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Tuesday, 13 January 2009 09:54
On January the 8th, rockets were launched from Southern Lebanon aimed at Nahariya in Israel. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad al-Siniora has condemned these attacks. The surprising thing is that Hezbollah has also denied responsibilities. Who then launched these rockets? Do we have yet another new player on the block?

Hezbollah has never shied from such publicities before and when Hassan Nasrallah says that he did not do so, then it is a fact that Hezbollah did not launch these rockets. If he had done so or ordered his men to doing so, it would have been broadcasted “live” on Hezbollah's al-Manar TV immediately. So, if Hassan Nasrallah did not fire these rockets, who did?

 

Another evidence that sustains Hezbollah’s claim of non-responsibility is the fact that these rockets were of amateur-construction and did little damage from its detonation. Hezbollah has access to the latest missile technology and their deadly arsenal includes the Russian-made short range “Katyusha” (12 to 22km range), the Iranian-made intermediate range “Raad-1” missiles (80 to 90km range) and “Fajar-5” (45 to 75km range) and also the Iranian-made “Zelzal-2” long range missiles which is capable of delivering its payload up to 200 km away. With such missile-capabilities (of striking any town in Israel), there is absolutely no requirement for the Hezbollah to manufacture inaccurate “home-made” rockets with tiny payloads.

 

Some people has mentioned the possibility of an Zionist ploy to justify Israel’s intentions to launch another attack on Hezbollah but this is even more far-fetched due to the fact that the IDF has already committed some of their northern units into fighting Hamas in the south. One does not fight two different wars on two opposite fronts as that will stretch the supply (and reinforcement) lines unnecessarily. One also does not mobilize their military assets from its present location away from its launching point if their intentions were to invade Lebanon.

 

Additionally, the rockets were launched from within the UN peacekeepers and Lebanese Army-controlled area in Southern Lebanon. This is merely 2km away from its target. If Hezbollah were involved, they could have just lobbed an artillery shell instead of wasting a missile.

 

As I see it, it would be a far more logical hypothesis to point the finger at other elements, and that this attack was the mastermind of yet another Middle East country. Evidently this is done to incriminate Hezbollah and to aggravate Israel into striking at them. Not everybody was pleased with the UN-brokered ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah in the 2006 Lebanon War. Some kingdoms think that Iran is getting too powerful within this region and that their proxies are exerting too much authority, while others are afraid that their “traditional” regional influence are slowly being eroded away.

 

We might think that these actions are “isolated” and that Malaysia is immune from the localized conflicts in Middle East. This is a wrong line of approach to adopt, as even when the fighting is in a region far from our shores, their global repercussions are extremely grave. It is not the players that matter now but their respective supporters – the superpowers. If Israel is being hard-pressed into a corner where they are incapable of getting out, there is their nuclear arsenal to reckon with. Desperate people do desperate things and if they can reason that they have got nothing else to lose, the nuclear holocaust might begin. A veritable tinderbox of international implications.

 

Neither the Star paper nor the New Straits Times reported this but as unfathomable as it seems, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian Authority (Fatah) head Mahmoud Abbas, both moderate Arab leaders, have issued press statements accusing and blaming Hamas for provoking the Israeli retaliation and subsequent invasion of Gaza. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit has even called upon the Arab world to cease exploiting the UN as a platform for reproaching Israel alone for the fighting, surely a first (Al-Jazeera News 28th December 2008). Neither did the two dailies reported the fact that it was Hamas that declined to extend the 6-month ceasefire truce between the two when it expired on the 19th of December 2008 (Reuters 15th December 2008), not that it mattered as rockets were being constantly fired from Palestine into Israel during this period of truce. Additionally, both papers also did not report that Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni visited Cairo the day before the assault began. Additionally, it was also never reported that Egyptian ambulances entering Gaza (on 30th December 2008) were forced to leave empty handed because Hamas was not allowing any of its wounded to leave Palestine. Neither was it reported that certain videos “leaked” from Hamas were in fact doctored and killed civilians “recycled” from one site to another (BBC News 31st December 2008) to exploit and maximize the impact to its intended audience.

 

Now why would a brother-nation make such condemnations of another? Are we missing the entire picture here through press censorship? Do the Middle Eastern leaders really understand the real situation there? Has the international community failed to grasp the implications of it all?

 

In my opinion, the conflict is no longer just about the Palestinian refugees or the creation of an independent Palestinian state but more precisely about prevention against takeover of the region by radical Islamic leaders. Except for Syria and Iran, no other kingdoms have openly criticized Israel on this. You would wonder why, correct? Is it because these leaders have learnt their lessons too well (from the Lebanon War in 2006)? By permitting the jihadists to prevail through international intervention before Israel finished its job, Hezbollah now commands an influence never before obtained. It has now more than tripled its arms stockpile – an extremely generous contribution from Iran, making the entire Middle East more volatile. Due credit was also accorded the Iranians for assisting the Hezbollah. To add to that is the fact that Iran might be nuclear arms-capable within the year and this is bad news when it happen because you do not want both Israel and Iran having such capabilities.

 

In conclusion, where did those rockets launched from and by whom? Even though homemade and crude, where did the technological transfer originated from? Can this merely be the starting salvo of yet another “war” between the Shi'ites and Sunnis?

 

- Hakim Joe

 

 

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written by DreamLady, January 13, 2009 10:16:29
Hakim Joe, thank you for the update. It is a very important information that the people of Malaysia, especially the Muslims should know. Ironically, the mass media REFUSE to report the news. WHY???

We are misled by mass media how bad and evil Israel is, without knowing the reason behind the provocation. Why is Badawi trying to prove by preventing the rakyat to know the truth ?? It baffles me tremendously!!
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written by cahaya, January 13, 2009 10:21:22
Yes, there are several other players. In the geographic region widely known as Palestine (once extended from Syria to Egypt and eastward to Jordan), the local Arabs have been a majority for a very long time. The Jewish people are a minority and the insecure.

Politics in the Middle East is seldom one group against another; often many groups are against many other groups. At the moment, Syria and Iran may also be involved in what is going on in Gaza. It is very complicated, far beyond our discussion here on MT.
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written by cahaya, January 13, 2009 10:26:01
Personally, I feel that MT readers should focus more on real issues affecting Malaysia, and not get distracted by endless debates on the Middle East. If readers want to understand the Middle East, you need to read beyond the reports from the Western media (and UMNO controlled MSM). See what the Arab newsreporters are saying. For example, read Al Jazeera news, the only international media inside Gaza.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
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written by cahaya, January 13, 2009 10:36:55
Below an article by an Arab political analyst. Dr. Sami Alrabaa is a professor of sociology and an Arab/Muslim culture specialist. Before moving to Germany he taught at Kuwait University, King Saud University, and Michigan State University.

Hamas prefers war as an alternative to progress
National Post , January 12, 2009
http://network.nationalpost.co...gress.aspx

Once again some of us Arabs are as usual in a big mess. The Islamist extremist group Hamas, which came to power in 2006 through an un-Islamic political process, namely democratic election, has since hijacked Gaza, established its rocket factories in residential areas, in bunkers under mosques, schools and hospitals. Over the past three years, the Hamas jihadis and their affiliates have frequently targeted their Kassam rockets at residential areas in Israel. Even during the ceasefire brokered by Egypt in 2008, Hamas shot their rockets at Israel. On top of all these, Hamas, like the PLO before the Oslo Accords, rejects the existence of Israel, a UN member state. Its ultimate aim is liberating all Palestine, which includes Israel, by wiping out the Jewish state from the world map and possibly by genocidal massacre or deportation of all Jewish people....
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written by Democrats, January 13, 2009 10:48:34
I saw the news and documentary the other day on RTM. It was a pathetic lopsided coverage showing dead children and wailing palestinian. I think it was an act of gathering symphathy and arousing hatred towards the Jews. WHy never show on the thousands of Americans dying and buried from the debris of the World Trade Centre attacks by the Muslim Terrorists? Because they deserved it?

Yes, its a sad fact that many innocent children were killed and innocent people injured and people loosing their limbs from Israel's strategic attacks. I say strategic because if if Israel were to really out to just kill Palestenians, i believe the number would be in the tens of thousands by now, not a mere 800. I was told that they were targeting extremist hideouts and rocket launching sites, becuase if it is genocide as the MSM claims it is, why not shoot a bigger missile into the market or mosque during prayer time? My question is if you know its dangerous there, and that is where extremist are hiding, why are children there? To be sacrificed? why aren't the parents keeping their child safe.
Sorry to say this but it is quite known by many some of these extremist and terrorist general uses children as a human shield while throwing stones at other. And to get to them, sometimes the children get hit, and the comdemn others for being heartless in hurting the child. Question is, why isn't anyone comdemning the guy who use children as human shield in the first place?
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written by alan cheong, January 13, 2009 10:50:31
now ain't cahaya's posting the honest-to-goodness TRUTH ...
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written by Rainbowseahorse, January 13, 2009 11:51:30
Oh, those 3 rockets? Most definitely launched by our very own Malaysian group. Shit Akbar didn't lay claim to that simple because it was so low tech and didn't caused much damages. Malu bah! We Malaysians wants to be in the fore front of any sensational events; kan? Malaysia Boleh!
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written by Liberace, January 13, 2009 12:11:44
Hakim Joe,

I salute you! At least somebody is thinking and talking sense. Nothing disappoint me more than to read The Star headlines quoting Anwar Ibrahim demanding that Israel be tried for war crimes. I hope his statement is being distorted again. If not, I have to say I will find it difficult to remain enthusiastic about supporting him not because I don't agree with him but more so because he spoke rashly and radically like our typical BN politician juicing political mileage. I expect this from Mahathir, Najib, Khairy and all the other Umno clowns like Ahmad Ismail and Khir Toyo. But from a leader who's known to be smart, well-read, and fair and who himself has been harshly judged and unjustly criminalized, it sounds more like pure bias and ambition than anything else.
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written by cahaya, January 13, 2009 12:45:43
Hakim Joe (and others) wonder why: “Neither the Star paper nor the New Straits Times reported this but as unfathomable as it seems, . . moderate Arab leaders have issued press statements accusing and blaming Hamas for provoking the Israeli retaliation and subsequent invasion of Gaza. . . . Neither did the two dailies reported the fact that it was Hamas that declined to extend the 6-month ceasefire truce . . . Additionally, both papers also did not report . . . Are we missing the entire picture here through press censorship? ”.

Ah, of course lah. Locals miss the big picture on many issues because of MSM press editors who have instructions from above.

Why were some Middle East events not reported and important bits missing? Guess who supports militant Hamas? And which country recently visited that country with a large delegation? To jog your memory, remember that famous foreign minister who had praised the throwing of shoes at a world leader? Okay, that is why!
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written by rotibakar, January 13, 2009 12:57:49
agree with Liberace
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written by Counterpointer, January 13, 2009 13:45:34
Who Broke the Ceasefire? CNN's "Fact Check" Falls Short

http://www.camera.org/index.as...ticle=1577

Excerpt:

From the start of the ceasefire at 6 AM on June 19 till the incident on November 4th cited by CNN, the following attacks were launched against Israel from Gaza in direct violation of the agreement:

* 18 mortars were fired at Israel in this period, beginning on the night of June 23.
* 20 rockets were fired, beginning on June 24, when 3 rockets hit the Israeli town of Sderot.
* On July 6 farmers working in the fields of Nahal Oz were attacked by light arms fire from Gaza.
* On the night of August 15 Palestinians fired across the border at Israeli soldiers near the Karni crossing.
* On October 31 an IDF patrol spotted Palestinians planting an explosive device near the security fence in the area of the Sufa crossing. As the patrol approached the fence the Palestinians fired two anti-tank missiles.

CNN conveyed uncritically – multiple times – Mustafa Barghouti’s charge that Israel violated the cease fire by not opening the crossings. Unfortunately this charge, like his charge that it was Israel that violated the ceasefire, is entirely bogus.

Too bad CNN anchors Rick Sanchez and Jim Clancy, along with the network’s fact checkers, didn’t bother to really fact check anything. Too bad CNN didn’t bother to actually interview an Israeli official or expert who could debunk Barghouti’s charges with the facts.

Judging by Rick Sanchez and Jim Clancy, viewers who want accurate, factual news from the Middle East should avoid CNN like the plague.
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written by Victorya98, January 13, 2009 13:51:43
" Israeli politicians have repeatedly stated that once Hamas stops its terrorist activities and launching of missiles, the blockade would be lifted. The Israeli cabinet even approved aid convoys into Gaza despite Hamas’ continued shooting rockets. The Hamas leadership ignored such conciliatory Israeli gestures and carried on the rocket-attacks on residential areas in Israel. "

Sorry that women and children have to suffer for the foolishness of rebellious and evil men. If only they had listened!! It seems even more foolish to support this especially when it was caused by people who didnt adhere to warnings!!
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written by Rainbowseahorse, January 13, 2009 14:38:33
Dispatch:

Shit Akbar to use ISA to detain them either to keep them out of trouble and for their own protection. No more fighters and which means no more war.
Najib to use C4 to eliminate all trouble makers. No more fighters and no war either.
Hissamudin to wave his kris around and all fighters will cower with fear. No more fighters and no war either.
Ahmad Ismail to tell them that they are all “Pendatang” and they will all move away to far-far away land.
Badawi to sit with them and soon the whole Middle East will be sound asleep with him. Completely no more fighting and all quiet on the Middle East front.
Then send MM & his cronies in to clean up the wealth all laying there for the picking. By the time the Middle East people wakes up, there will be nothing left to fight over. And peace will reign over the land for a thousand years!
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written by wongnoball, January 13, 2009 14:40:58
Malaysia should JUST look into the acts and practices of Regim Ganas Kejam UMNO than be angry at something we cannot fix in mid east. FOCUS ENERGY ON OBLITERATION of REGIM UMNO GANAS KEJAM would be better use of our time, energy and effort! i am angry enough watching RTM, TV3, Star, Utusan, NSTP, nanyang, Berita talking Crap and making a fool of themselves those presenters in trying to Brain washed or insult Malaysian intelligence. No need to get angry about other country injustice when Malaysia have tons of it. Remember Altan, Anwar, Lina Joy, Penan, Reyathi, those 21 arrested for vigil, ISA etc

STOP, THINK, DoN'T get Distracted. Focus all Energy on UMNO-BN Total Obliteration! Not a year longer for Regim Ganas kejam UMNO rule!
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written by renoir, January 13, 2009 15:28:23
The usual keen insights of one of Malaysia's greatest intellectuals, Farish A Noor, is displayed here.

LChuah
------------------------------------------------------------
MYSinchew.com
Gaza: Terrorising Victims Through "War On Terror
2009-01-13 12:41

Farish Noor

That the discourse of the "War on Terror" is a terribly useful one for governments that wish to exteriorise, dehumanise and brutalise an enemy is a foregone conclusion for many of us by now.

Since the day when the term was first coined by the administration of President Bush Jr, it has made its rounds all over the planet and has been seized upon with gusto and delight by many an authoritarian regime seeking a pretext to detain and eliminate their enemies.

Till today we do not have a tally of the figures of those who have been summarily arrested, detained without trial, tortured and "disappeared" as a result of this War on Terror which, as any linguist will tell you, doesn't even signify anything meaningful in the first place.

The current onslaught on Gaza is proof of the utility of such a discourse when it falls into the hands of those currying favour with the Washington administration--and here it doesn't really matter if the man sitting in the Oval Office is Bush Jr or Obama.

Israel's relentless attacks on the Palestinians has been couched and justified as part of the global war effort against terrorism, and as a result the Palestinians have been summarily labelled as terrorists who, by extension, deserve neither mercy nor understanding.

Even more worrying still is the manner in which the meta-narrative of the war on terror has been appropriated by other countries and governments that are likewise in a bellicose mood and warlike demeanour.

The mainstream media in India, for instance, have likewise hopped on to the anti-terror bandwagon and have taken to it like a duck to water. In the wake of the Mumbai attacks--which were indeed an instance of terrorism at work--the right-wing parties and political demagogues of India's hard-right have upped the ante even further calling on the Indian government and armed forces to "do a Gaza" on Pakistan next door.

Calling on the Indian armed forces to "do a Gaza" on Pakistan is what the world needs the least at the moment, what with the global recession spiralling out of control and the economic fortunes of many a developing countries laid low.
Worse still would be the political fallout for both India and Pakistan, two countries that enjoy the dubious distinction of having nuclear parity and the potential of wiping each other out for good.

To be continued
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written by DreamLady, January 13, 2009 16:01:36
Clear up your own backyard which is plagued by injustice suffered by your own people in the hand of the ones who rule the country, before you condemn others of the same wrong doing!!!Hypocrisy is displayed blatantly and glaringly in the land double standard.

Please, stop the pot from calling the kettle black!!!!!
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written by non conformist, January 13, 2009 18:15:17
It is a shame that so few refused to acknowledge the simple fact that the BLOOD-THIRSTY Hamas has been incessantly provoking the Israelis with their missiles fired from the Gaza strip that brought about the latest Hamas-cleansing in Gaza.

Israelis have learned their lessen. this time they will do a more through job. It looks like this time round they intend to 'flush out' or at least cripple the Hamas in the Gaza strip. It is all strategic for security and survival. There are folks who make it their dream and purpose of life to exterminate Israel. They just won't leave Israel alone. Israel is only a little speck in the VAST Islamic world stretching all the way from Kazakhstan in central Asia to Algeria fronting the Atlantic Ocean. These would never be content until Israel be wiped off from the face of the earth.

Just like there are so many UMNOputras who insist upon their 'ketuanan' over other Malaysians of other races. Not much difference between militant UMNOputras extremists and the Hamas. They have the same mind set.
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written by non conformist, January 13, 2009 18:23:18
"There are folks who make it their dream and purpose of life to exterminate Israel. They just won't leave Israel alone. Israel is only a little speck in the VAST Islamic world stretching all the way from Kazakhstan in central Asia to Algeria fronting the Atlantic Ocean. These would never be content until Israel be wiped off from the face of the earth."

If there is a God in heaven, I would believe that such a God would surely be on the side of Israel, against the many great and mighty nations that thirst and hunger for Israel's destruction.

How would one feel each day if he lives in a small country whose very existence is being threatened by those big countries who sponsor the Hamas and Hezbollah to exterminate your country?
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written by amoker, January 13, 2009 19:43:07
Datuk Ibrahim Ali (Independent-Pasir Mas) proposed that civil servants make a salary cut equivalent to one day's work to be contributed to the Palestinian Fund.

He comes out with the strangest of things , esp. his comments about ladies.
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written by Shiva, January 13, 2009 22:07:27
hakim joe, may be if its possible, check it out why there was not any protest by malaysia's religious fanatics, whenever two sections in pakistan blow up their shrines every now and then,...why is there selective prosecution and hatred among malaysian muslims.
they keep quite for the crisis in south thailand
they keep quite for the crisis in sri lanka
they keep quite for the crisis in timor-timor
but whenever there is a conflict of israel..these brothers burn the flags, how stupid can they get? this is the example of selective marginalization
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written by Hakim Joe, January 14, 2009 01:19:38
Hi Rohani, those rockets actually accomplished their job which is to terrorize the citizens of another nation. They were launched inside the UN controlled area in Lebanon and impacted inside Israel. When someone aims and shoots at you, it is never a silly attempt.

Secondly, we only know (from our illustrious newspapers) that Israel is doing the blockading. In reality, Egypt and Israel are both involved. One does not break the truce in an agreed ceasefire by launching rockets across the border. It is definitely not self defense.

The Palestinians see no future not entirely because Israel is stopping them. In fact everybody is to be blamed because the international community has disregarded them.

Yes I agree with you that the only losers in a war are the civilian casualties. Why didn't Hamas extend the truce when it expired? Only their leaders will know.

Lastly, the reason why I wrote this piece and the allusions to our national coverage on this episode is to highlight the fact that we are all being led to believe that Israel is the Satan. This "selective reporting" of events that has little bearing on Malaysians is how politics are being played here. If the local print media can do so in pertinent to such an event, just imagine what they are doing with the really important news regarding Malaysia. We are all educated people here and we have the right to decide what we believe in. However, when a supposedly "independent" newspaper skew their reportings, we are henceforth being indoctrinated with "one-sided-views".

Is that what you really want?

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written by Hakim Joe, January 14, 2009 01:30:57
Hi Shiva, Malaysian news can never report on the feuds between the Sunnis and the Shi'ites. They will also never report the cruelty (and massacre) being done on the other minorities like the Sufis. This "selective reporting" is the hallmark of our newspapers. Like what I told Rohani, if they can do so in international events, what will they do to national events?

Not too hard to guess, right?

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written by Hakim Joe, January 14, 2009 01:44:32
Israel DOES NOT fear Resolution 377 - Remember that US possesses the VETO?The incursion into Gaza was not accomplished on impulse. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni visited Cairo the day before the assault began. Coincidence?
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written by Hakim Joe, January 14, 2009 01:51:27
Let me rephrase that. In an emergency session of the General Assembly, no veto could be invoked. BUT the US could veto the sanctioning of the emergency session, period.

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written by informalaysia, January 14, 2009 07:43:31
The one-sided views of our national press, or the US press, should not be our main concern here. What we should do is to look deeper into the main root of the current war in Gaza. By understanding the real causes of the current wave of terror on both sides in this conflict, perhaps we could make an informed judgment and decision when writing and articulating on this issue.

The conflict in Gaza, or in Palestine, does not start 2 weeks ago. It started 60 years ago, when the Palestinians who have been living in their homeland for thousand of years were turned into refugees and outcast by the Israeli occupier with the backing of the UN and the US. The historical fact is sound and clear for everyone to see, and for the record, as in 1919 Palestine was recognized as as an independent nation by the League of Nations in League Covenant article 22(4) and the 1922 Mandate for Palestine given to Great Britain.

To state that Israel was a victim to the monstrous Arab nations around them is one of the biggest lies in the history of mankind, as it was the Israeli (or the Zionist, not necessarily the Jews, as the Jews also have been living with the Palestinians in Palestine since time immemorial) who imposed themselves upon the original inhabitants of Palestine, colonizing and terrorizing the original population in order to establish the illegal state of Israel on Palestinian lands. Before and after Israel's inception, the illegal occupier has committed a lot of atrocious crimes against humanity to the citizens of Palestine, and almost half of these massacres are listed below (taken from http://www.soundofegypt.com/pa...sacres.htm):

The King David Massacre, The Massacre at Baldat al-Shaikh, YEHIDA MASSACRE, KHISAS MASSACRE, QAZAZA MASSACRE, The Semiramis Hotel Massacre, The Massacre at Dair Yasin, NASER AL-DIN MASSACRE, THE TANTURA MASSACRE, BEIT DARAS MASSACRE, THE DAHMASH MOSQUE MASSACRE, DAWAYMA MASSACRE, HOULA MASSACRE, SHARAFAT MASSACRE, Salha Massacre, The Massacre at Qibya, KAFR QASEM MASSACRE, Khan Yunis Massacre, The Massacre in Gaza City, AL-SAMMOU' MASSACRE, Aitharoun Massacre, Kawnin Massacre
Hanin Massacre, Bint Jbeil Massacre, Abbasieh Massacre, Adloun Massacre, Saida Massacre, Fakhani Massacre, Beirut Massacre.

The Palestinians; Muslims, Christians, Jews (yes there are Jews and Jewish Rabbis who strongly opposed the existence of the state of Israel on the notion that it violates the very teaching of Judaism, not to mention that its very existence is in fact an infringement on the sovereignty of the nation of Palestine) have been suffering for too long under the illegal and racist occupation of the Israeli regime. It is this illegal occupation in the first place that causes the current wave of violence and terror in Palestine and Israel. Palestinians have every right to take back everything that belong to them, with any means possible. You may disagree if they use violence as violence only begets violence, you may argue, but we are talking about a nation and a people who have been occupied for almost six decades by an illegal occupier. Didn't the Americans fought bravely in numerous wars and battles to drive out the British from their homeland? And didn't almost all occupied nations in the world fought in wars to achieve their independence? It is completely ridiculous to say to the Palestinian people to give in to the oppressors and move on as if nothing happened, as it is completely ridiculous to say to the Malaysian people to stop fighting for a better and fair Malaysia, and just move on living under the BN regime, don't you think?
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written by informalaysia, January 14, 2009 07:44:37
As for the current crises in Gaza, it is worth mentioning that Hamas had respected the peace truce it had with Israel and it was in fact Israel who broke the truce in the first place. This is not some media spin by our national press, or by any other self-interested media or groups. This fact is repeatedly mentioned and explained by various political analysts and experts of the Middle East, only to be concealed to the public masses, especially in the West. The realities of Gaza and the chains of events that lead to the current war in the region is analyzed by William Cook, a professor of English at the University of La Verne in southern California. Lets open our eyes and mind and try not to be political about this issue, as it is the Humanity aspect that is more important.

Consider the Realities of Gaza

By WILLIAM COOK

“How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be”

-- Oedipus Rex, Scene I

As the Israeli military launched an “all out war” with Hamas in the Gaza strip, as casualties mounted to 400 dead and another 1450 wounded, as tanks and troops massed in the area just outside the wall that imprisons the people of Gaza, as preparations for a ground assault into the “closed military zone” around the Gaza strip moved forward, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Saturday the 27th “… instructed the Foreign Ministry to take emergency measures to adapt Israel’s international public relations to the ongoing escalation in the Gaza Strip.” (Haaretz, 12/28/0smilies/cool.gif. “An aggressive and diplomatic international public relations campaign” needed to be launched simultaneously with the estimated “60 raids” that now pummel Gaza each day, raids that, in human terms, have taken the lives of five children, all girls, of the Ba’losha family killed in Bait Lahia City north of Gaza and three children from the Al Absi family in Rafah refugee camp as Israeli rockets collapsed their roof. (freepalestine.ps, Sameh, Habeeb).

I provide names and locations of these families to give reality to the statistics that numb the mind; multiply the suffering of these families as 400 lie dead from this “turkey shoot” against fenced in civilians launched by this compassionate Olmert administration that closes out its criminal tenure in office awaiting the election of yet another militaristic administration.

Unfortunately some ministry officials had to interrupt their vacations to return immediately to their posts abroad. Their purpose, like Livni’s, to “explain the rationale for the expanded IDF operations in the Gaza Strip.” (Haaretz, 12/28/0smilies/cool.gif. The ministry also seeks speakers of foreign languages, especially Arabic, Italian, Spanish, and German to ensure that its message is received by all. An international media broadcast outlet opened on Sunday in Sderot, the hapless Israeli town that has been the recipient of most of Hamas’ rockets over the past 8 years. Tours are planned for “foreign media and diplomatic figures.” Livni noted that “Israel expects the support and understanding of the international community, as it confronts terror, and advances the interest of all those who wish the forces of peace and co-existence to determine the agenda of this region.” (Haaretz)
(to be continued..)
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written by informalaysia, January 14, 2009 07:45:22
(continue)
Not mentioned by Livni, though reported in the same newspaper on the same day, was an article by Barak Ravid, “Disinformation, secrecy and lies: How the Gaza offensive came about.” Ravid discloses that Olmert had “instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.” Interesting how propaganda precedes perception and negates reality. In 1958 Aldus Huxley commented in “Brave New World Revisited” that “truth is great” but “silence about truth is greater still.” Hitler used just this “silence about truth” to imprison the minds of his civilians by silencing his actions in the media and creating instead a “new” truth from fabricated lies that cloaked reality in acceptable clothing by redefining actuality.
While Livni’s hordes roam the world’s TV talk shows and pen articles about “scores” or “showers” or “barrages” of “rockets” pouring on Sderot or other towns near Gaza, Olmert meets with his cabinet for “five hours of discussion about the operation” reserving “one line devoted to the situation in Gaza, compared to one whole page that concerned the outlawing of 35 Islamic organizations.” In short what the public is told by Livni’s PR campaign is not the reason Israel has attacked Gaza. The reason for this invasion is to wipe out Palestinian resistance, something the British had to face in the 1930s and 1940s as Jewish “gangs,” in reality organized and trained military forces (Irgun, Stern, and Hagana), confronted their rule as determined by the UN under the Mandate. But the deception did not end there. Israel continued “to send out disinformation in announcing it would open the crossings to the Gaza strip” and that Olmert “would decide whether to launch the strike following three more deliberations on Sunday – one day after the actual order to launch the operation was issued.” Hamas, which had vacated its headquarters because of these announcements, returned just in time to be killed, a deception comparable in its consequence to that 1946 “false flag” operation that destroyed the King David Hotel killing 91.

The world has been and is again being told how the people of Israel are victims of Hamas’ rockets that “pour” or “shower” their villages. Let’s consider the reality rather than the propaganda. Israel sets up Sderot as the suffering example of this terrorist action and provides tours for journalists and diplomats including Barak Obama. One step into Gaza and you will see real devastation, not remains of rockets that landed in fields or hit a building causing no deaths. Both Gaza and the West Bank speak vividly the results of military incursions, home demolitions, bulldozed farm land and fruit trees, and the most insidious icon of human brutality, the Wall of Fear erected by Ariel Sharon.

So let’s consider the reality not the propaganda. In 8 years an estimated 6000 rockets have been shot at Israel. That’s a slightly exaggerated number but one that will allow for increased attempts by Hamas or others to send additional rockets into Israeli towns. That means that on average 750 have been hurled at Israel each year, or 62.5 per month or 2 per day. In all that time 23 Israeli or non-Israelis living in Israel have been killed. That represents about 2.8 a year. This past week, as Israel “showers” Gaza with $300,000 precision missiles that unfortunately do not distinguish in their accuracy civilians from resistance fighters, more rockets have been launched per day by Hamas and other factions at Israel and at least 4 more have died. Now we can see how numbing statistics are. Those twenty three should never have been killed nor the four who died this week. But for Israel to use the rockets as the basis for this past weekend’s horrific slaughter of Palestinians is inexcusable by any measure. Four hundred and fourteen dead in (Guardian, UK, 1/2/2009) as Israeli missiles hammer civilian neighborhoods with, as they claim, precision, is nothing short of outright murder and the slaughter continues beyond the 325 sites struck in those first days by land sea and air, a true “rain” of death, devastation and psychological trauma.

Consider the conditions on the ground, the reality not the propaganda, as Israel attacks the residents of Gaza: for the past two years Israel has put Gaza under constant siege closing all gates thus preventing egress and ingress; it has destroyed the infrastructure of Gaza including sewage, electricity and water; it has barred international shipments of humanitarian goods and fuel; and it has maintained, even during the agreed upon cease fire, constant daily incursions into Gaza killing randomly and destroying at will. (PCHRGAZA Weekly Reports). Little or none of this is reported in American papers or on TV news broadcasts, only reference to terrorists and rockets constantly threatening the existence of Israel.
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written by informalaysia, January 14, 2009 07:46:52
(continue)
Consider as well the irony of this situation not the propaganda offered by Israel apologists. The people of Gaza are collectively refugees of Jewish forces driven from their homes, like Ashkelon, that is now hit randomly by Gazan rockets. They fire at their own land, at homes they used to live in before well equipped and trained, “unofficial” military of the Jewish Agency during the Mandate years ethnically pushed them into Gaza. The Israelis, of course, do not mention that they stole Ashkelon from the very people who now send rockets into it.

Consider the reality, not the propaganda: the Palestinian people can go no where; they cannot escape through the Israeli controlled gates; they can not flee by car, rail, air, boat or on foot; they are caged in a steel enclosed land area blocked on the west by Israeli gunboats. This is comparable in its way to the “highway of death” that slaughtered thousands of Iraqis as they fled from Kuwait in the 1991 war, surrounded and at the mercy of those hurling missiles from the air and the hills that overlooked their death throes.

Consider Livni’s public relations campaign, the reality not the propaganda, as it thunders forth the desperate condition the Israelis face as Hamas builds its strength in imitation of Hizbullah. Estimates reported in Ynet News (4/10/0smilies/cool.gif by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center place Hamas’ “military-security force” at 20,000, up from an estimated 13,000 in 2007 as reported in Haaretz (7/21/07). These numbers threaten the Israeli military despite the fact that Israel can field an estimated two million troops; despite its state of the art military that is considered the fourth largest in the world; and despite its possession of 200 to 400 nuclear weapons. All of this force against weapons smuggled into Gaza through tunnels; there’s no other way to bring them in since they are under constant guard by the IDF.

Consider as well the Israeli effort to claim victim hood based on Hamas’ terrorism against its civilians; consider the reality not the propaganda. The following statistics come from B’Tselem as recorded by www.ifamericaknew.org: 4,897 Palestinians killed since 9/29/00 to 11/30/08; 1062 Israelis killed during that same time period. Of these numbers, 1050 were Palestinian children and 123 Israeli; 2,227-3149 were Palestinian civilians and 727 were Israeli civilians. Since June28, 2008, in Gaza, the start of the cease fire, a total of 247 were killed up to October 6, 2008, 155 of these were civilians and 57 were children.

Add to these horrific numbers the tally the Israeli’s accumulated on December 27th, approximately a week ago, of 251 Palestinians killed, most civilians including 20 children and 9 women with another 584 wounded 130 of them children (PCHR). The death toll for Palestinians has exceeded that of the American casualties in Iraq, and continues to climb above 5200 as each day passes with no end in sight.
(to be continued..)
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written by informalaysia, January 14, 2009 07:47:28
(continue..)

And so we must ask, why? What drives this merciless military machine that is the government and armed forces of Israel? Can it be true as Livni attests that “Israel expects the support and understanding of the international community, as it confronts terror, and advances the interest of all those who wish the forces of peace and co-existence to determine the agenda of this region.” What is terror if not the forced imprisonment of 1.5 million people locked behind gates and walls of steel while a state of the art military including land, air and sea forces pummel the people day and night in a merciless barrage of devastation and mayhem? What civilized state in this community of nations could believe that Israel “advances the interest of all” by such devastation of a helpless neighbor? What civilized state could support, what Livni, without blushing, calls the “forces of peace and co-existence” that determine the agenda in the mid-east? Consider the reality not the propaganda.

Why? In July of 2004, Khalid Amayreh, writing in www.infoimagination.org, in a study of Israeli military strategy, noted the following: “Israel’s hawkish Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon last week lashed out at the Knesset’s influential committee on defense and foreign affairs, accusing some members of disclosing ‘classified army secrets.’” The reason for the tongue lashing? That the Israeli occupation army “provoked the Palestinians into escalating the violence during the first few months of the second intifada in order to give the army a pretext to hit hard on the Palestinian society and bully it into unconditional surrender.” How was this done? 1,300,000 bullets were fired by “occupation soldiers on Palestinian population centres and other targets.” “This massive firepower, which had no operational justification … showed that the Israeli army was interested more in decimating and harming Palestinians and less in ending the violence.” Compare this newest incursion with its massive firepower against a people that have no where to go, but must live through the agony of a rain of death, a people that have had to endure a merciless siege for two years that has left them physically weakened, emotionally drained, psychologically distraught, and personally humiliated by unemployment, and helpless to alter the situation imposed on them. Before he was “extra-judicially executed,” Abd al-Aziz Rantisi, former Hamas Gaza leader, made this observation, “Israel is offering us two choices, either to die a meek lamb’s death at the slaughter house or as martyr-bombers.” Consider the reality not the propaganda.
Let me return now to the quote from Oedipus Rex that headlined this piece: “How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be.” The nations of the world are faced with a pulverizing public relations blitz by the Israeli government to justify its disproportionate destruction of the Palestinian people and their property. Silencing truth, the reality that exists behind a cloak of lies, destroys justice just as it destroys the people of Gaza. I look back at Hamas’ victory at the election booth, at their offer for peace following that election, both the Hamas offer to consider the Saudi Prince’s 2002 peace plan and Mahmoud Abbas’ offer for an International Peace Conference in Oslo, and realize that Israel and the United States ignored their offers, intentionally ignored their offers just as President Bush, earlier this fall, ignored, by refusing to reply, to a Hamas offer for an on-going ceasefire so that peace could be achieved. A different agenda is at work here, an agenda that seeks the total elimination of the Palestinian people as a people, subject to the authority and control of the Israeli government. As Mohammed Barakeh, an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset remarked about Israel‘s strategy in 2004, “Israel sought to and almost succeeded in convincing the world that its violent onslaught against the Palestinian society was in reaction to Palestinian terror. This simplified and erroneous claim ignores the simple fact that Israel’s violent and racist occupation of the Palestinian homeland is the root cause of all violence.” Once again, the government of Israel has determined that it can, by stealth of propaganda, control how the world views its occupation and military conquest of the Palestinian people. Let’s hope reality overcomes deception.

William Cook is a professor of English at the University of La Verne in southern California and author of Tracking Depception: Bush's Mideast Policy. He can be reached at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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written by shahidan, January 14, 2009 10:40:28
“Neither the Star paper nor the New Straits Times reported this but as unfathomable as it seems, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian Authority (Fatah) head Mahmoud Abbas, both moderate Arab leaders, have issued press statements accusing and blaming Hamas for provoking the Israeli retaliation and subsequent invasion of Gaza.”

So Hakim Joe naively informs us of the seemingly ‘unfathomable’ posture of these moderate leaders, leaders who receive massive funds from the US and Europe and take their instructions from the imperial centres. He has clearly not read some of the articles posted by LChuah in the commentary sections of MT, including some items above touching on the ongoing carnage of non-combatant civilian Palestinians, over 40% being children and women.

These articles posted by LChuah and others give the other side of the argument from the mainstream western media, which media only a few years ago was echoing the Bush war mongering policy to attack Iraq on the falsehood that Saddam Hussein possessed WMDs and was linked to Al Qaeda. These lies propagated by the mainstream global media saw the American people giving over 80% approval to Bush for attacking Iraq. At that time too, honest intellectuals and politicians wrote and campaigned against the Bush war mongering agenda. It has not taken long, only about six years, for the truth to be firmly established that the war that has unleashed instability and internal strive and massive destruction, costing over a million Iraqi lives, was based on a pack of lies. Some of the sources cited by LChuah were the very sites and publications where those knowledgeable about the history and strategies of imperialism wrote their anti-war thoughts and they have been fully vindicated. As the truth about the war unraveled, US public opinion against Bush and the war took a dive with polls showing Bush as being one of the most unpopular Presidents in US history.

Many of the postings supporting Israel and blaming Hamas for the present atrocities are blindly parroting propaganda from the same sources without any critical thought. We should not wait for more deaths to make informed judgments. Whether we think Hamas should have retaliated against Israeli provocations and atrocities with home made Qassam rockets is a matter of judgment. But it cannot be disputed that Hamas had stopped firing rockets during the so-called ceasefire. During this period, the Israelis tightened their grip on the besieged Palestinians and made incursions into Gaza and killed Hamas activists resulting in Hamas retaliation.

The Guardian on 7 January interviewed a lady teacher of English whose relative had been just killed by an Apache helicopter gunship. She said, “I’ve tried to leave Gaza for the past two years, but every time I’ve tried to leave we’ve been turned back from the crossing.” This is a siege of one and a half million people. It is the largest concentration camp in the world with all medical supplies, food, fuel, electricity and all other necessities of life controlled by Israel. These items are allowed in drips and drabs in accordance with Israel’s whims, prompting the Israeli peace activist, Uri Avnery, to observe, “Some time ago I wrote that the Gaza blockade was a scientific experiment designed to find out how much one can starve a population and turn its life into hell before they break. This experiment was conducted with the generous help of Europe and the US. Up to now, it did not succeed. Hamas became stronger and the range of the Qassams became longer. The present war is a continuation of the experiment by other means…”

On the collapse of the ceasefire, Uri Avnery wrote, ““As a matter of fact, the cease-fire did not collapse, because there was no real cease-fire to start with. The main requirement for any cease-fire in the Gaza Strip must be the opening of the border crossings. There can be no life in Gaza without a steady flow of supplies. But the crossings were not opened, except for a few hours now and again. The blockade on land, on sea and in the air against a million and a half human beings is an act of war, as much as any dropping of bombs or launching of rockets. It paralyzes life in the Gaza Strip: eliminating most sources of employment, pushing hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation, stopping most hospitals from functioning, disrupting the supply of electricity and water.”

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written by renoir, January 16, 2009 16:40:59
So, is Pat Buchanan correct - that America is an "Israeli occupied territory"???

LChuah
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January 14, 2009

The White House Moron Stumbles to the Finish
The Humiliation of America
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

“Early Friday morning the secretary of state was considering bringing the cease-fire resolution to a UNSC vote and we didn’t want her to vote for it,” Olmert said. “I said ‘get President Bush on the phone.’ They tried and told me he was in the middle of a lecture in Philadelphia. I said ‘I’m not interested, I need to speak to him now.’ He got down from the podium, went out and took the phone call.”

"Let me see if I understand this,” wrote a friend in response to news reports that Israeli Prime Minister Olmert ordered President Bush from the podium where he was giving a speech to receive Israel’s instructions about how the United States had to vote on the UN resolution. “On September 11th, President Bush is interrupted while reading a story to school children and told the World Trade Center had been hit--and he went on reading. Now, Olmert calls about a UN resolution when Bush is giving a speech and Bush leaves the stage to take the call. There exists no greater example of a master-servant relationship.”

Olmert gloated as he told Israelis how he had shamed US Secretary of State Condi Rice by preventing the American Secretary of State from supporting a resolution that she had helped to craft. Olmert proudly related how he had interrupted President Bush’s speech in order to give Bush his marching orders on the UN vote.

Israeli politicians have been bragging for decades about the control they exercise over the US government. In his final press conference, President Bush, deluded to the very end, said that the whole world respects America. In fact, when the world looks at America, what it sees is an Israeli colony.

Responding to mounting reports from the Red Cross and human rights organizations of Israel’s massive war crimes in Gaza, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted 33-1 on January 12 to condemn Israel for grave offenses against human rights.

On January 13, the London Times reported that Israelis have gathered on a hillside overlooking Gaza to enjoy the slaughter of Palestinians in what the Times calls “the ultimate spectator sport.”

It is American supplied F-16 fighter jets, helicopter gunships, missiles, and bombs that are destroying the civilian infrastructure of Gaza and murdering the Palestinians who have been packed into the tiny strip of land. What is happening to the Palestinians herded into the Gaza Ghetto is happening because of American money and weapons. It is just as much an attack by the United States as an attack by Israel. The US government is complicit in the war crimes.

To be continued
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written by renoir, January 16, 2009 16:41:34
Continued

Yet in his farewell press conference on January 12, Bush said that the world respects America for its compassion.

The compassion of bombing a UN school for girls?

The compassion of herding 100 Palestinians into one house and then shelling it?

The compassion of bombing hospitals and mosques?

The compassion of depriving 1.5 million Palestinians of food, medicine, and energy?

The compassion of violently overthrowing the democratically elected Hamas government?

The compassion of blowing up the infrastructure of one of the poorest and most deprived people on earth?

The compassion of abstaining from a Security Council vote condemning these actions?

And this is a repeat of what the Israelis and Americans did to Lebanon in 2006, what the Americans did to Iraqis for six years and are continuing to do to Afghans after seven years. And still hope to do to the Iranians and Syrians.

In 2002 I designated George W. Bush “the White House Moron.” If there ever was any doubt about this designation, Bush’s final press conference dispelled it.

Bush talked about connecting the dots, but Bush has failed to connect any dots for eight solid years. “Our” president was a puppet for a cabal led by Dick Cheney and a handful of Jewish neoconservatives, who took control of the Pentagon, the State Department, the National Security Council, the CIA, and “Homeland Security.” From these power positions, the neocon cabal used lies and deception to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, pointless wars that have cost Americans $3 trillion, while millions of Americans lose their jobs, their pensions, and their access to health care.

“These obviously very difficult economic times,” Bush said in his press conference, “started before my presidency.”

Bush has plenty of liberal company in failing to connect a $3 trillion dollar war with hard times. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities blames Bush’s tax cut, not the wars, for “the fiscal deterioration.”

Bush told the White House Press Corps, a useless collection of non-journalists, that the two mistakes of his invasion of Iraq were: (1) Putting up the “mission accomplished” banner on the aircraft carrier, which, he said, “sent the wrong message,” and (2) the absence of the alleged weapons of mass destruction that he used to justify the invasion.

Although Bush now admits that there were not any such weapons in Iraq, Bush said that the invasion was still the right thing to do.

The deaths of 1.25 million Iraqis, the displacement of 4 million Iraqis, and the destruction of a country’s infrastructure and economy are merely the collateral damage associated with “bringing freedom and democracy” to the Middle East.

Unless George W. Bush is the best actor in human history, he truly believes what he told the White House Press Corps.

What Bush did not explain is how America is respected when its people put a moron in charge for eight years.

---------------------
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration.
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