Gaza toll rises to 154 with no end in sight

Discussion in 'Current Events' started by Ronald0, Jul 14, 2014.

  1. Ronald0

    Ronald0 New Member

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    The world implored Israel and Hamas to end hostilities Saturday, but the violence escalated with Israel widening its range of Gaza bombings and rockets continued to be launched from the Strip towards Israel.

    Saturday was the bloodiest day since the conflict erupted on Tuesday, with at least 52 Palestinians killed.

    With the Palestinian death toll reached at least 154, and with no Israelis killed, the UN Security Council unanimously urged Israel and Hamas to respect "international humanitarian laws" and stop the loss of life.

    The 15-member council urged a return to "calm, and restitution of the November 2012 ceasefire", referring to Gaza's last deadly full-scale conflict.

    Gaza residents testify about the effects Israel and Egypt's blockade of their land has had on their lives.
    On Friday, the United Nations said 77 percent of those killed in the Israeli raids were civilians.

    Read full story:
    http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/gaza-death-toll-soars-with-no-sign-lull-2014712215122443488.html
     
  2. Ronald0

    Ronald0 New Member

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    Meanwhile the US State Department rejects Gaza’s right to self-defense from Israeli aggression. Asked whether Palestiniancs in Gaza have a right to defend themselves against Israeli aggression, spokesperson Jen Psaki responded by feigning confusion and deflecting the question. The question was posed after Psaki repeatedly invoked Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas rocket fire.

    Psaki was also asked by the same journalist whether Israel’s “response” to rockets fired from Gaza has been proportionate. She again deflected and reiterated the United States’ support for Israel. Here is the exchange:

    QUESTION: Remaining on the message theme, so you think that all Israel is doing is sending a strong deterrent message and that’s all there is, and that remains within the accepted proportion or whatever, proportionality?

    MS. PSAKI: I don’t think that’s what I stated, Said. There is obviously a range of circumstances on the ground right now, as you all know. There are the unfortunate recent deaths of the three teenagers. There are – there is the kidnapping and then the beating of the other teenager.

    QUESTION: Right.

    MS. PSAKI: There is violence and back-and-forth. I don’t have to repeat for you. You know exactly what’s happening on the ground.

    QUESTION: I know. I understand and you don’t have to repeat for me. But you feel that sort of the Israeli air raids, like maybe hundreds of them so far this day, are proportionate to the rockets?

    MS. PSAKI: That’s not – I wouldn’t validate the accuracy of that number, but I would say, Said —

    QUESTION: Okay. Well, the sorties – there are hundreds of sorties.

    MS. PSAKI: I would say, Said, that I don’t think any country would be expected to allow rockets to come in and threaten the lives and health and well-being of the citizens in their country, and Israel has the right to defend themselves.

    QUESTION: Okay. Do you believe that the Palestinians in Gaza have the right to defend themselves?

    MS. PSAKI: I think – I’m not sure what you’re getting at, Said.

    QUESTION: I am asking you: Do they have the right to defend themselves against Israeli aggression?

    MS. PSAKI: What are you specifically referring to? Is there a specific event or a specific occurrence?

    QUESTION: Do they have the right to respond to Israeli rocketing and bombing their homes, their houses, their areas, their schools?

    MS. PSAKI: We’re talking about attacks from a terrorist organization, Said. I don’t think you’re —

    QUESTION: No, but there is also a population —

    MS. PSAKI: — we’re having a conversation about what’s happening here.

    QUESTION: I mean, you agree that there is a civilian population in Gaza that is also subject to —

    MS. PSAKI: Certainly, and the threat, as I mentioned earlier, to civilian populations is of great concern to us. And that’s one of the reasons why we’re so focused on encouraging all sides to de-escalate.

    QUESTION: Are you calling on someone like Egypt to intervene, perhaps, that can bring about some sort of quiet?

    MS. PSAKI: We’ve, again, been in touch with countries from the region. I’m not going to get into any greater level of specificity.

    QUESTION: Have you gotten a response from the Egyptians that they are willing to intervene or perhaps broker —

    MS. PSAKI: I’ll let countries speak for themselves.

    Double standards

    This is in keeping with the US policy of double standards in the region. No matter how many civilian homes Israel bombs, no matter how many innocent Palestinians are killed and maimed, the US will never respect the besieged and tormented population of Gaza’s right to self-defense.

    Instead American officials will continue to gaurantee their unwavering and unconditional support for Israeli aggression in both rhetoric and military aid, as President Barack Obama has done in an op-ed in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, in which he declared:

    Budgets in Washington are tight, but our commitment to Israel’s security remains ironclad. The United States is committed to providing more than $3 billion each year to help finance Israel’s security through 2018.

    It is important to note that Israel controls the Gaza Strip from air, land and sea, and is therefore obligated under international law to protect civilians in the territories it occupies. As Noura Erakat explains on the Jadaliyya website, Israel’s framing of military incursions into Gaza as “self-defense” is part of a long-standing effort by both Israel and the US to weaken and change international law.

    http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/rania-khalek/us-state-department-rejects-gazas-right-self-defense-israeli-aggression
     
  3. PatrickT

    PatrickT Well-Known Member

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    While it only takes one to make a war it takes two to make a peace.

    I hope the response is sufficient for the Palestinians to consider whether or not they want to keep sending rockets into Israel. Perhaps they should consider agreeing to a two-party peace.
     
  4. Ronstar

    Ronstar Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    maybe Hamas should stop firing rockets into Israel.

    its just a thought.
     
  5. Ronald0

    Ronald0 New Member

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    A little perspective here.

    Here's a map of Israel over the years:
    [​IMG]

    The map above shows the evolution of sovereignty over historic Palestine from 1946 to the present.

    The first panel shows approximately how much land was owned by Jewish residents in 1946.

    The second shows the UN partition plan, which proposed giving 55% of the land to Jewish sovereignty even though Jews owned about 7% of the land. The Arab world rejected this, but they were overpowered by well-armed and organized militias funded and aided by Europe. In 1948, the state of Israel was declared on the white area in the third panel.

    In 1967, Israel also conquered the West Bank and Gaza, and the fourth panel shows Areas A and B as staked out under the Oslo Accords — the less than half of the West Bank and Gaza that falls under even limited Palestinian control. Many Israeli leaders in high government office claim much of Area C as Israeli territory and would prefer to force the Palestinians to live in cantons or ghettos largely confined to Areas A and B without meaningful sovereignty, and label this a “two-state solution.”

    Oxford professor of international relations Avi Shlaim served in the Israeli army states:

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/07/gaza-israel-palestine
     
  6. Spooky

    Spooky Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    The US nor Israel are bound by international law.

    International laws are nothing more than feel good measures.

    The sooner they push the Palestinian squatters into the Sea the quicker that region can begin to heal. Nobody likes the Palestinians, its why every single Arab Nation over there has turned their backs on them.

    They are a bunch of Nomads who think they actually have a country because Britain was kind enough to gift them one. They never earned it.
     
  7. Mac-7

    Mac-7 Banned

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    Maybe the Arabs should have accepted the del the UN offered them in 1948 instead of making war with the Jews all these years.

    If they had taken the deal back then they would have a lot more land today.
     
  8. texmaster

    texmaster Banned

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    Exactly right. The only way for this to end is to remove the Gaza Strip and the West bank from Israel's borders.
     
  9. Ronald0

    Ronald0 New Member

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    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that international pressure will not halt Israeli strikes in Gaza.

    "No amount of international pressure will prevent Israel from continuing its operation in the Gaza Strip," Netanyahu told reporters at a press conference in the Defense Ministry's Kirya compound in Tel Aviv

    As Netanyahu stepped away from the podium, one reporter called after him, and asked, "How long will the operation continue?" Netanyahu swerved around, returned to the microphone, paused for a second and then replied: "It will take time."

    http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.604546


    No one thinks about the reality of the occupation anymore, it’s just taken for granted. A status quo that Palestinians should be able to get used to and live with. Why complain? Why fight? Why appeal to the world? Why does the Palestinian in Gaza identify with his brethren in the West Bank? They have water and electricity and food every day – why should they care if settlement construction in the West Bank goes on and on? After all, we’re providing them with a livelihood and giving them work permits. What are they griping for? And why should Israeli Arabs identify with the pain of their brethren in the West Bank and Gaza? The only way is to keep pounding them, because the Arabs – and the Palestinians especially – only understand force, and that’s how we’ll win. From one round to the next, from one lull to the next.

    Why wrack our brains thinking about deep, fundamental questions? Who needs permanent borders? Who needs a peace agreement, and why is the Arab initiative vital?

    Let Abbas and his naïve cohorts keep on dreaming about a state, and the Americans and Europeans will invest money and exempt us from bearing the cost of the occupation – as long as there’s a fence in the West Bank and Iron Dome in the south, and rockets being fired from Gaza. Don’t bother us with silly questions about the Palestinian people seeking self-definition and independence.

    [​IMG]
     
  10. Ronald0

    Ronald0 New Member

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    So says all rogue nations. At least you have the honesty to make your intentions clear. Kill, mutilate, destroy. Just as long as you can get hold of more property.

    Its all the Arabs fault for not succumbing to all Israel's demands right?
    [​IMG]
     
  11. Ronstar

    Ronstar Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    why did Hamas kill those three Israeli students?

    that started this whole mess.
     
  12. Ronald0

    Ronald0 New Member

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    How many murders are committed in each state on a daily basis in USA. Why does the US government allow it to happen? Why doesn't US government just bomb all those states and kill hundreds of civilians for each crime? Surely that is the only way those civilians will learn.

    OR is it simply a case of using a tragic incident to further one's political (read murder) agenda:

    http://www.vox.com/2014/7/2/5863847/israel-hamas-gaza-kidnapping-punishment
     
  13. Ronstar

    Ronstar Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    if Mexico kidnapped and murdered three American students, we should bomb Mexico City.
     
  14. Piscivorous

    Piscivorous New Member

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    Israel's only demand is to live in peace. When the Arabs succumb to that demand, then the violence will cease.

    Meanwhile, Israel claims to have shot down a Hamas drone while a mortar round lands in the Golan Heights from Syria.
     
  15. Ronstar

    Ronstar Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    The Arabs should have never attacked Jerusalem in 1967. This is how they lost the West Bank.
     
  16. Spooky

    Spooky Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    You can still tell the people who absolutely hate the Jews.

    To think that we as a human race have advanced is ridiculous. There are many who would still like to line up the Jews in front of a ditch and pull the trigger.

    It is disgusting the amount of hate these people hold.
     
  17. Radio Refugee

    Radio Refugee New Member

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    The end is always in sight. Stop attacking Israel. Recognize their right to freeeeeekin EXIST!

    Or die.
     
  18. Ronstar

    Ronstar Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    someday the Palestinians will give up on killing.

    on that day, they will have their own state.

    and no sooner. They cannot defeat the Jews.
     
  19. Radio Refugee

    Radio Refugee New Member

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    Uncomplicated, ain't it?
     
  20. Hoosier8

    Hoosier8 Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    The only modern democracy in the Middle East surrounded by those wanting to live in the 15th century, have no respect for life and only respect blood lust.
     
  21. Ronstar

    Ronstar Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    what does Hamas expect to accomplish?
     
  22. Mac-7

    Mac-7 Banned

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  23. Ronald0

    Ronald0 New Member

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    As I said, at least you are honest about your lack of conscience.

    Is this what peace sounds like?

    [​IMG]


    Yes it is the Arabs fault for existing, right? If they didn't exist, Israel would never have to steal anythin from them or murder them.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    So far the count is 154 killed by Israel to ZERO by Palestinians. Guess who is pulling the trigger.

    Two statements you were right about though:

    154 killed by Israel and still no right of the Palestinians to defend themselves? Wow. What if they were killing Americans. Would they okay too or is killing only fine when it is Muslims being killed?

    As far as the world can see, it is Israel doing the killing not the other way around. 150 to zero so far.

    Anyone with a moral conscience would call it sickening. Tells us what we have evolved into when some people still continue to defend it.
     
  24. Professor Peabody

    Professor Peabody Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    They launch rockets at other people.......what did they expect to happen? Israel would send the flower baskets? There are NO Palestinian civilians.
     
  25. northwinds

    northwinds Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Why did three Israelis burn a Palestinian teenager to death recently........???????
     

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