Israel Halts Palestinian Assassinations in Key Ceasefire Deal
In a move to satisfy a key Palestinian demand for a truce to end four years of violence, Israeli Security Officials have said that they will stop targeting Palestinian militants.
The announcement comes after talks yesterday led to the deployment of Palestinian police to stop militants attacking Israeli in central and southern Gaza.
The militant groups have agreed to a month long truce to test Israel’s response.
It may be that both sides are committed this time, it certainly is in Israel's favor with no more Arafat, hamas weakened structurally and economically (thanks to the Iraq war, their previous biggest donor) and the wall. I just hope the palestinian fanatics are willing to let the last few months of targetted assinations go without retaliation.
When you apply 'pressure' and stand up to thugs throughout the world, they buckle over a period of time. I challenge anyone to try and argue that actions of suicide bombers whom kill thousands of INNOCENT people a year are noble in any sense of the word. Israel is just as much at fault, however they atleast give the overall appearance of civility towards people with a grasp on REAL WORLD REALITIES.
I challenge anyone to tell me that the Iraqi "insurgents" actions of bombing and killing thousands of INNOCENT CIVILIANS is justified in any way.
@rory182- a. Do you honestly think that documentary looks subjective in any way? I would venture to guess its rather one sided. b. Who are these 'world experts' in the trailer? Why are they not more popular if they are experts in such a inflammatory issue?
First of all no I don’t expect the documentary to be subjective because I don’t really believe that subjective reporting exists. Everything you do you put your personal opinions into it if you are honest you tell people where you’re coming from if you’re not honest you pretend to be Objective. I do however believe that the documentary will raise some serious questions for example one of the statements in the trailer “without massive US support none of this could go on ” is spoken by Noam Chomsky and has been proven to be totally true (this is practically taken as fact and has been widely covered in countless publications , if you need facts to back that up I suggest you read one of his books on the subject he references all of his work extremely well ) .Oh and if you don’t know who he is well there are a million web sites out there about him and his writings in the last 40 years earned him the following from the New York Times "arguably the most important intellectual alive." ,he’s Jewish by the way ..
As for supporting suicide bombings no body can support that and anyone who does doesn’t have a leg to stand on likewise the Israeli position in all of this is unsupportable as well and the US sits back floods money into the problem because it needs it’s mercenary state over there with a well equipped and competent army . I can list American operations that Israel has done for America if you like in fact there is now talk of getting Israel to deal with Iran for the US ,time will tell exactly what role they play in the issue.
When you apply 'pressure' and stand up to thugs throughout the world, they buckle over a period of time.
apply 'pressure' ---- what like killing the local population
stand up to thugs --- America has been the biggest backer of Thugs in modern History (need a list)
Take for example the beginning of the current intifada back then Chomsky wrote
, after a week of bitter fighting and killing, the defense correspondent of Ha'aretz reported "the largest purchase of military helicopters by the Israeli Air Force in a decade," an agreement with the US to provide Israel with 35 Blackhawk military helicopters and spare parts at a cost of $525 million, along with jet fuel, following the purchase shortly before of patrol aircraft and Apache attack helicopters. These are "the newest and most advanced multi-mission attack helicopters in the US inventory," the Jerusalem Post adds. It would be unfair to say that those providing the gifts cannot discover the fact. In a database search, David Peterson found that they were reported in the Raleigh (North Carolina) press. The sale of military helicopters was condemned by Amnesty International (Oct. 19), because these "US-supplied helicopters have been used to violate the human rights of Palestinians and Arab Israelis during the recent conflict in the region." Surely that was anticipated, barring advanced cretinism. Israel has been condemned internationally (the US abstaining) for "excessive use of force," in a "disproportionate reaction" to Palestinian violence. That includes even rare condemnations by the ICRC, specifically, for attacks on at least 18 Red Cross ambulances (NYT, Oct 4). Israel's response is that it is being unfairly singled out for criticism. The response is entirely accurate. Israel is employing official US doctrine, known here as "the Powell doctrine," though it is of far more ancient vintage, tracing back centuries: Use massive force in response to any perceived threat. Official Israeli doctrine allows "the full use of weapons against anyone who endangers lives and especially at anyone who shoots at our forces or at Israelis" (Israeli military legal adviser Daniel Reisner, FT, Oct. 6). Full use of force by a modern army includes tanks, helicopter gunships, sharpshooters aiming at civilians (often children), etc. US weapons sales "do not carry a stipulation that the weapons can't be used against civilians," a Pentagon official said; he "acknowleged however that anti-tank missiles and attack helicopters are not traditionally considered tools for crowd control" -- except by those powerful enough to get away with it, under the protective wings of the reigning superpower. "We cannot second-guess an Israeli commander who calls in a Cobra (helicopter) gunship because his troops are under attack," another US official said (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, October 3). Accordingly, such killing machines must be provided in an unceasing flow.
As for Who are these experts well
Richard Falk --- Professor of International Law and Practice, Princeton University Noam Chomsky ---- man if you don’t know who he is .. Phyllis Bennis ---- Phyllis Bennis is a fellow of both TNI and the Insitute for Policy Studies in Washington DC. Phyllis is a journalist specialising in Middle East and United Nations issues. Formerly based at the United Nations, she has worked on US domination of the UN leading up to the Gulf War, econom
economic sanctions on Iraq, international interventions and US foreign policy in the Middle East. The author and editor of books on Palestine, Iraq, the UN and the New World Order, her most recent publications are La Ideologia neoimperial: La crisis de EEUU con Irak (Icaria/TNI/CIP 2003), co-authored with Mariano Aguirre, and Before & After: US Foreign Policy and the September 11 Crisis (Interlink, 2002). She is currently working on a new book on Palestine.
Paul Findley -- Paul Findley was a Congressman from Illinois for some 22 years. This puts him in the unique position to criticize his target. That target is the pro-Israel lobby, specifically AIPAC (The American-Israel Public Affairs Committee). Findley believes that many politicians have lost elections due to the influence of this group. Findley himself thinks they played a role in his own defeat in the early 1980's. Why would AIPAC use lobbying clout to defeat politicians? Because some of these figures dared to question the intimate relationship between the U.S. and Israel.
Jeff Halper --- Jeff Halper (53) is the Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House demolitions (ICAHD) and a Professor of Anthropology at Ben Gurion University. He has lived in Israel since 1973. Jeff has researched and written extensively on Israeli society and is the author of the book Between Redemption and Revival: the Jewish Yishuv in Jerusalem in the nineteenth century, Westview, 1991. Jeff founded and directed Israelis Committee to Save the Ethiopian Jews. He has been active in the Israeli peace movement for many years. As the Coordinator of ICAHD, he has forged a new mode of Israeli peace activity based on non-violent direct action and civil disobedience to the Israeli Occupation authorities and in close cooperation with Palestinian organizations. Jeff is married and has three children.
Allegra Pacheco ----Allegra Pacheco is an American-born Israeli human rights attorney practicing in Bethlehem -- she moved to the Middle East in 1994. She is a member of the Legal Advisory Board of the Council for Palestinian Restitution and Repatriation (CPRR), an organization which declares that "every Palestinian has a legitimate, individual right to return to his or her original home and to absolute restitution of his or her property."
Why are they not more popular if they are experts in such an inflammatory issue?
Do you want an answer to that in a couple of words …it’s a little more complicated than that but the answers are out there. Chomsky and others have written mountains of stuff on this issue it’s all out there if you want to see it or you can choose to live in the cocoon , that’s a choice it certainly doesn’t have to be like that but it’s a personal choice each person is free to make . And a lot of these people are very well known, but not in the United States where they are kept on the University Lecture Circuit and rarely invited to speak to the Mainstream media ….
One of the reasons for this is the demand the US Media makes for concision (ie get people who can make their point in 600 words or between two commercial breaks ) Which makes sense however rules out anyone who may wish to make Intuitional Analysis ant any depth .in lay man terms
If you stand up and say “Saddam is a murder” everyone nods and no body questions it …If you say “America is the biggest sponsor of state terrorism on the planet and the only country to be condemned for State sponsored terrorism by the World Court” man you have to really explain yourself and back up every detail . Problem being that this sort of media only facilitates conventional thinking anything outside the box is dismissed as boring or too long winded and doesn’t get reported or covered .
And it’s worth remembering that these people are not taking an Anti-American stance I’m blue in the face explaining to people here (Americans the rest of the world seems to understand this ) that criticizing the actions of the American administration is not Anti-American just as criticism of Israeli policy is not Anti-Semitic . If someone in England criticizes the actions of the government he isn’t jumped on as Anti-British in fact anyone making that sort of comment would be laughed out of the political arena .
And finally most of the “experts” have written extensive criticisms of the Palestinian Leadership as well …you can look them up if you want .
Very eloquently put. On the surface I dont disagree with the fact that Israel is essentially America's little, feisty brother. We support them completely economically and militarily, but the fact remains that Israel *seems* loyal to America, whether it be good or bad. Loyalty is an attribute that is seemingly absent in the world these days.
There is no point in me defending the Israeli's WRONG choices (killing *innocent* civilians), however it seems you are blinded by their wrong actions for whatever reason. Have you noticed how the conflict has drastically slowed since the death of the leader of the militant Palestenian movement? What does that tell you? A rational person will conclude that the group in the wrong is the Palestenian militants. Do you see an error in this conclusion? Had Sharon died I highly doubt the same situation would have transpired. I'm beginning to realize the primary difference in Liberals, Democrats, Republicans and Conservatives: One sees the glass half full, the other sees the glass half empty. Im sure you can figure this one out on your own. Instantly focusing on the mistakes men (and women) have made in the past and harping about them incessantly becomes detrimental to the whole. Instead, try to learn from the mistakes and continue on hoping for the best.
The biggest killer in conflict is fear. When soldiers become afraid, they progressively make more and more mistakes. It seems to me that when the world condemns one horrific action from one nation and ignores the horrific actions of another, it empowers the latter to continue that course of action since it got the desired affect - attention.
"apply 'pressure' ---- what like killing the local population" -- You sound like a pundit. This is an ignorant response and I know you are more intelligent than that to steep down to this kind of tactic. Pressure is applied to those who are aggressors. Killing civilians during war is an accident, unless you are a terrorist. Terrorists kill civilians specifically to terrorize the rest of the population. Israel is atleast a recognized country with a respectable military, even if they have made mistakes in the past. Its kind of hard to fight a threat that wears civilian clothes and hides behind women and children. If Palestine really wanted independence and respect in the world, perhaps their govt wouldnt support THUGS, which their militants indeed are.
"stand up to thugs --- America has been the biggest backer of Thugs in modern History (need a list)" -- pointing fingers immediately at America doesn't do anything to argue against my initial point (again with acting like a political pundit). America HAS supported questionable people in the past, however I would venture to guess in most cases it was a carefully calculated decision with enormous impacts throughout the world, which had to be weighed by a JUST GOVERNMENT. Stop pointing fingers at America when we aren't the only ones to blame.
About the people in the documentary, I don't doubt that they are experts in some form or another, however a documentary pointing fingers SPECIFICALLY at the US and Israel when it's blatantly clear they are not the only ones at fault.
I know you're intelligent, but get out of the foxhole for Christ's sake.
Sorry mate, but your comments are sounding ignorant if you think that the IDF only accidently kills cvillians. I've posted links many times before about snipers shooting children hanging out clothes, etc and blatant lies and cover-ups by the IDF.
I never seem to get a response from the Israel-is-good camp though...
http://www.btselem.org/ Also, i'd like to see your stats on "thousands" of civillians killed by the suicide bombers each year. Also, please note that many times, it is IDF that is targeted. (And yes, the IDF uses civillians as "shields" as well. Riding in the same bus, etc. You'll note when that is the case, reports will be "people" not "civillians".)
They are both as bad as each other. It's just that Israel has a greater responsibility.
Perhaps you should educate yourself and watch the documentary and many others like it. Many of them are very balanced. And if they are experts like you believe you can only learn.
