Jezebel 
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New York, 10:31 AM
Tue Nov 24
65 posts in the last 24 hours
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07/16/09
Thanks for the photo of a destroyed apartment building...your photo has to be commended because we have seen no such photos in the MSM.
07/15/09
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443821039&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
07/15/09
07/15/09
07/15/09
07/15/09
07/16/09
07/15/09
Oh, what am I thinking? Palestine isn't a country!
07/15/09
07/15/09
Children weren't just "throwing rocks at tanks". Hamas and Hezbollah were throwing missiles and bombs at cities.
07/15/09
however, their qassam rockets, which are homemade, and "missiles", which are soviet era, hardly seem a fair match against F16s, white phosphorous, tanks, and the largest per capita military force in the world though, does it?
07/15/09
we can certainly agree that it's offensive to believe that israel has no right to exist, but isn't also offensive to create a situation in which palestinians cannot exist, and refuse to recognize their right to their own state in turn?
07/15/09
Also, Palestinians were offered their own country many times over the last 60 years and turned it down just as many times (since you're bringing up Golda Meir I'm assuming it's ok to reference past palestinian political stances as well).
The palestinians have done a lot to create their own poor living situation. Isreal has has an influence but the situation cannot be blamed 100% on Israel. Using children and innocent civilians as shields puts those people directly in harms way. Using schools and apartment buildings to build rockets and hold militant meetings puts all of those people at risk. Please stop blaming Israel for all of the Palestinian problems. They may be to blame for some of them, but not all!
07/15/09
07/16/09
07/15/09
07/15/09
07/15/09
"We didn't see a single house that was not hit. The entire infrastructure, tracks, fields, roads -- was in total ruin," a soldier says. "Nothing much was left in our designated area … A totally destroyed city."
From American Prospect an article by Israeli author and settlement expert Gershom Gorenberg (not sure how to embed links in the new system, but I'll try this:
Two organizations in which former Israeli soldiers are working to make things right are Combatants for Peace, an Israeli-Palestinian organization of former combatants who work today toward co-existence, and Shovrim Shtika (Breaking the Silence), former soldiers who document the damage the Israeli military has done.
As an Israeli, I'll say it again: How Israel thinks that this level of destruction and collective punishment can in any way serve peace and/or security is beyond me.
07/15/09
07/15/09
By the way, the Gershom Gorenberg that I mention here has his own, fabulous blog (with Haim Watzman) called South Jerusalem. Very worth the visit.
07/15/09
07/16/09
And now, here's MY favorite blog:
http://backspin.typepad.com/backspin/2009/07/unanswered-questions.html
07/16/09
I'm guessing they chose to be anonymous because of the really nasty consequences of speaking out against the Israeli military. I don't blame them. As it stands, organization like Shovrim Shtika are quite subversive, and often targeted by the government. The ideal is that sources would always be credited, but in this situation its not always possible, mostly due to the actions of the Israeli government itself. When the day comes that it is possible to speak out in Israel against the military without worrying that your organization will get shut down, that you as an individual will not be ostracized from your community, then I will expect all sources to be credited. But we're never going to get to that point if people refuse to listen to these stories, and begin to accept what is being done by the Israeli government/military.
07/15/09
07/06/09
07/06/09
Death of Fatma Barghout
Haaretz
Date: 12-30-04
By Gideon Levy
Last Friday evening, Fatma Barghout, the cancer patient I wrote about in this column ("Staying alive," August 13, 2004) died in her home in Gaza. She was treated devotedly by the oncology department of Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, but was cruelly harassed by the soldiers at the Erez checkpoint time and again. At the end of the summer Israeli friends took her on a tour - to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Old City of Jaffa, Banana Beach, the Ramat Gan safari, the Ramat Aviv mall, the Carmel market in Tel Aviv and Hayarkon Park (see photo), and saw, astonished, what few of her generation in Gaza have ever seen: green lawns, exclusive stores, fancy restaurants, girls in bikinis - and above all, normal life of the kind she dreamed of but never had.
She returned for repeated, desperate treatments in the hospital, which did not help her. In her last days she asked that her bed be turned around to face in the direction of Mecca. Her captivating smile yielded to a wan grin in a face tormented by pain. When she came through the Erez checkpoint, a place that had been so damaging to her, last Thursday, on her last trip home, she was unconscious. She was 28 years old at her death.
Here's a link to the article he references: [www.haaretz.com]
07/06/09
07/06/09
07/06/09
Ugh. the sadness and wastefulness is too much.
07/06/09
06/23/09
To those who say that the Palestinians have no soldiers, I would say that Israel has done a very good job of seeing to it that the Palestinian people are not in the position to perpetrate state-sanctioned violence -- no state means no army means no soldiers. And for the gazillionth time, I say this as an American-Israeli, and a person who lived through a lengthy bombing campaign by Hamas. I have lived, studied, and written about this issue for about a quarter of a century.
The best link I can think to provide is this: [www.combatantsforpeace.org] "Combatants" is a neutral word that former combatants on both sides who are now working together for peace feel comfortable using. Perhaps a single word would be a good place to start.
Finally: Everyone has family, everyone is in mourning, there is no one right side to this fight. There is one side that has tanks, as I constantly say, and it's my side. The only thing that can make all that go away is for all sides to admit the humanity of the other, and build a future side by side. I believe the side with the tanks is the side that should start.
Poor Gilad. Poor Gilad....
06/23/09
06/23/09
Clearly we disagree, and my sympathies lie with the Palestinian population. Having made that clear, I should also make clear that I have no wish for Israelis to be harmed, nor do I wish harm on Shalit, or any other solider, or Palestinian for that matter.
I didn't want to open the door for an incensed back and forth. There is a war on, and there will be casualties, and that is sad. Much better minds have not found a way to a peaceful solution and each side has a long way to go to get to a reasonable place.
End of story.
06/23/09
06/23/09
Again, my perception and your perception are not the same. I do not agree with your characterization of the situation, and what you call "facts" I call rhetoric and rationalization. I am sure you would say the same thing about my facts.
On the other hand, I do think we (the Jezebel community) can disagree and have a respectful discourse without using profanity or calling each other names.
06/23/09
06/23/09
06/23/09
06/23/09
But yes, Hamas are legitimate soldiers. So are Hezbollah. These are the organizations defending their land and territory when Israel invades. When Israel invaded Lebanon in 2006, the Lebanese "army" did nothing, and it was Hezbollah forces that pushed them back. You may disagree, but your definition of "militant" is another person's freedom fighter.
Yes, it is tragic and sad that Shalit was captured. But, a soldier fighting for his country, who volunteers to go to the front as part of a combat unit, should not be surprised when he is captured. There is no evidence he was tortured. Nor is there evidence he is killed. That is an unfounded statement.
I am not suggesting that Israel has to answer for its existence. However, they have to answer for annexing Palestinian land against all international regulations (i.e. settlements), for diving Palestinian towns into ghettos with their illegal wall, for putting Gaza under
siege and not allowing supplies to go in or out, for bombing UN schools and for a variety of other misdeeds.
And although you suggest that Palestinians are living free and happy lives in Israel, the truth is that Palestinians are treated like third class citizens, cannot exit or enter of their own will, are forced to carry special identification and are barred from most employments. Does that sound familiar to you?
06/23/09
As to whether Gilad has been killed or not, well, no one has received any evidence that he is still alive. If you had a political advantage like that, it's in your best interest to prove that he's still alive, and that you wish to negotiate for his release. They refuse to do so. Also, they've already killed two of him fellow men that he was captured with.
For your other arguments, you confuse a lot of issues together. There was no "annexing Palestinian land against all international regulations". You need to read about British mandates and the birth of Israel. You also should read about Palestinians history, their origins, and when they first started to identify themselves as a culture and a people. Also, many of these settlements have a long and tortured history. Most are near Hebron, which is a whole other issue for many Jews.
Also, if you think Palestinians are in ghettos, get a load of Israel itself. I agree with Ella in that Jews have built their own ghetto as well. But unlike Palestinians, we can't leave ours and travel through the surrounding Arab countries. Also, their wall is not "illegal". In fact, construction was halted for ages because some routes were considered controversial, and they had to hammer it out (pun, sorry). But luckily for you, you don't understand the need for walls. This statement is particularly telling, given by Natan Sharansky:
"When Israel's free society was defending itself against an unprecedented campaign of terror, most of the international community was calling for an end of the "cycle of violence" and a return to the negotiating table. When the Palestinian terrorists struck... Israel was condemned for imposing "collective punishment" on the Palestinian population. When Israel chose to target individual terrorists with precision air strikes, its actions were condemned as illegal extrajudicial assassinations. It seemed that in eyes of many, the Jews had a right to defend themselves in theory but could not exercise that right in practice... our government understood that there were three options to maintain an acceptable level of security for our citizens. The first was to wage a total war against Palestinian terror using weapons that would claim many innocent Palestinian lives. The second was to keep our reserves constantly mobilized to defend the country. The third option was to build the security fence. Had the Palestinian Authority become a partner in fighting terror, as it was obliged to do under all the agreements that it signed, none of these options would have become necessary."
Despite these walls, Palestinians can exit and enter of their own will. They can go through Egypt and Syria. A country is not obligated to provide passage to all. The United States requires student visas and all sorts of documentations and special identifications before you can come visit. Why is this any different?
As to your belief that no one is treated Palestinians with the respect they deserve, I would like to point out that in a recent poll, 47% of Israeli Arabs don't want Jews as their neighbors. In the entire world, no one is held up to more scrutiny than Israel is. And now, they're not allowed to defend themselves against CONSTANT terrorism. You can't get more third-class citizens than that. You're actually proving my point rather well on this score.
Btw, you need to read Hamas's mission statement. That might give you a bit more illustration into their purpose.
PS - bombing UN schools? WTF? Are you referring to the school used as a missile bombing station that Israel attacked? And warned them in ADVANCE that they were going to attack? (Leaflets rained down on the area: Please leave the school. We will bomb this site due to weapons being launched from this location.)
06/23/09
But how fucking dare you get your facts wrong (Israel invaded Lebanon in 2006...really? And why did they "invade" Lebanon?...Perhaps because Hezbollah crossed borders and killed and abducted Israeli soldiers?! And the ones they adbucted we got back after a prisoner exchange...our men were in bodybags) and how fucking dare you say that Hamas, a terrorist organization THROUGH AND THROUGH are legitimate soldiers, and how fucking dare you downplay the plight of an 18 year old who was abducted for serving his MANDATORY military service. You are DEAD wrong.
My young cousins are in the mandatory service right now. I pray everyday that they do not get abducted while they fight to keep the country safe. Safe from what? The suicide bombings perpertrated by the exact TERRORISTS who are holding this poor kid. I got to run for my life once from one of them. Great memory.
And guess what, dear. My family (ISRAELI SOLDIERS) believes that the Palestinians are getting a raw deal, too. They support a Palestinian homeland. They don't hate Arbas. They don't support west bank settlements. Neither do it. So, with all due respect, fuck off.
06/23/09
06/23/09
06/23/09
06/23/09