Re: Death in the Middle East

**Lamplighter** Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:11 am

Late yesterday on AJ, Marwen Bishawar was asked about Israeli claims that HAMAS hides rockets in mosques, schools and hospitals. His reply was that he had investigated this claim and was unable to find any evidence that this was correct. I trust his evaluation as he is very well respected and talks sense. LL

**bb1** Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:19 am

Interesting, LL. I am getting a little tired of things like Hamas uses human shields' and other current propaganda being repeated as accepted truth - without a scrap of evidence of the truth of these things being produced.

I see Israel is denying a soldier has been captured, but that too comes under the heading of, Well, they would, wouldn't they?

Seen this?

At least 75 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers were killed overnight in Gaza's Shujayea neighbourhood. The US state department confirmed that two of the Israeli soldiers were US citizens.

It remains unclear whether they held Israeli citizenship as well.

If they didn't, then were they yet more of the accursed Blackwater/Greystone/Academi mercenaries?

**Lamplighter** Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:28 am

As I remember the last 'missing' Israeli soldier, the one repatriated in exchanged for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, was 'denied' as being in the hands of HAMAS for quite some time before Israel admitted to him being a prisoner. 5/6 years later he was repatriated. As Israel has the same mantra - we leave no soldier behind, alive or dead - that the US uses, I would assume they will not admit it until they have to, ie the commandos haven't found him. Mark Regev is spinning like a demented top, make some of the UK spin doctors look like amateurs. LL

**bb1** Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:33 am

Israel has a bad record for being economical with the truth and re-writing reality, so I tend not to believe their version of events,

**bb1** Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:43 am

Please note that as this is Iranian TV, it's somewhat biased...

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/07/20/372096/israel-snubs-world-on-gaza-reoccupation/

Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz says the Tel Aviv regime has no plan to stop the ongoing aerial and ground military operations in besieged Gaza Strip.

The senior official says Israeli forces will reoccupy the besieged coastal enclave despite the international outcry to end the bloodshed there.

"There is a significant likelihood that the current ground operation will end with Israel retaking full control over Gaza," media outlets quoted Steinitz as saying.
Steinitz's remarks come after the Israeli diplomatic-security cabinet unanimously approved an expansion of ground invasion in the impoverished region.

He claimed the decision has been made on the assessment that Hamas is not ready for a ceasefire.

The Israeli minister added that Tel Aviv is in no rush to bring to an end to the current offensive against the besieged region.

Earlier, Israeli War Minister Moshe Ya'alon had said Tel Aviv will press ahead with Operation Protective Edge and respond to Hamas operations as harshly as possible.

This is while an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset says Tel Aviv will not be able to continue its war on Gaza for a long period.

Haneen Zoabi said the Israeli public is in favor of a short war in Gaza, because people there do not want the war to disrupt their ordinary lives.

According to Zoabi, Israelis cannot tolerate living in shelters for long. She added that Israelis are arrogant and believe that their military forces can easily finish the war, so they do not want the conflict to spoil their summer vacations and foreign travels.

More than 410 Gazans are killed and around 3000 others injured in Israel’s unrelenting aerial and ground attacks on the blockaded region. Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar has called for an international probe into Israel's massacres of Palestinians in Gaza.

The world's least glamorous female anchor talks across the top of the video, so it's hard to know what was actually said - that's a job for a lipreader.

And I would say the quote from Zoabi is pure invention and propaganda, if I hadn't seen some of the posts on Israeli social media. Some of them made Pillock look reasonable.

**Lamplighter** Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:56 am

Although PressTV is Iranian, the IRIB is state-owned but independent of the Iranian government in its management, and its head is appointed directly by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It may be a bit biased in some ares, but as the government is not in control I think it is far more trustworthy than some other outfits I could name. LL

**bb1** Mon Jul 21, 2014 12:00 pm

You have to wade through bias with just about any news outfit, LL. I've stopped even watching the BBC; never mind propaganda, it's actively censoring and not reporting events at its own front door, so simply is not fit for purpose.

**Lamplighter** Mon Jul 21, 2014 12:16 pm

bb1 wrote:You have to wade through bias with just about any news outfit, LL. I've stopped even watching the BBC; never mind propaganda, it's actively censoring and not reporting events at its own front door, so simply is not fit for purpose.

I know, and I feel sorry for the reporters, often risking life and limb, only to have their stories trashed because it doesn't toe the Upstairs Bods line. A lot of stuff comes via AP and Reuters, both of which are less than truthful, in fact biased on many fronts. LL

**bb1** Mon Jul 21, 2014 12:40 pm

This is why an increasing number of people look to the internet for news, but that has it's own snares and pitfalls. Raw footage is valuable, if it hasn't been tampered with, but the conspiraloons don't help. And it's only too easy to put fake material onto the internet, to clone sites, etc.

**bb1** Mon Jul 21, 2014 1:20 pm

Israel student union sets up “War Room” to sell Gaza massacre on Social Media
Read more at http://item.liveleak.com/2/view?i=d8c_1405782104&comments=1#WdMW3IodLiiGSVGl.99

The internet propaganda war.

**Lamplighter** Mon Jul 21, 2014 1:33 pm

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/corey-levine/israel-palestine-conflict_b_5593561.html

**Lamplighter** Mon Jul 21, 2014 1:43 pm

Gaza Official Says Israeli Shells Hit Hospital
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Jul 21, 2014, 8:28 AM ET
By IBRAHIM BARZAK and PETER ENAV
Associated Press

A Palestinian health official says Israeli tank shells have struck a hospital in the central Gaza Strip, killing four people and wounding 60.

The official, Ashraf al-Kidra, says 12 shells hit the Al Aqsa hospital in the town of Deir el-Balah on Monday.

He says shells landed in the administration building, the intensive care unit and the surgery department. He says 30 of the 60 wounded are medical staff.

Live footage on Hamas' Al Aqsa TV station showed wounded being moved on gurneys into the emergency department.

The Israeli military says it's checking the report.

**Lamplighter** Mon Jul 21, 2014 1:45 pm

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/massacre-shujaiya-dozens-killed-israel-shells-eastern-gaza-city-photos

Death in the Middle East - Page 11 Blog_rights_and_accountability-ismael-mohamad-upi

Death in the Middle East - Page 11 Blog_rights_and_accountability-ismael-mohamad-upi

**bb1** Mon Jul 21, 2014 2:12 pm

Absolutely sickening, LL, I don't have the words for my disgust. The only hope I can see is that Israel's activities are so outraging the world, opinion may be less inclined to give them a free pass?

**Lamplighter** Mon Jul 21, 2014 2:22 pm

bb1 wrote:Absolutely sickening, LL, I don't have the words for my disgust. The only hope I can see is that Israel's activities are so outraging the world, opinion may be less inclined to give them a free pass?

They only way to pull the rug out from under them is to stop the Jewish Lobby in the US from financing them. And how does one do that? Pass. Did you see a newborn baby was killed last night? What harm has that innocent done to anyone? Did he/she get born with a rocket in his/her hand? LL

**bb1** Mon Jul 21, 2014 2:29 pm

I've seen it, LL. I have developed the unfortunate habit of poking around on social media for news before its suitably spun, and the photos of what is being done to people in Gaza are unspeakable.

I am starting to heartily detest the, Oh, they're all just muslims, doesn't matter if they're bombed, lobby.

**Lamplighter** Mon Jul 21, 2014 2:41 pm

Some interesting reads and views re Israel. LL

http://www.truetorahjews.org/

http://www.nkusa.org/

http://www.rense.com/general43/torah.htm

**bb1** Mon Jul 21, 2014 2:45 pm

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/07/21/un-security-council-demands-gaza-cease-fire-stops-short-calling-for-israel/

UN Security Council demands Gaza cease-fire, stops short of calling for Israel pullout

Oh, that's bound to impress Israel.

Thanks for links, LL, will take time to read them properly.

**Lamplighter** Mon Jul 21, 2014 2:47 pm

You're welcome re the links bonny, do explore them as there is quite a lot on each that shows many Jews are actually against Zionism and Israel. LL

**bb1** Mon Jul 21, 2014 2:54 pm

I realised that when I came across breakingthesilence, LL. It's always a good idea to distinguish between people and their deceitful, crazy governments.

**lily** Mon Jul 21, 2014 2:56 pm

They only way to pull the rug out from under them is to stop the Jewish Lobby in the US from financing them.

I would be very surprised if that happened, LL. There are very many super wealthy Jewish people here, as you know.

**Lamplighter** Mon Jul 21, 2014 3:29 pm

lily wrote:They only way to pull the rug out from under them is to stop the Jewish Lobby in the US from financing them.

I would be very surprised if that happened, LL. There are very many super wealthy Jewish people here, as you know.

I know, and many of them are happy to cough up the dough, but the thought of moving there, never, never, never!! My friend Chaim went there with his family; after some time, I think it was 10 years, they moved back to the UK. It just wasn't what they imagined it would be, a Jewish Utopia. Instead it was a bitchfest with every one who wasn't Jewish. And as for the settlers - he considers them as the main cause of all this trouble and strife. LL

**bb1** Mon Jul 21, 2014 3:47 pm

Might be worth remembering that when Israel was founded after WWII, it was much smaller, and considerably poorer, than it is now. Indeed, all the principles that founded the state seem to have been thrown out the window.

Israeli social media is like looking into Hell, they don't seem to regard Palestinians as human beings - especially the younger generation. Which may be why their present-day footsoldiers aren't all they're cracked up to be; conscripts that would rather be keyboard warriors don't deal too well with bloodshed, especially theirs.

**bb1** Mon Jul 21, 2014 4:43 pm

This is new, isn't it?

http://live.aljazeera.com/Event/Gaza_Blog

Lebanon's Hezbollah is backing the Palestinian "resistance" in Gaza to defeat Israel, the Shia movement's leader Hassan Nasrallah said.

Nasrallah told Hamas' exiled chief Khaled Meshaal by telephone:

Hezbollah and the Lebanese resistance stand firmly on the side of the Intifada and the Palestinian people's resistance, and support Hamas' strategy and the just conditions it has set to end the conflict

If Hezbollah join in, this is liable to spread?

**lily** Mon Jul 21, 2014 5:06 pm

Would think so, Bonny?

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