Long-range rockets fired from Gaza strike Beersheba, closing schools

[bemildred]

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Two long-range Grad rockets struck Beersheba and two Kassam rockets landed in an open area in southern Israel, threatening a three-day truce.

Israel's Air Force also targeted and hit a rocket launching site and a squad preparing to fire a rocket towards southern Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

Schools were closed throughout Beersheba Sunday, following the Grad rocket attack at about 5:30 a.m. The rockets fell in an open area and caused no damage, according to reports.

The Kassam rockets were fired late Saturday night and caused no damage.

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/10/28/3110456/long-range-rockets-fired-from-gaza-strike-beersheba-closing-schools

[azurnoir]

1. well this part at least is 'good' news

Also Sunday, Israel's Cabinet unanimously approved full protection from rocket fire for all communities located up to 7 kilometers, or 4.3 miles, from the Gaza border, at a cost of about $70 million. Communities up to 5 kilometers, or 3 miles, previously were protected.

good that the Israeli government cares, or is it election season?

[King_David]

2. What an intolerable situation

If Hamas does not stop this terrorism or terrorists, Israel is going to have to have to go back into Gaza and halt it themselves .

[azurnoir]

3. you mean Israel has done nothing so far? No retaliatory strikes nothing?

not a single ground incursion nada zilch ?

[shira]

4. Obviously, whatever Israel's doing isn't enough...

You disagree?

The UN, as well as all of Hamas' western support, is silent as well.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/silence-on-gaza-rockets-gives-terror-a-green-light-israeli-envoy-warns-un/

They'll stay silent, supportive of Hamas rockets, until Israel actually does something significant to stop them.

Agreed?

[azurnoir]

8. so you claim that the west including the US is supporting Hamas and its rockets?

well what more can I say?

[shira]

10. No, the UN and Hamas' western supporters (NGO's, academics, FreeGaza, etc.)

They'll speak up once Israel does something.

Right now they're rooting on Hamas.

[azurnoir]

11. thats nice and all but NGO's don't make laws or have much political influence with things like

actual governments and such like

[shira]

12. Hamas uses their support as incentive to keep the rockets going. n/t

[azurnoir]

13. oh NGO's are supplying rockets to Hamas? n/t

[shira]

14. No, just saying many NGO's, academics, FreeGaza, EI, Mondoweiss....

...support Hamas and their cause.

Hamas depends on that support.

=====

George Galloway is an example of someone who very publicly supports Hamas...

Norm Finkelstein supports Hezbollah...

We have our own fans of Hezbollah here at DU/IP.

Just as there are fans of Hezbollah and Hamas in the PSC, BDS, FreeGaza, EI, Mondoweiss, PSC and some rather famous NGO's.

[azurnoir]

15. so it is Hamas that is being supported I see okay then

cause it seemed to me it was Gazans in general but I guess that just can not be it, however if all these groups and academics are so supportive of rocket attacks then they also by extension support Gazans being killed or wounded by Israeli airstrikes, right?

[shira]

16. Just edited to show Galloway & Finkelstein support of Hamas & Hezbollah

...in last post.

And yes, they and their other Western buddies in the "peace movements" as well as the UN support those organizations/regimes. They see them as "freedom fighters".

It's not the people they support at all. They support Hamas, Hezbollah, etc. and use the people as Hamas and Hezbollah use them.

This is why apartheid in Lebanon vs. Palestinians is okay.

Or why it's perfectly okay for Palestinians to have no rights under Hamas.

[azurnoir]

17. well you've named two but initially it seemed more a sweeping statement naming untold numbers

and while your concern for Palestinians everywhere where Israel is not seems touching why is it that concern seems to evaporate when it's Israel denying Palestinians rights? It almost seems your accusations towards anyone who supports Palestinian self determination and a viable Palestinian state, which could be a large step towards solving and improving the conditions of Palestinians that still languish in refugee camps, could be well for lack of a better word projection

[shira]

21. It's far more than two. It describes FreeGaza, the ISM, BDS...

...EI, Mondoweiss, PSC, and many here who profess to be pro-Palestinian.

I don't claim to be pro-Palestinian. Never have.

Those who claim they are for the people prove it's Hamas and Hezbollah they actually support. We all know it. Why the denial?

[bemildred]

5. I think they care, I think it's going to get worse.

Wish I thought otherwise.

[azurnoir]

6. This latest round of back and forth between Gaza and Israel has been going on

for a couple of weeks now, with several deaths in Gaza militants we're told , not too much said here about it though, so thank you

[bemildred]

7. The problem is it's not just Gaza.

There are shitstorms in all directions, sometimes stacked shitstorms, nested shitstorms, except maybe Jordan, and I'm not sure about Jordan either, Jordan is not exactly robust, and everybody seems more interested in smacking the hornets nests some more, rather than quieting things down. And Bibi, well, Romney with a combover.

An old order is crumbling, and nobody really knows where it goes from here. Status quo politicians don't do well when the shit hits the fan, it's a whole other game. I feel privileged to be alive to watch, but not necessarily in a good way.

The point here is that state control is eroding all around, except Turkey, and weapons are sloshing around in the backwash. I've been saying here this would happen for ten years now, since Jabba trashed Oslo and went Neocon, so I suppose I should feel vindicated, but I don't.

[azurnoir]

9. sometimes ya just really don't want to be correct about stuff

and it seems like that's when you are at least that's how it seems to work for me anyway

this breakdown of what could loosely be called order has been coming you're right and I fear the more crumbling the further to the Right things will move, nothing like fear to motivate that

[aranthus]

18. What this gets me thinking of

is the "truce" that Hamas was supposed to have offered to Israel. The one that everyone points to to claim that Hamas wants peace. The one where they would offer Israel a truce in exchange for all of the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem, and everything else that they wanted. Maybe now people will understand why the Israelis didn't jump at that deal.

[azurnoir]

19. are you a painter? I ask because you seem to wield a pretty large brush

covering everything in a mere stroke

[bemildred]

20. That was the Arab League proposal.

If you are going to wait for Hamas to mellow, you will be waiting a long time, sort of like waiting for Israeli nationalists to decide that Israel is big enough and safe enough (or ours here in the USA for that matter), I mean that's their brand.

But I don't think any of that stuff is still on the table on either side. There is nobody that could even make such a deal at this point. Of course, things can change, and they will.

The upcoming election should be interesting as a direct reading of the mood of Israeli electorate for one thing. Given the sea of bullshit in which we all live, elections always help orient your thinking a little better. This one here in the USA is going to have big consequences, and be very informative about the true state of the nation.