Barry, I just returned from the Middle East where I witnessed firsthand the terror that the Israelis face from the longstanding attacks by Hamas - rockets launched into Israel causing death, injury and terror.
I was in two Israeli cities - Ashkelon and Sderot - where more than 8,000 Hamas-fired rockets have landed over the years. During my visit, we were sent to shelters as Hamas continued launching its rockets in those cities.
I had the opportunity to go to Sderot with Israeli Middle East expert and former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Colonel Raanan Gissin. Colonel Gissin, the Senior Advisor to former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who told me quite clearly that he believes the war Israel is now engaged in is really a war against Iran. Hamas is fighting this war as the proxy for Iran, he said.
Israel knows that it must remove the terrorists and that is what its campaign has focused on during the past 10 days. Israel is making progress against an enemy who uses the civilian population in Gaza as a shield - to hide its weapons and its leadership.
Israel must defend itself. Even now, Hamas is stepping up its rocket attacks in Israel and is urging Palestinians to 'crush' Israel.
And, now there's growing pressure at the United Nations from many Arab countries to pass a resolution to condemn Israel. What's noteworthy is that none of the resolutions under consideration mention the longstanding and ongoing terror campaign waged by Hamas with its rockets fired at Israeli civilians.
President-elect Obama has said little about the current situation in Gaza saying he won't make any public comments until he's inaugurated. But at the White House today, President Bush accurately singled out Hamas for starting the current conflict by violating an earlier cease-fire. Any new cease-fire, President Bush said "must have the conditions in it so that Hamas does not use Gaza as a place from which to launch rockets."
Even Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid understands what's at stake: "I think what the Israelis are doing is very important," Reid said. "I think this terrorist organization, Hamas, has got to be put away."
That is a priority.
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Jay, I am also astonish by the ignorance of people. I'm sure if the United States was being rocketed, most Americans would be like, oh, that ok as long as the rocket doesn't hit me.
Rudy, lobbing rockets at civilians, even if the probability of their doing much damage is low, is a war crime and should be condemned. Not as much, of course, as accurately massacring, with the latest weapons, over nine hundred people (as of today), a quarter of whom (at least) are civilians, including over two hundred and fifty children and babies.
But still, it merits condemnation.
The best response to these "klutz kashes" (dumb questions) appeared last week by veteran Israelן commentator, Haim Baram in the City Paper, Ha-Ir.
"We (the Left in Israel) cannot deny that the Kassams on the development towns and the areas near Gaza are an intolerable situation, nor that we emotionally identify with our citizens in the South. But we have always recommended a different policy, a policy that entailed a constant struggle with those elements in the country who prefer territorial expansion in the Occupied Territories, anti-Arab racism, mixed up with real and imagined security anxieties, to peace."
There's your problem, Rudy. Right there in a nutshell. The religious Jews hold on to a dream of a Greater Israel which would include all of both Gaza and the West Bank... and the Golan Heights as well. They claim that all this land was given to them by G-d over three thousand years ago, and they aren't going to be satisfied until it's all theirs again.
I thank the Creator daily that we have separation of church and state here in the U.S. You might say that Christians would not cause much trouble at all. But who knows? I'd bet the Jewish people never thought their Rabbis and their orthodox believers would cause them all this trouble.
Shawn,
There isn't one example of a democratic society in the Bible or in the history of Christianity. Our nation was founded by deists, not Christians. The Christian clergy of the Revolutionary period tried again and again to have references to Christianity inserted directly into the U.S. Constitution, but they were refused every time by the founders. It is no coincidence that there is no reference at all to Christianity or the Bible in the two documents which founded America. Our founders could have made a Christian nation had they so desired. But they did not.
What most people neglect to understand is that Israel has always worked hard to create an environment of despair, hatred, and violence because it allows it to achieve its ultimate goal, which is the destruction of the Palestinian society, as we have seen in Gaza in the last few weeks.
Here is one true Christian, Congressman Ron Paul, who is probably one of the most honest people in politics talking about how Israel helped create Hamas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z6vMAoFwf4. I will never forget when Israel released Sheikh Yassin (the crippled guy with the white scarf on his head if you can remember that far: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Yassin) from prison and allowed him to go back to Gaza in the pretext that Jordan (which is a puppet U.S. government) asked for his release (keep in mind that Jordan does not support extremism in its country). He off course was the spiritual leader of Hamas at the time and fueled much of the anger and violence towards Israel. I was just shocked trying to figure out why Israel would do that. What was even more shocking, is that when he finally agreed to a peaceful resolution to the conflict with Israel in 2004, within one month, Israel sent a rocket that killed him along with 9 other by standards. Hmmm?!
During the peaceful Palestinian Intifada that started back in 1987 and where Palestinian children were throwing stones at Israeli tanks, Israel lost huge public support in the media and they just could not stand it. They begged Arafat to stop this Peaceful Intifada and tricked him to accepting an empty Oslo accord that basically armed the Palestinians and put them under their mercy in the West Bank and Gaza. Then they worked hard to fuel the hatred and violence. One example was the famous visit of Ariel Sharon (whom Israeli courts found him responsible for the 1982 massacre of 2000 Palestinians in Sabra & Shatila) in September of 2000 to the Muslim holy sites with 1000 Israeli soldiers, knowing very well that it would create an outrage and they did it anyways. That was the start of most of the problems we are dealing with today.
Israel has no interest in peace. Just look at the map! Why would Israel accept a country that looks like it was chopped in half when they have the power to do better? They know they are way too smart and too powerful to settle for such a ridiculous looking country. They set in place a century long plan of action to destroy the Palestinian community in every possible way hoping that one day they will just give up and leave. The plans are working well in many cases.
As evidence of this, since the Oslo accord, the population of the Israeli illegal settlements in the West Bank tripled in size. Why would you build so many more settlements if you want peace with your neighbors? Maybe the kind of peace you want is that one that puts these people in small enclaves, concentration camp type enclaves, away from the Israeli people and enforce conditions on them that make them beg to be let out. Just look how these settlements are built now and how the Palestinians how to go through so many checkpoints to travel even inside the West Bank from one city to another. It is really an amazing plan.
My friends, I say this with a broken hurt, but unless we, as U.S. citizens take massive action to change the way we run our country, Israel will continue to use our might and power to further achieve its inhume goal for the next few decades to come, until off course they have weakened us to the point where we become ineffective, and unfortunately, we are coming close to this point, not only from an international standpoint but also from an internal financial standpoint as we see happening now, but that is another subject for another time.
Let’s wake up and elect honest smart people to office.
Peace to all,
George
In response to:
Your Name
January 19, 2009 7:10 AM
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z6vMAoFwf4
What most people neglect to understand is that Israel has always worked hard to create an environment of despair, hatred, and violence because it allows it to achieve its ultimate goal, which is the destruction of the Palestinian society, as we have seen in Gaza in the last few weeks."
My response:
Throughout the recorded history of mankind, from the Babylonian empire, the Roman occupation, Hitler's campaign of genecide against the Jews, and even now, the fanatical fundamentalist groups like Hamas, Al Qaeda, etc., we have read of or personally witnessed the persecution of the Jews, Gods' chosen people. Anti semitism has raised it's ugly head once more, even within the boundaries of the United State. Ignorant and blind men, hating that which they do not understand, advocate abandoning the United States policy of support for Israel, the smallest nation on this planet.
Can you explain or give us understanding as to how and why the United States, in little over 200 years, has become one of the, if not, the most powerful and wealthy nation on this planet? I most assuredly can, if you can not. The reason is quite simple, even though ignorant and blind men fail to comprehend my explanation.
For it is written: (Gods' covenant with the nation of Israel, through Abraham) "Those who bless you, I will bless, and those who curse you, I will curse." A little known fact is that a wealthy Jewish banker in Philadelphia, during the early onslaught of the American Revolution, when our miltia was struggling to merely survive at valley Forge, came to the aide of this nation, in it's infancy. This Jewish banker raised money for Washingtons army, and of course, the rest is history.
Israel is God's chosen people, and HIS covenant with Israel remains unbroken to this day. For the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, does not break HIS covenants like man breaks his. Because of sin, God has allowed Israel to suffer horrific jugements throughout their (Israels) history, yet, as prophesied,in 1948, Israel was once more gathered together again in the promised land, as a nation. Is it not written: "This generation shall not pass away until all things are fulfilled."
All of these events were foretold over 2,000 years ago. For the events whereof I speak, the carrying away of Israel, the desolation of Jerusalem, and its ultimate reformation as a nation, cme to pass for a reason. My holy Lord allowed these events to come to pass as an integral part of HIS plan. Had it not been for much needed military aide from the United States, Israel might have become over run in the 1973 war, when Syria and Egypt launched a sneak attack againt Israel. Yet, even though the United Staes provided military supplies and weaponry, had it not done so, I am confident that God would have used other means to preserve His chosen people, the nation of Israel.
For many decades now, the United States has been the center, if you will, of the Chrisitan faith. Yet, it's time (the United States) of great wealth and power shall come to an end, for we have become a nation of apostate Christians, who have fallen away from the faith. As a people, we have become fat and complacent. But, as the focus of mankind has now turned to the events unfolding in the middle east, these things must be, for the "man of evil" will soon be revealed to the world, and the world will welcome him, even bow down and worship him as God, for he shall be given the power to deceive many.
My holy Lord, Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, when asked of the deciples, what shall be the signs of the end of days, and Jesus said, behold the fig tree, for when it is beseiged all about, then will the end come. Is it not written that God himself will fight for Israel? That it will take 7 months just to bury all the dead and seven years to destroy the weapons of war of her enemies. (Ezekiel 38 and 39). Woe unto all those who hate the Jews. For if you hate the Jewish people, you also hate my holy Lord, who was born of the seed of Abraham, of the seed of king David, for HE is also a Jew.
http://www.discoveringjesusfishing.net
The current Obama Administration has shown its true color in opposition against Israel in many ways. First, Obama has stated he will not recognize future Israeli settlements. Second, since Obama is presumably Muslim, he is against Jewish Israel and thus implicitly if not overtly supports the OIC - Organization of Islamic Conference. Third, of the US aid given to the Middle East, much of it has gone to support the terrorist organization Hamas.
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