Aggression Under False Pretenses

[bemildred]

By Ismail Haniyeh

GAZA, Palestine -- As Americans commemorated their annual celebration of independence from colonial occupation, rejoicing in their democratic institutions, we Palestinians were yet again besieged by our occupiers, who destroy our roads and buildings, our power stations and water plants, and who attack our very means of civil administration. Our homes and government offices are shelled, our parliamentarians taken prisoner and threatened with prosecution.

The current Gaza invasion is only the latest effort to destroy the results of fair and free elections held early this year. It is the explosive follow-up to a five-month campaign of economic and diplomatic warfare directed by the United States and Israel. The stated intention of that strategy was to force the average Palestinian to "reconsider" her vote when faced with deepening hardship; its failure was predictable, and the new overt military aggression and collective punishment are its logical fulfillment. The "kidnapped" Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit is only a pretext for a job scheduled months ago.

In addition to removing our democratically elected government, Israel wants to sow dissent among Palestinians by claiming that there is a serious leadership rivalry among us. I am compelled to dispel this notion definitively. The Palestinian leadership is firmly embedded in the concept of Islamic shura , or mutual consultation; suffice it to say that while we may have differing opinions, we are united in mutual respect and focused on the goal of serving our people. Furthermore, the invasion of Gaza and the kidnapping of our leaders and government officials are meant to undermine the recent accords reached between the government party and our brothers and sisters in Fatah and other factions, on achieving consensus for resolving the conflict. Yet Israeli collective punishment only strengthens our collective resolve to work together.

As I inspect the ruins of our infrastructure -- the largess of donor nations and international efforts all turned to rubble once more by F-16s and American-made missiles -- my thoughts again turn to the minds of Americans. What do they think of this?

I must say I'm impressed with the quality of the writing.

WaPo

[ugarte]

1. I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect Israel's real taget will be Syria

Israel's tactic is usually to raise the ante. The last thing they want is urban guerilla warfare on two fronts, and Syria has been on their wish list for some time. Of course a major question will be whether Bush gives them the green light to go to Damascus.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Maybe they'll have an epiphany

on the road to Damascus.

And just turn around & go home.

Wouldn't that be cool?

[cali]

3. Bush has already given them the green light but

I seriously doubt that Damascus is their goal.

[Nevernose]

4. Oops. Got confused in thread ordering (n/t)

n/t

[ugarte]

5. No, Damascus is not their goal, but Assad is in Damascus

and in the Israeli view the buck stops with Assad and Iran, who are Hezbollah's chief backers. Like their tactic of trying to capture the elected leaders of Hamas in Gaza, Israel may well try to teach Assad and members of his security services a very "personal" lesson.

[bemildred]

6. Maybe.

It seems reasonable to expect some sort of desperate stupidity. The situation seems as likely to get out of control as I can remember in quite a long time; and given the smoking ruins of US foreign policy elsewhere in the region, has the potential to grow. The fatuous stupidity and posturing on all sides reminds me of the beginning of WWI.

[ugarte]

12. Excellent analogy to WWI

In 1914 everyone was confident there would be no war because "no one wanted a war." It didn't matter, since no one wanted to take a step back either.

[bemildred]

23. Hiz'bullah is supposed to have a large collection of artillery aimed at

N. Israel, IIRC, it's their "deterrent", and I'm rather worried about what happens if the IDF decides to go after that. The play of logistics demand for the various parties seems wildly unpredictable too, with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan sucking down large quantities of oil and arms already.

[bemildred]

33. This seems to be going down that way now:

Government okays massive strikes on Lebanon

---

Residents of northern border communities have already been ordered into shelters, and Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered the Home Front Command to prepare for the defense of dozens of other communities that were not
vulnerable to Hezbollah fire in the past, but are now reachable with the
long-range rockets Hezbollah has deployed in recent years.

"We may be facing a completely different reality, in which hundreds of thousands of Israelis will, for a short time, find themselves in danger from Hezbollah's rockets," said a senior defense official. These include residents of the center of the country.

---

Peretz also placed the blame for the attack squarely on Beirut. "We're skipping the stage of threats and going straight to action," said Peretz. "The goal is for this incident to end with Hezbollah so badly beaten that not a man in it does not regret having launched this incident."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/737860.html

[TheMirrorMan]

7. Kucinich sums it pretty well

Post by AnOhioan

""The Hamas government needs to ensure the safe return of Cpl. Shalit and renounce its previous statements calling for the destruction of Israel, and end attacks against innocent Israeli civilians."

Obviously Shalit is a shill - and probably long since dead, but the rest is valid.

[Phx_Dem]

8. question

"This means statehood for the West Bank and Gaza, a capital in Arab East Jerusalem, and resolving the 1948 Palestinian refugee issue fairly, on the basis of international legitimacy and established law. Meaningful negotiations with a non-expansionist, law-abiding Israel can proceed only after this tremendous labor has begun."

Is he saying that Israel must withdraw (or start to) from the post 1967 borders, and pay reparations before any negotiations can begin? If I'm reading this accurately it doesn't seem to reasonable.

[bemildred]

9. Just my opinion, but I would expect it would work the other way round.

Talking comes first, maybe then a cease fire, after that it would be a matter of what had been agreed to.

Edit: I would say he is calling for those issues to be discussed, and on a basis that he prefers. You don't necessarily have to agree to that to begin talking.

[MrPrax]

10. There was a ceasefire...

Hamas declared one and Israel violated...it's obvious now that Israel could give two shits about kidnapped soldier and a lot of posters had that down cold weeks ago...

[bemildred]

11. I was just trying to answer the question.

How it would work if one wanted to attempt to quiet things down.

[Behind the Aegis]

13. You are joking, of course.

Israel violated a ceasefire? I don't think so. But, then again, I don't remember if any Hamas people were killed during the supposed ceasefire.

[sabbat hunter]

15. hamas cease fire

was a joke. they daily rained rockets down into israel. how much of a cease fire is that?

[Scurrilous]

17. Olmert meets with parents of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit for first time

<snip>

"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met Wednesday for the first time with the parents of Israel Defense Forces Corporal Gilad Shalit, 17 days after he was abducted by Palestinians militants on Israel's border with Gaza.

According to sources in the Prime Minister's Office, the meeting with the family was "charged and heavy," and the atmosphere was unpleasant.

Olmert reiterated in the meeting his opposition to releasing Palestinians prisoners in exchange for Gilad's release, and the parents presented their conflicting stance."


http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/737763.html

[bemildred]

19. Saw that. Sort of interesting that he gets around to it now.

One could only speculate as to his motives.

[MrPrax]

22. That's rather odd...

Odd in the same way this is odd...

Kerem Shalom was 'operational failure'

Pointing to a number of operational mishaps and glitches, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland on Monday presented to Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz the findings from his investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Kerem Shalom terror attack two weeks ago.

The committee described the attack as stemming from an "operational failure" and said this was especially apparent in contrast to the IDF's numerous successes in protecting Jewish communities on the outskirts of the Gaza Strip since disengagement, including the thwarting of 61 infiltration attempts from Gaza into Israel.

...

Eiland pointed to a number of shortcomings in the tank crew's performance and recommended that, in the future, crews serving in the area of the border with Gaza be able to see 360 around them, including the areas behind the watchtowers and inside Israel. After the tank was hit by an RPG, the crew, including Shalit, ran out the back hatch, meeting head-on the terrorists waiting behind the tank.

Eiland also criticized the battalion commanders, who he said took a long time to reach Shalit's tank after it was hit by the rocket because they mistakenly decided to first send an armored vehicle to ensure that the area was not booby-trapped. Valuable time was lost, during which Shalit was abducted and smuggled into the Gaza Strip, Eiland explained.

JPost

Apparantly it took them awhile to figure out he was kidnapped...

[eyl]

24. Tell that to Sasson Nuriel n/t

[Behind the Aegis]

14. Many here seem to think it is reasonable...

...because it calls on Israel to do everything and requires nothing from the other side(s).

[MrPrax]

16. But but...

Israel is the ONE doing everything!!!

They just invaded another country for god sakes...(over suspicious circumstances...how long did it take for the IDF to report these guys missing...it took them over 90 minutes to figure out Shalit was missing according to their OWN investigation).

[Behind the Aegis]

18. But, but...no Israel is NOT the only one doing everything!

But that is a typical response from those that maintain only ONE side is to blame! They invaded a country that invaded THEM!

[MrPrax]

20. Give it up n/t

[Behind the Aegis]

21. You first!

[eyl]

25. So

Why are you assuming, that if it took 90 minutes to verify Shalit was missing, it should always take 90 minutes?

[MrPrax]

26. What???

That's what the investigation concluded -- not me???? The investigation thought it might be a bit slow...??? Ask them why they ASSUMED it took too long to figure out one of their troops are missing...hell if they got that wrong, what else do they get wrong? ;-)

"The report finds Cpl Gilad Shalit's capture was seen by another tank crew which had no authority to open fire and it took 90 minutes to confirm his fate.

It cites an "operational failure" but does not recommend disciplinary action."

BBC News

Many stories on it and I posted the JPost link largely because I don't want to be inflamatory (as that is a fav link for many here -- but I do draw the line on Ynet tho') and that seemed like a safe bet...apparantly to no avail because you apparantly didn't know anything about it?

[eyl]

34. You missed my point completely

I wasn't arguing whether or not it took 90 minutes to discover Shalit was missing - I said that that does not mean it would also take 90 minutes in this case.

[Violet_Crumble]

27. I'm someone who thinks it's reasonable...

...in this related thread http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x132779

It's a reasonable and fair basis for future negotiations, and imo, those who do nothing but complain about the Palestinian PM holding the very understandable view that the West Bank, Gaza, and Arab East Jerusalem should be the Palestinian state are showing a lot of hypocrisy. I've seen posts here in the past complaining because Hamas didn't make a distinction between territory occupied in 1967 and Israel itself, but now a moderate and reasonable stance is taken by the PM, there's still complaining about what the Palestinians want....

[Behind the Aegis]

29. Sounds like unilateralism to me.

I thought everyone was opposed to Israel doing that? I think it is hypocritical that people expect Israel to make all the moves, while still being attacked by various factions, yet, should do nothing about it.

[Violet_Crumble]

35. How is stating a fair and reasonable solution unilateralism??

That doesn't make any sense at all. Both Israel and the Palestinians have stated what they want, and they both have red lines they'll be unwilling to cross. That is what negotiations will be for....

Seeing as how you are opposed to a Palestinian state encompassing all of the West Bank, Gaza, and Arab East Jerusalem, could you give some idea of a solution that you think isn't unilateral?

[TomClash]

31. That's because . . .

. . . every single Palestinian must lay down his arms, never resist the occupation, recognize Israel's right to exist again and again and again, acknowledge the religious, moral and cultural superiority of his masters, and in return get . . . nothing.

[Violet_Crumble]

36. Yep, that's pretty much it...

n/t

[MrPrax]

28. This is an interesting take:

Borderline beneficiaries

Israel's UN resolution-breaching incursion strengthens the hands of the Lebanese government's enemies.



"Threatening the Lebanese government, as the Israeli defence ministry has done, is also likely to be counterproductive. The need is to strengthen the hand of the Lebanese government in its dealings with the Hizbullah militia, not to weaken it.

The Israeli action may also prove helpful to Syria in its dealings with the UN over security council resolution 1559. Indeed, it might not be too fanciful to suggest that Israel, in its response to the seizure of two soldiers, has rushed straight into a trap sprung by Damascus. Resolution 1559, approved in 2004, was aimed primarily at ending Syrian influence in Lebanon and, to a large extent, has already succeeded in doing so.

Syrian troops, who had been in Lebanon since the civil war, finally left last year - though influence continues in other areas, most notably via the Syrian-backed president, Emile Lahoud.
Resolution 1559 does not mention Syria by name but calls for the "strict respect" of Lebanon's sovereignty. It therefore applies not just to Syria but to all other countries, including Israel.
Syria would like nothing better than to deflect attention away from its own meddling in Lebanon by pointing at other meddlers - and Israel seems willing to oblige.

The frequent Israeli incursions into Lebanese airspace have figured in two UN reports on the implementation of resolution 1559, though they attracted almost no media attention."

Guardian Comment is Free section

[bemildred]

30. Well, the comments are certainly familiar sounding.

And he makes some good points.

[Codeine]

32. If the kidnapping is just a pretext

then Hamas would have been well advised to refrain from giving the Israelis the pretext in the first place. I think it's a little disengenuous for the Palestinians to claim blamelessness in this situation. They didn't need to kidnap Shalit, and having done so should have returned him prior to the incursion by the Israeli forces.