Hamas’s second in command, Mahmoud al Zahar, has saved more Jewish lives in his short tenure as Palestinian Foreign Minister, than Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. And how has he been rewarded?
Yesterday his son, Hussam al Zahar, was shot dead while defending a civilian enclave in the Palestinian territory by a roving band of Israeli troops. The young man was not connected to any terrorist action. He is simply got in the way of an Israeli bullet and now he’s dead. End of story.
18 other Palestinian men were killed in the attack which has been condemned by foreign leaders around the world. But not in the United States where such barbarity is considered laudable.
Even American stooge, Mahmoud Abbas, blasted the raid saying, “What happened today is a massacre, a slaughter against the Palestinian people. Our people cannot keep silent over these massacres.”
There are photos in Aljazeera of the elder al Zahar offering a final prayer over the corpse of his dead son. It is very sad. This is his second son to be killed by the Israelis. His eldest son was killed in a bombing raid two years ago that was aimed at him. Al Zahar still has not recovered.
As part of the democratically-elected government of the Palestinian people, al Zahar supported Hamas suspension of all suicide bombings within Israel.
How many Jewish lives have been saved by the directive?
At the same time, Israel’s vain and stupid Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert — whose public approval is a paltry 4% — is responsible for the deaths of 113 Israeli soldiers by his bloody and pointless invasion of Lebanon a year ago.
Consider the paradox: Hamas leaders are now saving more Jewish lives than Israel’s own Prime Minister. What bitter irony.
No one in the western media even has the courage to talk about the fact that Hamas was instrumental in stopping the attacks on Israeli civilians. Instead, the rationale for killing Palestinians has simply shifted to the random rocket attacks launched by Gaza militants who are beyond Hamas control. It is just an excuse to continue the sanctions which have left Palestinian women and children without sufficient food, water, medical supplies or energy. The people of Gaza are paying a heavy price for being Palestinian; for merely occupying the land which which every nation in the world has confirmed belongs to the Palestinian people. Al Zahar’s son was killed defending that land.
The Israeli raid was ordered by rejectionist Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, the former Prime Minister who sabotaged the Camp David negotiations with Yasser Arafat and then used his operatives in the US media to craft a narrative that Israel had made a “generous offer” to the Palestinian leadership. It was all rubbish. There were never even any maps, let alone any real effort to make concessions on borders, Jerusalem, air space, water, checkpoints etc. Now, Barak is back doing what he does best: inciting Palestinians so that more land can be settled. It’s a tedious and bloody cycle.
The Israeli raid was intended to send a message to Washington. Annapolis is over. The peace talks are over. The grand performance for the media is over. Now it’s back to business.
Its only been a matter of days since Bush left Israel and already the provocations have resumed. Israeli leaders must find it quite gratifying to make the President of the United States look like a laughingstock to the rest of the world. Bush is a fool, but we don’t need Israel to point it out.
A week ago Bush visited Yad Veshem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, where he said:
“I wish as many people as possible would come to this place. It is a sobering reminder that evil exists and a call that when exists we must resist it.”
Bush only cares about the suffering of Jews, not Palestinians. The policy is counterproductive and hypocritical.
The leaders of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas have been at war since street battles broke out in Gaza six months ago. But they are in agreement about the sudden outbreak of violence following Bush’s trip. Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu summed it up like this, “President Bush gave the green light for the new aggression and other such terrorism.”
Indeed. It appears that the operations had already been planned. As soon as Bush left Israel, the hostilities began.
Al Zahar said, “We believe that this Zionist escalation is the result of Bush’s visit and a natural result of the cover supplied by Bush to the Israeli occupation authorities to go forward in their aggression against the Palestinian people, particularly in the Gaza Strip. We will retaliate in the way they understand.”
115 Palestinians have been killed by the IDF since the end of the Bush’s Annapolis Peace Conference.
Here’s the video by Aljazeera of the Israeli attack on the Gaza suburb that killed al Zahar’s son. It’s nothing like the garbage produced by western media.
Link
Yesterday his son, Hussam al Zahar, was shot dead while defending a civilian enclave in the Palestinian territory by a roving band of Israeli troops. The young man was not connected to any terrorist action. He is simply got in the way of an Israeli bullet and now he’s dead. End of story.
18 other Palestinian men were killed in the attack which has been condemned by foreign leaders around the world. But not in the United States where such barbarity is considered laudable.
Even American stooge, Mahmoud Abbas, blasted the raid saying, “What happened today is a massacre, a slaughter against the Palestinian people. Our people cannot keep silent over these massacres.”
There are photos in Aljazeera of the elder al Zahar offering a final prayer over the corpse of his dead son. It is very sad. This is his second son to be killed by the Israelis. His eldest son was killed in a bombing raid two years ago that was aimed at him. Al Zahar still has not recovered.
As part of the democratically-elected government of the Palestinian people, al Zahar supported Hamas suspension of all suicide bombings within Israel.
How many Jewish lives have been saved by the directive?
At the same time, Israel’s vain and stupid Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert — whose public approval is a paltry 4% — is responsible for the deaths of 113 Israeli soldiers by his bloody and pointless invasion of Lebanon a year ago.
Consider the paradox: Hamas leaders are now saving more Jewish lives than Israel’s own Prime Minister. What bitter irony.
No one in the western media even has the courage to talk about the fact that Hamas was instrumental in stopping the attacks on Israeli civilians. Instead, the rationale for killing Palestinians has simply shifted to the random rocket attacks launched by Gaza militants who are beyond Hamas control. It is just an excuse to continue the sanctions which have left Palestinian women and children without sufficient food, water, medical supplies or energy. The people of Gaza are paying a heavy price for being Palestinian; for merely occupying the land which which every nation in the world has confirmed belongs to the Palestinian people. Al Zahar’s son was killed defending that land.
The Israeli raid was ordered by rejectionist Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, the former Prime Minister who sabotaged the Camp David negotiations with Yasser Arafat and then used his operatives in the US media to craft a narrative that Israel had made a “generous offer” to the Palestinian leadership. It was all rubbish. There were never even any maps, let alone any real effort to make concessions on borders, Jerusalem, air space, water, checkpoints etc. Now, Barak is back doing what he does best: inciting Palestinians so that more land can be settled. It’s a tedious and bloody cycle.
The Israeli raid was intended to send a message to Washington. Annapolis is over. The peace talks are over. The grand performance for the media is over. Now it’s back to business.
Its only been a matter of days since Bush left Israel and already the provocations have resumed. Israeli leaders must find it quite gratifying to make the President of the United States look like a laughingstock to the rest of the world. Bush is a fool, but we don’t need Israel to point it out.
A week ago Bush visited Yad Veshem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, where he said:
“I wish as many people as possible would come to this place. It is a sobering reminder that evil exists and a call that when exists we must resist it.”
Bush only cares about the suffering of Jews, not Palestinians. The policy is counterproductive and hypocritical.
The leaders of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas have been at war since street battles broke out in Gaza six months ago. But they are in agreement about the sudden outbreak of violence following Bush’s trip. Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu summed it up like this, “President Bush gave the green light for the new aggression and other such terrorism.”
Indeed. It appears that the operations had already been planned. As soon as Bush left Israel, the hostilities began.
Al Zahar said, “We believe that this Zionist escalation is the result of Bush’s visit and a natural result of the cover supplied by Bush to the Israeli occupation authorities to go forward in their aggression against the Palestinian people, particularly in the Gaza Strip. We will retaliate in the way they understand.”
115 Palestinians have been killed by the IDF since the end of the Bush’s Annapolis Peace Conference.
Here’s the video by Aljazeera of the Israeli attack on the Gaza suburb that killed al Zahar’s son. It’s nothing like the garbage produced by western media.
Link
muhammad [at] karim.co.za
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11 Comments:
nice to see you back posting your biased, misinformed, interestingly inaccurate propaganda pieces.
LOL... Hey JP, welcome back. apart from rantings and ravings, any fact to back up your claim?
Anything you have to justify collective punishment... again, from Israel's side?
Stones vs. Bullets, Unguided Rockets vs. Carpet Bombing?
well besides the fact that israel has done almost nothing but worked on peace talks and asked for the missiles to stop for almost 3 months before reacting... and then they finally react, after of course a constant outcry of those in the firing line of the missiles, and suddenly israel is once again in the frontline of the media. With almost nothing said about the fact that over 300 missiles have been shot from gaza into israel over the past 3 months.
Where was the world outcry over that? Where was your blog asking for hamas to put a stop to it, and let the peace talks happen without violence to see if something could come from them?
I do like the fact that the piece you put up tells me that it is because of hamas that the suicide bombings in Israel have stopped rather than because of the checkpoints, security barrier and other israeli measures, because surely if they could stop the suicide bombings with a quick word they could then too stop the missiles with a quick word?
And then lastly, Ok, if israel responds to the rocket fire, and I am afraid it is a response rather than an attack, with violence, specific targeting of the militants, it is considered evil, and if they respond by non violent means, such as a fuel embargo, it is considered evil, what would you suggest be the best way to stop the rocket fire?
Of course a solution that destroys the country, hands it over to an extremist group like hamas, without a proper peace agreement does not count as a solution.
Aaaah.. the ever-ongoing, never-successful "peace talks" in which Palestine must give up more rights, leave their peaceful oppressors alone, and learn to live with little to no resources.
I think we've been through that too many times in history to know it doesn't work, especially from Israel's side.
You haven't answered why there is Collective Punishment on an already punished population? And it doesn't look like targeted militant strikes... look at the international Condemnation for God's sake... there's nothing wholesome about Israel's actions here.
Again, unguided rockets due to frustration over their situation vs. targeted military strikes which ALWAYS seem to hit civilians.
Regarding your "quick-word" theory... Why should they stop the Missiles? It's their only method of resistance against Israel.
And regarding "response" I wholeheartedly disagree... Every Action by the Palestinians is a response to the decades of Oppression under Brutal Israeli Force. Israel Never "responds" to anything, they're just continuing and already awful and Illegal Occupation.
After so many Decades, it doesn't change the fact that Israel is Illegal, it's occupation is Illegal. If it wasn't there wouldn't be a resistance, there wouldn't be outcries, there wouldn't be refugees and bulldozed Homes.
"Aaaah.. the ever-ongoing, never-successful "peace talks" in which Palestine must give up more rights, leave their peaceful oppressors alone, and learn to live with little to no resources.
I think we've been through that too many times in history to know it doesn't work, especially from Israel's side."
I am assuming we are ignoring the successes of the israeli side with Egypt and Jordan?
Secondly you do not end occupation by shooting a constant flow of missiles, and by calling for the death of the other side, you end occupation and conflict, by putting down the weapons of violence, sit at a table, make compromises and consessions, and come to a solution.
"Regarding your "quick-word" theory... Why should they stop the Missiles? It's their only method of resistance against Israel."
Are you saying here that Hamas is responsible for the shooting of the missiles? Why would they stop the suicide bombers but not the missiles? Something doesn't make sense, at least in the article you posted.
And lastly, looking at your final paragraph, I know you would think it would be wonderful if god suddenly remade the world and there was no israel. But that isn't the case. There is an Israel, a country with a population of over 8 million people, with the greatest human rights laws, religious freedoms, speech freedoms, and economy of every single country in the entire middle east. Wishing it would go away doesn't stop it from existing. Because it is there the only solution is a negotiated one.
The missiles do not help any sort of resistance. All they do is create more violence. But it seems as that is what you want. More violence, a continuation of the cycle, without any compromise, or promise of a future for the palestinians.
You care more about destroying a country than saving another.
I don't know if the missile throwers were Hamas or not, all I'm saying is you can't expect to sit silently and take Israel's shit for decades upon decades.
Lol at Israel great "human rights" laws. LOL! really... maybe only for Israelis.
Anyway... if you paid attention to any of my previous posts on this subject, my ideal situation would be Israel to stop its shit, too many examples to mention, and treat the Palestinians as equal citizens with equal rights. what makes a "Jewish Only" state different from a "Whites only" State ... it smacks of racism or whatever the term could be.
And make no mistake the only reason this is not an option for Israel is because Its "jewishness" would be threatened. things like allowing refugees back to their homes, halting settlements, etc. are big no-no's, since they need to increase their jewish-ness and attain an unopposable majority before they even consider that. and even taht I don't think there's hope for equal rights and treating people like human beings.
Well that's the ideal, which we both know Israel will never let happen. "Equality? Naaaah..."
I'm sorry I don't know where you got the point that I want Israel's destruction... I don't see it anywhere. All I said was taht it's Occupation is Illegal, which is a fact. I want Israel to behave more like a human being and less like an awful oppressor. That's why I want to hold them accountable.
The reason I'm not so hard on the Palestinians is because the resource and political divide is too huge between the two countries to even warrant a comparison. Palestine is clearly being subjugated by an Oppressive state, hence I will support those being oppressed until some balance comes to the equation.
Capiche?
A question.
Is Saudi Arabia a racist state, because it is officially a islamic state?
Is Egypt a racist state because it is an islamic state?
Is Jordan a racist state because it is an islamic state?
Is Iran a racist state because it is an islamic state?
Is Syria a racist state because it is an islamic state?
In fact is every single state in the middle east, and the majority of north africa, a racist state?
Though I suppose the difference between these and israel, and what takes away the "whites only" idea you seem to have is that israel has laws that governs that every religion should be treated equally, and in the majority of cases, that is true, and in those cases that it isn't, the press speaks out, cases get taken to court, and typically the courts try to rectify the matter. In Saudi Arabia you can be imprisoned for bringing into the country a symbol of a religion that isn't islam. Air hostesses that fly into Saudi Arabia who are christian are not allowed to wear a cros on their necks.
If this was about racist issues, well then israel I am afraid is by far the best of an incredibly bad bunch.
But as much as hamas would like to propagate this is a religious issue, it just isn't. There is more religious freedom in israel than in most of the world. The very fact, that Israel has allowed the temple mount, (dome of the rock), the holiest, absolute holiest place in the jewish religion, to stay in islamic control, and as a country protect the islamic control from the more right wing elements in israel, proves that.
Can you imagine something similar happening with mecca?
I am curious, why you do not call for saudi arabia, to drop its islamic heritage from its agenda, to accept all, religions as equal.
In Jordan it is Ilegal to sell property to a jew. Within the palestinian territory it is a death sentence.
Why does Israel want to protect its jewishness? well, the ethiopians could probably give you a good reason, coming from a country that persecuted its jewish minority, so could the over 800 000 jewish refugees from the middle east, perhaps the North African and Libyan jews could answer that too.
Perhaps, it is for the same reason that mecca feels the need to keep itself islamic.
Oh and hen something I just noticed from your first comment... Carpet bombing? As I said in my first post, biased, inaccurate, misinformed, and interestingly twisted.
It hasn't been proved temple Mount is under the dome of the rock.
Under Islam it is proved that Masjid al Aqsa is a VERY holy place and has been since the advent of Islam. Jerusalem is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims.
btw, you conveniently fail to mention the right-wing extremist jews who fight to be allowed to Break down Musjid-Al-Aqsa, set it on fire... and your hard liners who propogate at every corner that the entire place be demolished and the only answer is to kill. Why don't you mention them?
As for your dig at Mecca. If you look at recent statistics, every single time the Saudi govt. allows visas into the place it gets flooded. Ramadaan Last year had 4 million people, Hajj this year they regulated to just under 3 million people.
Now think... for the absolute holiest place for Muslims, the saudi govt. has to administrate and help 3 to 4 million Muslims in a very small area... now having also to accommodate for non-Muslims who want to come for Holiday? There isn't much enforcement of Islamic law in Makkah and Madinah simply because everyone is Muslim and abides by them anyway. the situation gets a 100 times worse if Non-Muslims, who probably don't know much about Islam anyway, want to come and shack up for a holiday.
The Crime rate in those places is sitting at 0.01% and of that it's mostly because of foreigners.
As for racists states, you're correct most of the states you mention don't have much in terms of following Islamic principles, and some have really bad human rights records.
But they also have Jewish populations in their countries... but they aren't cornered by an apartheid wall, not allowed to practice their religion, not allowed food and to tend their crops, etc. Look at Iran for God's sake... that's a perfect example for your axis of Evil.
Ahmedinejad might be a bit wacky at times, but there exists nowhere in the middle east, the absolute blatant mass oppression of a people as it exists in Israel.
on antoher point... the gazan population were actually getting tired of Hamas, since they weren't delivering after taking over from Fatah... this recent action by Israel, have put the Gazans, squarely back on the side of Hamas.
Militants or not, they were the guys who blew up that border crossing so that people could get food. It's the same argument they had for Osama Bin Laden... why punish the entire population for the actions of a few?
My carpet bombing comment was off base, but collective punishment on Everyone?
HAHAHA... It hasn't been proved that the temple mount is under the dome of the rock....
Well all the circumstantial evidence points to it, from all the archealogical remains surrounding it, to ancient historians writing about it, from way back before islam had even come into existence. But you are right, absolutely no archeaological exploration of the actual site is allowed. A sad, sad thing, when one cannot do research and digs truly discovering a history of a place. Why aren't there any digs happening to discover what exists underneath? Why is not such an important part of human and religious history allowed to be explored? These are more the questions that should be asked in response to your first paragraph.
And I believe I did mention the right wing activists, fortunately who have freedom of speech but if they commit any violence they get locked up in prison, and so they get to shout a lot. Slightly better than the right wing of the other side who convince their children to strap up in a bomb, climb on a bus and blow themselves and innocents to hell.
Iran might be a bit wacky at times?? Maybe you should research how well the kurds, or the ba'hai are treated there? In fact maybe look up why the ba'hai have their headquarters in Israel, rather than in the country that birthed there religion. Funny that in Iran that only people of certain religions can do certain jobs, certain religions have no right of worship, and writers who are seen as insulting islam are arrested.
Very free.
In Israel as much as you might like not to believe it, while you sit behind your blindfold, ignoring the actual country, every religion has a right to worship, every religious structure is protected by law.
And I am afraid that the wall, and the checkpoints, aren't there to stop people from practising there religion, it is there to stop people from strapping bombs to their chest and blowing up children in busses, and if you look at the statistics from before the wall was built to after it, it seems to have worked.
Of course your carpet bombing was off base, so is your stones against bullets. I am afraid what hamas waves in the air are not stones, but guns, what their children, who are not yet teenagers, wave above their heads at rallies, are not stones but guns.
The sniper that recently killed a volunteer on a kibbutz, was using a sniper rifle not throwing a stone.
You have some sort of idealistic vision in your head about what is happening over there with no real understanding.
You have no understanding of what terror is. You talk about these unguided missile as though they are nothing. Yet image, someone stood outside your house everyday taking potshots at it with a rifle, just hoping to hit something. Everytime you stepped outside, there was a chance of getting hit, whilst you sit and have dinner there is a chance of getting hit, while you sleep in your bed there is a chance of getting hit, while you mow your lawn there is a chance of getting hit. He doesn't hit very often, but unfortunately your girlfriend arrives when is aim is right, or perhaps your child goes for a walk when his aim is right, or you...
That is what terrorism is. It is used to create fear, anger, anxiety, hatred. And you without understanding what it is doing, and by referring to it as something small like throwing stones, believes that it should be supported will never understand why there cannot be a solution without it stopping.
okay... if Israel is so great and Free how come it doesn't afford the Palestinians the same rights? Israel is far superior in the power equation, they are on the right side of the Oppressive tactics like water control, checkpoints, food control, etc.
I would greatly support Israel if they gave Palestinians the same rights and the same access took down the wall and removed the checkpoints. Allowed people to live like human beings. If the Palestinians then still shot rockets and resorted to violence in that case, I would denounce them in an instant.
Make no mistake JP, there is no Justice in this conflict, and without that, there can never be peace.
Well you see I have a different point of view. If the palestinians, called for a true peace, stopped shooting missiles, (which have been shot for almost everyday for 7 years now), and stopped believing brainwashing children to become suicide bombers was a good thing, and then israel did not take down the checkpoints and remove the wall I would denounce them without a second thought.
There is a major difference between our two philosophies. Yours, you want israel to remove all its protection in the vague hope, that people with stop targeting their civilians, with absolutely no knowledge that this will come true, and having to deal with the consequences of bus bombs, people shooting up weddings, killing israelies just because they are israelies.
Whereas, in my philosophy, when there is a stop of violence, which doesn't seem to help the palestinians at all, in fact in many ways makes their situation worse, and a level of trust is created. Then defenses can be dropped. To me it just makes more sense.
And I am sure I have said on your blog before, that I do think the checkpoints are a very sad reality, and the wall even a sadder one, but unfortunately it seems to be the only solution to protect its citizens, of which there are 8 million, of jewish descent, muslim descent, christian descent, ba'hai descent, black, white, arabic, etc etc.
And I personally believe, if the violence did stop, or even, if the palestinian rulers, showed that they cared about stopping it, that is people caught shooting rockets were arrested for doing so. Terrorist groups were arrested for trying to destabilise the area more. Then Israel would start to do the right thing. I know many israelies, they do not want war. They want peace. They want a strong economy, with neighbours to trade and develop with. I don't see why the palestinians cannot be one of those neighbours. Believe me israel would want an economically strong, friendly, growing palestinian state to do business with. To get there, both sides would have to make sacrifices. Both sides. Compromises have to be made.
and the violence would have to stop.
Unfortunately looking out into the broader context of the middle east, almost all of the Arab states surrounding them do not want this. They need Israel to be the pariah of the middle east. It means that almost every resolution in the UN Human rights council can be aimed at Israel rather then themselves over their horrific human rights abuses. And so Iran supplies hamas with money and weapons, Egypt allows weapons to be smuggled through their borders, syria screams and shouts as soon as any peace deal starts to build, and hizbullah starts shooting missiles over Israels nothern border.
Just for a moment, imagine you are the israeli government. You know that in your country, you have freedom of religion, of press, of the economy and everything else. You are situated in the middle of the middle east. Surrounded by countries who firstly are hypocritical by calling you racist by being a jewish state, whilst every one of them categorises themselves as a muslim one, and believes you should be wiped off the map, however you want to interpret those words. What would you do?
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