Moral Equivalence

With the predictability of a daily sunrise the bulk if the world's media outlets continue to trumpet the immorality of Israeli military operations in the Gaza strip citing the horrific suffering of an "innocent" civilian population. These assertions bear closer scrutiny.

RESIDENTS at certain addresses in the Gaza Strip have been receiving unusual phone calls since the Israeli air assault began on Saturday -- a request that they and their families leave their homes as soon as possible for their own safety.

More unusual than the recorded message is the Arabic-speaking caller, who identifies himself as being from the Israeli defence forces.

Dipping into their bag of tricks for the updated Gaza telephone numbers, Israel's intelligence services are warning Palestinian civilians in Gaza living close to Hamas facilities that they may be hurt unless they distance themselves from those targets.

In some cases, the warning comes not by telephone but from leaflets dropped from aircraft on selected districts [or via text messages to cell phones].

Such warnings clearly eliminate the element of surprise, but for Israel it is of cardinal importance to minimise civilian casualties, and not just for humanitarian reasons.

Contrast these data with the scene observed in the above video. Clearly, these are not isolated events. They are however, unlikely to dissuade many who are predisposed to condemn Israel for disregarding the plight of the "innocent Arab population" a majority of which incidentally voted for candidates affiliated with HAMAS, a terrorist organization whose charter explicitly commits it to the murder of all Jews:

Article 7 of the Hamas Covenant states the following: "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.

So long as the myth prevails that a foe who is committed to your death can be negotiated with, the bloodletting will recur with boring predictability.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!

More Deja Vu?

The highly touted "Annapolis Conference" sponsored by the current U.S. administration has just concluded with more "talks" to follow. In fact nothing of substance was resolved regarding the conflict between the Arab populations of the middle east and Israel other than a retreat of the U.S. from its previous support for the embattled Jewish state's "defensible" borders. (Does "over a barrel" come to mind?)

Future "talks" will be conducted between Israel which has ceded considerable territory along its northern border with Lebanon, Gaza, Sinai, settlements in Judea, Samaria and Jeruselem in exchange for promises from the terrorist "Palestinians" which have never been kept.

The Jewish state has agreed to continue "talks" with the Palestinian Fatah "government" which is non representative of the Arab population as evidenced not only by the most recent "democratic" elections but by the de facto exercise of authority in Gaza by Hamas, a certifiably terrorist organization.

Not only does Hamas refuse to recognize the right of the Israeli state to exist but the cabal (Palestinian Authority) led by Mr. Abbas also hedges its "supposed recognition" by refusing to consider recognizing Israel as a Jewish state . This is nothing more than a veiled insistence on the so called "right of return" to Israeli territory of exponentially augmented Arab populations currently living in refugee camps sustained by United Nations funding. Such a transfer of populations would result in the "democratic" extinguishment of the Israeli state. No proposal is on the table allowing the jewish populations expelled from Arab territory since 1948 to return to their homes even though their numbers far exceed the numbers of displaced Arabs.

The conduct of the Annapolis conference should be a severe embarrassment to the Bush administration due to the de facto apartheid imposed on the participants. The Jewish participants were denied entrance to the conference via the same (front) entrance as the Arabs and forced to arrive via the rear service entrance at the insistence of the Saudi Foreign Minister.

Additionally, the U.S. Secretary of state referred to the security measures implemented by Israel to prevent terrorist attacks by Muslim suicide bombers as "humiliations to the Palestinian people". This was in reference to the checkpoints established by the Israelis at the entrances to their territory. Apparently Ms. Rice has not been subjected to the TSA indignities regularly visited upon ordinary commercial air travelers these days in the United States.

In conclusion, the willingness of not only the United States government to sponsor but the current Israeli government to acquiesce in giving away the store in these so called "negotiations" will come home to roost in a bloody fashion on future generations. "We're depending on the righteousness of our cause and on the international community, including the United States, which is sympathetic toward the Palestinian issue," added Abbas during a brief stopover at an Amman air base.

War is not a pleasant option except when compared to slavery or genocide.
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!

cross posted at: Eternity Road