August 2, 2014
By Nidel Al-Mughrabi and Dan Williams
(Reuters) - Some Israeli ground forces (click here) withdrew from the Gaza Strip on Saturday, two Israeli television stations reported, after the military said it was close to achieving its main war goal of destroying Hamas cross-border tunnels.
Asked about the reports, an Israeli military spokesman said she could not comment on troop deployments.
Israel has signaled it is winding down the 25-day-old Gaza war unilaterally, saying it will not attend Egyptian-hosted negotiations for a new truce and giving Palestinians who had fled fighting in one northern town the all-clear to return.
Shelling exchanges continued, pushing the Gaza death toll given by Palestinian officials up to 1,669, but in some areas witnesses reported Israeli tanks pulling back toward the border.
Israel said Palestinians launched 74 rockets across the border, most of which fell harmlessly wide while seven were shot down by its Iron Dome interceptor, including over Tel Aviv....
This episode with Israeli violence is outrageous.
I have heard reports of Hamas seeking a media war and all sorts of bizarre accusations. If anyone wants to prevent attention to Hamas I suggest the media report on the unnecessary incursions into Gaza by Israel. In that way, there would be no body court and an enraged Hamas demanding attention for their "geographical region" not yet a sovereign country. Israel really needs to answer for these deaths. This is ridiculous. Palestine needs it's borders defined and it's leadership in authority of those borders with no blockade of any commerce to and from Palestine.
There should be no option for Israel to attend ongoing meetings to achieve the goal of Palestine sovereignty so it can build bomb shelters for it's people when Israel has another attempt of removing Gaza from Palestine's 'geological region."
August 1, 2014
Monterey Herald Guest Commentary
Aaron Brown
...Palestinians (click here) responded by electing the terrorist group Hamas, a cartoonish, evil and anti-Semitic organization whose primary purpose is to kill Jews and indoctrinate all of Palestine's children into doing the same. Hamas destroyed those greenhouses, killed many of its political rivals in Gaza by throwing them off buildings and immediately started firing rockets into Israel, without provocation.
Billions in aid flowed into Gaza to feed its people and the Hamas leadership used that money to import weapons from Iran, construct tunnels to facilitate attempts to kidnap and murder Israelis and to fund anti-Semitic propaganda. Palestinians starved, but in Mr. Crawford's perverse view, don't blame the corrupt Hamas government, blame Israel.
Where so many wars and conflicts are moral shades of gray, this conflict is black and white. While Arab nations which surrounded it spewed hate and oppressed its people, Israel built a flourishing democracy. While the Palestinians and Arab nations used the world's humanitarian generosity to fund terrorism, Israel built two of the world's leading universities where scholars have won Nobel prizes in math and science. Israel developed, from nothing, into one of the world's leaders in technology, agriculture, medicine and science. In Israel, women are leaders in government and business and gays are free to march in pride on Israeli streets....
Mr. Brown, as many, keep score. The Gazans were provided for and they threw it all away. Keeping score to determine how much money makes deaths legal and moral is being nothing more than materialistic. Will one million of spending in aid to Gaza equate to the deaths of 1000 Gazans or maybe even 10,000 Gazans.
No one is stating Israel is not meritous as a country. Israel has incredible accomplishments, but, when it comes to the borders of Palestine there is absolutely no effort to clearly define them and allow the Palestinians to govern themselves. Palestine has to rein in the problems within the country.
Mr. Brown condemns Hamas, but, his condemnation is all inclusive as Palestine is still not a sovereign nation. Hamas is not all of Palestine, yet, all of Palestine is treated as if it is Hamas. Every time Israel attacks Hamas, the Palestinians die in large numbers.
And what of the settlements. They are aggressive in nature and are the cause for changes in the multiple dividing lines over the decades that Israel exists.
Mr. Brown is wrong in his anger of Hamas. Israel is expecting Hamas to 'be good' if they are given Western reasons to react that way. If Hamas would only behave then all would be right with the world and the peace process would then be settled. Israel has had multiple occasions to settle the borders of Palestine but it never becomes reality.
The borders of Palestine has to be determined and Israel has to stop holding every Palestinian hostage to Israel's whims. Yes, whims. How much land does Israel want? How much will satisfy it?
There is a real problem in comparing unrest in Arab nations with some idea of dignity measured in Western values. Poverty continues in small countries around the world. Poverty breeds many of the problems Mr. Brown speaks of and that does not equate to a moral reason to war or killing.
Hamas watches it's land disappearing to Israeli settlements, they aren't about to look the other way. Rockets are all they have.
If Hamas were to do nothing else but cast a message in a bottle into the sea with hopes that the world would find it and act on it , what would it say?
By Nidel Al-Mughrabi and Dan Williams
(Reuters) - Some Israeli ground forces (click here) withdrew from the Gaza Strip on Saturday, two Israeli television stations reported, after the military said it was close to achieving its main war goal of destroying Hamas cross-border tunnels.
Asked about the reports, an Israeli military spokesman said she could not comment on troop deployments.
Israel has signaled it is winding down the 25-day-old Gaza war unilaterally, saying it will not attend Egyptian-hosted negotiations for a new truce and giving Palestinians who had fled fighting in one northern town the all-clear to return.
Shelling exchanges continued, pushing the Gaza death toll given by Palestinian officials up to 1,669, but in some areas witnesses reported Israeli tanks pulling back toward the border.
Israel said Palestinians launched 74 rockets across the border, most of which fell harmlessly wide while seven were shot down by its Iron Dome interceptor, including over Tel Aviv....
This episode with Israeli violence is outrageous.
I have heard reports of Hamas seeking a media war and all sorts of bizarre accusations. If anyone wants to prevent attention to Hamas I suggest the media report on the unnecessary incursions into Gaza by Israel. In that way, there would be no body court and an enraged Hamas demanding attention for their "geographical region" not yet a sovereign country. Israel really needs to answer for these deaths. This is ridiculous. Palestine needs it's borders defined and it's leadership in authority of those borders with no blockade of any commerce to and from Palestine.
There should be no option for Israel to attend ongoing meetings to achieve the goal of Palestine sovereignty so it can build bomb shelters for it's people when Israel has another attempt of removing Gaza from Palestine's 'geological region."
August 1, 2014
Monterey Herald Guest Commentary
Aaron Brown
...Palestinians (click here) responded by electing the terrorist group Hamas, a cartoonish, evil and anti-Semitic organization whose primary purpose is to kill Jews and indoctrinate all of Palestine's children into doing the same. Hamas destroyed those greenhouses, killed many of its political rivals in Gaza by throwing them off buildings and immediately started firing rockets into Israel, without provocation.
Billions in aid flowed into Gaza to feed its people and the Hamas leadership used that money to import weapons from Iran, construct tunnels to facilitate attempts to kidnap and murder Israelis and to fund anti-Semitic propaganda. Palestinians starved, but in Mr. Crawford's perverse view, don't blame the corrupt Hamas government, blame Israel.
Where so many wars and conflicts are moral shades of gray, this conflict is black and white. While Arab nations which surrounded it spewed hate and oppressed its people, Israel built a flourishing democracy. While the Palestinians and Arab nations used the world's humanitarian generosity to fund terrorism, Israel built two of the world's leading universities where scholars have won Nobel prizes in math and science. Israel developed, from nothing, into one of the world's leaders in technology, agriculture, medicine and science. In Israel, women are leaders in government and business and gays are free to march in pride on Israeli streets....
Mr. Brown, as many, keep score. The Gazans were provided for and they threw it all away. Keeping score to determine how much money makes deaths legal and moral is being nothing more than materialistic. Will one million of spending in aid to Gaza equate to the deaths of 1000 Gazans or maybe even 10,000 Gazans.
No one is stating Israel is not meritous as a country. Israel has incredible accomplishments, but, when it comes to the borders of Palestine there is absolutely no effort to clearly define them and allow the Palestinians to govern themselves. Palestine has to rein in the problems within the country.
Mr. Brown condemns Hamas, but, his condemnation is all inclusive as Palestine is still not a sovereign nation. Hamas is not all of Palestine, yet, all of Palestine is treated as if it is Hamas. Every time Israel attacks Hamas, the Palestinians die in large numbers.
And what of the settlements. They are aggressive in nature and are the cause for changes in the multiple dividing lines over the decades that Israel exists.
Mr. Brown is wrong in his anger of Hamas. Israel is expecting Hamas to 'be good' if they are given Western reasons to react that way. If Hamas would only behave then all would be right with the world and the peace process would then be settled. Israel has had multiple occasions to settle the borders of Palestine but it never becomes reality.
The borders of Palestine has to be determined and Israel has to stop holding every Palestinian hostage to Israel's whims. Yes, whims. How much land does Israel want? How much will satisfy it?
There is a real problem in comparing unrest in Arab nations with some idea of dignity measured in Western values. Poverty continues in small countries around the world. Poverty breeds many of the problems Mr. Brown speaks of and that does not equate to a moral reason to war or killing.
Hamas watches it's land disappearing to Israeli settlements, they aren't about to look the other way. Rockets are all they have.
If Hamas were to do nothing else but cast a message in a bottle into the sea with hopes that the world would find it and act on it , what would it say?
