Community | July 09, 2009 | 43 comments

A Jews View: Visit to Gaza was an assault on sense of justice

source: http://www.thevillager.com/villager_323/talkingpoint.html

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WorldPeaceTV
By Joyce Ravitz
When I was growing up, my parents instilled in me the knowledge that Jews were hardworking people who would not stand for injustice. My Jewish education taught me that Jews were obliged to fight against discrimination and other wrongs whenever they occurred. And we met discrimination ourselves. My parents left the Lower East Side and I grew up in a small Pennsylvania town. My uncle, brother and I were the only non-Christians in the school system. A friend asked to see my horns. It was difficult. No wonder I returned to the Lower East Side.

When I was 13, my grandmother took me on a pilgrimage with Hadassah (the Zionist women’s organization) to Israel in 1956. I remember the wonderful feelings I had traveling around this new exciting pioneer state. This land opened its doors to people who had survived the Holocaust, to people who had been banished from their homes because they were Jews. The United States and other countries did not let these refugees enter their borders but, in essence, gave them a small piece of land on which they could resettle. It was a time of hope and passionate belief in how special Israel was and would become. I grew up believing that a people who had no land were given a land that had no people.

I am heartbroken and appalled by what Israel, the land I loved, is doing in Gaza today. On my trip in late May of this year, I witnessed physical and psychological damage from the Israeli occupation of Gaza. Israel had been blockading Gaza — by air, sea and land — for years before this recent December and January assault. The years-long blockade itself threatened the lives of adults and children. Most Gazans were unable to get medication or go to hospitals. Think of what your life would be like without ordinary items, such as fabric, thread, needles, candles, matches, mattresses, sheets, blankets, cutlery, crockery, cups, glasses, musical instruments, books, tea, coffee, chocolate, sesame seeds, nuts, crayons, clothing and shoes. These have not been allowed legally into the Gaza Strip for years. People in Gaza essentially live in a prison colony that they cannot leave.

Yes, Hamas sent rockets into nearby cities. And yes, these rockets violated international law since they were aimed at civilians. Israel returned with sophisticated weapons and an all-out assault on areas densely populated with Palestinian civilians who cannot leave, killing more than 1,400 people, including many children. Thirteen Israeli soldiers were killed during the December-January bombing. The number of deaths is disproportionate for Israel’s claim to be acting in self-defense.

I can’t ignore the context of this violence. Palestinians have been struggling by legitimate means to end the occupation of Gaza. The proper Israeli response to such actions should be a true withdrawal from the occupied territories. Israel still controls key aspects of day-to-day Gazan life, even though it withdrew the military bases and settlements. I ate at a beachside cafe watching Israeli gunboats patrol the Gaza coast. Do prisoners control a jail because they are the only workers in the laundry, library and kitchen?

During the December assault, the residents of Gaza were told to go to safe areas. I met families who thought they were in “safe” areas during the last assault. One grandfather of a family I met was killed instantly when a white-phosphorous bomb came through the roof of his home. The mother in the same family, sitting near him, was seriously injured. When friends tried to drive her by tractor to a hospital, she was killed by Israeli solders. Her 3-year-old daughter, now motherless, has scars over both legs and a 3-inch white-phosphorous burn around her middle. This same quiet child clings to a teenage relative, afraid to leave him even for a minute. They learned that there are no safe areas in Gaza.

Israeli pressure is shrinking the actual area available to the people of the Gaza Strip further.---more below
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43 comments // A Jews View: Visit to Gaza was an assault on sense of justice

  • dainjdc
  • WorldPeaceTV
    • 0
      WorldPeaceTV  

    • I, too salute Jubal for his clear and concise words. No matter how much WE say we love everyone, we are accused of antisemitism and hate. But WE know the truth and the truth ALWAYS prevails. And that is why Israel will sooner or later pay for her atrocities against humans, pay thru non-violent justice, pay thru fair and even justice.

      God, Yeshua or whatever you want to call your Higher Power is, imo, appalled by Israels greed and murder.

    • 2 years ago
  • artemis6
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  

    • One last thing, I do not hate Jewish people. I love Jewish people. Many of my dearest friends are Jewish, and I have Jewish descent on both sides of my family.

      I am not against Jewish people having their own country. However, as much as I am for the Jewish people having their own right to self determination, I am in favor of the Palestinians having their own right to self determination.

      Unfortunately, the only way this is going to happen is for the entire world to demand it from the State of Israel.

      The world is full of rhetoric and words that have no true intention behind them. Words that are used to fan the flames of discontent and to promote conflict. Who benefits? Weapons manufacturers and military contractors, that is who benefits. Do you think they care about either side, really? No they don't. All they care about is their profits, and if that means keeping the Christians, Muslims and Jewish people at odds on the international stage, then that is what they will advocate and manipulate to keep their profit machine churning.

      If you truly are a loving Christian, you would demonstrate your compassion for the suffering of the Palestinian people through your speech and not use your beliefs as weapons.

    • 2 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
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    • kjoknoswazzup,

      I won't waste my time arguing with a fanatic like you obviously are. But for your sake I will share a very important book with you that you must read.

      Excerpt Chapter 1

      Does the Bible really teach there is only one God? Or
      does it teach that many gods exist? Did Almighty
      God really create this material world? Perhaps
      another, lesser god, created this material world?
      These are important questions, because the God of
      whom Jesus Christ spoke is a gentle, loving Heavenly
      Father. Yet, the universe is overflowing with evil,
      cruelty, agony and death. How can one reconcile the
      reality of evil, cruelty, agony and death with the
      theory of a loving Heavenly Father? For, as countless
      thinkers have said:
      If God is all-powerful, then God is not all-good.
      If God is all-good, then God is not all-powerful.
      Either God wants to eliminate evil but is not
      powerful enough
      Or…
      God is powerful enough to eliminate evil but does
      not want to do so.
      In other words, an all-good God would not make a
      universe brimming with evil, pain, violence, suffering,
      misery and death. An all-powerful God might do so,
      but such a God would not be all-good. Mainstream
      Christians have danced around this issue for two
      thousand years but none of them have given a
      satisfactory answer to the Problem of Evil. Their
      “answers” have taken the form of mental gymnastics,
      verbal contortions, special pleading, misdirection,
      “smoke and mirrors.” However, there is a very
      ancient and wise solution to this dilemma. The
      earliest Christians held this Key, this solution, and
      immediately realized and adopted it because of their
      unshakable Knowing (Greek: Gnosis, pronounced
      KNOW-sis) of an all-good Heavenly Father. Gnostic
      is the name whereby the early Christians who held
      this Key were known. The reason? Gnosis means to
      Know God as opposed to those who merely believe in
      God. The Catholic church later rejected this Key of
      Gnosis.

      It is important to understand how and from what
      source the New Testament acquired its present form
      and “authority.” Then we can appreciate how
      important the Key of Gnosis is in understanding who
      Jehovah really is and therefore solving the problem
      of evil. So, we will take a few moments to trace the
      development of the New Testament “canon” or
      official list of books. When the Catholic church
      finally had the power of the Roman Empire behind it
      through the Emperor Constantine, those who held
      the Key of Gnosis were ruthlessly hunted down.
      Persecution and pressure to conform to the Catholic
      church or die resulted in their scriptures being seized
      and burned. Thereafter, only writings bearing the
      approval of the Catholic church would officially
      become “scripture” through councils held by the
      Catholic church.

    • 2 years ago
  • kjoknoswazzup
    • 0
      kjoknoswazzup  
    • jubal:

      Jubal, I'm not a fanatic. I'm a very bright woman who can defend her faith in Jesus Christ. But geez. One thing at a time. You're not exactly presenting me with questions/issues in a formal way. You're blurting out all kinds of information that is on about 10 different subjects.

    • 2 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • jubal:

      Ok I will concede that you are a bright woman who is trying to defend her faith in Jesus Christ. I admire your tenacity. But you have not taken the time, as you posted on another thread, to research your faith with an open mind. At least it doesn't seem evident when you relish the thought of people being punished in hell for disagreeing with your point of view. That is why I called you a fanatic. For if you had truly studied the bible you would have also studied the Etymology of the words: the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic.

      Many translations have been incorrect and then compounded by the deliberate changing of texts. Do you honestly think that your Evangelical bible is any different than the Catholic version? Not by much I can assure you. The Catholic Church is the mother and all the Protestant denominations are her children, including the Jehovah Witnesses and the 7th Day Adventists. The Catholic Church wrote the bible and only their official version is used to be translated into the 50 or more different versions.

      What you need to realize is the John's prophecy of the "abomination sitting in a Holy place" has already occurred when Constantine declared himself Pope and turned Catholicism into the mandatory religion of the Roman Empire. That is why it was called the Holy Roman Empire. That is when the church officially became the Great Harlot who gets drunk on wine from the blood of the Saints.

      In the first century, true Christianity was Gnosis (pronounced know-sis) and it was the key to understanding the existence of evil and the true identity of the God of Israel. However, these early Gnostic Christians were persecuted and forced to go underground because their truth threatened the security of the Empire.

      If you want to learn more I would be happy to share, but I am not going to fight with you over beliefs. If you want to have an ethical debate then I am willing to engage. No more insults or innuendos.

    • 2 years ago
  • kjoknoswazzup
    • 0
      kjoknoswazzup  

    • The different names for Yahweh connect to the Hebrew language. They each represent a different aspect of Yahweh's character. They aren't different Gods.

      Here's the link to that information I posted above:

      http://www.missiontoisrael.org/sacred-name.php

      Personally I get a kick out of the fact that the whole world will bow down to a Jew. Ironic, eh? Can't wait to see your face on that day.

    • 2 years ago
  • kjoknoswazzup
    • 0
      kjoknoswazzup  
    • kjoknoswazzup:

      The Savior’s Name
      The Savior’s given Hebrew name is Yeshua (pronounced yay-shoo'-ah) – an abbreviated English transliteration of the Hebrew Yehoshua. Although Jesus is a legitimate English transliteration of the Greek Iesous, please consider the following seven reasons for using Yeshua instead of either Jesus or Iesous.

      Yeshua Is His Given Name
      The Savior, born a Hebrew by a Hebrew mother and reared by a Hebrew father, was given a Hebrew name. That Yeshua was His given name is demonstrated in the book of Acts. In only three New Testament passages do we find the Son introducing Himself. Acts 9 provides the first instance in the account of the Apostle Paul’s conversion. The second and third instances are found in Acts 22 and 26, wherein Paul recounted the same event. Acts 26 informs us of the language in which the Savior chose to introduce Himself to Paul:

      ...I [Paul] heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue.... And I said, Who are thou, Lord? And He said, I am Yeshua.... (Acts 26:14-15)
      Although the name Jesus is found in our English Bibles, nowhere do we have biblical record of our Savior using either this name or Iesous to introduce Himself. Both Iesous and Jesus can be legitimately used as accurate Greek and English transliterations of His name, but they are not His given name, nor the name He used to introduce Himself. If we wish to honor Him and follow His example, we will use His given Hebrew name, Yeshua.

    • 2 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
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    • kjoknoswazzup:

      You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lied, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

      Murderer from the beginning? Hmmm, could Jesus be talking about the Garden of Eden? Who was the father God in the story? He was the murderer? Then who was the Serpent?

      The Serpent didn't lie, Adam and Eve didn't immediately die, and they did become like God; knowing good and evil. Who put the tree of death in the garden? What loving parent would put their children in a garden with a poisonous fruit bearing tree in it?

      Yes that is correct, a murderous parent, yes that is absolutely true.

      The Serpent was telling the truth. She was sent by the Loving God to help Eve overcome her fear and to be set free through the knowledge of her self.

    • 2 years ago
  • kjoknoswazzup
    • 0
      kjoknoswazzup  
    • kjoknoswazzup:

      Jubal,

      Yeshua died for your sins too. You too needed salvation. He died for mankind. Do not take his words out of context. I know you are a smart man and you are capable of thinking through a topic IN context.

    • 2 years ago
  • kjoknoswazzup
    • 0
      kjoknoswazzup  

    • Jubal, here is your email and my response to it (don't send me anymore personally).

      You said:

      "Yahweh is another name for Jehovah. This entity from the Old Testament is merely an administrator angel who got a big head and decided he could do a better job of running things on the planet than the God of Love. Jehovah is an impostor god who speaks from the darkness and has no light in him. He merely bends and shapes the light, but he is not the light. The father of light or god of love whatever name works best for you is the true divine being and he sent Jesus to the earth to set people free with the truth. Jesus told the Pharisees, the Jewish leaders and law givers and law protectors that their real father was the devil. That is why they conspired to have him executed. He told them the truth and they couldn't handle the truth. I feel sorry for you and your ignorance blindly following a bloodthirsty, murderous, vindictive and jealous god like Yahweh/Jehovah."

      I say:

      If you truly understood Judeo-Christian Scripture, well, for one you'd get that JESUS WAS A JEW, named Yeshua! Next, you'd understand that Jesus Christ is the incarnation of Yahweh. Jehovah is just another name for Yahweh as is Elohim, etc.

      Yeshua Came in the Name of Yahweh
      Our Savior made known His Father’s name while here on earth:

      I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world…. (John 17:6)
      Had our Savior used either the Greek name Iesous or the English name Jesus, He would not have manifested His Father’s name. But because He was born and introduced Himself with the Hebrew name Yeshua – the name He inherited from His Father – He could accurately say: “I am come in My Father’s name....” (John 5:43)

      In John 12, certain Judahites heralded Yeshua’s entrance into Jerusalem:

      Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the LORD. (John 12:13)
      This salutation is a quotation from Psalm 118:26 in which the title “the LORD” was unlawfully substituted for the Tetragrammaton. When the Tetragrammaton is reinserted, we find that the Israelites in John 12 were proclaiming the Messiah as having come in the name of Yahweh, in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy. Only in the name of Yeshua (Yahweh saves) can it be said that the Savior came in the name of Yahweh.

      Yeshua’s Deity:
      The more consequential reason for using the Hebrew-English spelling and pronunciation of our Heavenly Father’s name and our Savior’s name is that they prove Yeshua’s deity. Had God’s Hebrew name been left intact in the Scriptures, it would be much more difficult for someone to deny the deity of Yeshua.

      Consider the Old Testament prophecies, regarding Yahweh, which were attributed to Yeshua. Whose way was John the Baptist to prepare? Who was to be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver? Whose side was to be pierced? Who was the stone, rejected by the builders, who later became the chief cornerstone? Who was the Branch? Who was the King of Israel? Whose feet were to stand on the Mount of Olives? If your answer to these questions is Jesus, it would be prudent to look again at these prophecies. In all of these prophecies – Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1, 4:5; Zechariah 11:12-13, 12:1, 10; Psalm 118:19-22; Isaiah 8:13-14; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Zephaniah 3:15-17; Zechariah 14:3-4 – Yahweh’s name was removed and replaced with the title “the LORD.” Restore God’s personal name to these passages and it becomes immediately apparent that these prophecies were about Yahweh and were fulfilled in Yeshua.

      Yeshua, the Hebrew name of our Savior, does not describe what some man, prophet, or another god is doing. It expresses what YAHWEH, the GOD of gods, the great I AM, Immanuel, God with us is doing!8

    • 2 years ago
  • jubal
  • kjoknoswazzup
    • 0
      kjoknoswazzup  

    • The Jews and I have something in our favor: Yahweh.

      We're also smarter than every anti-semitic person on the planet, so happy insulting.

      You're just as illogical and ignorant as the people you think you're defending. Might as well stab them in the backs b/c you aren't looking out for them, or us.

    • 2 years ago
  • Highr0ller
  • kjoknoswazzup
    • 0
      kjoknoswazzup  
    • kjoknoswazzup:

      Thank you highroller. I take it as a compliment too when people say to me "you're so Jewish" which is probably true in many aspects since I grew up the minority in a Jewish community. I'm proud of that. I love my Jewish friends and their families and I inherited a Jewish cousin when I was 7 and he was 3, along with a Jewish aunt. So yeah, thanks. I wish a Jewish family would adopt me b/c I'm certainly not like my own relatives (that I hardly know).

    • 2 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  

    • Prophecies are self fulfilling. There is no divine right or justice, only an eye for an eye.

      All I can say is that whatever happens to Israel in the future is their own faults for not showing the same compassion that they themselves demand from the entire world. They will indeed reap what they have sewn and sadly the result will be utter devastation to their own land and their own people.

      Extremists Muslims may be waging a Jihad, but that Jihad is reinforced by Extremists Zionists both Jewish and Christian.

    • 2 years ago
  • kjoknoswazzup
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • jubal:

      kjoknoswazzup

      Hell is the grave, there is no place of eternal fiery torment. You cannot burn something forever. You are an ignorant person who should take the time to get your head our of your arse.

    • 2 years ago
  • kjoknoswazzup
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • jubal:

      Jews demand compassion from the entire world because of the Holocaust. They demand special dispensation such as the creation of a nation of Israel, to have a land of their own, to take what they believe was prophesied to them with impunity, they demand special rights that no other group enjoys. And if anyone is critical of their demands, they immediately label that person as ANTI SEMETIC.

    • 2 years ago
  • kjoknoswazzup
    • 0
      kjoknoswazzup  
    • jubal:

      Jubal, the Holocaust affected more than just Jewish people. Again, you don't really understand all of the concepts behind the Holocaust. You can't just associate it with Jews and Hitler.

      This is just not going anywhere. I will pray for you, Jubal. God will change your heart. I truly believe this.

    • 2 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • Image
    • jubal:

      Look I wasn't born yesterday, I know the estimates of who was affected by the holocaust. Don't try to make me seem ignorant by your assumptions.

      Most people believe the Holocaust was all about the Jews, but it was targeted at anyone who was considered inferior to the Aryan so called race. Hitler was a Christian. He ordered the murder of not only Jews, but also Catholics, Gays, Soviet citizens, and many others.

      From Wiki....

      Some scholars maintain that the definition of the Holocaust should also include the Nazis' systematic murder of millions of people in other groups, including ethnic Poles, the Romani, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, people with disabilities, gay men, and political and religious opponents.[4] By this definition, the total number of Holocaust victims is between 11 million and 17 million people.[5]

    • 2 years ago
  • Highr0ller
    • 0
      Highr0ller [removed]  

    • In response to kjoknoswazzu's last post:

      Amazing the propaganda emitting out of this small new state.............a state started in 1948.....a state that wants Arabs to run away so they can fulfill some old prophesy they say gives them rights to the land of Palestine.

      Wars have not made the people crumble, but they want the Palestinians to melt away into neighbouring Arab nations .....No they won't........

      In your post above you say:
      "America should not be taking in Palestinian refugees, but the 23 Arab Nations that surround tiny Israel, should."

      Oh "tiny Israel" the strongman of the Middle East.

      Oh "tiny Israel" with her amazing aresnal of war weapons....including WHITE PHOSPHEROUS......and specially modified bulldozers for bulldozing houses with terrified children and their parents inside.

      Oh, "tiny Israel" with the hardest hawks in the IDF.....the ones that wore tee shirts featuring dead Palestinian babies on them in celebration of a mass murder that lasted 22 days as late as January 2009.

      Shame on you that you would defend such murderous people.

      ---------------------------------
      Posters profile:
      Kjoknoswazzu Profile:

      kjoknoswazzup
      "The children have to save themselves these days because the parents have no clue...I can only hope that the answers will come to me in my sleep. I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to." RIP: Jiminy Cricket & DavidandGoliath. I think Current deleted you and that makes me sad :(.

      KJOKNOSWAZZI'S MOST RECENT POST IS :

      Top 6 Reasons Why People Hate the Jews It has been said that the history of almost all of the Jewish holidays can be summed up succinctly: "They wanted to kill us; we won. Let's eat." Why has anti-Semitism been so...

    • 2 years ago
  • kjoknoswazzup
    • 0
      kjoknoswazzup  
    • Highr0ller:

      What the hell is your point? The article is written by a rabbi about anti-semitics like you. In fact, I posted it in your honor.

      And that is a quote from my favorite movie, Donnie Darko. You wouldn't get that either b/c you're lame. I am not lame.

      Historians have classified six explanations as to why people hate the Jews:

      1. Economic -- "We hate Jews because they possess too much wealth and power."
      2. Chosen People -- "We hate Jews because they arrogantly claim that they are the chosen people."
      3. Scapegoat -- "Jews are a convenient group to single out and blame for our troubles."
      4. Deicide -- "We hate Jews because they killed Jesus."
      5. Outsiders, -- "We hate Jews because they are different than us." (The dislike of the unlike.)
      6. Racial Theory -- "We hate Jews because they are an inferior race."

      As we examine the explanations, we must ask -- Are they the causes for anti-Semitism or excuses for Anti-Semitism? The difference? If one takes away the cause, then anti-Semitism should no longer exist. If one can show a contradiction to the explanation, it demonstrates that the "cause" is not a reason, it is just an excuse. Let's look at some contradictions:

      1. Economic -- The Jews of 17th- 20th century Poland and Russia were dirt poor, had no influence and yet they were hated.

      2. Chosen People -- a) In the late 19th century, the Jews of Germany denied "Choseness." And then they worked on assimilation. Yet, the holocaust started there. b) Christians and Moslems profess to being the "Chosen people," yet, the world and the anti-Semites tolerate them.

      3. Scapegoat -- Any group must already be hated to be an effective scapegoat. The Scapegoat Theory does not then cause anti-Semitism. Rather, anti-Semitism is what makes the Jews a convenient scapegoat target. Hitler's ranting and ravings would not be taken seriously if he said, "It's the bicycle riders and the midgets who are destroying our society."

      4. Deicide -- a) the Christian Bible says the Romans killed Jesus, though Jews are mentioned as accomplices (claims that Jews killed Jesus came several hundred years later). How come the accomplices are persecuted and there isn't an anti-Roman movement through history? b) Jesus himself said, "Forgive them [i.e., the Jews], for they know not what they do." The Second Vatican Council in 1963 officially exonerated the Jews as the killers of Jesus. Neither statement of Christian belief lessened anti-Semitism.

      5. Outsiders -- With the Enlightenment in the late 18th century, many Jews rushed to assimilate. Anti-Semitism should have stopped. Instead, for example, with the Nazis came the cry, in essence: "We hate you, not because you're different, but because you're trying to become like us! We cannot allow you to infect the Aryan race with your inferior genes."

      6. Racial Theory -- The overriding problem with this theory is that it is self-contradictory: Jews are not a race. Anyone can become a Jew - and members of every race, creed and color in the world have done so at one time or another.

      Every other hated group is hated for a relatively defined reason. We Jews, however, are hated in paradoxes: Jews are hated for being a lazy and inferior race - but also for dominating the economy and taking over the world. We are hated for stubbornly maintaining our separateness - and, when we do assimilate - for posing a threat to racial purity through intermarriages. We are seen as pacifists and as warmongers; as capitalist exploiters and as revolutionary communists; possessed of a Chosen-People mentality, as well as of an inferiority complex. It seems that we just can't win.

      Now we know what are NOT the reasons for anti-Semitism.

      by: Rabbi Kalman Packouz

    • 2 years ago
  • Highr0ller
    • 0
      Highr0ller [removed]  
    • Highr0ller:

      I love the fact that you so kindly posted it in my honour. I did reply to it in the original thread:

      here was my reply:
      Excellent post. I hope you studied it and realize that there has got to be a real reason why they were ousted from so many countries by so many people. Could the Jews really be so lovely that all those millions of people were wrong?

      I merely pose the question........to allow you to take the argument further. Perhaps your Rabbi will assist you in formulating the best response.
      Good luck....I await your response because I sincerely loved this argument. Thank you for sharing it with ALL of us.

    • 2 years ago
  • kjoknoswazzup
    • 0
      kjoknoswazzup  
    • Highr0ller:

      I'm just going to leave this one alone and add you to my enemy prayer list. I'm not the Holy Spirit.

      And I apologize for calling you lame in an artistic context. That was not nice of me and an uncalled for judgment.

    • 2 years ago
  • kjoknoswazzup
    • 0
      kjoknoswazzup  
    • Image

    • Roots of the Gaza Conflict
      By: Nonie Darwish (A Palestinian Arab)
      FrontPageMagazine.com | Thursday, January 08, 2009

      With the explosive current events in Gaza, the world needs to understand the roots of this eternal conflict, otherwise we are all kidding ourselves with hopes of peace.

      For decades, Arabs had demanded that Israel end the "occupation," and in 2005, Israel did so, disengaging unilaterally from Gaza. With their demands met, there was no ‘cycle of violence’ to respond to, no further justification for anything other than peace and prosperity. With its central location and beautiful beaches on the East Mediteranean, a peaceful and prosperous Gaza could have become another Hong Kong; a shining trade and commerce center. But instead of choosing peace, the Palestinians chose Islamic jihad. They rolled their rocket launchers to the border and started bombing Israeli civilians.

      Understanding the reasons why the Palestinians chose violence over peace requires connecting the dots from the behavior of Muslim states back to the laws of Islam: Sharia. Mainstream Sharia books define Jihad as: "to war against non-Muslims to establish the religion." (Shafi’i Sharia o9.0). Jihad is not just the duty of the individual Muslim, but it is also the main duty of the Muslim head of State (the Calipha):

      "The Hour [Resurrection] will not take place until the Muslims fight the Jews, and kill them. And the Jews will hide behind the rock and tree, and the rock and tree will say: oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, this is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!" (Sahih Muslim 41:6985, also Sahih Bukhari 4:52:177)

      This Hadith, issued by Mohammad, makes a whole group of people illegal to exist. It was issued in the 7th century, not after the 1948 creation of the State of Israel. It is not a response to modern-day grievances; it is a permanent commandment.

      Many Muslims claim that Arabs and Jews lived well together for many years before 1948. But that claim ignores the fact that Jews had to live as ‘dhimmies’ under Islamic Law and were never allowed to rule themselves separate of the Islamic Sharia. When Muslims were weak they often treated their dhimmi subjects well and ignored the commandments to kill, subjugate and humiliate them. But Jew hatred is intrinsic to Islamic scriptures that do not permit reformation under the penalty of death.

      This is the real basis of the Arab/Israeli conflict: not a conflict over land or occupation, but a divine obligation to destroy neighboring (non-Muslim) Israel, where Jews are no longer dhimmis but are free to rule themselves. We cannot ignore the root of the problem in Muslim scriptures. That is the true force behind the hate and propaganda Jihadist machine against Jews in the Muslim world.

      The Muslim world must look within to its sacred laws, scriptures, sermons, teaching and preaching, and reform the obstacles for peace that have condemned them to a permanent state of jihad. The non-Muslim world must have no illusions.

      Nonie Darwish is an American of Arab/Muslim origin. A freelance writer and public speaker, she runs the website www.ArabsForIsrael.com. Her new book is Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law.

    • 2 years ago
  • kjoknoswazzup
  • billwatt
    • billwatt  
    • This comment has been hidden for review.
  • billwatt
  • davesarush
  • billwatt
    • 0
      billwatt  
    • billwatt:

      Yeah yeah... I was waiting to confirm it worked and then, well... you know... it was lunch time and all. ;-) I'll give you a couple minutes to see this and then remove it. I promise.

    • 2 years ago
  • Highr0ller
    • 0
      Highr0ller [removed]  
    • Image

    • US takes 1,350 Palestinian refugees
      http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0708/p02s04-...
      The State Department confirmed today that as many as 1,350 Iraqi Palestinians – once the well-treated guests of Saddam Hussein and now at outs with much of Iraqi society – will be resettled in the US, mostly in southern California, starting this fall.

      It will be the largest-ever resettlement of Palestinian refugees into the US – and welcome news to the Palestinians who fled to Iraq after 1948 but who have had a tough time since Mr. Hussein was deposed in 2003. Targeted by Iraqi Shiites, the mostly-Sunni Palestinians have spent recent years in one of the region's roughest refugee camps, Al Waleed, near Iraq's border with Syria.

      "Really for the first time, the United States is recognizing a Palestinian refugee population that could be admitted to the US as part of a resettlement program," says Bill Frelick, refugee policy director at Human Rights Watch in Washington.

      Given the US's past reluctance to resettle Palestinians – it accepted just seven Palestinians in 2007 and nine in 2008 – the effort could ruffle some diplomatic feathers.

      For many in the State Department and international community, the resettlement is part of a moral imperative the US has to clean up the refugee crisis created by invading Iraq. The US has already stepped up resettlement of Iraqis, some who have struggled to adjust to life in America.

      The resettlement of Iraqi Palestinians is "an important gesture for the United States to demonstrate that we're not heartless," says Alon Ben-Meir, a professor of international relations and Middle Eastern studies at New York University.

      But some critics say the State Department is sloughing off its problems onto American cities, especially since in this case the Palestinians were sympathizers of Hussein, who was deposed by the US.

      "This is politically a real hot potato," says Mark Krikorian, director of the conservative Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, adding, "[A]merica has become a dumping ground for the State Department's problems – they're tossing their problems over their head into Harrisburg, Pa., or Omaha, Neb."
      topics: News, Politics, US, Iraq, Palestine + add

    • 2 years ago
  • Highr0ller
  • Highr0ller
    • 0
      Highr0ller [removed]  

    • The pro-Israel bias is reflected in editorials of major newspapers. Robert Bartley, the late editor of the Wall Street Journal, once remarked that, "SHAMIR, SHARON, BIBI -- whatever those guys want is pretty much fine by me."

      refer to link for original source.

    • 2 years ago
  • Highr0ller
  • kjoknoswazzup
    • 0
      kjoknoswazzup  
    • Highr0ller:

      Yeah hating Jews b/c you think they're cheap and rude is a real valid excuse for being Anti-Israel. Again, you won't understand the Jewish people without knowing their history. If your people had suffered a Holocaust as brutal as their people did, and then all the harsh conditions that followed after WW2, you might be a little cliquish too. Now the Muslims want to wipe them off the map. Hitler wanted this too. Look what he managed to do. Why wouldn't the Jewish people take death threats seriously? Also, Hamas kills it's own people by using them as human shields. Why aren't you up in arms about that? Why do people complain about such piddly things when it comes to the Jews, but the Muslims can engage in suicide bombs and it doesn't bring out half the passion in some people as a Jew and money. For crying out loud. What is wrong with your heart?

    • 2 years ago
  • Highr0ller
    • 0
      Highr0ller [removed]  

    • This line from the Jewish man:
      "I grew up believing that a people who had no land were given a land that had no people."

      The sad reality is that the land they were given had people.................the Palestinian people lived there. From day one the Jews set out to exterminate them........and to this day they are expanding and expanding (stealing land and building on it.....the great euphemism is "settlements").
      Why do they call occupying stolen land "settlements".............when a thief takes your house or vineyard and occupies it anywhere else in the world it is not called a "settlement"..................here in Ireland we'd have recourse to the law and could claim it back in court. Of course the illegitimate government of Israel does not recognize international law, and is more often in breach of international law than observing it. Sometimes Israelis bulldozed the houses to get rid of the occupants.....and if the Palestinian occupants of the house did not flee they bulldozed the house with the occupants inside.

      I know....I know......there are those of you out there who will cry fowl.........those of you who will have been "taught" growing up that Palestine was a land wiythout people....."taught" that the Palestinians sold you the land .....but...YOU ALL HAVE A DUTY TO SEE THE TRUTH.

      How horrid you are as a Zionist nation to kill little children and their parents in your lust for land. How horrid you are as a Zionist nation to picnic on the hills overlooking Gaza as the population were killed systematically for 22 days this year.................and you picnicked and delighted in the human suffering.

      You have control of the American government through AIPAC lobby, and you have funds from the American taxpayer ($3billion per annum) to continue killing and destroying members of the human race, and through your woprldwide investment in mainstream media you hide your crime behind a flood of propaganda.

      continued in next post.

    • 2 years ago
  • kjoknoswazzup
    • 0
      kjoknoswazzup  
    • Highr0ller:

      I am sorry to see how deceived you are on this subject. You've got it all backwards. You need to educate yourself on the Jewish Diaspora because there's a few centuries of history you're missing so I don't understand how you feel at peace with your invalid conclusions.

      "The Jewish state comes to an end in 70 AD, when the Romans begin to actively drive Jews from the home they had lived in for over a millenium. But the Jewish Diaspora ("diaspora" ="dispersion, scattering") had begun long before the Romans had even dreamed of Judaea...."

      http://wsu.edu/~dee/HEBREWS/DIASPORA.HTM

      America should not be taking in Palestinian refugees, but the 23 Arab Nations that surround tiny Israel, should. This country is getting more unstable by the day, thus, that would not be a wise move. And as history has proven, give the Muslim people an inch, and they want a mile. You'll see.

      I'm not saying I want them harmed, but I am saying, I don't think America can be everyones Savior. Also, the majority of Palestinians hate America. When I was in Bethlehem, they were parading up and down the street chanting "DESTROY AMERICA!" Don't think they won't be working for the radical Muslims even though they live in the U.S. What then? Think through the consequences that can be easily predicted by studying history and REALLY paying attention to current events. Don't just jump onto the popular political bandwagon.

    • 2 years ago
  • Bren589
    • 0
      Bren589  

    • These students should be able to go where ever they want to get their education. Just another form of control. Israel one day you will pay for all you have done. The world will make sure of that.

    • 2 years ago
  • kjoknoswazzup
  • Bren589
  • kjoknoswazzup
    • 0
      kjoknoswazzup  
    • Bren589:

      "Israel one day you will pay for all you have done."

      Wow. That's a pretty strong "opinion". Hope you really know what you're talking about. I realize there are very few Jews living in Trailer Parks. Feel free to read the information I post so that you can be educated.

      I wouldn't even wish destruction onto the Muslim people as you have done on the Jewish people. I read and research and think and analyze why I believe what I believe. I state with 99% confidence that the same is not true for you.

      I am not a vicious person. However, I have no tolerance for anti-Semitic Jew-hating people such as yourself. They don't deserve the hatred nor does the world need to suffer the consequences that will come about, in time, when the anti-Semitics get their wishes granted. It sucks that those who aren't like you, will also have to suffer.

    • 2 years ago
  • WorldPeaceTV
    • 0
      WorldPeaceTV  

    • The destruction we saw from the December and January assault was severe. In addition to bombed-out schools, hospitals, police and fire stations and of course homes, we saw destroyed cement factories among the ruins. So Gaza can no longer make its own cement; but today not one bag of cement is allowed into Gaza through the Egyptian or Israeli crossings. Most other items continue to be forbidden as well. Families whose homes were bombed now must live in bare tents, without even cots.

      We must do more to get both sides to stop the hostilities. What Israel is doing in Gaza is horrible beyond any words that I can express. So that we can all live in a more peaceful world, there must be a just resolution to the Israel/Palestine conflict. The killing must stop. Peace with justice must reign in our world.

      Since Hamas won the 2006 elections, the Israelis have laid siege against Gaza. We in the United States have provided the wherewithal for this campaign. From 2003 to 2007 our aid to Israel averaged $2.8 billion per year. We must help to terminate these violations of international law, not encourage their persistence.

      Our media is not sending us true accounts of what is happening in Gaza. It is hard to believe that if politicians actually saw what is going on there, they would continue to fund Israel’s military actions in Gaza. I was horrified to see bomb fragments that were clearly connected to the United States. Our tax money helped to fund the devastation of Gaza.

      What can Americans do to change this? Encourage elected officials and others to travel to Gaza to discover what the area is really like; and be sure they talk to ordinary people who hope to lead ordinary lives but suffer attacks and privations. We must let our representatives know that we do not want our money to continue to support a government that attacks and kills civilians. We do not want our government to support a government that traumatizes and embitters the lives of survivors and a new generation. The continued hostilities directed toward Gaza undermine any hope of stability in the Middle East and the world.

      Ravitz is a Lower East Side resident living on Grand St. and member of Community Board 3. She visited Gaza in May at the invitation of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza with the assistance of Code Pink: Women for Peace.

    • 2 years ago
  • WorldPeaceTV
    • 0
      WorldPeaceTV  

    • Israeli pressure is shrinking the actual area available to the people of the Gaza Strip further. I met fishermen who fear the Israeli gunboats because they are kidnapped and shot at while trying to make a living. These kidnapped fishermen are either taken to Israeli jails or returned to Gaza with their equipment and boats ruined.

      The Palestinian farmers are in a similar situation. The Israelis recently built automated (without soldiers) watchtowers along the border that open up when activated and fire machine guns toward Gaza, killing people. The week before I arrived in Gaza, the Israelis dropped fliers on communities near the borders, telling the people that they would be shot at if they were within 300 meters, or nearly a fifth of a mile, from the borders. Gaza is about 25 miles long and between 3 and 7 miles wide. A million and a half people live in this small land. The new no-man’s-land Israel has created further reduces the area for living and farming in Gaza.

      While in Gaza I met with an organization of young college students and recent graduates. Many youths had to forfeit scholarships to study abroad because they were not allowed to exit via either the Egyptian or the Israeli borders to use those scholarships. They asked us to put them in contact with young people around the world. Since they are barred from studying abroad, they hope to reach out to people from the outside world.

    • 2 years ago
  • WorldPeaceTV
    • 0
      WorldPeaceTV  

    • Israeli pressure is shrinking the actual area available to the people of the Gaza Strip further. I met fishermen who fear the Israeli gunboats because they are kidnapped and shot at while trying to make a living. These kidnapped fishermen are either taken to Israeli jails or returned to Gaza with their equipment and boats ruined. The Palestinian farmers are in a similar situation. The Israelis recently built automated (without soldiers) watchtowers along the border that open up when activated and fire machine guns toward Gaza, killing people. The week before I arrived in Gaza, the Israelis dropped fliers on communities near the borders, telling the people that they would be shot at if they were within 300 meters, or nearly a fifth of a mile, from the borders. Gaza is about 25 miles long and between 3 and 7 miles wide. A million and a half people live in this small land. The new no-man’s-land Israel has created further reduces the area for living and farming in Gaza.

      While in Gaza I met with an organization of young college students and recent graduates. Many youths had to forfeit scholarships to study abroad because they were not allowed to exit via either the Egyptian or the Israeli borders to use those scholarships. They asked us to put them in contact with young people around the world. Since they are barred from studying abroad, they hope to reach out to people from the outside world.

      The destruction we saw from the December and January assault was severe. In addition to bombed-out schools, hospitals, police and fire stations and of course homes, we saw destroyed cement factories among the ruins. So Gaza can no longer make its own cement; but today not one bag of cement is allowed into Gaza through the Egyptian or Israeli crossings. Most other items continue to be forbidden as well. Families whose homes were bombed now must live in bare tents, without even cots.

      We must do more to get both sides to stop the hostilities. What Israel is doing in Gaza is horrible beyond any words that I can express. So that we can all live in a more peaceful world, there must be a just resolution to the Israel/Palestine conflict. The killing must stop. Peace with justice must reign in our world.

      Since Hamas won the 2006 elections, the Israelis have laid siege against Gaza. We in the United States have provided the wherewithal for this campaign. From 2003 to 2007 our aid to Israel averaged $2.8 billion per year. We must help to terminate these violations of international law, not encourage their persistence.

      Our media is not sending us true accounts of what is happening in Gaza. It is hard to believe that if politicians actually saw what is going on there, they would continue to fund Israel’s military actions in Gaza. I was horrified to see bomb fragments that were clearly connected to the United States. Our tax money helped to fund the devastation of Gaza.

      What can Americans do to change this? Encourage elected officials and others to travel to Gaza to discover what the area is really like; and be sure they talk to ordinary people who hope to lead ordinary lives but suffer attacks and privations. We must let our representatives know that we do not want our money to continue to support a government that attacks and kills civilians. We do not want our government to support a government that traumatizes and embitters the lives of survivors and a new generation. The continued hostilities directed toward Gaza undermine any hope of stability in the Middle East and the world.

      Ravitz is a Lower East Side resident living on Grand St. and member of Community Board 3. She visited Gaza in May at the invitation of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza with the assistance of Code Pink: Women for Peace.

    • 2 years ago
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