UN Official Says Israel's Policies Strengthen Extremists

John Ging, director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, has told an Israeli newspaper that Israel's policies in the Gaza Strip are strengthening extremists there.

This is probably not news to many of my readers, nor would many of my readers be surprised if I said that, in my opinion, strengthening extremists is one of the goals of the Israeli policy.

~~~

You can read the whole thing here, and/or comment below.

Comments

McJ's picture

The Ghetto

How is what they are doing significantly different from the Warsaw Ghettos? They have them walled in with heavily armed check points everywhere. They can stop anyone or anything from getting out and now they are stopping food and essential supplies from getting in. Looks like a 'G-word' in the making to me. Once that's all over with they can have the land for themselves and it will be on to the next enemy. Whose going to stop them from doing whatever they want? Even questioning their policies makes you an anti-'S-word'.
sad Sad

From the Jerusalem Post (my emphasis):
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225910088329&pagename=JPost%...
Following the renewal of Kassam rocket fire on Israeli communities in the western Negev, the cabinet on Tuesday discussed a new strategy of using heavy artillery in retaliatory strikes.
According to a proposal made jointly by Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann and Vice Premier Haim Ramon, the IDF will evacuate villages that have become launching pads for Hamas and other terror groups and will then raze the villages with artillery, Army Radio reported.

"I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain..." -- Shakespeare, Hamlet, I, v

McJ's picture

Rahm-bo's daddy

A bit OT but Wikipedia deleted the page on Rahm-bo's father. I guess they are making sure we don't have easy access his history.
http://www.kabobfest.com/2008/11/wikipedia-deletes-benjamin-emanuel.html

He had this to say about his son's appointment:
"Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel....Why wouldn't he be? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to clean the floors of the White House."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225910047157&pagename=JPost%...

"I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain..." -- Shakespeare, Hamlet, I, v

McJ's picture

Rahm apologizes

Rahm Emanuel apologizes for father's disparaging remarks about Arabs
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/169163-Rahm-Emanuel-apologizes-for-fat...

"I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain..." -- Shakespeare, Hamlet, I, v

Honest questions

What do you think is the goal of this siege? I know that the empire(including Israel) wants continual war etc. But do they want to foment some truly horrible attack by Hamas, or the genocide of the people of Gaza? Why aren't the rest of us (westerners) up in arms about this? The frustration is brutal! I honestly cannot comprehend how the Jewish people of Israel(or anywhere else ,for that matter) can let this happen, when they constantly remind us of what was done to them. that they can with such temerity turn around and do it to the Palestinians, blows my mind. I know McJ that this raises the s-word, but come on the truth is important.

McJ's picture

Hate Speech

I'm with you in that I find the frustration brutal. I can barely bring myself to read about it because it makes me so angry. It is not only people of the Jewish faith that are allowing this to happen, it is all of us. In fact, there are many people within Isreal who have been raising the alarm. Of course,
none of this makes it to the MSM and seemingly endless effort is put into making sure that truthful information about the situation does not get out.

My use of S-word was an attempt at a bit of 'snark' (maybe not such a good attempt smiling ) but also an allusion to the fact that criticizing Israel or it's policy is now beginning to fall under the category of hate speech. You can say whatever disgusting thing you want about an Arab country, and you can still criticize the US and it's policies... but not Israel. They are some kind of special case! In Canada the jewish advocacy group B'Nai Birth actively goes after people who question Israel's policies or who publish articles critical of Israel. Last year they accused Chris Cook of PEJ News of hate crimes because he published a number of articles that they didn't like. Chris is the assistant editor of the Atlantic Free Press and the host of Victoria, BC's Gorilla Radio. I couldn't find anything about it on his site when I searched for it and I don't know how the law suit turned out, but the link below is to a post by Kurt Nimmo (who wrote four of the articles they objected to) on the situation.
http://www.informationliberation.com/index.php?id=22075

Snip from Kurt's post:
"If you think the B’nai Brith is nothing to worry about in Canada, consider they have worked closely with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and played an instrumental role in the arrest and deportation of Ernst Zundel to Germany. Zundel now sits in a German prison, convicted of Holocaust denial. Another writer, the late Doug Collins of the Vancouver area North Shore News, was targeted by the B’nai Brith in 1994 for infringing “human rights”—specifically, he had criticized the film Schindler’s List—an accusation summarily dismissed by the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal.

In 2000, before “everything changed,” the B’nai Brith told CBC News “anti-Semitism is on the rise in Canada,” even though statistics demonstrate “there were 42 reported incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism in 1998, down a significant 28 per cent from the 58 incidents reported last year. This trend is consistent with police reports across the country and may be the result of crackdowns by the police Hate Crimes Units” of the sort B’nai Brith apparently want to sic on PEJ News for the hate crime of posting articles critical of Israel."

"I set it down,
"I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain..." -- Shakespeare, Hamlet, I, v

Wrong question!

I think it's a mistake to ask "What is the goal of this siege?" because that implies that there is only one goal. But in any political situation there are usually multiple forces at work. And there are usually multiple reasons for everything that happens.

Actions speak louder than words. Israel's actions indicate that it seeks the eventual elimination of the Palestinians and control of all the currently occupied territories (if not more). If Israeli brutality triggers a massive attack by Hamas (or anyone else), that would serve as a pretext for Israel to do more of what it wants to do anyway. So it's a no-lose proposal (for them, from their point of view) unless the Israeli people were to stand up and oppose it. But that's not going to happen, is it?

Why aren't we up in arms about it? In my opinion there are multiple reasons, including
[1] our "news" media are so controlled by pro-Israeli forces that few people in the west have any idea what's really going on there;
[2] Israeli propaganda is very effective at making people think Israel is good and/or our friend;
[3] We don't care. We don't even care enough to protest the policies of our own government, let alone some other government.

I honestly cannot comprehend how the Jewish people of Israel (or anywhere else, for that matter) can let this happen, when they constantly remind us of what was done to them. That they can with such temerity turn around and do it to the Palestinians, blows my mind.

Some people think they let this happen because it was done to them [sic]

Some people think the fact that it was done to them [sic] gives them the political cover they need to do it to others.

I use "[sic]" above because the people who were persecuted during WWII are NOT the people doing the persecuting today. We just say it that way, probably because we know virtually nothing. And that's just the tip of a great big confusing iceberg.

I think this is worth discussing at great length and I will try to post more about it soonishly. But in the meantime I would love to hear from others on this subject.

So ... what do YOU think?

What do I think?

I think even a cursory glance at history at what has actually happened will tell anyone with any sense at all that Israel has always wanted it ALL and no one left to protest about it. The Israelis are a copybook case for watching what they do and paying NO attention to what they say save to find out what they are NOT going to do or what they have done.

Lawrence of Cyberia has an interesting take on the future. Though, I think it is based on the incoming administration being "smarter" than it is. Bloodlust (of the ones behind it) does strange things to the mind-
http://lawrenceofcyberia.blogs.com/news/2008/11/on-hillary-clinton-as-ba...

McJ's picture

I think the general public

I think the general public needs to be educated on the actual history of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. We have been woefully misinformed. I know before I undertook to educate myself about the situation I tended to believe a lot of the 'Israel is a victim' crap that is fed to the general public. But then the questions is how?

A look at the history of Rahm-bo's father could provide a window into some of the history we need to know about. And as I noted in the comment above it looks like someone is working to make sure it doesn't come out.
From Press TV:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=74697&sectionid=351020206
"[Emanuel's father] was a gun runner for the Irgun, the Zionist, pre-Israel Zionist, militia that carried out numerous terrorist attacks on Palestinian civilians, including the bombing of the King David Hotel," said Abunimah." Rahm Emanuel is named after a Lehi fighter who was killed during fighting.
You can read about the Irgun and Lehi (fomerly the Stern Gang) at these links.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irgun
http://www.codoh.com/zionweb/zizad/zizad26.html

In answer to the question of Israel's long term goal, Jonathon Cook has this to say in his most recent very informative article on the Gaza strip.
http://www.jkcook.net/Articles2/0347.htm#Top
" Cabinet ministers have been queuing up to express such sentiments. Ehud Olmert, for example, has declared that Gazans should not be allowed to “live normal lives”; Avi Dichter believes punishment should be inflicted “irrespective of the cost to the Palestinians”; Meir Sheetrit has urged that Israel should “decide on a neighbourhood in Gaza and level it.
In concert, Israel has turned a relative blind eye to the growing smuggling trade through Gaza’s tunnels to Egypt. Gazans’ material welfare is falling more heavily on Egyptian shoulders by the day.
Eyal Sarraj, the head of Gaza’s Community Mental Health Programme, said this year that Israel’s long-term goal was to force Egypt to end the controls along its short border with the Strip. Once the border was open, he warned, “Wait for the exodus.”

I don't even know what to say about this article from the Jerusalem post. I added the picture because it says the thousand words I don't have.
Nov 13, 2008 19:25 | Updated Nov 15, 2008 8:47
Bush unexpectedly meets Livni, Peres at UN
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404729150&pagename=JPost%...
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Note: Tzip Livni is a former Mossad agent, daughter of two former Irgun members and Israel's Foreign Minister. I believe she is the front runner to become Israel's next Prime Minister but don't know fore sure because I haven't followed it that closely.

I miss Z sad
"I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain..." -- Shakespeare, Hamlet, I, v

As John Ging is suggesting,

As John Ging is suggesting, Palestinians have been reduced to near-total dependency on Israel, which enables Israel to apply humiliating collective punishment to the vulnerable population.

Israel has always been perfectly frank about its goals, one of which has been to render life so miserable for the Palestinians that they give up and leave. A relatively recent immigrant population, such as the jews in Palestine, might imagine that, given enough mistreatment, the native population would choose exile. But that's because the jews don't share the Palestinian's deep emotional and cultural connections to the region.

The Israeli's miscalculation in this regard has meant that they've had to 'up the ante', continuously increasing levels of repression over the years. Aware that their cruelty might attract criticism from beyond its borders, Israel has built a very powerful, international propaganda network, from control of strategic media to dozens of 'anti-discrimination' NGOs and umbrella groups. They've not missed a step.

With billions in backing from wealthy 'philanthropists', the strategy has worked brilliantly, permitting lobbyists to go to work on parliaments and government officials. According to former US congressman Tom Findley, each House and Senate member is appointed his / her own pro-Israel "pal", paid for and brought to them by Israel ...

Israeli groups in the UK are presently pushing the government to train and dispatch teachers to oversee "holocaust education":

Every school to get Holocaust specialist under anti-racism initiative

Not long ago, France's president Sarkozy came up with a similarly harebrained scheme in which grade-school children would be required to 'adopt' a jewish child, victim of the pogroms. That idea was so objectionable to the French, it appears to have been dropped.

In the 1990s, Israel paid teams of young, fervent Zionists to come to France to hand out Zionist literature at schools and universities, and to intimidate anyone, anywhere, who expressed a critical word about the Zionist state. French Arabs and others were regularly beaten up in acts of the most appalling violence.

These cases / incidents are a reflection of how central propagandizing, lobbying and maintenance of the memory of jewish victimhood is to Israel's justification for its acts against the Palestinians. And look at the groups that are being targeted, today: children! Of course, as memories of WWII fade, Israel sets out to create a new generation of 'guilt-ridden' Israelophiles.

In sum, I believe Israelis 'gets away' with their policies because they've been cleverly proactive, and united, in shaping opinion as well as in punishing the least deviation from pro-Israel orientation. -- There are also indications that Israel doesn't hesitate to use plain old blackmail, as well. Being in possession of the world's 5th most powerful army, and an unsurpassed intelligence apparatus, doesn't hurt, either.
.

To comment a bit further on

To comment a bit further on Palestinian dependency on Israel ...

Palestinian lives and employment opportunities changed, suddenly, when, following the collapse of the USSR, Israel welcomed the arrival of close to a million Russian jewish immigrants. The problem, then, was to find employment for the newcomers, who of course took precedent over Palestinians workers, whereupon a large majority of Palestinians lost their jobs in Israel. This contributed to the isolation of Palestinians and made it that much easier to close 'crossings' indiscriminately.

In Gaza, many Palestinians, in the vicinity of 45%, were employed by jews on settler-run farms. These farms and greenhouses were irrigated with water drawn from the Gaza coastal aquifer but received a necessary complement from the Israeli water grid [which, btw, draws heavily on West Bank aquifers].

When Israel undertook the dismantlement of settlements in Gaza, in 2005, an agreement was reached on the farming infrastructure the settlers left behind. All fine and well, only shortly before full settlers' departure, Israel cut off the water supplement to Gaza, leaving Gazan farmers with insufficient water for crop irrigation, eventually destroying an entire season of produce. There were also reports of gratuitous vandalism on the part of departing jews, arriving by the busload in the middle of the night to uproot crops and sabotage irrigation systems. Since then, the Hamas government has had the means to buy neither the extra water from Israel nor repair farm infrastructure.

Hence, further dependency of Gazans on Israel and international relief for basic necessities, food medicine ...

Yet, as of May 2007, Israel was withholding $700 million in tax revenues from the PA in retaliation for Hamas's electoral success. It was at about that time that the Israeli government began ceding to UN and EU pressure to release the funds. Israel agreed to pass $100 million to Abbas, on condition that none of it would reach Gaza.

[good description of the disastrous years preceding Israel's "disengagement" from Gaza and Hamas's election shortly thereafter: here].

From what I read and gather, Israel's terrorization of the West Bank is worse still.

This is deliberate, planned genocide on Israel's part. It wouldn't be possible without a well-greased propaganda machine, broad media complicity, and acquiescence if not support from Western governments.

Yes, Bob, as you say, below, the Hague.
.

Bob in Prague's picture

What I think

It seems all too obvious. Israel is run by a gang of thugs who use the Holocaust committed against their forebears to justify the Holocaust they are perpetrating against the indigenous Palestinian population so that they can finish up their theft of the Palestinians' lands; the rest of the world is too intellectually and morally lazy to call them on the great lies they are spreading. It's truly disgusting, and I'm very, very happy not to be paying any taxes at all to prop up the criminally complicit American establishment. Israel is guilty of mass torture of an entire population. The Hague, anyone?

what you think!

Bob:

I think it's probably easier for you to think what you think, because of where you live.

Or in other words, one can see certain things more clearly from Prague than from the USA.

Or in other words, European "pop culture" is not nearly as Mossad-infested as the American variety.

Er ...

Quote: "Or in other words, European "pop culture" is not nearly as Mossad-infested as the American variety".

If I may say, I believe you underestimate the power of the Zionist lobby in Europe. See European Friends of Israel [EFI]. 'Tis the mirror image of AIPAC, serves the same purpose, is well funded and, according to comparisons between financial contributions, is as influential in the EU as it is in the American, Australian and Canadian political spheres. Zionists were savvy enough to understand early on that the key to the survival of their project would be through the control of media and through "warm relations" with key geopolitical partners, relations which have been occasionally tumultuous but largely the subject of mutual understanding for the past 60-90 years.

Israel has served as a decades-long, local irritant in the ME, constituting a spring board for any number of regional and Western geopolitical ambitions.

Haliburton, Bechtel, Dyncorp, Blackwater, Carlyle, BP, Shell, Total, et al, the Bushes, Clintons, Blair, not to mention their political advisors, all owe their corporate and personal fortunes to Israel as the hyperactive, paranoiac, regional pest it has always been.

Think anyone is going to object to Israeli oppression of Palestinians?
.

Er ... Er ...

I don't disagree with any of what you've written ... but these are facts:

Support for the Palestinians and their plight is much easier to find in European media than in America.

Sympathy for, understanding of, and knowledge about them is much more common in some European countries than it is in America.

Most of what I know about the subject has come to me through European media -- the American media would never have touched it.

These are the reasons for my comment; It's not that I think Europe is flooded with the truth of the matter, or anything like that ... it's more that Europe is less covered with BS.

Many thanks for all the

Many thanks for all the answers. It makes me cry, to think that so many are so ignorant. Or is it more a case of head in the sand, or maybe even 'I'm all right Jack'. A combination of all three, I would suppose.
Like you McJ, I was once extremely ignorant of exactly what Israel was up to and blamed the Palestinians for everything they got. Then I used to think it would be as simple as one of them just having the courage to stop killing and peace would follow. But that would only work if the Israeli govt wanted peace. HA! Fat chance.
I have said this before; Where is the compassion of humanity?

Gaza update

"The humanitarian catastrophe gripping Gaza is largely unrelated to the latest tit-for-tat strikes between Hamas and Israel. Nearly a year ago, Karen Koning AbuZayd, commissioner-general of the UN's refugee agency, warned: "Gaza is on the threshold of becoming the first territory to be intentionally reduced to a state of abject destitution."

More from Jonathan Cook via Antiwar.com

Gaza abductions

"Israeli forces carried out 33 military incursions into Palestinian towns and villages and kidnapped 21 civilians, including two children.
In just the past year, Israel has abducted 2,111 Palestinian civilians."

More here

NZ's New PM John Key's Connection to Israel

Hey Guys

I'm not really up to commenting on Israel but just about choked on this article about our new PM.

"Jerusalem, Nov 19 NZPA - New Prime Minister John Key has pledged to continue rebuilding strong ties between New Zealand and Israel.
"Israel is a country that I haven't had the opportunity to visit, but one for which I definitely have a great respect, especially in its economic growth and high-tech strength," Mr Key said in a telephone interview with Israel Radio on Tuesday.
The Mossad spy affair involving forgeries of New Zealand passports four years ago which led to a prolongued suspension of ties, "should be put behind us," Mr Key said.
" We want the relations to be on a strong foundation and a strong footing to allow us to move forward. That's my intention."
He spoke of his "historic connections" to Judaism and Israel. "I have a Jewish mother and grandmother who lived in Israel for some time and I have relatives there, whom I have not seen since my own childhood.

"Many New Zealanders have strong religious beliefs, but I do not consider myself to be overly religious. My mother was very involved with the Jewish faith and synagogue. When we came out to New Zealand I grew up without a high amount of religious instruction but I have great respect for Judaism and those who observe it," he said.
Mr Key does not speak Hebrew. "This is probably something that my mother was remiss in not teaching me. However, it's a language that I hear from time to time when I attend the odd synagogue service and on formal occasions," he said.
He told Israel Radio that he intends to pay a formal visit to Israel."

I know this might sound a little paranoid and it might be but I feel like the e-voting machines are now a done deal. Lets welcome NZ to the "New World Order":(

Bob in Prague's picture

Um

Um, I'm not so sure it's purely geographical. After all, in neighboring Germany they put you in jail for denying that the Holocaust happened, and here in the Czech Republic they put you in jail for raising your right arm and saying, "Sieg heil!" So the influence of the Zionists is clear, palpable, here. In truth, I've felt this way about Israel since 1967, when their intentions were all too clear (and when they tried to sink an American ship, killing some of my friends and colleagues). One had to be blind as a bat not to see it then, watching Aba Eban and Moishe Dayan and the way the "free world" gushed over them. The Zionists complain constantly about being under siege, yet they are the ones holding a vast nuclear arsenal, holding the entire region hostage, refusing to give peace a chance. And they are the ones who are literally trying to starve the Palestinians, the rightful owners of Palestine, right out of their homeland. Pejoratives fail me...

I don't think so either

I never said it was purely geographical.

I only said the truth about Israel was easier to find in Europe than in North America.

This is not worth arguing about, of course. So I won't.

Bob in Prague's picture

Sorry if

Sorry if I came across as argumentative - that was miles from my intention. Perhaps I phrased it inappropriately, that purely part. You are indeed correct in stating that from a European perspective a whole lot of things are much clearer. I had European friends back in 1963 and 1964 who finally gave up on getting me to see the horrid truth that Americans bought, hook, line, and sinker - that realization a few years to sink in. Same with Watergate, same with Iran-Contra, same with the first war on Iraq (duhbaya itch instructing his ambassador to tell Hussein it was fine with the US if Hussein wanted to invade Kuwait, thus ensuring a "good reason" to batter Iraq, all because of oil), same with Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL), and, of course, the same with Israel's violent and aggressive behaviour. All in all, life here is good. I have great comprehensive health care for about 75 bucks a month, and on and on. It's even OK to grow a few pot plants in your back yard...

no problem

... but ...

pot plants in your backyard?

say, you must live in a LIBERAL democracy! Wink

This is

This is absurd
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections...
Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda deputy brands Barack Obama a 'house negro'

I always suspected Zawahiri of being a double agent, this is one weirdass psyop

one weirdass psyop?

Not at all! or not in my opinion, anyway. This is so typical.

When so-called "terrorists" tell the obvious truth about the US government, then the propaganda machine can paint all the rest of the obvious-truth-tellers as "terrorist sympathizers". They've been trying to do it for a long time, and this is their best effort so far, in my opinion. But the thrust of the thing is pretty typical.

Also typical is the fact that the new "terrorist" video comes to us through the SITE Institute, which has close ties to the Bush family and is pretty clearly a Mossad front. SITE often gets these "extremist" videos before the "extremist Muslim" websites do. And what does that tell you?

Thanks for the link! It's a good one.

McJ's picture

From the Voice of Palestine, the young, the old & the dead

Last week, in the middle of the night, an elderly Palestinian couple were forcibly evicted from their home. They had lived in the house, located in occupied Jerusalem, for over 50 years. The home was given to a group of Israeli settlers because they were successful in claiming the land had originally belonged to the jews. According to Johnathon Cook, the incident drew global outrage but I doubt many in North America have heard about this - maybe it is a story in Europe??
The couple had moved into a tent which they pitched on the street. The Voice of Palestine reported that today large numbers of Israeli occupation policemen moved in and tore down the tent. They didn't comment on why the authorities needed large numbers of police to tear down a tent occupied by an elderly couple but they did report that 'tens of neighbours' gathered around and four were detained along with a human rights lawyer.

The Voice of Palestine is also reporting that the Shifa Hospital, one of the larges in Gaza, is in dire straits because of the power outages caused by the lack of fuel. The main generator has broken down and they can't get the spare parts to fix it. Several wards have been closed and equipment has stopped operating, including the oxygen supply system.

And finally, apparently the Israeli authorities are not content with only going after the living. On Oct 31 the Israeli high court ruled that the IOG can go ahead and destroy a Muslim cementary in Jerusalem and build a museum on it. Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic movement in the 1948-occupied Palestinian lands was reported as saying:"

"A generation of the Sahaba (companions of Prophet Mohammed peace be upon him) had been buried here, and it currently contains more than 70,000 tombs of Muslims; yet, such facts failed to deter the Israeli occupation government from pursuing its crimes against the graveyard..."
He explained that the IOA had desecrated the cemetery in the past and constructed a hotel, streets, and car parking inside the cemetery, stressing that the Israeli justifications for the removal of the cemetery won't deceive Muslims.
"Do dead people pose a demographic threat to the Israeli occupation institution?",
.

One can only hope it will be one of those haunted museums.

"I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain..." -- Shakespeare, Hamlet, I, v

grrrh

Thanks for posting that McJ

Hey I'd be doing more than throwing stones at those guys if I could.
More people for WP to lock up or send to damnation.
I don't actually think they will actually need his help to get there.
Despicable
mad

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
By submitting this form, you accept the Mollom privacy policy.