COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Saturday, August 02, 2014

When is Genocide Permissable ? U.S. Congress approves $225 million in emergency funding for Israel’s Iron Dome

A piece published - and then hastily deleted by The Times of Israel (which said it breached editorial guidelines) - last night asking whether a genocide might be permissible if it were the only way of securing peace. Yochanan Gordon builds his case that Israel has a right to defend itself before offering his explosive question:

I will conclude with a question for all the humanitarians out there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly stated at the outset of this incursion that his objective is to restore a sustainable quiet for the citizens of Israel. We have already established that it is the responsibility of every government to ensure the safety and security of its people. If political leaders and military experts determine that the only way to achieve its goal of sustaining quiet is through genocide is it then permissible to achieve those responsible goals?


The explainer website Vox has preserved the text, so you can view it here (should you so wish), and suggests why it offers an important lens on the Gaza debate.
-TELEGRAPH



At least 70 people were killed and 100 were wounded in subsequent Israeli bombardments of Rafah, Palestinian medical officials said. The Palestinian death toll in the current round of fighting has exceeded 1,600, according Gaza health ministry figures.




SOLDIERS DON’T GET KIDNAPPED - THEY GET TAKEN PRISONER 



WHEN IS GENOCIDE PERMISSABLE?


"Judging by the numbers of casualties on both sides in this almost one-month old war one would be led to the conclusion that Israel has resorted to disproportionate means in fighting a far less- capable enemy. That is as far as what meets the eye. But, it's now obvious that the US and the UN are completely out of touch with the nature of this foe and are therefore not qualified to dictate or enforce the rules of this war - because when it comes to terror there is much more than meets the eye.
I wasn't aware of this, but it seems that the nature of warfare has undergone a major shift over the years. Where wars were usually waged to defeat the opposing side, today it seems - and judging by the number of foul calls it would indicate - that today's wars are fought to a draw. I mean, whoever heard of a timeout in war? An NBA Basketball game allows six timeouts for each team during the course of a game, but last I checked this is a war! We are at war with an enemy whose charter calls for the annihilation of our people. Nothing, then, can be considered disproportionate when we are fighting for our very right to live.
The sad reality is that Israel gets it, but its hands are being tied by world leaders who over the past six years have insisted they are such good friends with the Jewish state, that they know more regarding its interests than even they do. But there's going to have to come a time where Israel feels threatened enough where it has no other choice but to defy international warnings - because this is life or death.
Most of the reports coming from Gazan officials and leaders since the start of this operation have been either largely exaggerated or patently false. The truth is, it's not their fault, falsehood and deceit is part of the very fabric of who they are and that will never change. Still however, despite their propensity to lie, when your enemy tells you that they are bent on your destruction you believe them. Similarly, when Khaled Meshal declares that no physical damage to Gaza will dampen their morale or weaken their resolve - they have to be believed. Our sage Gedalia the son of Achikam was given intelligence that Yishmael Ben Nesanyah was plotting to kill him. However, in his piety or rather naiveté Gedalia dismissed the report as a random act of gossip and paid no attention to it. To this day, the day following Rosh Hashana is commemorated as a fast day in the memory of Gedalia who was killed in cold blood on the second day of Rosh Hashana during the meal. They say the definition of insanity is repeating the same mistakes over and over. History is there to teach us lessons and the lesson here is that when your enemy swears to destroy you - you take him seriously.
Hamas has stated forthrightly that it idealizes death as much as Israel celebrates life. What other way then is there to deal with an enemy of this nature other than obliterate them completely?
News anchors such as those from CNN, BBC and Al-Jazeera have not missed an opportunity to point out the majority of innocent civilians who have lost their lives as a result of this war. But anyone who lives with rocket launchers installed or terror tunnels burrowed in or around the vicinity of their home cannot be considered an innocent civilian. If you'll counter, that Hamas has been seen abusing civilians who have attempted to leave their homes in response to Israeli warnings to leave - well then, your beginning to come to terms with the nature of this enemy which should automatically cause the rules of standard warfare to be suspended.
Everyone agrees that Israel has the right to defend itself as well as the right to exercise that right. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has declared it, Obama and Kerry have clearly stated that no one could be expected to sit idle as thousands of rockets rain down on the heads of its citizens, placing them in clear and present danger. It seems then that the only point of contention is regarding the measure of punishment meted out in this situation.
I will conclude with a question for all the humanitarians out there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly stated at the outset of this incursion that his objective is to restore a sustainable quiet for the citizens of Israel. We have already established that it is the responsibility of every government to ensure the safety and security of its people. If political leaders and military experts determine that the only way to achieve its goal of sustaining quiet is through genocide is it then permissible to achieve those responsible goals?”
- Yochanan Gordon

131 comments:

  1. Most of the dead are Hamas terrorists.

    The fact that Hamas has shot over 6 thousand rockets TRYING to killing as many JEWS as possible and yet have been rendered impotent says a lot.

    IF Hamas (Iran/Turkey/Qatar/ISIS/Al Queda) had successfully murdered 10,000 Jews?

    It would have cause a real slaughter in Gaza.

    Gaza so called "Health Ministry" says 1,600? That's a rounding error as to what Syria has done to the population of it's own nation. But it illustrates how deadly wars can be.

    Syrian death told is well over 170 thousand with 4-6 MILLION now real refugees.

    One could only wonder the IDF's response if the Hamas had hit an occupied high-rise in Tel Aviv.

    Hamas doesn't target a specific building, nor looks for military targets, nor warns occupants of a selected area to be targeted.

    War is hell, the funding of the Iron Dome saves far more Palestinian lives than israelis.

    Like it or not? Hamas could care less about the children that get killed, in fact? They WANT to see palestinians stacked like cordwood..

    Those blood photos are like murder porn to those seeking to call Israel "murderer". Any HONEST person would admit that any civilian being killing is horrible. But to force kids to become targets is a war crime.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NOTE: In fairness to Wio. He could not have read the post above his comment as I posted this live and in pieces. His opening comment was written before I edited and completed the post with the letter by Yochanan Gordon.

      Delete
  2. Max Blumenthal has stated that there is alarming amount of mainstream racism in Israel. It surely must be the case, if such an article could be written and then published a main stream media outlet such as The Times of Israel. Yochanan Gordon was comfortable writing it, because that is what is in his heart.

    There must have been some interesting phone call last night. Yochanan Gordon responds:


    After authoring an op-ed on the Times of Israel website advocating for genocide against people living in the Gaza Strip as a method to achieving “quiet,” writer Yochanon Gordon has issued an apology.

    “[A]nyone who lives with rocket launchers installed or terror tunnels burrowed in or around the vicinity of their home cannot be considered an innocent civilian,” he wrote Friday morning in a piece that was quickly yanked off the paper’s website.

    Following outrage over his comments, and a rebuking from the Times and other sites that carried his piece, Gordon remained steadfast in his belief, telling critics his stance is a “moral and responsible” one.

    But his tune seems to have changed, as he issued an apology on the Five Towns Jewish Times website.

    His full note below:

    I never intended to call to harm any people although my words may have conveyed that message.
    I wish to express deep regret and beg forgiveness for an article I authored which was posted on 5TJT.com, Times of Israel and was tweeted and shared the world over.
    I never intended to call to harm any people although my words may have conveyed that message.
    With that said I pray and hope for a quick peaceful end to the hostilities and that all people learn to coexist with each other in creating a better world for us all.

    Yochanan Gordon

    ReplyDelete
  3. Replies
    1. America has used actual genocide to win the war against the Indians.

      America has used starvation and targeting of civilians in ww2. America also has dropped atomic bombs on civilian populations in Japan.

      Russia has killed in Chechnya literally hundreds of thousands of civilians.

      China and Tibet?

      England and his NUMEROUS wars from India to africa.

      War is hell.

      The stated goal of the Hamas (and Iran) is the destruction of Israel, Hamas is more honest and also lists a goal as the killing of every Jew.

      Hamas is the elected government of the Gaza Strip. It is in charge, it is the tax authority for the area. The UN pays Hamas 25% off the top off all aid that comes into the strip as tax. If the people of the Gaza Strip declare it's goal to cause genocide to the Jews of Israel 9and the world) in any other situation in the history of the world the people of Gaza would have been genocided years ago.

      Israel has NOT wiped the Gazans off the face of the earth. It is now in the 3rd war in 10 years with them. Ceasefires do not work. The Strip was to be demilitarized. this did not happen. Billions pouring in, and I do mean BILLIONs that were diverted from social welfare and infrastructure towards a military tunnel, bunker and rocket storage and launching system.

      No other nation would fight the war as the IDF is doing, they would cut the strip off of all water, food and fuel and bomb it indiscriminately until the people, broken and starving to death begged to surrender.

      Think of Germany at the end of WW2. Think of what the Turks did to the Armenians. Think of what the Arabs did to the Jews in Jerusalem in 1948. This was an attempt at actual genocide.

      Israel to this day still ships thousands of trucks of food, gasoline and medicine into the Gaza Strip even while it's engaged in a war.

      Genocide?

      Real genocide?

      Something the arabs have accomplished many times to many forgotten peoples... But this time? The arabs attempts at genocide will fail.

      Delete
    2. No other nation would fight the war as the IDF is doing, they would cut the strip off of all water, food and fuel and bomb it indiscriminately until the people, broken and starving to death begged to surrender.

      Gaza is an Israeli prison camp with some insurgents revolting. The vast majority of Gazanz are non-combatants. Look at the video and you will see an assault as ugly as it gets on civilian areas. The videos show the carnage.

      We get a clue on the Israeli mindset when we see people sitting on lawn chairs watching civilans being bombed and slaughtered. I One soldier is captured and killed and the entire country is in stricken grief. Woman and children, Arabs killed. What’s the problem. The largest newspaper posts an article on speculating about the case for genocide against non-Jews. What’s the problem?

      Delete
    3. Gaza is an Israeli prison camp with some insurgents revolting.

      That's specious.

      But if you insist, maybe the solution is to make gaza an israeli prison camp?

      But you are just distorting what gaza is.

      Gaza hardly a "prison". What prison has an internal economy that builds billions in bunkers and rockets? millions of rounds of ammo and tens of thousands of fighters under arms?

      Your specious description shows your dishonesty,.


      "We get a clue on the Israeli mindset when we see people sitting on lawn chairs watching civilans being bombed and slaughtered"

      Is that what we see? Well I see a group of people who have been BOMBED by that specific area of the world for over ten years, watching as targets are being bombed BACK after additional launches.

      Let's not forget that the HAMAS has been planning this war and preparing for it for years.


      Delete
  4. Terrorists - Mass murderers, those folks attempt to excuse genocide and ethnic cleansing.

    Israel - Founded by Terrorists and Sustained by Terrorism

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Israeli army has the right to defend Israel from Hamas attacks, but not an absolute right. It must abide by the principle of proportionality. It can’t commit war crimes or genocide.

    If in the US a dangerous terrorist holed up in a mall, the government couldn’t scramble F-18s and bomb the mall to smithereens, killing hundreds os shoppers. That is what Israel did to Khuzaa.

    Gordon’s premise, that Hamas wants to or can commit a genocide against Jews, is wrong. His premise that all the residents of Gaza are Hamas is wrong and wrong-headed. Gordon’s leading question is whether genocide against the Palestinians of Gaza would be justified if it eliminated (and he does mean eliminated) the threat to Israel.

    That Gordon’s piece initially appeared at one of Israel’s largest-circulation newspapers is extremely worrying. Democracies don’t advocate murder or genocide. Did the editor not read it? Or did he read it and agree with it?

    In any case, one thing is clear. Too many Israelis have justifications in their minds for genocide. This includes alleging that children are not innocent non-combatants. And the Genocide Convention makes another thing clear: Advocating genocide is a crime for which one can be tried at the Hague.

    JUAN COLE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If an area of Mexico was used as a base of 30,000 fighters, who invested in 5000 tunnels and 30,000 rockets, did cross border raids to murder and kidnap americans and launch 10 thousand rockets in the past few years?

      I bet you dollars to donuts that place would be conquered in a flash.

      Delete
    2. "n any case, one thing is clear. Too many Israelis have justifications in their minds for genocide. This includes alleging that children are not innocent non-combatants. And the Genocide Convention makes another thing clear: Advocating genocide is a crime for which one can be tried at the Hague."

      The Hamas charter advocates the genocide of the Jews.

      Let's start with trying the Hamas members.

      Delete
  6. "O"rdure agrees with piece, then attempts to justify that support.

    Looking for Moral Equivalency in history. While ignoring the most obvious.

    Between July 22 and September 12, 1942, the Warsaw ghetto.


    To save all of Europe, the argument would go, the Germans were

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yep, everything in the Middle East would be rainbows and unicorns if we could just get rid of "that shitty little country." Here's hoping......

    P.S. Keep up the top notch anti-semitic propaganda.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The country will remain long after the NASI Zionist regime is removed. from control of it.

      What collateral damage comes in the meantime, will only serves those that want to see the Biblical prophesy of Jerusalem destroyed, fulfilled

      Delete
    2. I underrstand your fallback position on ant-semitism is the only argument left.

      It is shopworn but has served you so well in the past, it is still worth a shot.

      Twitter, mobile phones and Youtube is not your father’s media is it?

      Delete
  8. I will conclude with a question for all the humanitarians out there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly stated at the outset of this incursion that his objective is to restore a sustainable quiet for the citizens of Israel. We have already established that it is the responsibility of every government to ensure the safety and security of its people. If political leaders and military experts determine that the only way to achieve its goal of sustaining quiet is through genocide is it then permissible to achieve those responsible goals?”

    ReplyDelete
  9. The final solution, but there is a glitch: Palestinians won’t let you get away with it without paying a price that you as a society will not pay.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Hamas Charter CALLS for genocide, so they are cool with the idea.

    Good God, someone somewhere writes something, it is taken down, and the anti-semites here attribute the idea to Israel as a whole.


    All the while continually overlooking that THE HAMAS CHARTER CALLS FOR GENOCIDE

    ReplyDelete
  11. Deuce, repeat after me:

    THE HAMAS CHARTER CALLS FOR GENOCIDE

    There, that wasn't so hard after all !

    The Koran CALLS FOR GENOCIDE

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sure Bob, comb your hair and put your teeth in.


    6:45 pm: Israel army says ‘safe’ to return to part of north Gaza

    The Israeli army on Saturday informed residents of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza that it was “safe" to return to their homes, as witnesses said troops were seen withdrawing from the area.

    “Messages have been conveyed to residents of the northern Gaza Strip that they may return to the Beit Lahiya area," an army statement said, with a spokeswoman indicating the message had been relayed to authorities in the Palestinian enclave.

    “They have been informed it is safe for civilians to return to Beit Lahiya and Al-Atatra," the spokeswoman told AFP, in what was understood to be a confirmation that troops had stopped operating there.

    Witnesses in Al-Atatra, which is part of Beit Lahiya, reported seeing troops pulling back, in a move mirrored in the south, where residents said the soldiers had withdrawn from villages east of Khan Yunis, close to the Israeli border.

    The announcement came as unconfirmed media reports said Israel would not be sending a delegation to truce talks in Cairo, with some suggesting the pullback could signal the start of a unilateral Israeli withdrawal.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Deuce cannot see the Israeli pov, he is too invested in the anti-Israel narrative.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Au contraire mon frère, the Israeli POV is blatantly obvious, shamelessly transparent, clean, clear and toned as a morning bell calling breakfast.

      Delete
    2. Ok, then you see that Israel refuses to die for your friend's demand to die...

      so sorry.. (not)

      Delete
  14. I think that the Israelis may have noticed that the World was not buying what they are selling, excluding The Conga Line of course. They may have worried that if this continues much longer even the American Right Wing Lobotomized Brain Trust may even catch on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, they would be wrong about that.


      The right-wingers are stupider than even they imagined.

      Delete
    2. Trust me Rufus, they know. :)

      Delete
  15. Deuce ☂Sat Aug 02, 10:58:00 AM EDT

    Sure Bob, comb your hair and put your teeth in.

    :)

    You're older than I, old fellow.

    But it remains true:

    The Hamas Charter explicitly calls for genocide. In this, it is just following the Koran.

    ISIS in Iraq is simply doing it's Koranic Duty.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I am optimistic that Israel will return to sanity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know why. I'll be damned if I can see the slightest bit of difference in human thought between, now, and the earliest recorded times.

      Delete
    2. rat is a lost cause, but I still hold out hope for you.

      :)

      Delete
    3. You are on to something there, Rufus.

      Though you rule out of court the higher enlightenment experiences of the human race.

      These are the same as in earlier times as well.

      Just not well known.

      Delete
    4. Deuce ☂Sat Aug 02, 11:08:00 AM EDT
      I am optimistic that Israel will return to sanity.

      I am optimistic that Hamas & ISIS & Hezbollah & Iran & turkey & qatar will not..

      Delete
  17. Where is our Logician Quart when we need him?

    As a thought experiment it is not a bad question:

    If THE ONLY WAY to rid oneself of the promise of genocide - of 1400 years standing - is to commit genocide against the OTHER before they do it to oneself, is this morally justified?

    As a thought experiment it is not such a bad question.

    I suppose such an outlook might be called 'preventative genocide'.

    It is understandably a question Jewish people might be interested in as they recall their real life experience in Europe.

    For them, the experience of genocide is a living reality. And they know well the threat they live under continually.

    Iran, in addition to Hamas, has called for the genocide of Israel.

    Many of the missiles used by Hamas come from Iran.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      The real question is: "Why would anyone, even in a purported scholastic endeavor, raise the question as to whether you can rationalize genocide?"

      Telling.

      .

      Delete
    2. It's easy if you're "religious."

      Shit, the Old Testament is all about genocide.

      You can't swing a dead cat through the bible without running into "God" telling Someone, or other to genocide someone.

      Delete
    3. quirk: The real question is: "Why would anyone, even in a purported scholastic endeavor, raise the question as to whether you can rationalize genocide?"


      Iran did so last week in public. Hamas stated it this week in a press conference.

      Ask them

      Delete
    4. .

      The same question applies to anyone who would suggest rationalizing genocide whether Iran, Hamas, or some hick from Idaho.

      .

      Delete
    5. Then why in the world are you so sympathetic to the Arabs, Quirk?

      The Koran, and the Hamas Charter call explicitly for genocide.

      And you call me a hick from Idaho.

      I could, and should, call you a .......blank bland blank........but won't, striving to be polite these days.

      I'll just note that you have made a total fool and hypocrite out of yourself lately.

      Delete
  18. On the home front, the IRS has been found to have been targeting pro-Israel groups.

    ReplyDelete
  19. From Food For Thought Files:

    The founding documents of Israel do not call for genocide.

    The founding documents of Hamas do call for genocide.

    ReplyDelete
  20. There will always be another Hamas/Fatah/PLO/whatever. These organizations are Not the disease. They are the symptoms of the disease.

    We went in, and took those people's land. We took their houses, their farms, their factories, their businesses, their entire lives - and, left them nowhere to go. They will go to bed every night of their lives dreaming of killing Jews (and, us, if they could get to us.)

    Their children will grow up to dream of killing Jews, as will their grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

    This will go on until the Jews have killed them All, or until the Jews leave, and give back what was taken.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is a fight the Jews probably can't afford to win.

      Delete
    2. "We went in, and took those people's land."

      You are out of your mind.

      You don't know what you are talking about.

      Go read some books about the immigration of Jews to the area and about the founding of Israel.

      You don't even have the basic facts straight.

      You are making a fool out of yourself.

      Stick with Green Energy. You do know a lot about that.

      Delete
    3. And, quite honestly, the whole thing is so far down my give a shit list that you would die of boredom before you got to it.

      Delete
    4. that's why your ignorant mouth runs like diarrhea about the topic...

      Delete
    5. "There will always be another Hamas/Fatah/PLO/whatever. These organizations are Not the disease. They are the symptoms of the disease.
      We went in, and took those people's land. We took their houses, their farms, their factories, their businesses, their entire lives - and, left them nowhere to go. They will go to bed every night of their lives dreaming of killing Jews (and, us, if they could get to us.)
      Their children will grow up to dream of killing Jews, as will their grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
      This will go on until the Jews have killed them All, or until the Jews leave, and give back what was taken."

      The problem is Islam. Not the Jews. Just ask the Christians of Mosul... Oh that's right, they have been driven out of the country or killed...

      Jews were in Israel 1000 years before the arabs crawled out of arabia.

      Learn real history nitwit.

      Delete
  21. Honest to God !

    " We took their houses, their farms, their factories, their businesses"

    When the Jews began to return to the area, there were hardly any houses, farms, factories, businesses.

    The whole place was a backwater.

    When the Jews began building houses, farms, factories, businesses the Bedouin began to come in from the desert for that new thing, a job.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Good lord, Bob.

      Have you ever read a history book? Or do you just spout whatever talking point you are given?

      The Israeli did create a 'miracle in the desert' on the land that was purchased; but the land was owned by a national authority. It did welcome Jews and the self-sustaining kibbutz system but non-Jews were not allowed there. Any jobs the Bedouins got was not do to the generosity of the Jews.

      .

      Delete
    2. It is you that need to read some books about the early days, Quirk

      Delete
    3. quirk: The Israeli did create a 'miracle in the desert' on the land that was purchased; but the land was owned by a national authority. It did welcome Jews and the self-sustaining kibbutz system but non-Jews were not allowed there. Any jobs the Bedouins got was not do to the generosity of the Jews.

      Sure, but the "bedouins" are not the majority of Arabs that make up 20% os Israel's population.

      The Arabs? Own villages and towns by the thousands.

      In fact, under the Israel system, arab citizens of Israel have done quite well

      Delete
    4. Quirk: Any jobs the Bedouins got was not do to the generosity of the Jews.

      Hmm, interesting pov..

      Let me ask you Quirk. Ever have a job? Did you get the job due to the "generosity" of your boss, or did you get a job because you brought VALUE to the table?

      your comment? " Any jobs the Bedouins got was not do to the generosity of the Jews" is complete and udder bullshit. (again)

      Delete
    5. .

      WiO, once again you pontificate with no reference to the fucking context in which a question is answered.

      My response was to Bob's ridiculous claim that when the Jews first started settling in Palestine it created an opportunity for the Bedouins to come out of the cold and get jobs. That is bullshit.

      Try reading the initial post not just the replies.

      .

      Delete
    6. Quirk went to school and learned the supersalesman trade.

      In essence, he has never had a real working job that I have been able to pick up on.

      He is, basically, a fleece artist.

      Delete
  22. I don't have to read old, fictionalized, revisionist history; all I have to do is turn on the computer to see the Israelis bulldozing Palestinian houses, as we type.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Spoken like a truly illiterate old fool from Mississippi.........I don't need no stinkin' books !

      Delete
    2. Hey Rufus,

      Look at a map, just 75 years ago, there were Jews living across the middle east. 850 thousand of them...

      Now look again...

      they are all ethnically cleansed from 899/900th of everything you see..

      now in that one tiny sliver called Israel, 1/900th of the lands of the middle east Israel sits, and 20% are arabs..

      think about it you stupid, drunk, inbred asshole.

      Delete
  23. And, how smug, and arrogant do you have to be for Your Home to be a "Home,"

    but, MY Home is a "Backwater."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My home is a noble backwater, just like yours !

      Out here though, people read.

      Delete
    2. Some of us Think About what we "read."

      Delete
    3. And, even occasionally God forbid, call "Bullshit!"

      Delete
    4. You can dress this pig up in a pink tutu, apply a liberal helping of lipstick, and blush to its snout, and take the curling iron to its tail all day long, but the fact is, "it's a fucking pig."

      And, the fact is, the Jews are in the midst of an attempted conquest of the levant, and are almost certainly doomed to long-term failure.

      Delete
    5. "And, the fact is, the Jews are in the midst of an attempted conquest of the levant, and are almost certainly doomed to long-term failure."

      >>>>The Levant (/ləˈvænt/), also known as the Eastern Mediterranean, is a geographic and cultural region consisting of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt".[2] The Levant today consists of the island of Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and part of southern Turkey (the former Aleppo Vilayet)."

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levant

      Yes, indeed, Israeli armies are invading all these places ......

      Go take a break at Doyle's, Ruf, you could use a few beers in an icy glass for a change instead of out of the can.

      Delete
    6. Rufus proves his ignorance on an hourly basis...

      Delete
  24. Yochanan Gordon proved the case being made by Max Blumenthal. Gordon made the mistake in putting something in writing that which was best left for “polite and private” conversation.

    ReplyDelete

  25. And as far as calling Mississippi a backwater is concerned, it was in retaliation for suffering numerous assaults on my noble Ideeeeeehoooo, as you call it.

    !:)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Ebola patient delivered to Emory University hospital.

    The man, a doctor, got out of the ambulance in a moonsuit and walked in upright !

    He is improving.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Gordon attempted to couch it as an academic speculation. Blumenthal is just honest. That allows Blumenthal to say what he thinks and not have to scurry away from the light. Gordon must have received some very interesting phone calls. His academic go-cart has a five speed reverse.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Deuce ☂Sat Aug 02, 11:02:00 AM EDT
    I think that the Israelis may have noticed that the World was not buying what they are selling, excluding The Conga Line of course. They may have worried that if this continues much longer even the American Right Wing Lobotomized Brain Trust may even catch on.

    I think that the Israelis have to run to bomb shelters 7-10 times a day over 90% of Israel. that reality is driving the Israeli POV that they only solution is the total defanging of Hamas. Just as the USA went after al Queda (and failed btw), the world will have to deal with islamists sooner or later and it will make Israel look like saints.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If the Israeli goal is to eradicate Hamas then they have failed and will continue to fail unless they change their tactics. There is no indication that any change is contemplated. One wonders if that is indeed their goal.

      Delete
    2. ash, Goal?

      What do you have a spreadsheet?

      Deterrence and destruction of hamas's capabilities.

      It's folks like you (and Hamas) that make these goals.

      How about this? Hamas got it's ass kicked, it needs to continue to get it's ass kicked and israel will not stop kicking it's ass...

      Success!

      Delete
    3. Yes, it does appear that Israel's goal is simply to kick Hamas ass. They serve Israel's purpose regardless of the ethics involved in the slaughter.

      By the way - folks like you who conflate Zionism with Judaism are part of the reason we see an increase of late in anti-Semitism.

      Delete
    4. AshSat Aug 02, 04:18:00 PM EDT
      Yes, it does appear that Israel's goal is simply to kick Hamas ass. They serve Israel's purpose regardless of the ethics involved in the slaughter.

      What slaughter? It's war. A slaughter? That's what iran and iraq did to each other, what Canada did to the indians. What the Russians did to the Chechnians, What the Germans did to the Jews What the russians did to themselves No Ash, the 1600 deaths in Gaza, 1000 of which were terrorists was not a slaughter..

      Delete
    5. Ash: By the way - folks like you who conflate Zionism with Judaism are part of the reason we see an increase of late in anti-Semitism.

      So when Israel didn't exist what was your excuse then?

      Ash, don't take this the wrong way... Fuck you and the camel you rode in on...

      Delete
  29. .

    Brennen admits he lied about the CIA spying on Congress and apologizes. Obama says has every confidence in his CIA director. Brennan announces he will set up a panel to get to the bottom of this.

    Groundhog day.

    Every friggin department within this administration has been charged with misdeeds and in most it was obvious they were guilty. Those that haven't been proved guilty are still being reviewed as a result of administration stonewalling, yet, the most any have suffered for either their incompetence or their malfeasance has been a paid leave.

    It's been 6 years. Can we expect anything different in the next two?

    I suppose this can be called a jobs program what with the hiring of so many investigative 'panel' members.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  30. .

    Sources familiar with conversations between Netanyahu and senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry, say the Israeli leader advised the Obama administration "not to ever second guess me again" on the matter. The officials also said Netanyahu said he should be "trusted" on the issue and about the unwillingness of Hamas to enter into and follow through on cease-fire talks.

    http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2014/08/02/netanyahu_to_us_dont_second_guess_me_on_hamas.html

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. the full context sounds quite a bit less aggressive. But then posting something in context would diminish the dramatic flair eh?

      Delete
    2. .

      I merely print quotes of Bibi's words as I have done here before. They speak for themselves.

      Taken with his past comments the man is duplicitous, arrogant, condescending, a liar, and oh yea, ungrateful.

      .

      Delete
    3. .

      ...the full context sounds quite a bit less aggressive.

      Well, I guess it should be. All it does is describe the Obama administration's position on the fact than an Israeli prisoner was taken. There weren't any more Bibi quotes.

      .

      .

      Delete
    4. Like I said, a snipped portion..

      Out of context..

      Less dramatic. But truth aint your sting point.

      Delete
    5. .

      What I posted was the first paragraph of the article.

      What the hell do you think the link I provided was for. You obviously read the article.

      But please. Explain to me how anything, and I mean anything, in the rest of the article mitigates the condescension obvious in the words of this prick who takes our money but then goes berserk and tells his sugar daddy to sod off and pound sand when it , the US, suggests an alternative he doesn't like. The man is felony maniacal.

      .

      Delete
  31. ...the man is duplicitous, arrogant, condescending, a liar, and oh yea, ungrateful. and they are his finer qualities.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He's strong, doesn't tolerate terrorists that live to murder Jews.

      That makes him duplicitous, arrogant, condescending, a liar, and oh yea, ungrateful in your eyes.

      Sorry but as you stated, we Jews today will not go silently into the gas chambers anymore and that just throws a wrench in your party.

      Delete
  32. .

    Members of the lobby here suggested that Israel is the only ally in the ME that the US could rely on. When I queried "Rely on for what?", I was asking a serious question. The response I got from Obumble was words to the effect 'Quart is insane'. The response I got from WiO was that it has been laid out here numerous times before. Now, perhaps I missed it, but Is suspect the non-responsive answers meant our boys need time to think about that question.

    IMO, Jordan has been our most reliable ally in the ME and I am willing to debate it.

    But back to Bibi. That 2001 video recorded without Bibi's knowledge where he was bragging about how he had single-handedly torpedoed the peace process also clearly described in his own words the contempt with which he holds the US public and politicians.

    Congress went into recess yesterday without coming up with any solution to the immigration crisis. Obama is now threatening to legalize up to 5 million illegals on his own. Yet, Congress found time to authorize $225 million in aid to Israel to help them with their war against a country the size Las Vegas.

    Perhaps, Bibi is justified in the contempt with which he holds the American political system. But it still sticks in the craw. I suspect that if Obama ever threatened to block access to the US teat as George H. W. Bush did in the past, Bibi would quickly change his tone and come begging for alms from Daddy Sugar.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  33. How did the US political system get hijacked by the Israeli Lobby. Seriously, what do we owe Israel?

    I am putting this thread back on top,

    ReplyDelete
  34. It looks as if Israel killed another 100 Palestinians based on bad info

    JERUSALEM — The Israeli military announced early Sunday morning that Second Lt. Hadar Goldin, 23, who had been thought captured by Palestinian militants since a deadly clash Friday morning that shattered a planned 72-hour cease-fire, was now considered to have been killed in battle.

    A military spokeswoman declined to say whether Lieutenant Goldin had been killed along with two comrades by a suicide bomb one of the militants exploded, or later by Israel’s assault on the area to hunt for him; she also refused to answer whether remains had been recovered.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds like war.

      It's a shame the Hamas still firing rockets. I guess they are saying to Israel "Please can I have another"

      Delete
    2. On Saturday 84 rockets and mortars were fired into Israel

      Delete
  35. Jake Tapper: More Palestinian children killed in 3 weeks than Israeli soldiers in 8 years

    CNN host, in a recent interview with Mark Regev, stirred controversy by comparing the number of Palestinian children killed in the current conflict to the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the last 8 years.

    ReplyDelete
  36. TAPPER: I have to ask you about these heartbreaking scenes that we're seeing from Gaza. Now, Mark, if my calculations are right, Israel has in the last three weeks killed more Palestinian children, more than 200, than the total number of Israeli soldiers killed in military operations since 2006, which includes the second Lebanon war, Operation Cast Lead, Operation Pillar of Defense, and now Operation Protective Edge.

    That is a lot of dead children, especially relative to the number of soldiers that have been killed in Israel in Israeli military operations in the last eight years. At what point does the Israeli government say, enough, we're killing too many innocent children?

    REGEV: You know, we had a special press conference in Tel Aviv last night.

    And the chief of staff of the Israeli military, the most highest Israeli official in uniform, he said it in openly, and he said it in Hebrew to the Israeli public. It wasn't something for foreign consumption. He said, every innocent victim in Gaza pains us.

    And I think he was saying something very genuine, something very real that Israelis feel. We don't want to see innocent civilians caught up in the crossfire between us and Hamas. But I think the question that you raise...

    TAPPER: But, Mark, it's not just the crossfire, though.

    REGEV: No, it is.

    The question has to be raised. More than two weeks ago, Israel unequivocally and unconditionally accepted an Egyptian cease-fire proposal that was supported by the United States, by the Arab League, by the United Nations. Hamas said no to that cease-fire. Now, Hamas is responsible for all deaths on their side and on our side because they were the ones that kept this conflict going.

    (CROSSTALK)

    TAPPER: Mark, but Netanyahu said no to the cease-fire draft that Kerry proposed.

    (CROSSTALK)

    REGEV: Not true. Not true. Not true.

    ReplyDelete
  37. TAPPER: But, Mark, just recently, the IDF attacked the home of a family in Gaza, the Abu Jama (ph) family. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem says the target was likely Ahmad Sulaman Samud (ph), a member of Hamas' military wing.

    He was killed in the operation. He was targeted, he was killed. And guess what? So were 25 members of this family, including 18 children. So you say you're not targeting civilians. You're targeting bad guys. You're targeting Hamas militants. But civilians are being killed.

    REGEV: Let's be clear here.

    And let's look at the real options that exist in the real world. As you said, and you agreed with me, Hamas is shooting out of civilian infrastructure, out of homes, out of urban neighborhoods, out of mosques, out of schools. Their rockets are raining down on Israel.

    I think we have had some 2,600 rocks on Israeli cities over the last three weeks. Now, what are our options as Israel, is to say, no, we can't shoot back? We can't shoot back because we might inadvertently hit a civilian?

    Of course, we will make a maximum effort to avoid sitting civilians. They're not our targets; our targets are the Hamas terrorists trying to kill us.

    (CROSSTALK)

    TAPPER: I don't think that anyone is suggesting you shouldn't fire back, Mark. I think the question is, is what Israel's doing, A, is it commensurate with the attacks coming at Israel, and, B, is it actually going to be good for Israel in the long run?

    And I think there are a lot of serious questions about that, especially these people, 1.8 million of them living in what has been described as an open air prison. Now they're not going to have power for another year or so because the only power plant in Gaza was bombed, probably by Israel, last night. I think the question is, is this the best course?

    REGEV: You don't know that. No one knows that. No one knows that. No one knows that. No one knows who hit the power plant. And we have actually done our own investigation, and we don't know that it was Israel at all.

    It could have been -- 10 percent of Hamas munitions fired at Israel fall short and they hit in Gaza. We know for a fact that's what happened yesterday at the hospital, where the Shifa Hospital was hit by an outgoing Hamas rocket that malfunctioned. And that could be the case today. We don't know.

    But to blame it on Israel automatically is I think incorrect. But can I answer the larger question that you raise?

    ReplyDelete
  38. TAPPER: Please do.

    REGEV: Look, Israel has to strike back against those who are shooting at us those rockets.

    Now, on one hand, you can't give the terrorists immunity. You can't allow them to shoot because of the possibility of collateral damage. On the other hand, you have to be as surgical as is humanly possible in a very, very difficult combat situation.

    Think of it this way. If terrorists had found a winning strategy that by shooting out of civilian neighborhoods, they have got immunity, what does that mean for terrorists around the world? They have found the winning way to win the war against the democracies. They have found, by using civilians as human shields, they can target innocent civilians with impunity.

    Is that good for America? Is that good for Canada? Is that good for any democracy if terrorists finally found that winning combination? The only way to fight them is to be as pinpointed as possible in a difficult situation.

    And once again -- I say it again -- Hamas is unequivocally responsible for this tragedy, first of all, by rejecting the cease-fires which would have ended it in the first place, and secondly by adopting tactics, tactics that deliberately endanger Gaza civilians and deliberately leads to their deaths.

    TAPPER: We're about to lose the satellite. Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, thanks for coming on and answering my questions.

    REGEV: My pleasure, sir.

    TAPPER: And we should note that since I asked Regev about the authenticity of the transcript at the beginning of the interview, both the White House and Prime Minister Netanyahu's office have issued statements saying that the transcript is completely false.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Glad to see a non-gelded US reporter.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Deuce ☂Sat Aug 02, 08:35:00 PM EDT
    Jake Tapper: More Palestinian children killed in 3 weeks than Israeli soldiers in 8 years


    So?

    That is not meaningful statistic.

    The fact that Israelis protect their kids and palestinians use them as human shield is the difference.

    Maybe Hamas (and the willing population) should build bomb shelters and not fire rockets at civilians.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You really de believe that Jews love their children more than Arabs? You really beliecve that?

      Delete
    2. This is really much worse than I thought.

      Delete
    3. I believe by watching the arab mothers celebrating the suicide deaths of their kids are thrilled that they raised those kids to murder jews.

      As hamas has said repeatedly. "we love death as the Jews love life"

      Delete
    4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHw8JSQknn4

      of course you won't post it, you will say "post it on your own blog"

      Delete
  41. This is what happens when you are a Chosen Person

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complains that the media show pictures of “telegenically dead” Palestinians. It's true. My Facebook feed looks like a perverse beauty contest for dead babies and traumatized kids. There are the “before” shots: Essam Ammar, 4, from Gaza City wears a yellow check shirt and holds a somewhat bedraggled flower; Hind Shadi abu Harbeid, 10, from Beit Hanoun has clearly been playing with her mother's nail varnish — she rests her chin on paint-tipped fingers and gazes away from camera, a small smile lighting up her eyes. Hatem and Yasmeen Yazji hug each other, soft hair flopping over foreheads, big smiles revealing gappy baby teeth. Then there are the “after” images: children on hospital trolleys and in ambulances, children burned, children blinded, children buried under rubble.

    lRelated Israel's doctrine of proportionality in Gaza
    OP-ED
    Israel's doctrine of proportionality in Gaza
    SEE ALL RELATED
    8
    What these dead children tell us, beyond everything else, is this: Israel believes itself unassailable. There is no doubt that Egypt's complicity, newly explicit, has helped. But Israel has acted with impunity for a long time. Remember the Turkish activists it killed on board the Mavi Marmara as they headed for Gaza? Remember Operation Cast Lead in 2008-09? And how, in 2012, the world was shocked when the four children of the Dalou family were killed in Gaza? In the last week, the United Nations noted that a child is killed every hour in Gaza, on average.

    ... and what happens to you when you are not chosen

    ReplyDelete
  42. A strip of coast, 25 miles long by seven miles wide. Home to 1.8 million people. Besieged and locked in for eight years now by Israel from the north, east and west, and by Egypt from the south; their medicine, their books, their calorie intake, their fuel, their CDs, their building bricks all rationed, all outside their control. Half of the Palestinians of Gaza are under age 18. Many of their parents or grandparents were refugees from land just to the north, where Israelis now gather on a hilltop to watch bombs fall on the people they've displaced, the people whose lands they've stolen. If someone with guns and bombs robs me, locks me up and starves me, surely I have the right to dig a tunnel to get hold of food and medicine. Surely I have the right to find a way to fight my jailer.

    It has been de rigueur to decry the Hamas rockets that crash into Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. But terrorism is using violence to impose a political condition. Terrorism is Israel imposing a siege on a people because they voted for a government Israel didn't like. Terrorism is bombing imprisoned civilians and schools and hospitals. Think of the countless days and weeks when no rockets were fired from Gaza. Was the siege lifted then? No. The world treated Gaza as a humanitarian case, as if what the Palestinians needed was aid. What Gaza needs is freedom.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. and yet they have imported tens of thousands of rockets, millions of rounds of ammo, billions of dollars in concrete and steel all used to build tunnels and bunkers...

      the stated aim of hamas is the destruction of israel.

      the gaza strip was given a chance to be free, but it decided to murder the Fatah that was in charge and put instead a terror death cult.

      Delete
  43. You need to be a chosen mutherfucker, don’t you see. God demands it.

    Israel requires the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a “Jewish state.” That is, to accept that the Palestinians living in Haifa, Jaffa, Nazareth, Acre, etc., will always be second-class citizens in their country. Israel ruptures logic; it wants to be a democracy practiced on the basis that some people are “chosen” and others are not. And if that won't work, then it wants the “not chosen” to disappear.

    This impunity will not last forever. Israel has tried to hide from judgment by using emotional blackmail and accusations of anti-Semitism. But the latest Israeli killing spree in Gaza has moved the hearts and consciences of people across the world.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The arabs of Israel are not 2nd class citizens.

      The arabs of the disputed territories (west bank and gaza) are not citizens of Israel and been offered statehood numerous times.

      They have chose not to create a state.

      Delete
    2. What a crock of shit!
      "O"rdure, again you try to blame the victim.

      The Truth is Well Known, but needs repeating

      Israel - Founded by Terrorists and Sustained by Terrorism

      Delete
    3. SodaStream International Ltd. (SODA), the Israeli maker of home soda machines that is said to be considering going private, climbed the most in three months after reporting second-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.

      Shares of SodaStream jumped 10 percent to $32.76 in New York, the biggest gain since April 23. The stock surged 9.4 percent on July 24 amid reports that the Lod, Israel-based company is in talks with an investment firm about a buyout. SodaStream was the best performer on the Bloomberg Israel-U.S. Index, which advanced 1.4 percent to 119.98.

      The rally in the stock comes as SodaStream is negotiating a transaction that would value it at about $40 a share, Bloomberg News reported July 24. The company’s second-quarter revenue rose 6.6 percent, surpassing 10 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Better-than-estimated earnings help boost the prospects of a buyout, said Larry Peruzzi, a senior equity trader at Cabrera Capital Markets LLC in Boston.

      “Beating earnings is a positive as well as the recent range they have been trading in,” Peruzzi said in an e-mail. “The better second-quarter number has some short covering this morning.”

      Delete
  44. Protesters have marched in cities from Tokyo to Reykjavik, Iceland. A tower block in Bogota, Colombia, is illuminated in the colors of the Palestinian flag. #ICC4Israel is trending on Twitter. Dutch children have made a video speaking the words of dead Palestinian children. Hardened newsmen and women have suddenly dropped the “parity” approach and spoken of the horror they're witnessing in Gaza.

    In London, when a group of Jews opposed to Zionism stood on top of a red double-decker to declare their stand with the Palestinians, they were met with a huge cheer. On Sunday, a group of rabbis in Washington disavowed Israel's actions. Jewish citizens across the world declare, “Not in my name.”

    Protests have erupted across Haifa, Nazareth and Tel Aviv. Young people have clashed with occupation forces in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Hebron and many other places. Some of them have lost their lives in this latest round of killing.

    It was not just the arms dealers watching the Israeli display over the last weeks; citizens of the world paid attention, and they've taken Palestine to their hearts. There's a rising demand for an arms embargo against Israel, and for trials for possible war crimes, and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign is getting stronger. None of this will bring back one dead loved one. We mourn the dead and grieve with the living. We also resolve to do everything we can to heal this terrible wound in the heart of the world.

    Ahdaf Soueif is the author of "Cairo: Memoir of a City Transformed."

    Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On Saturday 84 rockets and mortars were fired into Israel...

      The killing of Hamas members will continue until the rockets stop.

      Delete
  45. I've never seen anything like it.

    A steady stream of invective and exaggeration and outright lies about Israel and Jews.

    For weeks on end.

    I would never have imagined it.

    ReplyDelete
  46. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHw8JSQknn4

    of course you won't post it, you will say "post it on your own blog"

    ReplyDelete
  47. I can't see that the moslems really care for their kids at all.

    During the Iran/Iraq war, Iran used the kids to clear mine fields, for instance.

    "We love death more than you love life."

    They mean it, too.

    They show it to be true with a great deal of regularity.

    Islam is a death cult.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Their kids in an ideal world would all be under the care of Child Protective Services in some western country or in Israel.

      (realize I am repeating myself, but I think it is a good idea, expressed moderately well)

      Too bad it can't happen.

      Delete

  48. Quotes of the day
    posted at 8:31 pm on August 2, 2014 by Allahpundit

    Share on Facebook 8
    61 SHARES

    “The IDF has neutralized many terror tunnels that took years for Hamas to build,” Netanyahu said at the start of his address. “The IDF has had many achievements and successes since the beginning of the operation, hitting thousands of targets, including command center, arms factories, and terrorists.”

    “This is a complicated mission, in an urban area, with contact with civilian population,” He said. “I am proud of our soldiers who are doing an extraordinary job,” he encouraged the military troops…

    “We have nothing against the citizens of Gaza that have nothing to do with terrorism,” he said, adding that The army will continue to operate until the mission is completed – to restore the security and quiet to the citizens of Israel.

    “The IDF will continue its mission according to Israel’s security needs, and only according to them,” he concluded.

    ***

    An Israeli Cabinet minister says there is “no point” in trying to reach a Gaza truce with Hamas and that Israel won’t send a delegation to planned cease-fire talks in Cairo.

    The minister, Yuval Steinitz, spoke Saturday on Israel’s Channel 10 television station.

    His comments suggests that Israel plans to end the current round of fighting with Hamas on its own terms, rather than getting entangled in indirect negotiations with Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

    ***

    “This is unprecedented in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict,” says CNN’s Ali Younes, an analyst who has covered the region for decades. “Most Arab states are actively supporting Israel against the Palestinians — and not even shy about it or doing it discreetly.”

    It’s a “joint Arab-Israeli war consisting of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia against other Arabs — the Palestinians as represented by Hamas.”…

    “The Israel-Hamas conflict has laid bare the new divides of the Middle East,” says Danielle Pletka, vice president of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. “It’s no longer the Muslims against the Jews. Now it’s the extremists — the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, and their backers Iran, Qatar and Turkey — against Israel and the more moderate Muslims including Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.”

    from Quotes of the Day at Hot Air

    http://hotair.com/archives/2014/08/02/quotes-of-the-day-1809/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Worth repeating:

      “This is unprecedented in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict,” says CNN’s Ali Younes, an analyst who has covered the region for decades. “Most Arab states are actively supporting Israel against the Palestinians — and not even shy about it or doing it discreetly.”

      It’s a “joint Arab-Israeli war consisting of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia against other Arabs — the Palestinians as represented by Hamas.”…

      Delete
    2. Moe Quotes from Hot Air -



      Those who claim there is only a political solution to the problem fail to understand that in the absence of a military solution it won’t be possible. Until something happens that will eliminate the Palestinian force that is determined to keep the conflict red-hot and is prepared to sacrifice their own people in order to advance that objective, there is no point to those who criticize Israel for not creating a Palestinian state. Though it has been blockaded by Israel, Egypt, and the international community since the 2007 coup that brought Hamas to power there, Gaza has functioned as an independent state for all intents and purposes since then. Its government’s sole objective has been to fight Israel, pouring its scarce resources into rockets, tunnels, and other military expenses while—despite Hamas’s reputation as a “social welfare organization”—doing virtually nothing to better the lives of its people. So long as it is allowed to stay in power that won’t change and, no matter how many cease-fires or negotiations John Kerry sponsors, peace will never happen.

      Delete
  49. Quart, your question about why the USA should care about Israel -

    I've answered this a dozen times I bet.

    Because of shared cultural values.

    You show yourself to be uncouth for not understanding this simple concept.

    Because it is a sane country in a sea of insanity.

    Because it is a democracy.

    Because it values the rule of law.

    Because of the rights of women.

    And because of its unique history in Europe, the fatherlands of most of us.

    You seem to think there has to be some sort of monetary reward to ourselves for supporting Israel.

    In this, you just reveal your training as a supersalesman for whom everything is about the buck.

    You, Sir, are the classic prototypical Urban Hick, for whom money is the end all of life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And knock off the drinking and driving non sense.

      That is the dumbest thing an old man can do.......you should know better.

      Delete
    2. The Bard of MurdockSun Aug 03, 12:01:00 AM EDT

      Quart, your question about why the USA should care about Israel
      Because it is a sane country in a sea of insanity.

      Because it is a democracy.

      Because it values the rule of law.


      The IDF are utter cowards, totally immoral drones following a psychotic extremist government to run a racist hell hole.
      What a waste of innocent lives, despicable.

      Delete
  50. I really like Netanyahu.

    A stand up guy in all ways.

    His brother was killed in the Entebbe Raid

    Operation Entebbe
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Operation Entebbe
    Part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
    Entebbe Uganda Airport Old Tower1.jpg
    The old terminal building of the Entebbe International Airport as it appeared in 2008.
    Date 4 July 1976
    Location Entebbe Airport, Uganda
    Result Mission successful:

    102 of 106 hostages rescued.[1]

    Belligerents
    Israel

    State of Palestine PFLP-EO
    Revolutionary Cells
    Uganda

    Commanders and leaders

    Israel Dan Shomron
    Israel Yekutiel Adam
    Israel Benjamin Peled
    Israel Yonatan Netanyahu (KIA)



    State of Palestine Wadie Haddad
    Revolutionäre Zellen Wilfried Böse
    Uganda Idi Amin

    Strength
    c.100 commandos,
    plus air crew and support personnel. 7 hijackers.
    Unknown number of Ugandan soldiers.
    Casualties and losses
    1 killed
    5 wounded Hijackers:
    7 killed

    Uganda:
    45 killed[2]
    11–30 aircraft destroyed[3]
    3 hostages killed[4][5]
    10 hostages wounded
    [show]

    v
    t
    e

    Palestinian insurgency
    in South Lebanon

    Operation Entebbe was a counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by commandos of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976.[6] A week earlier, on 27 June, an Air France plane with 248 passengers was hijacked, by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the German Revolutionary Cells, and flown to Entebbe, the main airport of Uganda. The local government supported the hijackers and dictator Idi Amin personally welcomed them. The hijackers separated the Israelis and Jews from the larger group and forced them into another room.[7][8][9] That afternoon, 47 non-Israeli hostages were released.[7][9][10] The next day, 101 more non-Israeli hostages were allowed to leave on board an Air France aircraft. More than 100 Israeli and Jewish passengers, along with the non-Jewish pilot Captain Bacos, remained as hostages and were threatened with death.[11][12]

    The IDF acted on intelligence provided by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. The hijackers threatened to kill the hostages if their prisoner release demands were not met. This threat led to the planning of the rescue operation.[13] These plans included preparation for armed resistance from Ugandan military troops.[14]

    The operation took place at night. Israeli transport planes carried 100 commandos over 2,500 miles (4,000 km) to Uganda for the rescue operation. The operation, which took a week of planning, lasted 90 minutes. 102 hostages were rescued. Five Israeli commandos were wounded and one, the unit commander, Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, was killed. All the hijackers, three hostages and 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed, and thirty (some say 11[4][5]) Soviet-built MiG-17s and MiG-21s of Uganda's air force were destroyed.[3] Kenyan sources supported Israel, and in the aftermath of the operation Idi Amin issued orders to retaliate and slaughter several hundred Kenyans present in Uganda.[15]

    Operation Entebbe, which had the military codename Operation Thunderbolt, is sometimes referred to retroactively as Operation Jonathan in memory of the unit's leader, Yonatan Netanyahu. He was the older brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Prime Minister of Israel.[16]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. " the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the German Revolutionary Cells, and flown to Entebbe, the main airport of Uganda. The local government supported the hijackers and dictator Idi Amin personally welcomed them"

      PLA hangs out with great folks, huh?

      Delete
    2. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, I meant.

      There used to be rumors that Idi liked eating human flesh.

      Whether that is true or not I do not know.



      Delete
    3. Idi's government qualified as a criminal conspiracy.

      Who runs Uganda these days I don't know.

      Delete
  51. Judge Jeanine Pirro is on a wonderful rant on Fox.

    She would make a great President.

    Ben Carson is nearing a decision to run for the office himself. I think he will.

    He too would make a great President, at least on the domestic front, though I'm uncertain of his foreign policy views as of now.

    ReplyDelete
  52. SodaStream International Ltd. (SODA), the Israeli maker of home soda machines that is said to be considering going private, climbed the most in three months after reporting second-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.

    Shares of SodaStream jumped 10 percent to $32.76 in New York, the biggest gain since April 23. The stock surged 9.4 percent on July 24 amid reports that the Lod, Israel-based company is in talks with an investment firm about a buyout. SodaStream was the best performer on the Bloomberg Israel-U.S. Index, which advanced 1.4 percent to 119.98.

    The rally in the stock comes as SodaStream is negotiating a transaction that would value it at about $40 a share, Bloomberg News reported July 24. The company’s second-quarter revenue rose 6.6 percent, surpassing 10 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Better-than-estimated earnings help boost the prospects of a buyout, said Larry Peruzzi, a senior equity trader at Cabrera Capital Markets LLC in Boston.

    “Beating earnings is a positive as well as the recent range they have been trading in,” Peruzzi said in an e-mail. “The better second-quarter number has some short covering this morning.”

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  53. The Bard of MurdockSun Aug 03, 12:13:00 AM EDT

    You should see the most recent columns by Martin Sherman on the Jerusalem Post, presenting ethnic cleansing as a solution to Gaza and terming it “humanitarian relocation.”

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