Palestine Why Palestine Won Big at the U.N. By Karl VickNov. 29, 20120 Share Read Later Send to Kindle ALESSIO ROMENZI for TIMEPalestinians gather to celebrate and listen to Hamas leader Ismail Haniya give a speech in the Gaza Strip on Nov. 22, 2012 An instructive week after Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip tested Israel on the battlefield, the pacifist politicians who govern the West Bank notched a significant diplomatic win without much of a fight at all. Just before 5 p.m. New York time, the U.N. General Assembly voted 138 to 9 to bring Palestine aboard as a “nonmember state.” Another 41 nations abstained. Assured of passage by a whopping majority, Israel and the U.S. noted their objections mildly and mostly for the record, their effort to limit the fallout for the Jewish state itself limited in the wake of Gaza. The status of “nonmember state” — emphasis on the “state” puts Palestine on the same level of diplomatic recognition as the Vatican, which is technically a sovereign entity. The Holy See has its own ambassadors but, for a few, may be better known for its busy post office off St. Peter’s Square, where tourists queue for what quiet thrills are afforded by a Vatican stamp canceled with the Pope’s postmark. Palestine already has post offices. The particular marker of sovereignty it sought from the U.N. is even more bureaucratic: access to international organizations, especially the International Criminal Court at the Hague. Experts on international law say that, armed with the mass diplomatic recognition of the 150 or so nations it counts as supporters, Palestine will be in a position to bring cases against Israel, which has occupied the land defined as Palestine — the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — since 1967. (MORE: U.N. Recognition of Palestine: What Does It Mean for the Peace Process?) The ICC, as it’s known, is on record as inclined to regard Israel’s more than 100 residential settlements on the West Bank as a crime of war. (The Jewish state pulled its settlers and soldiers out of Gaza in 2005 and argues that it no longer qualifies as its “occupier” under international law. Critics argue otherwise.) The physical presence of the settlements in other words would give Palestine a ready-made case to drag Israel before the court — or to threaten dragging it before the court. In the dynamics of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the real power lies in the threat. But in his last U.N. address, in September, Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas began to lay the foundation for charges based not on the settlements but on the violent behavior of some individual settlers, who attack Palestinian neighbors and vandalize property and mosques. Settler attacks have skyrocketed in the past two years, according to U.N. monitors, and now account for the majority of the political violence on the West Bank, despite the lingering popular impression of Palestinian terrorism dating back decades. On the West Bank, at least, the reality has changed. “If you were in my place, what would you do?” Abbas asked TIME in a recent interview. “We will not use force against the settlers. I can use the court, but it’s better for the Israelis not to push us to go to the court. They should put an end to these acts committed by the settlers.” His address to the General Assembly in advance of the vote on Thursday made the stakes plain enough: Abbas blasted Israel for “the perpetration of war crimes” and “its contention that it is above international law.” Abbas’ effort actually got an unlikely boost from Israel’s eight-day offensive in Gaza. Operation Pillar of Defense focused on attacking Hamas, the militant Islamist group that has governed Gaza since 2007. Hamas, and more radical groups also operating in Gaza, lost scores of fighters and rocket launchers to Israeli air strikes. But by standing up to overwhelming Israeli military power for more than a week — and sending missiles toward major cities previously left untouched — the militants stirred a defiant pride and solidarity across the Palestinian community. “The armed resistance of Hamas in Gaza gave the people hope and the impressions that this is the only way to fight against the ongoing occupation,” Majed Ladadwah, 46, told TIME 0n a Ramallah street, in the West Bank. “I can’t say they won,” said Ladadwah, speaking before Thursday’s balloting, “but they surely gained a lot of points for Hamas in the streets of Palestine.” (MORE: After the Cease-Fire in Gaza, Will the Cyberwar Continue?) That logic was pointed out to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she visited Jerusalem to coax him toward a cease-fire. In the days that followed, Netanyahu’s government stopped threatening to punish Abbas for going to the U.N., a move Israel has called a threat to the peace process, which has been stalled for at least four years. At the same time, European nations rallied around Abbas, intent on shoring up a leader who is secular, moderate — and already at political risk for cooperating with Israel to suppress armed resistance even before Gaza seized the world’s attention. Many of the “marquee” countries of Western Europe that Netanyahu had hoped to vote against Palestine statehood, like France, instead lined up behind Abbas. Others, including Britain, abstained, after seeking assurances that Palestine will not to go the ICC, or that negotiations with Israel will resume. Abbas has already promised the latter. Thursday morning brought news that Israel had lost Germany, a stalwart ally in the wake of the Holocaust, to the abstention column. “If there is a poor turnout, a poor vote, the radicals gain,” India’s U.N. Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri told reporters. For their part, Palestinians overwhelmingly back the measure, despite an assortment of disappointments with Abbas — for wasting a year trying to get full U.N. membership in 2011 and for not visiting Gaza during the fighting, as foreign diplomats did. “We are for the U.N. bid because we anticipate this will help us legally to pursue our struggles and gain our rights,” said Ladadwah, the bank employee who spoke admiringly of Hamas’ stand in Gaza. Hamas itself said it backs the diplomatic effort, as do other factions. “This is called resistance, whether armed resistance or peaceful resistance,” said Mahmoud Khames, 34, an unemployed West Bank resident, in advance of the vote. “It’s not a soccer match that someone has to win. Resistance is a matter of freeing one’s self and his people from the Israeli occupation.” In downtown Ramallah, the crowd watching on an outdoor TV screen on Thursday night was large and festive despite the late November chill. Celebratory gunfire — fired by exultant uniformed police and soldiers — rent the night as the vote came in just before midnight local time. “I expect many things from this but the most important is the reconciliation of the two factions, Hamas and Fatah,” said Mohammad Abdel Moute, 40, a government employee who lives in a local refugee camp. “And now hopefully we’ll be able to address the world with our problems, and hopefully the world will be able to help us in obtaining our rights, to be able to live like normal human beings.” Nearby, Layla Jammal, 70, praised the strategy of putting the question of statehood to the General Assembly instead of to the U.N. Security Council, where the U.S. routinely vetoes measures opposed by Israel. “We heard threats from Netanyahu this evening before the voting, saying that a Palestinian state at the U.N. is unilateral, one-sided,” Jammal said. “And we laugh, because the wall that they built is one-sided! They didn’t ask us. From here it makes us a state against another state.” — With reporting by Rami Nazzal / Rama MORE: The Gaza Problem
gostarsmeister 5pts Lehi, an Isreali Terrorist Organization, assassinated Lord Moyne, the British Minister Resident in the Middle East, in Cairo on 6 November1944 . Moyne was the highest ranking British official in the region at the time. On February 29 , 1948 Lehi mined the train north ofRehovot, killing 28 British soldiers and wounding 35. On March 31 the same year, the train was mined again near Binyamina, a Jewish settlement in the neighborhood of Caesarea, killing 40 persons and wounding 60. The casualties were all civilians, mostly Arabs. On 17 September 1948, Lehi assassinated UN mediator Count Folke Bernadotte. The assassination was directed by Yehoshua Zettler and carried out by a four-man team led by Meshulam Makover. The fatal shots were fired by Yehoshua Cohen. Yitzhak Shamir a former Lehi leader became Israeli prime minister from1983–1984 and from 1986–1992.The historic records of Israeli terrorism exist, you just have to look for it.
cwchang2100 5pts I do not think this report really answer the question on the title.Not many opinions coming from the countries voting for Palestinian or Israel are reported.
adiatmadit 5pts 3 Like The vote is a big step to a peace. Anybody who against are really into war SolRobinson 5pts @adiatmadit Accurate
adiatmadit 5pts Israel is after Al-Aqsa. They would do anything to invade it. They made these all looks like a political stuff, while these all are distinctly had a religious purpose. By stopping war, terrorists would surely stop terrorism, and the world would be a nice place to live. SolRobinson 5pts @adiatmadit Not accurate.
DonnyKnudsen 5pts Lie: "The Arabs started the 1967 Six Day War"From “Zionism: The Real Enemy of the Jews – Volume 3”, by Alan Hart, a British journalist with 40 years of experience covering the Middle East:"In June 1967 we again had a choice. The Egyptian army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him.”- Menachim Begin’s address to the National Defense College, 8 August 1982 (Can be verified by searching at the government of Israel’s own Ministry of Foreign Affairs! www.mfa.gov.il)“The entire story of the danger of extermination was invented in every detail and exaggerated a posteriori to justify the annexation of new Arab territory.”- Mordecai Bentov, a wartime member of the Israeli government, the Israeli newspaper Al-Hamishmar, 14 April 1971“I do not believe that Nasser wanted war. The two divisions which he sent into Sinai on 14 May would not have been enough to unleash an offensive against Israel. He knew it and we knew it.”- Israeli Chief of Staff Rabin, Le Monde, 28 February 1968“We were not threatened with genocide on the eve of the Six-Days war, and we had never thought of such a possibility.”- General Haim Bar-Lev, Rabin’s predecessor as Israeli chief of staff, quoted in Ma’ariv, 4 April 1972“There was never any danger of annihilation. This hypothesis has never been considered in any serious meeting.”- General Ezer Weizman, war-time Israeli Chief of Operations. Also quoted in Ma’ariv, 4 April 1972 SolRobinson 5pts @DonnyKnudsen Nasser LITERALLY said he wanted to destroy Israel. "Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel. The Arab people want to fight." May 27th, 1967
SolRobinson 5pts @DonnyKnudsen Nasser LITERALLY said he wanted to destroy Israel. "Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel. The Arab people want to fight." May 27th, 1967
DonnyKnudsen 5pts Lie: "Only the Arabs are terrorists"Jewish terror groups in Israel blew up stuff "real good" to achieve the political goal of driving the British out of Mandate Palestine, so Zionists could finally begin Jewish immigration at a scale sufficient to accelerate the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians - i.e. ethnic cleansing.It bears mentioning that these Jewish terrorists were very active throughout WWII, causing the British to commit resources to Palestine that might have been deployed against the Axis powers in Europe to bring the war to an earlier conclusion.For those who are interested, the names of terror groups included Irgun (founded by Menachim Begin), Haganah, Lehi, the Stern Gang, etc. Their crowning achievements included the bombing of the the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946 and the massacre at the tiny, peaceful village of Deir Yassin in 1947, where Begin bragged to every foreign press rep. he could find of the great Jewish victory. There they lined men, women, and children up against a wall, by the dozen, and shot them, leaving the corpses to rot in the sun. This latter action had the desired affect -- tens of thousands of Palestinian families fled their homes out of fear.Another ignominious example was the Lavon Affair of 1954. Look this one up and you'll understand why many believe Israel may have had a hand in other acts of terror, blamed on radical Islam. It certainly explains why Egypt's Nasser did not trust Israel. SolRobinson 5pts @DonnyKnudsen Igrun was a far right offshoot of Hagana, which means "the defense". It was formed following the 1920 riots. For every atrocity committed by one side, there is an atrocity committed by the other.
SolRobinson 5pts @DonnyKnudsen Igrun was a far right offshoot of Hagana, which means "the defense". It was formed following the 1920 riots. For every atrocity committed by one side, there is an atrocity committed by the other.
DonnyKnudsen 5pts Lie: "There can be no claim of occupation -- Israel has left the Gaza Strip in 2005."Israeli scholar and Professor of International Relations at Oxford University explains:"President Bush described Ariel Sharon as a man of peace. I’ve done a great deal of archival research on the Arab-Israeli conflict, and I can honestly tell you that I have never come across a single scintilla of evidence to support the view of Ariel Sharon as a man of peace. He was a man of war, a champion of violent solutions, a man who rejected totally any Palestinian right to self-determination. He was a proponent of Greater Israel, and it is in this context that I see his decision to withdraw unilaterally from Gaza in August of 2005.The withdrawal was officially called the unilateral Israeli disengagement from Gaza. I would like to underline the word "unilateral." Ariel Sharon was the unilateralist par excellence. The reason he decided to withdraw from Gaza was not out of any concern for the welfare of the people of Gaza or any sympathy for the Palestinians or their national aspirations, but because of the pressure exerted by Hamas, by the Islamic resistance, to the Israeli occupation of Gaza. In the end, Israel couldn’t sustain the political, diplomatic and psychological costs of maintaining its occupation in Gaza.And let me add in parentheses that Gaza was a classic example of exploitation, of colonial exploitation in the postcolonial era. Gaza is a tiny strip of land with about one-and-a-half million Arabs, most of them — half of them refugees. It’s the most crowded piece of land on God’s earth. There were 8,000 Israeli settlers in Gaza, yet the 8,000 settlers controlled 25 percent of the territory, 40 percent of the arable land, and the largest share of the desperately scarce water resources.Ariel Sharon decided to withdraw from Gaza unilaterally, not as a contribution, as he claimed, to a two-state solution. The withdrawal from Gaza took place in the context of unilateral Israeli action in what was seen as Israeli national interest. There were no negotiations with the Palestinian Authority on an overall settlement. The withdrawal from Gaza was not a prelude to further withdrawals from the other occupied territories, but a prelude to further expansion, further consolidation of Israel’s control over the West Bank. In the year after the withdrawal from Gaza, 12,000 new settlers went to live on the West Bank. So I see the withdrawal from Gaza in the summer of 2005 as part of a unilateral Israeli attempt to redraw the borders of Greater Israel and to shun any negotiations and compromise with the Palestinian Authority."Source: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/1/14/leading_israeli_scholar_avi_shlaim_israelPersonal note: If you find yourself thinking all Jews are lying, land-thieving, blood-thirsty, hateful a-holes, consistent with the image promoted online by Israel's Hasbara (Google "hasbara richard silverstein") brigade, it helps to remember that we would not know about most of Israel's misdeeds if not for MANY courageous Jews who tell it like is, and more, every day. Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem spring immediately to mind. http://www.btselem.org/ and http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/ SolRobinson 5pts @DonnyKnudsen Accurate.
tuzlak007 5pts 2 Like The nations voted against the resolution, along with The USA, Israel, and Canada are --no, I am not making this up-- Micronesia, Palau, Czech Republic, Marshall Islands, Nauru, and Panama. With all respect to ALL member nations of the UN, this cannot be desribed exactly as a highly impressive list. Obviously, The Three Amigos will need a more substantial support regarding this highly critical issue. Don't you think so?
mickey66049 5pts Israel's rockets, unlike Hamas', are guided; and they have of late been aimed at homes with small children, civilian areas, and schools. This is barbaric and contra to the Geneva Conventions. Of course, Israel doesn't feel bound by treaties like that because of Jews' treatment by Germany in WWII. But if Israel wants to be accepted as a legitimate entity rather than just an arm of the USA, it needs to start behaving in a manner the civilized world demands, such as not targeting civilians for military action, and not occupying others' land by force.Doesn't anyone wonder why Al-Qaeda attacks us? It's not because, as George W. Bush used to day, "they hate freedom." Quite the opposite. They hate us because we aid, abet, and pay for Israel's deprivation of THEIR freedom. I am absolutely certain that if we were to start treating the Arabs, particularly the Palestinians, as a people deserving human rights just as much as the Israelis occupying their lands, Al-Qaeda would simply be disbanded, having no reason to exist.I say this as someone who has lived and worked, administering English programs, in Afghanistan and Libya in the 60s and 70s. Afghans believed us when we expressed support for Palestinians, but Libyans, having lived through the 1967 war and seen even more Israeli plunder of Palestinian land, could not. We were Americans, and therefore Zionists--no matter how much we protested. This was very sad, and shows how far the US has alienated Arabs. It is time for us to make amends by treating Palestinians as fully worthy of the same human rights as Israelis, and stopping enabling Israel's depredations. Return to the 1967 borders, and support of an independent Palestinian state, is the least we can do. We can't hope for a return to the 1948 borders that Dean Acheson and Harry Truman carved out of Palestine for exclusive use by Jews. But the expanded borders of 19 years later should suffice SolRobinson 5pts @mickey66049 You cannot say that the blockade is illegal (it is) without saying that closing the straits of Tiran was an act of war. DrinkerOfTheRye 5pts Barbaric, you mean like suicide bombers at weddings, funerals on buses and at Mosques, or Shafra and Kusha's used in beheadings, maybe IEDs on civilian vehicles or women being stoned, lashed or whipped. The "cold bold truth" is that Hamas, Al-Aqsa Martyrs, Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda; Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn, or the many other terrorist groups are reflection of the centuries of humiliation and failure to advance plaguing the Mideast Muslims. They look to the West and see superior societies with vastly greater intellectual and economic success while they achieve little except for selling oil, importing slave labor, degrading women and conducting these little tribal wars. Obama wisely pivoted US strategy towards the Pacific, since he knows there is no future in the Arab homeland except for continued economic stagnation and cultural decline. SolRobinson 5pts @DrinkerOfTheRye You are a crazy bigot. SirDonQuixotic 5pts @mickey66049 To be fair to Israel, Hamas deliberately embeds themselves into the civilian population for precisely that reason - not that I'm condoning Israel's air strikes or bombing campaigns. SolRobinson 5pts @DonQuixotic @mickey66049 Accurate.
SolRobinson 5pts @mickey66049 You cannot say that the blockade is illegal (it is) without saying that closing the straits of Tiran was an act of war.
DrinkerOfTheRye 5pts Barbaric, you mean like suicide bombers at weddings, funerals on buses and at Mosques, or Shafra and Kusha's used in beheadings, maybe IEDs on civilian vehicles or women being stoned, lashed or whipped. The "cold bold truth" is that Hamas, Al-Aqsa Martyrs, Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda; Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn, or the many other terrorist groups are reflection of the centuries of humiliation and failure to advance plaguing the Mideast Muslims. They look to the West and see superior societies with vastly greater intellectual and economic success while they achieve little except for selling oil, importing slave labor, degrading women and conducting these little tribal wars. Obama wisely pivoted US strategy towards the Pacific, since he knows there is no future in the Arab homeland except for continued economic stagnation and cultural decline. SolRobinson 5pts @DrinkerOfTheRye You are a crazy bigot.
SirDonQuixotic 5pts @mickey66049 To be fair to Israel, Hamas deliberately embeds themselves into the civilian population for precisely that reason - not that I'm condoning Israel's air strikes or bombing campaigns. SolRobinson 5pts @DonQuixotic @mickey66049 Accurate.
farooqsumar 5pts 2 Like Throughout history the rich and the powerful have oppressed, tyrannized and decimated the less fortunate. So if the U.S. and Israel vehemently oppose the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, and there allies who do not wish to be accounted for in the extremist U.S/Israeli camp choose to abstain in order to ease their ruffled consciences, then it is quite clear that nothing has changed in essence but the charming world of diction which collateralizes all and sundry. Justice may take time, the agony may not end soon, the blood will keep flowing but the Israelis know that this cannot last for ever, they will also accept what everybody else has had to accept. mickey66049 5pts 1 Like Hear, hear!
samjustin 5pts 7 Like If one pushes even a cat with back to it's wall. it can only pounce forward. The Palestinians in Gaza have gone through hell on earth at the hands of the occupiers. Can there be a more inhuman and crimnal an act then starving the Palastinian children and it's people resulting in malnutrition of a generation and choke medical assistance.Long last the world body has seen beyond the media lies and read between the lines. Observer State status is just step one. Webster 5pts For the attention of Sam Justin and all other anti-Semites: There can be no claim of occupation -- Israel has left the Gaza Strip in 2005. Nevertheless, Israel still supplies Gaza with electricity, water and food. These provisions did not stop for one single day, even when the rulers of Gaza launched THOUSANDS of missiles at Israeli towns. There can also be no claim of siege. The Gaza Strip has a border with Egypt, which is ruled by the same party as Gaza. Would it not be nice if Egypt had replaced Israel as the provider of electricity, water and food?electricity, water and foodelectricity, water and foodelectricity, water and foodelectricity, water and food anon2020 5pts 1 Like @Webster Semitic-speaking peoples ... The following is a list of ancient and modern Semitic speaking peoples: Arabs, Old North Arabian speaking BedouinsGindibu's Arabs 9th c. BCNabataeans — Mix of Aramaiac and Arabic speakers.So I guess you're saying Palestinians are self-haters? maybe you should read more.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitic ScottWan 5pts 2 Like @Webster please dont lie and dont spread base less crap, world is very much aware of what settlers are doing in occupied areas. mickey66049 5pts 1 Like @Webster Arabs are also Semites. Get over it. mickey66049 5pts @Webster The food and water are given at starvation level--or below. SirDonQuixotic 5pts @Webster Well they kind of have to when they're blockading it, don't they? SolRobinson 5pts @DonnyKnudsen @Webster People who compare Israel to nazi germany take away from the crimes of the Holocaust. Webster takes away meaning from the word antisemite. SolRobinson 5pts @DonQuixotic @Webster Thank you. DonnyKnudsen 5pts 1 Like @Webster You're also assuming people think anti-Semitism, as defined and promoted by you and your ilk, is necessarily a "bad" thing. You make it downright appealing, by your very nature. Fortunately, people are also learning MANY Jews protest Israel's policies. SirDonQuixotic 5pts 2 Like @Webster I want peace for both Israel and Palestine; you seem to only want peace for Israel. Did you know that many arabs are Semites too? SirDonQuixotic 5pts @Webster You're assuming I'm not Jewish, but it must make your argument nice and simple when anyone who disagrees with you is an "anti-Semite". Once again: there is still a land and sea blockade in place in Gaza. They have eased it since 2010, but it's still there.On 20 June 2010, Israel's Security Cabinet approved a new system governing the blockade that would allow practically all non-military or dual-use items to enter the Gaza strip. According to a cabinet statement, Israel would "expand the transfer of construction materials designated for projects that have been approved by the Palestinian Authority, including schools, health institutions, water, sanitation and more – as well as (projects) that are under international supervision."[92] Despite the easing of the land blockade, Israel will continue to inspect all goods bound for Gaza by sea at the port of Ashdod.[93]Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the decision enabled Israel to focus on real security issues and would eliminate "Hamas' main propaganda claim,"[94] and that it would strengthen the case for keeping the sea blockade in place.[95] He also said the decision would have been coordinated with the United States and with Tony Blair, the representative of the Quartet for the Middle East.[94] Blair characterized the decision as a "very significant step forward", but added that the decision needs to be implemented.[92] In a statement, the Quartet said that the situation remained "unsustainable and unacceptable" and maintained that a long-term solution was urgently needed.[96][97] The UNRWA called for a complete lift of the Gaza blockade, expressing concern that the new policy would continue to limit Gaza's ability to develop on its own.[97] The European Union's representative for foreign policy, Catherine Ashton, welcomed the decision. She called the step "a significant improvement" and expressed the expectation that the measures take effect as soon as possible, adding that "more work remains to be done." Webster 5pts Once again: There is no blockade and supplies are delivered daily. Once again: Israel could not blockade Gaza even if it wanted to because the Gaza Strip has a land border with Egypt. You are not illiterate; you are just a disgusting anti-Semite, are you not?
Webster 5pts For the attention of Sam Justin and all other anti-Semites: There can be no claim of occupation -- Israel has left the Gaza Strip in 2005. Nevertheless, Israel still supplies Gaza with electricity, water and food. These provisions did not stop for one single day, even when the rulers of Gaza launched THOUSANDS of missiles at Israeli towns. There can also be no claim of siege. The Gaza Strip has a border with Egypt, which is ruled by the same party as Gaza. Would it not be nice if Egypt had replaced Israel as the provider of electricity, water and food?electricity, water and foodelectricity, water and foodelectricity, water and foodelectricity, water and food anon2020 5pts 1 Like @Webster Semitic-speaking peoples ... The following is a list of ancient and modern Semitic speaking peoples: Arabs, Old North Arabian speaking BedouinsGindibu's Arabs 9th c. BCNabataeans — Mix of Aramaiac and Arabic speakers.So I guess you're saying Palestinians are self-haters? maybe you should read more.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitic ScottWan 5pts 2 Like @Webster please dont lie and dont spread base less crap, world is very much aware of what settlers are doing in occupied areas. mickey66049 5pts 1 Like @Webster Arabs are also Semites. Get over it. mickey66049 5pts @Webster The food and water are given at starvation level--or below. SirDonQuixotic 5pts @Webster Well they kind of have to when they're blockading it, don't they? SolRobinson 5pts @DonnyKnudsen @Webster People who compare Israel to nazi germany take away from the crimes of the Holocaust. Webster takes away meaning from the word antisemite. SolRobinson 5pts @DonQuixotic @Webster Thank you. DonnyKnudsen 5pts 1 Like @Webster You're also assuming people think anti-Semitism, as defined and promoted by you and your ilk, is necessarily a "bad" thing. You make it downright appealing, by your very nature. Fortunately, people are also learning MANY Jews protest Israel's policies. SirDonQuixotic 5pts 2 Like @Webster I want peace for both Israel and Palestine; you seem to only want peace for Israel. Did you know that many arabs are Semites too? SirDonQuixotic 5pts @Webster You're assuming I'm not Jewish, but it must make your argument nice and simple when anyone who disagrees with you is an "anti-Semite". Once again: there is still a land and sea blockade in place in Gaza. They have eased it since 2010, but it's still there.On 20 June 2010, Israel's Security Cabinet approved a new system governing the blockade that would allow practically all non-military or dual-use items to enter the Gaza strip. According to a cabinet statement, Israel would "expand the transfer of construction materials designated for projects that have been approved by the Palestinian Authority, including schools, health institutions, water, sanitation and more – as well as (projects) that are under international supervision."[92] Despite the easing of the land blockade, Israel will continue to inspect all goods bound for Gaza by sea at the port of Ashdod.[93]Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the decision enabled Israel to focus on real security issues and would eliminate "Hamas' main propaganda claim,"[94] and that it would strengthen the case for keeping the sea blockade in place.[95] He also said the decision would have been coordinated with the United States and with Tony Blair, the representative of the Quartet for the Middle East.[94] Blair characterized the decision as a "very significant step forward", but added that the decision needs to be implemented.[92] In a statement, the Quartet said that the situation remained "unsustainable and unacceptable" and maintained that a long-term solution was urgently needed.[96][97] The UNRWA called for a complete lift of the Gaza blockade, expressing concern that the new policy would continue to limit Gaza's ability to develop on its own.[97] The European Union's representative for foreign policy, Catherine Ashton, welcomed the decision. She called the step "a significant improvement" and expressed the expectation that the measures take effect as soon as possible, adding that "more work remains to be done." Webster 5pts Once again: There is no blockade and supplies are delivered daily. Once again: Israel could not blockade Gaza even if it wanted to because the Gaza Strip has a land border with Egypt. You are not illiterate; you are just a disgusting anti-Semite, are you not?
anon2020 5pts 1 Like @Webster Semitic-speaking peoples ... The following is a list of ancient and modern Semitic speaking peoples: Arabs, Old North Arabian speaking BedouinsGindibu's Arabs 9th c. BCNabataeans — Mix of Aramaiac and Arabic speakers.So I guess you're saying Palestinians are self-haters? maybe you should read more.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitic
ScottWan 5pts 2 Like @Webster please dont lie and dont spread base less crap, world is very much aware of what settlers are doing in occupied areas.
SirDonQuixotic 5pts @Webster Well they kind of have to when they're blockading it, don't they? SolRobinson 5pts @DonnyKnudsen @Webster People who compare Israel to nazi germany take away from the crimes of the Holocaust. Webster takes away meaning from the word antisemite. SolRobinson 5pts @DonQuixotic @Webster Thank you. DonnyKnudsen 5pts 1 Like @Webster You're also assuming people think anti-Semitism, as defined and promoted by you and your ilk, is necessarily a "bad" thing. You make it downright appealing, by your very nature. Fortunately, people are also learning MANY Jews protest Israel's policies. SirDonQuixotic 5pts 2 Like @Webster I want peace for both Israel and Palestine; you seem to only want peace for Israel. Did you know that many arabs are Semites too? SirDonQuixotic 5pts @Webster You're assuming I'm not Jewish, but it must make your argument nice and simple when anyone who disagrees with you is an "anti-Semite". Once again: there is still a land and sea blockade in place in Gaza. They have eased it since 2010, but it's still there.On 20 June 2010, Israel's Security Cabinet approved a new system governing the blockade that would allow practically all non-military or dual-use items to enter the Gaza strip. According to a cabinet statement, Israel would "expand the transfer of construction materials designated for projects that have been approved by the Palestinian Authority, including schools, health institutions, water, sanitation and more – as well as (projects) that are under international supervision."[92] Despite the easing of the land blockade, Israel will continue to inspect all goods bound for Gaza by sea at the port of Ashdod.[93]Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the decision enabled Israel to focus on real security issues and would eliminate "Hamas' main propaganda claim,"[94] and that it would strengthen the case for keeping the sea blockade in place.[95] He also said the decision would have been coordinated with the United States and with Tony Blair, the representative of the Quartet for the Middle East.[94] Blair characterized the decision as a "very significant step forward", but added that the decision needs to be implemented.[92] In a statement, the Quartet said that the situation remained "unsustainable and unacceptable" and maintained that a long-term solution was urgently needed.[96][97] The UNRWA called for a complete lift of the Gaza blockade, expressing concern that the new policy would continue to limit Gaza's ability to develop on its own.[97] The European Union's representative for foreign policy, Catherine Ashton, welcomed the decision. She called the step "a significant improvement" and expressed the expectation that the measures take effect as soon as possible, adding that "more work remains to be done." Webster 5pts Once again: There is no blockade and supplies are delivered daily. Once again: Israel could not blockade Gaza even if it wanted to because the Gaza Strip has a land border with Egypt. You are not illiterate; you are just a disgusting anti-Semite, are you not?
SolRobinson 5pts @DonnyKnudsen @Webster People who compare Israel to nazi germany take away from the crimes of the Holocaust. Webster takes away meaning from the word antisemite.
DonnyKnudsen 5pts 1 Like @Webster You're also assuming people think anti-Semitism, as defined and promoted by you and your ilk, is necessarily a "bad" thing. You make it downright appealing, by your very nature. Fortunately, people are also learning MANY Jews protest Israel's policies.
SirDonQuixotic 5pts 2 Like @Webster I want peace for both Israel and Palestine; you seem to only want peace for Israel. Did you know that many arabs are Semites too?
SirDonQuixotic 5pts @Webster You're assuming I'm not Jewish, but it must make your argument nice and simple when anyone who disagrees with you is an "anti-Semite". Once again: there is still a land and sea blockade in place in Gaza. They have eased it since 2010, but it's still there.On 20 June 2010, Israel's Security Cabinet approved a new system governing the blockade that would allow practically all non-military or dual-use items to enter the Gaza strip. According to a cabinet statement, Israel would "expand the transfer of construction materials designated for projects that have been approved by the Palestinian Authority, including schools, health institutions, water, sanitation and more – as well as (projects) that are under international supervision."[92] Despite the easing of the land blockade, Israel will continue to inspect all goods bound for Gaza by sea at the port of Ashdod.[93]Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the decision enabled Israel to focus on real security issues and would eliminate "Hamas' main propaganda claim,"[94] and that it would strengthen the case for keeping the sea blockade in place.[95] He also said the decision would have been coordinated with the United States and with Tony Blair, the representative of the Quartet for the Middle East.[94] Blair characterized the decision as a "very significant step forward", but added that the decision needs to be implemented.[92] In a statement, the Quartet said that the situation remained "unsustainable and unacceptable" and maintained that a long-term solution was urgently needed.[96][97] The UNRWA called for a complete lift of the Gaza blockade, expressing concern that the new policy would continue to limit Gaza's ability to develop on its own.[97] The European Union's representative for foreign policy, Catherine Ashton, welcomed the decision. She called the step "a significant improvement" and expressed the expectation that the measures take effect as soon as possible, adding that "more work remains to be done."
Webster 5pts Once again: There is no blockade and supplies are delivered daily. Once again: Israel could not blockade Gaza even if it wanted to because the Gaza Strip has a land border with Egypt. You are not illiterate; you are just a disgusting anti-Semite, are you not?
MichaelWellman 5pts 2 Like This makes absolutely no sense. Just last week, Hamas was launching rockets at apartment buildings and putting bombs on busses inside Israel... and somehow that leads to diplomatic recognition? Well heck, let's call up the IRA and the Basque Seperatists and the Tamil Tigers and let them know that terrorism actually IS the path to sovereignty, since that's what the UN is saying right now. SirDonQuixotic 5pts @MichaelWellman Maybe because the alternative has been failing for decades, and legitimacy on both sides might lead to better peace talks? We'll have to see what happens, but it's worth hoping that something positive comes out of it. s1mon 5pts @MichaelWellman Remember bud, it was the Jews (before Israel) who invented the car bomb that killed scores of people. That worked out well for them! superlogi 5pts @s1mon @MichaelWellman And here I thought it was Alfred Nobel who invented dynamite and gun powder has since the 9th Century in China. Oh well, I'm sure a nasty jewish person is involved in it somehow. You know people like you are a perfect example of the disaster of Federal Government ever getting involved in K-12. SolRobinson 5pts @s1mon @superlogi @MichaelWellman Accurate. Un vote = Good for both Israel and Palestine. superlogi 5pts @s1mon @superlogi @MichaelWellman I love Australia. Can't understand why you live there. Fact is, if and when I move, it will be to Australia or New Zealand. The hate and anger thing is over an done with. The Israeli Jews understand they can't rewrite history. They, simply, don't want to repeat it you silly little prick. Get off the web. Seriously, you are anathema to humanity. If you don't understand what you are, you need to reevaluate your own humanity. s1mon 5pts @superlogi @MichaelWellman Ohh I do not think all Jewish people are nasty, in fact all races and religious followers have their fanatics. But in general a vast majority try very hard to get along. The media need to be little more honest, unbiased and without an ulterior motive, like Time.com. Then almost everyone will realise what is really happening, you are being sold the idea of hate, anger and the justification for murder. This goes to many countries, including mine in Australia. I love my fellow human regardless of religion or race. Yet I do despise those who allow atrocities to occur. Especially to those who can not adequately defend themselves. This UN decision helps to put Palestine in the same legal position as Israel. Not everyone likes it, but hopefully it will assist in spreading equality. MichaelWellman 5pts That's funny, I didn't realize that Armenian Seperatists were jewish... Webster 5pts One CANNOT remember something that DID NOT happen. Anti-Semites, like s1mon and Karl Vick, can and do CONCOCT falsifications. DonnyKnudsen 5pts @Webster Your pants are on fire! Jewish terror groups in Israel blew up stuff "real good" to achieve the political goal of driving the British out of Mandate Palestine, so Zionists could finally begin Jewish immigration at a scale sufficient to accelerate the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians - i.e. ethnic cleansing. It bears mentioning that these Jewish terrorists were very active throughout WWII, causing the British to commit resources to Palestine that might have been deployed against the Axis powers in Europe to bring the war to an earlier conclusion.For those who are interested, the names of terror groups included Irgun (founded by Menachim Begin), Haganah, Lehi, the Stern Gang, etc. Their crowning achievements included the bombing of the the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946 and the massacre at the tiny, peaceful village of Deir Yassin in 1947, where Begin bragged to every foreign press rep. he could find of the great Jewish victory. There they lined men, women, and children up against a wall, by the dozen, and shot them, leaving the corpses to rot in the sun. This latter action had the desired affect -- tens of thousands of Palestinian families fled their homes out of fear.Another ignominious example was the Lavon Affair of 1954. Look this one up and you'll understand why many believe Israel may have had a hand in other acts of terror, blamed on radical Islam. It certainly explains why Egypt's Nasser did not trust Israel. mickey66049 5pts 1 Like @Webster Arabs are Semites too. I'm half Jewish, so I'm not anti-Semitic. I'm just against Israel's occupation of others' land.
SirDonQuixotic 5pts @MichaelWellman Maybe because the alternative has been failing for decades, and legitimacy on both sides might lead to better peace talks? We'll have to see what happens, but it's worth hoping that something positive comes out of it.
s1mon 5pts @MichaelWellman Remember bud, it was the Jews (before Israel) who invented the car bomb that killed scores of people. That worked out well for them! superlogi 5pts @s1mon @MichaelWellman And here I thought it was Alfred Nobel who invented dynamite and gun powder has since the 9th Century in China. Oh well, I'm sure a nasty jewish person is involved in it somehow. You know people like you are a perfect example of the disaster of Federal Government ever getting involved in K-12. SolRobinson 5pts @s1mon @superlogi @MichaelWellman Accurate. Un vote = Good for both Israel and Palestine. superlogi 5pts @s1mon @superlogi @MichaelWellman I love Australia. Can't understand why you live there. Fact is, if and when I move, it will be to Australia or New Zealand. The hate and anger thing is over an done with. The Israeli Jews understand they can't rewrite history. They, simply, don't want to repeat it you silly little prick. Get off the web. Seriously, you are anathema to humanity. If you don't understand what you are, you need to reevaluate your own humanity. s1mon 5pts @superlogi @MichaelWellman Ohh I do not think all Jewish people are nasty, in fact all races and religious followers have their fanatics. But in general a vast majority try very hard to get along. The media need to be little more honest, unbiased and without an ulterior motive, like Time.com. Then almost everyone will realise what is really happening, you are being sold the idea of hate, anger and the justification for murder. This goes to many countries, including mine in Australia. I love my fellow human regardless of religion or race. Yet I do despise those who allow atrocities to occur. Especially to those who can not adequately defend themselves. This UN decision helps to put Palestine in the same legal position as Israel. Not everyone likes it, but hopefully it will assist in spreading equality. MichaelWellman 5pts That's funny, I didn't realize that Armenian Seperatists were jewish... Webster 5pts One CANNOT remember something that DID NOT happen. Anti-Semites, like s1mon and Karl Vick, can and do CONCOCT falsifications. DonnyKnudsen 5pts @Webster Your pants are on fire! Jewish terror groups in Israel blew up stuff "real good" to achieve the political goal of driving the British out of Mandate Palestine, so Zionists could finally begin Jewish immigration at a scale sufficient to accelerate the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians - i.e. ethnic cleansing. It bears mentioning that these Jewish terrorists were very active throughout WWII, causing the British to commit resources to Palestine that might have been deployed against the Axis powers in Europe to bring the war to an earlier conclusion.For those who are interested, the names of terror groups included Irgun (founded by Menachim Begin), Haganah, Lehi, the Stern Gang, etc. Their crowning achievements included the bombing of the the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946 and the massacre at the tiny, peaceful village of Deir Yassin in 1947, where Begin bragged to every foreign press rep. he could find of the great Jewish victory. There they lined men, women, and children up against a wall, by the dozen, and shot them, leaving the corpses to rot in the sun. This latter action had the desired affect -- tens of thousands of Palestinian families fled their homes out of fear.Another ignominious example was the Lavon Affair of 1954. Look this one up and you'll understand why many believe Israel may have had a hand in other acts of terror, blamed on radical Islam. It certainly explains why Egypt's Nasser did not trust Israel. mickey66049 5pts 1 Like @Webster Arabs are Semites too. I'm half Jewish, so I'm not anti-Semitic. I'm just against Israel's occupation of others' land.
superlogi 5pts @s1mon @MichaelWellman And here I thought it was Alfred Nobel who invented dynamite and gun powder has since the 9th Century in China. Oh well, I'm sure a nasty jewish person is involved in it somehow. You know people like you are a perfect example of the disaster of Federal Government ever getting involved in K-12. SolRobinson 5pts @s1mon @superlogi @MichaelWellman Accurate. Un vote = Good for both Israel and Palestine. superlogi 5pts @s1mon @superlogi @MichaelWellman I love Australia. Can't understand why you live there. Fact is, if and when I move, it will be to Australia or New Zealand. The hate and anger thing is over an done with. The Israeli Jews understand they can't rewrite history. They, simply, don't want to repeat it you silly little prick. Get off the web. Seriously, you are anathema to humanity. If you don't understand what you are, you need to reevaluate your own humanity. s1mon 5pts @superlogi @MichaelWellman Ohh I do not think all Jewish people are nasty, in fact all races and religious followers have their fanatics. But in general a vast majority try very hard to get along. The media need to be little more honest, unbiased and without an ulterior motive, like Time.com. Then almost everyone will realise what is really happening, you are being sold the idea of hate, anger and the justification for murder. This goes to many countries, including mine in Australia. I love my fellow human regardless of religion or race. Yet I do despise those who allow atrocities to occur. Especially to those who can not adequately defend themselves. This UN decision helps to put Palestine in the same legal position as Israel. Not everyone likes it, but hopefully it will assist in spreading equality.
SolRobinson 5pts @s1mon @superlogi @MichaelWellman Accurate. Un vote = Good for both Israel and Palestine.
superlogi 5pts @s1mon @superlogi @MichaelWellman I love Australia. Can't understand why you live there. Fact is, if and when I move, it will be to Australia or New Zealand. The hate and anger thing is over an done with. The Israeli Jews understand they can't rewrite history. They, simply, don't want to repeat it you silly little prick. Get off the web. Seriously, you are anathema to humanity. If you don't understand what you are, you need to reevaluate your own humanity.
s1mon 5pts @superlogi @MichaelWellman Ohh I do not think all Jewish people are nasty, in fact all races and religious followers have their fanatics. But in general a vast majority try very hard to get along. The media need to be little more honest, unbiased and without an ulterior motive, like Time.com. Then almost everyone will realise what is really happening, you are being sold the idea of hate, anger and the justification for murder. This goes to many countries, including mine in Australia. I love my fellow human regardless of religion or race. Yet I do despise those who allow atrocities to occur. Especially to those who can not adequately defend themselves. This UN decision helps to put Palestine in the same legal position as Israel. Not everyone likes it, but hopefully it will assist in spreading equality.
Webster 5pts One CANNOT remember something that DID NOT happen. Anti-Semites, like s1mon and Karl Vick, can and do CONCOCT falsifications. DonnyKnudsen 5pts @Webster Your pants are on fire! Jewish terror groups in Israel blew up stuff "real good" to achieve the political goal of driving the British out of Mandate Palestine, so Zionists could finally begin Jewish immigration at a scale sufficient to accelerate the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians - i.e. ethnic cleansing. It bears mentioning that these Jewish terrorists were very active throughout WWII, causing the British to commit resources to Palestine that might have been deployed against the Axis powers in Europe to bring the war to an earlier conclusion.For those who are interested, the names of terror groups included Irgun (founded by Menachim Begin), Haganah, Lehi, the Stern Gang, etc. Their crowning achievements included the bombing of the the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946 and the massacre at the tiny, peaceful village of Deir Yassin in 1947, where Begin bragged to every foreign press rep. he could find of the great Jewish victory. There they lined men, women, and children up against a wall, by the dozen, and shot them, leaving the corpses to rot in the sun. This latter action had the desired affect -- tens of thousands of Palestinian families fled their homes out of fear.Another ignominious example was the Lavon Affair of 1954. Look this one up and you'll understand why many believe Israel may have had a hand in other acts of terror, blamed on radical Islam. It certainly explains why Egypt's Nasser did not trust Israel. mickey66049 5pts 1 Like @Webster Arabs are Semites too. I'm half Jewish, so I'm not anti-Semitic. I'm just against Israel's occupation of others' land.
DonnyKnudsen 5pts @Webster Your pants are on fire! Jewish terror groups in Israel blew up stuff "real good" to achieve the political goal of driving the British out of Mandate Palestine, so Zionists could finally begin Jewish immigration at a scale sufficient to accelerate the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians - i.e. ethnic cleansing. It bears mentioning that these Jewish terrorists were very active throughout WWII, causing the British to commit resources to Palestine that might have been deployed against the Axis powers in Europe to bring the war to an earlier conclusion.For those who are interested, the names of terror groups included Irgun (founded by Menachim Begin), Haganah, Lehi, the Stern Gang, etc. Their crowning achievements included the bombing of the the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946 and the massacre at the tiny, peaceful village of Deir Yassin in 1947, where Begin bragged to every foreign press rep. he could find of the great Jewish victory. There they lined men, women, and children up against a wall, by the dozen, and shot them, leaving the corpses to rot in the sun. This latter action had the desired affect -- tens of thousands of Palestinian families fled their homes out of fear.Another ignominious example was the Lavon Affair of 1954. Look this one up and you'll understand why many believe Israel may have had a hand in other acts of terror, blamed on radical Islam. It certainly explains why Egypt's Nasser did not trust Israel.
mickey66049 5pts 1 Like @Webster Arabs are Semites too. I'm half Jewish, so I'm not anti-Semitic. I'm just against Israel's occupation of others' land.
ScottWan 5pts 3 Like Israel think him self above law because they are the chosen one and moral is to oppress, steal land, water and air, but unfortunatly world rejected their morals. mickey66049 5pts @ScottWan Except, unfortunately, for the most powerful nation in the world, which supports Israeli expansionism with billions every year.
mickey66049 5pts @ScottWan Except, unfortunately, for the most powerful nation in the world, which supports Israeli expansionism with billions every year.
MargaritaHinksoni 5pts 4 Like Apartheid must end - it will never survive. And the US should relinquish its role as chief implementer and financier of the failed 1947 UN treaty to settle the Jewish diaspora in the Palestinian lands. The British do not have colonial power there any more and the treaty no longer works. End the enforced apartheid and - if necessary - find new lands for the Jewish diaspora. Like Texas maybe? Lots of empty land there! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y58njT2oXfE&sns=em SolRobinson 5pts @MargaritaHinksoni Israel isn't going anywhere. Framing the conversation under the delusion it will is a counterproductive move. Also, PLEASE don't make us go to texas. Please. Anywhere but texas.
SolRobinson 5pts @MargaritaHinksoni Israel isn't going anywhere. Framing the conversation under the delusion it will is a counterproductive move. Also, PLEASE don't make us go to texas. Please. Anywhere but texas.