I hesitated before posting this thread for fear of local retaliation

[donsu]

and then I said to myself, screw that.

It is totally disgusting what the murderous Israeli govt. is doing to the Palestine's (and Syria). have they lost their minds! did they drink some potion that turned them into madmen?

It's nauseating to know my tax dollars are helping with this crime.


http://www.counterpunch.com/jacobs06292006.html


The Insulting Logic of Tel Aviv
Killing a Nation to Rescue a Soldier


I am so tired of hearing Tel Aviv complain that certain Palestinian factions do no represent Israel's right to exist. While some certainly may have this opinion, even Hamas leaders have stated that the fact is that Israel does exist. Meanwhile, Israel is once again waging a military campaign against he Palestinians that, in essence, is just one more battle in its attempt to prevent Palestine from ever existing again. Of course, Washington defends these acts by insisting that Israel has a "right to defend itself," which seems to mean that its military forces can do whatever the hell they want. This also implies that the Palestinians really don't have that same right.

If the true goal of the current Israeli military actions in Gaza is to rescue the Israeli Defense Forces recently taken prisoner, than there is no logic to the military destruction of Palestinian power plants. Not when those power plants provide forty-two percent of the electricity to the Palestinians. There is no logic in invading Gaza to retrieve one soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces, especially when such an action is more likely to lead to the soldier's death. There is no logic in intimidating the president of Syria by buzzing his home with warplanes, especially if the reason for such an act is to retrieve one soldier in the IDF.

From where I sit, that soldier appears to have become one more pawn in Tel Aviv's attempt to destroy forever the Palestinian hope of a homeland. Like expansionist armies everywhere, the foot soldier is never more than a pawn in the game of the rulers. Whether that soldier is being sent to give his life in battle for the power and profit of a few or whether he is kidnapped and held for ransom, that soldier is never more than a pawn. If Tel Aviv was truly only interested in saving the life of the corporal from France, they would negotiate some kind of prisoner exchange. This is what the Palestinian forces have offered and this is all they want.

This is why there is something more at play in Gaza right now. The much ballyhooed withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza last year has proven to be a sham. Not only does Tel Aviv control the borders and skies over that region, it also has freedom of movement both there and in the West Bank. The arrests of several elected Palestinians leaders on June 28, 2006 proves even further that the independent Palestinian nation we are told exists by Tel Aviv and its mentors in Washington, DC is nothing more than a sham. No wonder the majority of Palestinian civilians support taking the IDF soldier prisoner. After all, the Israeli government not only has thousands of Palestinians in its prisons, it also continues to kill civilians at an alarming rate, especially in light of Tel Aviv's claims that it doesn't mean to kill them.

-snip- (the last paragraph of the article is telling)
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[mike_c]

1. Gaza remained under siege....

The "withdrawal" was indeed a sham-- Israeli forces realized they could maintain almost as much control over Gaza as before without the difficulties of actual occupation, and there was a major international public relations gain, especially for removing the "settlements" which were prohibited under international law anyway.

[kurth]

2. 1000 years from now they'll still be at it

It's a waste of money.

[otokogi]

3. collective punishment

i thought that was illegal?

[alvarezadams]

4. FWIW, our aid is illegal

Unless the laws changed, the US should not be able to contribute funds to Israel if it pursued nuclear arms... one of the reasons why they've never actually admitted to having them.

Perhaps it's time to give up that particular sham?

BTW, how's that "roadmap" going? Sheesh.