Gaza Strip
56The Gaza Strip
Who Are the Good Guys?
WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON?
I am ignorant when it comes to knowing many facts about the Gaza Strip, the Palestine People, and the Israelites. All I know is that they have been at each other's throats for centuries. But as to say who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, I do not know. It just might be possible that both sides are right in their own respect. All I know is that many innocent civilians are getting killed.
The majority of the United States' top government officials, from what I read, are all Jewish or pro-Israel so it is no wonder that what we read in the media is pro-Israel. Although, this news articles might be true I have to have my suspicions because of the power that I know the government has; to be able to put their muscle on the media corporations.
If you're a Bible reader then you are aware of what the Bible says of these times.
If you are like me, then maybe the following article might answer some of your questions. Also, at the end there are three links to relevant videos from Brasscheck TV. If you don't have time to watch all three, watch the 2nd one!
I'm also excited and anxious to see how everyone is going to react to this article; whether anyone will comment on it at all.
The following article was written by Michael Muskal of Los Angeles. It appeared in the Modesto Bee on December 30, 2008.
Trying to make sense of Mideast chaos
by Michael Muskal
Los Angeles
The violence in the Mideast continues to grow more deadly, creating political concerns throughout the region and in the United States. Here are some of the key questions in the crisis:
Q: How did the latest round of violence begin?
A: Over the weekend, Israel began airstrikes against the Hamas Movement, which controls the Gaza Strip, in response to rocket attacks against nearby Israeli communities. Israel is massing troops in preparation for a possible ground assault.
Q: What has been the toll?
A: The tree-day death toll among the Palestinians stand at more than 360 dead with about 1,400 wounded. Many of those killed were security forces, according to Hamas, But more than five dozen of those killed were civilians, according to the United Nations. At least five Israelis have died since the offensive began, including an Arab construction worker killed Monday in a rocket attack in the city Ashkelon.
Q: Why is Israel attacking Hamas?
A: Israel argues that it was forced to act to curb the Hamas rocket attacks.
Q: What is Hamas?
A: “Hamas” is an acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement, a fundamentalist group founded in 1987 with the goal of destroying Israel. The group runs social service programs in Gaza and is a political party that won the Palestinian parliamentary election in January 2006. Western governments consider Hamas a terrorist organization and have shunned the group because it has refused to accept Israel's right to exist.
Q: Does Hamas speak for all Palestinians?
A: No Hamas gunmen too control of Gaza in the summer of 2007, causing the unity government with the secularist Fatah faction to collapse. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas controls the West Bank, the larger Palestinian area. The West would prefer to deal with Abbas, who has shown a willingness to negotiate with Israel, and has tried to topple Hamas with economic and political sanctions.
Q: If Hamas is so opposed to Israel, why did it agree to a truce?
A: Hamas had hoped to put an end to the crippling blockade, but the cease-fire collapsed in November and expired December 19. Abbas has blamed Hamas for prompting the Israel attack by refusing to extend the cease-fire negotiated with Egypt's help.
Q: What has been the response to the Israeli attacks in the Arab world?
A: Anti-Israel demonstrations have been held in several countries, including Britain, France, and Saudi Arabia. Syria and Iran are strong supporters of Hamas, and Syria has broken off indirect talks with Israel mediated by Turkey and aimed at resolving border issues stemming from past wars.
Q: What about Egypt?
A: Egypt has opposed fundamentalist Islamic groups including the Muslim Brotherhood, which helped give birth to Hamas. Egypt has a difficult relationship with Hamas-controlled Gaza because they share a border. In the current conflict, Egypt has sought to prevent refugees fleeing the Israeli attacks from crossing into its territory. Clashes have been reported between Palestinians and Egyptian security forces at the border crossing.
Q: What about the United States?
A: President George W. Bush will leave office Jan. 20 and will be replaced by President-elect Barack Obama. The changing of the guard has created a bit of a power vacuum; the Republican policies continue while the world watches to see what the Democrats will do.
Q: What has the Bush administration done?
A: The White House on Monday again blamed Hamas for refusing to renew the truce, but White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe asked Israel to avoid civilian casualties in its attacks. Bush, vacationing in Texas, has spoken with King Abdullah II of Jordan and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. In an effort to repair the cease-fire, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called Mideast leaders in Israel and Arab countries.
Q: What about the Obama administration?
A: Obama, who is vacationing in Hawaii, repeatedly has said that the United States can have only one president at a time and that Bush is in charge until the inauguration. But the Israeli-Hamas conflict could present an early test for Obama and his expected secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton. During the Presidential campaign, Obama insisted that he was a strong ally of Israel despite rumors that he would be more receptive to the Palestinian position. Obama has said he would like to give a speech in the Muslim world in the hope of repairing a relationship strained by several issues, including the Iraq war.
Q: How do Israeli politics figure in the equation?
A: Israel is scheduled to hold a parliamentary election Feb. 10, with hawkish former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a favorite to return to that post, according to some polls. Other candidates include Foreign Minister Txipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehub Barak. Barak is leading the military operations, and his candidacy could benefit if the offensive succeeds in stopping the rockets. An Israeli TV poll showed 81 percent of respondents backed the weekend attacks.
Informative videos:
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/516.html
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Comments
Thanks for your comment and I agree.
Alberto,
First of all I would like to commend you for your effort to try and parwe out what is going o0n in Gaza. Most folks can't seem to grasp what the fighting is all about, not do they have a clue with regards to who the PLO and Hamas are.
Gaza was origininally as was Parts of Iraq, part of the land promised to Abram when he left the land of UR and walk out the perimiter of the "Holy Land" which was set aside for the land of Israel.
The Palestinian movement was an Arab adjuct to try and take over the land for themselves. In addition radical factions of the PLO splintered into Hamas and other anti-semetic organizations all pent on the destruction of Israel.
Our US State Department, Diplomqtic Corpse and previous four administration have woefully fumbled the ball with regards to handling the territory we have come to know as the West Bank or Gaza. Because we have pushed for the PLO to have land which belongs to Israel we have unwittingly placed America on the fighting side of God. We never have, nor never will have the right to broker peace in the middle east until we realize this fact.
Because of our disobedience to Biblical truth we have blundered into an area where we have become an enemy of Israel by recognizing the PLO and Hamas, both of which are bent on destruction of Israel. We further erred when we the previous administration sided with the PLO and negotiated a treaty with terroist!
Now we have created a false pact with the sons of Ismael and have brought down the covering we once had when in God's favor. Our economy as well as those of the Western World will fall. The Bible calls this system Babylon which is about to become "fallen" shortly.
When Isreal attacked the Gaza they wished for Iran to retaliate! Therefor fiving them the excuse to destroy the Iranian nuclear threat. This too will allow our next President to bumble further. Middle East experts alway compromise our position by turning their back on what the proper Biblical stance shoul be.
I do not think we sided with the PLO. The U.S. just wanted to create a truce, which we did although it was a short one. Also, the U.S. does not recognize Hamas; we have absolutely no dialog with them. That, I think is wrong, because communication is absolutely necessary to come to any sort of agreement.
In any case, whoever is right or wrong, God knows what's going on and apparently this is part of His whole plan.
I appreciate your comments. When I posted this article I knew that almost no one would comment on it because of its controversy, so it's nice to see someone stand up and express their views.
Israel has admitted it broke the ceasefire and has been planning this for months. They were afraid the change of governement in the US may constrain their actions so timed the attack to occur in the final days of Bush's tenure.
The UN says around 40+% of the dead and wounded are women and children. Since almost half of the population of gaza is under 15 years old, this isn't difficult to imagine and I'm surprised it's not higher.
Hamas is the democratically elected government of the Gaza Strip. The election was clean according to international observers.
The Palestinians were there long before the State of Israel was declared. Most Israeli families have arrived in the last 100 years. Israel has taken the palestinians land, water and livelihoods - all without recompense -and finally penned 1.5 million of them in a patch of land 8 x 25 miles, built a wall around them and for the last 18 months has locked them in there and deliberately denied them access to suffient food (80% of the people rely on UN food aid and Israel had denied the UN full access), fuel and medical supplies. By refusing passage for palestinian goods the whole economy has collapsed as the farmers couldn't get the supplies they needed to grow the crops in and couldn't get the produce out.
Remember, this happened for the 18 months prior to the attack by Israel.
Whenever you read Israeli justifications, remember this post and ask yourself if their claims sound realistic.
http://palestinesupport.wordpress.com/ has a list of links to some of the main agencies who are involved in supporting palestine. This includes a lot of Jewish/Israeli (not always the same thing) agencies who document and try to minimise the Israeli human rights abuses.
Alexia, I've weighed everything I've read on this very controversial and current issue and I have to say I agree with you; Israel is wrong in doing this.
Concerning the Christian Bible, I'm probably completely ignorant on this but I'm always drawn back to what those books say, that Israel is supposed to be the Lord's favorite.
You know, honestly, I have never been able to figure out what the problem is in the Middle East. Back in the 70s I couldn't figure it out, and I still can't I just wish they'd stop killing each other!
G-Ma Johnson says:
12 months ago
Feeling very helpless here....is very sad this world is in such a bad way...Why is it always such a fight to be at Peace ? Why is it so important to have control over other's? Proudly these children fight for what they believe...God Bless them...
(Are you hungry for chicken wings LOL Hee hee) HAPPY NEW YEAR and God Bless you and your Mom...G-Ma :o) Hugs and Peace