Saturday
27Dec2008
GAZA UPDATE....
Saturday, December 27, 2008 at 06:45PM 
Israeli F-16 bombers have pounded key targets across the Gaza Strip, killing more than 200 people, local medics say. Most of those killed were Hamas terrorists, which controls Gaza, but women and children also died, the Gaza propagandists say. About 700 others were wounded, as missiles struck terror security compounds and terror bases, the officials said. Israel said it was responding to an escalation in rocket attacks from Gaza and would bomb "as long as necessary".
The BBC seem outraged. Good. I am sorry that any innocents have been killed but to be honest, in Gaza, are there ANY innocents? Hamas are hate-fueled scum and they have been allowed to get away with murder. Until now.
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Reader Comments (309)
Way to go Israel !! Keep pounding the terrorist slime.
"in Gaza, are there ANY innocents?"
David - You are a moral disgrace.
Evil is firmly in the drivers seat, but there are surely many innocents.
Of course there are innocents. David should reflect on that comment and admit it is wrong to imply that every human being in Gaza is deserving of punishment.
Petr,
Coming from you, I take that as a compliment.
Colm,
True enough. But how many support Hamas? 99%???
David
Probably the same 99% who 'voted' for the Communist parties in their 'elections' back in the days of the old Iron Curtain.
True enough. But how many support Hamas? 99%???
David are you advocating killing a population because of who they support/ vote for?
I've never understood why Israel does not retaliate on a rocket for rocket and mortar for mortar basis. I believe it comes under "an eye for an eye" and it's in their old testament. It would be both proportionate and effective.
'David are you advocating killing a population because of who they support/ vote for?'
Why not Pinky?
If you support Hamas - or the IRA - you obviously have in your heart the murder they perpetrate.
Thats criel David 200 people dead should not be celebrated. You have no idea what their background is.
Paul,
EVEN Hamas state that many were Hamas killers so I do not celebrate their death but I welcome it. I welcome the death of any terrorist.
Pinky,
I think that those who vote for, support and in every other way endorse Hamas deserve all that they get. It's a moral choice - IF you choose to lie down with dogs.....
One of the things Hamas counts on is the innocents in their midst. However, as unmoved as I would be by actual Hamas soldiers meeting their maker, it is tragic that innocent civilians were killed at the same time. There has to be a better solution for this never ending cycle of death.
The people of Gaza have a right to defend themselves.
It was Israel that broke the ceasefire arranged between the two sides. Rockets fired in either direction are wrong.
Israel's policy of isolating and weakening Hamas has clearly failed. As Peter says, this attack will give Hamas the same boost as the Lebanon invasion in 2006 gave Hezbollah.
"More good news", David?
ניצחון על ישראל!
That's 'Victory to Israel' in Hebrew.
>>That's 'Victory to Israel' in Hebrew.<<
LOL! So about as communicative as Victory to the Tutsi in Tutsi!
Noel
There was a war lessening but there never was a ceasefire. Ask the people of Sderot.
"LOL! So about as communicative as Victory to the Tutsi in Tutsi!"
Well I'd tend to agree rather strongly with that sentiment myself. But seeing as the Hutus tried to exterminate their ethnically dissimilar neighbours, lost, then went whining to the international community for aid and comfort, I'd totally get why you'd identify rather strongly with them.
'LOL! So about as communicative as Victory to the Tutsi in Tutsi!'
OK! I hope Israel bombs the Gaza into oblivion. Is that 'communicative' enough for you?
chiken shit, always killing children and women with all weapon.... israel and US is no more than a chiken shit.... long live PELASTINE..... GOD always be with u....
it is a shame that innocent people are getting killed...by innocent i mean children ....its so sad how we rather put our pride on who is best and forget that innocent blood shed is happening....people wake up!!!look at wats really happening look around browse around dont listen to one opinion!!!children are not the ones at fault however they are the ones that pay...SHAME ON U ALL.... there is no victory for death....!!!
F*CK Israel Leaders!!! showing off their power!! U.S. backed. God is no longer in Israel.
CO-EXIST!!!!!
CO-EXIST!!!!!
CO-EXIST!!!!!
CO-EXIST!!!!!
Colm:
"Of course there are innocents. David should reflect on that comment and admit it is wrong to imply that every human being in Gaza is deserving of punishment."
David Vance admit to being wrong? Dream on.
Oy vey, the chickens are coming home to roost for the gung-ho Israelis. Apparently the censors are no longer able to bury bad news.
It can't be too long more before the war-crimes tribunal is convened.
Among the most sickening revelations are these:
An investigation by reporter Uri Blau, published on Friday in Haaretz, disclosed how Israeli soldiers were ordering T-shirts to mark the end of operations, featuring grotesque images including dead babies, mothers weeping by their children's graves, a gun aimed at a child and bombed-out mosques.
Another T-shirt designed for infantry snipers bears the inscription "Better use Durex" next to a picture of a dead Palestinian baby, with his weeping mother and a teddy bear beside him. A shirt designed for the Givati Brigade's Shaked battalion depicts a pregnant Palestinian woman with a bull's-eye superimposed on her belly, with the slogan, in English, "1 shot, 2 kills".
"Of course there are innocents. David should reflect on that comment and admit it is wrong to imply that every human being in Gaza is deserving of punishment." - Colm.
Well, 50% of the population are children under 15. But they're probably all evil Jihadists.
Barry,
That is grotesque and would sicken any decent person.
Reminds me a little of the images from 2006 of Israeli children writing messages on missiles before they were used to destroy Lebanese civilians.
Animals.
Red Avenger:
The Israeli military were behaving as so many armies do during campaigns. If we train young men and women to be brutal then we can't expect anything less, can we?
There are a growing number of Israelis who resuse to serve. This option was open to each and ever soldier that went into Gaza in January.
Red Avenger:
I wonder how David Vance and the other Israeli cheerleaders here will respond to these new revelations.
What did you think, a respectful silence?
Well this news is about four days old and still no post on it. Shocking!
Here's a very informative video, an interview with author Phyllis Bennis. a Senior Analyst at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC.
She's very good on background, even mentions Senator Mitchell in Northern Ireland: "You have to have everybody at the table."
Red Avenger:
"Well this news is about four days old and still no post on it. Shocking!"
Whatever do you mean? This post is entitled "Gaza Update". David blogged it way back on 27 December. How's that for prescience?
Haaretz, Israel's biggest paper, also reports this. It's one of many shocking stories.
GAZA STRIP - "Rules of Engagement: Open fire also upon rescue," was handwritten in Hebrew on a sheet of paper found in one of the Palestinian homes the Israel Defense Forces took over during Operation Cast Lead. A reservist officer who did not take part in the Gaza offensive believes that the note is part of orders a low-level commander wrote before giving his soldiers their daily briefing.
One of the main themes in news reports during the Gaza operation, and which appears in many testimonies, is that IDF soldiers shot at Palestinian and Red Cross rescuers, making it impossible to evacuate the wounded and dead. As a result, an unknown number of Palestinians bled to death as others cowered in their homes for days without medical treatment, waiting to be rescued.
The bodies of the dead lay outside the homes or on roadsides for days, sometimes as long as two weeks. Haaretz has reported a number of such cases, some of them as they happened. The document found in the house provides written proof that IDF commanders ordered their troops to shoot at rescuers.
When even your own soldiers turn against you, you know you're seriously in the wrong.
... and they keep on coming. Oy vey!
Testimonies on IDF misconduct in Gaza keep rolling in
By Amos Harel
Further testimonies emerged this weekend of army units adopting lax rules of engagement during Operation Cast Lead. The reports followed Thursday's publication in Haaretz of soldiers' accounts of ethical violations in the Gaza offensive.
On Saturday, Channel 10 showed a documentary that included a security briefing by a company commander on the eve of the Gaza invasion.
"We're going to war," he told his soldiers. "We're not doing routine security work or anything like that. I want aggressiveness - if there's someone suspicious on the upper floor of a house, we'll shell it. If we have suspicions about a house, we'll take it down."
...
A number of officers told Haaretz this weekend that the testimonies did not surprise them, as "anyone with eyes in his head knows that these things happened during the fighting in Gaza."
The soldiers who testified about misconduct "placed a very unpleasant mirror before us," said one officer.
And remember, these were supposed to be the good guys.
I'm a bit young to remember but I presume there were people defending the Apartheid government in South Africa pre-1994.
Probably many of the same people supporting Israeli apartheid today.
Who'd be a soldier, eh? It takes such courage to kill children and little old ladies in cold blood:
"And then I try to explain to the guy that not everyone who is in there is a terrorist, and that after he kills, say, three children and four mothers, we'll go upstairs and kill another 20 or so people. And in the end it turns out that [there are] eight floors times five apartments on a floor - something like a minimum of 40 or 50 families that you murder. I tried to explain why we had to let them leave, and only then go into the houses. It didn't really help. This is really frustrating, to see that they understand that inside Gaza you are allowed to do anything you want, to break down doors of houses for no reason other than it's cool.
"You do not get the impression from the officers that there is any logic to it, but they won't say anything. To write 'death to the Arabs' on the walls, to take family pictures and spit on them, just because you can. I think this is the main thing in understanding how much the IDF has fallen in the realm of ethics, really. It's what I'll remember the most."
"One of our officers, a company commander, saw someone coming on some road, a woman, an old woman. She was walking along pretty far away, but close enough so you could take out someone you saw there. If she were suspicious, not suspicious - I don't know. In the end, he sent people up to the roof, to take her out with their weapons. From the description of this story, I simply felt it was murder in cold blood."
Red Avenger:
"Probably many of the same people supporting Israeli apartheid today."
Not sure that's fair. To judge from the silence from David and the others, support seems to have drained away. Why do you think that is?
Well there was gushing praise for Ian Smith on his death not so long ago. I'd hazard a guess that many a Isarael fan would also have supported the white government in SA pre-1994. I could well be wrong though.
support seems to have drained away
Sadly, I doubt that.
Red Avenger:
"Sadly, I doubt that."
Well, Mahons doesn't seem to wish to get involved and he wasn't even that hot on Israel's excursion. No, I think gays are the new Muslims.
Well, it's not surprising that they are being so quiet, I'd be ashamed too, but I doubt that support has drained. If only...
Red Avenger:
Do you think David will delete these comments? The others would.
Don't know what you think that the response should be. There were some bad things done by those in Allied ranks in WWII. That didn't alter the overall justification.
Dreadful stuff though if it's true.
Killing some 600 innocent children is "some bad things" alright.
Strange waste of a comment.
Aileen:
Why wouldn't it be true? This is the Israeli military reporting on the Israeli military in Israel's very own newspaper.
However, I understand the Israelis are working on a secret weapon to destroy Hamas for good.
IB
That doesn't necessarily make it true. However I wasn't casting doubt on it. Just ensuring accuracy of my own statement.
Aileen:
"That doesn't necessarily make it true."
No, but there's less chance of David being able to deny it than, say, a report by the International Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International, or even (*cough, spit*) the United Nations.
That's something to take up with him though not me Barry.
Aileen:
No doubt he'll be on here soon to refute those claims.
Or not.
No, but there's less chance of David being able to deny it than, say, a report by the International Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International, or even (*cough, spit*) the United Nations.
LOL! :))
It didn't take long but old Ernest has just cast doubt over the reliability of Haaretz!
Red Avenger:
"It didn't take long but old Ernest has just cast doubt over the reliability of Haaretz!"
You're surprised?
:) Not at all!