Democratic Party thunks on Gaza

Written By: - Date published: 12:25 pm, May 16th, 2018 - 65 comments
Categories: International, israel, political education, Politics, the praiseworthy and the pitiful - Tags: , ,

Nancy Pelosi, the Leader of the Democratic Party in “the House of Representatives”  thunks that

What should have been a beautiful and joyous commemoration of Israel’s 70th anniversary was marred by bloodshed

and follows that up by saying

Israel has a right to defend its borders, and Hamas’ encouragement of Palestinian border-crossing is deeply irresponsible and dangerous.

Now, I’m not sure whether she reckons people in Gaza should have been out partying as part of a “beautiful and joyous commemoration” and just forgetting all about their own past, or what the hell is going on in her head.

Meanwhile, her off-sider, the Democratic Whip in “the House”, Steny Hoyer thunks that

Hamas has undertaken to use, to continue to use violence, to continue to use the threat of … going into Israel, and continue to use human shields — all of which is unfortunate. And Israel is in a very difficult situation, when probably large numbers of people want to enter Israel from a place that has been threatening Israel for some years now.

This can’t be stated often enough, Hamas might endorse the current protests in Gaza, but it didn’t organise them.  And the men, women and children being shot up by Israeli soldiers are not being targeted because they are members of Hamas, but just because they are there…pressed up against their prison wall.

There’s also a whole lot of stuff from Hoyer supporting the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem. It’s all in the link provided above.

Meanwhile, there was a veritable who’s who turned up at the embassy’s opening…

Actually, no there wasn’t. It was more a who’s who of “Who?”

According to Al Jazeera, of the 86 countries with diplomatic missions in Israel, less than half confirmed their attendance, and two of them bailed anyway.

The list is through the link, and since Austria attended, and Austria receives no US aid, I think it would be unfair to suggest that any “roping in” off the back of any danglings went on. No. These were the “enlightened few” who do not ascribe to what Dore Gold (Israeli Ambassador to the UN) characterised as the “extreme views” of most European countries.

Did I mention? All attendees received an ornate silver bookmark from the luxury Hazorfim Judaica and silverware chain. On it was engraved: “U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, May 14, 2018.

I guess that’s the same date as will be engraved on the headstones of some 60 dead children, women and men terrorists and terrorist sympathisers who, in killing themselves, spoiled an otherwise “beautiful and joyous” day.

 

65 comments on “Democratic Party thunks on Gaza ”

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  1. spikeyboy 1
    16 May 2018 at 12:47 pm

    Yes. On this the depth of the rot in US politics is on full display. There is no other choice that offers an alternate view. Blaming the victims of violence is about as extreme as you can get. Especially unarmed victims mowed down by snipers.

  2. Siobhan 2
    16 May 2018 at 1:40 pm

    Well, I guess we can be thankful for the Democratic Parties ‘honesty’ and continued desire to show their true colours. Fingers cross they are stepping even closer to the void where they implode entirely. I’m not without hope, I look forward to the day when they will be taken over by the Progressives…
    Meantime I must admit to being quite bemused at peoples/medias/politicians lack of engagement with this issue.
    We get endless coverage of American school massacres, yet our media needed this horrific death and injury toll to show even subdued interest/concern in the plight of the Palestinians this last month.
    I include here an entire letter, as printed in the Guardian, as it covers my own thoughts on World reaction to the Sharpeville Massacre vs todays reaction to the massacre of Palestinians..

    “We, Israelis who wish our country to be safe and just, are appalled and horrified by the massive killing of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza (Reports, 15 May). None of the demonstrators posed any direct danger to the state of Israel or to its citizens. The killing of over 50 demonstrators and the thousands more wounded are reminiscent of the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960 in South Africa. The world acted then. We call upon decent members of the international community to act by demanding that those who commanded such shootings be investigated and tried.

    The current leaders of the Israeli government are responsible for the criminal policy of shooting at unarmed demonstrators. The world must intervene to stop the ongoing killing.

    Avraham Burg Former speaker of the Knesset and chairman of the Jewish Agency
    Prof Nurit Peled Elhanan 2001 co-laureate of the Sakharov prize
    Prof David Harel Vice-president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and recipient of the 2004 Israel Prize
    Prof Yehoshua Kolodny Recipient of the 2010 Israel prize
    Alex Levac Photographer and recipient of the 2005 Israel prize
    Prof Judd Ne’eman Director and recipient of the 2009 Israel prize
    Prof Zeev Sternhell Historian and recipient of the 2008 Israel prize
    Prof David Shulman Recipient of the 2016 Israel prize
    David Tartakover Artist and recipient of the 2002 Israel prize”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/15/calls-for-inquiry-into-israels-gaza-killings

  3. Venezia 3
    16 May 2018 at 1:42 pm

    It was also the 70th anniversary of the Nakba for Palestinians. And the truth which these democrats choose to ignore is quite different. There were so many cameras on those killing fields, it is difficult to see that rational people could support this narrative of “Hamas’ encouragement of border crossing” , “going into Israel”, or “using human shields”. The whole world could witness this genocide via TV cameras & mobile phones live streamed online.
    Israelis were firing live ammunition into Gaza aiming at unarmed protesters from carefully constructed raised sniper posts and tanks situated in the no mans land. It was not the border. A fence separated the IDF troops and the protesters, who, according to the media correspondents were at least 50 metres from that line. A baby who was in a tent for medical & media staff, well away from the protesters, died from inhaling tear gas which was regularly sent over by IDF in canisters carried by drones. Young men occasionally used slingshots to attempt sending stones over to the troops. Many fell short of the fence.
    The death toll continues to rise, now at 61 dead 2700 injured. The US and Israeli narrative used to justify this barbarity has been given a great deal of media focus in NZ. It is nothing short of evil to perpetuate such lies.

  4. Michelle 4
    16 May 2018 at 1:55 pm

    sounds a bit like David & Goliath one had stones and the other had planes and missiles and why is the US of As fueling the fire

  5. mary_a 5
    16 May 2018 at 2:19 pm

    No remorse or regret from either the US or Israel for their part in the massacre of Palestinian civilians, who desperately need protecting from the aggressive and barbaric scourge that is Zionism.

    Monsters!

  6. Baba Yaga 6
    16 May 2018 at 8:06 pm

    “Hamas might endorse the current protests in Gaza, but it didn’t organise them.”

    And you know that how?

    • Cinny 6.1
      16 May 2018 at 8:59 pm

      By doing a bit of research I expect…..

      “Recent weeks have seen regular protests at Gaza’s perimeter fence attracting tens of thousands of Palestinians and dominated by young people. The emphasis has been on direct, non-violent mass action, spurning the high-level diplomacy of Fatah and Hamas’ traditional commitment to armed resistance.

      Although the Gaza protests – under the banner of the Great March of Return –-were not initiated by Hamas, it had shown a willingness to support them, noted Diana Buttu, a former legal adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).”

      https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/hamas-fatah-groups-failing-180512082001713.html

      • Ed 6.1.1
        16 May 2018 at 9:08 pm

        Wasting your time with trolls like that.

        60 dead.
        2700 injures.
        Amd he blames the victims.

        Baba Yaga would have supported the South African police at Sharpeville and Soweto.

        Malcolm Evans’ cartoon is very powerful.

        From the ghetto to Gaza.

        https://thedailyblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-15-at-9.40.43-PM-768×502.png

        • Marcus Morris 6.1.1.1
          17 May 2018 at 7:52 am

          100+ Ed

        • Cinny 6.1.1.2
          17 May 2018 at 12:13 pm

          Thanks Ed 🙂

        • Baba Yaga 6.1.1.3
          17 May 2018 at 3:05 pm

          The victims are the Israeli’s. They told the protestors not to charge or they would be shot. They charged. They were shot.

          • Daveosaurus 6.1.1.3.1
            17 May 2018 at 8:00 pm

            Your “victims” are evil colonialists who are massacring the indigenous people of Palestine, you sick fucker.

            • Baba Yaga 6.1.1.3.1.1
              18 May 2018 at 11:52 am

              Israel are the rightful and legal inhabitants of the land. They are the indigenous people of Israel.

              • Dennis Merwood …
                18 May 2018 at 4:56 pm

                Lets try this at level you can maybe understand eh Baba!
                A soldier with a machine gun comes to your house in New Zealand..
                ..and says “Get out! This is my house. My God says that I am the rightful inhabitant!”
                Then he bulldozes your house and builds his own on your property.
                You would be OK with that I suppose.
                And if you resisted. Would you be a “terrorist”?

                • Baba Yaga …
                  18 May 2018 at 6:57 pm

                  As i have said, you have no idea.

                  The international community returned Israel to the Jewish people. The Israeli’s then set about establishing an inclusive modern democracy. Some stupid people decided to fight that, and desire to push Israel into the sea. Israel reacts with the sheer brutality of a nation under threat of its very existence. And damn good for them.

                  • reason …
                    19 May 2018 at 2:30 pm

                    baba yaga ….Knowingly or not …. you’re repeating lies.

                    Learn the truth if you want …. first myth of yours popped 7 – 14 mins

              • Daveosaurus …
                18 May 2018 at 6:46 pm

                Bullshit. The Israelis are immigrants who arrived there from the 1890s onwards. The Pākehā have been in Aotearoa longer than the Israelis have been in Palestine.

                It looks like you’re getting your history from fake historians operating on the level of such liars and fakers as David Irving, Keith Windschuttle or Martin Doutré.

          • Bill 6.1.1.3.2
            17 May 2018 at 9:43 pm

            How many of these “they” are you suggesting partook in a “charge”?

            • Baba Yaga 6.1.1.3.2.1
              18 May 2018 at 12:10 pm

              https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-gears-up-for-mass-gaza-riots-warning-hamas-plans-to-massacre-israelis/

              https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-official-50-of-the-people-killed-in-gaza-riots-were-members/

              Not sure of exact numbers, but when hamas themselves claim 50 of the rioters were hamas members, it exposes the bullshit your peddling.

              • Bill …
                18 May 2018 at 12:23 pm

                I noticed this morning that your source for that “50 of 60” claim is a snippet from an interview that has had all context removed before being posted on the IDF facebook page. Or is it from another source you’d care to share?

                Meanwhile, you haven’t answered the simple question of how many people you reckon took part in this “charge” of the fence.

                • Baba Yaga …
                  18 May 2018 at 12:37 pm

                  You need to read more carefully. The 50 or 60 claim was supported by a Times of Israel article here https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-official-50-of-the-people-killed-in-gaza-riots-were-members/.

                  “A Hamas official on Wednesday acknowledged that 50 of the 62 Palestinians reported killed during Gaza border riots on Monday and Tuesday were members of the Islamist terrorist group, bringing the total number of known members of terror groups among the fatalities up to 53.
                  “In the last rounds of confrontations, if 62 people were martyred, Fifty of the martyrs were Hamas and 12 from the people. How can Hamas reap the fruits if it pays such an expensive price?” said Hamas official Salah Bardawil in an interview with the Palestinian Baladna news outlet. ”

                  Hamas are terrorist mongrels, intent on the destruction of a legitimate, democratic sovereign nation.

                  • Bill …
                    18 May 2018 at 1:11 pm

                    And what was the context of Dr. Salah Albardawil words?

                    Well, according to Haaretz, he had been asked about the allegation Hamas was using its own members as political fodder.

                    And as he says, what would be the point in the organisation martyring 50 of its own people?

                    Maybe you need to engage your brain there, and ask how it might be that Israeli soldiers could pick out Hamas members from a crowd of thousands…unless something like five out of every six people were members of Hamas.

                    As Haaretz also reports

                    On Tuesday ,Islamic Jihad published a statement saying three of the 62 killed were members of that organization’s military wing. An Islamic Jihad official told Haaretz that Israel’s attempt to pin a terrorist label on every casualty was pathetic.

                    and

                    On Tuesday, Israeli security forces said that at least 24 out of the 62 Palestinians killed during Monday’s protests on the Gaza border were militants – most of them members of Hamas and some of Islamic Jihad.

                    • Baba Yaga …
                      18 May 2018 at 1:28 pm

                      “…how it might be that Israeli soldiers could pick out Hamas members from a crowd of thousands”
                      And there is the answer to your own question. Shoe. Meet bullet.

      • Baba Yaga 6.1.2
        17 May 2018 at 3:04 pm

        That doesn’t prove anything. Unless you believe everything an ex PLO advisor says.

    • Drowsy M. Kram 6.2
      16 May 2018 at 9:29 pm

      Like shooting fish in a barrel (apologies for the insensitive and incendiary analogy), and a very final solution for some.

      Israeli spokespeople insist there is no blood on their soldiers’ hands – not surprising in a ‘tear gas / tanks / snipers (“Guns don’t kill people…”) versus thrown stones and Molotov cocktails’ conflict.

      Hand-hurled missiles are unlikely to pose much risk unless launched from within the 300 m exclusion zone declared by Israeli military forces. Armed protesters can be shot within 300 m of the fence, and unarmed protesters at 100 m.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Gaza_border_protests

      “On 29 April, with the death toll at 44, an Israeli officer stated that most of the deaths were unintentional, that the snipers aimed for the legs but sometimes missed, or the bullets ricocheted or the protesters suddenly bent over.”

    • Bill 6.3
      16 May 2018 at 9:58 pm

      “Hamas might endorse the current protests in Gaza, but it didn’t organise them.”

      And you know that how?

      Read this previous post. Follow the links.

      Ahmed Abu Artema is the name of the guy who set the ball rolling through his facebook page. He lives in Israel.

      • Baba Yaga 6.3.1
        17 May 2018 at 3:08 pm

        The links prove nothing, other than the capacity for the apologists of Palestinian terrorism to lie and obfuscate.

        • Bill 6.3.1.1
          17 May 2018 at 9:37 pm

          Precisely which links are you referring to, and what info in said links are you saying is lies and obfuscation?

          • Baba Yaga 6.3.1.1.1
            18 May 2018 at 11:56 am

            I asked you how you knew Hamas didn’t organise the terrorism by the Palestinians. You posted this https://thestandard.org.nz/gaza/, and said ‘follow the links’.

            I did. They prove nothing.

            • Bill 6.3.1.1.1.1
              18 May 2018 at 12:20 pm

              Pieces of writing very rarely prove anything in and of themselves (unless the actual evidence being sought is something that was written down). .

              You said the links proved the capacity for apologists and terrorists to lie.

              I asked you to provide specifics from the links you claim to have read.

              Are there any specific points from the links that you’d hold to be contestable?

              • Baba Yaga …
                18 May 2018 at 12:36 pm

                You made a very specific claim. I’ve challenged you to evidence it. You have failed.

    • Win 6.4
      17 May 2018 at 9:53 am

      The people are protesting about many horrific things. If you have no work, no money, no nothing – got anything else to do? And 10s of thousands of people go to those protests unarmed or armed with rocks. Do you think Palestinians are slaves to Hamas?
      Try listening to this interview for a start;

      https://www.cbsnews.com/video/how-are-palestinians-reacting-to-the-u-s-embassy-in-jerusalem-and-violence-in-gaza/

      • Cinny 6.4.1
        17 May 2018 at 12:14 pm

        +++++++++ Win

      • Baba Yaga 6.4.2
        17 May 2018 at 3:20 pm

        They are protesting about one thing. They don’t want Israel to exist. Arab’s living in Israel live in democratic state, in which they enjoy electoral privilege, education etc etc. But they were told NOT to charge.

        • Drowsy M. Kram 6.4.2.1
          17 May 2018 at 7:27 pm

          The IDF are making a point by killing Palestinians protesting in Gaza.

          Palestinian protesters are making a point by dying in Gaza.

          It appears to be difficult for some (e.g. Baba Yaga) to appreciate the protesters’ feelings of loss, despair and hopelessness. A few Jews at least may understand.

          ““Those who plant injustice will harvest disaster.”

          “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”

        • Bill 6.4.2.2
          17 May 2018 at 9:41 pm

          They are not protesting about Israel’s existence. And this “charge” you speak of…you re-playing your 7 year old self’s toy soldier stuff in your head?

          • Baba Yaga 6.4.2.2.1
            18 May 2018 at 12:08 pm

            They are protesting about Israel’s existence. The riots are leading up to the 70th anniversary of the birth of modern Israel. For goodness sake stop the bs and do some reading.

            • Bill 6.4.2.2.1.1
              18 May 2018 at 12:13 pm

              No. They are protesting about the fact they were dispossessed 70 years ago. They want to go home.

              • Baba Yaga …
                18 May 2018 at 12:35 pm

                What home? You mean the wasteland that that was never theirs to begin with that the Israeli’s have turned into a thriving democracy?

                • Dennis Merwood …
                  18 May 2018 at 2:36 pm

                  Baba….lets restate that a little more accurately eh. How about the wasteland that was never the Israeli’s to begin with and that they have turned into an oppressive apartheid nation. A pariah on the World stage.

                  • Baba Yaga …
                    18 May 2018 at 2:46 pm

                    Israel can trace it’s links to that wasteland going back thousands of years. When they returned in numbers, they converted it back into a thriving modern democracy. On the other hand, the alleged ‘Palestinians’ elect terrorists and refuse to accept the almost universal international acceptance of Israel. They never learn.

                    “In the twelve and a half centuries between the Arab conquest in the seventh century and the beginnings of the Jewish return in the 1880’s, Palestine was laid waste. Its ancient canal and irrigation systems were destroyed and the wondrous fertility of which the Bible spoke vanished into desert and desolation… Under the Ottoman empire of the Turks, the policy of disfoliation continued; the hillsides were denuded of trees and the valleys robbed of their topsoil.”
                    Carl Hermann Voss, “The Palestine Problem Today, Israel and Its Neighbors” (Boston, 1953), p. 13.

                    “In consequence of such wretched government, the greater part of the Pachilics [Provinces] in the empire are impoverished and laid waste.” Using one province as an example, Volney reported that
                    … upwards of three thousand two hundred villages were reckoned; but, at present, the collector can scarcely find four hundred. Such of our merchants as have resided there twenty years have themselves seen the greater part of the environs … become depopulated. The traveller meets with nothing but houses in ruins, cisterns rendered useless, and fields abandoned. Those who cultivated them have fled…”
                    Count Constantine F. Volney, Travels Through Syria and Egypt in the Years 1783, 1784, 1785 (London, 1788), Vol. 2, p. 147.

                    “where, as throughout the greater part of Palestine, the ruined portion seemed more extensive than that which was inhabited.”
                    11. J.S. Buckingham, Travels in Palestine (London, 1821), p. 162

                    In a German encyclopedia published in 1827, Palestine was depicted as “desolate and roamed through by Arab bands of robbers.”
                    Brockhaus, Alig. deutsch Real-Encyklopaedie, 7th ed. (Leipzig, 1827), Vol. VIII, p. 206.

                    • Dennis Merwood …
                      18 May 2018 at 3:42 pm

                      Hasbara nonsense!
                      Palestinians do not “elect terrorists”. One mans terrorist is another mans “freedom fighter”. Many would say that Netanyahu’s Likud Party are the terrorists here! Many Jews are aghast at the behaviour of these Zionist monsters!
                      And Israel has never been universally accepted. What was done in 1948 has been argued about for 70-years.
                      Besides all this…..why can’t Israel just remove these fences and live harmoniously with the Palestinians. They have never tried. They have been a brutal apartheid mob from the very beginning. Because of their crazy belief that their fictitious God makes them the chosen ones. The very definition of terrorists!

                    • Baba Yaga …
                      18 May 2018 at 6:52 pm

                      “Palestinians do not “elect terrorists”.”
                      Yes, they do. 25th January 2006.

                      “One mans terrorist is another mans “freedom fighter”. ”
                      Hamas is a terrorist organisation.

                      “And Israel has never been universally accepted.”
                      “The international recognition of Israel refers to the diplomatic recognition of the State of Israel, which was established by the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948. Israel’s status is disputed due to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Out of the 192 other UN member states, 161 currently recognize Israel.”
                      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_recognition_of_Israel

                      You really have no idea.

            • Dennis Merwood 6.4.2.2.1.2
              18 May 2018 at 4:00 pm

              On all sides of all ethnic/religious distinctions, on both sides of every fence, may be found all that is good and bad in humanity. It is the worst element that pretends that all good is on their side and all bad on the other.

              Demagogues and tyrants like Netanyahu must have an enemy beyond the fence, beyond the pale, to claim that they are the great defenders of their kind, the defenders of the faith, to demand domestic power and accuse their opponents of disloyalty.

              Through much of their history the Jews were “beyond the pale” or fence between them and a majority culture. But give them a majority and a fence, and they are shooting at innocents just beyond, claiming that all good is on their side. Give their tyrants an “outsider” group beyond the fence, and they make it an enemy and demand power to “defend.”

              Their tyrants, the Zionists, demand the land and property and lives of the nearest victims, just as Hitler did. That is Zionism. It is fascism. The Zionists demand conformity just as Hitler did, having learned nothing.

              • Baba Yaga …
                18 May 2018 at 6:53 pm

                Hamas are not innocents. They are evil, manipulative mongrels, who put their own in harms way.

                • Dennis Merwood …
                  18 May 2018 at 7:01 pm

                  Well, I certainly don’t want to confuse you with facts.
                  None are so blind as those that won’t see eh Baba!
                  So whats your solution?
                  Murder all Palestinians.
                  That would not seem to be a problem for you since you have deemed them all to be sub-humans. The same justification used by Stalin and Pol Pot.

  7. SPC 7
    16 May 2018 at 11:56 pm

    We so need the cartoon showing the international community at the funeral of the IDF as a military with credibility for acting within the norms of international law.

    Carrying out orders to shoot unarmed people on their own territory is a crime.

    That Israel is now calling peaceful protest an act of terrorism says all we need to know about their goal to “stamp on the head of all Palestinian resistance, forever”. This is what, eternal city/Zion means to them, crushing all opposition under foot and calling that “peace”.

    It is obvious they are pushing for a fight or flight response, to either kill/incarcerate activists or force people into exile (or pacified containment enclaves).

  8. Dennis Merwood 8
    18 May 2018 at 2:37 pm

    Baba….lets restate that a little more accurately eh. How about the wasteland that was never the Israeli’s to begin with and that they have turned into an oppressive apartheid nation. A pariah on the World stage.

  9. Peter Bradley 9
    18 May 2018 at 2:46 pm

    I think it is useful to understand something about why Israel has become what it has. Centuries of persecution across Europe culminated in the genocide of millions in the second world war. It is probably only an accident of history that it was the Germans who under took this atrocity – it could as well have been any European country – such was the hatred towards Jews throughout the world at that time.
    Read the brilliant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Young_Lions to get an insight into what it was like to be Jewish in the US army during WW2. Not until the first allied soldiers walked into the concentration camps did attitudes really change.
    So how does a young Israeli soldier bring themselves to kill civilians with such frequency and ease? How does a society become so entrenched in it’s militancy? It is fear, simple, pure fear of being completely wiped off the face of the earth.
    Israel is also a democracy which gives hope for a better future when organisations such http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/ exist.
    At some point the country will have to change and find a way forward with it’s Palestinian neighbors but until then tear gas and bullets and the Israeli air force will continue to fly across the border.

  10. North 10
    18 May 2018 at 7:01 pm

    “They were told. They were warned. The ignored it.”

    So says Baba Yaga above. That’s a charter for ANY inhumanity it is sought to commit. ANY inhumanity which is resisted.

    The rapist: “I told her…….’I’ll fucking kill you if you scream’…….she didn’t listen.”

    Baba Yaga is comtemptible !