Just talking...

A Swedish social democratic politician thinks Israel's attack on Gaza during the last days of 2008 was the "genocide of the year". I commented on this, pointing out some of the incidents where more people have been killed, people who have NOT been shooting rockets at other people, during 2008. I went to Genocide Watch, Stop Genocide Now, Genocide Intervention Net and Genocide Info, and for some reason none of these sites reckon Gaza as a genocidial problem.

Navi Pillay, UN's High COmmissioner for Human Rights, when asked whether the Israeli Government’s blockade of Gaza and prevention of humanitarian aid from reaching the territory’s Palestinian population was genocide, said it was up to the courts to examine, on a case-by-case basis, whether genocide had occurred.
(Navanethem Pillay is a judge from RSA and was working as an attorney in RSA frm 1967 to 1995, providing legal defence for opponents of apartheid. She was born 1941 as a daughter of a bus driver from a poor Indian section of Durban, so she knows very well the apartheid problematics.)

Genocide is defined as certain acts committed with intent to destroy a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
War is not a genocide, though genocide can happen during wartime.
Efforts to kill all the members of Hamas, Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs and what ever they call themselves is not a genocide.

Gaza blockade fulfills the definition in that it is "a certain act" - "inflicting on the group conditions of life" and "serious bodily or mental harm", and because the people living in Gaza are almost only Palestinians. The problem lies in "intention to destroy". (In fact, Hamas IS involved in genocide by its clearly expressed intention to empty "Palestine" of Jews through violent means. Their effectivity and resources are totally irrelevant.)

I don't think Gaza blockade counts as genocide. It doesn't make it ok, naturally, but things doesn't need to be super horrible to be bad. I dislike exaggerations and sensationalism. Makes me think "if the situation isn't bad enough as it is, but must be colored, magnified, boosted and retouched, then the situation probably isn't bad at all."

I neither think the current attack on Gaza is a genocide. IF the Palestinians hadn't used the time to shooting rockets on Israel, THEN I might agree. IF Gaza had used the opportunity of Israel leaving the area to build up the area, to build the port, to open up for a peaceful interaction with Egypt, Europe, Jordan and other countries - it wouldn't have needed to do any business with Israel.

(Might have been a good idea to accept the water offer though. How many of you know that Israel has offered to GIVE water to Gaza from the same desalination plant that provides water to southern Israel? That Gaza refused to accept anything from Israel? That Gaza shoots at the desalination plant? That Gaza dumps untreated sewage in the Mediterranean to "punish" Israel? How many of you know that Israel STILL funds Gaza's sewage treatment plants, provides them with all the necessary parts and the fuel needed to run the plants, but that Gazans sabotage the plants, because of this and because it harms Israel? How many of you know that Israel reuses sewage water to water the agriculture, while Palestine uses pure drinking water? How many of you know that Gaza refuses to accept any desalination plants, even though USA and Israel are willing to build them, for free, simply because it is USA and Israel who are offering this deal. How many of you know that Gaza demands a waterline from Jordan and West Bank aquifiers even though Jordan needs to water almost the whole Jordania and it would be water economically sounder to desalinate sea water?)

It didn't. President Abbas tried, but Hamas used the time to complain, to accuse, to attack.
Sure, Israel froze the tax money, BUT ONLY FOR A YEAR. President Abbas managed to negotiate forth the payment of the money, which was supposed to go to humanitarian needs. The Palestinians used the money to pay the salaries in stead... No "Pro-Palestinian" has mentioned that the tax money has been paid to PA, as it was supposed to.
Sure, some other countries, among them EU, stopped giving monetary aid to Palestine as well, but it was conditional. Hamas would have gotten the money, if they'd only recognize Israel, renounce the violence and respect earlier agreements. Hamas refused.
Now, Israel exists. Israel is a fact. You don't have to like the fact, but to refuse to acknowledge a fact for a principle, when the people you have promised to govern fairly and well is starving...? Stupid, fundamentalist stubborness.
Renounce the violence? Easy. No-one expected more than "we won't attack, but we will defend ourselves when attacked". Hamas thinks that's not fair... Neither do the "Pro-Palestinians". As said, "truce a la Hamas: we may try to damage you as much as we can, you may not even think of responding."
Respecting earlier agreements? A government that won't respect the deals and agreements the earlier governments have committed to, is not worth the positition.
Hamas was not ready for a political assignment. It's still just a terrorist organization. "Resistance fighters" are not good politicians. The expectations and qualifications are too different. (Fatah and President Abbas are a good example of that a "resistance fighter" can BECOME a politician. One needs to be mature enough to overlook the personal emotions and grievances, stop reacting and start thinking.)

Nevertheless, I read this here:

"Fundamentally, genocide is a product of the type of government a country has. There is a high correlation between the degree of democratic freedom a people enjoy and the likelihood that the government will commit democide. Modern democratic governments have committed virtually no domestic genocide. Those governments that commit the most genocide have been totalitarian governments, while those that committed lesser genocide have been partially or wholly authoritarian and dictatorial. "

Israel is a democracy. Might be a selective democracy, but it is a democracy. I also read this:

Defending Israel from democracy, by Jonathan Cook, Electronic Intifada

It is a very interesting article, made me think of several things...

Palestinians' birth rate is higher because they are in such a difficult situation - economical crisis, war makes people breed. If Israel wanted to diminish the births, Israel should better their situation, especially the women's situation. The more educated and socially free a woman is, the lesser children she'll have.

If Israel was a true liberal democracy, not only for Jews but for all of its citizens, the Jews wouldn't need to worry about being fewer than non-Jews. I'm Finnish and we used to be under Swedish rule. Today we have a Finnish Swedish minority, with a clearly defined own culture and language. Finland is known all over the world with its Swedish name. Finland has two official languages. I don't see any problems in taking this course in Israel.
Let all who want call it Israel and all who want call it Palestine.
Make Israel and Arabic the official languages (as Philistine is forgotten).
Let everyone live where they want to live.
In my mind, when both parties want the land "from the river to the sea", both parties should share it. Not fight about which piece is mine and which is yours and what should this speck of dirt be called.

"I have been arguing for some time that Israel's ultimate goal is to create an ethnic fortress, a Jewish space in expanded borders from which all Palestinians will be excluded."
That's what the Pro-Palestinians want. "Palestine will be free (from Jews) from the river to the sea".

"That was the purpose of the Gaza disengagement..."
What ever the "malicious plans" of Israel were, Israel LEFT Gaza and did not put Gaza in blockade at that time. Gaza got a very nice opportunity to build up, to heal, to fix, to mend, to develop, to prosper. One should actually look a little closer at the Palestinian responsibility in all that.

Hamas IS Israel's enemy. Claiming anything else would be stupid. Israel has no obligation to try to make things smooth for Hamas. No state is obligated to have good relations with other states. Hamas doesn't NEED to recognize Israel, Israel doesn't NEED to recognize Hamas as the governing party of Palestine. As simple as that.
Claiming that the Palestinian people wanted Hamas is not quite true either. Yes, Hamas won the democratic election of Palestine - with about 5 units. They didn't get even half of the votes. Meaning that at least 3/5 of Palestinians did NOT want Hamas. Many who voted for Hamas would not vote for them today.

"The Bedouin in the Negev are being reclassified as trespassers on state land"
Obviously no-one really wanted the land, except to be able to call it one's own... There are some Nabatean ruins there. When the Romans came, the population consisted mostly of Nabateans and Bedouins. Even though it was part of Greater Israel, and there has been Jews living in the area for at least 4000 years, they have been very few and they were mostly herds...
What is happening in Negev with the Bedouin is really upsetting. Reminds me of the fights between the Sapmi people and the governments of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia. The Bedouins have been living alone, in peace, in Negev for the last 1000 years, and they haven't damaged the "sensitive nature" during that time, so claiming that they'd do that is ridiculous and preposterous. Bad Israel!

"a loyalty scheme to deal with the remaining Palestinians: pledge an oath to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state or face being stripped of your rights and possibly expelled."
Come on, now! Either you want to be a citizen of Israel or not. If not, don't expect to be able to live in Israel and have the same civil rights as the citizens. That is not a sign of some elitist genocidal plan, but totally normal state policy. The citizens of ANY country have rights non-citizens don't have, and that's exactly as it should be. At least the Palestinians living in Israel Proper have the right to become Israeli citizens. Palestinians living in Lebanon have no right to become Lebanese, Palestinians living in Jordan have no right to become Jordanian.

Now, if you don't want to live in Israel, why should you? If you want to live in Palestine, you should be able to live in Palestine. If Palestine is supposed to be "within the -67 borders", that doesn't include Israel Proper. If you want to live in Palestine, but currently live in Israel, you HAVE to move. This too is a simple fact, not some "ethnic cleansing sceme". Now, taking the Jewish settlers out of the West Bank and replacing them with the Palestinians currently living in Israel Proper who doesn't want to become Israelis - what wrong with that? In what way is that "ethnic cleansing"?

I read about Azmi Bishara, I read about Tali Fahima and I read about Zakaria Zubeidi.
We have a politician who "called for "expanding the sphere of resistance" against "Israel's dictates" so that "people can carry on with the struggle." Bishara praised Hizbullah as a "heroic" example of "Islamic resistance." Eh...? When he was facing the trial, he chose to flee in stead of stand, like Sheikh Raad Saladh, who also sat his three years in prison and is more popular today than ever.
We have a Jewish woman, who went to Jenin to help the Palestinians. "The girl who crossed the line". As far as I know, she hasn't done anything bad, just stupid. (I'm not talking about going to Jenin and trying to help the children. That's not stupid.) Sounds more like Israel's Jane Fonda. She got three years, she too. Later when Zakari Zubeidi requested a leave from his house arrest to get some ward to his hurt eyes, she called him "the whore of the security service". She has been calling people this and that, and probably she thinks terrorism is the way to go for the Palestinian people. "Intifada visar vägen (Intifada shows the road)", as they were chanting here 10 years ago in a demonstration against Israel. Unfortunately, Intifada shows the road to hell - for all. None of the intifadas have brought anything good to the Palestinians. Intifada shows the road to the Wall. Intifada shows the road to Gaza's blockade.
Is it wrong? Does it warrant being thrown to jail for three years? I wouldn't be surprised if she was just like every other "Pro-Palestinian" I've met. It is interesting how easily good intentions and compassion can be turned into hatred and rigidity. Three years in jail, won't work. On the contrary.
"...like in the Fahima case, the fact that he identified with the enemy during wartime..."
Excuse me? If I identify myself with the enemy, I will identify my country with my enemy as well. Then if I get convicted for being an enemy of the state, I should agree.

"the Basic Law on Freedom and Human Dignity, intentionally does not mention equality anywhere in its text."
Why would it? It says "any person", "all persons", "a person". A person is a man, a woman, white, black, blue, Palestinian, Arab, Jew, Muslim, Druze, a child, an old person, handicapped, politician, priest... a person. Any person. "There shall be no violation of the dignity of any persont", "There shall be no deprivation or restriction of the liberty of a person".

Main point, I think, is that I don't believe Israel needs to have the majority of Jews to be the Jewish state. The idea is to give a land to people with no land. A place to call "home". It doesn't matter if my home is shared by others, as long as I can come home when the going gets tough. It doesn't matter who leads the country, if he/she isn't giving his/her own people any benefits. It doesn't matter who watches over the holy places as long as I have an access to them and it is guaranteed that the holy places aren't denigrated. So it doesn't matter if the Jews are a 1/3 minority of Israel.

But Israel seems to think otherwise. The Arabs seem to think otherwise. Pro-Palestinians seem to think otherwise. So, the time being, Israel MUST have the majority of Jews to be able to stay a Jewish state.

P.S:
About the Jordan Israel peace treaty 1994 - " the dangerous and false Zionist claim that “Jordan is Palestine.”"

Actually it is not false nor Zionist. We are talking about the British mandate of Palestine, which included both Trans-Jordanian Palestine and Coastal Palestine. "Trans-" means meaning "across", "beyond", "through". More than 70% of the British Palestine was on the "other side" of Jordan.

Interesting is that this FACT is called "dangerous and false Zionist claim". It is because the Jordanians know well, that they live in the land area put aside to be given to the Arab inhabitants of the British Palestine, and that Israel - the "occupied areas" included - is the land area put aside to be given to the Jewish inhabitants of the Ottoman empire - all according to the agreements made before WWI and the war against the Ottoman empire - all the people living in the Ottoman empire who would help Great Britain and France against the Ottomans would be rewarded with a land of their own. If people knew this, they might not be so eager to think there is a Palestinian people whose land was stolen BY THE JEWS, when in fact it was "stolen" by Arabs.
Arabs never acknowledged the Jews' right to get their reward in land for what they did to aid the Brits and the French during the breakage of the Ottoman empire. In fact, the Arabs never acknowledged ANYONE ELSE'S RIGHT TO LAND EITHER.

"The Middle East like many other regions of the world, is heterogeneous and comprises of numerous ethnic, national, religious and linguistic societies, groups and sects. Much of the troubles facing this region revolve around the treatment or mistreatment of its minority population. Most of the post-Ottoman states are yet to evolve a national identity that would encompass and reflect their multi-ethnic social composition."
-- Alternatives Journal, Minorities in Middle East

Circassians, for example, are a people who asked for a state of their own, and was turned down by the French and later by the Arabs. Assyrians don't have a country of their own and are persecuted in the countries they live. Kurds don't have an own country. Palestinians are discriminated against everywhere in the Middle East, not only in Israel. Jews are being discriminated against everywhere in the Middle East, except in Israel, and in some cases even there. (Some of the ethnic Jews immigrating from Russia are antisemites, some orthodox Jewish groups discriminate every non-orthodox Jewish group.)

P.P.S. "Antisemite" is a misnomer, meaning, it has nothing to do with the Semitic people or people speaking Semitic languages. It means explicitly "Jew-hate". It is well established and there are no reasons to change the meaning of the word to include all "Semitic" people - or to exclude the Semitic people from suspicion of being antisemitic.
In fact, people who hate all Semitic peoples are very few. 99% of them are very selective and hate either only Jews, only Arabs or only Palestinians. People who hate all Semitic people usually hate everyone else too.

Xian logic

Pope Benedict XVI formerly known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
and Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez of Chile

A week ago the Pope compared homosexuals and transsexuals (and transgendered people) to global warming and pollution - something human beings have to be saved from...

About three weeks ago, a Chilean cardinal said Madonna (the pop artist) offends God - thank God for people like Augusto Pinochet.

"this woman is visiting and with incredibly shameful behavior provokes a wild and lustful enthusiasm. Thoughts of lust, impure thoughts, impure acts, are an offense to God and a dirty stain on our heart"
-- Cardinal Jorge Medina

Well... Jorge, if that is what you think when you look at her, you shouldn't, perhaps, be looking at her. You might need to dig out your own eye.

Lust is only one of the seven deadly sins. I find it interesting how some Xians tend to forget this.

One of the others is greed, or "Avarice".
"Avarice is a more of a blanket term that can describe many other examples of greedy behavior. These include disloyalty, deliberate betrayal, or treason, especially for personal gain, for example through bribery. Scavenging and hoarding of materials or objects, theft and robbery, especially by means of violence, trickery, or manipulation of authority are all actions that may be inspired by greed."

Another one is wrath
"Wrath (or anger or "Rage") can manifest as vehement denial of the truth, both to others and in the form of self-denial, impatience with the procedure of law, and the desire to seek revenge outside of the workings of the justice system and generally wishing to do evil or harm to others. The transgressions borne of vengeance are among the most serious, including murder, assault, and in extreme cases, genocide."

In my mind Pinochet &Co's show of both avarice and wrath - and envy and pride as well - is more a stain than Madonna's show. Madonna, her lyrics or behavior has not inspired me to impure thoughts or acts. Pinochet's crimes against humanity, his cowardly avoidance of legal consequences to his hideous acts, the "hero worship" of "his" people, a cardinal praising a greedy and hateful villain, that inspires me to "impure thoughts" - I get angry every time I think of the... Yuk. There just aren't words ugly enough to describe the...
Yeah... talk about impure thoughts.

Salvador Allende had something Pinochet wanted...

Things that should be...

I know 1/4 of the dead people shouldn't have died - civilians, children, people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and neither SHOULD be wrong. The Gazan civilians are NOT in the wrong place and this is their time, why would it be "the wrong time"?

It SHOULD be safe for a father to send his son to buy tobacco.

It SHOULD be safe for a teenager or young adult to go home to his parents when something like this happens - be it a natural or man made catastrophe.

But "discussing" with the so-called "Pro-Palestinians", "peace activist, human rights activists, politicians", who don't even care about more than one side of the issue, whose history in the Levant started some time in the 20th century, who only accept "news items" from people who think exactly like themselves, and call everything else "propaganda", usually add "evil" and "Zionazi" as prefixes, quoting the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" and "Jewwatch", has made me suspect everything they say.

In today's newspaper was an interview with The Commissioner-General of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Karen Abu Zayd.

Yesterday Israel allowed in yet another big aid package.
Did mrs Abu Zayd mention this in the interview? No.
Did the newspaper? Yes. But the headline of the article was "Israeli blockade stops help to Gaza" - on the front page. With a picture of a woman with her lap full of toys in plastic bags, in a bombed building. She is told to be a "Palestinian woman gathering toys in a kindergarten destroyed in a flight attack in northern Gaza". The biggest headline in the page was "more reports on poisoned food". Obviously Israel didn't kill many persons yesterday >:->

Anyway, mrs Abu Zayd was complaining about Israel.

Gaza's aid storages are empty, because of the blockade.

Why is there a blockade, mrs Abu Zayd? Could it possibly have something to do with the FACT that Gaza has been shooting at Israel 360 days of 365 since Israel emptied the area of Israelis. Do you even remember that there was no blockade until Hamas showed beyond any doubts what they are up to (by turning on their brothers, Fatah)? I bet you don't.
I also bet that you don't think there are any problems with Hamas' agenda. >:->

You know what, EVERY COUNTRY HAS THE SOLE RIGHT TO DECIDE ABOUT AND USE BLOCKADE AGAINST THEIR NEIGHBORS AT WILL. What can be discussed here is the Mediterranean sea and where are the borders on waters, and what Egypt does with its border. It shouldn't have anything to do with Israel. In 2005, two months after Israel left Gaza, the negotiations were successful and President Abbas managed to get the border open, a sea port was agreed upon as well as a regular buss route between Gaza and West Bank. Two months later Hamas wins the election, within a year the situation between Hamas and Fatah explodes, and Egypt closes the border. They don't want Hamas to control the border. Israel didn't ask Egypt to do so, Israel didn't tell Egypt to do so. Egypt did it all by itself, because Hamas stinks. And, frankly, Egypt may do so. But - Israel is The Big Devil and all the so-called Pro-Palestinians are convinced that Israel wants all the Palestinians dead. So it would be stupid to expect Israel to do anything about the Palestinian suffering... not so with Egypt. Why isn't mrs. Abu Zayd bugging Egypt on letting the humanitarian aid forth?

Mrs Abu Zayd also thinks that Israel uses " an inproportionate amount of violence" in this conflict.
Well... Karen... all about numbers, huh? Israel hasn't shot as many rockets into Gaza as Gaza has shot into Israel.
Every human being in the world knows that Israel is stronger than Gaza. Why isn't Hamas protecting the Palestinians better by not picking a fight with Israel? Why isn't Hamas taking their responsibility as the governing political party it claims to be, but acts like the terrorist organization it is? I don't think anyone would accept such childish, egocentric and emotional behavior of any other ruling party. For some reason it's quite acceptable, even desirable behavior, when it comes from a Palestinian ruling party. I am so impressed by President Abbas, who in my mind is the only sane person in this play. I fear he won't be elected president in the next election, I fear that Hamas will see to that there will be no more elections, ever, or that the elections are more or less rigged, with people being forced to vote for them, people being killed if they don't vote for Hamas, people being terrorized and threatened to not vote. I am also sure that when that happens, the so-called Pro-Palestinian Hamas-lovers won't acknowledge it happened.

Another thing she was complaining about was that Israel has shut the bigger border posts. Israel says that they are not safe, because Hamas keeps attacking them, to which mrs Abu Zayd said "well, yes, that happens, occasionally, but..."
Yes, that happens... Hamas keeps attacking the aid transports. Mrs. Abu Zayd acknowledges this fact, but doesn't accept this fact as a reason for Israel to try to protect the border stations nor the aid transports.
Hamas also "kidnaps" the aid transports and delivers them themselves - naturally only to people who "deserve" the aid, that is, people who are Hamas-friendly or have managed to keep their opinions to themselves.
What does mrs. Abu Zayd have to say about this? Nothing. Nothing at all. After all, Hamas won the election... (with 44% against Fatah's 41% >:-> Overwhelming victory, huh? ALL Palestinians wanted Hamas already 2006, huh?)

Dignity was also mentioned in the article, naturally in the "how HORRRIBLE of the AWFUL Israelis to attack a ship carrying AID, medical equipment, personnel, international peace activists and politicians!!!" tone of voice.
[URGENT! Israeli Navy Attacking Civilian Mercy Ship! TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY!]

What many people don't know is that Dignity is a ship owned by "Free Gaza", which is one of these so-called "Pro-Palestinian" organizations. (Yes, it is. It's not only the "evil, zionist empire" who "labels" the organization that way. But when will we see any kind of honesty and sincerity from these so-called Pro-Palestinians? It's like with the name of the ship... "Dignity" is an idea these people don't even begin to understand.)

I am pretty sure Dignity didn't care to inform Israel about the trip, I'm pretty sure they refused to communicate with the Israeli ships, I'm sure "Free Gaza" refuses to acknowledge Israel's very real fear of that Hamas will use the aid programs to transport terrorists and weapons. We KNOW Hamas has refused to accept any aid from Egypt because they think Egypt is fraternizing with the enemy, and therefore an enemy. So we KNOW that if Hamas accepts aid from "Free Gaza", "Free Gaza" shares Hamas' ideas and therefore IS a possible threat to Israel's safety.

Another little detail I find extremely interesting is what is revealed in the sentence: "what happened in the dark morning, when Israel rammed the civilian ship in international waters, and put the people on board in danger of losing their lives"...
What was a Pro-Palestinian aid ship doing trying to get to Gaza "in the dark morning"?
Sun rose at 8 A.M. It has been rather cloudy this week. Why didn't they adjust the arrival time to the time it was light? It's about 400 km's between Gaza and Cyprus. It takes about 14 hours to get there. Why did Dignity leave Cyprus in the afternoon? Why not in the evening, to be sure to arrive during the bright day light? Why hide in the darkness?

The ship was ordered to stop, because it was noted in the dark morning, trying to get to a military area, unannounced... Dignity refused to stop. Two Israeli ships tried to get Dignity to stop, Dignity tried to break free, and turned in front of the other ship, who didn't have time to avoid "ramming" Dignity, damaging Dignity. The Israeli ships immediately offered help to Dignity, who - of course - refused. Then the Israeli ships escorted the damaged ship to the closest port they accepted, which was Tyre, Lebanon. Of course they wouldn't go to an ISRAELI port, even though that would mean that the medical equipment and personnel could have been transported swiftly to Gaza by the "correct" route.

You see, these people don't much care about getting the aid to Gaza ANY WAYS POSSIBLE. They want to take their own way or no way. It is far more effective to cry about the rude Israelis who stop AN AID TRANSPORT, because the world doesn't care one bit about that a well-known Pro-Palestinian ship filled with people who doesn't care if Israelis get damaged, because they are "just illegal occupiers of the innocent Palestinians' land" tries to get into a war zone in the middle of the night and refuses to communicate because THEY think it's not Israelis' business...

Also, "Free Gaza"s story changes all the time.
Yesterday I saw the news and Dignity's crew said there were several Israeli ships in the area, but there were only two that came to Dignity.
On "Free Gaza"s site it is said "The Dignity has been surrounded by at least half-a-dozen Israeli warships."
Angela Goldfried of the Free Gaza Movement, who was in contact with the passengers of the boat told Ynet, "Our ship was circled by 11 navy ships that fired at it and collided with it in international waters".
Caoimhe Butterly, an organizer with the Free Gaza Movement, stated that, "The gunboats gave us no warning. They came up out of the darkness firing flares and flashing huge flood lights into our faces. We were so shocked that at first we didn't react. We knew we were well within international waters and supposedly safe from attack. They rammed us three times, hitting the side of the boat hard. We began taking on water and, for a few minutes, we all feared for our lives. After they rammed us, they started screaming at us as we were frantically getting the life boats ready and putting on our life jackets. They kept yelling that if we didn't turn back they would shoot us."
Yeah... tomorrow the story will have grown so that there was two dozen ships, who tried to run over Dignity and I suppose there was also some Israelis shooting directly at the passengers. Next week we'll hear that Dignity was actually sank by Israeli army, and it was filled with Palestinian sick children and elderly people who Dignity tried to take to a Cyprian hospital.

This is what "Free Gaza" says about the war so far...
"Israel began Operation "Cast Lead," a military onslaught against the civilian population of the Gaza Strip that has - so far - massacred more than three-hundred men, women, and children, and seriously injured over a thousand."
Hamas says that about 280 of those "more than 300" were Hamas militants. Soldiers, not civilians. Just because Gaza is not an independent country, and thus cannot have a recognized army, doesn't mean all Gazans are civilians... Another "tiny, little insignificant piece of fact" these so-called Pro-Palestinians won't tell you.

Then there are these news... "25% of Gaza killed civilians".
Yeah... actually 15%, according to Hamas, but guess what?
In Iraq, 95% of the killed Iraqis are civilians.
Palestinians' victims during the 2nd Intifada: 68% civilians.
What does that mean?
Among 20 dead, in Gaza 5 are civilians (3 according to Hamas),
when in Iraq 19 are civilians and in Israel 14 were civilians.

Yes, these are just those who were "lucky" enough to die. The amount of the wounded is about 4 times as many. It is clearly impossible for Gaza to see for their needs, and it would be impossible even if everything had been perfect on Friday. But both Israel and Egypt have announced their willingness to provide medical care to anyone in need in Israel and Egypt. But Hamas refuses.
Why? Because they suspect Palestinians wouldn't get sufficient help in Israel and Egypt? No. It is only because Hamas doesn't like Israel nor Egypt.
Interestingly enough this is a piece of fact you won't hear from any so-called Pro-Palestinian. >:->

Understatement of the year

Probably not. I'm sure there will be more of that kind where that one came from.

"According to the Foreign Minister the attacks are a response to a dozen attacks with home-made missiles against Israel last week."
- Carina Bergfeldt for Aftonbladet

What did Israel's foreign minister actually say?

"Oh, why now? Because after Israel decided to leave Gaza Strip a few years ago and we got Hamas in return. About a half a year ago, according to the Egyptian Initiative, we decided to enter a kind of a truce and not to attack Gaza Strip. Hamas violated, on a daily basis, this truce. They targeted Israel, and we didn't answer. But unfortunately, Hamas misunderstood the fact that Israel didn't retaliate, and only last week we had in a day 80 rockets, missiles, mortars on Israeli civilians. More than that, they used the field of truce in order to rearm themselves. They smuggled weapon, they built a small army in Gaza Strip, so the situation was unbearable."

- "Meet the Press" transcript for 28.12.2008

"A dozen or so home-made missiles last week"? Lil'Carina, dear... "home-made missiles" sounds like a boyish prank.

Here's a little information about these "home-made missiles"... Katyushas and Qassams

Mona Sahlin (the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party) didn't think it was a boyish prank, when the Qassams hit Azderot while she was visiting a school there...

"Despite being fully aware of the recent attacks, Sahlin was quite shaken by the situation, her spokeswoman said.

Earlier in the day, the leader of the Social Democrats had met with Israel's former Defence Minister Amir Peretz. Together they visited a day care centre, which was hit by one of the seven Kassam rockets launched at the town on Monday."

Day care center which was hit by one of the seven Kassams launched at the town on Monday...

"Hamas doesn't mean to kill children with its rockets," spokesman Ismail Radwan told reporters in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in response to a statement made by al-Qaida's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who said Hamas' random rockets kill women and children in violation of Islamic law."

Yeah... the road to hell is paved with "good" intentions, Ismail. Will Allah ask if you MEANT to kill Sabah and Hanin?
And how will you avoid killing children and women when you start the suicide missions? Those pesky, sly Israelis have women even in their army...

Antiquities

In a way I am for returning the spoils of war and colonial trophies to the land of their origin. I think Queen Margrethe I's golden dress should be in Denmark, I think Spain and Portugal should return the things they stole from South America, Parthenon marbles should be returned... but then we get to my stumbling stone... Egypt. I dislike mr. Zahi Hawass very much.

I don't think they have any right to ask back things when they (the Egyptians) plundered the tombs, sold the artifacts to highest bidder - some times to the first, best buyer, destroyed and spoiled hundreds of historically interesting pieces, flooded archaeological sites... It is believed that 3/4 of the Egypt's history is still hidden in sand and under the modern cities and buildings. I say to mr. Hawass, first, dig up at least half of that, THEN you can start asking for things "back".

"However, the negative side is that the environmental and display conditions leave a great deal to be desired. Labels on some exhibits date from early in the century and many items have no labels at all."
- about Egyptian Museum in Cairo

You might also need to actually DO SOMETHING about "the environmental and display conditions", before you start grabbing the artifacts. Also, where would you put them?

As it is now, people can go to Berlin and see Nefertiti, or to London and see the Rosetta stone - they don't need to come to Egypt and miss seeing these, because it's too crowded, both with artifacts and people... besides... it would cost me 1.500 kronas to get to London, 1000 kronas to get to Berlin and 3.500 kronas to get to Cairo... I'm sorry, Zahi, but I'd rather take BOTH the Egyptian Museum at Alte Museum AND British Museum AND have 1000 cronas left to buy souvenirs with... If I'd be American the prize difference is even bigger. They'd get 2000 kronas in pocket money. Besides, the admission to the BM is free... I think I should have the right to see true Egyptian artifacts even though I am poor.

You could also try to replace the things you want back with something. For example, it's not necessary that the obelisk at Place de la Concorde is just the old, original one from Luxor, make them a replica and ask if they'd be kind enough to accept another Egyptian obelisk instead of the one that should be in Luxor. In my mind it doesn't matter one bit whether it is in Luxor or Paris. Luxor wouldn't be any more amazing than it is now if there were two obelisks instead of one.

Also, Rosetta stone as the "icon of Egyptian identity". Bull. If the Egyptians cared about their "Egyptian identity", they'd kept their Egyptian language and writing alive, like the Jews managed to do with their unique language and writing through the centuries.

It's all in the counting...

I read the news of Israel's bombings in Gaza and I am... I find it hard to remember that we are talking about people here. There's so many who seem to think it's ok for Palestinians to kill as many Jews as they can, it's ok for Palestinians to "retaliate" and "defend themselves", but it's not ok for a Jew to break one hair from a Palestinian (or pseudo-Palestinian) head.

There has been no truce. Not 6 months, not one day. Gaza has been shooting at Israel almost every day. Might be that Israelis are lucky, that Gazans are clumsy, that Gazans are only trying to scare Israel, that Gazans are targeting the infrastructure instead of people, what ever the reason, these rockets hasn't killed many Israelis. In my mind shooting at someone is a sign of aggression, whether you succeed to kill the bastard or not. The Israelis count the rockets coming over the border.

The Palestinians count the dead and wounded. I find it interesting that that has not been a practice in wars and conflicts... until now. The Germans during the WWII were not horrible because they killed so many people. Actually, no-one knows for sure how many people they killed. In this conflict, people are actually counting deaths... and what is interesting is that even though the so-called "pro-Palestinians" call Israel with every bad name in the book, Israel hasn't "managed" to kill enough people to even get to the "top ranking 20th century atrocities". One would think they are, as the "Pro-Palestinians" harp. But the truth is that Israel hasn't even killed as many Palestinians as the Muslims killed Armenians only 90 years ago. So if we start counting bodies... No, Israel isn't a big villain even in that way.

Sure, there's about 5 times more Palestinians killed than Israelis, but consider this:
during the five years, USA&Co. has managed to kill about 90.000-100.000 people - the ratio (USA/Iraqis) is about 1/20, not 1/5 as in Israel.
In Sudan about 2.000.000 people died between 1983 and 1998. (about 5-8 %)
"In September 2004, the World Health Organization estimated there had been 50,000 deaths in Darfur since the beginning of the conflict, an 18-month period, mostly due to starvation."
In Srebrenica the Serbs killed 2000-8000 Bosniaks IN ONE MONTH.
During Fidel Castro's reign in Cuba 15.000 - 23.000 were killed for their political opinion. So if you count the bodies, Fidel Castro is a bigger butcher than Ariel Sharon.
Sure, there's more Cubans, Sudanese and Iraqis than Palestinians living in Levant, but the death toll is even procentually smaller - doesn't reach one percent.

I'm sorry, but Israel just isn't killing "enough" to be counted as a genocidal monster in style of Stalin, Hitler or Mao. Everyone knows they have the opportunity and means to do so.

Another "qualification" needed for something to be a genocide is the intention - and there just isn't enough evidence of Israel's intention to kill all the Palestinians. Old, mispresented and twisted quotes taken out of context just aren't enough.

P.S. The estimates are that Israel killed about 270 people yesterday, of whom more than half were Hamas soldiers. Considering that they are bombing Gaza, where the Hamas soldiers are hiding in the civil population, from aeroplanes, they have managed to diminish the collateral damage amazingly well.
"Hamas estimated at least 180 members of its security forces had been killed with at least 15 women and some children."
[SOME children? The bloodiest day in the Israel-Palestine history and Israel killed ONLY SOME children? Hamas is crying more over the 180 SOLDIERS than the two girls they themselves killed last week, and threatening with "avenge" (Excuse me? IN A WAR SOLDIERS DIE. If you don't like that fact, STAY THE FCUK OUT OF WARS, AND DON'T BLAME THE ENEMY FOR KILLING YOUR SOLDIERS!) and suicide bombings (targeting children, not soldiers, as these cowards always do >:->)].

And what do the so called "Pro-Palestinians" do? Think it's OK to kill Israeli children because Israeli soldiers killed Palestinian soldiers, condone more rockets being shot from Gaza to Israel - even though it is clear as day that that was the reason to this Israel's attack. Even though it is a fact that Hamas hasn't kept one day of the truce, that there has been rockets coming from Gaza to Israel FOR YEARS NOW, and the fact that the Israeli troops and settlers left Gaza only made it worse - Israel's presence in Gaza HAS a "calming effect", and the only thing the Palestinian rocket attacks against Israel has caused is the "bloodiest day in the history of Israel-Palestine conflict"... Does Hamas and the so-called "Pro-Palestinians" get the message? No.

Remember these children
isn't it interesting that the site doesn't mention the 5-year-old 'Ubeida Habib who was killed by a bullet shot during a Hamas soldier's funeral this summer?
I'm very interested to see when they update the site and if they mention Ubeida, Hanin and Sabah.

Another thing that could be counted is the Palestinian self-deaths.
The so called "Pro-Palestinians" count them too, but blame Israel for them.
Logical? No. Fair? No. Antisemitic?

Truce? By which book?

"Hamas police spokesman Ehad Ghussein said about 140 Hamas security forces were killed."

"Dr. Moawiya Hassanain, a Gaza Health Ministry official, said at least 145 people were killed and more than 300 wounded."

Interesting... Yesterday Palestinian terrorists killed two Palestinian little girls in their home, and no-one cared.

"None of Gaza's militant factions acknowledged responsibility for the deadly attack on the house in Beit Lahiya. Gaza Health Ministry official Dr. Moiaya Hassanain said the 5-year-old and 12-year-old girls who died were cousins. Three other children were wounded, he said."

Today Israel killed 140 Hamas soldiers and the world cries...
That's why I say people who like to call themselves "pro-Palestinians" really don't care one bit about the Palestinians.

"with 200 mortars and rockets raining down on Israel since the truce expired a week ago, and 3,000 since the beginning of the year"

Truce? It's not a truce when one party is shooting at the other.

Besides, when Hamas cannot control the Palestinians better than the Palestinians can control where they shoot their rockets, then why would anyone negotiate with them? They have no authority. They can't guarantee anything, their every promise is empty air.

Just look at what happened to Jimmy Carter... To him they say "yes, yes", behind his back they say "no, no".

Is this Islam? No way!
Aren't Islam's biggest enemies those who claim to be true Muslims but who lie, twist the Scripture and generally give a bad reputation to all the Muslims?