CNN just announced that Israeli is launching a ground invasion “after ten days of Hamas attacks by land air and sea.” There was no questioning of that quite incredible statement. Talk about the big lie.
In a strange way I prefer this to the continued aerial bombardment, because at least the Palestinians will be able to fight back to some extent. I do hope the Palestinian defenders have a good deal of success against the Israeli tanks. Let us hope the IDF get a bloody nose like they did in Lebanon 2006.
UPDATE
The heroic Israelis have killed a five month old baby with a tank. Hope they are very proud of themselves.
Flechettes are back.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/20/israel-using-flechette-shells-in-gaza
Abandon all hope that anything will change for the Palestinians at the FCO.
Hammond this morning on Marr – ‘Israel has every right to defend itself. Hamas should have signed the ceasefire agreement’.
Tobias Ellwood new MENA minister, PPS to Liam Fox.
‘Former soldier Tobias Ellwood appointed UK’s Middle East MinisterBy Marcus Dysch, July 16, 2014
Tobias Ellwood MP is the new Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign Office
Tobias Ellwood has been appointed as the new Middle East Minister at the Foreign Office in David Cameron’s government reshuffle.
Mr Ellwood’s promotion was one of the last to be announced and came after former minister Hugh Robertson resigned.
The MP for Bournemouth East arrives in the midst of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
Mr Ellwood is a former soldier with experience of serving in the Middle East. He has regularly visited Israel and the Palestinian territories on parliamentary delegations.
He previously served as a private secretary to Liam Fox during his time as Defence Secretary.
Mr Ellwood was born in New York, grew up in Germany and Austria, and served with the army’s Royal Green Jackets.
He was stationed in Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Kuwait, Germany and Bosnia.
Writing on Twitter after being appointed, the father-of-two said: “Delighted and honoured to be joining Philip Hammond in the Foreign Office with responsibility for Middle East and North Africa”.
Mr Hammond has replaced William Hague as Foreign Secretary.’
http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/120601/former-soldier-tobias-ellwood
Ellwood TheyWorkForYou
Overseas visits
14-19 February 2009, to Israel, West Bank and Golan Heights, courtesy of the Conservative Friends of Israel who met the costs of the visit. (Registered 13 March 2009)
Saudi Arabia, Georgia, UAE, Cairo this January, Kurdistan, Baghdad, Poland (Auschwitz), Canada, Washington, Oman, Syria, Lebanon etc etc All since 2005.
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/regmem/?p=11437
Ba’al etc.
The idea that the usual protesters from Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Stop the War Coalition, British Muslim Initiative, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Muslim Association of Britain, Islamic Forum in Europe, etc., will form a silent protest outside Jewish places of worship and respectfully move aside to allow worshippers to enter and leave is laughable, as you well know.
You’ll more likely have a PR disaster on your hands a a mob of angry and scowling student union types in Palestinian garb heckle and intimidate Jews outside synagogues whilst waving placards like this:
http://cdn2.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/blogs.dir/11/files/2014/07/4523783462.jpg
Perhaps you should stick to your other idea of ranting away at ‘diaspora Jews’, for no other reason than that they are Jewish.
“Maybe I’ll see you next Saturday.”
Here Ba’al etc gives himself away again, this time with idea that to oppose what he is suggesting means I’m probably Jewish (to be Jewish in his estimation is to be a Zionist child murderer, unless one can prove otherwise after severe interrogation).
Ok, so it’s time for something constructive. Mary, Ba’al etc, and a few others are pondering what to do about the situation in Gaza now that they have discovered posting endless comments on a blog has turned out to be unproductive.
Might I intervene with a suggestion?
Take a leaf out of George Orwell’s book (Ok, I understand he’s not popular around here, for obvious reasons), give up your worldly possessions and go and fight for your adopted cause. I would certainly respect for that.
Otherwise I suspect you’re just publicly offloading some of your very particular hang-ups under the guise of caring about human rights.
“You’ll more likely have a PR disaster on your hands a a mob of angry and scowling student union types in Palestinian garb heckle and intimidate Jews outside synagogues whilst waving placards like this:”
A hyperthetical PR disaster that is being discussed.
The burning of a palestinian teenager, alive, by pouring petrol down his throat, then beating up his cousin, all done by Netanyahu’s thuggies and football hooligans is the real PR disaster.
FAO the sis snoopers and other hard working snoops;
Please not the following statement made by an anonymous posting under the heading Anon20 Jul, 2014 – 1:56 pm
Is in fact promoting terrorism and ought to be dealt with pronto.
Thanking you in advance
PS snitching never felt so good!
======
Ba’al Zevul (With Gaza)
You may be onto a good point there judging by the violent reaction and the numerous posts deploring your idea, good idea, damn good idea! Keep’em coming, we need to think out of box.
Israel more brutal than Hitler – PM
AP
58 seconds ago| By Press Association
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Turkey’s prime minister has accused Israel of “barbarism that surpasses Hitler” during its ground invasion of Gaza.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the comment during a campaign speech in the Black Sea port city of Ordu.
He is running for the presidency in elections next month and has been speaking out strongly against Israel during its offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza, which has killed more than 300 Palestinians.
Mr Erdogan accuses Israel of using disproportionate force and has said the operation there has derailed efforts to normalise Turkish-Israeli ties which soured after Israel’s 2010 raid on an aid ship which killed eight Turks and a Turkish-American.
Hundreds have also staged protests in recent days outside Israeli diplomatic mission in Ankara and Istanbul.
http://news.uk.msn.com/world/israel-more-brutal-than-hitler-pm-1
Israeli massacres echo Hitler mentality: Turkey
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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned the latest Israeli aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip, accusing Israel of massacring Palestinians.
Erdogan told members of his ruling Justice and Development Party in parliament on Tuesday that Israel is perpetrating a “massacre” of Palestinians and “is continuing to carry out state terrorism in the region.”
He also questioned the world’s silence on Tel Aviv’s ongoing atrocities in the blockaded enclave, underlining that any normalization in the ties between Israel and Turkey is impossible.
The Turkish premier further slammed Israeli lawmaker Ayelet Shaked for his controversial remarks posted on social media suggesting that the Palestinians deserved to die.
“What’s the difference between this mentality and that of Hitler?” Erdogan asked.
Erdogan is scheduled to meet the president of the Palestinian national unity government, Mahmoud Abbas, in Turkey on Friday.
Israel has been carrying out unrelenting airstrikes against Gazans since July 8. Around 200 people have been killed in the attacks so far with the UN saying most of the casualties are civilians.
Relations between Israel and Turkey soured after Israeli marines stormed a Gaza-bound Turkish ship in 2010 while in international waters. Ten Turks have died since the assault.
Erdogan said ties will remain frosty as long as Israel continues its Gaza offensive, noting that Tel Aviv must know that “it is out of the question to normalize our relations if those massacres continue.”
Gaza has been blockaded since 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.
Mary 8:37 am
“Eichmann’s contribution to the Occupation and the creation of Israel.”
Can you expand on what you mean by this? I can’t make any sense of your post or how you link your Wiki copy and paste to the above comment.
I believe Anon had a close relative who died in a concentration camp in WWII.
Fell off a guard tower.
The new Warsaw Ghetto, where the neo-Jews have been sequestered.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article39156.htm
““An entire population is trapped in what is essentially an open-air prison,” Mr Whittall writes. “They can’t leave and only the most limited supplies – essential for basic survival – are allowed to enter. The population of the prison have elected representatives and organised social services.
“Some of the prisoners have organised into armed groups and resist their indefinite detention by firing rockets over the prison wall. However, the prison guards are the ones who have the capacity to launch large-scale and highly destructive attacks on the open-air prison.”
” And I want to turn to an op-ed that was published in The Jerusalem Post this morning. Its author is Gilad Sharon, who is the son of former prime minister Ariel Sharon. Let me read an exerpt to you. In it he says,
“THE DESIRE to prevent harm to innocent civilians in Gaza will ultimately lead to harming the truly innocent: the residents of southern Israel. The residents of Gaza are not innocent, they elected Hamas. The Gazans aren’t hostages; they chose this freely, and must live with the consequences.”
Later he goes on to say,
“We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza. The Americans didn’t stop with Hiroshima–the Japanese weren’t surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki, too.”
http://www.therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=12127
That includes any hospital daring to treat Palestinians……..
Anon,
What is your opinion of the use by Israel of flechette shells in Gaza?
““What is hard to explain is why the Security Council has not been willing to force the United States to take the embarrassing step of actually vetoing the measure, as it has on four occasions with Russia and China in regard to Syria,” he asked.
Ian Williams, a longstanding U.N. correspondent and senior analyst at Foreign Policy in Focus, told IPS the UNSC is determined to prove that governments do not have principles, only interests.
Since the end of the Cold War, the Palestinians have had no sponsors or patrons.
He said even the Russians and the Chinese weigh the strength of the Israel Lobby in the U.S., and increasingly in Europe, and calculate whether it is in their interests to alienate Washington even more.”
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/07/20
I think they still court the West for remaining scraps of trade and diplomatic agreements until BRICS is fully online.
Try getting into Gaza Anon. It is sealed up and has been for a long time. Ask some relatives and friends of mine about their experiences at the Erez crossing, the Rafah crossing, Ben Gurion Airport (Lodd), with FreeGaza flotillas, with the Mavi Marmara flotilla. Ask Cynthia McKinney on the mv Dignity rammed thrice in the dark by the Israeli gunships 50 miles off the Gaza coast in international waters.
Ref Eichmann try reading it and don’t be disingenuous.
You are just a nasty shill for Israel who are massacring Palestinian women and children in the night in their usual cowardly way. Get lost. Where are your other pals btw. Frightened to come up and attempt to defend the indefensible. Cowards like the Israeli Offence Forces. They should not leave you here on your tod.
“Maybe I’ll see you next Saturday.”
Here Ba’al etc gives himself away again, this time with idea that to oppose what he is suggesting means I’m probably Jewish …..
I don’t base my longstanding assumption that you are some form of zionist, wholly favouring the Israeli policy towards Palestine, on just one post of yours, but most of them. Your religion/ethnicity/cu;ltural roots/ whatever we are required to call it, is completely immaterial.
(to be Jewish in his estimation is to be a Zionist child murderer, unless one can prove otherwise after severe interrogation)…
Not at all. I am always careful to distinguish between Zionist child murderers such as those you are happy to lie for, and the generality of the Jewish religion/race/cultural grouping/whatever, within which they hide and which they use as a sort of conceptual human shield. I won’t say some of my best friends are Jewish, but I am on good speaking terms with many and expect to remain so.
And for all you know I may be attending schul next Shabat myself 🙂
Pity the 13 who have been kidnapped. Their screams will be heard only by their captors and torturers.
‘The Israeli military has said it has hit more than 2,500 targets in Gaza, including 1,100 rocket launchers, after nearly two weeks of fighting.
It has said around 70 militants have been killed and another 13 brought to Israel for questioning.’
http://news.sky.com/story/1304262/bodies-in-the-street-as-gazans-flee-shelling
Wow.
Jon SnowVerified account
@jonsnowC4
Anchor,Channel4News: hungry for info. Interests:development/homelessness,/the abroad/people/politics/art./life!
Mainly London UK · blogs.channel4.com/snowblog/blogs…
Jon Snow @jonsnowC4 · 7h
If you strangle a people, deny them supply, for years, extreme reaction is inevitable. the one begets the other.
Jon Snow @jonsnowC4 · 7h
Were any other country on Earth doing what is being done in Gaza, there would be worldwide uproar
https://twitter.com/jonsnowC4/status/490765330461892608
20 July 2014 Last updated at 13:21
In pictures: Gaza conflict intensifies
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28390688
Anon:
Why don’t you go elsewhere and applaud your Israeli friends for killing innocent Palestinians for bogus reasons. Only the sickest minds can defend this latest murderous campaign, you are clearly in that category.
A Mosque is fair game for Israeli bombs but a UK synagogue is not a fair place for protest? Almost 90% of Jewish Israelis support the latest carnage, how do we know that isn’t the case amongst all Jews? Wrapping them all up in cotton wool whilst we allow their religious group to continue the obliteration of Palestinian innocents is not an option. Innocent Palestinians are paying the most devastating price. Minor inconvenience doesn’t compare.
On Medialens.
Former head of the Strategic Studies Centre at Tel Aviv University on Israel’s history of aggression
Posted by Alex on July 20, 2014, 2:27 pm
The words of Zeev Maoz, formerly head of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University.
Israel’s war experience is a story of folly, recklessness, and self-made traps. None of the wars — with a possible exception of the 1948 War of Independence — was what Israel refers to as Milhemet Ein Brerah (‘war of necessity’). They were all wars of choice or folly.
Israel’s decision-makers were as reluctant and risk averse when it came to making peace as they were daring and trigger happy when it came to making war. … [T]he official Israeli decision-makers typically did not initiate peace overtures; most of the peace initiatives in the Arab-Israeli conflict came either from the Arab world, from the international community, or from grass-roots and informal channels. … [W]hen Israel was willing to take risks for peace, these usually paid off. The Arabs generally showed a remarkable tendency for compliance with their treaty obligations. In quite a few cases, it was Israel—rather than the Arabs—that violated formal and informal agreements. (Quoted, Norman Finkelstein, Knowing Too Much: Why the American Jewish Romance with Israel is Coming to an End, OR Books, 2012, pp. 160)
Moreover, Maoz writes, ‘Israelis prefer to use the “war of choice” understatement, but the meaning and import of the term are just the same’ as ‘a war of … aggression’ (quoted, ibid, Table 1, pp. 159). A crucial point, given what Maoz wrote in the second sentence of the above excerpt.
~~~
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_National_Security_Studies_(Israel)
Anon,
People dont have to go to Gaza to prove they care about human rights.
The pen-or these days the keyboard- is mightier than the sword or havent you heard?
Besides,online protest and arguments is what keeps patronising sockpuppets like you in a safe little air-conditioned job or else youd be on the front line so you should be grateful you fool.
FOX is a broken clock; get it right, for once.
“Kerry’s comments are clear. “It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation,” he says, then repeats it. “It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation.” It’s an apparent reference to Israel’s insistence that its incursion into the region would be limited. “It’s escalating significantly,” the person on the phone replies, and Kerry then says, “We’ve got to get over there. I think we ought to go tonight.” He then calls it “crazy” to be “sitting around.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/07/20/fox-confronts-kerry-with-hot-mic-comment-on-israel-hell-of-a-pinpoint-operation/
‘got it right, for once.”
LIVE UPDATES: 13 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza operation Sunday
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.606129
Ben From your link, The ‘Haircut in search of a Brain’ couldn’t decide whether the three boys kidnapped were Israeli or Palestinian!
I don’t think he is the sharpest knife in the drawer but says what the Israel lobby want to hear.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/07/20/fox-confronts-kerry-with-hot-mic-comment-on-israel-hell-of-a-pinpoint-operation/
He’s cultivating his Zionist roots, Mary. He just recently discovered his genealogy.
Earlier the number of Palestinians killed today was 50. Now it’s 89.
‘5:40 PM
Palestinian Health Ministry: 89 killed today in Strip, 60 of which in Shuja’iyya (Haaretz)’
When he was asked about this recently, he said ‘That’s news to me” The clueless Secretary of State.
http://judaism.about.com/od/jewishgenealogy/a/jewpas_kerry.htm