Conflicts in the Middle East: 2012

Saturday, December 29

The 2013 Israeli Elections

Naftali Bennett (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Israeli elections will be held on 22nd January 2013. This is an opportunity for the Israeli citizen to change the present government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Now with elections so close at hand, much will be written about the various parties and their promises. One must always remember that when it comes to coalition building all promises are compromised in order to be part of a macabre coalition that satisfies nobody except those who are within it warming their behinds.

What is characteristic of these elections is the predictability of the outcome. All the polls confirm that Likud -Yisrael Beiteinu will win and there will be no change. Netanyahu will remain prime minister. The composition of the coalition is the only question mark. Much depends on the inroads into Netanyahu's support by the latest charismatic maverick, Naftali Bennett, leader of the Bayit Heyehudi Party who will take away votes from the Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu Party. Bennett talks about disobeying an IDF lawful command if it is against his conscience to evacuate Jewish settlers from their homes in disputed territories. This may give him more support from the right wing. Bennett is causing Netanyahu to sweat, turning the Likud-Beiteinu campaign into a campaign against him and his party. It is the right against the extreme right. Lately Netanyahu's Likud-Beiteinu are steering away from this tactic as it is not achieving the desired results in the polls.

Bennett is not concerned with growing world opinion against Israel over the increasing settlement activity in the West Bank, especially in the E1 area. He views a coalition including the center and left of center parties as a disaster for Israel and a recipe for increased incursions and terror by the Islamists such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad and possibly the Salafis who are even more extreme. He also opposes the the two-state solution. Bennett is a right wing extremist and he wishes to take Israel into more uncompromising positions. Another problem that has cropped up is the Likud-Beiteinu union. Avigdor Lieberman's indictment is becoming more complicated. He was interrogated by the police on 25th Dec 2012 in the evening for about 40 minutes under caution. Lieberman had dismissed his vice Foreign Minister, Daniel Ayalon, and, according to reports, Ayalon has made statements to the police incriminating Lieberman even further. Ayalon denies this. However it is quite possible that the press reports are true. Ayalon is not expected to admit to this even it is true.

Lieberman wanted a quick trial so that he could return to the political arena and receive the Ministry of Foreign Affairs portfolio in the new Netanyahu Government. This is just not going to happen and his political career will be ruined if the court decides that there is moral turpitude. This means that he will not return to the Knesset for 7 years. He is a persona non grata in many countries because of his extreme right wing views that even borders on racism. He will be no loss to the political arena. Arthur Finkelstein, Netanyahu's guru, has misread the political climate and Lieberman's legal problems. This will not work to the advantage of the Likud-Beteinu even though they will win the elections but with less mandates than expected.

Who knows how much the Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu payed for Arther Finkelstein's consulting services. He did not give his services for free. It is becoming clear that the union of the Likud with Yisrael Beiteinu was a bad one especially now with Lieberman's charge becoming more complicated. It will not effect the final outcome of the Likud-Beiteinu predicted victory. There will always be those Lieberman supporters who will go into denial claiming that Lieberman was framed and it may have a boomerang affect giving Lieberman increased support.

The campaigns of the parties are moving into full swing with the debating programme of Nissim Mishal on Thursday nights on second channel. The programme kicked off with a debate between Arye Deri of the ultra-Orthodox Sephardi Shas Party and Yair Lapid of the secular Yesh Atid Party. Both are poles apart in their thinking and the arguments between them was aggressive. At the end of the day both candidates will be part of the Likud-Beiteinu Party coalition of Netanyahu and the indicted Lieberman. It is just entertaining to watch this programme which will be held on Thursday nights until the elections. Nothing will change as Israel moves towards the extreme right with all the center parties as part of a coalition that will do very little to improve Israel's poor world image.

Another very important aspect of these elections is a total absence of discussion about the Peace Process. As I mentioned in a previous post, this subject is a vote loser and is almost taboo. No party dares to tread in that direction. The only party that does talk about it is Meretz. Maybe this is why Meretz will only get three to four seats in the Knesset. It is as if the discussion of the moribund peace process is directly proportional to the number of potential votes lost. This should really be a cardinal issue. As the situation is today, President Mahmoud Abbas, with all his weaknesses is the only moderate leader in the Palestinian camp who really wants peace.

The present Netanyahu Government has been doing all in its power to weaken Abbas even further and strengthening Hamas to continue with their "armed struggle" against Israel. This strengthens the right wing. Netanyahu is engaged in making plans for building more settlements in the West Bank and encroaching on the future Palestinian state lands even further.

The only way to strengthen Mahmoud Abbas is to freeze all settlement activity, close Israel's border with Hamas-run Gaza, cease supplying Gaza with electricity and essential goods. Gaza should get electricity from Egypt, which is run by the Muslim Brotherhood of which Hamas is an offshoot with a similar ideology.

If Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist then why should Israel supply Gaza with electricity and essential goods? The responsibility for this should be in Egypt's hands. Travelling to the West Bank from should also be via Egypt. There should be no travelling from Gaza to the West Bank via Israel.
The border between Gaza and Egypt should be open and the siege on Gaza lifted. Obviously there should be international patrols off the Gaza shores to ensure that there is no weapon-smuggling into Gaza. Egypt must take responsibility for its borders to prevent hostile activity and violence towards Israel.

Only by adopting these measures allowing the people of Gaza to travel freely and lifting the sea embargo and not allowing trade or travelling from Gaza via Israel will weaken Hamas and the people will be able to free themselves from Hamas terror and tyranny. If Hamas changes its attitude towards Israel and recognizes Israel's right to exist, agree to negotiations as well as cease its terrorist activities then these measures could be rescinded.

Why have no parties included peace negotiations as part of their electoral manifesto?
Israel's future is dependent on an agreement of peace with its Palestinian neighbors. It could be achieved but the right wing government is not interested. Illegal settlements is a great vote catcher with the right wing in Israel and the status quo with all its dangers is the preferred tactic electorally among the right and probably the center as well.

It makes no difference for which center religious party one votes, they will be part of the Likud-Beiteinu led coalition. The day after the elections, the situation changes politically and old alliances fall. Everything is negotiable. A few days after the elections and a governing coalition emerges after the wheeling and dealing, one will be saddled with a macabre coalition that one least expects consisting of all the bickering center parties with Shas. The voter will get indigestion at this result.

All that is left for one to do is to vote for a party that will not join a Likud-Beiteinu led coalition. This leaves us with Meretz who have stated that they will not be part of a Likud-Beiteinu coalition. There is no guarantee that the Labor Party will not join the right wing coalition

Saturday, December 22

Israel's Creeping Election Fever

English: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli politician (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Map of Israel, the Palestinian territories (West Bank and Gaza Strip), the Golan Heights, and portions of neighbouring countries. Also United Nations deployment areas in countries adjoining Israel or Israeli-held territory, as of January 2004. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The main characteristic of Israel's elections these days is the changing of party allegiances. Stalwart members are leaving their parties because of their failure to work with the leaders of their respective parties. The main issues that should be on the various parties’ agendas are conspicuous by their absence. The biggest issue should be breaking the deadlock of the moribund peace process. There is just nothing happening in that direction.

Time is moving against Israel as the Palestinian rulers in Gaza are becoming more radicalized, especially after the Pillar of Defense war and following close on that was Khaled Mashal's visit to Gaza and his extremist, uncompromising speech.

Palestine's President Mahmoud Abbas gave a speech in the UN after Pillar of Defense requesting raising observer status to a higher notch, just short of total recognition of Palestine being a full UN member. This allowed Palestine recourse to the International Criminal Court at The Hague to prosecute Israel for so-called "war crimes" against the Palestinian people. His speech in the UN General Assembly was uncompromising and perhaps the tone of his speech was to placate the Hamas leadership in Gaza as well as the Hamas cells in the areas under his control in the West Bank. He embraced this tactic in his speech possibly because he knows that Hamas is breathing down his neck, endangering his authority, which is weak. Israel is engaged in weakening Abbas even further. Abbas is the most moderate Palestinian leader with whom Israel can negotiate.

Israel's response was building more settlements thus weakening Mahmoud Abbas even more and strengthening Hamas. Hamas claims that Mahmoud Abbas has achieved no progress with Israel and all that remains is the armed struggle to achieve a Palestinian state. Instead of freezing settlements, PM Netanyahu decided to increase settlement building in the E1 areas around Jerusalem ,which strengthens the Hamas position against Abbas. This was not only a pathetic, nonconstructive tactic but also did further damage to Israel's battered image in the world. This move was political as Netanyahu faces an extreme right wing threat at home from the Bayit Hayehudi Party which is the old National Religious Party that had ceased to exist and now reincarnated into a right wing monster. The leader is a forty year old wealthy, charismatic, religious, extremist, Naftali Bennett, who opposes the establishment of an independent Palestinian state as mentioned in PM Netanyahu's famous Bar Ilan speech recognizing a two state solution.

Bennett was Netanyahu's chief-of-staff and he was dismissed by Netanyahu. Now he is viewed as a threat on the right. It seems that the increased building in E1 is a tactical manoeuvre to diminish the Bennett threat on Netanyahu's hegemony. Bennett sees himself as being part of the Netanyahu coalition after the elections “to move Netanyahu in a more right wing direction”. There is no doubt that Likud-Beteinu will win the elections and Netanyahu will continue as prime minister. The coalition will be even more right wing and will be less sensitive to world condemnation of Israel's illegal settlement building policies in the occupied areas. Naphtali Bennett will be a thorn in Netanyahu's campaign so in order to get more votes, Netanyahu must show himself to be more supportive of illegal settlements by deeds rather than by words to neutralize the “Bennett threat”.

The center and center-left, with Kadima being wiped off the political map, as members are leaving in droves to new parties or retiring from politics altogether, are in a mess. Amazing how they received the highest number of mandates in the previous 2008 elections and could not form a government. As electioneering moves into higher gear and becomes fiercer, the left of center are attacking each other rather than the right-wing who will soon be the winners after the elections. This weakens the left even further.

The electioneering will be over social issues and economics and not about getting the peace process back on track as this is not a vote catcher. The fact that peace with our Palestinian neighbors ensures less defense expenditure, no more wars, and a thriving economy both for Israel and the Palestinians does not seem to be the concern of the majority of the electorate. This philosophy is so far on the back-burner that we will be in for a rough ride after the elections both internationally and internally.There are now disturbances in Hebron, the capital of Jewish religious extremism and racism which could ignite a third intifada.

The extreme right wing firebrand, Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beitenu, the Likud's partner, is being indicted for corruption and he will be out of the race for the time being. He is pulling strings to get his court case heard before the elections so that he could enter the race, but this is not going to happen.

One thing is almost certain, after the elections, no political party will win an absolute majority as has been the case since Israel's establishment. The reliance on coalition building by Netanyahu (Likud-Beitenu will win without a doubt) will occur. No party in the centre or centre left has ruled out joining a Likud-Beitenu coalition. There are many people who are not Likud-Beitenu supporters and would not like to see the party of their choice join a Netanyahu-led coalition. None of the parties Avodah, Tnua, Yesh Atid, Kadima (or what's left of it, if anything) and the religious ultra-Orthodox parties have ruled out joining a Likud - Beitenu coalition. The temptation of cabinet posts and seats in the wheeling and dealing after the elections is so strong that all the pre-electoral arguments and promises are soon forgotten as ideologies are compromised for a delicious position in a macabre coalition of fortune seekers and ego-seeking cabinet ministers.

This being the case it leaves the voter with few choices if he/she wishes to exercise their right to vote.

One can cast a vote for a party that has pledged not to join a Likud-Yisrael Beitenu coalition. Meretz and the various Arab Parties are alternatives as they have pledged not to be part of the right wing coalition.

The Arab Parties, Ram-Tal and Balad are no options as they are sectarian and do not represent the interests of all Israeli citizens.They seem to be more concerned about the plight of Palestinians beyond the borders of Israel and less of Palestinians who are Israeli citizens (Israeli Arabs). There is much work to be done in this sector of the population, who do suffer from some discrimination and do not identify with Israel's national symbols. They need an identity which can be an integral part of Israel.

The other party is Hadash which theoretically believes in a total dichotomy between all Israel's citizens. This is justifiable and praiseworthy. However they are doctrinaire and their attitude to the massacres of Syrians by Assad of Syria is dubious.This means that their commitment to democracy is unclear.

This leaves us with only one option - Meretz. This party is strong in its commitment to human rights irrespective of race, color and creed. It is for separation of state and religion and against religious coercion. It is also more vocal on getting the negotiations on peace with the Palestinians back on track and taking it off the back-burner as most of the other parties have done. This party is a social democratic party - the only one in Israel contrary to what Shelly Yachimovich claims about Avodah.

There is no doubt that in the difficult cul-de-sac situation with the Palestinians, it is in Israel's best interests to negotiate with President Abbas and his team leaving Hamas out of the picture altogether until they climb down the tree of their fantasies of not recognizing Israel's right to exist and continuing their aggression against the "illegal Zionist entity" as they call it, believing that Israel must be destroyed.

The only way to arrive to negotiations with Mahmoud Abbas as the representative of the Palestinians is to close the border hermetically with Gaza so that there will be no communications between Gaza and the West Bank via Israel. If Palestinians wish to travel to the West Bank, they can go via Egypt, which has open borders with Gaza. After all, Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt so let Egypt supply electricity to Gaza and foodstuffs as well as other essential items. Israel owes Gaza nothing as it is ruled by Hamas. Israel must lift the siege off Gaza and Egypt must take responsibility, aided by UN monitors, for any weapon smuggling into Gaza, whether by land, sea or air. Gaza must be Egypt's responsibility in every sphere as the Muslim Brotherhood’s ally, Hamas, rules Gaza with total independence and that should mean no goods or aid from Israel either. A situation must be created whereby there is a Palestinian Spring in Gaza that overthrows the evil Hamas and its terrorist allies which rules the Gaza Palestinians with tyranny. Everything pertaining to Gaza is in the hands of Egypt. Israel must ignore Gaza and only worry about terrorism that comes from that place.

Sunday, December 16

The Upcoming Israeli Elections and the Palestinians

English: Portrait of Avigdor Lieberman עברית: צילום של אביגדור ליברמן (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Shas party logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rabbi Ovaid Yosef (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Israeli Elections are looming in a couple of weeks on 22nd January 2013. There are so many senior members of the various parties that are leaving their traditional parties and forming new parties or just crossing over to other parties. This puts an extra burden on the voter to decide for whom to vote. Israel has a proportional representation system and this creates a situation of a number of small parties contesting for seats in the Knesset. There is the extreme right which overlaps with the center right, such as Yisrael Beitenu of Avigdor Lieberman who is being indicted for fraud and breach of trust by the Attorney-General, Yehuda Weinstein. In a statement, Mr Lieberman said he was stepping aside to enable him to clear his name even though he was not legally obliged to resign. “Even though I know I did not commit any crime… I decided to resign from my post as foreign minister and deputy prime minister and remove my immunity,” he said. “Following 16 years of investigations against me, I will now be able to end this matter quickly and without delays, and finally clear my name.”

This will probably have a positive affect on Likud-Yisrael Beitenu by increasing their support. Avigdor Lieberman has been under investigation since 1996 and there has been no indictment against him even under the previous Attorney-General Meni Mazouz. The investigations against him over the years never brought anything conclusive to accuse him of bribery and money laundering.These charges were dismissed. The indictment against Lieberman will be viewed by his right-wing supporters and that of the Likud as turning Lieberman into a victim by the "left-wing" justice system in Israel. The fact that the Minister of Justice, Yakov Neeman and the Judge-President, Asher Dan Grunis of the High Court are notably right wing. The latter is even a settler in the West Bank. They will ask: Why indict Avigdor Lieberman now before he is re-elected with Benjamin Netanyahu after the elections which this duo are destined to win? They will view the indictment as a conspiracy against Lieberman for his extreme views and not for his misdemeanors or suspected crimes. In this country you give a dog a bad name and he is exalted.

When Arye Deri, of the Shas Party, was Minister of the Interior in the middle 1990s, he was found guilty of bribery and corruption and served time in prison. There were many supporters, including Rabbi Ovadia Yosef the spiritual head of this ultra-Orthodox Party, who believed that he was innocent. They would not accept the judgement of the High Court. This resulted in Shas being viewed as the poor, victimized underdog and it was the "Ashkenazi establishment" that trumped up criminal charges against Deri. Today he is returning to the Shas list for the Knesset after having "redeemed" himself of moral turpitude by the time factor and his 3 year prison term which he served. It is very possible that with Lieberman's indictment, the right-wing will gain points and will portray itself as victim of the "hostile" left-wing and the anti-Semites of the world who are on a hate campaign against Israel. This is the kind of stuff that wins votes for the extreme right-wing and right-wing of Israel. For them it is a blessing in disguise.

The opposition center parties and left of center are making capital of Lieberman's indictment, but this will be very short-lived and may even boomerang against them. The center parties and left of center parties are part of a great circus with some senior members of the Labor Party and Kadima deserting to the new parties of Tzippi Livni (Tnua) and Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid). This strengthens the right wing even more. The Lieberman Case will also strengthen the right wing even further for the reasons mentioned earlier in this article.

This election will be fought mostly on economic issues. The peace process between Israel and the Palestinians is moribund. There is no word mentioned in this election campaign as to how to improve Israel's image in the world or to get the peace process back on track which could only benefit all sides. Any mention of the peace process by any party or any ideas put forward by a party that looks beyond economics is bound to be a vote loser. All the parties from the extreme right to the left of center know this and have decided to place it on the back burner.

It is true that Hamas is no partner for peace by their own admittance and violent terrorist actions. One needs to read Khaled Meshal's Speech when he visited Gaza and this leaves one with no sense of illusion of his hate for Israel and the Jewish People. This goes for his followers as well.

President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority has no power over Gaza despite supporting Gaza during the "Pillar of Defense" War. Perhaps there is really nobody on the Palestinian side with whom a peace treaty can be signed. Just after the war in Gaza, Palestine's status in the UN was upgraded .

Mahmoud Abbas had stated that he has no power in Gaza. If this is the case, then how could he negotiate a peace treaty representing all the Palestinians. It is absurd!

The world supports a two state solution, but de facto, Palestine consists of two states: Hamastan (Gaza) and Fatahstan (West Bank). The leaders of Palestine are really Siamese twins with two heads and joined together by the waist. The two heads hate each other, the common blood supply goes through both heads and the common body. The blood supply that keeps them alive is the common hate for Israel and the Jews. Under these conditions it would be impossible to negotiate for a two-state solution when Palestine is already divided. The upgrading of Palestine (Does this include Hamastan?) is a total farce played out in the UN by the majority of its members. What about human rights in Palestine apart from opposition to the Israeli occupation? In Gaza there is no human rights and in the West Bank the human rights of Palestinians is also in doubt.

There will never be a two-state solution to the Palestine-Israeli conflict. In Palestine there are two states already and there is nothing mentioned in the moribund Oslo Accords, Road Map or Geneva Convention.

It looks as if this conflict is going to fester for years unless something drastic happens to Hamas. Either they must change their ideas about destroying Israel and recognize Israel's right to exist or they must be written off the map in the way that the Allies destroyed Nazi Germany. There is no hope for the Palestinians for a better life and building the infrastructure for a progressive, democratic Palestinian state while Hamas rules the roost in Gaza and threatens the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. If Hamas gains control of the West Bank then we are in for a disaster and a possible war.

The situation is complex and there are no easy solutions. Our hope for a solution to this conflict is to weaken Hamas and encourage a moderate, progressive Palestinian leadership who will be prepared to make peace with Israel and phase out the occupation. Somehow there does not seem to be a light at the end of the dark tunnel of hate.

Mahmoud Abbas does NOT represent Gaza nor has he the power to negotiate with Israel for peace without the support of Hamas which he will never get.

Saturday, December 8

Aftermath of "Pillar of Defense

English: Khaled Meshaal in a meeting with spanish journalists (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Mahmoud Abbas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

العربية: علم حماس עברית: דגל חמאס I made this for use on the Hamas article of Wikipedia. Category:Hamas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Coat of arms of the Palestinian National Authority (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The "Pillar of Defense" War in Gaza has come and gone with both Israel and Hamas claiming an overwhelming victory. The former had inflicted heavy damage on Hamas but despite Israeli claims that its goals were reached, this is not the case in reality. Hamas never surrendered and because of this they claimed a victory. The damage done to Hamas property was enormous and the loss of life was relatively low on the Palestinian side.Perhaps this was the Hamas claim to victory. There is a tenuous cease-fire in place with Egypt being the broker for this cease-fire under tremendous pressure from the US.

Earlier in November, the Palestinians in Gaza, led by Hamas rulers who build a terrorist infrastructure and call for Israel's destruction, launched more than 1,000 rockets toward Israel, including the city of Jerusalem -- holy to Christians, Muslims and Jews -- in attacks meant to indiscriminately kill or maim civilians. The Palestinian Authority, which leads Palestinians in the West Bank, recently chose action in the United Nations over talking to Israel. The United Nations General Assembly has voted in favour of upgrading the Palestinians status to that of a non-member observer state. The vote was taken at a meeting of the body in New York, with 138 countries voting in favour of the upgrade. Nine countries voted against it, and 41 others abstained.

Israel had no option but to retaliate for the firing of Qassam missiles into the settlements and towns in the south of Israel. The ally of Hamas is Iran. The latter supplied Hamas with the Fajr 5 long range missiles with a 70 Km radius.The world was silent as many European leaders knew that Israel has the right to defend its citizens from Hamas terrorism, but after a couple of days pressure started mounting on Israel to reach a cease-fire. The dour and spineless secretary-general of the UN, Ban Ki Moon paid a quick visit to Israel and Palestine and pressurized a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas brokered by Egypt. Hilary Clinton, the US Foreign Secretary had a meeting with President Morsi of Egypt.The US pledged about 12 billion dollars aid to Egypt if they would aid in maintaining the cease-fire.

The cease-fire is holding for the moment. In Israel street there is total silence about the Pillar of Defense War against Hamas. There is one thing that has been emphasized in the aftermath is the total impotence of the Palestinian Authority in its part in this war.The PA remained out of the picture and had no influence in the outcome or decisions made apart from supporting a cease-fire. It is obvious that Palestine is divided into two entities: Hamastan which is Gaza and Fatahstan which is the West Bank that is still occupied by Israel. President Mahmoud Abbas is wedged between Hamas and Israel and has no power in decision-making let alone negotiations.

He did somehow flex a bit of muscle in the UN in his demand for Palestine getting observer status and this in turn would upgrade Palestine in the UN without being a member of the UN. In practical terms this gives them access to the International Court at the Hague to take Israel to court for "war crimes" against the Palestinians. It is doubtful if they will pursue this.

Had there been a Palestine with a leadership that is strong and could negotiate with Israel for peace and security then there would be no problem with Palestine's status in the UN. At the end stage of negotiations, Palestine would declare itself independent and would become a full member of the UN. This is not the case at all.

Palestine speaks with two voices. The moderate Abbas voice which is dubious in its support of a peace treaty with Israel. Abbas has no power to make decisions on this matter and the talk about it is nothing but empty statements lacking any backing from the extremists in the Hamas terrorist organization ruling Gaza. They are unanimous in demanding Israel's total destruction and while they are in this self-destructing mode and are not willing to negotiate with Israel leaves Israel with no choice but to oppose the elevation of Palestine's status to non-member observer status in the UN as the representative of Palestine which does not represent Hamas-ruled Gaza. The question is: Who represents Palestine as an observer non-member whose legitimacy in representation by the PA is not accepted by Hamas? Hamas is still viewed as a terrorist organization by the US and its allies in the European Union. It was Hamas that carried out terrorist acts against Israel in the south.

Israel had gained some points in the world but these points decreased rapidly when PM Bibi Netanyahu decided to establish 3000 housing units in the E1 area because of the Palestinian move in the UN. Two wrongs do not make a right and the vindictiveness of the Netanyahu Government to do this was a stupid tactless blunder for reasons that are for consolidating the right wing parties in Israel under his banner at election time which is on 22nd January 2013. He wants to outright the right the of Naftali Bennet (The Jewish Home Party an extremist illegal settlement oriented party) and all these other pathetic right-wing fanatics in Israel standing for election. This is the main reason for making his rash and unwise decision on promoting illegal settlement. The more illegal settlements built the less likelihood if any will there be for the establishment of a Palestinian state which today consists of two parts as mentioned earlier in my article..Hamas and Fatah are at loggerheads and even resort to murdering each other.

The Israeli Election campaigns this year seem to be side stepping the importance of a peace settlement with the Palestinians. The desertion of various party members from one party to another in the mad rush for seats in the Knesset and the total compromising of ideology as to how Israel should be led towards a peace settlement with Palestine and its Arab neighbours is sorely lacking.

This is very dangerous and on the extremist right wing flank we have the destruction of Israel's credibility in the world. Criticism of Netanyahu are even coming from Israel's closest friends. Ambassadors are being recalled from Israel for consultations and this does not bode well for Israel's future if the Likud-Beiteinu Party of Lieberman and Netanyahu are re-elected which is a foregone conclusion unfortunately.

Saturday, November 17

Israel and Gaza -at War

English: Grad rocket fired from Gaza hits Southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva and destroys a kindergarten classroom (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: A Qassam rocket fired from a civilian area in Gaza towards civilian areas in Southern Israel. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades emblem (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At the time of writing, Israel is pounding Gaza from the air and from the sea. I also hear the Israeli Air Force Planes flying overhead carrying their deadly cargo to fire into the Hamas terrorist nests. Are they Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? I prefer the term terrorists for that is what they represent. Maybe eyebrows are raised by the term especially by naive human rights groups. Do they have any idea what it is like to be within the radius of terrorist aggression? Missiles are fired on innocent civilians, who have made no provocations of violence towards the Palestinians. This has been going on intermittently for months and years and Israel has not retaliated. The Qassams fall, people are injured and their property is destroyed and for what? Where is the UN? Why is there no condemnation from that impotent world body? Deathly silence from its halls is the reply.

This has nothing to do with the occupation. It has a lot to do with not accepting Israel's right to exist. The occupation is a result of that. My opposition to the occupation and its ramifications has been written many times in my previous articles and I am not going to repeat what I have already stated over the years.

It would be wise to ask the question: What country would allow rockets to be fired into their civilian population? Would the US, South Africa, Great Britain and France allow this to go on undeterred? The Hamas Government of Gaza has been warned many times but to no avail. They ignore splinter terrorist groups such as Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Islamic Jihad and many other splinter groups who are the military wing of Hamas. One must also remember that these groups are being aided by Iran and even Syria, Iran's proxy -"bastions of democracy and human rights". If this is the case and it certainly is then Hamas must take the responsibility for controlling them which they have not. Hamas must be held accountable for the reaction of the Israel Defense Forces.

The picture on the war front is showing that Hamas and its terrorist wings are taking a well deserved hammering. They have tried their luck against

Israel

in their hateful rhetoric and terrorist activity. Their anti-Israel activities have also gained legitimacy by naive human rights groups, whether it is the arrival of flotillas to bolster Hamas morale by protesting the Israeli blockade on Gaza and the so-called passive anti-Israel platitudes expressed by these so-called self styled righteous "peace-mongers" . The blockade is not against the Palestinians of Gaza but against Iranian attempts to smuggle in arms in order to destroy

Israel

. The propaganda machines of Hamas have been playing on the poverty and suffering of the Gaza Palestinians much of which is of their own creation. Hamas is a racist Islamist organization whose ideology of super race is aligned to fascism and paradoxically getting the support of self-styled human rights activists. Human rights are NOT on their agenda for their own people. Their treatment of women is shocking. Hamas tortures members of the opposition who are aligned with Fatah without mercy. Democracy and human rights are not on the Hamas agenda and never will be.

Hamas gets funds for developing infra-structure for Gaza from various Arab states. What do they do with these funds? The leadership pockets it for themselves and the rest goes into promoting the suffering of the Gaza Palestinians because this is where their strength lies. The money goes into Qassam rockets, Grad missiles, Fajr 5 missiles which is targeted towards Tel Aviv and other heavy populated areas of Israel. This is the Hamas answer to promoting the interests of the Palestinians. Their Islamist fantasy world is their enemy. They lie to their own people in order to bolster their morale by stating that they have hit the Knesset in Jerusalem and targeted Tel Aviv. Israel had no alternative but to attack the Hamas terrorist headquarters and their terrorist leaders.

Hamas survives on hatred and destruction, not on education and building a viable state for the good of the Palestinian people including all the social services that their citizens are entitled. There is no economic development in Gaza apart from building weapons of death and destruction under Iranian and Syrian tutelage. They use innocent children as human shields - placing them in the pathways of Israeli shelling and bomb attacks in order to create as much death and destruction as possible to promote their evil cause. This serves as a very effective propaganda machine against Israel and soon world pressure will build up against Israel in the pathetic Islamist - controlled UN to cease its attack on Hamas and its evil allies in Gaza.

Hamas will not rest and even if a cease fire is declared it will be a respite for them to re-arm and create a situation in their fantasy world of Israel's total destruction. They will have another try in a few months in order to achieve that end. Their ideology does not cater for Israel's existence now and possibly forever. I do hope that that I am wrong and they will become pragmatic towards a reality in the Middle East that will not disappear under the rain of Qassams and Iranian weaponry.

Those who suffer the most are the Palestinians of Gaza who are scared of their Hamas oppressors.

Israel

has not occupied Gaza. Hamas has occupied Gaza with their Iranian proxies. There are those that will say that Hamas was elected by free elections. That is true but if we go back in history to 1933, the Nazis were elected in democratic elections by the German people. We must bear in mind that there are anti-democratic racist parties that use the democratic process by standing for election and using their propaganda to gain power. The end result is total crushing of the opposition and installing a reign of terror. This happened in Nazi Germany and is now happening in Hamas occupied Gaza. Al Qaeda is waiting on the sidelines to pick up the pieces. It is the silent majority in Gaza, who is suffering. Poverty, unemployment, lack of basic essentials and decent education is not part of the Hamas plan for its people. The various in-fighting within Hamas itself unknown to most of us is also taking its toll. All that unifies Hamas is its hate for

Israel

has the ability to destroy Hamas but it will not. It has no intention of occupying Gaza and installing military rule. The ramifications of that would be disastrous as world opinion would pressurize Israel - not to mention Egypt's President Morsi is tight rope walking now.

A reality cannot be ignored. Israel's assassination of Ahmed Jabaari of the military (terrorist) wing of Hamas was a catalyst to the increased firing of missiles from Gaza. It was not the cause as this was going on for too long. He was a commander of terrorist groups responsible for much of the aggression against Israel's citizens.

The war goes on at the time of writing and nobody knows how it will end. Hopefully Hamas will raise a white flag for a truce but this is unlikely. They will use their supporting countries like Egypt to apply pressure on Israel and this could have a domino effect in the UN and the Arab world. It is an unfortunate fact that the opposition to Hamas in Gaza are those groups that are even more extreme.