Middle East Terror and Double Standards
On Monday NATO announced that two errant rockets fired by U.S. forces the day before had killed 12 Afghan civilians, including six children, in a house in the Taliban stronghold of Marjeh. Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed “sadness” and ordered an investigation. NATO is worried about the impact in terms of winning local support.
But there has been no outcry or condemnations, certainly not from democratic governments or even from the UN. The lack of an international response seems to reflect awareness that the killings were accidental and that it is intrinsic to the nature of war that such incidents occur.
But it was different back on November 8, 2006, when three misfired Israeli artillery shells hit a residential area in the town of Beit Hanoun in Gaza, killing 19 civilians. The shells were fired in a bid to prevent an imminent rocket attack on the Israeli city of Ashkelon, of which there had already been several. Israeli forces had been engaged in skirmishes in Gaza in a direct attempt to protect Israeli communities from the rockets — and it was all happening a year and some months after Israel had evacuated Gaza completely and put an end to what was called its “occupation.”
Nevertheless, in this case there was an international response. The then-external relations chief of the European Union, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, said, “The killing this morning of so many civilians in Gaza, including many children, is a profoundly shocking event. Israel has a right to defend itself, but not at the price of the lives of the innocent.” The then-Italian foreign minister, Massimo D’Alema, had harsher words: “This morning 18 people, women and children, were massacred … [in] an escalation of violence I think is unacceptable.” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry came out with: “The Israeli attack is a blow to regional peace efforts and will create a cycle of violence.”
The then-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the incident “shocking” and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas — touted to this day as Israel’s peace partner — called it an “ugly massacre committed by the occupation against our children, our women, and elderly.” On November 15 the UN Human Rights Council met in Geneva and resolved to send a “fact-finding commission” to Beit Hanoun consisting of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and British academic — and later member of the Goldstone “fact-finding commission” — Christine Chinkin.
This site is becoming an Israel information bureau.
This piece well exposes the hypocrisy. Only Israel gets Goldstoned, the U.S. and Britain can conduct war without the whole barbarian–and much of the civilized–world rising up against them.
Pedrosito… BECOMING?
– an Israel information bureau???
The reason there is such monomaniacal interest in the crimes of Israel and diaspora Jews — is because of the extraordinary power of this group to advance its interests with impunity and control its own press.
People don’t like that kind of power – and the misuse of it.
I am Russian and Scot… do you think I would defend the acts of Putin because of this ethnocentric bond??? that’s hilarious…
but we deal with ethnocentric Jews in government and media every day.
Yes, we have J Street… but it’s no match for the propaganda machinery of Israel.
Sorry… this is the kind of mischief that breeds the A word.
It would be nice if this were truly an Israel information bureau. it isn’t. But I’ll settle for a site that is willing to expose what damned hypocrites the savages of the planet are when it comes to excusing their own savagery, and condemning our half-hearted attempts to defend ourselves against a world of Jew-haters.
Hey, G. Marks – if you don’t like the stuff on Israel here, go to Dissenting Voice. You’ll love the stuff there!
G Marks — have you nothing to say about the Zionist Occupation Government? Or the Trilateral Commission? You disappoint me.
Ruvy… “OUR” half hearted attempts???
I am Russian and Scot… do you think for a minute that each time I read a story about Evil Russians, or power hungry Putin… that I dash off a defense of same?
Ethnocentricity is a dangerous, and evil game. Certainly not welcome in the 21st century. Even the Muslims you so despise don’t all see themselves as brothers with Palestinians or Turks – Egyptians or Moroccans…
yet Jews… ever joined at the lip – defend to the death the use of Pali kids as target practice… and the sale of their body parts for cash!!
I’d say there is a BIG BIG difference between me and Putin. There should be a big big difference between the average Jew in New Jersey and the murderous IDF soldier who laughs as children explode.
If there isn’t – you deserve group identity and revulsion.
GMarks, “Target practice”? “Body parts”? “Exploding children”? You, sir, are an ass.
Gmarks……..the only people that are truly murderous and laugh as children explode are Hezbollah, Hamas and all the other terrorist groups out there, but I guess that doesn’t really matter to you…..fyi even if said Muslims hate each other, they hate the Jews more. You should know better by now. Oh and personally, I don’t care if you’re a Russian or a Scot, I could care less.
defend to the death the use of Pali kids as target practice… and the sale of their body parts for cash!!
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It takes a special kind of stupid to post that.
GMarks, just remember that the palis had a state before 1967, all of the west bank which Jordan occupied,and all of Gaza which Egypt occupied.So stop your blubbering comments, why didn’t they declare a state from 1948 till 1967? There is no sympathy for the palis they brought this on them self’s.There was no israel in that area at that time and by the way putin is a putz.
#6 “…deserve group identity and revulsion”?
Hmm… the Russo-Scot is as ignorant as he is bigoted. And he’s obviously not come across the countless liberal NY Jews who rail against Israel…
“body parts”?
Wow, now he’s parroting the newest version of the ancient Jewish blood-libel, as reformulated by a Swedish newspaper. Pretty soon he’ll be asserting the veracity of “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”… Such a show of ignorance, prejudice, and bias…
Let’s quote from the Hamas Charter, to see who’s really revolting:
“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it…”
“… the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. ”
“There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.”
” The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:
‘The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’”
IF Hamas hasn’t killed many Jews it has not been for a lack of will, but simply for a lack of better weapons. It’s hard to negotiate peace with someone who openly calls for your people’s destruction.
Talk about double standards, let’s compare Israel and Hamas:
While engaging in military activities, Israel has regrettably killed Palestinian civilians as “collateral damage.” Hamas’ military activities, on the other hand, are DESIGNED to kill as many Israeli civilians as possible. Both kill civilians -but one is unintentional, the other on purpose. One is manslaughter, the other is murder.
Israel’s war machine could kill hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. They haven’t, not for a lack of weapons, but for a lack of will. Hamas, on the other hand, has not killed as many civilians, not because of a lack of will, but simply a lack of weapons.
The killing of civilians by Israel is usually regretted, regarded as a mistake, and seen as a cause for protests or calls for accountability. In Gaza, however, the killing of Jews by Hamas is seen as a victory, and usually brings cheers. Who holds them accountable? Many Palestinians truly do live in hardship. But it’s hard to empathize with a people who show no remorse at their own acts of cruelty.
Israel’s objectives may at times be suspect. But Hamas’ objectives are always clear: the destruction of Israel as well as the Jews. Israel’s actions -even if at times reckless- respond to a desire to protect its citizens in Sderot, or any other Israeli town. Hamas’ actions respond to a desire to protect its military hardware, irrespective if this places its citizens in harms way. While Israel builds bomb shelters to protect its citizens, Hamas builds tunnels to protect its fighters, its leaders, its weapons, leaving its citizens to be killed and later paraded in front of the cameras.
Israel has spent its resources in building a wealthy society. Hamas has spent what little resources it has into building a war machine. Israelis, like any in the West, promote hope for a future in their children. Hamas promotes children becoming “martyrs.”
In 2005, Israel pulled out of Gaza. If it had its way, Hamas would pull into Jerusalem. If Hamas laid down its weapons, there would be a chance for peace. If Israel laid down its weapons, there would be no chance for Israel. Because in the end, Israel goes to war, but would rather live in peace. Hamas would simply rather Israel die.
Ruvy… “OUR” half hearted attempts???
Yeah, G. Marks – OUR half hearted attempts.
I do not write from the land where M&M’s is the state food, Muzak is the state music, and the jailhouse is the retirement home of state governors and judges – Joizey.
I don’t care about all the Jews in exile who rail against Israel, the one real shelter and home they have, and will not welcome them when they come home – if they come home at all – with no clothes, no money and fear in their eyes. Others can open their hearts and forgive, if they wish. American Jews have been amply warned of the dangers they run by staying in exile. And those who criticize us for our attempts to stay alive will learn the bitter lessons the Jews of Poland and Germany learned 75 years ago. Berlin is not Jerusalem.
NO.
I write from Samaria, where Abraham and his sons and grandsons walked on the Road of the Patriarchs, where the ancient Altar stood in Shiló, and every day that I come home from Jerusalem, I see a USAID sign sitting on the side of the road going up Levoná, a sign that talks about the “Sinjil Highway” the Americans are building for the Arabs at the bottom of Levoná. Interference from the Jew-hating State Department.
As for OUR half hearted attempts at self defense. Were we truly defending ourselves against the Arab enemy, the Arabs who fled Judea and Samaria in 1967 would have been pushed out – as they should have been; the Muqata would have been turned into a rubble and Arafat would have been executed in 2002 – as he should have been; Gaza would have been destroyed in 2001 when the bastards started to bombard Gush Qatif, and the Arabs who survived would truly be refugees, baking in tents in the Sinai desert under the guard of Egyptians who would treat them like trash.
Gush Qatif would not be a bitter memory – it would extend all through the Gaza Strip – as it should extend.
Southern Lebanon would be under Israeli occupation, as it should be, to protect us in the Galilee. HizbAllah would not be the powerful Persian lapdog it is.
Finally, Israel would have bombed the Persian nuke plants four years ago, and destroyed as many of them as humanly possible.
What we have done to defend ourselves has truly been half-hearted and half-assed.
And even this, you and your ilk whine about. Go to Dissident Voice, where your whining will be right at home. And on your way there, take <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkqfpkTTy2w&feature=related"this gift I found for you.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkqfpkTTy2w&feature=related"the gift for G. Marks, done right.
Only Israel gets Goldstoned, the U.S. and Britain can conduct war without the whole barbarian–and much of the civilized–world rising up against them
Also notice that US and Britain get rapped when they accidentally kill Afghan civilians while no one has ever burned a Taliban flag when they puposefully set a bomb in market or in front of a school.
Chileno said:
In 2005, Israel pulled out of Gaza. If it had its way, Hamas would pull into Jerusalem. If Hamas laid down its weapons, there would be a chance for peace. If Israel laid down its weapons, there would be no chance for Israel.
You have it all wrong. If Israel laid down its weapons there would be no chance for Israelis. It would be a new Shoah. Not the “clean” dispassionate version like Auschwitz but a sadistic one like at Babi Yar or in Rwanda. Both PLO and Hamas have made it well clear.
The story about the errant missile in Afghanistan is nonsense. GMLRS doesn’t miss. There were Taliban in the compound that was hit, no doubt hiding behind civilians as usual, the cowardly dogs. This is just black propaganda designed to stir up resistance to the coalition assault on the Islamofascists. Story here.
And Ruvy is right on the money. To see how restrained Israel has been, picture the following scenario: terrorists have taken over Tijuana and proceed to fire 8,000 rockets into San Diego, with the enthusiastic support of the civilian population. Does anyone doubt that the response would be anything other than the catastrophic – and thoroughly merited – extermination of as many of the enemy as possible? There’d not be one brick atop another. We turned Hamburg and Dresden and Tokyo into crematoria (not to mention Hiroshima and Nagasaki.) The simple fact that there still exist Palestinians after their record of bestial, genocidal savagery is a testament to Israel’s forbearance (some would say its pusillanimity.)
12. Not even manslaughter, for the jihadists willfully hide behind civilians. The use of human shields is a war crime, and blame for the deaths of said human shields falls squarely and exclusively on the ones hiding behind them.
13. Amen. The Jews have remained in exile far too long. Why do so many remain exiled despite the command to return to their homeland? Do they think they can hope to see the Messiah while they refuse to return to the Promised Land? Hear, O Israel, the words of the prophets, whom your ancestors ignored and persecuted, and thus they justly perished! Repent of your sins! Return to your ancient homeland! Read the words of the prophets with open and contrite hearts, that you may understand and be saved, for the Day of the Lord is close at hand! Then shall your Salvation come; then shall Zion rejoice, for her King shall come to claim the Throne of David.
Leaving aside any number of objections to the “body parts” slur, parts harvested in the claimed manner would be useless for transplant or any other purpose. Of course, the Israelis may not know that…after all, how many Jewish doctors are there?
That charge, and the one about Israeli soldier laughing as they deliberate shoot down Palestinian children, are close enough to the blood libel as makes no never-mind. Meanwhile the highly respected British colonel, Richard Kemp, said last year that he could not think of any armed force that had taken more steps to minimize civilian casualties than Israel’s during Operation Cast Lead. There are reports and videos of Israeli gunships and aircraft breaking off bombing runs on buildings when people rush to the rooftop and wave to show they’re there, the plane then coming back a few minutes later.
But it’s israel that is the barbaric slaughterer and Hamas the innocent victim.
By the way, I love G Marks’ claim that we control the press and so slant news coverage in Israel’s favor. In Europe in particular we’re doing a damn poor job of it.
G Marks’ — you Russo-Scot Jew-hater: There WAS no diaspora of the Scots. There WAS no diaspora of the Russians. Hence they’ve ALWAYS HAD their respective homelands. You’re trying to compare apples and oranges.
The ONLY way Jews HAVE in fact survived for 4,000 years even after being scattered to the four corners of the earth IS by “being tribalistic” in some sense of the word. Do the Scots apologize for their rightful love of *their* home-country and *their* culture? Is *that* not “tribalistic?” Do the Russians not do *exactly* the same? And yet, they both, arguably need not even have to “rely” on this (according to your implication) “bad” behavior of taking care of *one’s own* — how *else* would you have a people, minuscule in numbers, scattered all over the earth, remain a coherent “people” if not through *some* form of “tribalism.” THINK for a second, man.
You should be ashamed of yourself for attempting to cast aspersions on the Jewish people as a whole. You haven’t the faintest idea of what they went through since half of your bloodline (the Russians) were regularly committing pogroms against them for 2,000 years! Thank you *so* much for that BTW.
So why don’t *you*, sir, apologize to the Jews on behalf of your Russian blood.
Why do I even bother with a person like yourself…. You make Patrick Buchanan look like a Philo-=Semite (if you even get that joke).
Please take the advice of others here, there are many places on the web where racist smug toe jam such as yourself like to congregate. I suggest you go there — you will enjoy the company much more! Here you will only find pro-Israeli folk and Philo-Semites. Not the sort of crowd with whom methinks you will feel happy.