Behind the Chairman’s Door

I have tried for a long time not to bring Palestine into my blog posts because of the natural divisive emotion that is felt by everyone to either side, but there are times when I start to wonder how much is enough. After many years of border wars and fighting, the Palestinians agreed to hold democratic elections to vote in the government that they felt would best represent their needs and protect their homeland, which according to Dubya is what he wants for the Middle East. The Palestinians elected a Hamas led government, only to have the entire international community turn their backs on them and refuse to give the foreign aid that Palestine requires to survive each day. Israel withheld millions of dollars of tax revenue from the Hamas government, and at the same time, the mighty IDF began to launch strikes into the Gaza Strip to kidnap and murder Palestinians to break the Hamas led government. Does anyone remember that days before Gilad Shalit was kidnapped, it was the Israelis that bombed a beach in the Gaza Strip killing innocent families? Do you remember the 20 seconds of news time that was given to this incident?

Soon after Gilad Shalit was kidnapped, the IDF kidnapped elected members of the Palestinian parliament that were affiliated with Hamas and brought them before a judge in Israel on terrorism charges. As if that was not enough, rather than come to the bargaining table and negotiate the release of their soldier, as they have done numerous times before, the Israeli government launched an all out offensive on the Gaza Strip to pound them into submission. Their first strikes were on the Palestinian infrastructure including electricity and water pumping; which progressed into “precision strikes” on civilian homes, elected government officials’ homes and offices and innocent people. Which part of this is not terrorism?

But wait, Dubya, Condi and “Poodle Blair” supported the Israeli destruction of Palestinian life as the world cried out for it to stop. Do you remember how many suicide bombers got to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem? Zero. The Israelis would like the world to believe that they have such a fantastic intelligence operation in Mossad that they were able to foil every attempt, yet they have not been able to find their kidnapped soldier with the same.

Now, the IDF has raided money changers and banks in the West Bank and robbed them of US$ 1 million that was supposedly earmarked for terrorism from Lebanon and Syria. I repeat “supposedly earmarked for terrorism.” This story didn’t come from BBC or CNN, but from the Daily Haaertz. Mohammed Assar, a money changer in the West Bank town of Jenin, said “They took me from my house and forced me to open the door and took everything I have: money, checks, dollars and shekels. They didn’t leave me anything except for the rubble.” While Hussein Yunis, another Jenin based money changer, said “they took my son and everything inside.”

This is not the first time this has occurred, according to the Daily Haaertz. In 2004, IDF troops raided 2 banks in the West Bank city of Ramallah, confiscating US$ 9 million believed to have belonged to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant groups.

What I found most humorous was the story that ran alongside of this one that Condi Rice has told President Abbas not to join the new unity government with Hamas because it doesn’t meet the Quartet’s terms. Out of curiosity, who the hell is Condi Rice to tell anyone what government to support? Dubya’s administration has been plagued with more controversy than any US president to date, including the debating going on today on whether the War Crimes Act of 1996 should be changed to protect US military personnel and the administration from being charged with war crimes. Just the fact that they want to change the act is proof enough that they have violated it! But then when a British soldier admitted in court yesterday that he had violated the War Crimes Act, it makes it a bit more difficult to argue for a change in the law.

Granted, most people around the world don’t know that the US government blackmailed 100 countries that it provides foreign aid into signing an “agreement” not to prosecute US military personnel and government leaders, otherwise the foreign aid would be stopped. All of this while supporting the land grabbing habits of the Israelis that have re-settled over 500,000 families back to Israel on Palestinian land since the 1948 border demarcation, into the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula; supporting the continued state terrorist activities of the Israeli Defence Forces bombing, kidnapping and arresting innocent Palestinians; supporting the building and expansion of an Apartheid wall larger in size than the Berlin Wall that separated East and West Germany. What was it that Reagan said… “Mr. Gorbachev, this wall must go!”

One thing that must also be noted is Israel has categorically refused to follow over 65 United Nations resolutions and has had another 35 resolutions against it vetoed by the United States since 1948. Yet, if you recall the Lebanon conflict, it was the Israelis that were begging for a resolution to disarm Hezbollah.

I will in no way attempt to cover the numerous atrocities that happen daily in the Palestinian Authority, but organizations like B’Tselem - Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, Canadian Muslims for Peace, Ariga, Americans and Palestinians for Peace, Six Common Myths, Global Issues, and Bitter Lemons have done a fantastic job of providing the history of the conflict.

You will also remember the 34 day shelling that Lebanon took due to the “kidnapping” of 2 Israeli soldiers, which most of the Western media forgot to point out were on Lebanese soil when they were taken, as reported by Forbes, China Broadcast News, and Asia Times. What were the Israeli soldiers doing in Lebanon?

No one has yet to ask that question and get an answer because Israel wants the world to believe that Hezbollah came across the border into Israel and kidnapped its soldiers. If you will recall, within hours of the “kidnapping” the Israeli military had started bombing Lebanon. Not southern Lebanon, but Beirut, which had nothing to do with what happened on the border with Israel. The Israelis calmly told the Lebanese that “they were going to bomb them back to the Stone Age.” But then what else do you expect of a coward military that knows nothing more than force and deceit?

At the same time, to make sure that Israel was “properly represented” on all internet discussion boards and forums, the Israeli PR machines started working to continue convincing the world that they were justified in what they were doing. Didn’t you notice that within hours of starting the bombing, Israeli spokespeople were on BBC, CNN, Fox and other news channels defending the fact that they were bombing civilian populations. What was the reason? We want to cripple Hezbollah. They even went to the extent of pointing a finger at journalists that had “fabricated” stories and “doctored” photos. Did they doctor the photos of Israeli children writing hate messages on the bombs that were being used to kill Lebanese children? Did they doctor the photos of the burned bodies that were brought into the hospitals?

But the world watched and cried with the Lebanese and Palestinians as Dubya, Condi and “Poodle Blair” continued to support Israel and allow the bombings to continue. 10 days. Another 2 weeks and then “it will continue until we have achieved our goals.”

Peace will only come to the Middle East when the Palestinian state is allowed to live and grow within the borders that were promised to it by the United Nations and the Balfour Declaration, not to mention the numerous road maps and peace plans that have been agreed upon since. If Israel believes that it has the right to exist and the Muslim states should accept it, then they must accept that the Palestinian State has the right to exist and the Israelis must accept it.

But hey don’t believe me, do your own research. Because I am sure there is an Israeli near you screaming that they are “God’s Chosen People” and this is just liberal propaganda….. But they probably voted for Bush - Cheney too….

Related posts:

1. Enough is Enough
2. Israel Should Quit Nearly All Occupied Land - Olmert
3. Principles to implement Israel boycott should be worked out - OIC
4. Stop the Occupation
5. Invade and Conquer – The New American Foreign Policy in the Middle East
6. Hamas Phenomenon and Pakistan - Muhammad Ali Siddiqi
7. Palestinian Prisoners Day