Comments on: Pride, Fury, Fire

By: The Truth Herzl

The Truth Herzl — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:52:23 +0000

Gershom – Great piece. However what I wonder about of late is if Israelis are just burnt out by the lack of exciting leadership, the repetitive nature of fighting in the Middle East, and the hollow promises each generation that the kids won’t have to go into the army.

Most of the people I speak to – especially fellow students at Ben Gurion University who have not been in class for two weeks – don’t even want to debate this war anymore. It’s just one more in a never ending line. In this type of mindset, critical thought and action are quite far away.

By: Fazal Majid

Fazal Majid — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:20:45 +0000

One point that is never emphasized enough is that the attacks on both sides are primarily motivated by electoral, not military considerations.

Hamas claims Mahmoud Abbas’ term expires on Jan. 9, 2009 (something Fatah doesn’t agree with, but no matter), and Abbas has been threatening to call an early legislative election. By burnishing their nationalist credentials prior to an election, whether presidential or legislative, they hope to take over both branches and drive Fatah from power in the West Bank as they did in Gaza. Of course, the Fatah militia would not play ball and engage in vote-rigging first, then civil war later, but that’s another matter.

The current Israeli Kadima-Labour coalition was running behind Bibi Netanyahu’s Likud in polls, hence their urgent need to demonstrate machismo prior to the February elections.

The price for the cynicism of Israeli and Palestinian politicians continues to be paid in blood (mostly Palestinian, but Israeli as well). Both electorates conveniently oblige by rewarding that obscene political calculus in the polls, and the international community as well is conspicuous by its absence and cowardice.

By: Collateral damages « Best of Mankind´s blog - Mabuhay!

Collateral damages « Best of Mankind´s blog - Mabuhay! — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 00:16:04 +0000

[...] stoltheten/pride högre än människokärleken eller det sunda förnuftet? Hamasledaren Nizar Rayyan har [...]

By: jean powers

jean powers — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:35:44 +0000

Lets make Iran even stronger shall we?
Keep bombing,thatll do the trick.
And I think you may have finally found a way to bring the sunni and shia together at long last,no?
Being right doesnt mean your being smart.

By: fiddler

fiddler — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:39:44 +0000

Nixon, those mantras weren’t developed for Hamas, they were repeated ad nauseam for many years regarding the PLO, and guess what happened. With Oslo Israel succeeded to turn them – in the form of the PA – into its security contractor because Arafat was corrupt enough to value his own power and wealth over the welfare and liberty of his people. The moment he ceased to be useful he was dropped like a hot potato and the above mantras were dusted off once more.
The anarchy that would break out in Gaza, were Hamas toppled, can’t be in Israel’s interest – it may well force a full military reoccupation. A resurgence of Fatah would undermine Israel’s divide-and-rule strategy of politically as well as physically isolating Gaza from the coveted West Bank.
When Israel sees a chance to make Hamas focus primarily on staying in power and forget about resistance to the occupation you can bet your arse they’ll suddenly have someone to talk to.

By: The Siege Of Gaza | The F U Republiblog

The Siege Of Gaza | The F U Republiblog — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 02:42:29 +0000

[...] religious barbarism and dismay at Israel’s apparent determination to commit slow suicide. Gershom Gorenberg captures the agony as well as anyone I’ve read: Israelis don’t see the effects of the siege [...]

By: Nixon

Nixon — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:00:36 +0000

You say that Hamas should have “proposed negotiations”?? Are you serious?

I cannot count the times Israeli polititians have OUTRIGHT REJECTED even the idea of talking with Hamas. Israel has even gone so far as to develop a set of mantras they repeat over and over in order to forever avoid negotiations with Hamas.

“There is nobody to talk to”

“Never negotiate with terrorists”

“There are no such thing as ‘Palestinians’”

To claim that Hamas should have knocked on a door that Israel has long since nailed shut and buried is a joke.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:14:59 +0000

There are facts and opinions and first we must strive to get facts correct
- The occupation of Gaza did not start in 1967. It started in 1947 when Egypt in a war of aggression invaded and executed an illegal military occupation of Gaza for the next 20 years. The modern Palestinian “liberation” movement started in 1964 with the creation of the PLO by the Arab nations to continue a terrorist war in between the conventional state-state wars. The PLO charter explicitly called for the liberation of Palestinian lands that were then all of Israel while denying any sovereignty of 90% of the original League of Nations British Mandate of Palestine, made up of Jordan, the West Bank (illegally occupied by Jordan) and Gaza (occupied by Egypt). So in 1964, 100% of what will be one day be the State of Palestine was in Arab hands! The PLO and 1967 war was about destroying Israel, not the creation of a Arab-Palestinian state. The great Palestinian Liberation movement until the Oslo Accords had as its primary goal the destruction of Israel.

2nd, Israel does recognize Palestine and Palestinians, as embodied in the Oslo accords, Camp David II and Taba negotiations and relations between the PA and the government of Israel. That Israel does not recongize Palestinans is not only falsem, but the oppostive of reality in which Hamas refuses to recognize the State of Israel and all of the Oslo Agreements, shake an Israeli hand or even sit in the same room as an Israeli for negotiations. Hamas, like Hezbolla is an absolutists rejectionist group like Al Qaeda.

By: Yam Erez

Yam Erez — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:25:05 +0000

Even Amira Hass conceded that Hamas might use a mosque here and there as a front for stockpiling arms or planning attacks on Israel (today, Haaretz). While the occupation is wrong and should be ended, Hamas is at least 50% responsible for this latest “episode” in the soap opera we call the Middle East. The IDF response to Kassams and Grads is just us paraphrasing George Bush’s famous admonition to the Hezbollah in the summer of 2006: “Guys, stop doin’ that s–t”.

By: Melvin Schnell

Melvin Schnell — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:16:43 +0000

If you play with fire, you get burned