10 Thursday Jul 2014
There are, however, a number of rash conclusions being arrived at in the wake of the bad news. One does not have to read very far to find a series of assumptions being made about Iraq’s future—that Baghdad is about to fall, that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s days are numbered, that Kurdistan’s independence is imminent and that oil production is at risk. None of these are certain and some are extremely unlikely. Let’s cover them one by one.
10 Thursday Jul 2014
FTAC:
You know what, J. — I should not type with a glass or Rose next to me — I’ve become or am becoming more aware of the followers in these disasters than the leaders.
We know what Hamas is about.
The constituency of Gaza, whether endorsing or not, knows what Hamas is about.
But Hamas — not as an organization but as an event in the life of community — takes place anyway!
This is near to an historic day because out of the many hate-peace peace groups blathering all around the middle east conflict, we are all just one mouse-click away from chatyping with (what we may perceive as) enemy.
And I thought photography was an adventure . . . . 😀
And throw the calculus out the window because we know (from Vietnam we must know) that the numbers don’t mean nachas! What has meaning are basic principles and values _in the mutual defense of our own_).
What if “The Terrorists” had captured and murder three young men from Alexandria. Virginia. What if?
That’s the only question on the table.
Hamas has a big problem with Arabic. Hanniyah, in video, gets his pecker up exclaiming how “We believe in death as they believe in life!”
Well, bullshit.
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Israeli-hospital-treats-Hamas-PM-Haniyehs-granddaughter-332193
Hamas believes in life!
Too.
Dictators, like the dictator “Putin-Assad-Khamenei” defend political absolutism in their own right (AKA “unlimited narcissistic supply”) — http://www.reuters.com/investigates/iran/#article/part1 (such a gentle looking soul . . .but don’t overlook Evin Prison or its population).
That’s where we are.
Wherever.
Now we can talk.
Who else is going to talk?
Talk with me.
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10 Thursday Jul 2014
Tags
As missiles rained down on a growing number of Israeli communities this morning and Israel launched a major operation against Gaza, four young children from Gaza were making their way to Holon for lifesaving heart treatment.
Despite threats by Hamas to attack Tel Aviv with rocket-fire, volunteer doctors at the Israeli non-profit organization Save a Child’s Heart (SACH), worked to bring the four children – all under the age of five – to Wolfson Medical Center on the outskirts of Tel Aviv for vital treatment.
http://www.israel21c.org/news/gazan-children-receive-life-saving-treatment-in-tel-aviv/ – 7/8/2014.
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08 Tuesday Jul 2014
Tags
“Hamas slammed Israel for the escalation. Spokesman Sami Abu Zori: We will continue to defend our people against these crimes. We warn the occupation not to continue its crimes against our people, and we assure the resistance is ready to defend (against) this aggression.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/08/us-palestinians-israel-idUSKBN0FC0JP20140708 – 7/8/2014.
Tally from recent days —
Three Israeli teens kidnapped and murdered;
Today alone, more than 120 rocket attacks launched on Israel since midnight;
One assault on Israel by sea and another by tunnel.
Related:
It is unclear, as of this posting, if the explosion was an intentional method of breaking out of the tunnel within Israeli territory.
Residents are being told to shelter in place, as initial reports indicate heavy exchanges of gunfire, and IDF helicopters hovering in the vicinity.
In longitudinal time, the numbers reflecting assaults on Israel’s sovereignty also describe provocation for today’s “exchanges”: http://www.shabak.gov.il/ENGLISH/ENTERRORDATA/Pages/default.aspx
Related (from June 29, 2014): http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/06/29/isis-now-openly-operating-in-gaza-flags-seen-waving-at-funeral-video/
Israel’s former Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren stepped out on rooftop in Tel Aviv to tell the world in a proprietary Facebook video, ” ” . . . also out having fun . . . going about their lives normally . . . we will not letter terror . . . deprive us of the joys of life . . . .’ ”
“We will not tolerate rocket fire against our cities and townships, and therefore I ordered a significant broadening of IDF (Israel Defense Force) operations against the terrorists of Hamas and other terror groups in the Gaza Strip,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/08/israel-launches-military-offensive_n_5565848.html – 7/8/2014.
Loosely related to “Hamafia”: http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/steve-feldman/gaza-prison-or-paradise/ – 11/14/2012.
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04 Friday Jul 2014
Tags
anti-Semitism, East Jerusalem, Israel, justice, Khdeir, law, lawless, rioting
Hate, mindless hate, manipulated, ignorant, pointless would seem to course through East Jerusalem at the moment.
While police continue to investigate the murder of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir, rioting crowds have erupted in East Jerusalem on the assumption — no evidence — that the crime must relate directly to revenge associated with the murder of three Israeli teens.
Posted to YouTube yesterday:
By AFP yesterday:
Posted to YouTube about an hour ago.
The basis: martyrdom, for the sake of martyrdom.
Without investigation, without process in the courts, the explanations for the murder are many, including a Palestinian false-flag operation to provoke and condone today’s rioting.
Prove it’s not so.
Prove the Palestinians now rioting are not being played into doing just that by their own handlers.
No investigation?
No proof of anything.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-braces-as-palestinians-bury-mohammed-abu-khdeir-jerusalem/ 7/4/7014.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.602736 – 7/3/2014.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-braces-as-palestinians-bury-mohammed-abu-khdeir-jerusalem/ – 7/3/2014.
http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Comment-After-the-horror-361106 – 7/1/2014.
02 Wednesday Jul 2014
Loud and hysterical shouts of “Allah akbar”, “To Jihad”, “there is none save Allah and the Shiites are his foes”, “He who fights for Jihad is loved by Allah”, “The Sunnis are Allah’s beloved”, “Allah is our god and not theirs (the Shiites’)”, “The Shiite god is Satan”, “Death is better than humiliation”, “With blood and spirit will we redeem you, Islam”, “Jihad is our way”, “Jihad state forever”, “O Shiite rulers, we are coming for you”, were heard at the demonstration and to serve as proof of its serious intentions, shots were fired in the air.
http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/17392/next-goal-isis-jordan/#4LD4DctJ2PeE2CAj.99 – 7/1/2014.
Related: http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/17298/isis-one-step-closer-israel-jihadist-threat-looms/#BpZ7re2ZeZcegetz.97 6/29/2014.
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02 Wednesday Jul 2014
And just a moment on the murder of an Arab teen in the vicinity of Jerusalem, an abhorrent act some — not only some Muslims, Jews as well — have skidded into calling an act of revenge far in advance of investigation. My response elsewhere to that:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/riots-in-east-jerusalem-after-body-of-arab-teen-found/ with some events, passions overrule reason — and due process of law. However, so the second part of the headline screams, “Netanyahu calls for swift probe into ‘abominable murder’ of Arab 16-year-old . . . .”
This is the argument against all vigilantism: First, make good law; then let the forces upholding that law do their work.
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02 Wednesday Jul 2014
Excerpted from a gem of an essay —
Said rolled American racism and European colonialism into one mélange of white oppression of darker-skinned peoples. He was not the only thinker to have forged this amalgam, but his unique further contribution was to represent “Orientals” as the epitome of the dark-skinned; Muslims as the modal Orientals; Arabs as the essential Muslims; and, finally, Palestinians as the ultimate Arabs. Abracadabra—Israel was transformed from a redemptive refuge from two thousand years of persecution to the very embodiment of white supremacy.
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