Re: Death in the Middle East

**bb1** Wed Jul 30, 2014 5:46 pm

There is some utterly vile stuff coming from Israeli hardliners, LL, just as bad as anything from ISIS and co. For some reason, teenage girls seem to be the worst - they simply do not regard Palestinians as human beings. I don't know what has gone wrong in Israel, but something has, horribly.

**bb1** Wed Jul 30, 2014 5:48 pm

http://www.thenation.com/blog/180808/why-it-matters-norman-finkelstein-just-got-arrested-outside-israeli-consulate#

That's a good piece.

**Lamplighter** Wed Jul 30, 2014 5:57 pm

Norman Finkelstein has been a big thorn in the side of the Israel government fot a long time. A Jew, he was denied entry into Israel a few years ago. Here's what he has to say on the Israel state:

in 2009, Finkelstein stated:

"I think Israel, as a number of commentators pointed out, is becoming an insane state. And we have to be honest about that. While the rest of the world wants peace, Europe wants peace, the US wants peace, but this state wants war, war and war. In the first week of the massacres, there were reports in the Israeli press that Israel did not want to put all its ground forces in Gaza because it was preparing attacks on Iran. Then there were reports it was planning attacks on Lebanon. It is a lunatic state."

When asked how he, as the son of Holocaust survivors, felt about Israel’s operation in Gaza, Finkelstein replied:

"It has been a long time since I felt any emotional connection with the state of Israel, which relentlessly and brutally and inhumanly keeps these vicious, murderous wars. It is a vandal state. There is a Russian writer who once described vandal states as Genghis Khan with a telegraph. Israel is Genghis Khan with a computer. I feel no emotion of affinity with that state. I have some good friends and their families there, and of course I would not want any of them to be hurt. That said, sometimes I feel that Israel has come out of the boils of the hell, a satanic state."

The Anti-Defamation League has described Finkelstein as an "obsessive anti-Zionist" filled with "vitriolic hatred of Zionism and Israel." On being called an anti-Zionist Finkelstein has said: "It's a superficial term. I am opposed to any state with an ethnic character, not only to Israel."

Finkelstein is an advocate of a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

**lily** Wed Jul 30, 2014 6:20 pm

Sounds like a logical man to me....

**Lamplighter** Wed Jul 30, 2014 6:26 pm

lily wrote:Sounds like a logical man to me....

Here is the link to a documentary made about him - he can be irritating ar times, but I think he is a genuine person. LL

American Radical - The Trials of Norman Finkelstein

**lily** Wed Jul 30, 2014 6:35 pm

thanks LL. I will watch that later. hug

**Lamplighter** Wed Jul 30, 2014 6:41 pm

lily wrote:thanks LL. I will watch that later.

You are welcome. Many people hate him, he has had death threats from the Zionists, many think him wonderful. As I said he can be irritating but the program is worth watching anyway. LL hug

**bb1** Wed Jul 30, 2014 6:52 pm

I am watching some obnoxious git, a former Israeli ambassador, on AJ just now, going through the Tel Aviv media guide, and denying anyone is outraged by what Israel is doing.....stunning.

**lily** Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:05 pm

They would say that, wouldn't they....

**bb1** Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:11 pm

There's someone on from the Israeli defence ministry now, explaining why they bombed a UN school, and I am finding myself doing that thing where you're shouting, Oh, shut up, you lying ^&**&%^^& at the screen.

**lily** Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:12 pm

Don't blame you, Bonny.

**bb1** Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:55 pm

**lily** Wed Jul 30, 2014 8:08 pm

Wow. Wouldn't that be wonderful if that does some much needed good? Somehow I think there are those too hard to care.......

**bb1** Wed Jul 30, 2014 10:13 pm

**lily** Wed Jul 30, 2014 10:33 pm

The backlash has really begun and hopefully will pick up steam.

**bb1** Thu Jul 31, 2014 10:52 am

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/31/world/meast/mideast-crisis/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Gaza City (CNN) -- The Israeli military said Thursday that it is calling up 16,000 additional reservists, bolstering its forces for its fight against Hamas in Gaza after a request for more ammunition from the United States.
The addition brings the total number of reservists Israel has called up since the beginning of the operation against Hamas to 86,000, a military spokeswoman said.
The conflict has killed more than 1,300 people in Gaza, most of them civilians. Fifty-six Israeli soldiers have been killed.
After more than three weeks of fighting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel would complete its goal of destroying Hamas' network of tunnels with or without a cease-fire.
While U.S. officials have called on Israel to do more to protect civilians, the United States has agreed to Israel's request to resupply it with several types of ammunition, a U.S. defense official told CNN on condition of anonymity. It's not an emergency sale, the official said.
Among the items being bought are 120mm mortar rounds and 40mm ammunition for grenade launchers, the official said. Those will come from a stockpile the United States keeps in Israel, which is worth more than $1 billion.

More at link.

Beats me why Israel calls itself a 'state'; it's just a US colony with homicidal tendencies. And exactly how many troops does Israel need to cope with Hamas?

It's interesting to note that, with two exceptions, the casualties on the Israeli side have all been military, while the 1,300+ deaths on the Palestinian side are overwhelmingly civilian.

What is that telling the world about Israel's ability to actually fight man to man, instead of killing non-combatants?

**bb1** Thu Jul 31, 2014 11:07 am

http://rt.com/news/176888-anonymous-hacks-mossad-site/

Anonymous 'knocks out' Mossad website over Israel’s Gaza offensive
Published time: July 31, 2014 06:18
Edited time: July 31, 2014 06:57 Get short URL
Hacker group Anonymous has reportedly taken down the website of the Israeli secret service Mossad in protest of Israel’s military incursion in Gaza. The ‘hacktivists’ have already targeted a number of organizations in their mission to stop the “genocide.”

Mossad’s website went offline at around 00:40 GMT and is still down at the time of writing. The Israeli government has yet to make any comment on the supposed hack attack.

n a previous attack on Monday, Anonymous knocked out multiple Israeli government sites after one of the organization’s members died in the West Bank over the weekend. 22-year-old Tayeb Abu Shehada was killed during a protest in the village of Huwwara in the West Bank after Israeli settlers and soldiers opened fire on demonstrators, reported Bethlehem-based Ma'an News Agency.

Anonymous launched a hacking campaign against Israel coinciding with the beginning of Operation Protective Edge on July 7. Anonymous claims that since its operation began, it has taken down “thousands” of Israeli-based websites. The hacktivist group also released 170 log-in details last Monday which they said belonged to Israeli officials.

Anonymous has also issued an appeal to all of its followers to intensify their attacks on Israeli websites.

“We are calling upon the Anonymous collective, and the elite hacker groups to join our crusade, and to wage cyber war against the state of Israel once more,” said a public statement from the group posted online last Friday. "As a collective 'Anonymous' does not hate Israel, it hates that Israel's government is committing genocide & slaughtering unarmed people in Gaza to obtain more land at the border."

The group launched hundreds of attacks on Israeli sites two years ago during the Israeli Defense Force’s (IDF) previous operation ‘Pillar of Defense’ in Gaza. Anonymous succeeded in leaking the data of 5,000 Israeli officials and hacking into the Israeli deputy premier’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.

The conflict in Gaza shows no signs of relenting with both the IDF and Hamas continuing to exchange rocket fire. The Palestinian Health Ministry reports than over 1.350 people have been killed in Gaza, while the Israeli side has lost 56 soldiers to the fighting.

Yup, it's still down.

http://www.mossad.gov.il/

Israel will be lost if it starts losing its techno toys.

**bb1** Thu Jul 31, 2014 11:52 am

http://news.antiwar.com/2014/07/28/senate-leader-israel-may-need-more-us-aid-for-war/

A new Pentagon request for $225 million in “emergency” aid for Israel, above and beyond the billions sent there annually, was panned by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as far too low.

“We should not give the Israeli people the minimum amount of aid and then cross our fingers and hope it all works out in the future,” insisted Reid, without detailing exactly how many more hundreds of millions of dollars he would throw at Israel.

Why doesn't that crook give Israel some of his own money? He's made mega-bucks in his dirty deals with China and others.

**bb1** Thu Jul 31, 2014 1:00 pm

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/us-supplies-israel-with-bombs-amid-gaza-blitz-2014730233016747143.html

'Iron Dome' funding

Separately, US politicians were working in Congress to provide millions of dollars in additional funding for Israel's "Iron Dome" missile shield.

The US Senate Appropriations Committee added $225m for Iron Dome to a spending bill intended mainly to provide money to handle an influx of thousands of Central American children across the US-Mexico border.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 1,361 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed since Israel began its offensive on July 8.

On the Israeli side, 56 soldiers and three civilians have been killed.

**bb1** Thu Jul 31, 2014 1:02 pm

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/israel-vows-destroy-tunnels-before-truce-201473181158479329.html

Death in the Middle East - Page 22 20147319355574734_20

Death in the Middle East - Page 22 20147319355574734_20

Just look at the artillery Tel Aviv is using against civilians.

**lily** Thu Jul 31, 2014 2:32 pm

**bb1** Thu Jul 31, 2014 3:37 pm

It's obscene, isn't it? And as far as I am concerned, it's also cowardice. No-one is objecting to Israel fighting Hamas, but that isn't what they're doing. Their swivel-eyed Right wing politicians have made it clear they want Palestinians out of Gaza - though where they are supposed to go after they've been ethnically cleansed, no-one seems to know.

Nothing's stopping Israel from destroying the tunnels from the Israeli end, but strangely, they aren't too keen on that...

And they still haven't produced any evidence, never mind proof, that 'Hamas are using human shields'. Odd how nothing resembling weapons is ever found in the carnage their missiles and bombs leave behind.

**bb1** Thu Jul 31, 2014 5:03 pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-28577271

Gaza conflict: Scottish government promises £500,000 humanitarian aid

The Scottish Government is to provide £500,000 of aid funding to help the people of Gaza.

External affairs minister Humza Yousaf said the money would go towards providing water, food, shelter and medical assistance, .

The UK government is giving an extra £3m of aid for Gaza, taking its total to £10m.

More than 1,300 people, mostly civilians, have died since Israel began operations against Hamas militants.

Mr Yousaf said the international community should do more to stop the loss of more "innocent lives" in the conflict.

He added: "The escalating violence in Gaza has already caused far too many lives to be lost and people to be injured.

"The UN has called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, and it is crucial that this is delivered.

"Rocket attacks being fired by militants in Gaza is wrong, and must stop, however the Israeli response has been heavily disproportionate as demonstrated by the unacceptable and mounting loss of civilian life.

"There is also increasing evidence that the humanitarian situation is continuing to deteriorate and that is why the Scottish government is providing £500,000 funding to help the United Nations provide the water, food, shelter and medical assistance people in Gaza need."

The Scottish government has already offered medical treatment in the Scottish NHS for victims and said it would house refugees from Gaza.

**Lamplighter** Thu Jul 31, 2014 7:57 pm

http://www.newsweek.com/2014/08/01/my-jewish-mother-my-palestinian-father-and-family-torn-apart-260422.html

**bb1** Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:19 pm

Thanks, LL, that's a thoughtful piece.

Thing is, by their utterly indefensible behaviour towards Gaza, Israel has, IMO, sown the seeds of its own destruction. They've lost the little claim to the moral high ground they ever had, and lost the world's sympathy - apart from the US.

Not this month or year, but some day in the future, Israel is going to go the same way as the Crusaders - apart from anything else, how many 'terrorists' does Israel think it has created with every dead child? Hundreds? Thousands - all out for revenge for these atrocities.

And I see from the twitter feed that the bombing and shelling started as night fell in Gaza. Every day is Guernica in Gaza.

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