Hamas Leaders Arrested; Israeli Executed

[Behind the Aegis]

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israeli forces rounded up dozens of Palestinian Cabinet ministers and lawmakers from Hamas, increasing pressure on the Islamic militants to release a captured Israeli soldier, and witnesses said tanks moved into northern Gaza, widening Israel's largest military operation in the year since Israel pulled out of the seaside territory.

Adding to the tension, a Palestinian militant group said it executed an 18-year-old Jewish settler kidnapped in the West Bank. Palestinian security officials said they believed the body of Eliahu Asheri had been found in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Hamas officials said more than 30 lawmakers have been arrested in the West Bank.

Palestinian security officials said Israeli forces detained the Palestinian deputy prime minister, Nasser Shaer, and three other Cabinet ministers, as well as four lawmakers in Ramallah. Several others were arrested in the town of Jenin, they said.

more...

[Ecumenist]

1. Like that was a shock

I knew that this was going to happen. They've got to STOP killing one another. It's got to stop or else it will only escalate to out and out war. Nothiing is solved nor served by doing this.

[aquart]

3. Whose body do you plan to stop at?

An Israeli's or a Palestinian's?

Or is there an accumulated number of dead at which point the two sides can call it even? And how is that to be reached?

International Relations 101: A weak power must react swiftly to any assault. Only a strong power has the luxury of overlooking a kidnapping here, a massacre there. Israel is a weak, tiny, postage stamp nation with not enough people to lose this way.

And why are Israelis being attacked? Because there is a Palestinian power struggle and whichever side looks strongest against the Israelis WINS.

The kidnapping of the Israeli soldier was the Palestinian equivalent of the gay marriage amendment: pandering to its base with no real intent to do anything significant.

[Ecumenist]

6. UMmm Aquart...

I understand this struggle far more than you realise. I am an mixed woman with not only alot of north african arab blood but sephardic jewish ancestry in addition to European and ALOT of west and east African blood. I understand the concept of blood vengeance BUT there are cultural avenues that allow for the ceasing of generational killing. To tell me that I don't understand is like saying the colonel sanders doesn't understand chicken wings.

[haab]

13. You may feel you understand the struggle

... the Israeli struggle that is, but clearly you fail to understand the struggle on the other side. Calling for both sides to STOP, is more a way of hoping it continues....

Israel is the aggressor and the instigator of all the violence in the occupied territories...


Israel has to STOP first and only then will the killings stop!

[Ecumenist]

16. Haab, welcome to Du first and foremost

BUT there are unreasonable forces on BOTH SIDES!!! To a large extent, there are forces who actually agree with the coninuance of killing and violence because is pushes their agenda and their dogma. It's COMPLETELY analogous to the issues of black separatists and white separatists here in America. There have actually bee meetings between these two groups to plan how they can separate the groups into so called "homelands" and trust me,if it would ever become feasible, they would actually love to wipe one another out, even though, strangely enough, they have identical pushes in separation. So, you need to understand before you tell me that I "think" i understand as not only do I have to experience of being an African American mixed woman who has a PRESENT AND STRONG FOOTPRINT in the Semetic world, which by the way, includes both Arabs and Jews.

[haab]

17. I fully agree

thanks :)

And it's all spurred on by Religious prophesies. The Jews believe they will regain their kingdom and Muslims believe they will wipe out Jews. Neither believe they will lose the final battle and so they have this endless energy for violence and killing.

[Phx_Dem]

25. maybe you could explain this stmt:

"Israel is the aggressor and the instigator of all the violence in the occupied territories..."

and this:

"Israel has to STOP first and only then will the killings stop!"

niether statement is supported by the facts.

[Behind the Aegis]

26. S/he can't.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=user_profiles&u_id=187972

[Scorpio2000]

4. Par for the course

Of course it ws going to happen. It happens more often than not when "palestinians" take POWs.

The usual chorus will defend this war crime.

[Ecumenist]

7. It's equally horrible on both sides.

This has to stop somewhere. You'll have biases on both sides for various outcomes but the unvarnished facts are that this has to stop. PERIOD.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mike_c]

19. his death is not something to celebrate, but his presence was illegal....

The "settlements" are illegal under international law, are egregious violations of the U.N. Charter and the Geneva Conventions, and combine collective reprisal (land seizure) with occupation. At the very least he was an enemy occupier.

You refer to him as a POW. Do you then acknowledge that his presence was an act of war, an act of aggression? You can't have it both ways.

[cali]

20. Your comments

are hardly unexpected. So if a a five year old living in a settlement is killed, I suppose that child is merely an enemy occupier. That is the logical extension of 'thinking' such as yours.

[mike_c]

21. your appeal to emotion is not unexpected either....

He wasn't a five year old, but that's hardly the point, is it? The "settlements" are illegal and wrong from every possible perspective except rabid zionism. Do you defend them? Do you defend his presence occupying Palestinian land? Do you blame the Palestinians for taking him? If you do, would you accept such occupation in your own town?

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. It is time to break the pattern and for

Israelis AND Palesitinians to act like well trained Pavlovian doggies

[bobby911]

5. so now 18 year old civilians

are PoW's?

Hamas is about to get a smackdown.

[benburch]

8. Israel seizes Palestinian deputy PM, legislators; kidnapped settler dead

Israel seizes Palestinian deputy PM, legislators; kidnapped settler said dead at 23:49 on June 28, 2006, EST.

http://www.940news.com/nouvelles.php?cat=24&id=62859

Israel seizes Palestinian deputy PM, legislators; kidnapped settler said dead at 23:49 on June 28, 2006, EST.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian cabinet ministers and legislators from the Islamic Hamas, increasing pressure on militants to release a captured Israeli soldier and witnesses said tanks moved into northern Gaza, widening Israel's largest military operation in the year since Israel pulled out of the seaside territory.

Adding to the tension, a Palestinian militant group said it executed an 18-year-old Jewish settler kidnapped on the West Bank of the Jordan River. Israeli security officials said Eliahu Asheri's body was found buried near Ramallah. They said he was shot in the head, apparently soon after he was abducted Sunday.

Palestinian security officials said Israeli forces detained Palestinian deputy prime minister Nasser Shaer and three other cabinet ministers, as well as four legislators in Ramallah. Two others were arrested in the town Jenin they said and Israeli news media reported a roundup of Hamas legislators in Jerusalem and other locations. More than 30 legislators were detained, Palestinian security officials said.

<SNIP>

[BooScout]

9. When Israel does it....it's an arrest....

When Palestinians do it........it's kidnapping. Ohhhhhhhhhh, I get it.:sarcasm:

Anyone else besides me sick and tired of American dollars propping up Israel & their thuggery?

[Behind the Aegis]

10. OOOOHHH!

I am sick of the bullshit of people "propping" up a terrorist government and pretending they are nothing more than innocent victims!

[haab]

12. They are innocent victims as far as the kidnapping

I too am sick of the bullshit of people "propping" up a terrorist Bush Government.... a democratically elected Admin just like Hamas...

They are just as much terrorists as this Bush Admin and Israel...!!

[Behind the Aegis]

15. ;

:eyes:

[TomClash]

23. You mean the democratically elected Palestinian Authority?

Or the terrorists now running the Israeli Government?

[Behind the Aegis]

24. ....

:rofl:

yeah, Hamas and the current Israeli governement are one in the same!! :rofl: :rofl:

[TomClash]

27. You're right!

They're not hte same. The Israeli Government kills more.

:puke:



:nuke:

[Behind the Aegis]

28. Yeah, it's all about the numbers.

:eyes:

[TomClash]

29. Apparently

Israel thinks so. :think:

[Behind the Aegis]

30. Seems they aren't the only ones!

[mogster]

11. The arrests were 'planned several weeks ago'

According to haaretz.com:
"The mass arrests of senior Hamas officials were part of Israel's expanded military operation against the Hamas-led government in the Palestinian Authority.

The arrests were planned several weeks ago and received approval from Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Wednesday."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/732528.html

[mike_c]

18. was there ever any doubt that Israel would do this...?

For everyone who ranted that the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza meant anything at all-- did you really believe that Israel would have withdrawn if it did not believe the oppression of Palestinians was just as well served no matter what?

[Singular73]

22. Sharon was the last best chance they had....

What they are doing right now is inexcusable.

You have some militants, that kidnap a soldier (bad...)..that is a CRIME, not an act of war, unless it can be proven that it was sponsored by their elected government.

Response? Blow the hell out of 1.5 million men, women and children, destroy their infrastructure, etc..

Its ridiculouos..

Sometimes, I'm thinking that they are trying to provoke Iran into responding