Monday, July 21, 2014

UN & World Leaders Willing to Prolong Misery of Gazan Palestinians & Southern Israel #Ceasefire

Last night the UN Security Council issued a tepid call for a ceasefire Gaza. It was a media statement, the weakest expression the UNSC makes, but never the less as Israel's victories in Gaza further threaten Hamas, their propaganda machine will churn out "genocidal" body counts in an effort to increase international pressure on Israel for a ceasefire which eventually it will accede to.

Hamas will salvage just enough from this to claim a great victory, then within a few days the first mortars and Kassam rockets will slam into Israel's southern cities to make the point that Israel failed to rid the region from Hamas. It will then spend the next couple of years diverting aid money into rearming, rebuilding the terror tunnels, importing loner range missiles from Iran and generally preparing for the next round - all at the expense of ordinary Gazan Palestinians. When the rearming is complete, and Hamas feels ready, it will start to increase fire rate into Israel, sparking targeted airstrikes. Eventually, as happened a few days ago, the quantity of attacks from Gaza will reach intolerable levels for Israel, and once again the IDF will enter Gaza, sparking more deaths, claims and counter claims, until the UN again calls a halt. This has happened 3 times already since 2005 and it appears the international community has failed to learn anything from the pattern. 
Worse however is the crime against humanity that the international community, in pushing these ceasefires, becomes a party to: Hamas is a jihadi terror organization, part of exactly the same family (and acting partnership with) Islamic Jihad and the ISIS currently rampaging through Syria and Iraq. Life under their iron rule is a living hell - Hamas cares nothing for the ordinary Palestinians of Gaza- they are just tools and slaves to its genocidal ambitions against the Zionists & western values. Hamas's supreme leader has amassed a fortune - billions of dollars in overseas accounts - all stolen from Gazans; any dissent is crushed ruthlessly; and children are seen as terrorists in training. Hamas has never wavered from its hatred of Israel - it has not one iota of interest in negotiations for a long term peace, nor in the future of the Palestinian people as long as a single Jew remains on "Palestinian soil". It will again place its rockets & weapon stores in civilian areas: next to homes, in schools and mosques, as they have done so many times in the past and once more Israel will have no choice but to engage Hamas in the killing field of Hamas's choosing.

Hamas see the people of Gaza as human shields - if Israel doesn't fire on a terror target, due to presence of civilians  - as so often happens - then that's a win for Hamas. If Israel does fire, and there are civilian casualties, this is a propaganda win for Hamas. If you are a more liberal minded western reader of this blog understand this: They really do think like that - they are TERRORISTS!

So this time, how about the world breaks the cycle that enables Hamas to repeatedly bring violence and destruction on Gaza? Back off, let Israel break Hamas's hold over the area. Then we can talk solutions for improving life there: perhaps the PA can take over, or maybe a foreign mandate can run Gaza temporarily. Instead of terror tunnels aid acan pour in and go where it is intended for! Genuine development can be created in Gaza, people can live there knowing that within a few months there won't be a rocket launcher next to their home, a fair justice system can replace Hamas's summary executions; borders to Egypt and Israel could open for trade creating the opportunities that Hamas destroyed in 2005.

None of this opportunity for long term improvement in Gaza can happen if Israel is yet again stopped from degrading Hamas to the point it cannot maintain its hold over Gaza. Yes there will be causalities in the coming days - although the vast majority of these 'civilians' will turn out on investigation to be Hamas fighters - but without those casualties now, there will be many more in the next round of violence and the one after that, and between those violent outbreaks, 1.8 MILLION Palestinians in Gaza have no hope, no future and no way out & millions of Israeli families will live in fear of rocket attacks.

It is time for the UN council & world leaders to focus on a solution in Gaza that actually helps the people there - forcing a ceasefire that leaves them under Hamas's domination is a crime against humanity, both in Gaza & Israel. Let this be the last round of warfare in Gaza - let it be the end of Hamas and the start of hope. Anything less is a true crime against humanity! 

Friday, July 4, 2014

The Real Palestinians Have Stood Up - Take a Good Look!

You should not judge a country, people, or community based on the actions of tiny minorities or individuals from that community, no matter how heinous, but rather on the reactions of that community to those actions or people.

Earlier this week, Israeli streets were almost empty as people stopped to watch the funeral of the 3 murdered Israeli teenagers - Gilad, Eyal and Naftali. 60,000 people attended the funerals, including the president, prime minister and chief rabbis of Israel, all of whom spoke. Nobody called for revenge, or blood - indeed the mothers of the boys called for calm and peace and remembrance of three young lives. There were incidents of protest by young Israelis in Jerusalem, quickly quashed by police, but on the whole, the event was about grief, sorrow and healing.

There is little doubt that the Palestinian terror group which governs Gaza - Hamas - is up to its necks in this horrific crime against three school boys as PM Netanyahu has said. There is plenty of evidence linking the three prime suspects to the crime, all of whom are associated with Hamas and Hamas has been making regular calls for kidnappings of Israelis since the Gilad Shalit release deal. So whether Hamas actually planned the attack or merely created the environment for it to occur, they are complicit. We must remember that the Palestinian Authority, led by Fatah's Mahmood Abbas, is now "in bed" with Hamas following the unity government deal, implemented just weeks ago, effectively killing any possibility of the peace process finding new life and hope in the near future.

In the wake of the kidnappings, the IDF conducted mass searches for the boys, which uncovered terror networks and infrastructure in the West Bank and involved the re-arrest of Hamas operatives released in the Shalit deal. Israel knew it was walking a tight line between inflaming the Palestinian street and finding the boys, but also knew if the kidnappers had succeeded there'd be three new Shalits. Israel also had to make the point to the Palestinians - being encouraged to commit this crime by Hamas - that such acts cannot be tolerated and would make their lives more difficult and to Hamas, that it would seriously impact their infrastructure and ability to operate in the West Bank.

Now this week we saw another crime - An Arab boy kidnapped and murdered. Unlike the Israeli boys, at the time of writing this blog, we do not  yet has a clear picture of what happened. It may well be a 'revenge killing' by some very evil Israelis, and the boy's family were quick to blame Israel, but there maybe other circumstances other than revenge as there have apparently been several attempted kidnappings by other Arab clans against this family in recent weeks. In any case,  if it turns out that it this poor boy was murdered as a revenge killing, Israel will demonstrate anguish & horror that one of our own could do such evil.

Never the less the Palestinian's have already reacted with violence and vandalism - unlike the Israeli and Jewish world, they haven't held prayer vigils, called for calm or done acts of kindness in the name of this boy. They have rioted. They have burned the Jerusalem light rail near Arab areas - built along that route to bring opportunity to Arab Jerusalem as well as Jewish - they have started fires in woodland and along roadsides, and they have thrown rocks at civilian vehicles and buses - as I write this, the funeral of the murdered boy is taking place and unlike the funerals of Eyal, GIlad and Naftali, there are no calls for peace and calm, but rather for blood, and revenge. The crowd is chanting "Martyr" and while this takes place Arabs are throwing rocks and vandalizing in their neighborhoods of this great city, even on "Temple Mount", home of the Dome of the Rock, their own 3rd holiest place, they are causing desecration.

Don't judge the Palestinians because the three Israelis were murdered, and don't judge Israel because this poor Arab boy was murdered - judge them on their reactions! When this Arab boy turned up dead, the vast majority of Israelis were horrified and saddened that it may have been one of theirs that did it. When the three Israelis were taken and murdered, Palestinian parents and teachers took 100s of photos of their small children holding up three fingers in delight at the act. The people who danced on 9/11 gloried in kidnap and murder. Judge them on that.