Caterpillar Fashion
Israel might be able to go on claiming that it will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East, but it cannot do the same regarding another weapon of mass destruction: the bulldozer. The claim that terror has adopted an original new weapon, a "new fashion" as the public security minister put it, once again shows how convenient it is for us to present a one-sided and distorted picture.
The bulldozer as a destructive and even lethal weapon was not invented by the Palestinians. They are merely imitating an Israeli "fashion" that is as old as the state, or at least as old as the occupation. Let us forget for a moment the 416 villages Israel wiped off the face of the earth in 1948 - that was before there were D9 bulldozers - and focus on a more modern fashion. In Israel's hands the bulldozer has become one of the most terrifying weapons in the territories. The only difference between the Palestinians' murderous bulldozer and the Israeli bulldozer is in color and size. As usual, ours is bigger, much bigger. There is no similarity between the small backhoe the Palestinian terrorist was driving and the fearsome D9 driven by Israel Defense Forces soldiers.
From the dawn of the occupation, Caterpillar has been a major arms supplier to Israel, no less than those who provide planes, cannons and tanks. Not for nothing are peace activists trying to call for a boycott of the manufacturer. Israel has sown almost unimaginable destruction using heavy equipment. Go to Rafah, stopping in Khan Yunis on the way, and see the results of the destruction scattered there to this day. Whole neighborhoods razed, the contents of houses - possessions and memories - crushed under the treads. Have you ever seen a street after being "stripped" by a bulldozer? Cars are crushed like tin cans and homes become piles of rubble, along with their contents. Any street in Rafah looks much worse than King David Street in Jerusalem this week.
In 2004, for example, 10,704 Palestinians were made homeless after the IDF destroyed 1,404 homes, mostly in Gaza, due to "operational needs." In the Jenin refugee camp, Israel destroyed 560 homes; the legendary bulldozer driver "Kurdi" told how he would swig whiskey as he "turned Jenin into a soccer field." In Operation Rainbow, another bulldozer operation, Israel destroyed 120 homes in one day in the Brazil camp in Rafah. Only someone who was in Rafah and Khan Yunis at the time can understand what our excellent bulldozers did.
Do not say that our bulldozers only destroy but do not kill. Who killed peace activist Rachel Corrie if not a bulldozer whose driver, according to witnesses, saw her before he crushed her to death? And what about the Shubi family in the Nablus casbah - a grandfather, two aunts, a mother and two children - crushed under bulldozers? And who killed Jamal Faid, a handicapped man from the Jenin camp, whose wheelchair only was found under the ruins of his house, with his body never recovered? Was that not bulldozer terror?
The Palestinians discovered the bulldozer quite late. What is good for us is good for them. And how do our security experts propose to fight the new fashion? By demolishing the houses of the terrorists. With bulldozers, of course.
--Gideon Levy
© Copyright 2008 Haaretz
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79 Comments so far
Show Allopel, yea, Thomas Moore should know what the arabs want: the destruction of the state of israel and the death of its jewish population.
They are very honest about this, if you care to listen.
Thomas, of course jerusalem was never supposed to be an "international city" for "all relgions". When was it supposed to be this? When the mufti ran it and his gangs regularly murdered and raped jews and christians? When the crusaders came? Maybe we should make wherever you live "international"...
You are usually right on the money so I'm surprised to see you going along with the idiots on this one.
Elm, most of the people cheering on Kuntar were most certainly not palestinians who had lost someone in the struggle. Most of them were lebonese, and many, like the president, most certainly have not fought with israel. They cheer him on because he murdered a jewish 4-year old. Among arabs, there are few greater things that can be done. Until you understand that, you do not understand the side you support at all.
Israel not having nuclear weapons??? I don't like to be taken for an idiot. And one day bulldozers will visit Israel and then Israelis will have the pleasure of experiencing the same pain they inflict upon others. What goes around, comes around!
For those among us who doubt that there's any similarity between Gaza and the Warsaw Ghetto, get ready for a major mind jolt from having gone to "Activists To Test Gaza Naval Blockade", specifically, today's post by zaz in which zaz claims that before the blockade begain, a top Israeli officer was quoted as saying "We're going to put the Palestinian's on a diet, but we're not going to kill them." Which back then might have gotten a laugh or two but definitely not on July 26, knowing as we do (from a recent report by the U.N. refugee organization) that since the blockade began, on the average there's been a twenty pound weight loss among Gazans.
so with the above in mind, before it's too late, all together now....
Gaza And The Warsaw Ghetto
same place
different time
while the world stood by
genocide
live
opeluboy; Are you a BJ Penn fan?
He is so fluid. A natural.
Best Regards.
opeluboy July 25th, 2008 7:37 pm
"mordechai
I do apologize for making what sounded like a threat or a hope on my part. That was not my intention and should have made that clear."
That was well done.
Happy to meet anyone like you my friend. I don'tb type tough.
I know what I am talking about and I am fairly sure you have no experience.
I would no more accept posts on here without checking them out and confirmation than I'd believe G. Bush.
Your assertions could be true for all I know, But because I don't know I don't accept them at face value or anyone elses.
But this foolish food fight has gone too far. You and a few others seem to be incapable of accepting dissenting opinions. I don't casre if you guys are Islomaphiles or not.
I'm sure you are big and you are tough, but my training is still good so I think you might have had a surprise. But I stopped that foolishness years ago.
Adults should know better.
Thomas More - I stand by my statement that saying you don't know what the Palestinians want is stupid. Any regular reader of CD should have a clue.
And it is very easy to type tough on a website. I can assure you I am not a "little fella" and that if you were face to face with me those words would have never left your mouth.
But that's fine. Act tough. Whatever makes you feel like a man.
mordechai - The point about keeping the bags packed is phrase I hear frequently from Jews. It was not intended as a threat, but a prediction. It is the furthest thing from my desires.
Zionists have increased anti-Semitism around the world. It is increasing here, and the reason is that there is so much arrogance in the American Zionist community that they no longer even pretend they are not trying to pervert American foreign policy.
Seeing innocent Jews blamed for what their amoral brothers do is not my wish. but it is a likely outcome, should history be any guide.
I can also say one other thing. I am Hawaiian, not German. I am not an anti-Semite, I am an anti-Zionist. And I can say with certainty that if I saw a Jew being abused for no other reason than his Jewishness, I would be the first to his defense.
I do apologize for making what sounded like a threat or a hope on my part. That was not my intention and should have made that clear.
"Now let me make something clear, I ABHOR killing of civilians by anybody…"
And that my dear friend is the important thing. And the thing we agree on most. In fact I would venture to say you and the decent people on CD would agree that we abhor the killing of anybody.
To answer the civil question that was asked, of course I'm not a Zionist...nor am I committed to Palestinians. I simply don't know enough about it.
I don't know anything else to say to someone who feels that if you question something, you must be against it or some kind of nut for not having the same opinion as you do.
physicscitizen July 25th, 2008 3:32 am
That was a very kind thing to do and appreciated.
lisa3210peace July 25th, 2008 8:31 am
True, you can Google many things, but the information may or may not be correct. I look for everything I can find and talk to everyone I can before I take a position on something. I try to be veruy careful not to say something I'm not sure of.
Rainborowe July 25th, 2008 10:30 am
Thanks very much for that information.
I think a heavily armored D9, is the perfect prey for a trap built on top of several hundred tons of illegally dumped Israeli sewage
Even though I abhor violence, I cannot imagine a more fitting place for Rachel's murderer to find himself in …
Actually, there are great differences between an F-16 and a D9: cost, speed, and weight. But what about acute and chronic lethal or non-lethal effects?
Both the D9 and F-16 can kill people, eliminate their housing and possessions, disrupt the delivery of utilities, and destroy food supplies.
An armoured D9 is hardly a tool of peace employed for the greater good of humanity...
Thomas More Said: "Calm down my friend. I understand the emotion that drove these posts, but try and understand how hard it is to understand how these people can cheer a murderer released by the Israeli."
Yeah, there is a lot of anger regarding this isn't there... I can understand how 'these people', as you call them, can cheer the release of Samir Kantar (the so called Murderer)... To the Palestinians, most of whom has had loved ones killed by Israel, he is a hero... a resistance fighter, someone who fights back against the occupier.
Now let me make something clear, I ABHOR killing of civilians by anybody...
Z I O N I S T _ W A T C H, _____ ( 8:44 am )
An excellent HISTORIC find, and so appropriate to toss back at the pathetically il-motivated zionistas
"If I were a Jew, I'd keep a bag packed."
We always have our bags packed, even the non-Zionists. I think I'll be staying out of your neighborhood, Herr Opeluboy.
"This is primarily directed at Ostrogoth but many others seem to lack the maturity to refrain from unsubstantiated ad-hominem attacks also."
--posted by physicscitizen @ 3:32 am
_______________
So now those who tell the truth about Israel lack maturity. Right. You people never quit.
Thomas More has been claiming neutrality and ignorance about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ever since I can remember, but that never stops him from making irrational, pro-Israeli statements.
I asked him whether he's Zionist because I know from experience that it's useless to debate Zionists. They're racist fanatics whose goal is to deceive and obfuscate, not elucidate.
Let him answer the question.
This forum should not be a platform for blind racist propaganda, or for justifying ethnic cleansing or crimes against humanity. Or a war of aggression against Iran.
We've got enough of that in the MSM.
For Thomas More's information:
The IDF has sealed the border between Ghaza and Egypt. The Israeli navy patrols the coast of Ghaza and seals that border, too. Only the border with Israel to the north has very limited, closely monitored crossing.
They claim Palestinians have no right to return to their homes but If some person in Upper Moldavia converted to Judaism it that persons right to become an Israeli citizen, living on land that was taken from that very Palestinian.
An absurd concept yet those who claim to want Justice, support this concept and can not understand why their position is condemned.
Check out how some tribal Indians and Maoris in New Zealand are taking advantage of this "right".
Bizarro had nothing on these guys.
Earlier today, Zionist Forces raided the West Bank, abducting at least 20 palestinians.
Yesterday, Thursday, at least 20 Iraqi's were killed and 39 wounded in violence across the provinces.
One American was wounded.
The Zionists returned Safely with their blind-folded Kidnapped "Terrorists". Children used to be Tortured at Khiam, but the publicity was terrible.
Now the Jews are more careful. Palestinians are 'disapearred' for Torture and Interrogation. Inquisition.
Some will never be seen again.
If one Googles Gaza Entry Exit, there is an abundance of data about the (non) border crossings, which are controlled by Israel.
Gaza is like Warsaw. It is the worlds largest Concentration Camp. And Zee Discipline is enforced with tanks, guns, Apache-attack helicopters, CateKillers (thanks Eilleen Fleming.)
But this gets me the most; The Jews STARVE these people, then, where the Palestinians try to grow food, the JEWS PUMP THEIR KOSHER SHIT INTO THE FARMLAND they plow under and destroy, INTO THE WELLS and irrigation canals of their 1.5 million prisoners. Women and Children the are ALREADY starving. Murdering.
Rascism Sucks, but what kind of People Do this? I cannot help but be sickened and wonder.
The best defense is when it comes from others. This is primarily directed at Ostrogoth but many others seem to lack the maturity to refrain from unsubstantiated ad-hominum attacks also.
I have long read the posts by Thomas Moore and find them to generally be thought provoking and intelligent.
He is a human being, however, and therefore can make mistakes and also has gaps in his knowledge....but this does not make him a Zionist. Or any other kind of 'ist' for that matter.
Indeed, earlier He admitted that his knowledge of the situation in Gaza was highly suspect and committed himself to learn more. This increased my admiration for him by a sizable factor since there are far too many people who first decide what they want to believe and then (to paraphrase a memo from Downing Street) Fix the facts around the premise.
We have seen a lot of this attitude in our administration over the last 8 years and even more out of Republicans for longer, but this proclivity is a disease that infects the left as well...as many of the previous posts make clear.
"But they do it with style, class, earnestly, forcefully but not with the cheapness you both displayed."
-posted by Thomas More @ 11:49 pm
_________________
Are you a Zionist? I ask that question because I'm fed up with the Zionists' cynical justifications for ethnic cleansing and persecution of Palestinians in the West Bank, and their continual efforts to drag us into war with Iran based on lies.
Worst of all, it's our tax money that props up Zionist apartheid, which makes all of us unwilling accomplices in their crimes against humanity.
There's nothing classy or stylish about ethnic cleansing, persecution, and apartheid. Zionist paranoia can never justify Zionist land-grabs.
Why should we put up with Zionist warmongering and racist supremacism when Nazis and KKK members would never be allowed to post on these forums?
opeluboy July 24th, 2008 8:58 pm
Ostrogoth July 24th, 2008 8:55 pm
You know, I'ev just about had it with you callow little children that can't make a point without insulting someone. If you were men I'd take more offense.
So lets get to it. First of all how you two little ones extrapolated what I said into the silly conclusions you espoused here is beyond me. Second, where did you gain your expertise? What experience do either of you have, what personal knowledge of the problem do you have? How do you justify your conclusions.
By the way you little dishonest twits, thats right dishonest. Insults and charges abound, but I never see much in the way of inquiry, only unfounded claims of this or that.
opeluboy July 24th, 2008 10:49 pm
You in particular little fella can take your anti-semetic attitude and put it where the monkey put the nuts.
There is frankly nothing worse than a racist or bigot which you both show yourselves to be. Please accept my unbridled contempt.
Many other people here seem to have no problem answering questions or for that matter telling me I'm stuffed entirely full of moonbeams if they diosagree. But they do it with style, class, earnestly, forcefully but not with the cheapness you both displayed.
Thats all I have to say to or about you.
elmysterio July 24th, 2008 8:12 pm
Thanks elmysterio. I was unaware of that. I thought that Egypt controlled her own borders with Gaza. And I didn't know that they blockaded the coast.
I need to do a bit more research obviously, but it's beginning to look like you may be right on this.
I sent an e-mail to some friends that are in the region to see what they think and have observed. They are in Lebanon right now I believe and I don't know if they have been in Gaza.
Goose2 July 24th, 2008 8:11 pm
elmysterio doesn't lie. You should apologize. Many make mistakes, we are even wrong at times, I know I have been a couple of times. But liar. I think not.
The Israeli State has a law that allows any person who is Jewish, living anywhere in the world to emigrate to Israel and claim full citizenship.
These persons of Jewish extraction (Or not) might have converted to Judaism or might have an ancestor who left that region 2000 years before.
The same state refuses to allow people who LIVED there, and whose ancestors lived there continously for hundreds of years and more to return to that state.
They claim Palestinians have no right to return to their homes but If some person in Upper Moldavia converted to Judaism it that persons right to become an Israeli citizen , living on land that was taken from that very Palestinian.
An absurd concept yet those who claim to want Justice, support this concept and can not understand why their position is condemned.
maybe not all jews are zionists & viceversa, but the solid support & money from USA jews (are they all dual citizens?)
makes this point moot.
Until we have some influential, humanitarian voices denouncing the killing of Palestinians with blatant immunity and the continual propaganda as noted above (Jew=victim, Palestianian=terrorist) we are stuck in the rut.
The Jews must apologize for their (I'm being charitable here) unthinking seizure of ancestral lands is completely illogical.
I had my home foreclosed on 17 years ago.
Can I now go there and throw out the current occupants? Can I rent a bulldozer & knock it down because I can't have it anymore?
of course not and I'm talking about what happened in 1990 - not 2 - 3 thousand years ago.
OK, opeluboy, I accept that the need for stopgap measures, but only as part of a long term program that is supportable. The vast majority of what I hear never steps beyond this or that reform of a fetid system. While we all need to compromise to take care of today, it is criminally negligent to say nothing about the big picture. Furthermore, my many years in political discourse has revealed that the failure to mention the big goal is usually a conscious deception. Calling for a reform in Middle East policy is most often a back-handed way of saying that imperialism can be reformed into a rational and fair system, if we just tweak it a little. This notion - and its proponents - must be exposed as treacherous.
Palestine Forever,
As israel was Never,
But a Fraud
Until the
Final Curtain-Call.
Israel: Murderer Incorporated.
PissantNobody - Agreed. All Jews are not Zionists, and indeed all Zionists are not Jews.
But your recipe for peace and justice is going to take a bit too long to bake.
There will be no Palestinians or Palestinian land left by the time your highly unlikely solution could take place.
And it is not the only solution. International pressure should be applied to Israel, forcing her to honor conventions, international law and treaties.
There is precious little time to fuck around.
First of all, can we stop equating Jew with Zionist? They are not equivalent, with many Jews very ashamed by the cruel imperialism of Israel (totally enabled by their American masters).
Speaking of imperialism... What place on earth better shows the need for international socialist egalitarianism than Palestine/Israel? The borders are totally illegitimate, and the people are still intertwined, with the interests on both sides are primarily economic. Nationalism is poison for humanitarians of all stripes.
The Israeli proletarian is key to the local solution, and must be won over communism. This can only happen if the Leninist party that can lead them forward is in place and adopted. That is the key, and those who want peace and justice must build that party.
Thomas More says:
"I'm glad everybody is so sure who's right here. I'm still trying to find out what each side wants. Especially the Palestinians."
That may be the single most idiotic, dishonest comment I have seen here to date by a regular reader of this site, including the amoral, arrogant, Jewish supremacists who offer non-stop apology for their criminal state.
If you are still clueless as to what the Palestinians want, with article after article here on an almost daily basis detailing their plight, the oppression and universally recognized injustice, you are too severely retarded to feed yourself.
Why do apologists for Israeli ethnic cleansing and expansion, such as Thomas More and Goose2, even bother to post their vicious nonsense on this forum? Go look for suckers somewhere else.
When Israel grants the right of return to Palestinian refugees, and Palestinians vote the Zionists out of power, we will have a chance for justice and peace in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the powder keg fuse is burning, and the Zionists keep it lit with continual atrocities to further their own racist, expansionist agenda.
Gotta love the Zionists who come here to defend Israeli depravity, inhumanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, genocide, racism, theft and murder.
But what's really cute about them is that they demand we think of them as eternal victims, as they destroy and brutalize an entire people.
I used to have some sympathy for you guys, but now I have no difficulty understanding why you have been run out of every country on the planet.
It's people like yourselves who embroiled us in Iraq, who have made America hated in the ME (pissing off one billion Muslims) and are even now working feverishly to mire us in Iran, hopefully slaughtering millions more Arabs/Muslims for you as America spirals further downward in economic ruin and becomes as hated as your personal shitty little Valhalla is world wide.
Americans are stupid, but eventually they catch on. Should your dreams of war with Iran reach fruition, and the blowback is as horrible as every expert predicts, fingers will start to point to those who brought this all on us. If I were a Jew, I'd keep a bag packed.
Of course all the MSM will focus on the Palestinian using a bulldozer to attack Israelis as if this were a new and revolting idea, ignoring what the Jews have been doing for years.
Nope, no Jewish control of media. It's just "overpresentation."
physicscitizen July 24th, 2008 5:12 pm
(I don't mean to get into a pissing match, but)
Dude, you are missing the point. The D9's were not bought by a contractor and 'just happened to' find their way into the IDF. That's the difference.
I do see what you're saying. But I'm sure the IDF didn't dress up in bib overalls and mosey on down to the local 'cat' store & casually purchase 2 dozen (or whatever) D9's either.
Israel - the real evil state. I wouldn't mind if Israel were to exist no more.
An appropriate home for the Jews would have been Miami Beach. And the wailing wall? The parking garage walls of their condos.
Goose2: How am I wrong? What fact have I said that is wrong? Are you trying to say that Israel is justified in their actions towards the Palestinians?
As for facilitating hatred... Israel doesn't need me to do that... they're doing just fine on their own by their actions. I can see it now... here it comes, you're gonna bring out Anti-Semitic aren't you? Go ahead! I don't care... I'm looking at it from the point of view that there are two parties involved. One is the oppressor and in violation of international law, the other is the oppressed, living under a brutal occupation. Frankly, I live with myself just fine. You on the other hand, disgust me.
Thomas More Said: "Gaza on the other hand is not surrounded by walls. Just between Israel and Gaza isn't it? Can't any body in Gaza leave any time they like? Have the Isralei tried to interfere with any goods landed from the sea, departures? Gaza has a border with Egypt and they can bring anything they want in can't they? If they are malnourished why not bring in food? How is Gaza under siege by Israel? Its wide open to the sea and to Egypt."
No, the Gazan people can not leave anytime they like... ALL entry and exit from Gaza is controlled by Israel. The Israelis are enforcing a blockade on Gaza and NOTHING can come in or out, even by sea. The IDF patrols the waters off Gaza and have been known to fire on vessels in 'Gazan waters'.
Even the Egyptian border with Gaza is sealed and controlled by Israel. Once in a while, the Rafah crossing into Egypt will open, but it's quite rare... Of course there was the "Tearing down the wall" between Gaza and Egypt a few months ago when the people poured across the border to get supplies from Egypt. It was resealed a few days later and the siege has continued. The border between Egypt and Gaza is NOT wide open. Gaza is surrounded, and Israel controls EVERYTHING in and out.
Check out this site: http://endgazasiege.net/en/
Hey elmysterio. You are wrong, your facts are wrong and you are facilitating violence and hatred.
In addition you are a liar.
"You want to know what the Palestinians want? Simple. PEACE. "
If they want peace they can have it. They don't though unless it is on their terms and that is not going to happen as long as people of good will support Israel.
Israel's former thug-in-chief is comatose and so is Ariel_Sharon, But that doesn't stop the rants.
In 1988, in an enormous compromise, the Palestinian National Council, or parliament-in-exile, voted to accept a two-state solution that would return to Palestinians only the 22 percent of their land that had been occupied in 1967. They accepted that the other 78 percent would remain Israel. While some individual Palestinians and some small organizations still reject that historic compromise, for the vast majority of Palestinians the goal is for an independent state–a fully realized and truly independent state–in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital.
If Israel accepted this compromise why hasn't it been put into effect?
"Palestinians also want the right for refugees to return to their homes, from wherever they were expelled."
Does that mean the right to return inside Israel?
elmysterio July 24th, 2008 7:08 pm
Calm down my friend. I understand the emotion that drove these posts, but try and understand how hard it is to understand how these people can cheer a murderer released by the Israeli.
I did see the 100 video camera's that were given to Palestinians by a peace group and some of the pictures they took. That was an inspired gift.
As to Gaza and the Warsaw Ghetto.
The Ghetto was completely walled in. No one could leave. They were directly under the military control of the Nazi's. They could not bring in supplies or anything else for that matter.
Gaza on the other hand is not surrounded by walls. Just between Israel and Gaza isn't it?
Can't any body in Gaza leave any time they like? Have the Isralei tried to interfere with any goods landed from the sea, departures? Gaza has a border with Egypt and they can bring anything they want in can't they? If they are malnourished why not bring in food? How is Gaza under siege by Israel? Its wide open to the sea and to Egypt.
These aren't rhetorical questions.
Israeli Army officers now ask their men to study tactics used by the Nazis in suppressing the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising:
If our job is to seize a densely packed refugee camp or take over the Nablus Casbah, and if this job is to be given to an Israeli officer to carry out without casualties he must before all else analyse and bring together the lessons of past battles, even--shocking though this might appear--to analyse how the German Army operated in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Regarding using the Nazi genocide as the benchmark of all morality, Ilan Pappe quoted a recently deceased Israeli journalist on this notion:
But we are still left with the chilling remark of Aryeh Caspi--a Haaretz journalist who died recently and prematurely--that, unfortunately for the Palestinians, so long as the state's policy toward them is less than genocidal, anything else is morally justifiable.
Oh yeah, and Thomas, you want to know what the Israelis want? They want "Greater Israel" from the Nile to the Euphrates. You know, their 'historical' homeland? What's fucked up about the whole thing is that the REAL Jews (Sephardic) are 2nd class citizens in Israel where as the FAKE Jews (Ashkenazi) run the show.
Finally, how the hell can all you heartless bastards live with yourself trying to justify Israeli crimes against the Palestinians? Really, where's your frickin humanity!?! God, it makes me so angry! And Thomas, it's not a matter of finding out who's Right and Wrong... Think about it... Who's the oppressor? Who's the oppressed? There's your frickin answer.
Thomas More: You want to know what the Palestinians want? Simple. PEACE. They want Israel to respect UN resolutions and international law. They want to have a country and an end to the occupation. Simple. Yes, there are 'extremists' who want to destroy Israel, the way Israel destroyed Palestine, you know, revenge and all that... but really, what they want is peace and an end to occupation. Is that too much to ask?
What do the Palestinians want?
Many Palestinians, those in their 60s or older, remember being expelled from their homes inside what is now Israel but what was then Palestine, in 1947 or '48. Some of them still hold the keys to their homes that they kept as they fled, thinking they would be back in days or weeks. Many more remember the terror of being expelled from their homes in the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, finding minimal shelter in refugee camps that became home for 35 years or more. Palestinians want dignity, human rights, and a state of their own.
In 1988, in an enormous compromise, the Palestinian National Council, or parliament-in-exile, voted to accept a two-state solution that would return to Palestinians only the 22 percent of their land that had been occupied in 1967. They accepted that the other 78 percent would remain Israel. While some individual Palestinians and some small organizations still reject that historic compromise, for the vast majority of Palestinians the goal is for an independent state--a fully realized and truly independent state--in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Palestinians also want the right for refugees to return to their homes, from wherever they were expelled. The right of return is part of international law, and Palestinians are specifically guaranteed that right by UN Resolution 194, which states that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return."
Simply an end to "the violence" is insufficient, because it would leave in place the structures of military occupation that prevent Palestinians from realizing their full national rights and their human rights to dignity and independence.
http://tinyurl.com/67sjg
http://tinyurl.com/5l7tby
Physicscitizen,
You seem to be unaware that Israel purchases from Caterpillar, special, bullet-proof glass and armored cab-equipped D9's for use in the systematic demolition of Palestinian homes by the thousands over the past couple decades. And, in the case of Jenin, and later on Racael Corrie in Gaza, they used them to kill poeple too.
But yes, it is the ultimately dozer operators, not the dozer itself that is the probelm.
Goose2 said: "Simply hyperbole on the part of children with no real facts to argue."
I say: Don't insult my intelligence fuck-wad. By discounting what I'm trying to say with simple conjecture, is sad on your part.
I'm glad everybody is so sure who's right here. I'm still trying to find out what each side wants. Especially the Palestinians.
Thomas More said: "These two bear no resemblence to each other. Not in size, not in population nor in any other way. An absurd comparison."
I disagree... In the Warsaw ghetto, there was ~ 400,000 people... In Gaza, the population is 1.4 million. Both are/were walled in. Both have/had massive malnutrition and shortages of pretty much everything. Both were grossly over-crowded. While Gaza is much bigger, the suffering of the people isn't any less. The Ghetto was 1.3 sq miles while Gaza is 139 sq miles, but 3x the population. The only thing missing really, is the trains taking the inhabitants to the gas chambers... You're splitting hairs trying to justify the siege of Gaza by saying that the Jews of Warsaw suffered SO MUCH MORE than the Palestinians. I'm not saying the conditions are identical, but there is great similarity. I would argue that BOTH are/were crimes against humanity. I hardly find absurdity in any of this.
The 'fact' that the Jews have 'suffered so much persecution', and yet they are now the ones doing the persecution, that is what is absurd Thomas. But Oh No... nobody has suffered as much as the Jews right?
exterminate means kill---right?
>>Gaza And The Warsaw Ghetto
These two bear no resemblence to each other. Not in size, not in population nor in any other way. An absurd comparison.<<
Truely. An absurd comparison. The Germans exterminated and leveled the Warsaw Ghetto. The Israelis, no matter how harsh, have never exterminated anyone. Simply hyperbole on the part of children with no real facts to argue.
The Jews killed Jesus Christ? ouch, that one hurt
The wall is going to bring peace to the border regardless of if it is a land grab or not. Since Palestinians refuse to stop shooting rockets and morters, I actually support the wall. Once it is finished and then built along the Gaza, the wars will be over and then negotiations can start. Of course at that point the Palestinian hand will be pretty weak.
Palestine can end this any time they simply quit fighting.
Everyone states they have a right to defend themselves and of course that is right, but there is always a human cost to violence, in this case the wall. It also raises the corrolary that if the Palestinians have a right to defend themselves, then so do the Israelis. The only way to have peace is to get both sides to stop shooting and the Palestinains have not done that wile the Israelis have over and over again.
I find it rather sad that everyone here is so blind as to think that there shouldn't be peace till the Palestinians have "justice" while ignoring that that would be an "injustice" to the Israelis and therefor no peace.
Peace has to preceed justice or justice will never happen.
You can actually donate money to the IDF and earmark it for the wall. I think that may be the best money you can contribute for peace at this time because it is going to end in the absolute separation of the two groups for the forseeable future.
MORE on Caterkiller's and those who are DOING SOMETHING!
"We all need a psychiatrist, but we cannot afford one, so we do activism."-Ashraf Abu Moch, Israeli Palestinian, ICAHD Volunteer.
I was last in Jerusalem, last July and attended ICAHD/Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions summer kick off.
ICAHD is a non-violent do something group opposed to the occupation of Palestine which resists the Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in the Occupied Territories.
ICAHD has committed to rebuild the 18,000 homes the Israeli government has destroyed which has resulted in creating 18,000 extended homeless families who legally own their land.
According to international law, the Fourth Geneva Convention forbids home demolitions in occupied territories and demands that the occupiers maintain the status quo and not pilfer the resources of the indigenous population.
Indigenous Palestinians are denied building permits in the Orwellian democracy of Israel while USA fundamentalist Christian churches financially support and pray for the illegal settlements/colonies which have been erected on legally owned Palestinian land.
In contrast to the misdeeds of empire, last July twenty five internationals, dozens of Israelis and scores of Palestinians created a community upon the rocky barren land of the Hamdan family of nine and handed the keys of the house over to Hassan Yussef Hamdan and his family fourteen days later.
The land has legally been owned by the Hamdan clan with the deeds filled-out in Hassan Yussef's great-grandfather's name, during the Ottoman Empire. The oldest son, Mohammed's grandmother, Um Mohammad addressed the media in Arabic which was translated in English by Nadia another ICAHD volunteer, while the foundation of the house was being laid:
"We own twenty-five pieces of land, twenty-five meters is one piece. After building our home here, we received papers demanding we demolish our own home. We got a lawyer in Tel Aviv, and after paying $10,000.00 she did nothing. The soldiers came under our window and we hired another lawyer and had to pay 70,000 shekels within two hours to hold off the soldiers. The soldiers came back two more times, after more negotiations the soldiers came back a third time and destroyed our home."
ICAHD spokesmen, Meir Margalit admitted, "We are here because we are embarrassed and ashamed of our government. A decent person cannot handle what this government puts innocent people through. We are doing this for both sides; for the innocent families and to keep the moral values of Judaism alive."
American Israeli, Aviva Joseph wrapped it up when she informed the crowd, "We are here building on the 9th day of Av, the day the Jewish Temple was destroyed…I was born in Chile into an Orthodox Zionist home. Both my parents are Holocaust survivors. When I was ten I use to go to Bethlehem, but after the first intifada, things began closing down; physical walls and psychological walls. I lived in Gilo, some call it a settlement, some a neighborhood and I lived in a small box with my own myth. Now I live in California and things you see from there you can't see here and other things you must come here to see what cannot be seen anywhere else. I love Israel but until I began listening to the voices of the marginalized did I see I was living my own myth. The work is not just in the head, but in the heart; opening both sides to a new paradigm with compassion. It must be like hydrogen and oxygen the sides coming together; who could have thought that would make water?"
Jeff Halper, American Israeli, founder and coordinator of ICAHD and a twenty-first century prophet was unable to be at the site due to a family emergency, but on March 17, 2006, the 7th day of my third journey to Israel Palestine, Jeff greeted my group of nearly one hundred Internationals attending a Sabeel/Arabic for THE WAY, reality tour through the West Bank, in the East Jerusalem YMCA conference room with, "I don't want to depress you too much but the issue of the occupation is a global issue that transcends boundaries and Israel Palestine impacts all global realities...We have a country created by the UN and supported by the USA that has a brutal occupation while International Law defines occupation as a temporary situation.
"When you incorporate occupied territories, highways, settlements and use resources it is all illegal according to the Fourth Geneva Convention which states the status quo must be retained so that negotiations can happen. Unilateral actions are illegal. The occupying power is responsible for those under its control.
"Tony Blair said 70% of all the conflicts in the world can be traced back to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. What gives us hope is that as this conflict worsens maybe Europe will figure out that American policies are against their interests and intervene...This conflict impacts the global community and especially everyone in the USA.
"If we do fix this conflict it would be a tremendous step forward in global reconciliation...This whole issue is based on Human Rights and it is a global issue requiring global intervention. …Israel is not a democracy, it is an ethnocracy: full rights to Jews, but not Palestinians."
After our group said goodbye to Jeff and hi to Angela, another dedicated ICAHD volunteer, we went for a reality tour of east Jerusalem. We witnessed the remains of many demolished homes and saw the tents where the home owners now lived. Angela informed us, "There are forty-two illegal settlements in the Muslim, Christian and Armenian quarters of Jerusalem. The only green area for children to play will soon have a high rise for the settlers which will be 7 meters taller than the walls of the Old City...Out of site of most Israelis is the Hebronization of east Jerusalem. The Wall has been deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice but America continues to allow it to grow. The wall is way over the Green Line proving it is not about security but about grabbing Palestinian land. Israel's policy of Quiet Transfer: getting rid of the Palestinians is a huge humanitarian crisis.
"There is an advertisement that runs in the USA that reads: 'Have a Holiday Home in Jerusalem.' The ad does not mention this home is 100% ILLEGAL! It is clear how the wall zig zags that it is not about security but about grabbing the maximum land with minimal Palestinian occupation."
When I returned to Israel Palestine in October 2006, over sixty internationals gathered in Jerusalem for another ICAHD tour. Jeff informed us:
"It has been said that the Israelis do not love this land, they just want to possess it. There have been three stages to make this occupation permanent. The first was to establish the facts on the ground; the settlements. There are ½ million Israeli's and four million Palestinians here. They have been forced into Bantustan; truncated mini states; prison states. It is apartheid and Bush and Hillary are both willing collaborators.
"In 1977, Sharon came in with a mandate, money and resources to make the Israeli presence in the West Bank irreversible. The second stage began in April 2004 when America approved the Apartheid/Convergence/Realignment Plan and eight settlement blocs. This is just like South Africa! The Bush Sharon letter exchange guaranteed that the USA considers the settlements non-negotiable. The Convergence Plan and The Wall create the borders and that is what defines Bantustans. Congress ratified the Bush plan and only Senator Byrd of West Virginia voted no and nine House Representatives.
"Israel has set up a matrix of control; a thick web of settlements guaranteed to make the occupation permanent by establishing facts on the ground. Israel denies there is an occupation, so everything is reduced to terrorism. It is our job to insist upon the human rights issue, for occupied people have International Law on their side."
I asked Jeff if the settlements were in actuality colonies; meaning foreigners had invaded and set up residence in another's territory. He agreed and added that, "When Jerusalem was controlled by Jordan, the East side was 6 sq. km. Since 1967, Israel has added 64 km. The West side was 38 sq. km until '67 and is now 108 sq. km's. Israel plans to develop 17 settlements. Israeli policy is to maintain a 72% Jewish and 28% Arab population. Palestinians cannot get building permits to build upon their legally owned land. The Arab land has been re-zoned as green space, and the green space will be re-zoned for the settlements. Every single Palestinian home in Jerusalem has a demolition order. The entire West Bank has been zoned as agricultural land by Israel, and that will also be re-zoned again for more settlements."
Orwellian doublespeak has also been employed in the USA government and media to turn the illegal colonies: for all the settlements are considered illegal according to International Law, into neighborhoods.
A new highway has already begun to link all the settlements in a ring around the Old City of Jerusalem. The Eastern Ring Road will have bridges for Israelis but is just another wall against the Palestinians. As we rode past acres of olive trees that had been chopped off by the Israeli army, on our way to the house made for peace, Jeff stated, "I don't just have a political problem with this Judiaization of the Old City, it is ecologically and environmentally offensive."
I add it also is spiritually impoverished. The raping and pillaging of what is claimed holy ground refutes and denies the biblical meaning of dominion. The ancients understood dominion meant to nurture, love and protect and the destruction of Palestinian homes, the stealing and destroying of their legal property, is an abomination.
We concluded that day at the Beit Arabiya Peace House, which is at the crossroads of Areas A, B and C and which has been demolished and rebuilt four times and the owner has just received his fifth demolition order.
Beit Arabiya is the name of the home of the Arabiya family with seven children that has been demolished four times by the Israeli government and rebuilt four times by the efforts of ICAHD and the JCHR/Jurist Center for Human Rights, a Palestinian NGO focused on legal advocacy for Palestinians in the Jerusalem area.
The home has become a meeting place for Israelis, Palestinian and International peace activists and is the cornerstone and intersecting point of Areas A, B, and C.
The smallest of the three is Area A, which is under Palestinian authority. Areas B and C are under Israeli control. Since 1967 over 18,000 Palestinian families in the occupied territories have been left homeless due to home demolitions. According to Jeff Halper, the reasons for these home demolitions are purely political: to confine the 3 ½ million residents of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza into small, crowded, impoverished and disconnected enclaves.
The Beit Arabyia home/Peace Center's closest neighbor is a soon to be dismantled Bedouin camp. The Israeli government's policy of "Quiet Transfer" will mean extinction for the nomadic Bedouins for they have been denied the inalienable right to move about to graze their dwindling herds. On a hill in front of the Arabyia home/Peace Center is the newly erected Sheen Bet [similar to USA FBI] prison and interrogation center. A new portion of the Ring Road which will connect the illegal settlements/colonies runs between the two and The Apartheid Wall is in full frontal brutal view.
Upon the wall of the home is a mural donated by the North American Workers Against the USA occupation of Iraq and the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The mural depicts Rachel Corrie, the American who was run over by a Caterpillar bulldozer in Gaza when she stood up to defend the home of a pharmacist with five children, and a pregnant Palestinian woman of ten who was also killed in Gaza. The angelic images of the two women float above a depiction of a USA made Caterpillar bulldozer tipped to one side and flanked by tanks and weapons of destruction. On both sides of the weapons of destruction are many people. A railroad track reminds the viewer that prior to 1948, Jews and Palestinians once worked together in peaceful solidarity to build a railroad.
The Arabyia home/Peace Center is the cornerstone of the village of Anata and the Shufat refugee camp, in the very area where the prophet Jeremiah in the 6th century B.C. critiqued the violent conflicts in the Mid East, which were already old news: "I hear violence and destruction in the city, sickness and wounds are all I see." [Jeremiah 6:7]
The Arabyia home/Peace Center is a visible persistent witness of hope and solidarity that stands because of the cooperation and unity of locals, Israelis and Internationals with one mind, one heart and with The Great Spirit on their side.
Mohammad Alatar, film producer of The Ironwall addressed our group after we broke bread and ate a typical Palestinian feast prepared by the Arabiya family, he said:
"I am a Muslim Palestinian American and when my son asked me who my hero was I took three days to think about it. I told him my hero is Jesus, because he took a stand and he died for it. What really needs to be done is for the churches to be like Jesus; to challenge the Israeli occupation and address the apartheid practices as moral issues. Even if every church divested and boycotted Israel it would not harm Israel. After the USA and Russia, Israel is the third largest arms exporter in the world. It is a moral issue that the churches must address."
LEARN MORE:
http://www.icahd.org
The Iron Wall:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4866316426876380615
What the F is Levy spouting about "Israel might be able to go on claiming that it will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East"
When Perez LIED to the world with that BS in 1986, the cat was all ready out of the bag, for Mordechai Vanunu provided the PROOF that Israel was already nuclear with his 2 rolls of film documenting Israel's clandestine underground WMD facility which has NEVER received an IAEA inspection!
In 1986, Vanunu was a low tech worker in Israel's underground WMD facility in the Negev, but the sign out front back them still proclaimed it was a Textile Plant. All employees signed a secrecy agreement to never speak about what they did in the Dimona, and all jobs were compartmentalized.
Because Vanunu was a good worker, he was cross trained in many areas and woke up to the fact that he was but a cog in the making of weapons of mass destruction. Without talking to family or friends, he decided totally on his own to document the facts underground in the Dimona nuclear weapons plant by photographing the evidence.
Vanunu easily obtained the keys to the restricted areas after they had been carelessly left in the shower room by a supervisor. Vanunu shot two rolls of film but did not develop them until ten months later while in Sydney, Australia and just days after being baptized a Christian.
The photos were published in the London Sunday Times just as Vanunu was being kidnapped, clubbed, drugged and bound by the Mossad in Rome and then flung onto an Israeli ship heading home.
Instead of Israel being grateful for the alert to their inadequate security in the nuclear reactor facility, Israel tried Vanunu for treason in a closed door trial and locked him up for 18 years, most all of it in solitary. Vanunu has not set foot into the Dimona in 22 years and International Inspectors never have.
On April 21, 2004, Vanunu was released from Ashkelon Prison, but still not free.
He has lived under the draconian 1945 British Mandate State of Emergency Regulations, which forbids him from leaving Israel and speaking to media and foreigners.
After WW II, Attorney Yaccov Shapiro, who later became Israel's Minister Of Justice, described the Emergency Defense Regulations which denies Vanunu the inalienable rights of freedom of speech and movement as "unparalleled in any civilized country: there were no such laws in Nazi Germany."[ N.S. Ateek, Justice and Only Justice p.34]
I met Vanunu for the first time in June 2005, and was curious about his childhood and how and why he-a secular Jew existentialist became a Christian. He filled me in on all of that and much more:
"This administration tells me I am not allowed to speak to foreigners, the Media, and the world. But I do because that is how I prove my true humanity to the world.
"The Israelis have 200 atomic weapons and they accuse the Palestinians and Muslims of terrorism. The Dimona is 46 years old; reactors last 25 to 30 years. The Dimona has never been inspected and Israel has never signed the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty but all the Arab states have.
"Twenty years ago when I worked there they only produced when the air was blowing towards Jordan ten miles away. No one knows what is happening now. The world needs to wake up and see the real terrorism is the occupation and the Palestinians have lived under that terror regime for 40 years.
"It's very sad that Hilary Clinton went to the Jewish Wailing Wall and forgot the real crying wall is the Palestinian wall; the apartheid wall, the wall is not for defense, but to keep this conflict permanent.
"The only way to peace is peace; the only way is nonviolence. The only answer to Israeli nuclear weapons, their aggression, occupation and oppression, and the wall and refugee camps is to answer them with truth and a peaceful voice. When I became the spy for the world, I did it all for the people of the world. If governments do not report the truth, and if the media does not report the truth, then all we can do is follow our consciences. Daniel Ellsberg did, the woman from Enron did, and I did. The United States needs to wake up and see the truth that Israel is not a democracy, unless you are a Jew. Israel is the only country in the Middle East where America can right now find nuclear weapons.
"America can also find where basic human rights have been denied Christians: right here in Israel. The time has come for the United States to see the truth of Zionism. It began as a secular nationalist movement, not a religious one. Then some Christians believed that when Israel became a nation, it was the beginning of the second coming. They are deluded if they believe peace will come through atomic weapons. Atomic weapons are holocaust weapons. Christians should be the first people against them.
"My human rights have been denied me because I am a Christian. When I was on trial, I was treated just like a Palestinian: no human rights at all, and cruel and unusual punishment, all because I told the truth. The government spread slander about me, that I was a homosexual, that I hated Jews, that I wanted fame and money. What I did was sacrifice my life for the truth. In prison, I really began to feel like Jesus and Paul. When Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple, it was like me in Dimona, exposing the Israelis' dirty secrets. I felt like Paul, being thrown in prison for speaking the truth.
"The only real way to worship is in loving one's enemies. It was not easy to love my tormentors; it was only because I felt so much like Jesus crucified on the cross, and as if I was crucified in prison, that I could do it. It was not ever easy. I have forgiven but not forgotten anything, and I never will.
"In Israel, a life sentence is twenty-five years. Even murderers go free after seventeen. They imposed the same restrictions on me that Palestinians receive: no human rights at all; no phone; no visitors, except family, and only through an iron grill; no vacation; no holidays; and no gifts. Even murderers get out for vacations! I was locked up for eighteen years and still cannot go on vacation; I cannot leave, and that is all I am asking for, just to leave here.
"For eighteen years in prison, they even attempted to control my thoughts on paper. I would write exactly what I wanted and they would censor words like kidnapped and atomic bomb. They would show me how they chopped up my letters, but I continued to write exactly what I wanted. They held my body, but never my spirit or mind.
"Israel is only a democracy if you are a Jew."
The legend of Vanunu continues to grow and WAWA is FREELY streaming video interviews with V from 2005, 2006 and 2008 under Vanunu Archives:
WAWA:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
physicscitizen July 24th, 2008 1:20 pm
Thanks for the sanity.
Ariel_Sharon July 24th, 2008 12:56 pm
I seem to remember that Jerusalem was supposed to be a shared city with free access to all religions?
Gaza And The Warsaw Ghetto
These two bear no resemblence to each other. Not in size, not in population nor in any other way. An absurd comparison.
Unforgiven: There is a HUGE difference between an F16 and a bulldozer.
And it was quite a ridiculous leap to assume that somehow, because selling bulldozers doesn't bother me, that supplying the Israeli war machine with cluster bombs and F-16's does.
Have you no appreciation of the difference between them?
The person who kills with a bulldozer is just as much a murderer as the person who kills by any other means. Go after those people. And those nations, like Israel that commit crimes against humanity.
You can kill a person with a hammer too, and Israelis might well use hammers to kill palestinians in their jails all the time.
I claim it is ridiculous to then go off and blame Craftsmen tools for making hammers.
It's exactly this kind of silly diversion away from the true abuses of humanity which handed the right wing-nuts a perfect way to brand all progressives as stupid and impractical. When, in fact, human rights and dignity are ultimately intelligent and highly effective at combating the terrorism so feared by the reactionaries.
So, If I ever need a bulldozer at some point, I'm going to hire a guy with a caterpiller.
But I'm also going to fight like hell with my representatives against the Jewish lobby and continued unrestricted support for that apartied state called Israel.
These are NOT incongruous positions to hold.
Down the cobblestone street above the baker's shop, glass shatters.
Men drag the baker and his many sons away.
In the square, the Viennese drink good beer. They pay no attentions to the far-away clouds.
Welcome to the world of fantasy, where Israel is always viewed as a poor victim, just seeking to live in "peace."
so they kill a few hundred or thousand Palestinians and the world yawns.
We have all become WMD's, more interested in what Paris or Lindsay is up to than what is happening to our brothers and sisters in Occupied Palestine.
If Jesus Christ was around today, instead of being crucified by the Jews, they'd just run him over with a bulldozer.
Americans are indoctrinated to think they need giant corporations to build things like bulldozers. How else could these giant corporations be sustained? We're working to break down the indoctrination. Americans are learning to re-think industry, break it down into much smaller enterprises and putting them in the local community to serve the local economy. In this environment, the product will not be put to evil uses because the producers will be held to much higher ethical standards, which are easily maintained in small empowered communities. The heightened ethical standard is dependent on this specific combination of community characteristics - small, empowered. If it's too large, it becomes corrupt. If it is disempowered, it becomes hopeless. The plan is to diminish and eventually eliminate these monstrous corporations like Caterpillar, pillars of a fascist society. Localism is the way. Small, empowered communities. Small independent farmers, craftsmen, merchants. We don't need "efficiencies of scale". We don't need capital.
As I've said before, Caterpillar Corp. is equivalent to gas chamber manufacturers during the Nazi regime in Germany.
Another useful link for donations:
www.rachelcorriefoundation.org
Overall, the article is good... but take a look at some of the language used:
"Palestinians' murderous bulldozer and the Israeli bulldozer"
As usual, the Palestinian has the word "murderous" attached to them...
"small backhoe the Palestinian terrorist was driving and the fearsome D9 driven by Israel Defense Forces soldiers"
Again, Palestinians are 'terrorists' while the Israelis are "soldiers".
The use of language is very powerful... you'll see it's the same everywhere.
The creation of Israel by the West was a huge mistake.
By the way, there is a RachelCorrie Soccer Tournament in Gaza, donate if you can.
zaz - you're so right. I love Ha'aretz, which always has insightful commentary on the situation without the whitewashing that happens by the time the news gets to American media. It's kind of like the years I lived along the Canadian border and I had to watch their news to see pictures of our soldiers coming home in body bags...
Jews apparently are immune to their own insights ......... Jeremiah.
@sl63
Glad you raised this. Israel granted a general amnesty to Lehi (aka Stern Gang) members on 14 February 1949 and in 1980 honored the group by instituting the Lehi ribbon, a military decoration which may be worn by the organization's former members.
State sponsored terrorism?
Peace Through Superior Firepower
The Palestinians discovered the bulldozer quite late. What is good for us is good for them.
As Mike Davis has shown in Buda's Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb, it was the Zionist Stern Gang that introduced the car bomb to the Middle East:
In what is certain to be a revelation for many supporters of the state of Israel, Davis explains the car bomb's modern origins in the tactics of the Zionist terrorists known as the Stern Gang. This group, composed of men--some who went on to help rule Israel--was ruthless in its application of car bombs. They genuinely did not seem to care who died in the explosions they caused, although they preferred them to be Arab. It was the success of their terror campaign that helped "cleanse" Palestine of Palestinians so that Israelis could take the lands. The Stern Gang's success would also prove to cause what we nowadays call blowback. Indeed, car bombs set off in civilian spaces have been a favorite tactic of the Palestinian resistance to Israel ever since its founding. Davis relates this story, too.
Also an excerpt from David Hirst's The Gun and the Olive Branch on who first introduced techniques such as blowing up of entire buildings to that region:
If, in their preference for hit-and-run guerrilla tactics, the Arabs were spurred by folk-memories of the 'assassins' or the tribal ghazzia, the Jews introduced an urban, and far more effective, terrorism that was more in the tradition of Russian Nihilists or the Anarchists of Spain.
Israel is a terrorist state. America is a terrorist state. If the deaths of one million three hundred thousand Iraqi's for oil is not terrorism, then what is?
physicscitizen July 24th, 2008 1:20 pm
"I am sorry. This article is ridiculous.
I can think of so many worse things that both sides have access to. The AK47 for example. Specifically designed with the sole purpose of taking human life."
Would you care to include F-16's that only one side has as well? Or attack helicopters?
No, sir, you are being rediculous.
We must not forget the American Girl who was in Palestine and killed by a Caterpillar bulldozer driven by a Jew. She was protecting a house owned by a Palestinian physician. Please read the story:
http://www.jabpage.org/posts/corrie.html
Here is her memorial page:
http://www.rachelcorrie.org/
The Jews started using this weapon so it isn't surprising the Palestinians would retaliate. After all, Obama said in so many words that Israelis have the right to defend their homes, children and family from falling bombs from the sky. Well the Palestinians, are humans as well, and should be granted those same rights to protect their homes, family and children. Rectify what you say Obama who speaks with forked tongue and justifies killing of Palestinians. Humans are equal and all have a right to live and defend their right to live.
Thanks to Haaretz, the world can get editorials by peace activists like Gideon Levy that we can't get in the US.
Gaza And The Warsaw Ghetto
same place
different time
while the world stood by
genocide
live
I am sorry. This article is ridiculous.
I can think of so many worse things that both sides have access to. The AK47 for example. Specifically designed with the sole purpose of taking human life.
A bulldozer is not so designed.
And there is no mention of the percentage of Caterpillar's sales that go to perfectly legitmate uses, or even the number of times a given bulldozer was used in construction before some madman or asshole or army got hold of it in order to use it as a destructive machine.
You want to know the biggest effect that caterpillar has had? It is their coal-digging and strip mining equipment that is capable of leveling even the tallest mountains in a month with concerted effort. Then all that coal gets thrown up into the atmosphere as C02.
The new climate the planet is adopting is going to cause a multitude more deaths than all previous wars put together!
But again, I STILL wouldn't blame caterpiller. We as a people have, after all, voted out of convenience rather than demanding more serious attention be paid to our scientists. But Oh my GAWD! Those scientists tell us things we Just Don't Want To Hear!
Sorry folks. I'm as progressive as they come, but let's assign blame right where it belongs, with the people who commit these crimes and with the people who cannot seem to get off their butts, engage their brains, and do the right thing in the first place.
lol, yes, of course.
A BULLDOZER IS A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION!!!!!!
You FOOLS. Don't think for a second this is going to make me forget about the latest barbaric arab attack in jews in Jerusalem. Its time to consolidate that entire city under israeli control.
I avoid places where those Big Yellow WMDs have been used and I will not hold their stock either directly or in mutual funds.