tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post2758270375307916096..comments2023-10-28T00:50:02.006-07:00Comments on Low and Left Part Deux: Hell in Gaza by Shirinidiosynchronichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15130385037526106860noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post-36017734109768064072009-01-09T20:58:00.000-08:002009-01-09T20:58:00.000-08:00CG, tangential to the article you posted are you a...CG, tangential to the article you posted are you aware that the facts about the "Hamas coup" are not at all as they have been presented in the U.S. media, and certainly by the U.S. government? <BR/><BR/>Hamas made the coup because they knew that Fatah, instigated and aided by the U.S. and Israel was about to make a coup against them, so they beat them to it. The U.S. and Israel's part in it all is documented. <BR/><BR/>So, once again the Bush regime - and with them the Israeli government - are hoist on their own petard.Shirinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17017512862536434261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post-63866559422061940562009-01-09T20:49:00.000-08:002009-01-09T20:49:00.000-08:00Anjha, Majdi would say with resignation "this is o...Anjha, Majdi would say with resignation "this is our life". Yes, it IS appalling.<BR/><BR/>What broke my heart the most is that his beautiful beloved girl had to learn to understand and to say "Ana Khaifa, Baba" - "I am scared, Daddy" at the age of two years. It makes me want to cry when I think about it.<BR/><BR/>And now the thing that I think about is, assuming they are even alive, what they have been going through in the last two weeks. Do they have food? Do they have water? And how do you deal with hearing your two year old child asking for food and having to tell her there is none? And how do you manage to deal with seeing your precious baby terrorized and you cannot do anything about it?<BR/><BR/>And I wonder whether after this is over Majdi's resignation might not be replaced by rage, and hate, and a desire for revenge?Shirinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17017512862536434261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post-71536535501703228232009-01-09T20:37:00.000-08:002009-01-09T20:37:00.000-08:00CG, one of the things that amazes me is that the v...CG, one of the things that amazes me is that the very same people who viciously slander critics of Israel's policies and actions with the nasty label of anti-Semite, simultaneously fervently embrace the so-called Christian Zionists whose goal is to use the Jewish State to bring about the complete obliteration of the Jewish people. <BR/><BR/>The irony is stunning.Shirinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17017512862536434261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post-50607194187005400602009-01-09T11:01:00.000-08:002009-01-09T11:01:00.000-08:00Found this analysis in Haaretz interesting. Emphas...Found this analysis in Haaretz interesting. Emphasis is mine:<BR/><BR/>http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054143.html<BR/><BR/><I><B>At midnight Friday, according to Hamas' interpretation of the Palestinian constitution, the tenure of Mahmoud Abbas as President of the Palestinian Authority comes to an end.</B><BR/><BR/>The confrontation in the Gaza Strip has granted Israel the opportunity to decide whether Abbas will lose his legitimacy before some of his nation, or will secure continued Fatah rule in the West Bank.<BR/><BR/>The decision to adopt the Egyptian-French-American compromise may bring an end to the fighting in the Strip and create the conditions for the resumption of the peace process. <B>A decision to reject it may, instead of causing the collapse of Hamas rule in Gaza, bring about the crash of Abbas' rule in the West Bank. And that will, by extension, destroy the road map.</B><BR/><BR/>The proposal is based mostly on the 2005 agreement on the crossings that Israel signed. It established that the Rafah crossing would be operated by the Palestinian Authority and a third party - in this case the European Union - would supervise its operation.<BR/><BR/>In addition it was agreed that the crossings would be operated on a continuous basis and would be described as international border crossings. Israel would allow the crossing of goods and people between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.<BR/><BR/><B>A Hamas victory in the January 2006 election resulted in the shelving of the document governing the crossings and the Hamas takeover in the Strip, in June 2007, effectively killed it.</B><BR/><BR/>Egypt's Hosni Mubarak would be glad to revive the agreement without offering Hamas an official role. But he also understands something that Israel finds difficult to comprehend - that Hamas is not going anywhere. The alternative to including it in the governance of the Gaza Strip does not translate into a new "security reality" but a new chaotic situation.<BR/><BR/>As such, Mubarak is relying on the willingness of Khaled Meshal, Hamas' politburo chief, to accept the presence of Abbas' officials at the crossings, next to Hamas representatives and European observers. From the point of view of Hamas, this is as far as it can go. If Israel wishes to have a long range cease-fire that will allow the resumption of the peace process with Fatah, it must come the rest of the way.<BR/><BR/>In order to make this happen, Mubarak is willing to accept the presence of foreign troops in an effort to prevent smuggling of arms into the Gaza Strip. <B>Moreover, Egypt would like to avoid an opening of Rafah crossing that will strengthen the link between the Strip and Sinai, something Cairo fears like the plague.</B><BR/><BR/>Incorporating the PA in the running of the crossings would retain Gaza as an inalienable part of the Palestinian situation. Since its election victory three years ago, it turns out that including Hamas in Palestinian government is a necessary condition to solving the problem.<BR/></I>CGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05434865249435823873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post-19394143894296061472009-01-09T09:21:00.000-08:002009-01-09T09:21:00.000-08:00Coyote, I think that "may be" were Mainy's words, ...Coyote, I think that "may be" were Mainy's words, not the articles.<BR/><BR/>According to the article:<BR/><BR/><I>The Guardian has spoken to three people with knowledge of the discussions in the Obama camp. There is no talk of Obama approving direct diplomatic negotiations with Hamas early on, but he is being urged by advisers to initiate low-level or clandestine approaches, and there is growing recognition in Washington that the policy of ostracising Hamas is counter-productive.</I><BR/><BR/>Obama a) canot tip his hand right now b) cannot step on the still President's toes and c) when he does engage Hamas will have to do so secretly or risk legitimizing them.<BR/><BR/>I think that it is reasonable.<BR/><BR/>However, engaging Hamas is not as necessary at the moment as speaking out against Israel. Condi "abstained" during the vote at the UN Security Council which was BS.<BR/><BR/>There is absolutely no reason for our unconditional support of Israel. While I agree that Israel is an ally, and while I agree that they need our support - they cannot be allowed their illegal aggression with our tacit approval. This is BS. There is a ton of evidence that Israel is not following the rules of conflict.<BR/><BR/>Israel - by all accounts - is participating in <I>War Crimes</I>.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately the US no longer has any credibility, thanks to the Bush Admin, in speaking out against war crimes. <BR/><BR/>Shirin - the most striking things from your friends account are 1. that he was so calm at the beginning of the attacks. He acted as though this were just another day in Gaza. He was not even panicked about his family until he heard reports that some of the bombings were in the area of his home. I find this striking. That anyone could become so used to living under this kind of stress and terror that they do not even react like anything is out of the ordinary.<BR/><BR/>I worry about my child at school if there is a wind storm - I cannot imagine what it would be like if I had to deal with bombing. Crap.<BR/><BR/>The second thing that I found so striking is his report of deaths and injuries:<BR/><BR/><I>The TV channels tell that more than 230 were killed and more than 700 were injured, among them serious cases.</I><BR/><BR/>We are still hearing that on the first day of strikes there were 40 killed. Now we are not even being given numbers.<BR/><BR/>I hate having my information censored. When this happens it is nothing more than propaganda.<BR/><BR/>Gawd what a shitty, shitty world we live in.Anjhahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07361105317942756776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post-6478655436693877372009-01-09T07:57:00.000-08:002009-01-09T07:57:00.000-08:00Obama may beI'll believe it when he does. When I s...<I>Obama <B>may be</B></I><BR/><BR/>I'll believe it when he does. When I see "may be" or "may do," I know I'm being manipulated. I've finally learned to trust my instinct not to trust anyone. They all lie.iamcoyotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14631661893959211562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post-33880648303549508862009-01-09T06:59:00.000-08:002009-01-09T06:59:00.000-08:00Per the Guardian this morning Obama may be poised ...Per the Guardian this morning Obama may be poised to open up communication with Hamas<BR/>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/08/barack-obama-gaza-hamas<BR/><BR/>h/t AmericaBlogmainsailsethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00006319419595817426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post-6927730140764695872009-01-09T03:54:00.000-08:002009-01-09T03:54:00.000-08:00Exactly Shirin. I don't get it either. I guess sin...Exactly Shirin. I don't get it either. I guess since we don't believe in the "end times" the way they do, some Jews don't care <I>why</I> some Christians support Israel--they'll take whatever they can get. Ick.CGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05434865249435823873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post-69943137123384583562009-01-08T20:17:00.000-08:002009-01-08T20:17:00.000-08:00It is beyond me why any Jew, let alone any Jew who...It is beyond me why any Jew, let alone any Jew who cares about Israel would associate with a group of false friends whose "love" for Jews and Israel is all about bringing about events that are supposed to lead to the destruction of the Jewish people.<BR/><BR/>With "friends" like that, Jews don't need enemies.Shirinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17017512862536434261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post-85592359485339441342009-01-08T17:32:00.000-08:002009-01-08T17:32:00.000-08:00Interesting blog I found:http://gaza-sderot.blogsp...Interesting blog I found:<BR/>http://gaza-sderot.blogspot.com/<BR/><BR/>"Peaceman" blogs from Gaza and "Hopeman" blogs from Sderot.CGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05434865249435823873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post-91849830073211666052009-01-08T10:32:00.000-08:002009-01-08T10:32:00.000-08:00And I would be interested in hearing about your fr...And I would be interested in hearing about your friend's experience in Israel. I'm to the point where I don't trust any "reporter" or pundit to just tell what's actually happening. So, even a "word on the street" thingy might be very informative!iamcoyotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14631661893959211562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post-45199372517009508762009-01-08T10:29:00.000-08:002009-01-08T10:29:00.000-08:00I shoulda known, CG, that neocons were involved. I...I shoulda known, CG, that neocons were involved. It was one of the most offensive things I'd ever seen. Clear and unselfconscious, unapologetic propaganda.iamcoyotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14631661893959211562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post-1701500364217896072009-01-08T10:20:00.000-08:002009-01-08T10:20:00.000-08:00Thanks for the offer Coyote, but I don't have any....Thanks for the offer Coyote, but I don't have any. There is a girl from our temple who is over in Israel on a 2-week trip right now. I'm sure they won't go anywhere near the south, so hopefully no harrowing stories from her, but I'd be interested to hear what the atmosphere was like over there among the Israelis--how they're feeling about all this. <BR/><BR/>I saw that commercial you guys were talking about--the mellow-dramatic one about helping Israel. The organization is called The International Federation of Christians and Jews (ifcj.org) and was founded by an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and supported by Jewish and Christian righties/neo-cons. Of course the Christians supporting this org just want the Jews to have all of historic Palestine so Jesus can come again and send all the Jews to hell. Their mission statement is about fostering understanding between Jews and Christians, but the website is all about Israel. <BR/><BR/>They do some good things, but if I wanted to donate to those causes (helping former-Soviet Jews, helping Ethiopian Jews) I wouldn't do it through this organization.CGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05434865249435823873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post-66892188897539935952009-01-08T09:11:00.000-08:002009-01-08T09:11:00.000-08:00Also, to be fair, CG, if you have personal stories...Also, to be fair, CG, if you have personal stories you'd like to have front paged, I'd be happy to put them up. Now, my big boss is in town, so I'd better get some work done. I've also got a friend coming from out of town, so I may be absent over the next week. <BR/><BR/>Be excellent to each other, please!iamcoyotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14631661893959211562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4517715971621462038.post-40782702988317033112009-01-08T09:03:00.000-08:002009-01-08T09:03:00.000-08:00Thank you Shirin, for the person account.Thank you Shirin, for the person account.iamcoyotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14631661893959211562noreply@blogger.com