Avi Shlaim: How Israel brought Gaza to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe

News Type: Event — Seeded on Wed Jan 7, 2009 1:12 PM EST

Article Source: Guardian Unlimited

world-news, israel, gaza, hamas, poverty, aggression, life-imprisonment, dead-children, humanitarian-catastrophe, israel-hamas-conflict, land-rights-issues, poverty-mentality

Seeded by analog ninja

This is an apt summation from the article: "To use the Biblical phrase, Israel turned the people of Gaza into the hewers of wood and the drawers of water, into a source of cheap labour and a captive market for Israeli goods. The development of local industry was actively impeded so as to make it impossible for the Palestinians to end their subordination to Israel and to establish the economic underpinnings essential for real political independence."

Of course we have already heard the terrific pleas from the Israeli Hawks on Gaza, here is one reaching writ of pathos by Bibi Netanyahu, "Imagine a siren that gives you 30 seconds to find shelter before a Kassam rocket falls from the sky and explodes, spraying its lethal shrapnel in all directions. Now imagine this happens day after day, month after month, year after year."

Which strangely enough all US Congresspersons, regardless of party affiliation, have been repeating endlessly when given the chance. As the troops push through Gaza and the quest for Hamas turns into one dead child after another, one has to seriously demand for this action to cease; by of course griping over the phone in email or writing to one's congressional representatives.
In any event, this article by Prof Shlaim of Oxford, ex-Israeli military, provides astute historical analysis of this on-going international crisis.

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2.7

{"commentId":4702319,"authorDomain":"charles4000"}

analog ninja

Disgusting.

Getting back to Bibi's comments on the "hundreds of thousands" threatened daily, one had to wonder if he considers that most people living in urban areas, at least in the US, are typically dealing with three or more deadly foes at once, including being shot or stabbed, run over by a bus, getting hit by a cab, etc, getting shot by police as they are shooting at someone else, people doing target practice in the adjacent brownfield, or getting hit by ice falling from skyscrapers. Phfftttp!

Another analysis from Huff Post writer Nancy Kanwisher, explicitly and marvelously demonstrates how in effect the truce was working and that several instances of Israeli violence on Gazan re-ignited the rocket attacks last year. Quote,"what happened to end this striking period of peace? On November 4th, Israel killed a Palestinian, an event that was followed by a volley of mortars fired from Gaza. Immediately after that, an Israeli air strike killed six more Palestinians. Then a massive barrage of rockets was unleashed, leading to the end of the ceasefire."

{"commentId":4702319,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"charles4000"}

3 votes

#1 - Wed Jan 7, 2009 1:31 PM EST

{"commentId":4703475,"authorDomain":"cyregray"}

cyregray

Its strange to see the deaths of so many written off or justified. Especially when it comes to the children... I've seen Zio-apologista's say, "It's a war, children die in war too..." as if that somehow makes it acceptable. The conversive thinking on display really makes me sick, especially when I look at the pictures.

{"commentId":4703475,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"cyregray"}

3 votes

#1.1 - Wed Jan 7, 2009 2:36 PM EST

{"commentId":4705125,"authorDomain":"charles4000"}

analog ninja

thanks for the link, truly disturbing, haunting pictures. war is insanity, to bring total war on this population is unconscionable.

{"commentId":4705125,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"charles4000"}

1 vote

#1.2 - Wed Jan 7, 2009 4:07 PM EST

{"commentId":4713130,"authorDomain":"meaggregator"}

T.J. Neruda

Thanks analog ninja, the link to Huffington Post is very revealing, and the data is helpful to have handy given the constant accusations that the reason the people of Israel have had to contend with rockets fired into their territory is completely and solely the fault of Hamas.

{"commentId":4713130,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"meaggregator"}

1 vote

#1.3 - Thu Jan 8, 2009 9:23 AM EST

{"commentId":4715497,"authorDomain":"charles4000"}

analog ninja

Cheers T.J., i agree that the data presented in the Huf Post article is instructive in defining this crisis beyond the typical rhetorical mish-mash.

{"commentId":4715497,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"charles4000"}

1 vote

#1.4 - Thu Jan 8, 2009 11:58 AM EST

{"commentId":4715966,"authorDomain":"alinchuk"}

Israeli-788616

cyregray,

HAMAS uses children and women as human shields! they hide and lunch rockets from hospitals, kindergardens etc to gain world's symphaty, to tell the world "you see, the cruel Israelis kill innocent children"… if children get killed it's only HAMAS to blame!

{"commentId":4715966,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"alinchuk"}

1 vote

#1.5 - Thu Jan 8, 2009 12:22 PM EST

{"commentId":4720397,"authorDomain":"charles4000"}

analog ninja

Look's like there is not that much room to run in Gaza. The collateral from these operations is scandalous, that much is certain.

{"commentId":4720397,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"charles4000"}

2 votes

#1.6 - Thu Jan 8, 2009 4:08 PM EST

{"commentId":4736815,"authorDomain":"cyregray"}

cyregray

#'d Israeli - That's conversive thinking. You remove all responsibility for the crime from your government when their the ones firing weapons.

In fact, I also find it amusing your tote your citizenship with your handle and you've only been a member since last month. Did you join newsvine specifically to discuss Israeli war crimes in Gaza or do you have multiple accounts?

{"commentId":4736815,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"cyregray"}

3 votes

#1.7 - Fri Jan 9, 2009 2:37 PM EST

{"commentId":4747932,"authorDomain":"alinchuk"}

Israeli-788616

i joined especially to discuss this issue, no multiple accounts.

tell me, what would you do if your neighbour would lunch at you rockets and trying to kill you and your family, and then hide behind his family, would you sit and do nothing and wait until he exterminares you and your loved ones?

did you know that HAMAS has been lunching rockets at Israeli citizens for 8 years without getting any response? thousands of kids live under a constant threat, on a daily basis.

Israel drops warnings before bombing, so that citizens have time to escape, but HAMAS instead of protecting their kids, hide rockets behind them, so no wounder why innocent children are being killed. is it Israel's fault that they don't value their lives?

{"commentId":4747932,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"alinchuk"}

1 vote

#1.8 - Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:41 AM EST

{"commentId":4707393,"authorDomain":"joeesposito"}

Joe Esposito

This isn't a war. This is an occupied territory fighting back against it's opressor, and they're losing.

{"commentId":4707393,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"joeesposito"}

3 votes

#2 - Wed Jan 7, 2009 6:38 PM EST

{"commentId":4707959,"authorDomain":"charles4000"}

analog ninja

the concept at work here is total war. clearly the oppressor state has the upper hand and is exercising its strength at will, with unconscionable acts against the civilian population.

{"commentId":4707959,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"charles4000"}

2 votes

#2.1 - Wed Jan 7, 2009 7:24 PM EST

{"commentId":4722188,"authorDomain":"puckishpixie"}

Apples

This is not an occupied country. For years these people have done nothing but enact terrorism on Israeli civilians. Israel has responded by pulling out of Gaza and the West bank, which still did not stop the rockets and suicide bombers. Israel has responded with an embargo, which is significantly more peaceful than militarization, in an attempt to stop the terror- to no avail. This is the next logical step against a rogue nation who responds only to violence.

For those people who comment that the people in Gaza are imprisioned, I would disagree. They are unfortunately locked between two countries who want to deny them entrance (the right of any country) and an ocean. While that is not the fault of Gazans, geography is not the fault of Israel and Egypt either. If Canadians started lobbing rockets over to the U.S., we wouldn't allow free crossing of Canadians into the U.S. either. The simple answer remains. Stop acting like terrorists and Israel can stop treating you like terrorists.

{"commentId":4722188,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"puckishpixie"}

1 vote

#2.2 - Thu Jan 8, 2009 5:56 PM EST

{"commentId":4723152,"authorDomain":"charles4000"}

analog ninja

Look, most of what you said has already been repeated endlessly by Israeli and US War Hawks, and we could parse hairs as to what defines imprisonment, but Im pretty sure that the article makes it quite clear that there are certain realities on the ground in Gaza that are indeed a humanitarian catastrophe.
Also it is specious to make "what if" comments with regards to actual crisis that are on-going, lets leave the simulations for another day.

{"commentId":4723152,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"charles4000"}

2 votes

#2.3 - Thu Jan 8, 2009 7:10 PM EST

{"commentId":4726814,"authorDomain":"puckishpixie"}

Apples

The reality is that Human and Palastinians have persisted in created a humanitarian castastrope for years in Israel. This is simple really, stop trying to cause the deaths of innocent Israeli civilians and they won't need to go door to door to get rid of the weapons.

{"commentId":4726814,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"puckishpixie"}

#2.4 - Fri Jan 9, 2009 1:20 AM EST

{"commentId":4723991,"authorDomain":"charles4000"}

analog ninja

And the story continues in the Guardian with this story from today detailing how Human Rights Watch calling Israel on using white phosphorus air burst shells as a weapon. A slight detail about the on going conflict that the aforelinked article points out, "The use of white phosphorus as a weapon - as opposed to its use as a smokescreen - is banned by the third convention on conventional weapons."

So we have ongoing levels of denial and culpability, please take a gander at the linked article because if this is a proxy war that has the potential to escalate, despite whatever resolutions the UN makes.

Subsequently, the protestselicited from both the Red Cross and the UN aid agencies over Israeli hindrance of their operations underlies the precipice that could be approaching if this conflict does indeed spill over into Lebanon and beyond.

{"commentId":4723991,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"charles4000"}

3 votes

#3 - Thu Jan 8, 2009 8:15 PM EST

{"commentId":4736867,"authorDomain":"cyregray"}

cyregray

It really is odd to see the Zio-apologista continue to rant "Hams is to blame!" ad nauseum when the facts on the ground indicate quite the opposite.

{"commentId":4736867,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"cyregray"}

2 votes

#3.1 - Fri Jan 9, 2009 2:40 PM EST

{"commentId":4738181,"authorDomain":"charles4000"}

analog ninja

its really quite pathetic in my humbles...

{"commentId":4738181,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"charles4000"}

1 vote

#3.2 - Fri Jan 9, 2009 3:41 PM EST

{"commentId":4741146,"authorDomain":"charles4000"}

analog ninja

More word today from GuardianUK on Israelis potentially criminal acts of shelling a house where they knew Palestinians were seeking shelter. This is because the Israeli military itself sent the civilians into the house as a shelter from action. This incident occurred in the town of Zeitoun and repeats the tragic refrain of the past several days, most of the dead were children.

{"commentId":4741146,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"charles4000"}

2 votes

#3.3 - Fri Jan 9, 2009 6:34 PM EST

{"commentId":4743051,"authorDomain":"masea2"}

masea2

Stop your bleating.

War is not the best or pretties but many times the only option. This was proven time and time again, there is no way to convince a madman with a gun. You can either kill him or be killed. Hamas is a bloodthirsty madman with rockets and mortars supplied under watchful eye of Egyptians.

Israel has no choice and I only hope Israel has fortitude to ignore this unholy alliance of "bleeding-heart" lefty radicals and Islamo-nazis to forge ahead until the job is done.

Go IDF!!!

{"commentId":4743051,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"masea2"}

1 vote

#4 - Fri Jan 9, 2009 9:05 PM EST

{"commentId":4745735,"authorDomain":"charles4000"}

analog ninja

right...bleating... clearly, you lack one of the essential features of a fully functioning human known as compassion. your comments are absurd and sad and maximally hilarious. you'll feel differently when the guns are being fired in your neighborhood.

Above the bar preposterous ignorance on the Egyptian reference as well. Enjoy.

{"commentId":4745735,"threadId":"463396","contentId":"2284531","authorDomain":"charles4000"}

1 vote

#4.1 - Sat Jan 10, 2009 1:49 AM EST

{"canLink":false,"threadId":"463396","isPrivate":false}

Israel accepts truce 'principles'	BBC News	Wed Jan 7	0
Israel Hit by Rockets From Lebanon, Conflict Widens	FOXNews.com	Thu Jan 8	64
Rockets from Lebanon hit Israel amid Gaza offensive	newsdaily.com	Thu Jan 8	16
Security Council resolution calls for Israel to withdraw & Hamas to stop rocket assault	NY Daily News	Fri Jan 9	2
Scenes from the Gaza Strip - The Big Picture - Boston.com	The Boston Globe	Wed Jan 7	3

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Avi Shlaim: How Israel brought Gaza to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe

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