Israel launches deadly Gaza attacks

Hawa wapalestina (wafilisti) inatakiwa wachapwe hadi washike adabu, na wajue kuwa YEHOVA ndiye Mungu na kuwa allah ni Jini tu kama majini mengine.
 

Halafu tunaendelea kujidanganya kuwa Tanzania ni nchi ya amani na upenda na eti hakuna UDINI/UKABILA na wala chuki na ubaguzi wa aina yoyote...

Tanzanianjema
 
ANALYSIS / Hamas is hoping for an IDF ground operation in Gaza​





By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondents


Three days into Operation Cast Lead, Israel is proposing a diplomatic exit. A ground operation likely looms in an effort to increase the pressure on Hamas. At the same time, however, others argue that the air force is close to exhausting its target bank, so if Hamas can be brought to accept a cease-fire on terms convenient to Israel in the near future it would be better to do so.

Hamas intensified its rocket and mortar fire at Israel Monday. It is starting to recover from the initial shock of the assault, and the bad weather is helping to protect its launching crews from Israeli aircraft.

By 8 P.M., Hamas had fired more than 80 rockets and mortars at Israel, including a Grad Katyusha strike on Ashkelon that killed an Israeli construction worker and wounded 10 others. At 9:30 P.M., a Katyusha hit Ashdod, seriously wounding another two civilians . The Home Front Command says some of the civilian casualties of the last few days could have been prevented had people obeyed its orders and entered shelters when they heard the warning sirens.

Israel has thus far refused to officially discuss a cease-fire, but in practice it is conducting an indirect and hesitant dialogue with Hamas. As of yet, however, there is no official mediator.

Khaled Meshal, the Damascus-based head of Hamas' political bureau, has been calling for a cease-fire for two days now. However, communications with the organization's leadership in Gaza are hampered because all its leaders have gone underground for fear of Israeli assassination attempts, while Israel's air strikes have disrupted the Strip's communications networks. Paradoxically, the same measures that have hampered Hamas' military response are also impeding efforts to end the fighting.

Israel will insist that any truce include a complete, long-term halt to the rocket fire from Gaza. In exchange, it will apparently agree to reopen the border crossings at some point, though no final decisions have been made. Some ministers want to continue the military operation, but Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Gabi Ashkenazi, are more cautious.

The diplomatic clock is ticking relatively slowly because both Europe and the United States are all but closed for Christmas and New Year's Day. Meshal has been trying to get the Arab League and Senegal, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, to push for a cease-fire. So far, international criticism of Israel has been relatively muted despite the many Palestinian casualties. Even in the Arab world, not everyone is crying over Hamas' losses.

The operation's goals, as defined by the cabinet, are "creating a different long-term security situation in the south, while bolstering Israel's deterrence." The IDF does not interpret this to mean a complete end to the rocket fire, as it considers this impossible. Rather, its goal is to eliminate Hamas' desire to attack Israel. The bombing campaign has so far dealt a severe blow to Hamas.

However, ground forces are already in place for the next phase. The Gazan mud will make it harder for tanks and armored personnel carriers to maneuver, and Hamas has clearly been preparing its defense for months. Thus any ground operation will entail many casualties, which is one of the government's considerations in deciding how the operation should proceed.

On July 12, 2006, hours after the Second Lebanon War began, Barak called Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and warned: "It's very important to define how and when you'll end [the war], because the more time goes by, the greater the potential for complications." That is no less true today.

As for the Palestinians, they plan to declare victory regardless of what happens. If the IDF withdraws rapidly, without a ground operation and without having seriously reduced the rocket fire, Hamas will boast that it survived and Israel blinked first.

But Hamas officials and analysts said Monday that the organization would actually like Israel to launch a ground operation; it hopes this would let it inflict such heavy losses on Israeli tanks and infantry that Israel would flee with its tail between its legs.

Just as the Second Lebanon War did, the current war will have far-reaching consequences for the balance of forces in the Middle East. First, it has brought the conflict between Hamas and Egypt into the open, which could influence domestic developments in Egypt. To some degree, it has also reignited the conflict between Arab moderates, led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and the extremists, led by non-Arab Iran. In Lebanon, it is already clear which side won. In Gaza, we will learn the answer in the coming days or weeks.

ANALYSIS / Hamas is hoping for an IDF ground operation in Gaza - Haaretz - Israel News
 

Kaka ni wazi wanachokifanya Israel wana haki ya kukifanya. Suala jee kinawasaidia? Ukweli ni kuwa mradi Israel inaendelea kukalia kimabavu maeneo yanayotambulika kimataifa kama maeneo ya Wapalestina, HAMAS na wengineo wa aina yao wataendelea kuwa na both moral and logical justification to continue shelling Israel.

Kumbuka kuwa kile tunachokitambua kama eneo la Palestina kwa sasa ni asilimia 23 tu ya lilokuwa taifa la wapalestina kabla ya mwaka 1947. Sasa sijui wewe lakini mimi atakapotokea yeyote kuchukua hata asilimia moja ya Tanzania yangu, iwe kihalali (intenationally sunctioned) ama kiharamu (occupation), i will use all necessary means to fight to the last of my life. Sikuambii hawa jamaa ambao wanashulumiwa hata hiyo asilimia 23 waliyobakishiwa na jumuiya ya kimataifa (wakati huo ikiwa ni robo ya ilivyo sasa-mataifa 51 katika UN).

HAMAS tofauti na mafisadi PLO wanaamini kupigana hadi 'wakomboe" asilimia 100 ya iliyokuwa Palestina kabla ya mwaka 1947 (imani ambayo inapatikana pia miongoni mwa Waisrael, zaidi miongoni mwa mafashisti wa LIKUD na makundi mengine katika jamii ya waisrael wanaoamini kuwa taifa lao takatifu linapaswa kuanza bahari nyekundu hadi ukingo wa magharibi (maeneo yote ya GAZA na WEST BANK). Tambua kuwa hata katiba ya Israel ina muono huo kwani hadi sasa haijatambua rasmi mipaka ya nchi hiyo ikiacha wazi uwezekano wa kuchukua asilimia yote 100 ya iliyokuwa Palestina. Hata hivyo kama ilivyo katika upande wa Israel na hasa katika vyama vya KIFASHISTI kama LIKUD, wapo miongoni mwa HAMAS wanaoamini na wanajua kuwa suala la asilimia 100 ya Palestina ya kabla ya 1947 ni ndoto ya kijinga ambayo katu haitafanikiwa na wapo tayari kukubali yaishe na mipaka ya kabla ya uvamizi wa 1967.

Hivyo mradi Israel inaendelea kukalia ardhi inayotambulika kimataifa kama ni ya Wapalestina, HAMAS wataendelea kupata support na Wapalestina wataendelea kuwa na sympathy miongoni mwa wapenda haki na amani ya kweli duniani.

Vilevile ni muhimu kutambua kuwa HAMAS ni pandikizi la Waisrael kama ilivyokuwa kina Ossama na USA. Israel kupitia MOSAD walianzisha HAMAS ili ku-counter nguvu za PLO ambayo iliweza kuwa na ushabiki mkubwa duniani kutokana na muono wao wa kijamaa na usio wa kidini kabla ya mdudu UFISADI kuwamaliza.

Kwangu mimi naona kuwa MAFSHISTI wa Israel wanaihitaji HAMAS kama ambavyo HAMAS wanavyohitaji ukandamizaji wa Israel. Wote ni wahuni lakini kutokana na kuwa Israel ni occupier basi HAMAS wanakuwa WAHUNI WEMA hadi hapo Israel itakapoachia Ardhi yote ya WAPALESTINA (yaani asilimi 23 iliypbaki baada ya kunyang'anywa asilimia 77 ya iliyokuwa Palestina kabla ya 1947).

Juzi nilikuwa namuangalia LIVNI (waziri wa mambo ya nje wa Israel na candidate wa uwaziri mkuu katika uchaguzi ujao) akisisitiza kuwa HAMAS wanakaidi maamuzi ya kimataifa. Nikajiuliza, hivi Israel imewahi kutimiza majukumu yake ya kuheshimu maamuzi wa jumuiya ya kimataifa tangia lini? Ukweli ni kuwa Israel ndio taifa lilokubuhu katika kukaidi maoni na maamuzi ya jumuiya ya kimataifa kuliko taifa lolte duniani. Iwe maamuzi ya Mahakama za kimatifa, Mikataba ya Kimataifa ama Resolutions za Baraza Kuu ama Baraza la Usalama la Umoja wa Mataifa.

NANI ALIANZA KUVUNJA MAKUBALIANO?
Naungana na MKANDALA kuhusu suala la nani aliyeanza kuvuruga makubalianao ya kusitisha mashambulizi kati ya HAMAS na ISRAEL. Kutokana na mgawanyiko mkubwa miongoni mwa jamii ya waisrael, mgawanyiko uliokomaa ndani ya taasisi za utawala, siasa na majeshi, Israel wamekuwa kila mara ndio wanaoanza kuvunja makubaliano kwa kuendelea kuwaua wapalestina hata baada ya kusign makubaliano.

Sio tu wanaendelea kuua viongozi wa kundi walilokubaliana kusimamisha mashambulizi ili kujenga mazingira bora ya kuweza kuaminiana na kupatana, pia Israel imekuwa na tabia ya kuwakamata viongozi wa makundi hayo wakikiuka makubaliano yao. Hivi sasa kuna zaidi ya mawaziri wa zamani wa HAMAS 15 ktk magereza ya Israel. Kuna zaidi ya wafungwa 10,000 wa kisiasa wa kipalestina katika magereza ya Israel. Halafu Isarel wanataka kuudanganya umma wa dunia kuwa wana haki ya kushambulia wapalestina kumkomboa mwanajeshi wao mmoja ambaye ametekwa katika mapambano.

Ukweli ni kuwa hata Wapelstina wengine milioni mbili waliopo GAZA wako gerezani maana GAZA ni gereza kubwa kuliko yote ulimwanguni (haya ni maneno ya ASKOFU DESMOND TUTU).

OBAMA and Israel.
Ni wazi kuwa Obama ana mtihani mkubwa sana katika hili. Yeye kama msomi mwanaharakati anatambua haki ya Wapalestina lakini pia anajua wazi kuwa urais wake umewezekana pale tu alipoweza kuwahakikishia Waisrael kuwa mlinzi wa maslahi yao. Obama ni zao la starategies za wayahudi wa Marekani. Kati ya watu wake wa karibu watatu, wawili Rahm Emmanuel na David Axelroid ni wayahudi. Wao wanamuita OBAMA kama rais wa kwanza wa Wayahudi kama alivyoitwa Clinton kama rais wa kwanza wa Wamarekani weusi. Hivyo apende asipende atapata pressure nyingi sana kutoka kwa Wayahudi wa Marekani kupitia kwa wasaidizi wake hawa na wengine wengi.

Vilevile OBAMA alipata asilimi 73 ya kura za wayahudi wa marekani ambao ni asilimia 1.7% ya wapiga kura. Vilevile katika Congress mpya kuna wayahudi asilimia 8.4% ikiwemo zaidi ya asilimia 13% katika Senate na karibia wote ni Democrats. Hivyo hata kama Obama alizaliwa Muislamu na akalelewa katika jamii ya kiislamu (baba yake wa kambo wa Indonesia ni Muislam) na hata kama upeo wake wa kielimu umeegemea upande wa haki za kijamii, ni wazi hataweza kuwabana vilivyo waisrael kuonyesha nia ya kweli kuwezesha AMANI na HAKI inapatikana katika eneo hilo. Kitu ambacho wameshindwa kukifanya hivyo mika yote hii tangia makubaliano ya OSLO yaliyoangamizwa na Netanyahu na kuzikwa na Sharon.

CLINTON FACTOR
Na vilevile Kumchagua Mama Clinton kunalenga khakikisha maslahi ya Wayahudi wa Marekani na Israel wanalindwa kwani katika miaka yake yote kama seneta wa New York amekuwa akitegemea support ya wayahudi kwa kiasi kikubwa. Lakini pia Mama Clinton kama ilivyo Bush mdogo na suala la Iraq, ana ajenda ya kifamilia ya kufanikisha yale ambayo Mume wake alishindwa. Hata hivyo tatizo ni kuwa mafanikio wanayoyataka wao ni yale ya "less compromise" from Israel (occupiers) and "major compromise" from Palestinians(occupied).Hata hivyo for Clintons' suala la urafiki na Israel ni startegic rather than demagogic kama ambavyo wamarekani na hata baadhi ya watanzania wenzetu humu waonavyo. Hivyo kuna uwezekano wa Mama Clinton kuwa more assertive on dealing with the issue.

My Palestine/Israel is that one with three major religions live in peace and harmony together....and i believe it is possible tukiondo huu ujinga wa UDINI uliotujaa

Tanzanianjema
 
Na JK anasema:
The Tanzanian President Mr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete has sent a message of condolence
to the President of the State of Palestine, H.E Mahmoud Abbas following a tragic
death of over 380 Palestinians as a result of Israel air strike on Gaza strip.

In his message, President Kikwete said he has learnt with profound shock and sadness
the news regarding a series of Israel air strikes on Gaza Strip killing more than
375 Palestinians and leaving many others injured, including school children.

He said the recent developments in Gaza would certainly undermine the roadmap for
peace in the Israel and Palestine conflict.

The President said Tanzania would like to join other voices from the international
community including the voices of peace loving Israelis in condemning these horrible
massacres.

"On behalf of the Government and the people of Tanzania and on my own behalf, I
wish to convey to you and through you to the people of Palestine and the bereaved
families, our deepest sympathies and condolences on this tragic loss" the
President said.

The President also noted that Tanzania shares with the people of Palestine the pain
of such irreparable loss and prayed that Almighty God give the families and
relatives of the deceased and the injured, strength and courage to bear this moment
of agony and distress.
 
Pamoja na kwamba hili swala ni gumu Lkn Israel kila mara anapata kiburi kutokana na kuwa baby seated na mataifa yenye Nguvu kwa maslahi yao na anafanya kila mara anavyotaka Hakuna justification yeyote ya kuua raia.Swala kama hili lilitokea Ingushetie wakti georgia alivyoanzisha zali na Rusisa kujibu Dunia yote ilisema Russia ametumia nguvu kupita kiasi ,sasa hili linalofanyika nguvu zilizotumika zinalingana na hayo yanayosemwa kuhusu HAMAS kuayafanya.Hata Palestina wafanye nini mara nyingi Israel ataonyesha msuli wake na kutoa sababu yeyote.NEWS zote kila unayoangalia wanasema HAMAS Wametupa roketi kabla ya hapo lakini hawaonyeshi maafa ya hizo roketi zilizotupwa na HAMAS ,Si watetei HAMAS Lakini Dunia mara nyingi haina justice ya kweli,kama kweli ingekuwepo hawa watu wangepatanishwa na kila mmoja angepata kile alichokuwa na haki nacho lakini kinachofanyika ni Politics kupitia maisha ya watu na kila mmoja wetu anaelewa hili kwa dhamira yake ya kweli.Sisi siku moja tungepewa fursa tu ya kuwekwa huko palestina na kufanyiwa wanayofanyiwa hawa wapalestina kwa dhahiri na siri sidhani kama kuna mtu ambaye angeweza kuhimili ,Ila Hulka ya wanaadamu tulio wengi ni wepesi kufikia maamuzi ya haraka ktk kutoa lawama .Je tumeweza hata kujiuliza ni mara ngapi mazungumzo yanavunjika na kila wapatanishi wanapofikia legitimate agreement kwenye swala fulani basi aliyejihusisha na utekelezaji endelevu wa kufikia makubaliano ambayo angalau yataleta unafuu kwa upande wa pande zote mbili ,kiongozi kwa upande wa Israel aidha ataondolewa madarakani au maisha yake yatakuwa hatarini na kwa upande wao anaonekana ni kiongozi dhaifu.Kila kitu cha palestina control ipo Israel hivi pana uhuru kweli hapo.Kwa kifupi wapelestina wamewekwa kifungoni,hata hao viongozi hatoki hata kwenda nje ya maeneo yake mpaka apewe ruhusa kutoka Israel na hii ni miaka nenda rudi.Mnyonge mnyongeni haki yake mpeni,Haki ya kujilinda anayo Israel tu na raia wake wapelestina hawana hata wakifanyiwa hivi Tanzania yakitokea haya tutayaweza.Mungu atuepushe na hili.
 
Vita vile vile vinakuwa na sense of humor.
RIP Civilians.
 

Reports from Congo say that more than 400 Congolese were massacred during christmas time (CNN). Where are you J.K., Kibaki, Museveni, e.t.c.? Is this not a problem? Mr. J.K., the Middle East shoe is probably too huge to fit your feet. My advice to you is stay local. Help solve the problems in Congo and the rest of Africa. Wish you a successful year of 2009!
 
Inatupasa kwanza tumalize matatizo yetu ndo tuweze kuingilia masuala ya wengine,Janga lilotokea huko Congo la kuuawa watu 400 si la kupuuzwa lakini cha ajabu utaona watu wanapanga kuandamana kwa sababu eti Hamas wamepingwa na Israel.
Nchi zetu ziamke tuanze kuangalia masuala yetu kwanza.ya Hamas tuwaachie wenyewe maana ndo waliokuwa wanarusha hayo ma-rocket.
 
THIS IS STATEMENT FROM ISRAEL.
This week, Israeli warplanes pounded Hamas strongholds in the Gaza Strip. The goal of the operation is to strike a major blow to Hamas's terror infrastructure and the ability of Hamas and its allied organizations to launch missiles and mortar shells at Israeli citizens and execute terror attacks of various kinds, such as kidnapping Israeli civilians.

As casualties mount, media coverage of the fighting will form public opinion, ultimately determining Israel's ability to complete the necessary operation. Following is a quick guide to some of the big issues.

Why is Israel bombing innocent Gaza when civilians are dead?

Israel never targets civilians. The death of innocent civilians is regrettable under any circumstances and every effort is made to avoid civilian casualties. That imperative must be balanced with the need to protect Israeli civilians, who suffer from ongoing attacks from Gaza. But while the Palestinians fire Kassam rockets indiscriminately into Israeli territory, Israel launches pinpoint strikes at Hamas infrastructure. Prior to launching any large-scale attacks, Israel spent many months identifying Hamas' strongholds and training facilities. The Israeli Air Force also managed to hit "secret" targets such as underground missile launchers and arms catches -- a testament to Israel's great effort to ensure that air strikes weaken Hamas without harming innocent Palestinians.

Israel does not want a humanitarian crisis, and Hamas is the cause of the suffering and distress of the population there.

Unfortunately, Hamas has never shown the same level of concern for either Israeli or Palestinian civilians. On one hand, Hamas has fired thousands of missiles into Israeli territory, killing and wounding hundreds.

On the other hand, rather than seeking the well-being of the Palestinians under its control in Gaza, Hamas has exploited its civilian population -- and Israel's reluctance to cause civilian casualties -- by placing non-combatants in and around areas likely to be targeted by Israel. Hamas brings women and children up to the roofs of buildings housing terrorist activity in an attempt to prevent air strikes; it sends civilians to the line of fire; it works out of schools and mosques; it fires rockets out of crowded population centers; and it sends Palestinian mothers to murder Israeli children in suicide attacks.

In addition, many of Hamas' arms smuggling tunnels are hidden beneath the homes of Palestinian civilians.

This cynical use of human shields is illegal under international law and the cause of many needless Palestinian deaths. Therefore, the responsibility for Palestinian civilian casualties lies with Hamas, not Israel.

The number of Palestinians casualties is much higher. Isn't that proof of Israeli wrongdoing?

The reason that Israel suffers less casualties is because it has a superior army, and has spent millions of dollars on civil defense infrastructure (neighborhood bomb shelters, reinforced concrete playgrounds for children, etc.).

Also, Israeli hospitals are well-equipped to handle the wounded. Not just Jews, but Gazans, too! In Ashkelon's Barzilai Hospital, "dozens of Gaza Arabs are being treated... at the same time terrorists are bombarding the city." ("Israeli Hospital Cares for Sick and Injured Gaza Arabs," by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, Israel National News, December 29, 2008)

By contrast, in the Gaza hospitals, "armed Hamas militants in civilian clothes roamed the halls" where they shot and killed other Palestinians. ("No Early End Seen to 'All-Out War' on Hamas in Gaza," by Ethan Bronner and Taghreed El-Khodary, New York Times, December 29, 2008)

Shockingly, Hamas is not even allowing wounded Palestinians access to medical treatment. "We are waiting for the wounded Palestinians to cross. They are not being allowed to cross," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told reporters. Asked who was to blame, he said: "Ask the party in control on the ground in Gaza." ("Egypt: Hamas denying Gaza wounded treatment in Egypt," by Alaa Shahine, Reuters, December 28, 2008)

It is absurd to assign the "moral high-ground" to he who suffers the most causalities. By this yardstick, during World War Two the Axis forces would be considered the "victims" against the Allied "aggressors."

Isn't Israel's operation a violation of the Hamas truce?

Hamas is responsible for the situation, since it violated the calm, is firing against and attacking Israeli citizens, and is investing all its resources in arming itself and gathering power.

The truce brokered by Egypt was exploited by Hamas not only to employ terror against Israel's citizens, but also to gain strength and massively arm itself with the intention of increasing their capacity for terror and expanding the range of the threat against Israeli citizens. Hamas men were being smuggled out and were being trained in Iran and Syria.

Hamas shoots harmless, homemade rockets, and Israel responds with fighter jets and precision-guided missiles. Isn't that excessive force?

The Palestinians have long cultivated an image of victimhood to win world sympathy and demand Israeli restraint in the face of Palestinian aggression. In reality, the Palestinians' so-called "primitive" Kassam rocket has killed and wounded hundreds of Israeli civilians. The number of casualties would be even higher without Israeli security measures such as early-warning alarms in areas under rocket threat that allow Israelis to escape into bomb shelters. Hamas has also fired medium-range Grad-type Katyusha rockets, placing more than 250,000 Israeli civilians under direct threat of rocket fire.

Given the Palestinian fire power and their willingness to use it, it is clear that the charge of "excessive force" is simply the latest incarnation of the Palestinian strategy of "victimhood." Terror groups fire indiscriminately at innocent Israelis and then complain of excessive or disproportionate force when Israel fires back. But according to internationally accepted laws of war, Israel is permitted to respond with the force necessary to end the conflict.

It is also important to examine the intent behind the use of weapons. Palestinian terrorists do everything in their power to hurt or kill as many Israeli civilians as possible; Israel is using its advanced weaponry to protect Palestinian civilians from harm.

Isn't Hamas entitled to defend its territory against Israeli occupation?

Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip in 2005, uprooting thousands of its own citizens in order to uphold internationally-recognized borders in Gaza. The Palestinians have no further territorial claims against Israel in Gaza. But instead of working to improve the quality of life for its citizens, Hamas has focused on improving the range and accuracy of its Kassam missiles and mortars and increasing its store of weapons. The Palestinian rockets, therefore, can only be seen as aggression against Israel with no moral basis.

Palestinians have fired more than 6,000 rockets and mortars into Israel since the Israeli withdrawal -- all without provocation. The rocket fire even continued during the six-months of "calm" in the Gaza area that ended last Friday. Since then, Hamas stepped up rocket fire substantially, launching 170 rockets at Israel over eight days, an average of more than 20 rockets a day.

No country in the world would allow this type of onslaught against its citizens. As President-elect Barack Obama said during his visit to the rocket-battered town of Sderot five months ago, "If someone was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do everything to stop that, and would expect Israel to do the same thing."

Isn't Hamas the democratically-elected government in Gaza? Why is Israel trying to overthrow it?

Hamas promotes itself as the legitimate power in Gaza. In reality, Hamas is at its core a terrorist organization that refuses to renounce violence or recognize Israel's right to exist. Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

Hamas came to power in Gaza through a violent coup against the Palestinian Authority government. The international community continues to recognize the PA, under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, as the legitimate Palestinian government in the Palestinian territories. At the same time Israel is fighting terror, the government is deliberately and openly maintaining a political process with the Palestinian government Abbas. Hamas opposes these negotiations and any settlement with Israel, and constitutes an unstable element in the region.

Hamas steadfastly refuses to recognize Israel and continues to launch attacks on its neighbor. Since Hamas refuses to live in peace with Israel, the Israeli government has no choice but to seek Hamas' replacement.
 

The Truth About Those Hamas Rockets
By Dennis Rahkonen

January 01, 2009 "Online Journal" -- Five years ago, the Bush administration lied about weapons of mass destruction to dupe us into supporting an illegal, immoral invasion of Iraq.

A few days ago, Israel trotted out only an infinitesimally more credible excuse -- the Hamas rockets case -- as justification for its own murderous shock and awe in Gaza, a long-planned campaign perniciously aimed at ousting a “regime” that came to power via popular, democratic vote.
Yes, such rockets exist, but they’re little more than slingshots against Israel’s incredible military might, and they’re used out of desperation by Palestinians who’ve never been accorded the democratic space within which to gain redress of their eminently just grievances.

Israeli apologists have presented absurd propaganda about those devices.

We’ve been asked, for instance, what would we do if rockets were being launched on our homes in New York or Texas, from Canada or Mexico?

The proper answer is that, if those two nations had been unlawfully occupied or embargoed by the United States for 60 years of relentless oppression and repression, and if all attempts at peaceful change had been forcefully prevented or scuttled by the U.S., then such attacks would be an understandable, indeed a justifiable attempt at gaining intolerably deferred liberty.

Our appropriate response wouldn’t be to bomb the hell out of the nearest Canadian or Mexican city, but to collectively look into mirrors and earnestly ask ourselves, “What have we done wrong to incur their wrath?”

And then act to correct the situation.

Conscientious Israelis acknowledge that the Hamas rockets rationale is fraudulent. For instance, Jerusalem Post writer Larry Derfner has noted, “We don’t want to see how people in Gaza are living, we block it out of our minds -- which, I suppose, is natural for a society at war, but which also keeps that war going longer than it might if we would recognize that Gaza is getting so much the worst of it.

“The [Palestinian] Kassam [rockets] have terrorized the 25,000 people in Sderot and its environs, but have caused very, very few deaths or serious wounds. By contrast, Israel has terrorized 1.5 million Gazans, locked them inside their awfully narrow borders, throttled their economy, and killed and seriously wounded thousands of them . . .
“This is crazy. Israel is the superpower of the Middle East, but because we still think we’re the Jews of Europe in the 1930s, or the Israelites under Pharaoh, we spend a lot more time fighting our enemies than we might if we looked at the whole picture, not just our half of it . . .”

As Gazan hospitals and morgues fill beyond capacity because of an ongoing air assault that cruelly began at precisely the hour when countless children were heading home from school, we’re expected to believe that small craters mostly in empty Israeli fields constitute this terrible episode’s chief sin.

Bugs bothered by sporadically impacting, glorified fireworks cobbled together in backyard garages are ludicrously supposed to be the primary problem, not human limbs and lives shattered by the most destructive weapons that military science can produce!

At any point during the past six decades, Israel could have had peace, simply by assenting to the great moral imperative of our time, namely the Palestinians’ right to their own, unitary, sovereign homeland.

Something which Israel continues to resist tooth and nail.

Two years ago, in Southern Lebanon, Israel engaged in similar bombings in civilian areas. Then, too, it maintained that only “terrorist” targets were being hit. As impartial observers finally ascertained the truth, clear evidence of enormous civilian carnage surfaced.

The Israeli leadership lied then, and it’s lying now.

There’s a veritable holocaust occurring in densely packed Gaza. Think Guernica, or the Warsaw Ghetto, with all the searing irony that comparison involves.
Apart from being an ethical travesty offending all decent hearts, it’s an unpardonable outrage to especially Arab/Islamic peoples around the world.

Witness the angry demonstrations in cities across the planet.

It takes no extraordinary analytical prowess to appreciate that, when the White House ridiculously blames what’s currently happening on “thugs” in Gaza, and when moderate Arab states adopt an accommodationist position pleasing the U.S. and Israel, a profound Arab/Islamic radicalization billows and swells.

New Osama bin Ladens are being born as innocents in Gaza are getting ripped to death by American-made Hellfire missiles, dispatched toward fleshly targets by Israeli pilots.

In fact, the almost certain, counterproductive outcome of Israel’s action makes us necessarily suspect that secret motives mistakenly judged by Tel Aviv to be worth the risk are actually at play.

Three possibilities spring immediately to mind:
1) Obscenely using de facto genocide to give the present Israeli government a “tough” image before upcoming national elections.

2) Roping Barack Obama into a harder pro-Israeli stance than Tel Aviv fears he’d otherwise take.

3) Creating a manipulated, intensely propagandized situation that would enable a desired Israeli attack on Iran.

Whatever the most deeply hidden reality, Israel’s gargantuan crime must be universally condemned in the strongest possible terms . . . and halted at once!
Dennis Rahkonen of Superior, Wisconsin, has been writing progressive commentary with a Heartland perspective for various outlets since the ’60s.

Source:      The Truth About Those Hamas Rockets         : Information Clearing House - ICH
 
Tanzanians should condemn Israel’s genocide in Gaza
Dailynews report
Daily News; Thursday,January 01, 2009 @20:00

DEPENDING on whatever global TV network you have been tuning in this week, you must have been shocked and chilled at the level of carnage and massacre of the civilian population of the Gaza strip largely populated by Palestinian people. As a resident of the 3 million plus population of Dar es Salaam, just imagine, for instance, the scenario of half of this population concentrated around the Magomeni and Manzese area.

So imagine this area first, being sealed off and then rained by bombs from the skies day and night. The explanation given by those raining bombs on this area being that they are getting rid of ‘terrorists’ in the midst of the 1.5 million population! So this is exactly what has been happening in the last seven days in the Gaza Strip, a piece of land portioned off to Palestinian people, along with the West Bank in the Middle East.

Today, Friday, is the seventh day of constant and relentless bombing by Israel on this town. I first watched the scene of the level of these Israeli attacks on the civilian population of Gaza from the safety of my living room last weekend. Look here, all these global TV networks, regardless of their pretentiousness, all subscribe to the tune of their owners.

What you will see on BBC is not exactly what you will watch on CNN and invariably they all report on an angle most palatable to the agenda of the real owners. So the pictures of those hurt most in the Israeli air raids, such as babies, children and women will not be shown on CNN or BBC in a focused manner!

As my remote control gadget moved from one channel to another, I found out that only the Qatar based Aljazeera TV global TV network provided me with a comprehensive coverage of the carnage with its Correspondents stationed right in Gaza itself, as well as Jerusalem and the Israeli army’s frontline.

I was alarmed to see dead and dying people everywhere, building and other structures burning and hospitals overburdened with injured and dying people. The most heart-rending pictures were those of children and infants.

Oh! My God! Frankly, I could not bring myself to terms with what I was watching or what I have been watching in the intervening week, that human beings are capable of perpetrating such callous acts of barbarism. Reflecting on my hazy reading of the atrocities of pre-modern day Germany’s

Adolph Hitler on the Jewish people, I could not see any difference to what I was seeing being meted on Palestinian people. What is more, I could not believe that offspring’s of what has become to be known as the holocaust could themselves turn around the pendulum in the same manner Hitler did to their ancestors!

Going by the argument of the Jewish state, they have embarked on this line of action to nip in the bud ‘terrorists’ going by the name of Hamas, so that they are never again a threat to the peace of their people, who have now and again been victims of rockets fired by Hamas from Gaza.

Even accepting the logic of this argument, the questions to ask are: does the Jewish state need to inflict collective punishment to a whole people or it needs to identify the perpetrators and take them on their own doze? Does the Jewish state need to clamp up a blockade of the Gaza strip, depriving the people of the area of any food, medicines and above all water and electricity? As watchers of the events in the area will agree, this is precisely what has happened preceding to the current bombardment.

In fact all the life pipelines and highways have been bombed to impassable levels and the aim is clearly to suffocate slowly but surely a whole 1.5 million people to death! And by the way, it is not difficult to appreciate this move when one looks at the manner it has been coldly and viciously calculated.

Knowing that there will be a change of guard in Washington with the rise of Barack Obama who is being sworn-in shortly as the new President of the United States, the idea was thus mooted and is being implemented to finish off the job in this transition period, so that the powers that be and the international community is presented with a fait accompli.

The authors of the crime know only too well that Mr Bush is busy winding up and in any case he would not be interested to bother if the job being done is to finish off ‘terrorists’! And they also know that Mr Obama hasn’t any authority at the moment in time because he is still ‘President-elect’ yet to be sworn-in. So what a superb moment to do the ‘job’! And verily:

the Security Council resolution yesterday saw the United States and Britain abstaining to condemn Israel for its excessive use of force in Gaza, for the reason that Hamas was not sanctioned in the censure for its acts of terrorism! So there we are. The circle is complete; the conspiracy has been joined by the powerful of the world; who have chosen to look away at the genocide of a whole people.

This brings the issue to a moral and conscience judgement of the international community which includes the Tanzanian people. We have seen the all round condemnation of Israel from New York to London and from London to Santiago and indeed across the Middle East and some countries in Africa.

The people of these countries have made demonstrations in these capitals, condemning Israel’s version of holocaust on Palestinian people. In Dar es Salaam, demonstrations will be taking place today. But how I wish the demonstrations were organized by the youth wing of the governing party, CCM, rather than Muslims per se.

How I wish my own government was able to put up a statement condemning Israel for its acts of genocide against a whole people. If this was to be done, then this country will have re-asserted its own old glory as a moral voice of Africa.

To speak out against injustice committed by whosoever has been what had firmly put Tanzania on the world map from the word go right in the days of its founding Father. But where this is lacking, then the message of the people and of the civil society should be loud and clear as reflected in the demo today and elsewhere in the world.
 
Tanzania hatuna haki ya kulaani Israel sababu kubwa kama Tanzania hatujaweza kilaani Hamas kwa kulusha ma-rocket huko Israel pamoja na kuonywa mara nyingi na jumuia ya ki-mataifa Hamas waliendelea ku-provoke at last kusababisha Israel kuanza kuishambulia Gaza,basi kama kulaani basi Tanzania ianze kilaani Hamas ndo igeukie Israel.
Kama kulaani Tanzania imeshindwa kulaani Genecide in Sudan Janjaweed wameua watu wengi sana lakini Tanzania kimya.
Huko Kongo DRC watu 500 wameuawa lakini hakuna tamko lolote la kulaani mauaji hayo.itakuwa ni ajabu kurukia mambo ya nje wakati hapa hapa Africa kuna mambo yaku.....
 
THIS IS STATEMENT FROM ISRAEL.
This week, Israeli warplanes pounded Hamas strongholds in the Gaza Strip. The goal of the operation is to strike a major blow to Hamas's terror infrastructure and the ability of Hamas and its allied organizations to launch missiles and mortar shells at Israeli citizens and execute terror attacks of various kinds, such as kidnapping Israeli civilians.

As casualties mount, media coverage of the fighting will form public opinion, ultimately determining Israel's ability to complete the necessary operation. Following is a quick guide to some of the big issues.

Why is Israel bombing innocent Gaza when civilians are dead?

Israel never targets civilians. The death of innocent civilians is regrettable under any circumstances and every effort is made to avoid civilian casualties. That imperative must be balanced with the need to protect Israeli civilians, who suffer from ongoing attacks from Gaza. But while the Palestinians fire Kassam rockets indiscriminately into Israeli territory, Israel launches pinpoint strikes at Hamas infrastructure. Prior to launching any large-scale attacks, Israel spent many months identifying Hamas' strongholds and training facilities. The Israeli Air Force also managed to hit "secret" targets such as underground missile launchers and arms catches -- a testament to Israel's great effort to ensure that air strikes weaken Hamas without harming innocent Palestinians.

Israel does not want a humanitarian crisis, and Hamas is the cause of the suffering and distress of the population there.

Unfortunately, Hamas has never shown the same level of concern for either Israeli or Palestinian civilians. On one hand, Hamas has fired thousands of missiles into Israeli territory, killing and wounding hundreds.

On the other hand, rather than seeking the well-being of the Palestinians under its control in Gaza, Hamas has exploited its civilian population -- and Israel's reluctance to cause civilian casualties -- by placing non-combatants in and around areas likely to be targeted by Israel. Hamas brings women and children up to the roofs of buildings housing terrorist activity in an attempt to prevent air strikes; it sends civilians to the line of fire; it works out of schools and mosques; it fires rockets out of crowded population centers; and it sends Palestinian mothers to murder Israeli children in suicide attacks.

In addition, many of Hamas' arms smuggling tunnels are hidden beneath the homes of Palestinian civilians.

This cynical use of human shields is illegal under international law and the cause of many needless Palestinian deaths. Therefore, the responsibility for Palestinian civilian casualties lies with Hamas, not Israel.

The number of Palestinians casualties is much higher. Isn't that proof of Israeli wrongdoing?

The reason that Israel suffers less casualties is because it has a superior army, and has spent millions of dollars on civil defense infrastructure (neighborhood bomb shelters, reinforced concrete playgrounds for children, etc.).

Also, Israeli hospitals are well-equipped to handle the wounded. Not just Jews, but Gazans, too! In Ashkelon's Barzilai Hospital, "dozens of Gaza Arabs are being treated... at the same time terrorists are bombarding the city." ("Israeli Hospital Cares for Sick and Injured Gaza Arabs," by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, Israel National News, December 29, 2008)

By contrast, in the Gaza hospitals, "armed Hamas militants in civilian clothes roamed the halls" where they shot and killed other Palestinians. ("No Early End Seen to 'All-Out War' on Hamas in Gaza," by Ethan Bronner and Taghreed El-Khodary, New York Times, December 29, 2008)

Shockingly, Hamas is not even allowing wounded Palestinians access to medical treatment. "We are waiting for the wounded Palestinians to cross. They are not being allowed to cross," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told reporters. Asked who was to blame, he said: "Ask the party in control on the ground in Gaza." ("Egypt: Hamas denying Gaza wounded treatment in Egypt," by Alaa Shahine, Reuters, December 28, 2008)

It is absurd to assign the "moral high-ground" to he who suffers the most causalities. By this yardstick, during World War Two the Axis forces would be considered the "victims" against the Allied "aggressors."

Isn't Israel's operation a violation of the Hamas truce?

Hamas is responsible for the situation, since it violated the calm, is firing against and attacking Israeli citizens, and is investing all its resources in arming itself and gathering power.

The truce brokered by Egypt was exploited by Hamas not only to employ terror against Israel's citizens, but also to gain strength and massively arm itself with the intention of increasing their capacity for terror and expanding the range of the threat against Israeli citizens. Hamas men were being smuggled out and were being trained in Iran and Syria.

Hamas shoots harmless, homemade rockets, and Israel responds with fighter jets and precision-guided missiles. Isn't that excessive force?

The Palestinians have long cultivated an image of victimhood to win world sympathy and demand Israeli restraint in the face of Palestinian aggression. In reality, the Palestinians' so-called "primitive" Kassam rocket has killed and wounded hundreds of Israeli civilians. The number of casualties would be even higher without Israeli security measures such as early-warning alarms in areas under rocket threat that allow Israelis to escape into bomb shelters. Hamas has also fired medium-range Grad-type Katyusha rockets, placing more than 250,000 Israeli civilians under direct threat of rocket fire.

Given the Palestinian fire power and their willingness to use it, it is clear that the charge of "excessive force" is simply the latest incarnation of the Palestinian strategy of "victimhood." Terror groups fire indiscriminately at innocent Israelis and then complain of excessive or disproportionate force when Israel fires back. But according to internationally accepted laws of war, Israel is permitted to respond with the force necessary to end the conflict.

It is also important to examine the intent behind the use of weapons. Palestinian terrorists do everything in their power to hurt or kill as many Israeli civilians as possible; Israel is using its advanced weaponry to protect Palestinian civilians from harm.

Isn't Hamas entitled to defend its territory against Israeli occupation?

Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip in 2005, uprooting thousands of its own citizens in order to uphold internationally-recognized borders in Gaza. The Palestinians have no further territorial claims against Israel in Gaza. But instead of working to improve the quality of life for its citizens, Hamas has focused on improving the range and accuracy of its Kassam missiles and mortars and increasing its store of weapons. The Palestinian rockets, therefore, can only be seen as aggression against Israel with no moral basis.

Palestinians have fired more than 6,000 rockets and mortars into Israel since the Israeli withdrawal -- all without provocation. The rocket fire even continued during the six-months of "calm" in the Gaza area that ended last Friday. Since then, Hamas stepped up rocket fire substantially, launching 170 rockets at Israel over eight days, an average of more than 20 rockets a day.

No country in the world would allow this type of onslaught against its citizens. As President-elect Barack Obama said during his visit to the rocket-battered town of Sderot five months ago, "If someone was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do everything to stop that, and would expect Israel to do the same thing."

Isn't Hamas the democratically-elected government in Gaza? Why is Israel trying to overthrow it?

Hamas promotes itself as the legitimate power in Gaza. In reality, Hamas is at its core a terrorist organization that refuses to renounce violence or recognize Israel's right to exist. Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

Hamas came to power in Gaza through a violent coup against the Palestinian Authority government. The international community continues to recognize the PA, under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, as the legitimate Palestinian government in the Palestinian territories. At the same time Israel is fighting terror, the government is deliberately and openly maintaining a political process with the Palestinian government Abbas. Hamas opposes these negotiations and any settlement with Israel, and constitutes an unstable element in the region.

Hamas steadfastly refuses to recognize Israel and continues to launch attacks on its neighbor. Since Hamas refuses to live in peace with Israel, the Israeli government has no choice but to seek Hamas' replacement.
 
Gaza ni mbali sana na Tanzania na kuna mambo ya msingi zaidi ya kuangalia kama Zimbabwe , Sudan ,. DRC, Somalia kwanza na Gaza walaumiwe Hamas.Mwandishi anaweza kuchukua hatua kama yeye na si sisi sote watanzania .
 

Looks like its a noble or fashionable thing to root for a little guy even when he is being an A**hole?
 
Nizar Rayyan, the Hamas military commander who was killed in Thursday's air raid on his home in the Jabalya refugee camp, was a sworn enemy not only of Israel, but also of the Palestinian Authority and its president, Mahmoud Abbas.

Rayyan, who had four wives and a dozen children, led the Hamas militiamen who defeated Abbas's security forces in the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007. He is the third most senior Hamas leader to be killed by Israel, after the targeted killings of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in March 2004 and his successor, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a few weeks later.

Hamas leaders stressed that Rayyan's death, while a "painful loss" to their movement, would not affect its determination to continue the fight against Israel.

A Hamas spokesman said he did not rule out the possibility that the PA had asked Israel to kill Rayyan because of his role in the Hamas-Fatah clashes in 2007.

"Sheikh Rayyan was one of the main reasons why many of Abbas's men did not sleep well at night," he said. "They knew that as long as the sheikh was around, they would never be able to return to the Gaza Strip."

A few days before Hamas took full control of the Gaza Strip, Rayyan, dressed in military fatigues and carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle, declared that he and his supporters were planning to hold Friday prayers inside Abbas's presidential compound in Gaza City.

Rayyan personally led the Hamas militiamen who seized the compound and PA security installations throughout Gaza. He later boasted that the Strip had been "cleansed" of "traitors" and "CIA agents" - a reference to Abbas and his former security chiefs.

A few months later, Rayyan again issued a threat against Abbas. This time he declared that he would soon lead Friday prayers inside Abbas's Mukata compound in Ramallah, an indication of Hamas's intention to extend its control to the West Bank.

That was why PA officials in Ramallah Thursday did not shed tears over his departure from the scene. In fact, some of them privately expressed relief, claiming that he was responsible for the killing of scores of Abbas loyalists in the Gaza Strip during the 2007 "coup."

Many Palestinians saw the killing of Rayyan, 60, as a severe blow to Hamas and its armed wing, Izzadin Kassam. Some Hamas supporters said on Thursday that Rayyan was more significant than Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh or senior Hamas leaders Mahmoud Zahar and Said Siam.

"He was one of the most popular figures in Hamas," said a Palestinian journalist who knew the slain Hamas leader for nearly two decades. "He was the type of leader who would go out with the fighters to confront Israeli tanks and fire rockets at Israel. He loved wearing the military uniform."

Apart from serving as a "spiritual" leader for Hamas's armed wing, Rayyan was also a teacher at the Islamic University in Gaza City. His students referred to him as "The Professor" and described him as a prominent Muslim scholar. One student said Rayyan was Yassin's real successor.

Rayyan was a leading authority on the sayings of the prophet Muhammad (Hadith), and the basement of his four-story house had been turned into a library of more than 5,000 books and documents on Islam.

After Islamic studies at universities in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Sudan, he returned to the Gaza Strip and worked as a preacher in several mosques. His fiery sermons and involvement in incitement and terrorism resulted in four years in an Israeli prison.

When the PA assumed control over the Gaza Strip in 1994, Rayyan was one of the first Hamas members to find himself in a Palestinian prison, together with Zahar and Rantisi.

At the beginning of the second intifada, Rayyan sent one of his sons to carry out a suicide attack in Gush Katif's Elei Sinai in 2001. Two Israelis were killed. Rayyan was also responsible for a series of suicide bombings and attacks inside the Green Line, including the suicide bombing in Ashdod Port in 2004 in which 10 Israelis died.

In recent years, Rayyan served as a liaison between the political leadership of Hamas and Izzadin Kassam. He is even said to have been one of the very few Hamas operatives who knew where IDF soldier St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit was being held in the Gaza Strip.
 
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