Thread: Americans Should Act to End Violence Against Gaza

Americans Should Act to End Violence Against Gaza

by Jeremy R. Hammond

Global Research, December 31, 2008
foreignpolicyjournal.com


Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip was predictable, if not preventable. Israel's crimes against the Palestinians simply could not take place on such a massive scale were it not for US support. The American people, therefore, have a responsibility to act and pressure their government to end its financial, military, and diplomatic support for Israeli violations of international law -- a necessary first step towards any viable and sustainable peace.

Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has long been in the planning, and the purpose is to terrorize the Arab population in the hopes that they will revolt against the Hamas leadership and to punish them further for electing them. The siege Gaza has remained under since Israel withdrew its military from the Strip in 2006 has had the same intended purpose.

A comparable policy was implemented by the US against Iraq. The sanctions were intended to further the goal of regime change. The means by which this goal was pursued was to punish the Iraqi people, to deny them food and medical supplies. By United Nations estimates, more than a million Iraqis died as a result. More than half a million of those victims were children.

In the end, although then US ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright publicly said that the “priceâ€

Hamas has been rocketing Israel non-stop from Gaza and I'm surprised it has taken this long for them to respond. As the Israel Amabassador said, "Enough is enough." Hamas has been smuggling in rockets and other equipment through a network of tunnels and their sole goal is the destruction of the country. It's ironic that Gaza gets all it's electricity and supplies from Israel. They tried to get them to stop the rockets by blockading the supplies, but Hamas had rather let the people suffer. The sole blame for all this lies with Hamas and the undying hatred of Israel.

From 2001 until May 2008, there have been over 3,050 Qassam rockets fired at Israeli targets, mainly against Sderot and the Western Negev. Fifteen Israelis have been killed and over 433 injured, along with significant property damage. Additionally, more than 2,500 mortar attacks have been launched against Israel from Gaza. This has resulted in eight Israeli deaths.

Here's the 08' list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Qa ... el_in_2008 (This list is quite long and it's remarkable that they have shown such restraint. Can you imagine Mexico firing rockets into South Texas for years on end??)

Something of note is how much damage these attacks are doing to the israeli life lines that Israel supplies to the Gaza Strip. For example:

December 3rd
At least four Qassam rockets and 15 mortar rounds were fired from the Gaza Strip at the western Negev. Islamic Jihad's al-Quds Brigade claimed responsibility. One mortar attack damaged an Israeli power cable being used to transfer electricity to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Or another:

March 28, 2006
Islamic Jihad fired a 122 mm Katyusha rocket from the Gaza Strip into Israel. Near the Kibbutz Nachal Oz two Israeli-Arabs (Salam Ziadin and Khalid, 16, a Bedouin father and son) killed when a dormant Qassam rocket they find in the Nahal Oz area explodes.

September 20, 2006
Two teenage Israeli Arab shepherds were moderately wounded by two Qassam rockets fired from Gaza.

June 7, 2005
Two Palestinian workers, Salah Ayash Imran, 57, Muhammed Mahmoud Jaroun, and a foreign worker Bi Shude, 46, were killed, and five other workers were wounded, when a Quassam rocket hit a packing shed in Ganei Tal, in the Gaza Strip. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

They aren't just killing Israeli's indiscriminately. They are killing Arabs over there as well. I suppose they justify this since the these people are in Israel and thus working with the devil.

I dont see anything wrong with returning fire when you are fired upon.

In defending the Palestinian rocket attacks, one Arab author wrote, "THey are mostly symbolic and cause more noise than harm. Very few people have been killed."

NOW, that is UNBELIEVABLE! It's called TERRORISM!