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Wall on Gaza Violates International Law
The collusion between Egypt and the U.S. to build a wall separating Egypt from Gaza not only threatens Gazans' health and quality of life, already severely deteriorated by the de facto Israeli blockade, it is a serious violation of international law.
According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, Egypt is installing an underground metal wall 70-100 feet deep along the border strip where Palestinians have dug a maze-like set of tunnels to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. The construction of the wall, carried out with the collaboration of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, has been denied by the Egyptian government.
Although Israel claims that the tunnels are used to supply militants of Hamas with explosives and arms, the main function of the tunnels is for the transfer of food and medicines to the severely deprived Palestinian population in Gaza. The Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip has gone as far as barring the import of flour and other basic food into the coastal enclave.
According to the Disengagement Plan of April 2004, the unilateral withdrawal of Israeli settlements and stationed troops in Gaza was carried out with the stated purpose of removing the "basis for claiming that the Gaza Strip is occupied territory." However, as Al Haq, a Palestinian human rights organization has stated, "Israel remains the occupying power in the Gaza Strip because of it stated policy and its practices."
According to the Revised Disengagement Plan of June 6, 2004, "Israel will guard the perimeter of the Gaza Strip, continue to control Gaza air space, and continue to patrol the sea off the Gaza Coast." Because Israel still controls Gaza's borders including sea and airspace, it controls movements of goods and people as well as the civilian population registry and tax system. As a consequence, Gaza's civilian population is entitled to the status of protected persons under Article 4 of the Geneva Convention.
Rule 20 of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Study on Customary International Humanitarian Law states that Israel is under the legal obligation to take all feasible precautions before launching an attack in order to avoid harming civilians, such as the obligation to give advanced warning to the population before attacking populated areas, conditions that were not fulfilled during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza as is clearly demonstrated in the United Nations Report on Gaza.
In addition, Israel is obligated to respect the customary principles of military necessity, distinction and proportionality when carrying out military operations in the Gaza Strip, while at the same time it has a concurrent obligation to treat the occupied population humanely. The obligation to treat protected persons humanely according to a principle of customary international law applies in "all circumstances" and "at all times."
UN agencies still consider that between half and two-thirds of Gazans are "food insecure," meaning that they live in hunger or fear starvation. According to estimates of the World Health Organization (WHO) one third of children under five and women of childbearing age are anemic. The WHO also says that Israel's blockade of Gaza has lead to a general "worsening of the health conditions of the population" and to an "accelerated degeneration" of Gaza's health system.
Israel's restrictions of fuel and electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip, as well as the prolonged closures of border crossings for people and goods, including humanitarian aid, constitute collective punishment, which is prohibited under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Unlawful and disproportionate reprisals violate international humanitarian law and can not be considered means of self-defense.
Despite current policy, the spirit of the Gazan people can be rekindled, like a fire after a storm. As Ann Wright, a retired U.S. Army Reserve Colonel and former U.S. diplomat recently stated, "Just as the steel walls of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the base of the levees of New Orleans were unable to contain Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' underground steel walls that will attempt to build an underground cage of Gaza will not be able to contain the survival spirit of the people of Gaza."
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32 Comments so far
Show AllDon't call me an anti-Semite, but let us all do some reading on the ghettos the Nazis built for the Jews during their drive for world-supremacy and you'll find some similarities there: you just keep on pushing the proverbial envelope. As long as the US don't mind, Israel won't stop, as President Obama's change is not meant to have any effect on the mess in the Middle East.
Then there's the "reservations" in the US and South Africa. Let's also remember the wall thet Khrushchov built in Berlin to keep his Germans in.
You should remember that the "reservations" in the US are retained and continued by the people that own them. Hardly the same as anything in Africa or elsewhere.
Please get your facts correct.
Are you really going to argue that if I did a search of the employment stats and the health care availability on us reserves I'd find better than third world conditions...
Let's see.
google on us Indian reserves employment.
'U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, "A Quiet Crisis: Federal Funding and Unmet Needs in ... The Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota has an unemployment rate of 80%'
Similar searches for health and living conditions would argue that the conditions on reserves in the usa is just as bad as the conditions in Africa and elsewhere, (including Canadian reserves.
...In Gaza there is now no uncontaminated water; of the 40,000 or so newborn babies, at least half are at immediate risk of nitrate poisoning – incidence of "blue baby syndrome", methaemoglobinaemia, is exceptionally high; an unprecedented number of people have been exposed to nitrate poisoning over 10 years; in some places the nitrate content in water is 300 times World Health Organisation standards; the agricultural economy is dying from the contamination and salinated water; the underground aquifer is stressed to the point of collapse; and sewage and waste water flows into public spaces and the aquifer.
The blockade of Gaza has gone on for nearly four years, and the vital water and sanitation infrastructure went past creaking to virtual collapse during the three-week assault on the territory almost a year ago.
What would it take to start the two UN sewerage repair projects approved by Israel; a UN water and sanitation project, not yet approved; and two more UN internal sewage networks, not yet approved? Right now just one corner of the blockade could be lifted for these building materials and equipment to enter Gaza, to let water works begin and to give infant lives a chance. Just one telephone call from the Israeli defence ministry could do it – an early Christmas present to the UN staff on the ground who have been ready to act for months and have grown desperate on this front, as on so many others.
As Brittain notes, the Israelis have already lifted another part of their strangulating blockade, after a bold intervention by U.S. Senator John Kerry, who in March of this year demanded that the Israelis lift their prohibitions on ... pasta. But apparently, no American politician can be bothered to pick up a phone to stem the poisoning of the Gaza Ghetto:
Gaza's huge pale sandy beaches used to be society's playground and reassurance of happiness and normality, with families picnicking, horses exercising, fishermen mending their nets, children swimming and boys exercising in the early morning, but these days they are mainly empty, and not just because it is winter. Between 50m and 60m litres of untreated sewage have flowed into the Mediterranean every day this year since the end of the Israeli invasion in January, the sea smells bad and few fish are available in the three nautical mile area Palestinians are allowed in. This resource seems as ruined as the rubble of Gaza's parliament and ministries.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...."We have run out of words to describe how bad it is here," says John Ging, director of operations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza. Ging heads a team of 10,000 mainly Palestinian workers who run the aid supplies that are all that stand between the vast majority of Gazans and destitution. "We have 80% unemployment, an economy at subsistence level, infrastructure destroyed, etc, but even worse than the humanitarian plight is the destruction of civil society."
Ging's great preoccupation is "the 750,000 children susceptible to an environment where things are moving rapidly in the wrong direction, where the injustice is bewildering, and every day worse":
There is a big problem of insecurity and violence here, and it is getting worse. Most adults display stoic resilience, and cling to a belief in traditional values, but there is a compelling narrative by extremists which becomes ever more difficult to combat. Only lifting the siege would change the dynamic...
...from chris floyd
That the US should take part in building such a wall is unconscionable. By doing so, we in the US are contributing to the effective collective punishment of the Palestinian people, and to ethnic cleansing of Palestinians which would appear to be US-Israeli policy...and we wonder "why do they hate us?" All of this is reminiscent of what came up at Nuremberg.
Our taxes are paying for this!!
Gaza And The Warsaw Ghetto
same place
different time
while the world stood by
genocide
live
speaking of the Warsaw Ghetto...
...Contrast these things with the great statistics which have arrived from that Moro crater! There, with six hundred engaged on each side, we lost fifteen men killed outright, and we had thirty-two wounded-counting that nose and that elbow. The enemy numbered six hundred -- including women and children -- and we abolished them utterly, leaving not even a baby alive to cry for its dead mother. This is incomparably the greatest victory that was ever achieved by the Christian soldiers of the United States.
Mark Twain, 1906
Is this any different than gaza?
Obama and Democratic Congress policy in Gaza better than Republicans? No!
This article presents another reason Democrats (as well as Republicans) don't deserve the votes of the populace.
All of the preceding takes us directly to the unholy power of AIPAC vis-a-vis the US Congress and the US media.
Until someone works out a way to diminish its nefarious influence, expect even worse for the Palestinians.
Yes, yes, yes.....Obama says the world is better off with America leading the way because of its interventions and of international laws. American manipulates international law and has used the CIA in proxy wars ever since the end of WWII of which many of those missions VIOLATED INTERNATIONAL LAW. THE TORTURE POLICIES OF THE USA AT PRESENT UNDER OBAMA ALSO MAKES A MOCKERY OUT OF INTERNATIONAL LAW. The United States and Mr. Obama have no regard for internatinal law even as Obama uttered those superficial words in Oslo. The world would actually be better off without the United States constant wars and interventions which amount to more social upheaval and poverty in the nations America ruins and devastates.
Yet, the USA does NOTHING to make Israel adhere to international law whatsoever. Thus, America's so-called lead in the areas of human intervention are BANKRUPT and obviously self-serving to the imperial interests of the U.S. elite establishment. Israel's actions are all criminal against the Palestinians and there are defnite parallels between former apartheid South Africa and the way Israel treats the Palestinians. In fact, some former officials from the apartheid South African regime say what Israel is doing is even worse than the apartheid found in South Africa. Israel is an outlaw nation and yet the crininals in the U.S. Congress and ruling elite allow it to continue.
Obama works for the elite establishment as do all the others. When these buffoons recite the "American people" mantra, they are essentially saying the "American elites," of whom they are really speaking about and to.
The regular "American people" who have no clout or money are literally ignored and yes, these elites would get nervous if the underclass united against them.
So, the next time an American politician utters the words "American people" just understand it's not you they are speaking to or about but the elites who back them.
Your eyes are open.
"According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, Egypt is installing an underground metal wall 70-100 feet deep along the border strip where Palestinians have dug a maze-like set of tunnels to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. The construction of the wall, carried out with the collaboration of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, has been denied by the Egyptian government."
I'm curious why people will believe the Israeli on this and not the Egyptians. Neither did I see any confirmation of this from any other source in the article.
Does anyone know of any other source confirming it?
so what if Palestinians import weapons? They have a right to defend themselves against jewish terrorists.
"where Palestinians have dug a maze-like set of tunnels to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza."
Too many factual errors in this anti-semitic article to note them all, but the reference to an "Israeli" blockade of Gaza has to be noted. It's not an "Israeli" or even Jewish blockade, but an "international" one, supported by the entire world, people of all nations, religions, and creeds. Including the Muslims and the Arab nations, such as Egypt. The Gazans have made it very clear that they despise the rest of the world, the UN, the concept of international law (or the concept of law at all), and that they want to wage unrelenting and endless war against those who don't think they should be able to bully anyone they want, and that they shouldn't be able to steal land whenever they feel like it. It has little or nothing to do with Israel. Israel just happens to be the closest nation, but they would attack any nation if they could (as they did at the Munich Olympics in 72).
It's rather comical that the article title states that they feel a right to the protections of international law, when their primary goal is to overthrow international law completely. Never in their history have the Palestinians accepted the idea of the rule of law, or the idea that disagreements and conflicts should be addressed through non-violent means. It's not really their fault, I guess; like many primitive, savage peoples they simply haven't evolved to the point where they can grasp the concept of law. Just as a four-year old couldn't be expected to understand it. But to suggest that Israel is somehow responsible for their barbarism is rather ludicrous at this point. There simply aren't any rational people at all who buy that notion, just the lunatic fringe of uninformed bigots. Deny it all you want.
You condemn the article for spouting lies and then proceed to lie yourself...
[It's not an "Israeli" or even Jewish blockade, but an "international" one, supported by the entire world, people of all nations, religions, and creeds.]
The entire world doesn't support the blockade, it's been put in place by Israel (which does control the borders of Gaza) and the usa (which has bullied other countries to support it, not all countries agree with the blockade tho do they now?). Egypt does have a peace treaty with Israel don't they? Might they not have a duty to ensure that arms do not cross their borders into Israel under the terms of that peace treaty?
[The Gazans have made it very clear that they despise the rest of the world, the UN, the concept of international law (or the concept of law at all), and that they want to wage unrelenting and endless war against those who don't think they should be able to bully anyone they want, and that they shouldn't be able to steal land whenever they feel like it. It has little or nothing to do with Israel. ]
Aren't you talking about the actions of the usa and Israel? After all, Gaza is not a nation is it? Gaza doesn't have the ability to bully Israel does it? Gaza isn't the nation that is stealing land from people who live on land conquered by their army, actually Gaza doesn't have an army does it?
[It's rather comical that the article title states that they feel a right to the protections of international law, when their primary goal is to overthrow international law completely.]
Well, actually you're the comical one mikep. Even if your goal is to overthrow the idea of the law completely, you still do have the protections of those laws. (at least you do in civilized countries.)
[But to suggest that Israel is somehow responsible for their barbarism is rather ludicrous at this point]
Who launched 'operation cast lead'? Did you read the Goldstone report? Did you pay attention to what the world saw when Israeli forces were killing civilians in Gaza? Did you notice that the Israeli government is still blockading and collectively punishing the civilians of Gaza? No, you don't give a damn about those 'untermenchen' do you? You make me ill.
Saturalia, Good response to Mikep. I wasn't going to waste my breath on Mikep because his comments are so easy to pick apart (lacks facts) and his hatred is so evident. However, since you did most of the work, I'll just add:
- Mikep's comment that they (Gazans) performed the Olympic attack in Munich 1972 is baseless: The attack was committed by 8 Palestinians that had nothing to do with Gaza. They were supposively from a cell of the Black September group that was affiliated with the Fatah party, not Hamas. Black September's formation had to do with Jordan and didn't have to do with Gaza or the West Bank. When Israel responded militarily to the attack, Israel attacked Lebanon, not Gaza nor the West Bank.
- Mikep's hatred is apparent in his name calling rather than fact based commentary as he uses: "anti-semetic", "primative savage people that haven't evolved", and "uninformed bigots".
Yah, he's done this lots, I've posted at him before and he doesn't reply. meh, I had the time...
I would just like this Zionist sayan to know that Tzipi Livni cancelled her planned visit to the UK at the last minute- she was too scared of being questioned by UK police, though there was no risk they would have subjected her to the routine Israeli practice of torture and abuse as the Israeli Police treat Palestinian prisoners [while she was in the Israeli government thousands of Palestinian were tortured including children]. She was a leading member of a government responsible for the detention without charge [so called 'Administrative Detention'] of Palestinians, including children, but she was too scared to come to the UK for fear of facing charges of war crimes!
Welcome to the real world of Law you supporter of ethnic cleansing, genocide and apartheid. Zionist war criminals are giving Europe a wide berth these days in case they wind up in the Hague where they should be facing prosecution for WAR CRIMES!
"the reference to an "Israeli" blockade of Gaza has to be noted. It's not an "Israeli" or even Jewish blockade, but an "international" one, supported by the entire world, people of all nations, religions, and creeds"
This isn't a blocade supported by the world's people. It is supported by the people of Israel, their enablers, and all the members of the international elite who could be bought (most of them).
So the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is partaking in Genocide?
César Chelala is a MD and a PhD, but he is not a lawyer. He makes some incredible stretches to apply Geneva convention to the situation in Gaza.
The main point he and anti-Israeli propagandists are pushing is that because Israel tries to control of Gaza's border in order to prevent flow of weapons into the territory, Gaza is under occupation.
First of all, when Israel left Gaza, goods were flowing very freely in and out of Gaza. The tightening of the border occurred because of Palestinian shooting missiles in Israeli population centers.
Thus, Palestinians responded with violence and aggression to Israel's clearly peaceful move of leaving Gaza and destroying the Jewish towns which were built on the land purchased by Jews prior to creation of Israel.
Chelala's omission of this critical fact show a definite anti-Israel bias. Israel has a right to defend its citizens and its response to Palestinian aggression is lawful and proportionate.
Let me see if I have this right: Israel, which violently invades and forcibly occupies Palestine for generations in defiance of international law, Geneva conventions and dozens of UN resolutions, is the victim of Palestinian aggression. Likewise you courageously expose Dr. Chelala as no lawyer, but I guess you just forgot to mention what the UN's Goldstone Report (Goldstone being a Jewish lawyer) had to say about Israeli war crimes in what you call the "lawful and proportionate" recent invasion of Gaza. And if Israel turns Gaza into a vast open-air prison by its military encirclement, economic strangulation, and continual assassinations, I suppose that too is "lawful and proportionate." In addition, you very helpfully clear up the widespread misconception that the exit of a relative handful of difficult-to-protect Zionist settlers from Gaza was but a strategic redeployment to facilitate Israeli interests, most notably expanded colonization of the West Bank; which redeployment misconception was prominently featured in the Israeli media at the time. But, gee whiz, you forgot to tell us why the Israelis made their "peaceful move of leaving Gaza" in the first place. I guess they're just fine and peaceable folks. But then I am confused, since you forgot to add why the Israelis have not made any such "move" to leave the rest of Palestine, where Zionist colonization, the separation wall, checkpoints, assassinations--all illegal, according to those biased lawyers at the UN, etc.--continue unabated. Perhaps the West Bank just doesn't count, since, as you reveal, "goods" flow "very freely" in Palestine under Israeli occupation; besides, you've already explained that whatever the Israelis do is "lawful and proportionate." --Yes, that must be it. And I'm glad you dispel another nagging legal technicality when you brag about those Gazan "Jewish towns which were built on the land purchased by Jews prior to the creation of Israel"--which tells us that we have the purchase of Palestinian land, which you undoubtedly would claim is always legal, free of duress, etc.; and something else altogether, "the creation of Israel," which indeed was an affair of blood and ethnic cleansing that far exceeded the "mandate" for the "creation" of Israel. A tantalizing slip on your part? But no, there I go again (I'm no lawyer): All of that was "lawful and proportionate" too. Finally, since you instruct Dr. Chelala not to omit "critical fact," I guess your fingers just got tired of typing before you cleared up the critical fact that, with the connivance of the US and UK, Israel has a nuclear arsenal--from the "holocaust factory" at Dimona, as Mordecai Vanunu called it--that threatens anybody who stands in the way of "lawful and proportionate" Zionist land-grabbing. In sum, you've certainly convinced me of the goodness of your holy brand of imperialism; and I promise to try hard not to have nightmares about what might befall me if I offend you in the slightest.
soloduff - "Let me see if I have this right: Israel, which violently invades and forcibly occupies Palestine for generations..."
No, you don't have it right right from the beginning. Israel occupied territories that were parts of Egypt, Jordan and Syria in the course of a defensive war. Those territories - at least until Israel took them - were never considered belonging to "Palestinians". Furthermore, Israel is ready to give them to Palestinians, like it did with Gaza, but not at the expense of its own security.
Why not just return the territory to Egypt, Jordan and Syria? That would be by far the easiest thing for Israel to do, don't you think?
I'd bet that Israel could even get a signed peace treaty if they tried such a deal.
Your ignorance on this subject is absolutely amazing!
Israel does have peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan. Both countries refused to take these territories back.
Syria is a more complicated story, but the bottom line - these territories were illegally occupied by these countries and Palestinians never claimed that these were their lands during that time. As the matter of fact, PLO was created in 1964 - three years before the Six Day war, when there was not "occupation".
The obvious conclusion is that Arab countries just don't want the only Jewish state in the area, they failed to defeat it militarily, now they are trying to do it through the world public opinion, not resolving Palestinian refugees issue, portraying Palestinians as underdogs and Israelis as warmongers, and Israel - with its multi-ethnic population, western style democracy and freedoms - as an apartheid state.
People who know the facts and history should be able to see through this ploy.
[Israel does have peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan. Both countries refused to take these territories back.]
Quite right. I was ignorant of the peace treaty with Jordan, thanks for pointing that out.
Doesn't really refute what I was talking about tho. Ever since the end of the Second World War there has been a convention in place that forbids nations from expanding their borders by the use of war. Defensive or offensive. So, thirty odd years after the end of the '73 war, why is Israel still occupying territory that it took in war?
Your other conclusions are not all that obvious. I can see why the Arab states wouldn't want what they see as the successor to the Crusader states in the Middle East. Given the fact that that state is armed with nukes and has had a decided military advantage to their neighbours the Palestinians are the underdogs in the region. After all, who is occupying whom? Given what happened in Gaza in 2008, the claim that the Israeli gov't is a bunch of warmongers is quite accurate.
Pray tell, how do you propose that the Palestinian refugee issue be resolved?
You are a living example of the phrase - "ignorance is bliss."
Let me educate you a bit.
I am not sure about which convention you are talking about. There are plenty of disputed territories in the world that became "disputed" after the WWII - Tibet, Kashmir, territory between Venezuela and Columbia, etc.
In 1948 Jews agreed to the UN partition of Palestine. Arabs did not. It is all well documented. Arab countries attacked. The territories that they controlled - and in case of Jordan annexed - is now what Palestinians claim to be theirs. So, will the aggressor be punished? Apparently not - Israel is ready to give the territory back for a peace agreement, but Arabs want none of it. They want Israel - as a Jewish state to disappear.
In you second paragraph you agree and disagree with me on this issue at the same time. Yes, I do understand Arabs - and Muslims - who don't want to have a Jewish state on the territory that for fourteen centuries was Muslim. Dar-el-Harb, Dar-el-Islam and all of that.
On the other hand, Jewish people have a historical claim to the area that predates all other. And they are not crusaders - they returned to their homeland. Like Cherokees could return to Georgia or something like that.
The problem - and it is existential problem for Muslims - is that Jewish state contradicts their teaching about Allah breaking his covenant with the Jews. And the very existence Israel is a daily insult to Arabs - because they, the original Muslims, lost their land to the condemned.
So, we have a seventh century mentality battling the mentality of the modern world. It is mind-boggling that the so-called progressives feel that they need to be on the side of Muslim world with all of its anti-women, anti-homosexuals, anti-progressive policies. There 6 million Israelis against one billion Muslims, one Jewish country against 47 Muslim countries. This is David against Goliath for sure...
To answer you constant harping about Gaza - Israel went into Gaza after two and a half years of bombardment of it civilian population, after repeated calls to the UN to address the issue, after all the limited responses failed. During the operation, Israel took unprecedented steps to prevent civilian casualties. All of this is quite well known. But ignorant people like you don't want to know this. And they will keep on bashing Israel no matter what.
As far as nukes - do some research on asymmetrical warfare.
How to resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees? The same as with all other refugees - let them settle in the countries were they currently reside, grant them equal rights, integrate them into society. They are not the first - and I am afraid not the last. In the twentieth century the world experienced mass movements of people - Germans, Indians, Pakistanis, Hutus, Russians. There was close to one million Jewish refugees kicked out of Arab counties after the creation of Israel. They all settled. Let Palestinians settle as well - were they currently are.
Speaking of ignorance being bliss... I don't think we are speaking the same language.
I do mean the fact that after the first world war the nations of the world started to recognize that peoples have the right of self-determination. After the second war, the idea of using war for your own nations gain is considered, if not unlawful, to be a barbaric thing to do.
[Tibet, Kashmir, territory between Venezuela and Columbia,]
Tibet was taken in war by the Chinese, and is not merely 'disputed'. Kashmir is the result of the breakup of an empire, and a leader who didn't recognize the right of his subjects to decide their own fate. Venezuela and Columbia, not much of a dispute (no shooting) until the usa decided to try overthrowing Chavez and got the Venezuelans to help... Your examples are a bunch of very different things, and yet you lump them together as if they're all about the same issues.
Regarding the ancient claim to the lands of Israel you are not making a realistic argument, it's not at all like the natives returning to lands in Georgia, it's far more like the descendants of the Vikings claiming ownership of Normandy and northern England. But it's not really even that bizarre example. The 'claim' to the lands of Israel are based on the idea that an invisible friend of the Israelites promised that they could take the land of Canaan by force, as long as they committed what is now called genocide. The English were not happy with the idea of a bunch of terrorists (the founders of Israel) being allowed to establish a nation in an area that they were administering after the end of the war, if it were up to the English Israel would not have formed in 1948. So why did they get to establish a nation? Because the yanks wanted it to happen. Partly to punish the English for making them rebel in the 1770s, partly because of religious kooks who think that the formation of Israel will bring about the return of their 'saviour' (or the invisible friend mark II) and partly because they thought it was a good idea.
[So, we have a seventh century mentality battling the mentality of the modern world.]
Really? I do agree that most of the conflict takes place because a bunch of idiots are arguing about the various merits of their useless magical books. None of them realize that there is no god at all, no allah, no yawa, no jesus nor a trinity of gods either. I'll point out that part of the reason that the Muslims are such nuts about the fundamentals of their faith is the actions of people who lived a few centuries ago who decided to take their holy books literally and go on a converting spree. Who really knows which nutball kicked the whole fundamentalist movement going, but the result in the west was the various crusades, in the near east the result was the end of the golden age of Islam and a few more crusades. Funny how the all powerful gawd requires humans to do his dirty work isn't it? One would think that if there was a god and it did take sides the conflicts wouldn't last as long as they do. One would also think that if that all powerful sky god did damn any particular group of humans that group would be gone because the god would just wish them out of existence. But reason is not ever used when dealing with matters of faith.
The claim that Israel had been promised the land by their god was issued in which century? Long before the 7th century ce wasn't it? And again, that all powerful 'lord is one' type thing, who created humans out of a ball of dust, who waved his magic wand and wished the universe into existence, had to use human warriors to kill the people who actually lived in the land that the Israelis called the land of milk and honey. Yah, right. We're not talking about the modern world versus the old world, we're talking about a bunch of fundy nuts (on both sides) who are killing each other and fighting over land because their imaginary friend told them it was their land centuries ago.
[To answer you constant harping about Gaza - Israel went into Gaza after two and a half years of bombardment of it civilian population]
In response to glorified firecrackers which didn't kill more than a dozen people, the Israeli army killed nearly 1500. Hardly a proportionate response. Moreover, the agreements that the Israeli government signed to end the rockets (which did stop the rockets from the group of nutballs with whom the Israelis signed an agreement) was not honoured by the Israelis. Shooting a few rockets does not make a bombardment. A bombardment is what the Israelis did in Gaza.
[How to resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees? The same as with all other refugees - let them settle in the countries were they currently reside, grant them equal rights, integrate them into society.]
Speaking of ignorance being blissful... Your proposal is basically for Israel to incorporate the land they took by conquest and claim it as their own. Then for them to grant equal rights to the people who live in those territories, and somehow integrate them into the Israeli 'multi-ethnic' nation. I think that's one of the funnier things I've heard you say.
Vikings - as a nation - don't exist today. Cherokees do. They may have lost some of the culture, not all of their people speak their own language, but they retained their identity. They remember that they are Cherokees.
Jews are the same people with the same culture that inhabited Judea since 1300 BC and were forced into exhile 2,000 years ago. For this two thousand years Jews repeated - "next year in Jerusalem."
This is the Jewish claim to the land. It is very similar to Native American claim, although for American Indians their loss was more recent.
I understand that it is more convenient for you to dismiss it and build a straw-man of god's promise and then destroy it. You don't even understand that Jews are a multi-ethnic nation - not a religion. Many Jews are secular. Their the right to their land is as legitimate as any other nation - nothing to do with religion. And they have the right to live there free of any "fire-crackers" which killed "only" a dozen of them.
You should listen to Bob Dylan's "Neighborhood Bully" to get a feel for it. Maybe then you will understand that a response to aggression has to be disproportionate, so that the aggressor thinks twice the next time.
Obama directs his army to manage the construction of an underground wall to squeeze the economic life and humanity out of the Gaza Ghetto. According to the architect of so-called disengagement, Professor Arnon Soffer in Jerusalem Post, May 2004-
"A closed off Gaza, it is going to be a human catastrophe. Those people will become even bigger animals than they are today. The pressure at the border will be awful. It's going to be a terible war. So, if you want to remain alive, we will have to kill and kill and kill, all day, every day. The only thing that concerns me is how to ensure the boys and men who are going to have to do the killing will be able to return home to their families and be normal human beings."
So much for our new Nobel Peace Prize winner!!
Obama contrasts with real Nobel Preace Prize winners. Like President Jimmy Carter, who calls for an ending of the siege of Gaza. Or Mairead Maguire who personally escorted medical supplies to Gaza this year, until she and her boat, the Spirit of Humanity , were abducted by Israel in international waters - presumably for- smuggling. Or like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who calls the siege "an abomination".
Now we know the Obama administration is a real OBAMINATION too.