once again your stupidity astounds me ! other than the dead Palestinian children what do little children have to with Gaza ? On Jan 9, 6:59 am, Ohio mark <[email protected]> wrote: > lean more towards little boys then, eh murky? figures. > > On Jan 9, 6:06 am, "damn I hate grits !" <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > What You Don’t Know About > > Gazahttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/opinion/08khalidi.html?_r=1&th&emc=th > > NEARLY everything you’ve been led to believe about Gaza is wrong. > > Below are a few essential points that seem to be missing from the > > conversation, much of which has taken place in the press, about > > Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip. > > > Most of the people living in Gaza are not there by choice. The > > majority of the 1.5 million people crammed into the roughly 140 > > square > > miles of the Gaza Strip belong to families that came from towns and > > villages outside Gaza like Ashkelon and Beersheba. They were driven > > to > > Gaza by the Israeli Army in 1948. > > > THE OCCUPATION The Gazans have lived under Israeli occupation since > > the Six-Day War in 1967. Israel is still widely considered to be an > > occupying power, even though it removed its troops and settlers from > > the strip in 2005. Israel still controls access to the area, imports > > and exports, and the movement of people in and out. Israel has > > control > > over Gaza’s air space and sea coast, and its forces enter the area at > > will. As the occupying power, Israel has the responsibility under the > > Fourth Geneva Convention to see to the welfare of the civilian > > population of the Gaza Strip. > > > THE BLOCKADE Israel’s blockade of the strip, with the support of the > > United States and the European Union, has grown increasingly > > stringent > > since Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in > > January 2006. Fuel, electricity, imports, exports and the movement of > > people in and out of the Strip have been slowly choked off, leading > > to > > life-threatening problems of sanitation, health, water supply and > > transportation. > > > The blockade has subjected many to unemployment, penury and > > malnutrition. This amounts to the collective punishment — with the > > tacit support of the United States — of a civilian population for > > exercising its democratic rights. > > > THE CEASE-FIRE Lifting the blockade, along with a cessation of rocket > > fire, was one of the key terms of the June cease-fire between Israel > > and Hamas. This accord led to a reduction in rockets fired from Gaza > > from hundreds in May and June to a total of less than 20 in the > > subsequent four months (according to Israeli government figures). The > > cease-fire broke down when Israeli forces launched major air and > > ground attacks in early November; six Hamas operatives were reported > > killed. > > > WAR CRIMES The targeting of civilians, whether by Hamas or by Israel, > > is potentially a war crime. Every human life is precious. But the > > numbers speak for themselves: Nearly 700 Palestinians, most of them > > civilians, have been killed since the conflict broke out at the end > > of > > last year. In contrast, there have been around a dozen Israelis > > killed, many of them soldiers. Negotiation is a much more effective > > way to deal with rockets and other forms of violence. This might have > > been able to happen had Israel fulfilled the terms of the June cease- > > fire and lifted its blockade of the Gaza Strip. > > > This war on the people of Gaza isn’t really about rockets. Nor is it > > about “restoring Israel’s deterrence,” as the Israeli press might > > have > > you believe. Far more revealing are the words of Moshe Yaalon, then > > the Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff, in 2002: “The Palestinians > > must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their > > consciousness that they are a defeated people.” > > > Rashid Khalidi, a professor of Arab studies at Columbia, is the > > author > > of the forthcoming “Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American > > Dominance > > in the Middle East." > > > More Articles in Opinion » A version of this article appeared in > > print > > on January 8, 2009, on page A31 of the New York edition.- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
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