Truce or Dare: Israel Issues Ultimatum
Zionist Extremism Key IMpediment to Peace | 18.06.2008 20:42 | Anti-militarism | World
I wonder if Israel's strikes on Gaza today, minutes before the Government announced to the international media that it had 'accepted the truce', were supposed to be the act of provocation which undid the deal.
Your last chance: Israel's warning
Jason Koutsoukis Herald Correspondent in Jerusalem
June 19, 2008
ISRAEL'S Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has warned the radical Islamic movement Hamas that the truce due to take effect today is the last chance to avoid a massive military incursion into the Gaza Strip.
(In other words, Israel is 'accepting' this offer for the purposes of garnering some positive int'l PR, before launching its long-planned assault on Gaza.)
In an exclusive interview with the Herald - his first interview with the Australian media in four years - Mr Olmert said the people of Gaza were "pissed off with Hamas" and sick and tired of the years of violence.
Since Israel withdrew from Gaza three years ago, the 250,000 residents who surround Gaza have been subjected to almost daily rocket attacks from Palestinian militants.
(Israel surrounded the Strip with artillery emplacements, under the ominously-named Operation First Rain, during which, Israel routinely shelled Palestinian civilians, provoking a periodic response. The fighting didn't really start up again until Israel shelled a Palestinian family picnicking on a Gaza beach which, only weeks before, had been designated "Jews Only". The rockets increased in recent months as a direct result of Israel's imposition of illegal Collective Punishment on Gaza - which Israel's own defence staff warned their criminal policy would provoke.
It now seems as if this was their plan all along, as they once again plan to attack the Palestinians, but don't want to appear to be the aggressors.)
"You think the people of Adelaide would put up with this?" demanded Mr Olmert. "Or the people of Brisbane?
(The people of Gaza? The W. Bank, perhaps ... ?)
"I think the strategy of Hamas, which does not want to recognise Israel's right to exist in the first place, and the extremism, and the fanaticism, and the religious dogmatism is the enemy of peace. We are at the end of our tolerance with regard to terror in Gaza."
(Carter's meetings with Hamas contradicted all these Israeli/Zionist excuses for rejecting peace and negotiations.)
Dismissing an escalating corruption investigation which looks certain to force either his resignation or fresh elections by November, Mr Olmert said he was "going nowhere" and did not rule out running again for the leadership of his Kadima party.
So certain is Mr Olmert of his political survival that he has already sent an invitation for Kevin Rudd to visit Israel later this year.
"I don't know yet personally enough the new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, but I am very impressed with his friendship and his commitment to the well-being of the state of Israel," Mr Olmert said.
Congratulating federal parliamentarians for unanimously passing a resolution in March which commemorated Israel's first 60 years, Mr Olmert said Australia was a "very far away close friend of Israel".
"The resolution was a source of great joy to the people of Israel and I personally called Mr Rudd to thank him."
Mr Olmert has in the past been a frequent visitor to Australia. His cousin is married to the federal Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, Mike Kelly, and he has an aunt in Sydney.
"I love Australia; I love the people of Australia. Some of my most memorable visits any place have been to Australia ... and I hope to be able to host Mr Rudd this year, or at the beginning of next year in Israel."
Mr Olmert indicated that he remained optimistic that Israel could reach peace with Syria and the Palestinian West Bank, and said he wanted to open peace negotiations with Lebanon.
He said peace with Syria would be a vital strategic breakthrough that could reshape the Middle East and force Syria to end its alliance with Iran. "If there will be an Israeli embassy in Damascus, there will be a whole new ball game. This is my aim; this is my idea."
After more than 30 years of negotiations between Syria and Israel, Mr Olmert said he did not think it would take long to work out the details of an agreement - including Israel's return of almost the entire Golan Heights, which it captured during the 1967 Six-Day War.
France's top presidential aide said yesterday that Mr Olmert and the Syrian President, Bashar Assad, could hold "direct contacts" next month in Paris.
Mr Olmert said an agreement with the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, could also be reached by year's end on issues such as land boundaries, the Palestinian refugee problem, the ownership of East Jerusalem, and security arrangements.
(Meaningless. Utterly meaningless. A facade, designed to stall any real process which would force an end to Zionism's Expansionist War.)
"If we reach an understanding, then borders will be fixed. What falls in the Israeli side will remain Israeli, what falls on the Palestinian side will become Palestinian, even if it was built by Israel," Mr Olmert said. Of the current round of talks, he said: "I think we have made an important significant step forward. This is my judgment. It's a serious process."
Mr Olmert said Iran remained the biggest threat to peace in the region, and refused to rule out military action to destroy its nuclear facilities.
(However, Zionist Extremism, in fomenting several illegal wars of aggression, as well as the LIES which were used to start them, and rejecting peace with the Palestinians, engineering the current crisis, and escalating the violence, has proven to be a much more credible threat.)
He said Israel would not live under the threat of a nuclear Iran. "I don't think we deserve to live under the threat of a nuclear Iran. The problem is not wherever the Iranians will use it, or that they have the capacity.
(So now that you've been proven to be LYING about their program, you're now saying that it doesn't matter if they don't actually have what you said they did ... ?)
"I don't think given the nature of this [Iranian] government and this regime, Israel can be expected to live under even the threat that they may use it."
(Use what?)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/your-last-chance-israels-warning/2008/06/18/1213770733409.html
Warnings Pour in For Israel to Cease Collective Punishment
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10555S
Red Cross Condemns Gaza Collective Punishment (the First Round)
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?8994S
As Predicted: Gaza Reoccupation Planned http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/388658.html
Probe: At Least Half of Palestinians Killed by IDF Were Civilians
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/944276.html
Israeli Attacks on Palestinians, Killings, Doubled Since Annapolis
http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m40008&hd=&size=1&l=e
UN Condemns Collective Punishment of Gaza http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389757.html?c=on#c187937
It's All Right, I'm Only Bleeding
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10557S
Israel, World Jewry Drift Apart
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10554S
Jewish Groups Condemn Collective Punishment of Gaza
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10877S
Poll Reveals Neo-Con Zionist Groups Unrepresentative http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/12/12/ajc_poll/index.html
An invention called 'the Jewish people'
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959229.html
Zionism's Support Faltering http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/7472/index.php
Western Jews Revolt Against Zionist Bully Tactics http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/world/2007/03/364749.html
1650 Illegal Settlement Spots Approved This Week Alone
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?15847S
As Predicted: Israel Rejects Truce, Calls Offer 'Failure' http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/397226.html
Real Diplomacy: Carter Meets Hamas http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/8877/index.php
No Peace Without Hamas http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/8876/index.php
Hamas ready to accept Israel as its neighbour: Carter http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/8874/index.php
Hamas Offers Gaza Truce http://www.www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/397459.html
Calling Israel's Bluff: Hamas Offers Truce, Negotiations
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?13920S
Israelis open fire on Gazan protesters
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?15849S
As Predicted: Israel Delays Vote on Gaza Strip Cease-fire
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?15846S
When Will Israel Quit Pretending It Wants Peace?
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?15845S
Divide & Rule: Palestinians Stuck at a Crossroads
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?15854S
Israel Storms SE Gaza, Razes More Farms
http://www.news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/05/content_8317222.htm
As Predicted: Gaza Reoccupation Planned http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/388658.html
Israel's Goals: Regime Change, Reoccupation http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/8687/index.php
Cross Your Fingers: Israel Accepts Gaza Truce
https://israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/9235/index.php#Comment-21173
Israeli officials: We will invade Gaza before truce deal takes effect
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/06/400696.html
Jason Koutsoukis Herald Correspondent in Jerusalem
June 19, 2008
ISRAEL'S Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has warned the radical Islamic movement Hamas that the truce due to take effect today is the last chance to avoid a massive military incursion into the Gaza Strip.
(In other words, Israel is 'accepting' this offer for the purposes of garnering some positive int'l PR, before launching its long-planned assault on Gaza.)
In an exclusive interview with the Herald - his first interview with the Australian media in four years - Mr Olmert said the people of Gaza were "pissed off with Hamas" and sick and tired of the years of violence.
Since Israel withdrew from Gaza three years ago, the 250,000 residents who surround Gaza have been subjected to almost daily rocket attacks from Palestinian militants.
(Israel surrounded the Strip with artillery emplacements, under the ominously-named Operation First Rain, during which, Israel routinely shelled Palestinian civilians, provoking a periodic response. The fighting didn't really start up again until Israel shelled a Palestinian family picnicking on a Gaza beach which, only weeks before, had been designated "Jews Only". The rockets increased in recent months as a direct result of Israel's imposition of illegal Collective Punishment on Gaza - which Israel's own defence staff warned their criminal policy would provoke.
It now seems as if this was their plan all along, as they once again plan to attack the Palestinians, but don't want to appear to be the aggressors.)
"You think the people of Adelaide would put up with this?" demanded Mr Olmert. "Or the people of Brisbane?
(The people of Gaza? The W. Bank, perhaps ... ?)
"I think the strategy of Hamas, which does not want to recognise Israel's right to exist in the first place, and the extremism, and the fanaticism, and the religious dogmatism is the enemy of peace. We are at the end of our tolerance with regard to terror in Gaza."
(Carter's meetings with Hamas contradicted all these Israeli/Zionist excuses for rejecting peace and negotiations.)
Dismissing an escalating corruption investigation which looks certain to force either his resignation or fresh elections by November, Mr Olmert said he was "going nowhere" and did not rule out running again for the leadership of his Kadima party.
So certain is Mr Olmert of his political survival that he has already sent an invitation for Kevin Rudd to visit Israel later this year.
"I don't know yet personally enough the new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, but I am very impressed with his friendship and his commitment to the well-being of the state of Israel," Mr Olmert said.
Congratulating federal parliamentarians for unanimously passing a resolution in March which commemorated Israel's first 60 years, Mr Olmert said Australia was a "very far away close friend of Israel".
"The resolution was a source of great joy to the people of Israel and I personally called Mr Rudd to thank him."
Mr Olmert has in the past been a frequent visitor to Australia. His cousin is married to the federal Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, Mike Kelly, and he has an aunt in Sydney.
"I love Australia; I love the people of Australia. Some of my most memorable visits any place have been to Australia ... and I hope to be able to host Mr Rudd this year, or at the beginning of next year in Israel."
Mr Olmert indicated that he remained optimistic that Israel could reach peace with Syria and the Palestinian West Bank, and said he wanted to open peace negotiations with Lebanon.
He said peace with Syria would be a vital strategic breakthrough that could reshape the Middle East and force Syria to end its alliance with Iran. "If there will be an Israeli embassy in Damascus, there will be a whole new ball game. This is my aim; this is my idea."
After more than 30 years of negotiations between Syria and Israel, Mr Olmert said he did not think it would take long to work out the details of an agreement - including Israel's return of almost the entire Golan Heights, which it captured during the 1967 Six-Day War.
France's top presidential aide said yesterday that Mr Olmert and the Syrian President, Bashar Assad, could hold "direct contacts" next month in Paris.
Mr Olmert said an agreement with the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, could also be reached by year's end on issues such as land boundaries, the Palestinian refugee problem, the ownership of East Jerusalem, and security arrangements.
(Meaningless. Utterly meaningless. A facade, designed to stall any real process which would force an end to Zionism's Expansionist War.)
"If we reach an understanding, then borders will be fixed. What falls in the Israeli side will remain Israeli, what falls on the Palestinian side will become Palestinian, even if it was built by Israel," Mr Olmert said. Of the current round of talks, he said: "I think we have made an important significant step forward. This is my judgment. It's a serious process."
Mr Olmert said Iran remained the biggest threat to peace in the region, and refused to rule out military action to destroy its nuclear facilities.
(However, Zionist Extremism, in fomenting several illegal wars of aggression, as well as the LIES which were used to start them, and rejecting peace with the Palestinians, engineering the current crisis, and escalating the violence, has proven to be a much more credible threat.)
He said Israel would not live under the threat of a nuclear Iran. "I don't think we deserve to live under the threat of a nuclear Iran. The problem is not wherever the Iranians will use it, or that they have the capacity.
(So now that you've been proven to be LYING about their program, you're now saying that it doesn't matter if they don't actually have what you said they did ... ?)
"I don't think given the nature of this [Iranian] government and this regime, Israel can be expected to live under even the threat that they may use it."
(Use what?)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/your-last-chance-israels-warning/2008/06/18/1213770733409.html Warnings Pour in For Israel to Cease Collective Punishment
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10555S Red Cross Condemns Gaza Collective Punishment (the First Round)
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?8994S As Predicted: Gaza Reoccupation Planned
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/388658.html Probe: At Least Half of Palestinians Killed by IDF Were Civilians
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/944276.html Israeli Attacks on Palestinians, Killings, Doubled Since Annapolis
http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m40008&hd=&size=1&l=e UN Condemns Collective Punishment of Gaza
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389757.html?c=on#c187937 It's All Right, I'm Only Bleeding
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10557S Israel, World Jewry Drift Apart
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10554S Jewish Groups Condemn Collective Punishment of Gaza
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10877S Poll Reveals Neo-Con Zionist Groups Unrepresentative
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/12/12/ajc_poll/index.html An invention called 'the Jewish people'
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959229.html Zionism's Support Faltering
http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/7472/index.php Western Jews Revolt Against Zionist Bully Tactics
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/world/2007/03/364749.html 1650 Illegal Settlement Spots Approved This Week Alone
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?15847S As Predicted: Israel Rejects Truce, Calls Offer 'Failure'
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/397226.html Real Diplomacy: Carter Meets Hamas
http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/8877/index.php No Peace Without Hamas
http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/8876/index.php Hamas ready to accept Israel as its neighbour: Carter
http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/8874/index.php Hamas Offers Gaza Truce
http://www.www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/397459.html Calling Israel's Bluff: Hamas Offers Truce, Negotiations
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?13920S Israelis open fire on Gazan protesters
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?15849S As Predicted: Israel Delays Vote on Gaza Strip Cease-fire
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?15846S When Will Israel Quit Pretending It Wants Peace?
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?15845S Divide & Rule: Palestinians Stuck at a Crossroads
http://www.winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?15854S Israel Storms SE Gaza, Razes More Farms
http://www.news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/05/content_8317222.htm As Predicted: Gaza Reoccupation Planned
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/388658.html Israel's Goals: Regime Change, Reoccupation
http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/8687/index.php Cross Your Fingers: Israel Accepts Gaza Truce
https://israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/9235/index.php#Comment-21173 Israeli officials: We will invade Gaza before truce deal takes effect
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/06/400696.html
Zionist Extremism Key IMpediment to Peace