Hamas and Fatah still fighting to unite against Israel

                                                         

*Palestinians pledge unity as Israel talks teeter Reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas presents a dilemma not only for Israel, but for the U.S. as well.

* Palestinians meet in Gaza for reconciliation talks:  A senior Hamas leader based in Egypt is in Gaza for talks aimed at reaching a reconciliation agreement between the two rival Palestinian groups, Hamas and Fatah.:  Moussa Abu Marzouk is meeting Hamas leaders in Gaza on Monday ahead of a visit by Fatah officials on Tuesday. Hamas freed 10 Fatah prisoners before the meetings as a good-will gesture.

Palestinians have been divided since 2007 when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. Since then, Hamas has ruled Gaza while Abbas governs some areas in the West Bank. Past attempts have failed.

* Gaza rockets hit south Israel, army strikes back: : Six rockets fired from the Gaza Strip exploded in southern Israel on Monday morning. One of the missiles hit a street in the city of Sderot, causing damage but no injuries.

The Israel Air Force  responded by attacking two targets in the southern Gaza Strip and other targets in the center. Direct strikes on the targets were reported and all aircraft returned safely to base, according to the Israel Defense Forces spokesman. 

Whether or not Palestinian factions unite will not matter. Israel does not want an equal p(ea)iece they want to be the lords period. Palestine needs help but that will only make things worse. There will never be peace because all Religions want things their way and want all other Religions dead.

 UN investigator accuses Israel of ‘ethnic cleansing’:  A UN human rights investigator today accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” in pushing Palestinians out of East Jerusalem and cast doubt that the Israeli government could accept a Palestinian state in the current climate.

Asked about his accusation of ethnic cleansing, Mr Falk said that more than 11,000 Palestinians had lost their right to live in Jerusalem since 1996 due to Israel imposing residency laws favouring Jews and revoking Palestinian residence permits. “The 11,000 is just the tip of the iceberg because many more are faced with possible challenges to their residency rights.”

 An American General warns the Israeli Right:   “We have got to find a way to make the two-state solution that Democrat and Republican administrations have supported, we’ve got to get there,” he said. “And the chances for it, as the king of Jordan has pointed out, are starting to ebb because of the settlements and where they’re at, are going to make it impossible to maintain the two-state option.”

After blaming the lack of peace squarely on the settlements, he went a step further, and raised the incendiary question of apartheid: “If I’m Jerusalem and I put 500 Jewish settlers out here to the east and there’s 10,000 Arab settlers in here, if we draw the border to include them, either it ceases to be a Jewish state or you say the Arabs don’t get to vote -- apartheid. That didn’t work too well the last time I saw that practiced in a country.”

A Two-State Solution died when Israel was born

The real two State solution?

Some Hear Death Knell for a Two-State Solution that died when Israel was born in 1948:

 Some Hear Death Knell for a Two-State Solution: Despite indications that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is committing a substantial amount of time and effort to revive the long-stalled Israel-Palestinian “peace process”, a growing number of experts believe a two-state solution is no longer viable and the lack of a realistic discussion of the issue in the United States is leaving the country without an alternative policy.

In the two months since confirmation in his post, Kerry has made three trips to the region. On Monday, he hosted an Arab League delegation, including the League’s secretary general, the Qatari prime minister and representatives from the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and Lebanon.

 Stop being delusional and get ready for the coming war

Israeli leader says peace hopes 'delusional' The truth at last!

Israeli leader says peace hopes 'delusional' Avigdor Lieberman delivered his assessment Monday shortly before the country's new government was to be sworn into office. Lieberman, a former foreign minister, leads Yisrael Beitenu, a hardline political party that has formed a joint bloc with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party

. Lieberman is barred from sitting in the Cabinet while he fights breach of trust and fraud charges. But he retains great influence over the new government. Speaking to his party Monday, Lieberman said the conflict with the Palestinians "cannot be solved. This conflict needs to be managed."

 UN: Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 'profound and persistent deadlock': No kidding, "Israelestine only"

UN: Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 'profound and persistent deadlock': the Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, told the Security Council that a Palestinian unilateral move for statehood in September "will not bring peace to our region." Israel does not want a 2 state solution period!

Israel will never agree to share Jerusalem period and neither will Hamas .Israel will resort to war period, especially knowing the US will come to their rescue and it bothers me. This is really getting old!

I wrote about it numerous times, to hell with Israel they are the problem. Netanyahu does not want peace until he gets everything he wants which includes all of Jerusalem. We have to take care of our own and let them hang themselves. Ahmadinejad was right in one thing when he said years ago that is Europe and the US felt so bad for what happened to the Jews in ww2 they should have given them part of their country. We would have no problem then. We are as guilty as them for not enforcing UN resolution 181. UN Resolution 181 that was established in 1947. Stop supporting Israel!

Make them go back to it and call it a frigging day!

I have been sick of Israel's lying about wanting a compromise, a two state solution. Ehud Barak had a viable solution Benjamin Netanyahu shot down. Netanyahu's lies to provoke and prolong this impasse holds the day. I am sick of this crap, I am sorry!

Israel's leader does not want to share Jerusalem

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the issue of settlements as a "marginal" part of peace talks and said he was glad the United States had abandoned its demand for a renewed freeze. BS, it is integral and proof Netanyahu does not want peace but all of Jerusalem!

Lack of a peace solution to the Israeli crisis we created keeps being blamed on the Palestinians and I for one am quite sick of it! Israel could lease Palestinian lands in exchange for Palestinian statehood: report I am thinking this can be done after all my apprehension if Israel really wanted a two state solution. With Palestine rebuffing Iran, Iran would be the one left out in the cold however Israel does not want this to succeed. Leave Israel to her own demise, I am sick of the lies!

They say that Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state shows they are not serious about two-state solution. What about Israel's refusal to go back to 1967 borders, to stop building settlements, or to let Palestine have a homeland free of Jews if they want? What about UN resolution 181 established in 1947?PLO wants map from US with future Israeli border Can you blame them? It will never happen though because we are Israel's lap dog.

Vice Prime Minister and Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon said that he saw "no chance of reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians in the near future". There is no way in hell ever because neither side really wants it. They want the other subversive, end of discussion.

"In the eyes of Palestinians, the occupation began in '48 and not in '67," Ya'alon told Army Radio. "Not only Hamas thinks this – Abu Mazen [Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas does too." I think that too! I refuse to believe we took it upon ourselves to displace the Palestinians and give their land to the Jews in 1948 because we felt bad for them.

I reiterate: Palestinians for their part are doing their share for peace but it is futile: They are willing to let Israel control the wailing wall and just want East Jerusalem as their capital but there is no way in hell Israel is going to give that up as they swear it belongs to them. It does not belong to them. They do not want peace unless they get everything they want and they will not. This will only end in war and we will be dragged in. That is why Bush ignored Afghanistan to get into the Middle East. Right from the get go helping Israel against Iran was the goal.

Again I reiterate there will never be peace in the Middle East, period!Israel wants it her way and Iran/Syria want Israel obliterated, period, seems like peace is in Palestinian hands and depends on how much they are willing to bend because Israel will not. Israel and Iran have long been in preparation for this confrontation. As you know, when asked by a journalist how he felt upon returning to Iran in 1979 after 15 years in exile. Khomeini’s curt, one-word reply was “nothing” Whoa! From day one of his return to Iran Khomeini expressed no love for Iran only a love of the atom bomb. The drive even then was to possess a nuclear weapon though that desire is still denied until Iran can get their hands on one.

On the other side there is Israel who will give nothing and expects Palestinians to give up everything! I realized a long time ago that Israel is the world's chief war monger and we seem to do their bidding and fighting. If they get into a war with Iran we will end up coming to their rescue regardless of what they do or what is said or done and that is sad! We should in fact take care of Jewish American's and American's and our interests in Israel and otherwise tell them in no uncertain terms they are on their own if they continue to instigate war not peace and expecting us to come to their rescue. Well the heck with them we have given enough!

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Israeli Palestinian war continues with major Israeli offense, Live updates:

  Israel-Hamas 'Open War': LIVE UPDATES:   Israel Airstrikes hit Hamas Headquarters

 

 Palestinian militants kill 3 Israelis in rocket attack as Israeli military operation resumes:  The casualties were the first in Israel since it launched its operation on Wednesday with the assassination of Hamas' top military commander, followed by an onslaught of airstrikes and shelling by tanks and naval gunboats.

 Eleven Palestinians, including two children and seven militants, have been killed and more than 100 wounded in Gaza since the Israeli operation began. The fighting has deepened the instability gripping the Middle East. Egypt recalled its ambassador to protest the military operation. Just days earlier, Israel was drawn into Syria's civil war for the first time, firing missiles into its northern neighbor for the first time in four decades after stray mortar fire landed in Israeli-occupied Syrian territory.

  Israel: new major offensive in Gaza Strip:  Operation “Pillar of Defense” began with the killing of Hamas’ military commander using an air strike as he was travelling by car in Gaza City. This was followed minutes later by massive explosions throughout the area, as Israeli military forces blasted selected targets by land, sea and air. 

Around 10 people were reported dead, including three children, and some 40 were wounded by the attacks. The offensive shattered hopes of a truce brokered by Egypt following five days of violence which saw over 100 missiles fired by Palestinian militants and retaliations by Israel.

  Israel had agreed to cease strikes on targets in Gaza during Hesham Kandil's visit, but rocket fire continues; in public appearance with Haniyeh, Kandil denounces Israeli strikes, says Egypt will work for ceasefire.
 

 Although the Palestinians have failed in their attempts to strike Tel Aviv, they scored morale points with the pictures of frightened Israelis running for shelter. Although no one was hurt and there was no real damage – compared to the suffering in Negev towns -- the question is the influence those attacks had on Israeli decision-makers.

Israel's leaders launched the Gaza operation with the expectation that they wouldn't have to put boots on the ground. Now, with the rockets still flying, Israel’s leaders could be dragged in. Israel's forces building up around Gaza still have received no orders for a ground offensive, but the time to decide is approaching. If by the beginning of the week a cease-fire hasn't been agreed on and the air strikes have achieved all they can, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be closer to the moment of decision. 

* Hamas must stop launching missiles as it will only continue to antagonize Israel. This is what Hamas wants, hoping that Egypt and others will get involved on their side. We can not allow this to escalate if we have any say and we do. I know we have been saying the total middle east breakdown is coming for years but we must try to stop it if we can. I beliwve world leaders can prevent this but there seems to be no desire to. We must contain this and prevent the breakdown of the middle east from turning into world war three.

James Joiner

Gardner, Ma

http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Analysis: Sudan strikes by Israel a blow to Iran and Hamas.

 

 

 

Analysis: Sudan strike - A blow to Iran. Amid the latest escalation between Hamas and Israel this week, a covert strike that is far more strategically significant may have occurred. Israel has remained officially silent over Sudanese accusations that Jerusalem carried out an air strike on a weapons factory near Khartoum, but tellingly, Jerusalem has not taken the trouble to deny the allegations either.

 

Sudan has been a central transit point for Iranian arms headed to the Gaza Strip for several years. With Iran’s nuclear sites roughly the same distance from Israel, an air strike in Khartoum would demonstrate Israel’s long-range capabilities, and make the military threat on the table that much more tangible. At the same time, striking a single target in a country with minimal air defenses cannot be compared to the operational challenges inherent in striking multiple targets fortified by vigorous air defenses.

 

 Report: Israel hit Sudan twice in two months Israel Radio reported that the IDF spokesperson would not respond to its query regarding a Reuters asserting that Israeli aircraft struck targets in Sudan in September and then again Oct. 23. The September strike, according to unspecified “foreign intelligence sources” quoted Thursday by Reuters, was conducted by a drone and targeted a weapons convoy south of Khartoum. The strike destroyed 200 tons of munitions, including Gaza-bound rockets, the report said. 

 

 On Tuesday, a “huge explosion" ripped through a weapons factory near the Sudanese capital Khartoum, killing two people, Reuters reported. Sudan, the report added, swiftly accused Israel of sending four military planes to take out the complex. The speaker of the Sudanese parliament, Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Tahir, declared that the “Israeli attack on the Al-Yarmook arms factory will not deter Sudan from continuing its support to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas,” according to the Sudan Tribune, an online news site.  

 Sudan: a front for Israel's proxy war on Sinai jihadis? If Israel bombed a Sudanese munitions factory, as Khartoum alleges, the raid was part of its widening proxy war against Islamist militants in neighbouring Egypt which the Jewish state is reluctant to confront directly.

 

A huge explosion ripped through the factory near the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Tuesday, killing two people, with Sudan swiftly accusing Israel of sending four military planes to take out the complex. The poor Muslim east African state, with its ties to Iran and Sunni jihadis, has long been seen by Israel as a conduit for weapons smuggled onward to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, via the Egyptian Sinai desert.

First: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an ongoing dispute between the State of Israel and the Palestinians. It also forms part of the wider Arab-Israeli conflict. Essentially it is a dispute between two national identities with claims over the same area of land. Many attempts have been made to broker a "two state solution," which would entail the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. At present, the vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians, according to many major polls, agree that a two state solution is the best way to end the conflict.[1][2] Most Palestinians view the West Bank and Gaza Strip as constituting the area of their future state, a view also accepted by most Israelis.[3] A handful of academics advocate a one-state solution, whereby all of Israel, the Gaza Strip, and West Bank would become a bi-national state with equal rights for all.[4]5] However, there are significant areas of disagreement over the shape of any final agreement, and also regarding the level of credibility each side sees in the other in upholding basic commitments. 

 

Put an end to the whole business of tunnels in Gaza, put an end to the illicet business of rockets and weapons being produced in Sudan and supported and purchased by Iran to be smuggled to Hamas to support their fight with Israel. It is painfully obvious Israel is going to fight in order to survive as she is. It is obvious Palestine will have a country beside Israel whatever shaape it takes.

 

It is Time for Iran and Hamas to accept those facts and stop the fight. It is time for Hamas and Fatah to reunite and have serious discussions with Israel. It would put an end to the need of Sudan to manufacture illicit arms along with the interference of Iran. It is time to end this!

 

 

James Joiner

Gardner, Ma

http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Hamas must re-unite with Fatah as Momentum builds for Gaza to secede, Israel and West Bank to become one

First: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an ongoing dispute between the State of Israel and the Palestinians. It also forms part of the wider Arab-Israeli conflict. Essentially it is a dispute between two national identities with claims over the same area of land. Many attempts have been made to broker a "two state solution," which would entail the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. At present, the vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians, according to many major polls, agree that a two state solution is the best way to end the conflict.[1][2] Most Palestinians view the West Bank and Gaza Strip as constituting the area of their future state, a view also accepted by most Israelis.[3] A handful of academics advocate a one-state solution, whereby all of Israel, the Gaza Strip, and West Bank would become a bi-national state with equal rights for all.[4]5] However, there are significant areas of disagreement over the shape of any final agreement, and also regarding the level of credibility each side sees in the other in upholding basic commitments. 

There are several domestic and international actors involved in the conflict. The direct negotiating parties are the Israeli government led by  Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), headed by Mahmoud Abbas. The official negotiations are mediated by an international contingent known as the Quartet on the Middle East (the Quartet), consisting of the United States, Russia, the European Union, the United Nations, and represented by a special envoy, currently Tony Blair. The Arab League is another important actor, which has proposed an alternative peace plan. Egypt, a founding member of the Arab League, has historically been a key participant.

Since 2006, the Palestinian side has been fractured by conflict between the two major factions: Fatah, the largest party, and Hamas, an Islamist militant group. As a result, the territory controlled by the Palestinian National Authority (the Palestinian interim government) is split between Fatah in the West Bank, and Hamas in the Gaza strip. This has proved problematic as Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and many other countries[6 which means that despite the fact it won the Palestinian elections of 2006, it has not been allowed to participate in official negotiations. The most recent round of peace negotiations began at Annapolis, USA in November, 2007. These talks aim to have a final resolution by the end of 2008.[7] The parties agree there are six core, or 'final status,' issues which need to be resolved[8]: Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security, borders and water. These issues are discussed at length below.

Within Israeli and Palestinian society, the conflict generates a wide variety of views and opinions (see also Israeli and Palestinian views of the peace process). This serves to highlight the deep divisions which exist not only between Israelis and Palestinians, but also amongst themselves. A hallmark of the conflict has been the level of violence witnessed for virtually its entire duration. Fighting has been conducted by regular armies, paramilitary groups, and terror cells. Casualties have not been restricted to the military, with a large loss of civilian life on both sides.
  Please brush up on the History of the area
 

Hamas must re-unite with Fatah: The Hamas government in Gaza has been isolated from mainstream Arab politics since it seized power in Gaza in 2007 and split from Fatah which was left running the West Bank. The expected visit to Gaza by the Emir of Qatar, Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, is an opportunity to restart the process of reconciliation with Fatah, and should not be treated by Hamas as an endorsement of its isolation.

  Emir of Qatar becomes first Arab leader to visit Gaza since Hamas takeover: The Emir's visit raised hackles in both the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority operates cut off from Hamas-run Gaza, and in Israel. But the Emir, a key western ally, greeted the Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyah warmly and promised hundreds of millions of dollars in new aid. "This visit sends a direct message to anyone who wants to listen: Gaza is not alone in the field and Palestine occupies the hearts of Arabs," Mr Haniyeh said.

   Momentum builds for Gaza to secede, Israel and West Bank to become one:  Mr. Palmor of Israel’s Foreign Ministry says the problem of negotiating with the Palestinians before a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation was addressed at the 2007 Annapolis peace talks, with the Israelis accepting that implementation on the ground would happen gradually. While the outlook for the two-state solution envisioned at Annapolis appears bleak,  

Liel holds out hope that the Palestinian bid to upgrade its status to a “nonmember state” at the United Nations next month could create new momentum in that direction if a majority of European nations backed the motion, indicating substantial international support for the Palestinians' right to a state of their own. “I think it can change the atmosphere among Palestinians, maybe even in Fatah-Hamas relations. It can definitely change the mood inside Israel.”

James Joiner

Gardner, Ma

http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Assad urged to leave to Russia, asylum offered in Tunisia, Islam confused

Syrian envoy denounces UN talks, walks out [Video]

Syria claims 90% of voters backed reforms in referendum: Syria claimed that a constitutional referendum held on Sunday was approved by close to 90% of voters, even as international reaction to its ongoing crackdown intensified with the European Union announcing fresh sanctions against key regime figures. Bloodshed continued in restive parts of the country on Monday, with around 30 people killed the day after a ballot which had been hailed as a showpiece of reform in the rigidly controlled state.

The Baba Amr district of the country's third city, Homs, was again the worst affected, with violence in the neighborhood accounting for much of the nationwide death toll. That is not hard to believe when you take into account that Assad supporters were the only ones that felt safe enough to venture out and vote their mind.

70 dead as Asaad urged to leave to Russia: The President of Tunisia Moncef Marzouki has proposed to the Syrian President to go to Russia with his family into exile. In a speech at the first meeting of the Friends of Syria, which was held in Tunis, he said the Assad family should be guaranteed immunity.
"The justice will not be served, but the life of the Syrians is more important than justice," he said. Such a solution along the lines of the Yemen road plan is better than a military intervention or the arming of deserters, the Tunisian leader stressed.

Hamas PM salutes 'heroic' Syrians: Gaza premier Ismail Haniya on Friday hailed the "heroic" Syrian struggle for democracy during a rally in Cairo, in the first expression of support of the uprising by a Hamas leader. "I salute all the people of the Arab Spring, or rather the Islamic Winter," Haniya told thousands of cheering people during the demonstration of support for Palestinians and Syrians at Cairo's Al-Azhar mosque.
"I salute the heroic Syrian people, who are striving for freedom, democracy and reform," he added. "No Iran, no Hezbollah. Syria is Islamic," chanted the protesters, in an apparent reference to the Syrian regime's Shiite Muslim supporters.

Iran angry at Hamas abandoning Al-Assad

Syria conflict worries Beirut, reopens divisions: People in the Lebanese capital Beirut are watching anxiously as the increasingly bloody conflict in neighbouring Syria unfolds, fearing it could spill over the border and bring a return of the violence that tore their own country apart for so long.

Indonesia urges all parties in Syria to end violence: "Principally, we agreed that violence must be stopped now. Now, not tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, because enough blood has been shed, there have been enough people who have suffered," said Natalegawa.

The Minister said in the press conference after met Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sudan Ali Ahmed Karti at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta on Friday, Feb 24. Natalegawa also said that Indonesia has signed an agreement with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to support peace in the Middle-East.
"It is very unfortunate that UN has failed to take a stance about conflict in Syria, therefore we have to push more the diplomatic effort," he said.

7500 dead in Syria as Assad offered asylum in Tunisia: Tunisian President Mouncef Marzouki offered the Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad a political asylum. Tunisia was willing to host Assad and his family, the Tunisian leader told the local newspaper of "La Presse". On Friday, Tunisia hosted a conference called the "Friends of Syria" in his speech there, Marzouki offered Assad to step down in exchange for legal immunity.



James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

The world in turmoil: A days news, no wonder we are on overload

A Dutch mayor says the death toll in the shopping mall shooting outside Amsterdam has increased to six, including the gunman who opened fire with an automatic weapon.

A last-minute budget deal forged amid bluster and tough bargaining averted an embarrassing federal shutdown, cut billions in spending and provided the first major test of the divided government that voters ushered in five months ago.

Thousands of protesters turned their anger on the army on Saturday demanding that Egypt's ruling military council hand power to civilians and pressing for former President Hosni Mubarak to be put on trial.

Forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, besieged in Ivory Coast's main city, have retaken ground and are edging closer to where rival presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara is holed up, the United Nations said.

Fighting erupted on the eastern front in Libya's civil war on Saturday as a Red Cross ship brought medical supplies to the besieged western city of Misrata, scene of bitter street battles.

A Japanese power company executive apologized on Saturday for spreading radiation into the air and sea as regulators said the pumping of radioactive water into waters off Japan from a crippled nuclear plant would end one day later than planned. The apology from Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) came a ...

About 230,000 Icelandic voters went to the polls Saturday to approve or reject a renegotiated deal to compensate Britain and The Netherlands over the 2008 collapse of Icesave bank. The latest opinion polls put the "no" vote on the 3.9 billion euro ($5.6 billion) deal slightly in ...

500lb Newry bomb 'sophisticated' Police say that a van left under the main Belfast to Dublin road in Northern Ireland contained a "very substantial" bomb.

- Joint U.S.-Pakistan intelligence operations have been halted since late January, a senior Pakistani intelligence officer said, reflecting strain in a relationship seen as crucial to combating militants and the war in Afghanistan.

EU finance ministers Saturday urged Portugal to commit to structural reform and defended the region's austerity steps, as thousands of European workers gathered in Budapest to protest against spending cuts.

Fresh violence feared as residents in Daraa prepare to bury those killed in Friday's firing by security forces.

JEWISH settlers go on a rampage in the West Bank hurling stones at houses and torching a car, witnesses say.

MORE than 60 people evacuated from an oil platform off Norway's west coast after operator Statoil received reports of a gas leak.

Death toll rises as the Israeli Government says airstrikes on Hamas targets in Gaza will continue. Eighteen people, mainly civilians but also some militants, have been…

Brazil mourns murdered Rio pupils as the first funerals have been held in Brazil for the 12 children killed by a gunman in a Rio de Janeiro school on Thursday.

China' Poland and Russia were also part of this mess and numerous stories covering every aspect of our growing mess with not one positive story. This is our future and it will get worse sadly enough. Relax and have a nice day!


James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Middle East peace in a year hell you mean war!

middle east peace talks are under way but are grossly misinterpreted, Middle East peace in a year hell you mean war!Clinton was asked why those who saw little chance of reaching a settlement within Obama's one-year deadline were wrong. "I think they're wrong because I think that both sides and both leaders recognize that there may not ever be another chance.

 She misinterprets the meaning. It means Netanyahu refusing to say there will be no new Israeli settlements in the West bank and the Palestinians have warned that a renewal of Israeli construction would spell the end of the talks, which resumed recently after a 20-month hiatus means there will never be peace but a guarantee of war period. Like it or not!  middle east peace talks are under way but are grossly misinterpreted
 

They still stupidly say there will be Middle East peace 'in a year Who the hell are they trying to fool anyway?'

The parameters to peace are easy but it will never happen as the Jews will never stop the settlements and Iran will never allow Palestine and Lebanon to agree to peace with Israel Period. A middle east without Israel is the only path to true peace and that is not going to happen!

Netanyahu spoke of how the security challenges facing Israel have “changed” over the last decade. He referred specifically to “the rise of Iran and its proxies,” a clear reference to Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and to “the rise of missile warfare.” What about Syria? Abbas can't speak for them. Assad, in Paris: Israel doesn't want peace with Syria


What about who is now on the list of intractable issues that have stymied decades of Mideast negotiations, Iran backed, and will not be left out of negations as their slaughter of innocent civilians just before the meeting in Washington illustrated. Peace? I don't know about that! 'Mideast peace process poses a strategic threat to Iran'


Hamas will never agree to be ignored and isolated, and Hamas is firmly in control of the Gaza Strip, one of the two territories that are supposed to be part of a future Palestinian state. What about that little detail? Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might be partners in peace but Iran and Hamas are partners in Israel's destruction and Iran's version of new middle east order not ours, Israel's and Abbas's. Ahmadinejad says middle east peace talks will fail and Israel on the verge of collapse 'the farce of middle east peace talks"


There can be no peace that leaves the 1.5 million people of Gaza out and Hamas controls them with Iran's backing. Israel and the international community shun Hamas as a terrorist group and would have to make a tough decision to engage with the militants who refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist saying their resistance is continuous. Despite saying we will never talk to terrorists we have in the past but not this time.


You know from numerous discussions here that Iran is involved in every Middle Eastern country not just Yemen, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia where they have corrupted elections for Shiite interests in Iraq, backing rebels in Yemen, and instigating attacks on Saudi oil fields. Bush freed Iran to instigate far and wide and are even training Taliban on their border. Any new actions will only serve to worsen their instigation and cause them to cause chaos everywhere they can and further Bush's total Middle East breakdown Period. Iran will never settle for peace with Israel only for peace in the middle east with a non existent Israel.














James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Despite what we hear from Lebanon and Palestine Iran will not allow peace with Israel, there will never be peace in the Middle East period!

Mideast Leaders Are Hopeful After FirstPalestinian and Israeli leaders expressed satisfaction and hope on Sunday in their first public utterances following the opening round of peace talks in Washington last week.

What about who is now on the list of intractable issues that have stymied decades of Mideast negotiations, Iran backed, and will not be left out of negations as their slaughter of innocent civilians just before the meeting in Washington illustrated. Peace? I don't know about that! 'Mideast peace process poses a strategic threat to Iran'

Hamas will never agree to be ignored and isolated, and Hamas is firmly in control of the Gaza Strip, one of the two territories that are supposed to be part of a future Palestinian state. What about that little detail? Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might be partners in peace but Iran and Hamas are partners in Israel's destruction and Iran's version of new middle east order not ours, Israel's and Abbas's. Ahmadinejad says middle east peace talks will fail and Israel on the verge of collapse

Lebanese Mufti slams Iran's Ahmadinejad‎, Palestinians to Iran: Mind your own business you have no right to speak for Palestine

This is powerful! Abbas representative had a lot of guts to speak the truth like when he said The Iranian president does not represent the Iranian people, he falsified elections and took power by frau. He does not have the right to talk about Palestine, its president or its representatives. Whoa how do you think that will wash though I like it! Abbas slams Ahmadinejad for Palestine comments 

Lebanon and Palestine are bending why does Netanyahu insist on driving them to Iran?
Just days after Mideast peace talks began in Washington, the first major crisis is already looming: Israel hinted Sunday it will ease restrictions on building in West Bank settlements, while the Palestinian president warned he will quit if they do not end
 
There can be no peace that leaves the 1.5 million people of Gaza out and Hamas controls them with Iran's backing. Israel and the international community shun Hamas as a terrorist group and would have to make a tough decision to engage with the militants who refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist saying their resistance is continuous. Despite saying we will never talk to terrorists we have in the past but not this time.

As I have said since Bush's illegal invasion, Israel and Iran do not want peace only on their terms and that can't happen! You know from numerous discussions here that Iran is involved in every Middle Eastern country not just Yemen, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia where they have corrupted elections for Shiite interests in Iraq, backing rebels in Yemen, and instigating attacks on Saudi oil fields. Bush freed Iran to instigate far and wide and are even training Taliban on their border. Any new actions will only serve to worsen their instigation and cause them to cause chaos everywhere they can and further Bush's total Middle East breakdown Period. Iran will never settle for peace with Israel only for peace in the middle east with a non existent Israel. WTF?



James Joiner

Gardner, Ma

http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Middle East peace in a year: If that happens I will happily eat my 1, 000 stories saying it will never happen!

Middle East peace 'in a year'

A return to United Nations resolution 181, 1947? Netanyahu spoke of how the security challenges facing Israel have “changed” over the last decade. He referred specifically to “the rise of Iran and its proxies,” a clear reference to Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and to “the rise of missile warfare.” What about Syria? Abbas can't speak for them. Assad, in Paris: Israel doesn't want peace with Syria

What about who is now on the list of intractable issues that have stymied decades of Mideast negotiations, Iran backed, and will not be left out of negations as their slaughter of innocent civilians just before the meeting in Washington illustrated. Peace? I don't know about that! 'Mideast peace process poses a strategic threat to Iran'

Hamas will never agree to be ignored and isolated, and Hamas is firmly in control of the Gaza Strip, one of the two territories that are supposed to be part of a future Palestinian state. What about that little detail? Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might be partners in peace but Iran and Hamas are partners in Israel's destruction and Iran's version of new middle east order not ours, Israel's and Abbas's. Ahmadinejad says middle east peace talks will fail and Israel on the verge of collapse

There can be no peace that leaves the 1.5 million people of Gaza out and Hamas controls them with Iran's backing. Israel and the international community shun Hamas as a terrorist group and would have to make a tough decision to engage with the militants who refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist saying their resistance is continuous. Despite saying we will never talk to terrorists we have in the past but not this time.

You know from numerous discussions here that Iran is involved in every Middle Eastern country not just Yemen, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia where they have corrupted elections for Shiite interests in Iraq, backing rebels in Yemen, and instigating attacks on Saudi oil fields. Bush freed Iran to instigate far and wide and are even training Taliban on their border. Any new actions will only serve to worsen their instigation and cause them to cause chaos everywhere they can and further Bush's total Middle East breakdown Period. Iran will never settle for peace with Israel only for peace in the middle east with a non existent Israel.







James Joiner

Gardner, Ma

http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Our Allies Hamas? The Grim face of a Warrior of God, Massacre at Rafah!

Islamists killed after challenging Hamas


Hamas massacres 24 Al Qaeda destroying a Mosque as they help themselves and the West! This is just one more instance but the more I try to be in the know the more I find out I don't know. I thought Hamas was the undisputed ruler in Gaza and the enemy of Israel where Fatah was willing to make room for Israel.

The more I learn the more convoluted this too is getting. I learned that many of the bombings in Gaza I for one attributed to Hamas was actually done by any of the hundreds of groups springing up in Gaza to replace Hams as they are thought of as being too liberal. Not Islamist enough, too liberal, Hamas? Many of the bombings of internet cafe's and foreign schools have actually been performed by foreign Groups smuggling in weapons and explosives.

They have been doing much of the dirty work for Hamas so have been tolerated. Friday Junut Ansar Allah (Soldiers of Allah's Supporters), Abd al-Latif Musa made a crucial mistake. His supporters growing in numbers have been increasingly calling for him to declare the birth of an Islamic emirate in Gaza. What a mistake and it was his last. ANALYSIS / Hamas swiftly crushes challenge to its rule in Gaza

Jund Ansar Allah is only one of several tiny radical Islamist groups that have sprung up to challenge Hamas because they have not imposed Islamic law. Stupid me I thought they did. I guess there is no halfway! Hamas leaves how strict you want to be up to the people. That sounds good to me. Isn't that a Democracy?

Those radical groups want to see a regime similar to the one in Sudan and other Islamic countries where thieves have their arms amputated and those found guilty of adultery are stoned to death. What about women's rights? A girls right to education? Women's rights? Looking at the face Abd al-Latif Musa he was scary as hell. Rule under him would have been brutal. Radical Leader Killed in Gaza Clashes

The more I learn the more I think that Israel better be thankful for Hamas and hope they stay in power. I thought Hamas and Al Qaeda was bad. I did not know there were so many smaller groups willing to challenge them because they are not strict enough. One by one Hamas is killing them off. It was a pleasure to watch them annihilate each other. Jonathan Kay on Jund Ansar Allah and the intra-Islamist showdown ...

While its great that Muslims butcher each other "over there" because they can not even tolerate each others differences and they have the weapons to do so closer to home, now throughout the west, Muslims are trying to remove our freedoms through a thousand cuts. Their demands for sharia law are now part of English common law. They demand, by this always outraged theocracy, we change our school food, swimming pools, clothing rules, anything to pressure our tolerant society to bow to their wishes. What's next?

Somehow we think Muslims will change and throw off the yoke of their religion that has kept the Muslim world a dead zone for a thousand years when they come here. Check out the "honor killings" and the number of full veil burkhas around Muslim areas in Toronto. That will never happen! We seem to be able to accept their differences If only they would accept ours and we would honor their lands.

I understand that the thought is that Fatah has had a hand in arming groups seeking to overthrow Hamas. After looking at all these groups how strict and vicious they are one look at the scary as heel vicious face of just one on their killer religious leaders Abd al-Latif Musa will make you think Israel and the US should make an effort to work with Hamas! Jund Ansar Allah group was armed by Fatah operatives, Hamas claims



James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
www.anaveragepatriot.com

Gaza's True 'Disproportion' Carlos Alberto Montaner! Myself I do not understand what a disproprtionate response is when someone is trying to kill you?

Israelis are being accused of suffering too few casualties in their confrontation with the Hamas terrorists. Those who reason thus usually speak the words "disproportion" or "asymmetry" in an indignant tone. While at this writing close to a thousand Arab Palestinians have died or been wounded as a result of the bombings, the Israeli losses amount to just over a dozen.

Tel Aviv's critics -- from whom an anti-Semitic stench often rises -- do not say whether Israel should increase its quota of cadavers or if it must reduce the Arabs' quota to achieve the reasonable proportion of blood that will soothe the peculiar itch for parity that afflicts them. Nor do they specify the morally permissible number of casualties to end the rain of rockets that for years has been constantly falling on the heads of Israeli civilians.

This demand for "proportionality" can only be called surprising. Until this conflict began, history books everywhere always expressed great satisfaction and a certain chauvinistic pride when a nation's army inflicted on the enemy a large number of casualties, vis-à-vis a trifling price paid by "our boys." Israel is the only country expected to behave differently and, in fact, it does; I know of no other nation that announces where and when it will drop its bombs, thus enabling civilians to evacuate the territory. Of course, in this it behaves asymmetrically, because the Hamas terrorists, forever eager to cause the greatest damage possible, never announce when or where they will launch their rockets against Israel's civilian population.

In turn, Israel has not the slightest interest in causing casualties. All it wants is to stop Hamas' attacks the only way it can: by eliminating the terrorists and destroying their arsenals. There's no other way to deal with them. Hamas is not a political organization with which agreements can be reached, but a fanatical gang intent on wiping Israel off the map. To achieve this objective, its members are even willing to turn their own children into human bombs, just to kill the hated Jews.

Here's another very important asymmetry. The Jews build underground shelters in all houses near the border; they close the schools and hide the children at the least sign of danger; they treat the death of a single soldier as a national tragedy; they do everything possible to rescue their prisoners, and protect the civilian population from the consequences of war. In contrast, the authorities in Gaza, drunk with violence, fire their machine guns irresponsibly into the air to express joy or grief (causing numerous injuries), do not hesitate to install their headquarters or hide their guns in schools, mosques or hospitals, use human shields to protect themselves, turn to suicidal terrorists and reward the families of such "martyrs" with money.

One week before Hamas broke the truce and stepped up its rocket attacks against the Jewish state (the spark that set off this conflict), I was in Israel, where I had been invited to deliver a lecture at the University of Tel Aviv. As part of the contacts organized by my hosts, I visited the Wolfson Medical Center to learn about the program "Save a Child's Heart." I was very moved. It is a foundation devoted to providing heart surgery for very poor children, most of them from the Arab world. As it happened, I witnessed the hurried arrival of a tiny 5-day-old girl, who had to be operated on at once to keep her from dying. She was brought in by her mother, a woman in a black head covering that allowed me to see only her tear-filled eyes, and her husband, a small, bearded man who watched with amazement the indescribable kindness with which a group of doctors and nurses treated the baby. The family came from Gaza.

Since the war erupted, I have asked myself constantly what became of them all.

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Posted by Carlos Alberto Montaner on January 12, 2009 2:00 PM

Meanwhile despite the "disproportinate Response"Hamas remains defiant despite pounding asking for more useless death to its citizens

This is from the Progressive sent to me from Jerome Grossman the Relentless Liberal: Israel is losing this war!

NEARLY SEVENTY YEARS ago, in the course of World War II, a heinous crime was committed in the city of Leningrad. For more than a thousand days, a gang of extremists called “the Red Army” held the millions of the town’s inhabitants hostage and provoked retaliation from the German Wehrmacht from inside the population centers. The Germans had no alternative but to bomb and shell the population and to impose a total blockade, which caused the death of hundreds of thousands.

Some time before that, a similar crime was committed in England. The Churchill gang hid among the population of London, misusing the millions of citizens as a human shield. The Germans were compelled to send their Luftwaffe and reluctantly reduce the city to ruins. They called it the Blitz.

This is the description that would now appear in the history books – if the Germans had won the war.

Absurd? No more than the daily descriptions in our media, which are being repeated ad nauseam: the Hamas terrorists use the inhabitants of Gaza as “hostages” and exploit the women and children as “human shields”, they leave us no alternative but to carry out massive bombardments, in which, to our deep sorrow, thousands of women, children and unarmed men are killed and injured.

IN THIS WAR, as in any modern war, propaganda plays a major role. The disparity between the forces, between the Israeli army - with its airplanes, gunships, drones, warships, artillery and tanks - and the few thousand lightly armed Hamas fighters, is one to a thousand, perhaps one to a million. In the political arena the gap between them is even wider. But in the propaganda war, the gap is almost infinite.

Almost all the Western media initially repeated the official Israeli propaganda line. They almost entirely ignored the Palestinian side of the story, not to mention the daily demonstrations of the Israeli peace camp. The rationale of the Israeli government (“The state must defend its citizens against the Qassam rockets”) has been accepted as the whole truth. The view from the other side, that the Qassams are a retaliation for the siege that starves the one and a half million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, was not mentioned at all.

Only when the horrible scenes from Gaza started to appear on Western TV screens, did world public opinion gradually begin to change.

True, Western and Israeli TV channels showed only a tiny fraction of the dreadful events that appear 24 hours every day on Aljazeera’s Arabic channel, but one picture of a dead baby in the arms of its terrified father is more powerful than a thousand elegantly constructed sentences from the Israeli army spokesman. And that is what is decisive, in the end.

War – every war – is the realm of lies. Whether called propaganda or psychological warfare, everybody accepts that it is right to lie for one’s country. Anyone who speaks the truth runs the risk of being branded a traitor.

The trouble is that propaganda is most convincing for the propagandist himself. And after you convince yourself that a lie is the truth and falsification reality, you can no longer make rational decisions.

An example of this process surrounds the most shocking atrocity of this war so far: the shelling of the UN Fakhura school in Jabaliya refugee camp.

Immediately after the incident became known throughout the world, the army “revealed” that Hamas fighters had been firing mortars from near the school entrance. As proof they released an aerial photo which indeed showed the school and the mortar. But within a short time the official army liar had to admit that the photo was more than a year old. In brief: a falsification.

Later the official liar claimed that “our soldiers were shot at from inside the school”. Barely a day passed before the army had to admit to UN personnel that that was a lie, too. Nobody had shot from inside the school, no Hamas fighters were inside the school, which was full of terrified refugees.

But the admission made hardly any difference anymore. By that time, the Israeli public was completely convinced that “they shot from inside the school”, and TV announcers stated this as a simple fact.

So it went with the other atrocities. Every baby metamorphosed, in the act of dying, into a Hamas terrorist. Every bombed mosque instantly became a Hamas base, every apartment building an arms cache, every school a terror command post, every civilian government building a “symbol of Hamas rule”. Thus the Israeli army retained its purity as the “most moral army in the world”.

THE TRUTH is that the atrocities are a direct result of the war plan. This reflects the personality of Ehud Barak – a man whose way of thinking and actions are clear evidence of what is called “moral insanity”, a sociopathic disorder.

The real aim (apart from gaining seats in the coming elections) is to terminate the rule of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In the imagination of the planners, Hamas is an invader which has gained control of a foreign country. The reality is, of course, entirely different.

The Hamas movement won the majority of the votes in the eminently democratic elections that took place in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. It won because the Palestinians had come to the conclusion that Fatah’s peaceful approach had gained precisely nothing from Israel - neither a freeze of the settlements, nor release of the prisoners, nor any significant steps toward ending the occupation and creating the Palestinian state. Hamas is deeply rooted in the population – not only as a resistance movement fighting the foreign occupier, like the Irgun and the Stern Group in the past – but also as a political and religious body that provides social, educational and medical services.

From the point of view of the population, the Hamas fighters are not a foreign body, but the sons of every family in the Strip and the other Palestinian regions. They do not “hide behind the population”, the population views them as their only defenders.

Therefore, the whole operation is based on erroneous assumptions. Turning life into living hell does not cause the population to rise up against Hamas, but on the contrary, it unites behind Hamas and reinforces its determination not to surrender. The population of Leningrad did not rise up against Stalin, any more than the Londoners rose up against Churchill.

He who gives the order for such a war with such methods in a densely populated area knows that it will cause dreadful slaughter of civilians. Apparently that did not touch him. Or he believed that “they will change their ways” and “it will sear their consciousness”, so that in future they will not dare to resist Israel.

A top priority for the planners was the need to minimize casualties among the soldiers, knowing that the mood of a large part of the pro-war public would change if reports of such casualties came in. That is what happened in Lebanon Wars I and II.

This consideration played an especially important role because the entire war is a part of the election campaign. Ehud Barak, who gained in the polls in the first days of the war, knew that his ratings would collapse if pictures of dead soldiers filled the TV screens.

Therefore, a new doctrine was applied: to avoid losses among our soldiers by the total destruction of everything in their path. The planners were not only ready to kill 80 Palestinians to save one Israeli soldier, as has happened, but also 800. The avoidance of casualties on our side is the overriding commandment, which is causing record numbers of civilian casualties on the other side.

That means the conscious choice of an especially cruel kind of warfare – and that has been its Achilles heel.

A person without imagination, like Barak (his election slogan: “Not a Nice Guy, but a Leader”) cannot imagine how decent people around the world react to actions like the killing of whole extended families, the destruction of houses over the heads of their inhabitants, the rows of boys and girls in white shrouds ready for burial, the reports about people bleeding to death over days because ambulances are not allowed to reach them, the killing of doctors and medics on their way to save lives, the killing of UN drivers bringing in food. The pictures of the hospitals, with the dead, the dying and the injured lying together on the floor for lack of space, have shocked the world. No argument has any force next to an image of a wounded little girl lying on the floor, twisting with pain and crying out: “Mama! Mama!”

The planners thought that they could stop the world from seeing these images by forcibly preventing press coverage. The Israeli journalists, to their shame, agreed to be satisfied with the reports and photos provided by the Army Spokesman, as if they were authentic news, while they themselves remained miles away from the events. Foreign journalists were not allowed in either, until they protested and were taken for quick tours in selected and supervised groups. But in a modern war, such a sterile manufactured view cannot completely exclude all others – the cameras are inside the strip, in the middle of the hell, and cannot be controlled. Aljazeera broadcasts the pictures around the clock and reaches every home.

THE BATTLE for the TV screen is one of the decisive battles of the war.

Hundreds of millions of Arabs from Mauritania to Iraq, more than a billion Muslims from Nigeria to Indonesia see the pictures and are horrified. This has a strong impact on the war. Many of the viewers see the rulers of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority as collaborators with Israel in carrying out these atrocities against their Palestinian brothers.

The security services of the Arab regimes are registering a dangerous ferment among the peoples. Hosny Mubarak, the most exposed Arab leader because of his closing of the Rafah crossing in the face of terrified refugees, started to pressure the decision-makers in Washington, who until that time had blocked all calls for a cease-fire. These began to understand the menace to vital American interests in the Arab world and suddenly changed their attitude – causing consternation among the complacent Israeli diplomats.

People with moral insanity cannot really understand the motives of normal people and must guess their reactions. “How many divisions has the Pope?” Stalin sneered. “How many divisions have people of conscience?” Ehud Barak may well be asking.

As it turns out, they do have some. Not numerous. Not very quick to react. Not very strong and organized. But at a certain moment, when the atrocities overflow and masses of protesters come together, that can decide a war.

THE FAILURE to grasp the nature of Hamas has caused a failure to grasp the predictable results. Not only is Israel unable to win the war, Hamas cannot lose it.

Even if the Israeli army were to succeed in killing every Hamas fighter to the last man, even then Hamas would win. The Hamas fighters would be seen as the paragons of the Arab nation, the heroes of the Palestinian people, models for emulation by every youngster in the Arab world. The West Bank would fall into the hands of Hamas like a ripe fruit, Fatah would drown in a sea of contempt, the Arab regimes would be threatened with collapse.

If the war ends with Hamas still standing, bloodied but unvanquished, in face of the mighty Israeli military machine, it will look like a fantastic victory, a victory of mind over matter.

What will be seared into the consciousness of the world will be the image of Israel as a blood-stained monster, ready at any moment to commit war crimes and not prepared to abide by any moral restraints. This will have severe consequences for our long-term future, our standing in the world, our chance of achieving peace and quiet.

In the end, this war is a crime against ourselves too, a crime against the State of Israel. Israel is losing the war