that the blockade is having “an awful effect.” The International Red Cross has declared the blockade to be a violation of the Geneva Conventions.Free Gaza... From Hamas
Even the Obama administration, which one would have hoped would not fall in line with the knee-jerk Israel bashers of the world, has tried to get Israel to ease up on the blockade. “Gaza Blockade Untenable, U.S. Believes,” read the headline of an NBC News report back in 2010. “The Obama administration believes Israel’s blockade of Gaza is untenable and wants to see a new approach that would allow more supplies” into the territory, NBC reported.
That same week, Vice President Joe Biden told interviewer Charlie Rose on Bloomberg TV: “We have put as much pressure and as much cajoling on Israel as we can to allow them to get building materials” and other forbidden items into Gaza. Biden seemed oblivious to the fact that many construction materials are what is known as dual-use items: in addition to their primary purpose, they can also be used for terrorist purposes. Concrete for the foundation of a building can also be used to make an arms-smuggling tunnel.
Dozens of experts will be weighing in, in coming days, on Israel's right to self-defence in response to hundreds of Hamas rockets raining down. But what about the Palestinian people, and what’s good for them?What Will It Take For US To Renounce Palestinian Unity Government?
Yesterday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza with their current operation "Protective Edge." This type of inflammatory rhetoric is particularly rich coming from someone who is responsible for the murder of hundreds of Israelis (including the murder of the 1972 Israeli Olympic Team in Munich).
Sadly, this is hardly the first time Abbas has made statements that, in light of reality, are downright obscene. And the effects of such delusional Palestinian statements, whether from Abbas, his party Fatah, or Fatah's partner in government Hamas, are deadly in real life.
Since rocket fire from Gaza resumed several days ago, both White House and State Department spokespeople have condemned it. It has now become apparent that some members of Fatah, as well as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, are participating in the violence. As of yesterday’s press briefing, however, there has been no effort made to hold the Palestinian unity government accountable, and no indication that the administration intends to reconsider the US position on the Hamas government. Although the State Department’s assertion that Hamas does not play a role in the new government is absurd on its face, the US policy of “working with this government” does not appear to have changed.Lebanon’s army finds rocket launchers, arrests suspect
Former Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren has reportedly pointed out that “[r]ight now the administration sees no contradiction between condemning the Hamas rocket fire and maintaining its recognition of the Hamas-Fatah unity government.” The US government currently has some serious questions to answer, such as, how can the government of the United States continue to work with a government that has clearly become a sponsor of terrorism? The very same factions that are currently controlling the Palestinian government are now responsible for rocket fire on major cities. If rockets on Jerusalem and Tel Aviv are not sufficient for the US to reconsider its recognition of this Hamas government, what would be?
At this point the US is clearly not holding true to its word that it would “judg[e] this government by its actions.”
Lebanese Army sappers located and dismantled on Friday at least two rockets that were prepared for launch near the Israeli border. A Lebanese military spokesman said the weapons seemed to have malfunctioned and were found in a search following rocket fire at Israel earlier Friday, Walla reported.Videos show Lebanese jihadi group active in Gaza
A trail of blood and a ripped shoe were later found at the site, Lebanese media reported. The army said it had arrested one man in connection to the firing of the three rockets.
The al-Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades, which has claimed responsibility in the past for rocket fire at Israel from Lebanon, now claims, for the first time, that it is behind rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip.Video Shows ISIS Is Firing Rockets on Israel From Gaza
According to information gleaned by the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor of MEMRI (the Middle East Media Research Institute), and shared exclusively with The Jerusalem Post, the Saraya Yehya Ayyash group, which is part of the Azzam Brigades, has posted pictures and video of itself on social media, launching rockets from Gaza into Israel.
This is the first time that we have heard about the al-Qaida group’s presence in Gaza, MEMRI told the Post on Thursday.
Despite the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant's (ISIS) statements that it will not join the attack on Israel for now, a new video by the Sunni Jihadist group claims to show its terrorists are in fact firing rockets on Israel.Beach Blanket Bozos
In the video, which was uploaded to YouTube, alleged members of ISIS's "Bayt el-Maqdis" (Jerusalem) unit in Gaza can be seen firing rockets towards Israeli civilian centers.
In the wake of their attempted “naval commando” murder mission, Hamas has released a propaganda video glorifying their failed water terrorists.'No Country Provides Electricity to the Enemy in Wartime'
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu admitted Thursday to members of the Security Committee that harsh steps, such as cutting off the water and electricity to Gaza in response to the incessant rocket fire, are being opposed by the government's legal advisers.Israel Electric Co. To Power Region From Herzl Spinning In Grave (satire)
According to the legal adviser of the Movement, Attorney Simcha Rotman, "the international law that obligates in a time of war is the customary international law. In other words, the way that countries of the world conduct themselves in times of war."
"Providing electricity, water and fuel to an enemy at a time of war is a move that no country in the world takes, and therefore no legal source has the right to block the state of Israel" from cutting off the supplies, argued Rotman.
With the collapse of the Oslo peace process over the last several years and the surging revelations of rampant corruption and incompetence at nearly every level of government and public service, the task force conducted several more tests, and found last year that the rate of Herzl’s spinning was finally high enough to produce significant amounts of electric power – enough power, in fact, to provide for the needs of Jerusalem and its environs with a surplus remaining.Hamas sends false text messages
“We could sell that surplus, say, to the Palestinians, and generate a serious profit,” said ministry spokesman Roshba Tachat. As he spoke, the dials on the spin indicator showed an increase in Herzl-torque, likely because currently the Palestinian debt for electricity is already in the hundreds of millions of shekels and unlikely to be paid. “Or we could simply pump that electricity in to the Gaza Strip at no charge, since they have such problems there,” he added as the needles on the dials edged even farther along their clockwise arc.
Hackers reportedly hacked Israeli daily Haaretz's site on Wednesday sending to its subscribers false text messages in English, reporting of 25 Israelis being killed in a rocket attack and rockets being fired on a Petrochemical factory in the city of Haifa.Deputy FM Tells Ambassadors of Hamas War Crimes
The hashtags #GazaUnderAttack and #GazaUnderFire were used hundreds of thousands of times in just seven days. The BBC reported that many of the images used to sway popular opinion were in fact photographs taken from other conflicts in entirely different countries.
Hanegbi noted that while Israel is making "surgical attempts" to target terrorist leaders and warn civilians to get out of the line of fire in Operation Protective Edge, Hamas is committing a "double war crime" by firing on civilian population centers while hiding behind civilians.JCPA: Long-Range Iranian-Made Missiles Used by Hamas during “Operation Protective Edge”
The deputy minister noted how Hamas has been using human shields, placing civilians on the rooftops of terrorist headquarters ahead of airstrikes in order to inflate the death toll and deter strikes.
When Pillar of Defense ended, Iran used the window of opportunity to keep supplying the Palestinian terror organizations. The capture of the weapons ship Klos-C with its Syrian-made M-302 missiles was only the tip of the iceberg of Iran’s involvement in supplying these organizations in Gaza – particularly PIJ, which is considered an Iranian client and depends on it for its continued activity. At the start of Operation Protective Edge it was clear that the Gazan terrorist organizations had received missiles that could reach the Haifa region from the Gaza Strip. Hamas’ launch of M-302 at Hadera (July 8) is the longest-range rocket strike by the Gaza-based terrorist organization on an Israeli city to date. …U.S. Jewish Leaders Taking Solidarity Trip to Israel Amid Gaza Conflict
The rocket fire at major cities in Israel emphasizes Iran’s vital role in supplying of missiles; training; and providing missile manufacturing technology to the terrorist organizations. Iran also plays a negative role in any attempt to reach regional diplomatic peace agreements.
Leaders from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, a 51-member umbrella group, will visit Israel from July 14-16 in a showing of solidarity for the Jewish state amid the ongoing rocket barrages from Gaza.Obama’s Indefensible Palestinian Policy
“We feel compelled to demonstrate in the most tangible way our deep concern for and solidarity with Israel by being physically present with them,” said Conference of Presidents Chairman Robert G. Sugarman and Executive Vice Chairman/CEO Malcolm Hoenlein. “They must know they are not alone and that the Jewish community as well the vast majority of the American people stand with them and pray for their safety and strive to tell the true story of Israel’s defensive action."
It might be considered an indication of just how warped the Obama administration’s position on Israel has become when the U.S. is sounding less supportive of Israel than several of the European countries. Germany’s Angela Merkel was quick to unequivocally condemn the latest barrage of Hamas rockets while Downing Street was also uncharacteristically forceful in its statement. There was none of the usual calls for Israeli restraint, and no attempt to pin casualties in Gaza on Israel. Instead the press release simply announced: “The Prime Minister strongly condemned the appalling attacks being carried out by Hamas against Israeli civilians,” and “The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s staunch support for Israel in the face of such attacks, and underlined Israel’s right to defend itself from them.”State Department: Hamas is Responsible for Civilian Casualties
Speaking to reporters, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki reminded that Hamas was responsible for civilian deaths because of its rocket attacks against Israel.Putin: I Support The Struggle Of Israel
“Civilians have been killed, and certainly that’s of concern to us, and that’s one of the reasons that we have been certainly calling for all sides to de-escalate tensions on the ground,” she said, when asked by a reporter if she thought that “the utility of an F-16 to bomb a home and kill five civilians was appropriately done.”
Psaki continued, “It’s tragic and our condolences go out to the families, but I would remind you who is at fault here, and that is Hamas and the indiscriminate attacks that they have launched against Israel.”
“There’s a difference between Hamas, a terrorist organization that’s indiscriminately attacking innocent civilians in areas where there are innocent civilians in Israel, and the right of Israel to respond and protect their own civilians. And that’s what we’re seeing on the ground take place,” she added.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for Israel in its struggle against Hamas and its supporters, and cited the three Israeli teenagers who had been recently murdered.Hamas Demo in NYC: Genocidal Chants Against the Jews
"I follow closely what's going on in Israel," said Putin to a delegation of rabbis. "I support the struggle of Israel as it attempts to protect its citizens. I also heard about the shocking murder of the three youths. It is an act that cannot be allowed, and I ask you to transmit my condolences to the families."
I don’t quite know exactly how many attended the Hamas demo – a thousand or more, but I can tell you this: America has no idea how ugly and vicious the enemy within is. If they did they wouldn’t sleep nights. There is a fifth column that supports this genocide in the cause of Allah. That’s a fact.Turkey Among First to Unequivocally Condemn Israeli Operation
In between screams of “allahu akbar,” frenzied Muslims chanted the genocidal threat “Khybar, Khybar, ya yahud, jaish Muhammad sa yaoud,” warning the Jews that the armies of Muhammad are coming to exterminate them the way Muhammad exterminated the Jews of Khybar.
One middle-aged Muslima in a hijab strode by the Jewish crowd along with a girl under ten, and started chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, Israel has got to go.”
A couple of pro-Hamas supporters tried to get into the pro-Israel group but were forcefully removed by the NYPD.
Condemnation of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge has come from the expected sources in the Middle East. Turkey was one of the first to roundly condemn Jerusalem, without expressing any sympathy for Israeli civilians forced to shelters because of Hamas rocket fire from Gaza.Turkish Pop Singer Posts Anti-Semitic Tweets Praising Hitler
Yildiz Tilbe, who has been making folk-influenced hit albums since the 1990s, praised Hitler in the tweets and said the end of "the Jews" was near.South Africa’s ruling party compares Gaza op to Nazi crimes
"If God allows, it will be again Muslims who will bring the end of those Jews, it is near, near," she tweeted on her official account @YildizzTilbee.
"They (Jews) are hostile to Allah and all prophets including their own prophet Moses."
South African’s ruling party issued an extremely harsh statement on Operation Protective Edge Thursday, comparing Israel’s actions with those of Nazi Germany and accusing Jerusalem of turning the Palestinian territories into “permanent death camps.”Response to the ANC statement on the situation in Gaza Strip
The local Jewish community immediately condemned the statement as “obscene” and “venomous” and demanded a retraction and apology.
The distorted picture you paint of Israel is unworthy of the ANC and the legacy of the revered late President Mandela who always maintained a balanced attitude. With regard to the Palestinians he said.Leftist NGOs Call for End to Defense Operation
It is evident however, that in their unswerving support of the PLO and Hamas, few members including leaders of the ANC are aware of the degree to which the fundamental philosophy and political outlook of the ANC is incompatible with those of the PLO and Hamas.
A group of 34 leftist charities and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) signed a statement Friday urging an end to Operation Protective Edge between Israel and Hamas, AFP reports Friday.Egypt Slams 'Oppressive' IDF Operation
The statement was signed by groups including ActionAid, Cooperation for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), Oxfam and Save the Children and urged the international community to step up efforts to find a lasting solution to disputes in the region.
Egypt on Friday called on Israel to stop Operation Protective Edge as Gaza terrorists continued to pepper Israel with rockets, branding the operation as "oppressive policies of mass punishment."Despite Rocket Attacks, 23 Palestinians, Including Eight Gazan Children, Are Undergoing Treatment in Israeli Hospitals
"Egypt rejects the irresponsible Israeli escalation in the occupied Palestinian territory, which comes in the form of excessive and unnecessary use of military force leading to the death of innocent civilians," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said according to AFP.
Despite the complications, the human factor remains at the fore. The hospital has become a second home to these patients. Israelis and Palestinians live together due to their sometimes long hospitalizations. Parents and children share rooms, activities, treatments, and begin to develop solid relationships.September 12th 2001 – BBC, Haaretz and New York Times coverage (satire)
“When the hostilities escalated, the Palestinian patients feared a cold reception,” says Falah. “We explained that would never happen in an Israeli hospital. Here you see people and not nationalities. Many times, Israeli patients reach out to their Palestinian ‘neighbors’ to help them feel more comfortable and to encourage them. Eventually, all are in the same boat.”
As the war continues to escalate, both the Haifa and Rambam Hospitals are preparing for possible rocket attacks from Gaza.
Yesterday, the President of the United States declared “war” against Al Qaeda , following heightened tensions in the past 24 hours. Al Qaeda vowed to continue attacks in response. 19 members of the organisation have been killed in the past day, some of them in a failed mission.Quick things you can do to help Israel
There is a growing fear, both in Afghanistan and around international capitals, for the lives of the millions of civilians living in the affected regions. A representative from a local Human Rights NGO was quoted, “This war is brutally unfair. The Americans have an air force, a military and warning systems in place for their civilians. The people here have nothing.” The Al Qaeda group, a militant group of resistance fighters, has been based largely in local caves and mountains.
The UN issued a statement calling on “both sides to take the necessary steps to de-escalate tensions in the area. We encourage both sides to take bilateral steps and to engage in discussion and negotiation to bring lasting peace.”
From Dr. Mike, at San Francisco Voice for Israel
Dear Friend of Israel:
As Israelis cope with yet another day of Hamas rocket fire, there are some quick actions you can take RIGHT NOW to help support them.
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