By Vic RosenthalÂ
A group calling itself ‘Independent Jewish Voices’ has made a splash today in the Guardian and elsewehere calling on UK Jews to disavow pro-Israel statements made by the British ‘Jewish establishment’, personified by Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.
Here are some statements made by Palestinians about the fighting in Gaza, quoted by Khaled abu Toameh in the Jerusalem Post:
“Everyone here is disgusted by what’s happening in the Gaza Strip,” said Shireen Atiyeh, a 30-year-old mother of three working in one of the Palestinian Authority ministries. “We are telling the world that we don’t deserve a state because we are murdering each other and destroying our universities, colleges, mosques and hospitals. Today I’m ashamed to say that I’m a Palestinian.”
Hafez Barghouti, editor of the PA-funded daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, said he was concerned that the fighting would tarnish the image of the Palestinians. “Tens of millions of people now look at us as worthless gangsters with no values,” he complained.
[Mahmoud Habash said] “The world is watching how the Palestinians are destroying their institutions and achievements with their own hands. They see how we are mercilessly slaughtering innocent people. We are losing the sympathy of the world. I’m afraid the world will now view us differently.”
Political analyst Ikrimah Thabet said: “…the bloody events have caused enormous damage to the reputation of the Palestinians, especially in light of the filthy and painful violence that has claimed the lives of children, activists, leaders and innocent civilians.”
Suddenly they are ashamed of murder. “The world will now view [them] differently” because they have taken a break from killing Jews and are now killing Arabs. The Palestinian image has been tarnished.
This is really breathtaking. It shows their one-sided understanding of what has been going on until now. It explains why one never heard expressions of conscience or regret for Arab terrorism against Jews. Sure, from time to time a Palestinian will say that their activities are ‘not productive’ or ‘not good for the cause’, the way Abbas spoke against the Kassam bombardment or Sari Nusseibeh deplored suicide bombings. But never, ever have we heard even a whisper of moral condemnation of the most horrible killings of Israeli “children, activists, leaders and innocent civilians.”
Shireen Atiyeh is correct, they don’t deserve a state.
Technorati Tags: Palestinians, Gaza, Palestinian civil war
By Vic Rosenthal (updated 4 Feb, again 5 Feb)
Recently I was discussing the really outrageous beliefs that are common in the Muslim world, like the opinion that the Mossad and/or Bush Administration perpetrated 9/11. It was suggested that Muslim society, not having experienced the Enlightenment period as the West did, did not absorb the same concept of objective scientific or historical truth into everyday thought. So, when faced with the coercive power of modern media, Muslims did not apply the same kind of critical analysis that Westerners might.
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah made some instructive comments recently:
On the topic of kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, Nasrallah [said] that the organization chose to conduct the action as part of an ongoing struggle against the continued incarceration of Lebanese prisoners inside Israeli jails, and the continued Israeli occupation of Shaba Farms…
“Iran assists the organization with money, weapons, and training, motivated by a religious fraternity and ethnic solidarity,” Nasrallah said. “And the help is funneled through Syria, and everybody knows it.”
When Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, the UN adjudicated the Lebanese/Israeli border and decided that the 10 square mile Shebaa Farms area originally belonged to Syria, and was part of the Golan heights. Hezbollah says that it belongs to Lebanon, to support its claim that Israel continues to occupy Lebanese territory and to justify its attacks on Israel.
As far as Lebanese prisoners in Israel, they are talking about multiple murderer Samir Kuntar about whom I’ve written before.
These issues are transparent pretexts for Hezbollah’s continued terrorism. Note that there is no connection here with Palestinian human rights or any of the usual rationalizations that may appeal to liberal Westerners. The reason is simply pure hatred for Israel and a desire to remove the Jewish presence from the Middle East, motivations clearly shared by the governments of Iran and Syria.
Technorati Tags: Hezbollah, Nasrallah, Israel, Iran, Syria, Shabaa Farms, Kuntar
More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in internal violence since Hamas, which rejects Israel’s right to exist, won parliamentary elections a year ago and wrested power from Fatah, which advocates peacemaking with the Jewish state.
On Friday alone, the day’s death toll reached 17, including four children, and more than 200 people were wounded. Casualties were so high that hospitals ran out of ambulances to transport the dead and wounded, and blood supplies were running low.
In Washington, the so-called Quartet of Mideast negotiators met on Friday to explore ways to jump-start peacemaking between Israel and Abbas despite the latest round of Palestinian factional violence.
”There’s simply no reason to avoid the subject of how we get to a Palestinian state,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after meeting with foreign ministers from the European Union, United Nations and Russia.
Er, Condi, could you repeat that please?
