Israel to World: "Suck It."

great detective work there sherlock

ah so this is where 67bordersgate got talked about.

and god damn, it manages to be even more infuriating than the usual flap about israel! even though nobody died! well done, planet.

RAFAH BORDER CROSSING, Egypt -- Hundreds of Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip arrived here by the busload on Saturday to pass through the reopened border into Egypt, taking the first tangible steps out of a four-year Israeli blockade.

lolwat?

Technically, you're right, of course. It was an Egyptian blockade.

And a blockade under challenge once more, for it will soon be Flotilla Time.

And here is a bizarre story on the subject: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/did-netanyahu-s-office-distribute-a-fake-video-against-gaza-flotilla-1.370030

Wow, shameless AND incompetent.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/more-than-100-000-take-to-streets-across-israel-in-largest-housing-protest-yet-1.376102

say what else you will about israel, they're still an active political public

this will help things

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/12/world/middleeast/12jerusalem.html

Israel’s Interior Ministry gave final approval on Thursday to construction of a contentious 1,600-apartment complex in East Jerusalem and said it would soon approve an additional 2,700 housing units there, a move that infuriated the Palestinians and could undercut American efforts to salvage long-stalled Middle East peace talks.

that picture is pretty lol tbh

http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/3130.htm

oh my stars and garters

i should start a thread Fatah to World: "Suck It."

^ three posts which effortlessly encapsulate the entire palestinian conflict

Doesn't really belong here, but this makes me so angry:

Intimidating protest highlight Israeli religious divide

i'd call their bluff and send my daughter to school wearing an enormous false beard

That Jerusalem protest is quite bizarre.

I have often thought that one day Jerusalem will see a united bloc of religious nutters (Jewish and Muslim primarily) who will face off in local politics against people who are not religious or who hold easy-going religious views. This is, obviously, a somewhat naive hope.

Israel trading 1,000 prisoners for Gilad Shalit. I say wtf. One soldier isn't worth a thousand prisoners. I'm sure my parents are thrilled at the implicit fuck you, though -- "one of ours is worth a thousand of yours."

“@AlbertBrooks: Gilad Shalit is finally going to be released! Hated his reviews but didn't think he deserved prison.”

I hate to sound callous, but I've always found the Gilad Shalit hysteria extremely bizarre behavior for a nation. I can't imagine the US getting that up-in-arms over a single kidnapped soldier.

the "togetherness" effect of israel and the fact that it's a small country where everyone's serving in the army makes the difference of morality and responsibility towards soldiers.

Remember that story the Army made up about that female soldier that was captured in Iraq and then rescued? Or how they dealt with the Pat Tillman situation? Differences of degree, not of kind.

true

it's the "one for all - all for one" culture in Israel, especially considering the army.
Rabbin set the "rule" that if a kidnapped soldier can't be rescued in a military operation - he should be released whatever the price is.
the logic is that if the country isn't responsible for it's soldiers and make every effort to release them - people wont be willing to serve.
the emotions involved in this issue (people imagining themselves and families in the situation) are very strong, and are hard to imagine for non israelies. it's a question of tradition and culture.
after 5 years of negotiation they made the tough decision,(with a feeling that it's a "now or never" point in time) with promises of the Shin Bet they could handle the threats that will arise from it,if and when .time will tell.

it's hard that hard to imagine, really -- it's awful, awful, awful what's happened to that poor kid. fuck a hamas.

it's NOT that hard to imagine

it's hard to imagine he's still alive...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/10/23/best-deal-ever.html

tldr (yet)

So is Condi Rice's revisionism as good as Cheney's?

remind me what was Cheney's revisionism?

Taking credit for killing Bin Laden, etc.

oh, this is her recounting the negotiations between olmert + abbas. i assume it's true.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/opinion/israel-and-the-apartheid-slander.html

Israel's friend to world: suck it

huzzah! more settlements!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/01/israel-settlement-growth-unesco-vote-palestinians

Don't forget about the "temporary halt on the transfer of tax revenues which it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority", the not allowing senior officials through checkpoints (sic) anymore etc etc etc.

Sigh. Building houses on hi-speed as an answer to Palestine's UNESCO-membership. Great "response", Israel, really...

Jello Biafra's account of his visit to Israel and the occupied territories is very long and very good.

http://www.alternativetentacles.com/page.php?page=jello_israel

Good piece.

"Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (aka "Bibi"), of the extreme right Likud party"

Hahahahaha....oh wait, he's right.

what's funny about that sentence? his nickname?

Alan: 'You're always going on about Binyamin Netanyahu. Let it go, Lynn, you're never going to meet him'

my mom went to highschool with him

Good looking boy?

ha, so did the mom of another friend of mine

what's funny about that sentence? his nickname?

― Mordy, Wednesday, November 2, 2011 8:43 AM Bookmark

No I meant that I never used to think of Likkud as "extreme right" just right, like the analog of the mainstream of the GOP I guess. But now they really are extreme right.

I'd call the GOP the extreme right.

Jello Biafra should call his blog "Jello Shots."

Great "response", Israel, really...

Both sides are irrational and counter-productive when it comes to peace, it just irks me that I'm 'supposed' to have more sympathy with Israel 'cause they're 'more civilized' and have a democracy and they play their fears and resentments as stupidly as Hamas does.

my old man uses that argument - that Israel is "more like us". but to me it indicates that they should know better.

I couldn't have said it better myself, Michael

Actually, Jello's piece was pretty strong, and intellectually engaged. I felt a lot of sympathy for both sides, each of whom have been played as pawns in a broader global game, with the extremists as foot soldiers fucking things up for everyone.

Then again, I'm sympathetic to the countless innocents stuck in the middle of intractable conflicts, most of whom suffer under similar or more extreme poverty and violence and lack rich benefactors. Which is, perhaps, why no one is rattling on about, say, the chaos of Somalia.