Columnist Ted Rall wrote (extracts):
As commander of a Nazi einsatzgruppen death squad in occupied Poland, Dr. Werner Best came to believe that the most effective response to terrorism was collective punishment. After the fall of France he went on to draft the Third Reich's counterterrorism policy for countries occupied by Germany. Towns where acts of ‘passive’ resistance such as the cutting of telegraph cables had taken place were placed under curfews, fined and slapped with travel restrictions. ‘Active’ resistance - the killing of a German soldier - would be met by reprisal killings of local civilians. [...]
Eventually Hitler himself got into the act. Convinced that collective punishment was failing because it wasn't severe enough, the führer issued a September 1941 order to use ‘the harshest measures’ against civilians in areas where the Resistance was active. Arguing that ‘only the [collective] death penalty can be a real means of deterrence’, Hitler ordered that 50 civilians be executed for each German soldier killed.
Back to the future, Al Jazeera reported that the UN has criticised Israel for conducting collective punishment on Gaza's population whenever it responds to security threats such as rocket attacks by militant groups.
The Israelis would sent its fighter jets on strike missions in northern Gaza which would invariably end up with more civilian deaths, mostly women and chidren, rather than those who launched the rockets.
Additionally, when Israeli soldiers recently captured four (they claimed) Hamas fighters, and took them to Israel for questioning, the troops also arrested family members of the fighters. Another favourite Israeli practice woudl be to demolish the houses of the families of terrorists. I read an American caustically proposing a new State flag for Israel which has a bulldozer in the place of the Star of David.
More than 38 Palestinians have now been killed since Monday.
Al Jazeera reported that Israel bombed four targets in Gaza on Friday, including an office block in a crowded part of the city. The building was reduced to rubble, killing one woman and injuring almost 50 other people.
Al Jazeera's correspondent Jacky Rowland says the Israeli onslaught in Gaza is making the position of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, increasingly difficult. Khalil Shaheen, a political analyst based in Ramallah in the West Bank, agrees that Abbas has been placed in an impossible situation.
Khalil Shaheen said: "He [Abbas] is trying to continue with negotiations while Israel is continuing attacks in the West Bank and Gaza. This equation will not lead anyone anywhere, and he will have to take a political stand that will put an an end to the negotiations due to the Israeli escalation of violence."
The reality is Israel does not want peace because 'peace' will thwart its grand design. More of this later.
When President Bush embarked on his so-called ‘peace mission’ to Israel and Palestine, many couldn’t help but laugh at him. This was a Bush who, apart from launching illegal wars of aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq, talked about ‘bringing democracy’ to Palestine but sabotaging the democratically elected Hamas government when his Israeli master told him to. Bush and his Israel bosses, Ariel Sharon and then Ehud Olmert, went about putting up a puppet Palestinian government by endorsing a minority Fatah government.
If fact in earlier years, Bush and Israel prevented elections in Palestine until after Yasser Arafat passed away because they didn’t want a world-recognised democratically elected government headed by Yasser Arafat. No way, Jose, not when the head of a democratically elected Palestinian government would be the ‘wrong man’ for Mother Israel.
‘Democracy’ in Palestine to Bush and Israel means only one thing, that the associated elections must produce the same results as those in Iraq and Afghanistan, American puppet governments. And where necessary, the election in those country would be preceded by war and occupation, of course to teach the natives about American styled ‘democracy’ which has been designed for colonies.
In earlier years there were similar such cases in South Korea, Taiwan, South Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines. Indonesia (under Suharto), Pakistan and Egypt and (at one time) Uzbekistan, etc have the sort of 'democratic' governments that the US government prefers. And they didn't even have an Israel to contend with.
Anyway, when Bush started his meaningless journey he made stern calls to Israel to withdraw to the 1967 borders and to cease building new settlements in the Palestinian West Bank as had been agreed at the recent and totally useless Annapolis talks hosted by Bush, but just after two days of stay under Israeli ‘care’ he changed his stand 180 degrees around, stating that there is no possible return to the 1967 borders and that Israel has the right to continue its development of new settlements.
Significantly, among his entourage, is ultra neocon Zionist, Elliot Abrams, a man who like Donald Feith has been perceived by many to be more Israeli than American. With a semi-moronic simpleton like George Bush, his neocon advisors would have him taking a stand like an Ariel Sharon redux within 24 hours.
Moderate Arabs may be prepared to live with an Israeli entity which doesn't oppress Palestinians, but the stand that there will ‘...no possible return to the 1967 borders ...’ means there will never ever be peace.
UN Sec-Gen Ban joined Holmes on Friday in urging Israel to end the blockade of Gaza, currently the world’s biggest prison. Ban said Israel cutting off the Gaza population from fuel supplies needed to pump water and generate electricity for homes and hospitals and food, medical and relief items is inhumane.
I say the Israelis are like born-again-Nazis.
Isolating Gaza and the West Bank like islands in Israeli military controlled zones is not new and has a sinister purpose.
In his article on the Nazi, Ted Rall said Dr Werner Best, the Nazi proponent of group punishment, was trying to protect German troops.
But the Israelis aim is more than the mere protection of its soldiers or illegal settlers. Its isolation of Gaza and West Bank is not the mere encircling of the two Palestinian enclaves (or prisons) for security reasons. Within those enclaves are further military sub-enclaves, with hundreds of military check points. The sole aim is to hamper, slow down, deny, frustrate and thwart Palestinians farmers, traders and travellers.
The strategy is to so demoralize and weaken the resolve of the Palestinians to remain in Gaza or the West Bank so that out of lost hope, wretched misery and desperation they will seek to migrate elsewhere, any f*-where. When that happens or a situation close enough, Israel will annex both pieces of Palestinian real estates.
In fact, when he was active, Ariel Sharon had repetitively pronounced Jordan as the homeland for Palestinians and for them to move over there. Israel aims to annex the entire Palestinian land, which to them are the sacred lands of Judea and Samarra.
And why won’t Israel annex the occupied territories now or earlier? Not with 5 million Palestinians there. When you annex lands, you annex or get their population as well. An Israel having 5 million Arabs as part of their population in a Greater Davidic Israel would be far too perilous and self defeating to a Jewish State.
Too bad for the Israelis they can’t indulge in what their biblical ancestors had done to the Amalekites, namely genocide to solve their problem of ensuring a Jewish-majority status for a Greater Israel, though at times we have seen isolated models of the Israeli atavistic propensity at Deir Yassin, Sabra and Shatila and their vicious malicious attacks of Southern Lebanon (Qana) and the destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure (even in the north) in the recent conflict.
Ted Rall wrote of Israel’s Nazi behavior in Lebanon:
In response to criticism that Israel was using ‘disproportionate’ force against Lebanon, its ambassador to the United Nations told a cheering mob in New York: "You're damned right we are!" Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) chimed in: "Since when should a response to aggression and murder be proportionate?"
That was the response of an arrogant Israeli ambassador about Israel’s Nazi conduct in Lebanon to a cheering Jewish crowd in New York. And though Republican Jerrold Nadler might not have realised it at that time when he was currying favour with American Jewish voters, his shameless comments actually justifies the Palestinian responses to Israeli atrocities and aggressions.
Ted Rall said: Congressman Nadler ought to catch up on his reading. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which has been signed and ratified by both Israel and the United States and was drafted in response to the kinds of Nazi atrocities described at the beginning of this column, specifically prohibits collective punishment. As a treaty obligation, it is U.S. law. It is Israeli law.
Nothing prevents a nation from defending itself or going after those who commit heinous crimes--which include kidnapping--against its citizens. Understanding the difference between self-defense and collective punishment is what separates Israel and the U.S.--on paper, anyway--from the Nazis.
Heil Hitler, Heil Israel, Heil Ariel Sharon, Heil Ehud Olmert.
It's a very sad irony that similar levels of genocidal attrocities are being perpetrated by latter-day generations of the victims.
ReplyDeleteThe long-lasting solution is one that cannot be adopted because of mistrust on all sides, and the lingering factions of those calling for the destruction of the Jewish state doesn't help matters.
It's a no-win situation, unless:
1) Everyone in the argument can accept everybody's else's co-existence.
2) The US/EU desists in unilaterally supporting Israel in every action the latter carries out, no matter how morally wrong.
3) Trust can be established on all sides, without any vested self-interest.
Sounds utopian? You bet. And for that reason alone, lasting peace can never be achieved in the region, without each other wiping the other out, eventually.
Some valuable lessons are, unfortunately, lost on those who only value their own interests and literally don't give a flying fuck for anybody else's. The irony of the attrocities being perpetrated is a fine example.
(p.s. sorry for the profanity)
Had the Jews been Nazis, all the 3 million Palestinians in the occupied territories would had perished in Jewish-run concentration camps long, long ago. So how come the Palestinians are still alive and kicking and KILLING? After all, it took Hitler a mere 5 years to exterminate 6 million European Jews
ReplyDeleteIf today's World, especially American Christian supporters who are basically decent human beings but religiously-enamoured of the Jewish-Hebraic status in their Christian beliefs, are not watching those Israelis, do you believe for one instant those Ariel Sharon's and Menachem Begin's wouldn't have gone those extra metres?
ReplyDeleteIt's also a blessing that those Israelis aren't as powerful and all conquering as Nazi Germany.
Even then, the genocide of Sabra and Shatila, and the murders of innocent Lebanese children demand accounting.
But the Israeli current strategy to 'drive the Palestinians out' of Gaza and West Bank to enable their annexation of land minus its population is no better than a genocide.
And shame on you for a non-relevant attempt to divert attention from the Israelis' current excessive oppression of Palestinians.
walski, when such evil Israeli oppression reigns under the Bush Administration protection, profanity becomes the only form of language to express indignation against both Bush's perverted Christian values and teh evils of the Israelis.
ReplyDeleteCool, the next time the Palestinians bomb Israel, Israelis should just let them. I suggest use their bulldozers to dig underground bunkers for Jews to live in, just like the good old days in the Warsaw ghetto.
ReplyDeletezigzag, the Israelis should instead lend their bulldozers to the Palestinians, as they (the Israelis) are the ones who have the warplanes, artillery, tanks and helicopter gunships. The Palestinians are the ones needing the bunkers, assuming these won't be filled in by Israeli bulldozers burying the Arabs in the process.
ReplyDelete>>And shame on you for a non-relevant attempt to divert attention from the Israelis' current excessive oppression of Palestinians.
ReplyDeleteActually I think its a very relevant comparison that he has brought up, in this arguement on whether/whether not the IDF is behaving like their former Nazi oppressors.
Truly the actions of the Israeli govt upon the Palestinians are reprehensible, and so are the 'deeds' of Hamas for both sides are not really aiming for a peaceful solution. That would be a creation of an independent Palestinian state, as well as recognition of Israel's right to exist.
And there are also more atrocities happening round the world than just Iraq & Palestine. Darfur for instance... and the Congo.
Sorry I disagree, because in the first place the post is about group punishment.
ReplyDelete... which has been why in my post I wrote: "Too bad for the Israelis they can’t indulge in what their biblical ancestors had done to the Amalekites, namely genocide to solve their problem of ensuring a Jewish-majority status for a Greater Israel, though at times we have seen isolated models of the Israeli atavistic propensity at Deir Yassin, Sabra and Shatila and their vicious malicious attacks of Southern Lebanon (Qana) and the destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure (even in the north) in the recent conflict."
Secondly, assuming we want to talk about genocide, Israel by comparison is far smaller in size, strength and stature than a Nazi Germany and still grossly dependent on American aid - as mentioned, these two factors have curb its atavistic tendency to commit genocide rather than that it doesn't want to kill the Palestinians, which it does, in manageable numbers under the guise of going after the militants - Sabra and Shatila were examples of mini genocides that were small enough to avoid comparison to Nazi murder of Jews, but by comparative ratio of strength of perpetrators and victims, they were no different, pure unadulterated ethnic cleansing. Deir Yassin was another example. Qana came close to that but people just called the last one a war crime.
Palestinians continue to be murdered almost everyday, and the topic, 'group punishment' continues daily, even right now.
The Israeli strategy of deliberately frustrating, humiliating, thwarting, denying etc the Palestnians so as to drive them out of Gaza and West Bank is real - that's genocide too, targetted ethnic cleansing of the two Palestinian enclaves for eventual annexation. Getting rid of a race of people, whether by direct murder or driving them out by oppression is no different - it's still ethnic cleansing.
Palestinians may be mostly Muslims but they don't deserve our hatred or prejudice. These are people deprived of their homeland by a callous Western World who had suffered from guilty conscience at their lack of action during the Nazi Holocaust, and who robbed Daud to pay David. It doesn't help when the American Christian Right became a willing captive of cunning Israeli exploitation of their religious belief.
you are indeed a bias person,I guess ,inside, you would cheerish the idea of the destruction of the country called Israel.Hey, let the israelities die ,women and children.It doesn't matter, there are all jews(son's of pig)right?
ReplyDeletetoo me, i will condemn both sides,both are neither angels!
Funny thing ,the palestian christians been having a lot of trouble for the past 7 years and much more worse after hamas.Justice.....
but why bother telling you these? selective justice doesn't work at all :past,present and future.
the holy land doesn't required people of your mindset(there have too many on both sides,you are no different from the pro israel) .What they need is people from within on both sides to break this bondage.
"you are indeed a bias person" - Then so must be the European Union and UN as they have condemned the Israelis for their inhumane conduct. The Israelis initially said there was no blockade of supplies of emergency items like medicine, then they arrogantly said let the Gaza Palestinians learn how to live without electricity until the militants stop firing rockets (wasn't this an Israeli admission of imposing 'group punishment'?), and when the Europeans condemned them, they announced they would partially lift the blockade to allow medical supplies in, which meant they were lying in the first place about not blocking supplies of emergency items. Isn't that Nazi-ish, blocking medical supplies and electricity which would be essential to run baby incubators and other life supporting systems in hospitals?
ReplyDelete"you would cheerish the idea of the destruction of the country called Israel" - now, where is it that I had called for that? In my posts I have always mentioned the 1967 borders. You OTOH are indeed a bias person for attempting to introduce irrelevant polemics to distract attention from the topic in my post, namely the Nazi-like 'group punishment' that Israel has inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza, and which obviously the Europeans and the UN had found utterly repugnant as they including European Jews had suffered the same from the Nazis during WWII.
"... all jews(son's of pig)right?" - I don't know, and have never read of such an idiotic idea. But the Bible said the Jews are the descendant from Jacob, son of Isaac. Presumably you know who Jacob was? According to the Bible, he was the man who deceived his own (virtually blind) father to steal his brother's rights. Jacob's other name was Israel.
Thus has today's Israel deceived the Western World, especially its American benefactor, to continuously steal its Semitic brother's land in the West Bank.