(Yeshayahu Leibowitz, 30 November 1973)
"We have not been seeking peace for twenty-five years -- all declarations to that effect have been no more than coloured statements or deliberate lies. There is of course no assurance that we could have made peace with the Arabs if we had wanted to. However, it has to be heavily emphasized that we have not only made no attempts to seek peace, but have deliberately and with premeditation, sabotaged every possibility of doing so."
(Yeshayahu Leibowitz, 30 November 1973)
By HERB KEINON AND YAAKOV KATZ
Even as Defense Ministry officials said Sunday that Israel was likely to accept the Gaza Strip cease-fire deal brokered by Egypt, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, in a meeting with a high-level US congressional delegation, did not mention the cease-fire and talked instead about a possible large-scale military incursion.
Participants in Barak's meeting with the Congressmen said they walked away from the discussion with an impression that an IDF operation was very much in the offing.
In the meeting, which included (traitorous) US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Barak asked the members of the bipartisan congressional delegation to think how they would act if for seven years San Diego had been bombarded by rockets from Tijuana, just across the Mexican border.
(That would depend on how long Tijuana had been placed under illegal measures of Collective Punishment, to undermine its elected Government, and soften the region up for a US invasion, after its own defence staff warned that these War Crimes would provoke rockets ...)
When asked during an interview with The Jerusalem Post afterward whether Israel would be justified in launching a widespread incursion into Gaza, Pelosi said that "Israel makes its own decisions about its own security. I would hope that it is something that could have been avoided by other means. Minister Barak was very direct in his presentation to us about what the possibilities were."
(Pelosi, as an insider, would no doubt know that Israel was plotting these attacks long before the rockets even started.)
Barak is scheduled to talk about the terms of the Egyptian-proposed cease-fire during talks in Sharm e-Sheikh on Monday, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, the architect of the proposal.
(Note that Israel has rejected Hamas' repeated offers of cease-fires and negotiations.)
Barak is expected to urge Egypt to change its cease-fire proposal to a two-stage deal that would first include a cessation of terrorist activity and IDF military operations, and then an opening of the border crossings into Gaza in exchange for the release of kidnapped soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit, defense officials said Sunday.
(However, the Collective Punishment of Gaza is the reason for the rockets, so any real cease-fire would eliminate the rockets by lifting this illegal blockade.)
Under Cairo's original proposal, the border crossings were to be opened immediately, along with the end of terrorist activity and the cessation of IDF action, and Schalit was not involved in the deal.
Officials said Barak planned to present Mubarak and Suleiman with a list of conditions that Israel had set for its acceptance of the cease-fire with Hamas, including an increase in Egyptian efforts to stop weapons-smuggling into Gaza along the Philadelphi Corridor.
(Note that IDF personnel have been found to be the greatest factor in weapons getting into Gaza.)
The officials said that Israel was likely to accept the cease-fire deal even if it did not include Schalit's immediate release. An Egyptian promise to expedite its mediation over Schalit's release could, the officials said, also be considered progress and constitute a reason to accept the truce.
In addition to meeting Mubarak and Suleiman, Barak will meet later in the day with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and then have dinner with Egyptian Defense Minister Muhammad Hussein Tantawi. The Turks have been active in recent months trying to mediate between Israel and Syria.
Suleiman met Sunday with Meretz MK Yossi Beilin, and Beilin - in a statement put out after the meeting - said Suleiman had told him he could set the date for the start of the truce on Monday, if Barak came to Sharm with Israeli approval to the current terms.
Beilin also said that if Israel agreed to the list of Palestinian prisoners (including moderate Hamas members of the elected Government), Schalit could be included in the deal. Suleiman said that due to Israel's opposition to Palestinian names on the list, negotiations to bring about Schalit's release could only begin after a cease-fire was reached.
Defense officials said that it was unlikely that Barak would finalize the deal during his meetings on Monday, but that he would make Israel's position clear, including the terms for its acceptance.
"Barak will stress the importance of Schalit being released as part of the deal," a senior official said. "The release may not take place immediately and could be a second stage for the deal."
Barak's meeting with the Egyptian president will take place a day after Mubarak met separately with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni within the framework of the World Economic Forum, as well as with Likud head Binyamin Netanyahu.
"Hamas is a mutual enemy of Israel and Egypt," Netanyahu told Mubarak. "Israel has no choice but to topple the Hamas regime."
(This Extremist War Criminal is hardly one to include in any such negotiations. Toppling the elected Government is a violation if International Law. Another choice, supported by a majority of Israelis, is to negotiate with Hamas, as Jimmy Carter just proved would be productive.)
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, meanwhile, said at the outset of the weekly cabinet meeting that the current situation in the Gaza Strip "cannot continue," and we are "very close to a critical point regarding the situation" there. He did not let on, however, whether the critical point was a decision to step up military action or accept an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire.
(But since they don't want to end their engineered crisis, and reject peace, the safe bet would sadly be on another civilian slaughter, since these attacks have been planned and prepared for over a year.)
"Suffice it to say that we are convinced that it is absolutely impossible to let the situation in the South go on as it has in recent months," Olmert said. "The critical point regarding how matters will be conducted is very close. Of course, our mission is to see to it that the residents of the South live tranquil and secure lives without being under constant threat as they have for a very long period."
(Bullsh*t. Olmert's illegal policies, opposed by most Israelis, are what created this situation.)
Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Eli Yishai, meanwhile, urged Olmert to convene a security cabinet meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza.
"Ashkelon has turned into a theater of terror, and the [security] cabinet still hasn't convened," Yishai said during the meeting. "There are indications that Beersheba will be at risk of rocket strikes, and we need to hold a discussion about this."
In a related development, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who threatened to resign if an agreement were not reached within six months, said that a deadlock in peace negotiations would strengthen extremists and would likely bring the Middle East back to "the tragedy of 2000 that followed the failure at Camp David."
(That's exactly what this charade was designed to create, since Israel's Extremist politicians are not interested in any peace which would include the creation of a Palestinian state, and are being aided by fellow Extremists in the US and other Western countries, including Canada.)
Beilin told Abbas that now was the time for the believers in a two-state solution to persuade the doubters in their nations that solutions existed and could be implemented, even at the eleventh hour.
Gil Hoffman and Jonny Hadi contributed to this report.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1210668669580&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Livni: Gaza Strip underway to becoming regional problem
Foreign minister meets with US House speaker, congressional delegation; speaks of situation in Strip, peace process, (non-existent) Iranian "threat". Sides must be given time to broker true peace, she says
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met Monday with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi, who is heading a bipartisan delegation of 13 congressmen, is currently in Israel in honor of its 60th Independence Day celebrations.
"The peace process, important as it is cannot change the situation in Gaza," Livni told Pelosi. "The Gaza Strip is on its way to becoming a regional problem, hindering any possibility of reaching a comprehensive agreement," she added.
(That's exactly why the US and Israel engineered this crisis. But Jimmy Carter's meetings with Hamas proved that the situation isn't intractable, and exposed Israel as the party rejecting peace.)
Comparing the situation in Gaza to that in Lebanon, Livni said that "just as the Hizbullah represents Iran's destabilizing influence in Lebanon and not the Lebanese interest, Hamas represents hate and terrorism in Gaza and not the Palestinian interest.
(Actually, they represent the Palestinians, since they are the ELECTED Government.)
"You can see from the situation in Lebanon just how much of a threat Iran is to the region," said the foreign minister, adding that the effectiveness the international community's sanctions on Iran, depends on it having a united front against the Islamic Republic.
(Hexbollah's recent actions were a reaction to the policies of the US-backed Puppet Regime, installed in response to the CIA's 'Cedar Revolution', which resulted from the Mossad's murder of Rafiq Hariri, which led to the Syrian military's departure from Lebanon, clearing the path for Israel's long-planned attacks.)
The timeframe in which a peace agreement can be achieved is important, she told the US delegation, but a rigid timetable may also lead to unreal expectations, disappointment and violence. Both sides, continued Livni, must be given the space and time to broker a long-term agreement which truly represents both their interests.
(In other words, let's stall any real process even further than we have with the Annapolis charade ...)
The US delegation met with President Shimon Peres, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) on Sunday. The delegation is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik later this week.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3545158,00.html
The situation in Gaza is largely one of Israel's creation, and the region is not responsible for Gaza's reaction to the siege which Israel has imposed.
What we have here is a cycle of Palestinian fury, violence, and Israeli retribution, and Israel seems largely unwilling to break that cycle by lifting the siege.
And if Foreign Minister Livni were to recall correctly, she would actually remember that Hamas was elected as the party to lead Palestine in the last election, essentially judged to be free and fair, because the Palestinian people were sick and tired of the corruption of Fatah.
The throwing up of Gaza as the impediment to a comprehensive peace is a smokescreen, and a symptom of the fact that Israel isn't really interested in peace: they're interested in territory, and will work to obtain that by any means necessary.
Warnings Pour in For Israel to Cease Collective Punishment
http://winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10555S
Red Cross Condemns Gaza Collective Punishment (the First Round)
winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?8994S
As Predicted: Gaza Reoccupation Planned
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/388658.html
As Predicted: Israel Attacks Gaza
alaanasnews.blogspot.com/2007/12/as-predicted-israel-attacks-gaza.html
Israel Destroys Gaza Interior Ministry, Blocks UN Aid
today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2008-01-18T
UN Condemns 'Cowardly Israeli War Crime'
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389828.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://winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10557S
Israel, World Jewry Drift Apart
http://winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10554S
Israel Guilty of Ethnic Cleansing
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2008/03/215186.php
UN: Israel Must Halt Use of Excessive Force
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2008/03/215185.php
Rights Group: More than 50% of Gaza casualties were civilians
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/960338.html
Joint Statement Against the Israeli Airstrikes on the Gaza Strip http://www.alternativenews.org/news/english/joint-statement-against-the-israeli
Amnesty Int'l Condemns IDF for Reckless Disregard of Life in Gaza
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/03/392935.html
U.N. Chief Condemns Israel After Bloody Day in Gaza
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/03/392791.html
Israel's Goals: Regime Change, Reoccupation
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2008/03/215188.php
Bay of Pigs in Gaza: Gaza Crisis Made in USA
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2008/03/215187.php
Avnery: "I Came, I Saw, I Destroyed!"
http://winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?12874S
How to Become an Israeli Journalist
http://winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?12885S
U.S. Media Coverage of Israel-Palestine Conflict
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0502/S00151.htm
Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land
http://www.freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=169
Jewish Groups Condemn Collective Punishment of Gaza
http://winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?10877S
Iran Jewish MP criticises "anti-human" Israel acts
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080507/tpl-uk-israel-palestinians-1948-iran-43a8d4f.html
A Human Rights Crime In Gaza
http://winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?14547S
Poll Reveals Neo-Con Zionist Groups Unrepresentative
http://winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?14454S
Western Jews Revolt Against Zionist Bully Tactics
https://israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/6119/index.php
Zionism's Support Faltering
http://winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?6297S
Child Victims of a War the World Doesn't Want to Know About
https://israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/9026/index.php
As Predicted: Israel Rejects Hamas Truce Offer
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/397561.html
As Predicted: Israel Rejects Truce, Calls Offer 'Failure'
www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/8882/index.php
Real Diplomacy: Carter Meets Hamas
israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/8877/index.php
No Peace Without Hamas
www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/8876/index.php
Hamas ready to accept Israel as its neighbour: Carter
www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/8874/index.php
Calling Israel's Bluff: Hamas Offers Truce, Negotiations
israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/8898/index.php#Comment-19179
Israel Gearing Up to Attack Gaza Once Again
And why wouldn't they? So long as world Governments are willing to Appease these Extremists, in the name of political support, they will continue slaughtering the people of Gaza.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/05/398996.html