Re: Latest Gaza - Israel conflict, an air war

30
YankeeTarheel wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 6:53 pm Even Thomas Friedman, usually a hard-core supporter of Israel, is calling this an obvious wag-the-dog ploy by BiBi AND Hamas.

He's right, we know Bibi is using the conflict to try and save his political life and Mahmoud Abbas the president of the Palestine Authority and Hamas are afraid to hold elections because they could lose and the conflict helps them. At least the Israelis have some say in their governments, Gaza residents are stuck with Hamas and dare not complain or they could be declared a supporter of Israel and be disappeared.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Latest Gaza - Israel conflict, an air war

32
Ylatkit wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 8:17 pm I don't know a hell of a lot about Mid East conflicts, beyond owning a copy of Avalon HIll's Arab-Israeli Wars. How does apartheid get applied here?
Segregation or discrimination on grounds of race and religion like south Africa coincidently started around the same time in 48'.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”

Re: Latest Gaza - Israel conflict, an air war

33
tonguengroover wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 12:17 am
Ylatkit wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 8:17 pm I don't know a hell of a lot about Mid East conflicts, beyond owning a copy of Avalon HIll's Arab-Israeli Wars. How does apartheid get applied here?
Segregation or discrimination on grounds of race and religion like south Africa coincidently started around the same time in 48'.
It was started long before 1948 in South Africa. Prime example was Mahatma Gandhi and the train incident.
On 7 June 1893, M.K Gandhi, later known as "The Mahatma" or "Great Soul" was forcibly removed from a whites-only carriage on a train in Pietermaritzburg, for not obeying laws that segregated each carriage according to race. Gandhi was practising as a young Indian lawyer in South Africa at the time, and this event proved a remarkable influence on the future of his political life. Gandhi was later instrumental in protesting against policies of segregation in South Africa in the early 1900s, especially against those that concerned Indians. This segregation did not only affect where Indians could live or work, but also made it compulsory for them to pay a £3 poll tax. Gandhi implemented strategies of passive resistance to protest against these policies. This passive resistance movement influenced civil rights movements all over the world, and was known as Satyagraha, or the "force which is born of Truth and Love or non-violence". Gandhi trained many Indians in this form of protest, and many were jailed for their activities, including Gandhi himself.
https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-even ... n-carriage

Just like the apartheid laws, labeled Jim Crow laws, in the US were there long before the Civil War. They were not just applied to blacks but other POC. Example Andrew Jackson's Trail of Tears. It is very relevant to the conflict in Israel today.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Latest Gaza - Israel conflict, an air war

35
Apartheid is an Afrikaans word meaning apartness or separateness. In the State of Israel roughly 2 million residents are Arabs (21%) out of roughly 9 million people, they are Israeli citizens and that includes women and vote in Israeli elections generally for Arab parties that sit in the Knesset or parliament. That was not the case in apartheid South Africa where blacks weren't even citizens. The sole difference between Arab and Jewish citizens is that Arabs aren't required to serve in the Israeli armed forces. Arabs born in Israel can apply for citizenship between 18 and 21 years. US politicians who throw out words like apartheid are ignorant of it's meaning and history.

https://www.loc.gov/law/help/birthright ... onditions.

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/th ... -in-israel
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Latest Gaza - Israel conflict, an air war

36
Can apply for citizenship at 18 to 21 years, is that the same for the jewish born people in Israel? If not apartheid fits. They are not equal under the law. They are evicted from areas the jewish citizens want. For a people that suffered greatly during ww2 they learned nothing of compassion and tolerance. If they had, an Israel as it exists now would not exist. There would be one country with two ethnic groups harmoniously living within the borders of Palestine. And then there are the ones that were expelled from Palestine/Israel during the course of numerous wars. There is no sugar coating Israel's actions since it's founding, which was ill-conceived. Romanticism is not an excuse to create a country that had not existed for several thousand years. The disappearance of countries is a more or less normal occurrence in history. Sometimes it's best to let things in history remain there.
Image
Image

"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: Latest Gaza - Israel conflict, an air war

37
It’s well documented that people who suffer trauma and abuse do not automatically develop compassion for others. In fact quite the opposite is common. Abused become abusers in the generational cycle of child abuse in families. People who suffered ethnic cleansing are prone to commit genocide (Rowanda, Yugoslav wars). It takes active efforts to put out the flames of hatred and fear after suffering as a people to avoid the slide into aggression based on supposed, “right to self-defense”.

It’s no different with animals. What happens to small animals who grow up suffering regular abuse? They become vicious and untrusting. It takes effort to help them calm down and trust those around them again.

The field of epigenetics is also adding to out understanding of the challenges we face as a human race regarding the personal effects of trauma we carry from events generations before we were born!
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: Latest Gaza - Israel conflict, an air war

38
sikacz wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 2:35 pm Can apply for citizenship at 18 to 21 years, is that the same for the jewish born people in Israel? If not apartheid fits. They are not equal under the law. They are evicted from areas the jewish citizens want. For a people that suffered greatly during ww2 they learned nothing of compassion and tolerance. If they had, an Israel as it exists now would not exist. There would be one country with two ethnic groups harmoniously living within the borders of Palestine. And then there are the ones that were expelled from Palestine/Israel during the course of numerous wars. There is no sugar coating Israel's actions since it's founding, which was ill-conceived. Romanticism is not an excuse to create a country that had not existed for several thousand years. The disappearance of countries is a more or less normal occurrence in history. Sometimes it's best to let things in history remain there.
That there
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”

Re: Latest Gaza - Israel conflict, an air war

39
I am so far from an expert that it hurts. Still, it remains my understanding that Israeli politics shifted dramatically after the 1991 collapse of the USSR and influx of post-Soviet Jews. This coincided with the transition to a more powerful executive and the first election of Netanyahu.

No one - NO ONE - should remain in power for over a decade. Not even FDR.

I have no solutions. My heart breaks.

Re: Latest Gaza - Israel conflict, an air war

41
wings wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 10:02 pm I am so far from an expert that it hurts. Still, it remains my understanding that Israeli politics shifted dramatically after the 1991 collapse of the USSR and influx of post-Soviet Jews. This coincided with the transition to a more powerful executive and the first election of Netanyahu.

No one - NO ONE - should remain in power for over a decade. Not even FDR.

I have no solutions. My heart breaks.

You're right there was a big influx of refugees from the former USSR and that ultimately benefited Netanyahu's Likud Party. The ultra orthodox have a higher birth rate which benefits their parties over the years. The creation of the State of Israel was made by Western politicians long before our time, Palestine was a territory created by the League of Nations and overseen by the UK, the territory had been part of the Ottoman Empire as was Iraq, Syria, Lebanon...countries are suppressed and new ones created that's the sad reality of the world. The EU is divided, Ireland, Sweden and Luxembourg favor Palestinian rights and Germany, Austria, Hungary and Czech Republic favor Israel.

I have no dog in the fight, I just point out some facts. As YT stated, Netanyahu and the right wing in Israel and Hamas and PLO all benefit from the conflict. Groups and nations play the victimhood card just like individuals do.

I too have no solution, it's tragic that people on both sides are suffering.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Latest Gaza - Israel conflict, an air war

43
Israel is getting a lot of pressure to cease hostilities not just by the US but other countries and the media. Israel is a recognized state and has diplomatic relations. Gaza is technically part of the Palestine National Authority under President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, but Hamas doesn't take orders from Abbas or PLO, so it's really stateless. I don't know if or how the US government would communicate with Hamas to put pressure on that side, maybe through Qatar.
"We informed all parties that we would accept a mutual ceasefire between Israel and Hamas with two conditions," Dr. Basem Naim, a former Palestinian health minister who is now head of Hamas' international relations council, told ABC News on Tuesday evening. "One, Israeli forces must stop incursions into the Al-Asqa compound and respect the site. Two, Israel must stop the forced evacuation of the Palestinian residents in the Sheikh Jarah neighborhood. This condition is in accordance with international law, not only a condition expected by the Hamas authority."
https://abcnews.go.com/International/ha ... d=77773676

I assume that Israel would reply that any site used for terrorist activities is subject to being raided and the evictions cases in East Jerusalem are at the Israeli Supreme Court awaiting a decision. Religion, the source of so much conflict around the world. We don't know that Aqsa was used for terrorist activities, the Israelis need to be open about it. And the Israeli Supreme Court decision on the evictions was delayed due to the conflict.

Israel is bombing tunnels because that's how Hamas got rockets and materials into Gaza, mainly from the Egyptian side of the border. Hamas is not the first terrorist group to use civilians as shields, suicide bombers go into crowds and detonate their bombs for mass casualties and not out into a vacant fields. Casualties make news, not a lone suicide bomber.

After any continuing conflict around the world, a certain amount of compassion fatigue sets in in foreign countries. Governments and people become tired of causes that have no end, this is one of those conflicts.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Latest Gaza - Israel conflict, an air war

44
Israel’s Security Cabinet voted on Thursday evening local time to support a ceasefire with Hamas to end the fighting in Gaza.

The state of play: Hamas officials have also backed the ceasefire, which they said would go into effect at 2am on Friday (7pm Thursday ET). Israeli officials said the exact timing still needed to be determined by the Egyptian mediators.


The Israeli prime minister’s office said the Egyptian initiative called for a “mutual and unconditional ceasefire."

Israeli officials say the basic principle will be “quiet for quiet,” but both Israel and Hamas accepted Egypt’s proposal to discuss more Gaza-related issues at a later stage.

Driving the news: Both sides intensified their attacks over the last 24 hours in anticipation of a ceasefire. Gaza health officials say at least 232 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the crisis, including 65 children. Twelve people have been killed in Israel.

Netanyahu has been under growing international pressure to approve a ceasefire, including from the Biden administration, but had insisted up to now that Israel needed additional time to complete its military objectives in Gaza.

Behind the scenes: The Israeli cabinet decision was unanimous.

According to an official who attended the cabinet meeting, the chiefs of the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin-Bet [also known as Shabak the internal] intelligence service both recommended ending the operation, contending that its objectives had been achieved and two or three additional days of fighting would not lead to further gains.

The message from the security chiefs, the source says, was “we are done."

What they're saying: The Israeli security chiefs briefed the cabinet ministers that Hamas' military capabilities were badly damaged — including the group's most sensitive assets like drones, anti-tank units, tunnels and tools for intelligence gathering and electronic warfare. Hamas still has a stockpile of rockets capable of reaching Tel Aviv, the officials said, but its rocket systems were damaged as well.

A senior Hamas official in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, told Al-Mayadeen Television that Hamas received guaranties from the Egyptian mediators that the Israeli aggression in Gaza and Jerusalem would stop. “We won and created a new equation with Israel," he claimed.

What to watch: Hamas officials had been calling on Israel to end police "incursions" into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, or Temple Mount, and stop the evictions of Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem as part of any ceasefire.

Israel refused to discuss any agreement that would link the Gaza conflict to Jerusalem, sources familiar with the talks tell Axios.

Background: The current escalation began last Monday in Jerusalem after Israeli police raided the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, or Temple Mount, where Palestinians had been protesting the possible forced removal of six Palestinian families in favor of Jewish settlers. After the raid, Hamas fired rockets on Israel.
https://www.axios.com/israel-security-c ... 0a017.html
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Latest Gaza - Israel conflict, an air war

45
CDFingers wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 10:17 am Look how this is phrased.
Biden tells Israel’s Netanyahu U.S. expects ‘a significant de-escalation today’ in Gaza
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/19/biden-t ... -gaza.html

That's how you do it.
And now, this.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and Hamas announced a cease-fire Thursday, ending a bruising 11-day war that caused widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip and brought life in much of Israel to a standstill.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel accepted the Egyptian proposal after a late-night meeting of his Security Cabinet. Hamas quickly followed suit and said it would honor the deal.
https://apnews.com/article/israel-pales ... 0c74b?new=

Joe didn't back anyone into any corner. Gave them room. They took it.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: Latest Gaza - Israel conflict, an air war

47
I wonder what else he told BiBi when he told him what he expected. Maybe it was the Teddy Roosevelt’s,”Walk softly and carry a big stick” diplomacy. In this case we can refuse to send any money or arms.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Latest Gaza - Israel conflict, an air war

49
The diplomatic flurry was over and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu was on the phone telling President Joe Biden that it appeared the furious fighting between Israel and Hamas was about to end. But Biden remained wary even after the afternoon phone call with the prime minister. Things still could go crosswise with hours to go before the cease-fire took effect, Biden’s team reasoned.

Nervous White House aides dialed contacts in Tel Aviv and Cairo to suss out whether the truce would hold. Officials in both the U.S. and Israel worried that another barrage of Hamas rockets could sink the Egyptian-brokered agreement, according to an official familiar with the conversations.

Then came another call from Netanyahu — his second to Biden that day — with reassurances for the American president that the 11-day war really was halting. Biden’s first extended foreign policy crisis, one he handled largely by avoiding the cameras and maneuvering instead behind the scenes, had abated.

The president went before cameras in the Cross Hall of the White House to describe “intensive high-level discussions, hour by hour, literally” by the United States that involved Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and other Middle Eastern countries. All of it, he said, came “with an aim of avoiding the sort of prolonged conflict we’ve seen in previous years when the hostilities have broken out.”

The calls between Biden and Netanyahu were a small sample of the furious diplomacy that the White House conducted. The president and senior aides had over 80 engagements, by phone or in person, in search of an endgame to the fighting, according to the White House.

Biden’s speech celebrating the cease-fire lasted just 3½ minutes and was delivered in time for evening news broadcasts. He reiterated his belief that Israel has a right to defend itself, expressed condolences for Palestinian civilians who died in the Israeli bombardment and promised that humanitarian aid to Gaza Strip was on its way.

It was an enigmatic, and perhaps fitting, bookend to the sort of messy Mideast crisis he had hoped to avoid, particularly early in a presidency already oversubscribed with managing the public health and economic tumult caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The conflict had also exposed a rift between Biden and members of his own party. The president who over nearly 50 years in national politics has burnished a reputation for unwavering support of Israel leads a Democratic Party that has trended toward a far more divided outlook on the proper path to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Republicans were all too eager to try to make political use of the situation.

Biden had studiously avoided extensive public comment about the Israeli military strikes. But he faced increasing pressure from Democrats to speak out against the Israelis as the death toll climbed in Gaza and as tens of thousands of Palestinians were displaced by the aerial bombardment.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut expressed relief at the cease-fire and commended Biden and his team for their work. But he also laid out ongoing worries, saying, “I am deeply concerned that without meaningful progress towards a two-state future, the conditions of despair will deepen, further fuel extremism and lead to a tragic renewal of the cycle of violence.”

The cease-fire announcement came after Biden on Wednesday stepped up his pressure on Netanyahu, telling the prime minister that he expected “significant de-escalation” of the fighting by day’s end, according to the White House. But Netanyahu came right back with a public declaration that he was “determined to continue” the Gaza operation “until its objective is achieved.”

Biden’s advisers were not overly concerned that Netanyahu’s comments seemed to reject the president’s public call to ease off, said the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss private discussions and spoke on condition of anonymity.

In fact, soon after Wednesday’s conversation between the leaders, the Israelis signaled to the White House that they were prepared to propose a time for a cease-fire, according to officials. Netanyahu, who saw daily polling that showed the vast majority of Israelis opposed a cease-fire, was looking for assurances that if such an offer was extended it would, in fact, be accepted. And he wanted the Biden administration’s help.

Biden on Thursday morning called Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and asked him if he could guarantee that Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza would abide by a cease-fire if Israel agreed to a deal.

El-Sissi told Biden that he was confident the answer was yes. And the White House quickly relayed that to the Israelis.

Hours later, Netanyahu sat down with his Cabinet. For the roughly 2-½ hour meeting, White House officials — who had been in nearly continuous contact for days from the Israelis — heard nothing from Tel Aviv.

When it ended, Netanyahu called Biden and told the president that the Cabinet had approved the cease-fire. The Israelis wanted it to take effect quickly in hopes of mitigating chances that Hamas would attempt to rain rockets on Tel Aviv in the final moments of the war.

Still, Netanyahu conveyed some trepidation that the deal could fall apart. About 40 minutes later, as Biden was preparing for his remarks, Netanyahu called again and told the president he was confident the cease-fire would stick.

While Biden and aides were deep in the backchannel efforts, domestic pressure was building on the president.

On Tuesday, while in Michigan to visit a Ford facility, Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib confronted Biden at the airport and called on him to speak out forcefully against the Israeli strikes. Also this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York introduced resolutions to block the sale of $735 million in military weaponry to Israel that had already been approved by the Biden administration.

“Let us hope that the ceasefire in Gaza holds,” Sanders tweeted Thursday evening. “But that’s not enough. Our job now is to support desperately needed humanitarian and reconstruction aid to Gaza’s people, and find a way to finally bring peace to the region.”

Biden advisers had concluded in the first days of the crisis, as Hamas fired hundreds of rockets on Israel, that a call from the president for Israeli restraint would have fallen flat. At the same time, early in the crisis, there was deep worry inside the White House that the fighting could escalate into something that would take months to tamp down.

As the outside calls for Biden to speak out more forcefully grew, the president and top aides privately made the case to Israeli officials that time wasn’t on their side.

Biden and Netanyahu have known each other for more than 30 years and have frequently butted heads. Their conversations throughout the crisis probed one another as they tried to game out a path forward, according to officials.

Netanyahu insisted that his half-dozen conversations with Biden during the fighting were “warm and friendly.” Biden in the calls referred to Netanyahu by his nickname, “Bibi,” while the prime minster addressed the president as “Joe.”

“I told him that any country coming under fire from thousands of rockets on its cities would not sit with folded hands, and I told him that we will halt the fighting once we achieve the objectives of the campaign,” Netanyahu said. “The president understood this and this is exactly what we did.“

Biden ended his own brief remarks about the cease-fire on a hopeful note: “I believe we have a genuine opportunity to make progress, and I’m committed to working for it.”

All of it, he said, came “with an aim of avoiding the sort of prolonged conflict we’ve seen in previous years when the hostilities have broken out.”

The calls between Biden and Netanyahu were a small sample of the furious diplomacy that the White House conducted. The president and senior aides had over 80 engagements, by phone or in person, in search of an endgame to the fighting, according to the White House.

Biden’s speech celebrating the cease-fire lasted just 3½ minutes and was delivered in time for evening news broadcasts. He reiterated his belief that Israel has a right to defend itself, expressed condolences for Palestinian civilians who died in the Israeli bombardment and promised that humanitarian aid to Gaza Strip was on its way.

It was an enigmatic, and perhaps fitting, bookend to the sort of messy Mideast crisis he had hoped to avoid, particularly early in a presidency already oversubscribed with managing the public health and economic tumult caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The conflict had also exposed a rift between Biden and members of his own party. The president who over nearly 50 years in national politics has burnished a reputation for unwavering support of Israel leads a Democratic Party that has trended toward a far more divided outlook on the proper path to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Republicans were all too eager to try to make political use of the situation.

Biden had studiously avoided extensive public comment about the Israeli military strikes. But he faced increasing pressure from Democrats to speak out against the Israelis as the death toll climbed in Gaza and as tens of thousands of Palestinians were displaced by the aerial bombardment.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut expressed relief at the cease-fire and commended Biden and his team for their work. But he also laid out ongoing worries, saying, “I am deeply concerned that without meaningful progress towards a two-state future, the conditions of despair will deepen, further fuel extremism and lead to a tragic renewal of the cycle of violence.”

The cease-fire announcement came after Biden on Wednesday stepped up his pressure on Netanyahu, telling the prime minister that he expected “significant de-escalation” of the fighting by day’s end, according to the White House. But Netanyahu came right back with a public declaration that he was “determined to continue” the Gaza operation “until its objective is achieved.”

Biden’s advisers were not overly concerned that Netanyahu’s comments seemed to reject the president’s public call to ease off, said the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss private discussions and spoke on condition of anonymity.

In fact, soon after Wednesday’s conversation between the leaders, the Israelis signaled to the White House that they were prepared to propose a time for a cease-fire, according to officials.

Netanyahu, who saw daily polling that showed the vast majority of Israelis opposed a cease-fire, was looking for assurances that if such an offer was extended it would, in fact, be accepted. And he wanted the Biden administration’s help.

Biden on Thursday morning called Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and asked him if he could guarantee that Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza would abide by a cease-fire if Israel agreed to a deal.

El-Sissi told Biden that he was confident the answer was yes. And the White House quickly relayed that to the Israelis.

Hours later, Netanyahu sat down with his Cabinet. For the roughly 2-½ hour meeting, White House officials — who had been in nearly continuous contact for days from the Israelis — heard nothing from Tel Aviv.

When it ended, Netanyahu called Biden and told the president that the Cabinet had approved the cease-fire. The Israelis wanted it to take effect quickly in hopes of mitigating chances that Hamas would attempt to rain rockets on Tel Aviv in the final moments of the war.

Still, Netanyahu conveyed some trepidation that the deal could fall apart. About 40 minutes later, as Biden was preparing for his remarks, Netanyahu called again and told the president he was confident the cease-fire would stick.

While Biden and aides were deep in the backchannel efforts, domestic pressure was building on the president.

On Tuesday, while in Michigan to visit a Ford facility, Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib confronted Biden at the airport and called on him to speak out forcefully against the Israeli strikes. Also this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York introduced resolutions to block the sale of $735 million in military weaponry to Israel that had already been approved by the Biden administration.

“Let us hope that the ceasefire in Gaza holds,” Sanders tweeted Thursday evening. “But that’s not enough. Our job now is to support desperately needed humanitarian and reconstruction aid to Gaza’s people, and find a way to finally bring peace to the region.”

Biden advisers had concluded in the first days of the crisis, as Hamas fired hundreds of rockets on Israel, that a call from the president for Israeli restraint would have fallen flat. At the same time, early in the crisis, there was deep worry inside the White House that the fighting could escalate into something that would take months to tamp down.

As the outside calls for Biden to speak out more forcefully grew, the president and top aides privately made the case to Israeli officials that time wasn’t on their side.

Biden and Netanyahu have known each other for more than 30 years and have frequently butted heads. Their conversations throughout the crisis probed one another as they tried to game out a path forward, according to officials.

Netanyahu insisted that his half-dozen conversations with Biden during the fighting were “warm and friendly.” Biden in the calls referred to Netanyahu by his nickname, “Bibi,” while the prime minster addressed the president as “Joe.”

“I told him that any country coming under fire from thousands of rockets on its cities would not sit with folded hands, and I told him that we will halt the fighting once we achieve the objectives of the campaign,” Netanyahu said. “The president understood this and this is exactly what we did.“

Biden ended his own brief remarks about the cease-fire on a hopeful note: “I believe we have a genuine opportunity to make progress, and I’m committed to working for it.”
https://apnews.com/article/africa-middl ... 0b4112e977


If that was Trump he would have spent three hours telling the news media that he was the greatest for ending the conflict. Instead Biden informed the American people in 3 1/2 minutes.

And the leader of Hamas thanked Iran for the arms.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Latest Gaza - Israel conflict, an air war

50
Hmmm, the the Al-Aqsa Mosque "worshippers" are also known as the Al-Aqsa Mosque "rioters", which sounds a lot like the US (BLM, Portland Oregon's protesters, Nazi Trumpers, Repuglicons etc...), i.e. it all depends on who's side you're on LOL!

I wonder why the "Squad" loudly condemns Israel for their airstrikes, but says nothing of the thousands of rockets launched by Hamas into Israel, or anything about Hamas launching them first to start this latest in a long line of Gaza flare-ups (likely due to a couple of them being Muslims...)?

Hamas was the one who escalated this into a real shooting war with their rocket barrages, perhaps because they're so freakin' stupid they took Bibi's bait regarding the 7 or 8 evictions to start a shooting war, one where Hamas hides behind the Gaza civilians and shoots rockets at Israel from civilian areas, while complaining when Israel targets those same civilian areas (DOH!)?

Whether Bibi was interested in egging this on due to his legal problems who knows, but launching rockets at Israeli cities is not the answer to a minor real estate squabble that was still in the Israeli courts as I understand it. Yeah, I know, Israel keeps stealing their land and that's also BS, but you don't start raining rockets down on Israel's cities without expecting to get your ass kicked (though of course Hamas hides underground after shooting their rockets while the Gaza civilians take the incoming...).

The Palestinians should understand that as long as Hamas is in power along with the other radical splinter groups within Gaza, instead of a unified PA, there will never be peace! Those in Gaza should get Hamas and those out however they can so they can unify before they negotiate with Israel under the PA banner, because Israel really doesn't have a Palestinian partner to negotiate with! There are many different Palestinian factions with the majority of them only interested in Israel's destruction and conversion into a Muslim majority country, with any remaining Jews staying in what was once Israel living under "Jizyah" ( Jizyah is described in the Qurʾān as a tax that is imposed on a certain erring faction from among the People of the Book, i.e. Christians and Jews, along with many other restrictions etc...) , and there's no way Israel (and currently the US...) will ever allow that to happen.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Amazon [Bot] and 3 guests