People all over the place are offering words in their worldly wisdom ...
UK Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett offers a very well-mannered rebuke (one has to be courteous), "it is hard to see what this action was meant to achieve and how it can be justified... Israel must respect its obligation to avoid harming civilians."
Israeli PM Ehud Olmert said the strike, which hit a civilian area, was the result of a "technical failure". He also added, "I'm very uncomfortable with this event. I'm very distressed. I checked it and I verified it. This is not the policy."
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter told Israeli radio that the deaths were the result of an "operational mishap". But he insisted that Israel's military activities in Gaza were justified against a backdrop of continuing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants against Israeli towns.
In the US, the White House and the state department called for restraint from Palestinians, and President George Bush expressed his sadness at the deaths .
UN Special Co-ordinator for Mid-East Peace Process, Alvaro De Soto: "I'm appalled and shocked. It's really condemnable. This has just gone too far. So [Israelis] need to take a long hard and very professional look at it. And also they need I think to step back, suspend this operation and look at the policy. This is not the way to stop Palestinian rocket fire. And to the Palestinians I have to say firing rockets is not the way to get the Israelis to stop this onslaught against them."
In Palestine one man claims that if the blood shed in Beit Hanoun were wine spilled in the salons of the political Arab elite, then the anger would have been great and protest marches would have been organised. The shedding of Palestinian blood has become something only noted in passing, something which does not trouble the Arab and international conscience.
UN Special Rapporteur, John Dugard: "This brutal collective punishment of a people, not a government, has passed largely unnoticed by the international community. The Quartet... has done little to halt Israel's attacks.
An Israeli lady contends, "a regrettable mistake, past and present politicians and army officers said yesterday. This is not a mistake. This is a disaster. A regrettable mistake is when you step on someone's foot, not when you kill 11 members of one family. Someone has to stop this madness."
Another Israeli reaction, "someone has to tell the people of Beit Hanoun, the citizens of the Gaza Strip, the Arabs of the occupied territories, the whole world, the one simple, poignant truth: He who fires thousands of Qassam rockets at the civilian [Israeli] population for years; he who hoards thousands of tons of explosive materials for months, should understand that it is impossible to hide behind women and children. Such behaviour has a price tag."
source of the above: BBC.com
Click here for an editorial from Haaretz
*************************************
247 fatalities in Gaza from June 28 to October 27
155 civilian deaths
57 deaths of children
996 wounded, including 337 children (34%)
Source: Physicians for Human Rights
... but hey, at least it's not "terrorism" ...
13 comments:
...is not terrorism
cause the jewish put the WWII holocaust in front of whatever
and did and do no so good stuff with the approbation of USA (that have the jewish commercial power)
-for you, is morocha not morocho
yeah dark haired
morocha femenine
morocho masculine
morena is dark hair and skin
but morocha englobe all, included dee white skinned people
Salamaat,
My soul sister is back!
I missed you! Been clicking aimlessly to see if Miami finally let you go :)
How are you?
Thank you for waking me up with this post; it was a minor blip in the news; and honestly sometimes I just can't keep up with how many are dead and dying...
Depending on the glasses I am wearing; the world alternates between heartbreaking beauty and just unfathomable cruelty and ugliness...
{{welcome back hug}}}
Nazlıcımmmm,
Benim güzel kardeşim nasılsın?:)
Been a long time and missed you :)
What can ı say to this blog of yours so sad.....
Kucak kucak kardeşime
Doc, dear. You have compiled several speeches with mostly polite and diplomatic word collocations. They could be summarised into 5 letters: 'murder'. As for Reverb's comments above, I sadly agree with him.
It is very important to keep on being aware of the situation. We may become anaesthetised by the daily massive amount of information we cope with and forget the things that really matter.
It is just not fair to live in hell on earth. I wonder if anyone can make them live peacefully by intervention. Isn't the needed peace within each and everyone?
Caco- my Dear - can you believe it? Can you believe it??? Such polite words, such indifference, such casual words for such absolute murder? I am really glad that you see what I was trying to convey - the message that some people matter, and some people don;t matter - how little innocent children are not really important at all just because they are of a certain latitude/longitude, because they were born in the wron place at the wrong time. What kind of civilization is this where humanity is completely lost?
I don;t know whether it is sheer anger or sheer heart ache I feel, but the words fail me.
Always nice to see you Caco! Tke good care my friend.
DOC
I am smiling despite the bad news ...
It is not terrorism because the Israelis do not aim for civilians. They do all they can to avoid civilian deaths, but they sometimes make mistakes. That is what happens in war. This contrasts with the Palestinians.
For the record, looking at a listing of fatalities is meaningless, since most Palestinians are killed by Palestinians. The people in charge of the Palestinians are terrorist criminals who terrorize the local population into submission.
Let's compare the reactions of the Israelis and Palestinians...
Israelis: When Palestinian civilians are killed, there is a national mourning and inquiries into war tactics uses.
Palestinians: When Israeli civilians are killed, there are celebrations, and an inquiry into what was done to kill so many civilians, so it can be replicated in the future for greater effectiveness.
This is not murder. It was not deliberate. When the Palestinians act, it is murder. They purposely aim for civilians.
I spoke to someone whose uncle was killed by a suicide bomber, and was on the scene and heard a Palestinian ululating over her uncle's death. THAT is murder. When Palestinian terrorists hide amongst civilians on purpose, knowing they are endangering the lives of the civilians, THAT is murder.
What the Israelis did was fight back after constant rockets being fired into their country, but missed. They engaged in self defense. It is as far from murder as one can get.
Red Tulip - your perspectives are derived from your passion for the Israel - I understand that. A dearest friend of mine served her 2 years in the Israeli army and as close friends as we are and as much as we have a mutual admiration for living on our own terms, we could not agree on our perspective on humanity.
Some people feel the same amount of pain for a loss of human life (irrespective of national origins) because they are driven by passion for humanity.
The Israeli lady who acknowledged that it was more than a "regrettable mistake" has my utmost respect - she is driven by humanity.
I am glad you visit my blog, i am glad you comment on what I write - because you offer an alternative perspective. You mentioned that you are a Jewish atheist - you should know that as an absolute beleiver in The Creator of the Universe, you would matter to me in humanity as much as anyone else in the world. This is not becaue I am any better or worse - it is simply because the day I judge people by their nationality and affiliation will be a day I would have lost myself.
You too are a sweet person and you have a lot to offer to the world - so keep being passionate and keep learning and living your best life.
Cheers my friend :-)
Nazli
Zee! You make sure you keep smiling my Dear - because there is nothing better to light up a day. Hope you had a great trip of good friends, good music and good food??
Zee ya you Smiler you :-):-)
Nazli
Candancimm, merhaba benim güzel kardeşim. Wonderful to see you!
Well how about some fun and exciting blog for the rest of the week - such a beautiful world and so many lovely fun things going on. Deal?
Huge hugs and lots of kucaks to you Candancimmm - only beautiful wishes to you my beautiful friend
Nazli
Fernando - como estas?
Your depth and your sense of humanity are refreshing to me.
How is your bike and the surf board? Have you heard the song "surfin' on a rocket" by Air? It is one of my most favourites.
Cheers :-)
Nazli
Oh Maliha - Salamaat my Soul Sister.
Miami was really fun and yes I managed to walk away :-) We have 4 weeks left to the semester and you cna iamge that I am diving in and hoping to come out rereshed for the holidays. How are you? So nice to see you - huge hug to you.
With respect to this blog - I know you knew what I was trying to convey. But I also never forget to remember what an incredibly beutiful world this is - and I feel so elated to be so alive. This morning i was driving through a road a road lined with red and orange and yellow trees of autumn brilliance and I had to say a word of thanks to my Creator in gratitude for giving me the opportunity to experience this.
There is much cruelty and inhumanity and ugliness - but what incredible beauty and kindness and happiness there is too.
Only beauty and kindess and happiness to you my beautiful sister and of-course peace and peaches and caviar! :-)
Nazli
...Nazli
the bike engine break one of the oil rings and have a hole in one piston
so I dismantled the unit and when I have time, I ll repair everything
no I dont hear that song
I ll try to find it
these days I was in Argentina seeing some European and USA rnr bands
cheers morocha
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