Sadr: Kill US Troops for Gaza;
Rockets Hit Israel from Lebanon;
Heavy Israeli Bombardment of Gaza
Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on Iraqis to kill US troops in Iraq in revenge for the Israeli assault on the people of Gaza. "I call upon the honest Iraqi resistance to carry out revenge operations against the great accomplice of the Zionist enemy,"
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki from Baghdad attacked the international community for its silence in the face of what he called Israeli brutality, and he put pressure on Jordan, Egypt and Turkey (without naming them) to break off diplomatic relations with Israel.
Tens of thousands of Shiite Iraqis staged processions in Karbala and elsewhere in mourning for Imam Husayn, the martyred grandson of the Prophet. Some were shouting, "Every Day is Ashura and every land is Karbala." This is a revolutionary slogan and likely referred at least in part to the oppression of the Gazans. The crowds were also doing behind the scenes politicking with regard to the Jan. 30 provincial elections, according to McClatchy.
At least three and perhaps five rockets were fired from southern Lebanon into northern Israel on Thursday morning, wounding 4 Israelis.
Cont'd
One rocket landed in Nahariya north of Haifa. Israel said it had returned precision artillery fire on the source of the rockets, but Lebanese sources said that Israeli shells landed in fields. Aljazeera is saying that the Israelis deny that the rockets likely came from Hizbullah, and that Hizbullah is also denying they are pursuing such actions, saying they are "not useful at this time." The implication is that a Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon developed this capabiiity. Anyway, obviously the potential is there for the Gaza War to be widened if it goes on much longer.
The intrepid Borzou Daragahi reports from Beirut that it is thought a little unlikely that Hizbullah would drag Lebanon into a war ahead of May's pivotal parliamentary elections.
Nor do the Israelis seem eager to press the issue. Militarily, Israel has plenty of spare fighter jets and bombs for Lebanon in addition to Gaza. But opening a second front would increase the international pressure on Israel to pursue a ceasefire. They seem to want to go on bombing and shelling Gaza for another week or so, and may not want to risk more bad publicity by starting up with Lebanon.
After what they called a "humanitarian pause," the Israeli military began intensive bombardment again of Gaza on Wednesday.
Workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza say they have gone into houses and discovered horrific scenes of corpses, and of living children still next to the body of their mother. Physicians in Gaza are convince that the official death and casualty totals for this military operation are gross underestimates, and that there are lots of buildings with undiscovered corpses in them alongside orphaned children.
The The Minister of Justice at the Vatican, Cardinal Renato Martino, said Wednesday, "Defenceless populations are always the ones who pay . . . Look at the conditions in Gaza: more and more, it resembles a big concentration camp."
Since the Gazans are trapped in Gaza and cannot leave, and since some important proportion of them is denied by this condition enough food to avoid malnutrition, I'd say "concentration camp" is about right.
posted by Juan Cole @ 1/08/2009 12:42:00 AM
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For help in grasping the import of what Israel is now doing in Gaza, the Greeks have foresightedly provided this metaphoric figure:
"Nemesis (in Greek, ???????), also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia ("the goddess of Rhamnous"), at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon, in Greek mythology was the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris, vengeful fate personified as a remorseless goddess. The name Nemesis is related to the Greek word ???????, meaning 'to give what is due'."
Wikipedia, at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemesis_(mythology)
concentration camp
They have re-created in Gaza the Warsaw Ghetto
(minus the amenities...)
is it any wonder why the muslim population hate america , our weapons, money are destroying them,why do we support israel
Excellent commentary as always. I found this article via the Clipmarks service. In it this quote jumped to my attention:
By unilaterally surrendering Gaza, Israel has seized the initiative, and bought itself international goodwill and time.
"We were stuck, so we decided to change the strategic equation," explained an Israeli general. Whatever the talk about the "road map to peace", after withdrawing from Gaza, there will be little pressure on Israel to negotiate on Jerusalem or anything else. The onus will be on the Palestinians to prove to the world that they can run Gaza. The Israelis will sit back and wait for them to mess it up. If the Palestinian Authority fails to stop Hamas from lobbing missiles into Israel, or if the factions fight among themselves in Gaza, creating a "failed state" before there is any Palestinian state at all, it will be more reason for Israel not to negotiate.
http://www.newstatesman.com/200508150009
So while Hamas use of rockets it's militarily insignificant and gives a thin cover for the IDF to continue it's offensive, we see that old settlement king Sharon's reach is long even at the very edge of the grave.
What's the difference between Gaza and the Warsaw Ghetto? That Israel would do this to another people is shameful.
I'm so encouraged that both Hezbollah and Israel seem to be showing some restraint, neither side eager to start a new war.
Every time I make the concentration camp analogy, someone always seems to call me an anti-semite
Sixty three years ago the U.S.A. put concentration camps out of business, liberated their surviving inmates. Today we aid and abet the massacre of the inmates of the concentration camp called Gaza. Measures of our depravity - of what we've become - don't come any more damning.
Question: Although Israel's international image was tarnished by its 2006 war in Lebanon, isn't that successful action the blueprint for the current one in Gaza? Through military force, Israel neutralized Hezbollah as a military threat (despite the recent minor rocketing).
I think they're planning on the same result with Gaza: Neutralize Hamas as a military threat (however temporarily), with no concrete political consequences from the international community. A powerful pariah nation doesn't care about its image (a la Bush and crew).
Meanwhile, the Israeli civilians act like Americans, culturally, when it come to bloodletting OTHER people:
"No, no, no," he said. "We should be hitting the greenhouses." - Israelis Watch the Fighting in Gaza ... They Come With Binoculars and Lawn Chairs
McCutchen said... "Every time I make the concentration camp analogy, someone always seems to call me an anti-Semite"
The last time I compared Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto (last year sometime) my comment here was moderated into non-existence.
SEE! Things change.
Maybe this time no one will tag you an anti-Semite, although it is notable that the whole darn right-wing of Israeli blogging society watches this site closely...
They'll get an eyeful of what an American Jew thinks if they peruse the link from my other comment to this posting.
What the 2006 attack on Lebanon proved was that Israel can best neutralize opponents by helping them enter the political process. This is what 'neutralized' Hezbollah.
The lesson to be learned is opposite to the one the Israeli government seems to have taken from it. The Israeli gvt. seems to have assumed that if military madness had ultimately a good effect re. Lebanon, they should pour it on heavier to 'fix' Gaza. The lesson they should have learned is that there are other ways to help opponents enter the political process other than mind-boggelingly brutal military actions.
Re. concentration camps - we need to be aware that death camps and concentration camps are not the same thing. Dachau was a concentration camp. Auschwitz was a death camp.
Anonymous said... Sixty three years ago the U.S.A. put concentration camps out of business, liberated their surviving inmates.
And shortly after that, the federal bureaucrat responsible for the Japanese internments nationwide was appointed to head the US Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Go figure.
I think that Hizbullah's restraint deserves further thought and comment. Since they have become a recognized political entity in Lebanon, they now have much less of an incentive to engage in cross-border conflicts. They have too much to lose. Their political engagement is de-radicalizing them.
I don't think it's a leap at all to suggest that the same process would have occurred with Hamas if they had been recognized as the legitimate victor in the 2006 elections.
I think as well that the Israeli right-wing knows this to be true, which is why it is obvious that their aim all along was to go down the road of violent conflict, else they are forced to comprise in peace.
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