Hamas Leader: Our Main Goal To Remove Israeli Occupation

 

by Syarif Hidayat

 

     Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement on Wednesday, November 21, 2012. Both the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and the Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, claim victory in the ceasefire. Speaking in Gaza City on Thursday, Haniyeh said that all of Hamas's demands had been met, whilst in Jerusalem, Netanyahu insisted that Operation Pillar of Defense had reached its goals.

    Hamas leaders and thousands of flag-waving supporters declared victory over Israel on Gaza's first day of calm under an Egyptian-brokered truce Thursday, as Israeli officials flew to Cairo for talks on easing a blockade on the battered Palestinian territory.

    Eight days of punishing Israeli air strikes on Gaza and a barrage of Hamas rocket fire on Israel ended inconclusively. While Israel said it inflicted heavy damage on the militants, Gaza's Hamas rulers claimed that Israel's decision not to send in ground troops, as it had four years ago, was a sign of a new deterrent power.

     "Resistance fighters changed the rules of the game with the occupation (Israel), upset its calculations," Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, who attended the rally, said later in a televised speech. "The option of invading Gaza after this victory is gone and will never return." At the same time, Haniyeh urged Gaza fighters to respect the truce and to "guard this deal as long as Israel respects it."

      The mood in Israel was mixed. Some were grateful that quiet had been restored without a ground operation that could have cost the lives of more soldiers. Others — particularly those in southern Israel hit by rockets over the past 13 years — thought the operation was abandoned too quickly.  Thousands of Israeli soldiers who had been sent to the border during the fighting withdrew Thursday, the military said.

       Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive's aims of halting Gaza rocket fire and weakening Hamas were achieved. "I know there are citizens who were expecting a harsher response," he said, adding that Israel is prepared to act if the cease-fire is violated.

       Despite the tough talk, the cease-fire raised hopes of a new era between Israel and Hamas. A senior Israeli official and three aides arrived in Cairo late Thursday and were escorted to Egypt's intelligence headquarters, according to Egyptian airport officials, presumably to hammer out the details of a deal that would include easing a blockade of the territory.

     

      However, the vague language of the agreement announced Wednesday and deep hostility between the combatants made it far from certain the bloodshed would end or that either side will get everything it wants. Israel seeks an end to weapons smuggling into Gaza, while Hamas wants a complete lifting of the border blockade imposed in 2007, after the militant group's takeover of Gaza.

Israeli opportunity to end Gaza closure

  

     The “Gisha-Legal Center for Freedom of Movement,” an Arab Non-governmental organization in Israel says in its analysis:  “As the ceasefire agreement takes force, Israel has an opportunity to finally end the civilian closure of Gaza and enter into regional arrangements that will allow residents of Gaza the freedom of movement to which they have a right, while protecting the security to which residents of Israel are entitled.”

    According to a Gisha analysis titled:  “Gaza Gateway: Facts and Analysis About The Crossings - Gisha Response to Ceasefire: A Opportunity to End The Gaza Closure,” the Israeli government maintains three restrictions on Gaza's land crossings that must be removed to protect the rights of Palestinians to reach family members and access educational and economic opportunities, subject to individual security checks:

1. Entrance of construction materials for the private sector in Gaza is banned. Israel claims the restrictions are necessary to prevent the Hamas regime from building bunkers. Each month, an estimated average of 3,600 truckloads of construction materials for the private and governmental sector enter Gaza via underground tunnels, compared with just 1,100 truckloads via the crossings with Israel. The materials entering via Israel must be pre-approved for international organizations, causing burdensome and expensive delays.

2. Israel prevents goods from Gaza from reaching their markets in Israel and the West Bank. Although tiny quantities of export abroad transit via Israeli ports, Israel prevents farmers and manufacturers in Gaza from selling their goods to their traditional customers in Israel and the West Bank. Prior to the ban imposed in June 2007, more than 85 percent of goods leaving Gaza were sold in Israel and the West Bank.  Today, Israel conducts security checks of goods transiting via Israel to markets abroad (18 truckloads per month on average, just two percent of pre-June 2007 levels) but does not allow those goods to remain in Israel or the West Bank.

3. The Israeli government restricts travel between Gaza and the West Bank to "exceptional humanitarian cases", mostly medical patients, their companions, and senior (male) merchants buying goods from Israel and the West Bank. Each month, Israel allows 4,000 entrances of Palestinians via Erez Crossing, compared with more than half a million in September 2000. Israeli officials say the restrictions are part of the "separation policy", which restricts travel from Gaza to the West Bank, even where no individual security claims are raised. The ban separates children from their parents, prevents students from studying, blocks economic opportunities and exacerbates the fragmentation of Palestinian society.

     Opening Rafah Crossing for goods, while important, is not responsive to the need to allow access between Gaza and the West Bank and Israel. Currently, most of the markets for goods from Gaza are in Israel and the West Bank, and the relatively low cost of living in Egypt would make it difficult for Gaza's export – mostly low-cost, labor intensive items like furniture, textiles and produce - to be competitive.

   Rafah does not provide a solution for travel between Gaza and the West Bank, especially as Israel's military does not allow Gaza residents to enter the West Bank via Egypt and Jordan.
More than 47 percent of civilian goods entering Gaza – enter via the tunnels.

     Any change in access arrangements would need to take into account the high volume of civilian truckloads entering Gaza via the tunnels: an estimated 4,100 truckloads per month (primarily construction materials but also small quantities of snack foods, spare parts, and others), compared with 4,700 truckloads per month via Kerem Shalom.

     In addition, most of Gaza's fuel is piped in via the tunnels. Since 2007, Israel has closed three of Gaza's four goods crossings, leaving just the limited capacity of Kerem Shalom. If all of Gaza's incoming and outgoing goods are to be transferred above ground, arrangements must be made to meet demand. Most civilian goods transiting via the tunnels are goods banned by the Israeli government: more than 80 percent of civilian tunnel volume is construction materials, according to a Gisha analysis received Mi’raj News Agency (MINA). 

What is the Closure of Gaza?

    In light of reports that lifting the closure of Gaza is part of negotiations for a ceasefire, Gisha clarifies what the closure of Gaza consists of today. Since June 2010, changes in Israeli and Egyptian policies have made the Gaza Strip more open to the outside world, but the restrictions that sever it from the West Bank and Israel remain almost unchanged. These primarily include the ban on marketing goods from Gaza to Israel and the West Bank and restrictions on travel of people between Gaza and the West Bank. Both are explained as part of what Israel calls the "separation policy".

Transfer of goods into the Gaza Strip :

The only crossing open for the transfer of goods into and out of the Gaza Strip, except for the tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, is the Kerem Shalom crossing that connects Gaza with Israel. Israel allows the transfer of all kinds of goods except for materials it defines as dual use and basic construction materials.

Transfer of goods out of the Gaza Strip :

Since June 2007, Israel has prevented Palestinians in Gaza from marketing their goods in Israel and the West Bank, where most of the demand is. The export of agricultural produce abroad is allowed in negligible quantities, mainly as part of a project subsidized by the Dutch government. Formally, the export of furniture and textile from Gaza abroad is allowed, but demand for these goods outside of Israel and the West Bank is minimal. Since the beginning of 2012, an average of 18 truckloads of goods were permitted to leave the Gaza Strip each month, which is just 2% of the level prior to June 2007.

Access to land, sea and air space of the Gaza Strip :

Israel prevents all access to and from the Gaza Strip by sea and air. Gaza fishermen are allowed to fish up to three nautical miles from the coast. Israel prevents access to a 300-1500 meter "buffer zone" along the border fence.

Travel of people between Gaza and the West Bank :

Movement of people into and out of the Gaza Strip takes place through the Erez crossing with Israel and the Rafah crossing with Egypt. Israel allows passage through Erez only in "exceptional humanitarian cases, with an emphasis on urgent medical cases". In practice, Israel has since the beginning of the year allowed about 4,000 entrances of Palestinians a month through Erez to Israel and the West Bank, mostly of senior merchants and patients and their companions, compared to more than half a million entrances in September 2000. Israel does not allow Palestinians from Gaza to enter the West Bank via Jordan, even though in doing so, they don't seek to travel through Israeli territory.

Travel of people between Gaza and other countries :

Travel occurs mainly through Egypt, in light of Israel's ban on travel abroad via air, sea, and Israeli ports. The Rafah crossing is open to traffic six days per week. In the last four months, an average of 40,000 people passed through it each month in both directions – a volume of traffic similar to the level during implementation of the Agreement on Movement and Access from November 2005 to June 2006. Because it controls the Palestinian population registry, Israeli exercises indirect control over issuing Palestinian passports, which are necessary for exit through Rafah Crossing.

What is the “separation policy”?

    In June of 2010, the Israeli government decided, in a formal Security Cabinet decision, to make changes to its policy of closure on the Gaza Strip, which had been in effect since Hamas took over the Strip three years prior. Since the decision, there has been a gradual removal of restrictions on the transfer of goods and raw materials into the Gaza Strip and an increase in travel through Erez Crossing, particularly by businesspeople. Agricultural export from Gaza to Europe via Israel has also increased somewhat and Egypt’s opening of the Rafah Crossing for travel has provided a route for Gaza residents to travel abroad.
    Gaza is less isolated from the outside world than it was two years ago, however the road to development and economic stability in the Strip remains blocked. Gaza’s connections with Israel and the West Bank, vital for its economy and the welfare of its residents, are still subject to sweeping restrictions on movement. The two main restrictions are the prohibition on marketing goods from Gaza in Israel and the West Bank and the narrow criteria for travel by individuals between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. These restrictions have remained almost entirely unchanged, even after the release of Gilad Shalit from captivity in Gaza in September 2011.

    When asked why these restrictions on movement remain in effect, security officials explain that they form part of the “policy of separation” between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. This term reappears in official statements but has never been explained: Is there a well-defined and carefully considered policy that carries this title? What are its goals? What government branch formulated it? Has it been brought for debate in any political forum – the government, the cabinet, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee?
    The Israeli separation policy contains three parts: Part A deals with restrictions on transfer of goods, particularly the sweeping prohibition on marketing goods from Gaza in Israel and the West Bank; Part B deals with restrictions on travel to and from the Gaza Strip and illustrates the two guiding principles of these restrictions, minimizing the number of people who are eligible for travel and preventing Gaza residents from settling in the West Bank, and; Part C looks at the economic, political and security implications of the “separation policy”, relying on the opinions of various experts.

     The policy that emerges from the three parts is one that has far-reaching implications, raises more than a few questions and has not been well-documented or discussed in the media or among security, economy and legal professionals. We hope to help bring the “separation policy” up for public and parliamentary debate in the framework of which it would be weighed against alternatives for regulating civilian movement between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank that both allow Gaza’s residents to lead normal lives and enjoy economic development and safeguard Israel’s security interests.

     Gisha’s position is that Israel is responsible for allowing civilian access between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which it has officially recognized as a single territorial unit. It must avoid restrictions on movement that are not connected to concrete security objectives, those that disproportionately harm the civilian population or deny residents of the Gaza Strip the ability to lead normal lives and engage in economic development.

Separation and movement of goods

The facts:

-          Since the closure was tightened in June 2007, there has been a sweeping and absolute prohibition on the marketing of any goods originating in the Gaza Strip in the West Bank and Israel. This has been the case despite the fact that until then, 85 percent of the goods exported from the Gaza Strip were marketed in these areas.

-          Israel permits negligible amounts of export of agricultural produce from Gaza to Europe as part of a seasonal project financed by the government of the Netherlands.

-          In the first six months of 2007, about 5750 trucks carrying goods left the Gaza Strip. During the next three years, from mid-June 2007 to June 2010, a total of 255 truckloads, all of them carrying agricultural produce, left Gaza for Europe. In the winter of 2010-2011, the total was 290 truckloads.

-          The amount of agricultural exports planned for this season totals only 561 truckloads.

-          Israel claims that it has approved export of furniture and textiles from Gaza to Europe, even though there is not and has never been a market for these Gaza-made products in Europe. On January 22, 2012, the first truck carrying furniture from Gaza crossed through Israel and the West Bank to an exhibition in Jordan. In February and March 2012, six truckloads of tomatoes crossed over from Gaza via Israel to Saudi Arabia.

-          All export of goods which has taken place – to Europe, Jordan and Saudi Arabia – has been shipped by sea and air from Israel after undergoing sanitation inspection in Gaza and a comprehensive security inspection at the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

-           In March 2012, a shipment of 13 truckloads of date-filled energy bars was allowed to cross over from Gaza to the West Bank as part of a World Food Programme project for school children. This was the first shipment of goods allowed to travel from Gaza to the West Bank in five years. However, there was no subsequent announcement of a change in policy.

-           The Rafah border crossing remains closed for commercial traffic in both directions.

-          The export ban has paralyzed the industrial sector in the Gaza Strip. Some 83 percent of factories in the Strip are shut down or are operating at half their capacity or less.

-          At the end of 2011, the unemployment rate was 30.3 percent compared with 15.5 percent in the third quarter of 2000, just before the outbreak of the Second Intifada. The unemployment level is particularly high among young job-seekers aged 15-29. It stands at 46.5 percent.

-           A long list of Israeli and international economists have determined that the ban on the marketing of goods to Israel and the West Bank is the main impediment to sustainable economic development in the Gaza Strip. They include Yitzhak Gal, Prof. Ephraim Kleiman and a World Bank report published in March 2012.

Five Years of Closure

    In the past five years since Hamas' takeover of Gaza, Israel's policy of closure on the Strip has undergone important changes. Today Gaza is more opened up towards the outside world, however sweeping and indiscriminate restrictions on travel and on movement of goods between Gaza and the West Bank and Israel remain nearly unchanged.

    The following information explains the changes that have occurred over the past five years, providing context for those changes based on data about access before the closure and showing their impact on the economy. We hope this information can serve as a reminder that despite changes in the policy, the civilian closure on Gaza has not been lifted entirely and continues to prevent residents of the Strip from engaging in family life, from accessing opportunities for higher education, and from the possibility of developing a healthy and prosperous economy and society.

Movement of people

Concerning the movement of people there has been a trend of a gradual increase in access starting in 2009-2010. However, while the number of individual exits to Egypt has risen nearly to pre-closure numbers, movement to Israel and the West Bank remains at less than one percent of the volume before significant restrictions were imposed at the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000.

Movement of goods

The volume of goods allowed into the Strip increased gradually, particularly since June 2010, after which it stabilized at around 4,000 truckloads per month or roughly 40 percent of the pre-closure average. There are two main reasons for the remaining gap.

-          Firstly, severe restrictions remain on the entrance of building materials to the Strip via Israel. In the past, building materials comprised approximately half of all incoming goods. Restrictions via Israel have transferred the supply route of building materials to tunnels from Egypt. There is also a shift in commercial traffic from the Karni and Sufa crossings, to Kerem Shalom Crossing which is located at the southernmost point on the Israel-Gaza border.

-          The second reason for the remaining gap in the volume of incoming goods is decline in demand for raw materials due to the paralysis of the industrial sector. This paralysis was caused and has been sustained by the drop in outgoing trade due to the ban on marketing products from Gaza in Israel and the West Bank.

     In 2011, the rate of outgoing goods was just two percent of the level recorded in the first half of 2007, prior to the closure. A March 2012 World Bank report notes that without access to Gaza's traditional markets, "Gaza's industry will not manage any significant recovery". While consumption, construction and external aid drove Gaza’s GDP upward, the labor-intensive industrial and agricultural sectors remain far below their pre-closure levels of production. Although GDP has experienced growth in recent years, it remains lower than it was in the year 2005 or even 1994.

    Since June 2010, measures introduced to "ease" the closure have had a positive impact, reflected by most macro-economic indicators. However, remaining restrictions on movement of people from Gaza to the West Bank and on marketing of goods from Gaza in Israel and the West Bank, where changes in policy have been minimal, continue to block Gaza’s economy from achieving sustainable growth and prevent its residents from maintaining their personal, cultural, educational and commercial ties with the West Bank.

    These two remnants of the "economic warfare" doctrine of 2007-2010 (which the current government ostensibly renounced) are explained by the term "separation policy" – a policy which in practice deepens the split between the two (Gaza and West Bank) areas, for admittedly political reasons rather than due to security requirements.

     According to Gisha Director Sari Bashi: "Now is the time for Israel to do what is just, mutually beneficial, and should have been done long ago: remove all restrictions not necessary for security."

     While Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh stressed again that “Our main goal will remain to remove the occupation so that our people would be able to establish their free state on all of Palestine and Jerusalem.” (HSH)

Sources: 1. International News Agencies

                2. Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement:

                    Gaza Gateway – Facts and Analysis About The Crossings

GAZA CEASEFIRE: ISRAEL SUBMITS TO HAMAS CONDITIONS AND DEMANDS

GAZA CEASEFIRE: ISRAEL SUBMITS TO HAMAS CONDITIONS AND DEMANDS

by Syarif Hidayat 

     Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin  Netanyahu says cease-fire with Hamas is the right thing for Israel, while Hamas lawmaker Ahmed Bahar says Israel has 'submitted to the conditions and demands set by the resistance' and he hailed the outcome as a triumph.

 

      Egypt announced on Wednesday that a ceasefire had been reached to end the conflict between Hamas and Israel, effective as of 9:00 P.M. local time. During the last week, hundreds of rockets were fired into southern Israel, killing five Israelis, while IDF strikes in Gaza killed more than 140 Palestinians.

      Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr made the announcement in a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday evening from Cairo. "Egypt has made great efforts since the start of the latest escalation in the Gaza Strip," Amr said. "These efforts and contacts have resulted in understandings to cease fire and restore calm and halt the bloodshed that the last period has seen," he added.  "Egypt calls on all to monitor the implementation of what has been agreed under Egypt's sponsorship and to guarantee the commitment of all the parties to what has been agreed," he said.

       U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said "The people of this region deserve to live without fear. There is no alternative for comprehensive and just peace."

      At a press conference in Jerusalem following the cease-fire announcement, Netanyahu thanked the security establishment and enumerated Israel's position on the cease-fire. "Israel began an operation eight days ago in response to the increasingly frequent attacks from Gaza. I said that there would be a forceful response at the time of our choosing and that we would exact a heavy price," he said.

     “They assumed we would avoid severe action, but they were wrong. We killed senior commanders and destroyed thousands of rockets and command and control centers." Netanyahu also made note: "I know there are citizens expecting a more intensive military operation, and it is very likely that one will be required, but right now, the right thing for the State of Israel is to take advantage of the opportunity for a protracted cease-fire."

       Netanyahu, who spoke to Obama before the cease-fire went into effect, told the president that Israel wants to give the cease-fire a chance but that "more forceful action" might be needed if it failed," according to a statement from his office. Obama in turn reiterated his country's commitment to Israel's security and pledged to seek funds for a joint missile defense program in an effort to help Israel address its security needs, especially the issue of the smuggling of weapons and explosives into Gaza.

Israel submits to Hamas conditions and demands

        Senior Hamas lawmaker Ahmed Bahar said Israel had "submitted to the conditions and demands set by the resistance" and he hailed the outcome as a triumph. "Resistance achieved a historical victory against the occupation and laid the foundation for the battle of liberation of the full land and sacred sites," Bahar, deputy speaker of the Palestinian parliament, said in a statement from his office.

       According to a text of the agreement, both sides should halt all hostilities, with Israel desisting from incursions and targeting of individuals, while all Palestinian factions should cease rocket fire and cross-border attacks.  The deal also provides for easing Israeli restrictions on Gaza's residents, including opening the crossings, facilitating the movements of people and transfer of goods. The text said procedures for implementing this would be "dealt with after 24 hours from the start of the ceasefire." 

Israel fears repeat of 2006 failure    

      Although too early to predict which way the Israeli war on Gaza would finally turn out, significant signs have emerged that seem to suggest the terrorist state possibly fears the repeat of the failure it had to face in its onslaught on Hezbollah in 2006. The war proved a shock for both: for Israeli politicians who initiated the war and the army who conducted it. Despite all the verbal bravado and occasional airspace violation of Lebanon, the terrorist state has conveniently avoided messing with Hezbollah since.

     The fact that Israel has come to table to seek truce within just three days of launching a fresh war on Gaza is something unusual that points to its weakness. This is contrary to the situation during Operation Cast Lead in 2008 when the terrorist state didn’t respond Hamas and international calls for truce but ceased fire on its own volition only after pounding Gaza for 21 days.  Though initially denied by Israel, both Israeli and Egyptian sources have now confirmed arrival of the Israeli negotiator in Cairo for ceasefire talks, being brokered by the Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

     Debka.com, an Israeli military intelligence website, reported Sunday that air and sea assault on Gaza on Sunday morning was Israel’s reaction to the failure “after daylong bargaining Saturday … to produce an Israel-Hamas truce accord.” Debka report though titled, “Israel launches fresh, major air-sea attack in Gaza after Hamas spurns ceasefire,” the very second and third sentences read:

     “When Egyptian and Turkish middlemen suggested a ceasefire was close, Israel accused them of pushing Hamas’s terms which were fashioned to present the Palestinian radicals as the victor in the contest. The trio leading the Israeli war, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Minister of Military Affairs Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, countered by intensifying the IDF’s Gaza offensive -- though not as yet sending ground troops in.” The clear implication here is that Israel is ready for ceasefire if only Hamas doesn’t get projected as the “Victor in the contest” -- that is what I call fear of repeat of the Lebanon debacle in Gaza.

Genuine alarm among Israeli populace and military

      What is it that could have induced/forced Israel come to negotiating table before it began its current savagery on entrapped Gazans?

      International pressure has never been Israel’s least concern, more so when America and all major European countries have, as ever, come to defend and encourage its bombardment on the civilians. Obama didn’t stop with issuing statement of his endorsement in the United Sates. Very intriguingly, he repeated his endorsement in Myanmar -- the country that is currently involved in killing and ethnic cleansing of (Rohingya) Muslims with open government support. (Was he subtly endorsing Rohingya Killing, too? After all, America itself has declared war on Muslims and Islam.)

      One cannot be sure but there is one clue to Israeli willingness to negotiate ceasefire so early in the war of its own choice lies in the tweet message of the Israeli ambassador to the US and the IDF disclosure on rockets fired by Hamas.

      Ambassador Michael Oren tweeted, “Just appeared on the set of CNN. Israel willing to sit down with Hamas -- if they just stop shooting at us.” Note: “Just Stop”  (As an interesting aside, ambassador deleted this tweet later, claiming, it was “sent erroneously by a staffer.” Something worthy hearty laughs even in these tense times!)

       Hamas was shooting rockets even during Operation Cast Lead but Israel didn’t demand their cessation for agreeing to ceasefire, which, as noted, happened only at Israel’s own choosing after conducting unrelenting war for three weeks. The only difference this time around is the longer reach of the Hamas rockets, hitting, as they have, as far off locations from Gaza as Tel Aviv, al-Quds (Jerusalem) and today even Eilat (200 km from Gaza), creating genuine alarm among the Israeli populace as well as political and military leadership.

     Israelis have downplayed the potency of Hamas rockets; some, like the unnamed “Israeli official briefed on security cabinet decisions” whom Ynet quotes, characterizing them as “rockets without warhead” (mere pieces of “pipes basically”), others explaining away their longer range by claiming the rockets “were designed for much shorter ranges but had been shorn of their weighty warheads so that they flew further.”

    Ynet quotes a third unnamed source “who receives regular briefings from Israel's air defense corps” saying “some of the furthest-reaching Palestinian rockets had warheads that were lighter than they were designed to have,” adding “but we have no indication of rockets without warheads being used."   On the other side, Hamas claims that the rockets that hit “Tel Aviv were Iranian-designed Fajr-5, with ranges of 75 km (46 miles) and 175 kg (385 lb) warheads that can shear through buildings.”

      Meantime, there is no full openness on the Israeli side about the location or the extent of damage (other than some shattered glass, a hole in the house ceiling, a burnt car, etc.) these longer range rockets may have caused in Tel Aviv or , al-Quds as the Israeli “Police have not published extensive details.”

     That Ambassador Oren specifically wants cessation of rocket fire, however, gives credence to the Popular Resistance Committees’ claim that Israel is downplaying rocket threat “to assure their terrified public that those rockets are not dangerous; to minimize their fear.”

      The second clue comes from IDF update, which reports, “The Palestinians fired more than 800 rockets in four days, of which 250 were shot down by Iron Dome, including for the first time one in Tel Aviv.”

Read it again. Mere 250 out of 800! 69 percent misses!

      Notwithstanding the hype, the IMPREGNABLE Iron Dome, after all, lets Hamas impregnate Israel surely and thoroughly with rockets!

     Hats off to the Iranian army commanders who always pooh-poohed hyped Israeli “impregnable” claim. Hamas has proved it for them thoroughly and comprehensively. How much it must boost Iranian army’s morale is anyone’s guess, and how much it has sapped Israeli morale is possibly best reflected in its desire to see Hamas “just stop” the rocket fire.
 Failure of the Iron Dome on one side and then the range of missiles on the other bespeaks of the Israeli bragging about Dome’s capabilities as also its intelligence gathering -- very much like its failure on Hezbollah.

     Evidently Hamas alone knows if it has anything more viable and potent in its arsenal kitty that could create more fear in Tel Aviv and other distant locations within the terrorist state not reached by Hamas’ homemade crackers. The problem basically is who knows how much Libya’s loss of Gaddafi’s armory at the hands of revolutionaries has really benefitted helpless Gazans.

     Gaddafi’s armory certainly didn’t have missiles alone. What else might have reached Gaza from there will be known once Israel launches ground attack. After shooting down a drone and an F16, let us see how Hamas cadres fare against Israeli tanks and in urban warfare.

     Could Obama be referring to something unrevealed to Israelis when he said, “If Israeli troops are in Gaza they're much more at risk of incurring fatalities or being wounded?”

Despite threat of impending ground attack, Ismail Hanya’s rejection of ceasefire and end rocket attack without Israel agreeing to end all acts of aggression and assassination and lift its five-year Israeli blockade on Gaza may not be mere posturing, particularly even though causalities in Gaza are mounting by scores daily.

     Now that Israel has set deadline of 36 hours (curiously announced by finance minister!) for Hamas to stop rocket attacks, we should shortly know if fear of Hamas’ rockets cools down Israel’s estrus (state when non-human female mammals feel “in heat”) or will it run its full course (e.g., 21-28 days for bitches), like it did during Operation Cast Lead when Tzipi Livni as foreign minister was forcefully and hotly defending slaughter of over 1,300 Gazans.

    

Hamas Victory and Defeat for Zionists

     It’s a victory for Hamas and vindication of its ability to defend against aggression. It’s a victory for the people of Gaza and a blazoning of their courage under horrendous attack. And it’s a victory for the world’s decent people who oppose a fiendish Zionism bent on destroying Islam.

     It’s also a defeat for the Zionists. It’s a defeat for the American and British scum who lied that Hamas started it and who openly encouraged Israel to slaughter civilians with gruesome weapons. And it’s a defeat for the corrupt, perverted thieves of the Persian Gulf autocracies who wanted Gaza to be destroyed for daring to be democratic and have a genuinely popular government. One thing is certain: the Persian Gulf monarchs are being reminded that they are despised the world over and it won’t be long before they are overthrown by another great wave of Arab democracy.

     But let nobody have any illusions. Peace has not come to Palestine. The nasty truth is that the Zionists have committed, are committing, and will commit, genocide. Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group. Backed by toe-rags and vicious twerps in America, UK, France, Canada and the Persian Gulf monarchies, the genocide is being forwarded, bit by bit, year by year. A look at the map of Palestine as it has changed from 1947 to today reveals everything. The Palestinians now exist only on tiny slivers of land and are constantly being pressurized and squeezed. Operation Pillar of Cloud is just the latest episode of slashing, blasting, slicing and poisoning at which Israel is so adept.

     The Zionists are Nazis. The German Nazis had a policy of lebensraum which was a determination to remove all Slavic people from the plains and steppes of Eastern Europe. The biggest and most terrible battles of the Second World War took place in Eastern Europe. It is not widely known that the Jews suffered little in comparison to the suffering of the Slavs who were viewed as sub-human by the Nazis and, like animals, could be killed at will.

    Following a similar policy of lebensraum, the Nazi Zionists want a Jewish state in the lands of Palestine from the eastern end of the Mediterranean right across to the river Tigris. These lands are to be made ‘racially’ pure i.e., to have only Jews and no Muslims or Christians.  Strutting like Nazi gauleiters (not ‘like’, they actually are Nazi gauleiters), the Zionists view all present inhabitants of these lands as sub-human, as animals. Bit by bit, atrocity by atrocity, they are determined to create a racist, Zionist, state.

     Israel has no borders and it has no borders because it, and the USA which hates Islam, is determined to expand, slaughtering whenever the circumstances allow, so that it can populate lands free from Arabs or others.

The difference between Zionists Nazis and German Nazis

     There is, of course, one difference between the Israeli Nazis and the German Nazis. The German Nazis were opposed by the USA and UK whereas the Zionist Nazis have their backing. The USA and UK backed the killings of Operation Cast Lead in 2008/9 just as they have backed the killings of the present Operation Pillar of Cloud. We should remember that the given figures for dead and wounded are grossly understated because, beneath the acres of rubble created by the Zionists trying to bomb Gaza back to the Stone Age, there are hundreds of unrecovered dead and, alas, even more wounded who cannot be rescued and who are dying slowly and painfully even as the Gazan crowds understandably celebrate their victory.

     And let nobody think that the West has lessened its control over Arabs and Islam. If President Morsi of Egypt had announced that the Egyptian army was moving to the defence of Gazan citizens, the Arab world would have risen in support and, at the same time, overthrown many of the slimy dictators. Egypt has over four hundred combat-worthy jets, three thousand heavy front-line tanks, half a million regulars and nearly half a million reserves. Morsi could have done it and he would have become Morsi The Great, a figure to be honoured in history. Most importantly, the Egyptian army, an institution completely disgraced by venal corruption and its repression of the Egyptian people, would have had a chance to regain its dignity and honour.

     But Morsi lacked the imagination and the courage to grasp the opportunity which history was offering to him largely because he has made the mistake of borrowing money from outside thereby putting himself under the control of the Americans. A country should never borrow from abroad: it should only ever borrow from its own national bank.

    So, alas, Morsi The Great was not to be and he and Egypt have missed the present chance to lead the forces of history. The USA, UK, Canada and France have apparently organised a retreat but it’s only a small one and they will soon again be helping the Zionists conduct another ghastly massacre of women and children. These countries talk of peace but they never admit the big underlying issue which is that they, and Israel, do not want peace. Peace would require that Israel has fixed borders behind which it would have to stay. But, with fixed borders, the Zionist state could not expand and that is why the USA always vetoes all UN resolutions against Israel.

The arrogant Western powers are weakening

      However, the world is changing and another chance for Morsi and Egypt will come if courage and determination, like those of the Gazans, are shown. The arrogant Western powers are weakening economically and politically. America has lost all moral authority. The Non Aligned Movement countries are beginning to organise themselves against Western imperialist domination. On 29th November the UN General Assembly gets a chance to forward the cause of decency and democracy by voting for recognition of Palestine as an independent state.

     Let us hope the General Assembly takes the chance to vote for and we will also be able to see exactly who are the anti-democrats, perverts and killers voting against.  

    That Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi has thrown his full-throated support behind the Gazans and has slammed the Israeli strikes against the defenseless people there was certain to provoke ire from Washington which looked on Egypt as a peace-brokering agent between the two parties.

    Hence, US diplomats have urged him to refrain from taking sides and instead strive towards a Zionist-friendly truce. It seems that Morsi will not have the luxury of supporting the Gazans and ignoring the demands of Washington. In fact, Egypt has to pay a heavy price for defending the Gazans i.e. risking “losing billions of dollars in US military and economic aid.”

     Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a conservative voice of high caliber, warned Egypt on Sunday to "watch what you do and how you do it.… You're teetering with the Congress on having your aid cut off if you keep inciting violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians."

    Israel has reportedly pounded Gaza over 1,500 times since Wednesday while Palestinian resistance fighters keep raining down their rockets and missiles on the southern Israeli cities of Nirim, Ein Hashlosha and Ashdod as well as the southern region of Eshkol. Over 130 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,000 injured in the Israeli attacks.

      The invasion of Gaza was a colossal mistake and it will definitely damn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu though some may vainly believe that the whole situation will prove to be in the best interests of the bellicose premier. Further to that, the invasion of the defenseless city and the killing of the innocent Palestinian women and children will only open up a wound exacerbated by Israeli animosity towards the Muslims in the world.

      Despite all this, in a commendable move, some 100 prominent Israeli intellectuals have signed a petition, calling for a long-term ceasefire with the Hamas government. Dubbed as “We have to talk”, the petition calls for a long-term ceasefire and for talks, either directly or through an international mediator, “because the residents of the South, like the people of Gaza, have the right to look up to the sky with hope and not with fear.”

      In a colossally miscalculated act, Israel launched military strikes on the enclave because they thought that Hamas would soon run out of missiles and rockets supplies and that the city would soon fall prey to dereliction and destruction. However, they were disillusioned to see that things did not happen as they preferred and that even their impenetrable Iron Dome was not that advanced to intercept the torrential salvo of Iranian-made Palestinian missiles.

      When Israel found the situation too precarious to handle, they pleaded with their powerful lobby on Capitol Hill to help craft a Zionist-friendly truce. To this end, Clinton travelled to Jerusalem, Ramallah and Cairo in an effort to hammer out an agreement between the two sides and resolve the conflict. An Israeli source said Hillary was expected to  meet Netanyahu on Wednesday.

     A State Department official says, "Her visits will build on American engagement with regional leaders over the past days - including intensive engagement by President Obama with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Morsi - to support de-escalation of violence and a durable outcome that ends the rocket attacks on Israeli cities and towns and restores a broader calm." Needless to say, the truce supported by Washington and some regional regimes such as Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia will not ensure the rights of the Gazans and there is no guarantee that Israel will not re-tread its gory path of mayhem.  (HSH)

Bibliotheque:

1.      International News Agancies

2.      The Israeli Newspaper Haaretz

3.      The Iranian PressTV