The deadliest month of the year for US troops in Iraq. Imagine that, the enemy is stepping up its attacks now that it knows we’re pulling out. But don’t worry, Hillary told Iraq we’re not abandoning them, and the Obamessiah promises increased violence won’t alter his plan to withdraw troops. Talk about mixed messages to our Iraqi allies!
This should be interesting since Syria backs Hezbollah and Hamas. Former President Carter has used his trips to Syria to bash Israel and defend terrorists. I’m sure the terrorist sponsoring nation is looking forward to manipulating a sitting President for its propaganda.
This should play well overseas with all the countries that criticized Bush for not treating the terrorists like jaywalkers. Of course they thought things would “change” with Obama in the White House since this was one of his major criticisms of the previous administration.
I’m sure this list will continue to grow as long as our President thinks the best foreign policy is to stroke the egos of our enemies by condemning our own country. Stay tuned for more next week.
Inspired by this poll which mistakenly pits Israel against “Palestine.”
Israel isn’t targeting Palestine. If it were it would be fighting in the West Bank also. Israel is attempting to stamp out Hamas’ ability to threaten its citizens.
After two weeks of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, Hamas continues to hold the citizens of Gaza hostage. Hamas continues to demand a complete Israeli withdrawal before it will discuss a cease fire. This routine is so familiar it’s amazing the UN, MSM, and anti-Semitic leftists around the world still fall for it. At least it would be if their real goal didn’t coincide with that of Hamas–Israel’s annihilation.
That’s exactly what it is; the MSM, UN, and anti-Semitic groups around the world have long sided with Hamas and other terror groups for no other reason than the underlying bigotry that blinds them to terrorist acts, human rights violations, and acts of war against the tiny Jewish state.
Bordered by hostile neighbors on three sides and backed against the Mediterranean Sea on the other, Israel has fought wars to repel aggressor states throughout its six decades of existence. From the time it was recognized as an independent state, Islamic governments and terror groups have called for its annihilation, pitted their armies against Israel, and launched terror attacks designed to maximize civilian casualties.
Virtually every time Israel responds to aggression by its enemies, the UN denounces its actions while ignoring the fact that the violence was initiated by those the UN considers victims of the Jewish state.
Here’s a great post by Dennis Prager that compares Israel with her neighbors and the UN’s treatment of Israel vs. its treatment of the aggressors in this decades-long conflict. An excerpt of these comparisons:
…
Number of U.N. agencies that deal only with Palestinian refugees: 1
Number of U.N. agencies that deal with all the other refugees in the world: 1
Number of Jewish states that have existed on the land called Palestine: 3
Number of Arab or Muslim states that have existed on the land called Palestine: 0
Number of Arabs Israel allows to live in Arab settlements in Israel: 1,250,000
Number of Jews Palestinian Authority allows to live in Jewish settlements in Palestinian Authority: 0
Number of U.N. Security Council resolutions on the Middle East between 1948 and 1991: 175
Number of these resolutions against Israel: 97
Number of these resolutions against an Arab state: 4
Number of Arab countries that have been members of the U.N. Security Council: 16
Number of times Israel has been a member of the U.N. Security Council: 0
…
Hamas is strengthened by UN condemnation of Israeli responses and the terror organization’s strategy of using Palestinian civilians as human shields serves its propaganda purposes when the MSM twists its reporting to lay the blame for every death on Israel instead of where it belongs, with Hamas.
Using schools, mosques, and civilian homes to stage attacks and store weapons makes Hamas directly responsible for every civilian death that results from Israel’s targets of these installations. In the following video, a Hamas spokesman admits the terror organization uses women, children and the elderly as human shields.
Watch it again if you still buy the UN, MSM, and Hamas line that presents the Palestinian people as victims of Israel. In their own words, Hamas intentionally places civilians in the line of fire, knowing full well their deaths will be the result. Using women, children, and the elderly as pawns they sacrifice to achieve their strategic aim–Israel’s annihilation.
Israeli government statement on civilian casualties–“These deaths are indeed a tragedy, and investigations are underway to ensure that further operations continue to avoid civilian casualties.”
Hamas statement from video–“For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry at which women excel, as do all the people living in this land. The elderly excel at this, and so do the mujahadeen and the children. This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children, the elderly, and the mujahadeen…It is as if to say, ‘We desire death as you desire life.’ “
No. Hamas doesn’t seek peace. They seek the destruction of Israel and they’re willing to sacrifice as many Palestinian civilians as it takes to accomplish that goal.
You can view the entire transcript here on IsraelPolitik.org, but here are some highlights:
Eight years. For eight years the citizens of southern Israel have suffered the trauma of almost daily missile attacks from Gaza. For eight years more than 8,000 rockets and mortar shells have targeted Israeli towns and villages. For eight years the residents of these towns have had a bare 15 seconds to hurry, with their children and their elderly, to find cover before rockets and missiles land on their houses and schools.
Many in this hall have condemned Hamas’ terrorist attacks, and we welcome this statement of basic principle. But the families at home in the city of Sderot, and children at school in Kibbutz Netiv Ha’asara will not be protected by these condemnations. In the face of such terrorism we have no choice. We have to defend ourselves – not from the Palestinian people, but from the terrorists who have taken them hostage. Not to gain territory or power, but to demonstrate that our restraint was not weakness and to give our citizens the basic right of a normal life.
Hamas shows a similar disdain for the lives of Palestinians. It has adopted the terrorists’ tactic – the coward’s tactic – of using civilians as shields while its leaders themselves flee from combat with Israel’s soldiers and make pathetic demonstrations of bravado from their bunkers. It hides its missiles and terrorist bases in homes and hospitals and mosques, and, as we saw earlier today, deliberately launches attacks from in and around schools and United Nations’ facilities – with tragic results.
Since the start of the fighting, Israel facilitated the entry into Gaza of over 540 trucks, delivering over 10,000 tons of humanitarian assistance. In fact, just a few days ago Israel was asked by the World Food Program to halt supplies of food shipments since their warehouses were full.
As Hamas spokesman Fathi Hamad was proud to announce on Al Aqsa TV: Palestinians have created a human shield of women, children the elderly and the jihad fighters as if to say to the Zionist enemy: “We desire death as you desire life.”
We, the people of Israel, listened to the international community when you told us to withdraw from Gaza and promised that this would give us the credibility to respond forcefully should Gaza turn into a launching pad for terrorism. We listened when you promised us that acting with restraint during the period of calm would give us the credibility to fight back should the rocket attacks resume. Now is your time to make good on those promises.
Of course the UN will continue to condemn Israel for defending her citizens against the terror attacks by Hamas, but Ambassador Gabriela Shalev very eloquently made a case that any rational person could understand.
Radical Islam is attempting to open a second front in Israel’s battle to eliminate threats of rocket attacks on it’s citizens. With world opinion following the MSM’s propaganda campaign against the tiny Jewish state, it’s little wonder the terrorists are emboldened. One of the rockets launched today into Israel hit the kitchen of a nursing home while the residents were having breakfast.
I guess the UN peacekeeping force in the south of Lebanon isn’t really protecting Israel, is it?
This just goes to show, we need to quit interfering with Israel and let her defeat these animals once and for all.
By IBRAHIM BARZAK and STEVE WEIZMAN, Associated Press Writers
JERUSALEM – Lebanese militants fired at least three rockets into Israel early Thursday, threatening to open a new front for the Jewish state as it pushed forward with a bloody offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 700 people.
Two people were lightly injured, and the rockets that exploded in Israel’s north raised the specter of renewed hostilities with Hezbollah, just 2 1/2 years after Israel battled the guerrilla group to a 34-day stalemate. Hezbollah started the 2006 war as Israel was battling Palestinian militants in Gaza.
The MSM loves to point to the difference in Palestinian casualties vs. Israeli’s killed and wounded in Israel’s effort to eliminate the Hamas threat to its citizens in the south. The latest figures I’ve seen claim more than 680 Palestinian dead while the Israelis have lost 10 killed in the violence.
The intent of course, is to imply the Hamas threat to Israel is minute, maybe even virtually non-existent. Here’s a quote from a Richard Falk article on the Huffington post that plainly states what the MSM propaganda implies.
…some six months ago when an Egyptian arranged truce produced an effective ceasefire that cut Israeli casualties to zero despite the cross-border periodic firing of homemade rockets that fell harmlessly* on nearby Israeli territory…
*emphasis added
Now, Mr. Falk has lots of fancy degrees from lots of fancy schools, but I wonder how many times he’s had to flee to a bomb shelter when the air raid sirens sound, contemplating whether he’ll make it before an explosion that will shred him to pieces.
Tell me, Mr. Falk, how many of a country’s citizens must die before military action is justified in your eyes? If one citizen is killed, is that enough? Or do you have some other arbitrary number in mind? Perhaps 10, 20, 50, 100, or maybe military isn’t justified until Israel loses 1000 citizens.
It’s easy to place such arbitrary demands on others when he’s never been in the line of fire. I wonder, if Mr. Falk lived with this threat every day, if he’d been born in a place where just miles away are 1.5 million people whose self-stated purpose in life was the destruction of his entire race, would he feel differently.
Well, Mr. Falk, what if you were the man in this video? How do you think he feels about your ridiculous notion that Israel has no right to protect him because he escaped death by mere seconds?
I’ll just bet this guy is glad Israel is working to destroy Hamas’ military capability.
It should also be noted that Falk is also one of those highly educated nit wits that espouses US government involvement in the 9/11 attacks. Toward the end of this article which calls on the Bush administration to use restraint in responding to the attack on our country that claimed some 3000 lives, Falk states that terrorism stems from American technological dominance that leaves people with two choices, subjugation and poverty or “vindictive violence.” In other words, it’s America’s fault.
This defense of terrorism and terrorists isn’t a new fad with Falk. In 1973, he defended Karleton Armstrong who killed a University of Wisconsin researcher when he bombed the Army Math Research Center at UW-Madison.
So, Mr. Falk, why don’t you spend a little time in Sderot or Ashkelon and see if that doesn’t enlighten you? It’s easy to criticize those who seek to defend themselves from radical zealots who seek only the eradication of Israel and her people when you’ve never walked in their shoes. Let the missiles fly into your neighborhood, putting your family at risk and tell me then how many Israeli’s must die before taking action against Hamas.
Straight from the blogs and press releases of your elected officials. I’ll update this post as I find more.
If you know of a Senator or Congressperson who has issued a press release or other public statement recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself against terror attacks by Hamas, leave a comment with a link and I’ll add it as soon as possible.
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Kit Bond, Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, today voiced his support for Israel ’s response to Hamas-led attacks on the Democratic nation.
“ Israel has every right to defend its borders and protect its people,” said Bond. “With their unprovoked attacks on Israel , Hamas is demonstrating their true commitment is to violence, not peace.”
Bond, who two weeks ago returned from a visit to Israel, pointed out that Israel offered an olive branch by fully disengaging from Gaza in August of 2005. Unfortunately, the Israelis’ peace offering has been met with continued rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel . These Hamas-led attacks have increased by 500 percent since disengagement and during the informal six-month cease-fire some 215 rockets were launched at Israel.
Bond urged President-elect Obama and the new Democratic-led Congress to continue strong support for Israel . Bond emphasized that America and the international community must also be committed to securing a just and peaceable agreement between Israel and Palestine through a two-state solution.
“It is critical that America remain steadfast in our support of Israel ’s right to exist and protect its borders,” said Bond. “I hope President-elect Obama uses his new momentum in office to push for a two-state solution that will bring lasting peace to Israelis and Palestinians living in this troubled region.”
Essential to supporting Israel ’s sovereignty is continuing American-Israeli defense cooperation, said Bond. The United States must provide Israel with anti-missile defense systems, like Arrow 3 which Bond supported funding for, that will help keep the Israeli people safe from the multiple dangers they face in the region.
In addition to diplomatic and military efforts, Bond noted the importance of American support for humanitarian – or “Smart Power” initiatives to promote peace. While in Israel, Bond was briefed on the success of these initiatives in influencing hearts and minds, like USAID clean sewer and water infrastructure projects in both Israel and Palestinian communities. Bond also pointed to the Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem , which predominantly serves pregnant Palestinian mothers and babies, as a shining example of promoting peace through serving the poor. Bond secured federal funding for Holy Family Hospital which provides quality health care regardless of religion or ethnicity.
Washington, D.C. – Senator John Ensign issued this statement in response to the continuation of attacks by Hamas on civilian targets in Israel:
“The right of the people of Israel to defend themselves is not negotiable. Leaders around the world should join together and call on Hamas to stop their civilian-aimed attacks immediately, and Israel will respond accordingly. My thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims—on both sides—of Hamas’ reign of terror.”
I’m deeply troubled by the recent rocket and mortar attacks on Israel launched by Hamas. No one should have to live in constant fear and no sovereign nation can stand by while their citizens are attacked daily by terrorists.
Years ago, Israel controlled Gaza and surrendered authority over the area in order to broker a better peace. In exchange, Israel has patiently waited for Hamas to renounce its violent ways, act responsibly, recognize Israel’s right to exist, and come to the negotiating table. However, it is clear Hamas has no intention of living peacefully with Israel. With an unwillingness to move forward, Israel has every right to take the necessary steps to protect and defend its citizens and target those who preach hate and violence.
Israelis and Palestinians both deserve to live in peace, and I have always hoped a safe and secure Israel could live side by side with a sovereign and peaceful Palestine. Through their actions, members of Hamas have made it clear the organization is nothing more than a mouth piece and aggressive arm of the Iranians that cannot act independently for the benefit of the Palestinian people. Hamas must renounce violence and act as an honest broker. If it does not, it will be the responsibility of every nation in the Middle East to shut down the long supply lines of rockets, bullets and bombs that run from Iran to Hamas in Gaza.
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, made the following statement regarding the current situation in Gaza.“It is the fundamental right of every sovereign nation to defend itself and its people when attacked by an enemy, Israel’s recent defensive military operations in the Gaza Strip against Hamas have been both warranted and fully justified. Recent actions by Hamas – deliberately targeting innocent civilians for death and destruction and using innocent Palestinians as human shields – have reminded the world that Hamas is nothing more than a terrorist organization driven by hatred, fear and radical ideology. Hamas continues to stand as a roadblock to peace in the region, and it must be dealt with accordingly.“Israel is and has been a great friend to the United States, and the Israeli people remain our steadfast allies in the war on terror. Now, more than ever, it is imperative that the United States continue to stand beside Israel as we continue the shared struggle against extremists whose primary objectives are the destruction of both our nations and our shared values of freedom and liberty.”
Some quotes from the article designed to instill hatred of Israel in readers:
Israeli mortar shells exploded a U.N. school where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge on Tuesday, killing at least 36 Palestinians.
The carnage added to a surging civilian toll that has drawn increasingly urgent calls for a halt to Israel’s offensive against Hamas.
The three mortar shells that crashed down on the perimeter of the U.N. school struck at mid-afternoon, when many people in the densely populated camp were out and about. Many of those who took shelter in the school apparently had stepped outside to get some air, thinking an area around a school was safe.
“There’s nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorized and traumatized,” John Ging, head of Gaza operations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
Whew! If I didn’t know any better (about Israel’s history or MSNBC’s radical left-wing bias) I’d be hating Israel after all of that. Especially when the one paragraph in the first 80% of the article that gives the Israeli side of the story ends with unnamed Palestinian witnesses refuting the IDF account.
Israel’s military said its shelling was a response to mortar fire from within the school, pressing its assertion that Hamas militants are using civilians as cover. Two residents of the area who spoke by telephone to the Associated Press said they saw a handful of militants firing mortar shells from a street near the school.
Even the last part of the article is worded to instill doubt in readers of the Israeli version of events, and the final sentence will boil the blood of the uninformed.
Among the dead were many children whose parents wailed in grief at a hospital filled with dead and wounded. Fifty-five were wounded in the attack, the U.N. said.
Notably missing from the article is the fact that Hamas is known to use UN facilities to escape Israeli fire and those who seek shelter there as human shields. The following video shows Hamas firing rockets from a school in 2007! But a UN official is quoted in the article stating that UN staff “work to prevent militants from entering” the school.
This video was uploaded to YouTube in November, 2007. You’d think MSNBC would have been able to find it and understand the likelihood that the Israeli version is the correct one. Of course, they might have if their agenda wasn’t already designed to demonize Israel and minimize the culpability of the terrorists who intentionally draw Israeli fire to such areas for propaganda value.
I’ve been following developments in this story since it broke this morning, but held off reporting on it to get a more accurate picture. It should be known that virtually every MSM outlet at first ran headlines similar to MSNBC when it first broke. However, many of those other sources have since toned down the obvious anti-Israeli slanted headlines like the one still running on the MSNBC site. CNN is running a much more toned down title, Israel: Hamas mortars prompted attack near U.N. school.
You can read more of the official Israeli response to the disinformation presented by MSNBC at Israelpolitik.org.
Democratic President-elect has remained silent on the fighting in Gaza…until today when he expressed “concern” over the loss of life and promised he’s monitoring the situation closely. Shortly thereafter, an Al-Qaeda audio tape was released, reportedly the voice of Ayman al-Zawahiri, blaming the President-elect and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for the Israeli assault on Hamas in Gaza.
Recall that one of the themes of Obama’s campaign was to “repair our damaged reputation” in the world community. Biden even went so far as to blame Bush’s foreign policy for creating terrorists. The implication was that if Obama were elected, the clouds would part and we would be loved by those who hate us, respected by those who despise us. Perhaps now they’ll learn.
“My Muslim brothers and mujahedeens in Gaza and all over Palestine, with the help of God we are with you in the battle, we will direct our strikes against the crusader Jewish coalition wherever we can.”–Ayman al-Zawahiri
Of course Obama isn’t the cause of the campaign against Hamas, and al-Zawahiri knows this. This statement by the terror group just proves that radical Islamists don’t need a reason to hate us. They hate us because they believe it’s their religious duty to destroy us. I don’t know if Obama really understood this and simply lied to appeal to the left-wing nuts in this country who really do believe if we “just act right” the world will love and respect us, or if he is as naive as this tape proves his campaign rhetoric was.
The fact is, radical Islam will always hate us and will seek every opportunity to attack us, regardless of who occupies the White House.
The same is true for Israel. Until the radical, militant Hamas is destroyed or forced into submission, there can be no peace.
“The first is that you aren’t the ones who won the midterm elections, nor are the Republicans the ones who lost. Rather, the Mujahideen — the Muslim Ummah’s vanguard in Afghanistan and Iraq — are the ones who won, and the American forces and their Crusader allies are the ones who lost.”–Ayman al-Zawahiri
Now the fantasy world of the campaign is over and the reality should soon start setting in. Obama and Biden will find their promises are more easily spoken than fulfilled. It’s time to realize you’re either with the terrorists or against them.
Time to wake up, face the reality and decide which side you’re on Mr. President-elect. The terrorists’ or ours?
Palestinian Media Watch is based in Israel and as the name implies, monitors the Palestinian Media in an effort to gain a better understanding of the mindset of its people.
Palestinian Media Watch was established in 1996 to gain an understanding of Palestinian society through the monitoring of the Palestinian Arabic language media and schoolbooks. Palestinian Media Watch analyzes Palestinian Authority culture and society from numerous perspectives, including studies on summer camps, poetry, schoolbooks, religious ideology, crossword puzzles, and more.
Iranian reformist daily: Hamas hiding forces in nurseries and hospitals
by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, Jan. 1, 2009
An Iranian reformist daily newspaper has criticized Hamas “for risking lives of civilians, amongst them children, by hiding its forces in nurseries and hospitals.” This is reported in today’s Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam. The Palestinian daily adds that in response the Iranian government has closed the newspaper.
The following is the story in today’s Al-Ayyam:
Headline: “Iran closes a reformist newspaper, for publishing a report criticizing Hamas”
“The Iranian news agency “Irna” reported yesterday, that the Iranian Culture Ministry has closed the reformist daily newspaper “Karjo Zaran”, because it published a report that included criticism of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
On December 30 the paper published a statement of a reformist student organization, that has criticized Hamas for risking lives of civilians, amongst them children, by hiding its forces in nurseries and hospitals. The statement was published whilst the Iranian government expresses a unified stands against Israel, and Tehran is overwhelmed by demonstrations against Israel.”
[Al-Ayyam, Jan. 1, 2009]
A Palestinian girl whose family members were killed yesterday in Gaza: “I say Hamas is the cause of all wars.”
by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, Dec. 29, 2008
A Palestinian girl whose family members was killed yesterday in Gaza after an Israeli air attack was interviewed today on Palestinian TV and placed the blame for the war on Hamas:
[Girl] “We were sleeping 7 girls in the room. We were asleep and didn’t know what was happening. In the morning all the bricks were on top of my head, and the heads of all my sisters. My 4 year old sister next to me was dead.”
[Interviewer] “How many were you?”
[Girl] “Seven.In the other room were my mother, my father, my yonger brother and another sister, who is 13 days old. I say, Hamas is the cause, in the first place, of all wars.”
[PATV (Fatah) Dec. 29, 2008]
Here’s the video of the young girl who lost her family subtitled in English.
I’m praying this young girl doesn’t suffer a fate similar to these Palestinians who Hamas used to intimidate the citizens of Gaza to prevent their collaborating with the Israelis or switching their positions to support the Fatah movement that was forced out of Gaza when Hamas came to power.
In a news conference today from Cairo, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas placed the blame for the violence in the Gaza Strip squarely on the shoulders of Hamas. He described how he repeatedly made contact with Hamas and implored them not to break the ceasefire. He lamented that the violence in the Gaza Strip could have been avoided had Hamas not broken the ceasefire.
The following is Mahmoud Abbas’s statement at a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Gheit.
“I say in all honesty, we made contact with leaders of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. We spoke with them in all honesty and directly, and after that we spoke with them indirectly, through more than one Arab and non-Arab side… We spoke with them on the telephone and we said to them: We ask of you, don’t stop the ceasefire, the ceasefire must continue and not stop, in order to avoid what has happened, and if only we had avoided it.”
PA TV Dec. 28, 2008
Hamas celebrates targeting Israeli civilians
by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, Dec. 28, 2008
Along with today’s TV propaganda in which Hamas depicts itself as a victim, Hamas continues to portray itself as the heroic killer of Israelis.
A video on Hamas TV this morning blended pictures of Hamas fighters shooting at Israel with pictures of injured Israelis and medical evacuation scenes.
In addition, the visuals include pictures of skulls dripping with blood, captioned: “Let them taste violent death”.
Other narrations and texts include:
“Send them to Hell!
Tear them to pieces!”
“Send them to Hell, Qassam missile!”
Another video subtitled in English showing the propaganda used by Hamas to indoctrinate the children of Palestine and recruit them as terrorists.
Remember, these are Israel’s next door neighbors. Israeli citizens live with these threats every day.
You’ll seldom (if ever) see these reports on the MSM, so help spread the word. Israel is defending its citizens, responding to attacks by those who seek its annihilation.