AUTHOR:G.
DATE:6/22/2002 08:43:00 PM
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BODY: The Fence

I'm getting more and more convinced that unilateral separation from the Palestinians and the building of a security fence is the right move for Israel.

My brother Ran says that if Arafat, the Palestinians, the Arab states, the EU and the US all oppose the security fence idea then it MUST be the best thing for Israel to do. I agree with him, all of those groups care for their own interests not Israel's, It is time for Israel to act upon Israeli interests not foreign ones.

In a month or so when my university tasks will be over I think I'll get more involved in this fence idea, maybe I'll even get out of my political inactiveness, maybe. I promise to bring more on this subject later.

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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:6/22/2002 08:05:00 PM
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BODY: History in a nutshell

Click this link to view a short presentation about the history of the Middle East conflict.

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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:6/21/2002 10:03:00 PM
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BODY: Arafat lying again

Two years after he turned down the "Clinton Plan" Arafat says he is willing to accept it as a framework for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

This delusional man turned down the "Clinton Plan" and set the region on fire, causing the death of hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians. And now he is ready to accept it? I don't believe him. This man has the tendency to adjust his announcements according to the listeners. The above statement was given in an interview to the lefty Ha'aretz Israeli newspaper. Arafat wants to convince the Israeli left wing that he is a peace loving man - yeah, I'm already convinced.

When he is not interviewed to Israeli and world media and speaks in Arabic to its own people the messages are very different. The man slogan is "million of 'shahids' (martyrs) are coming to Jerusalem" - he incites the crowd and then "condemns" suicide bombing to international ears.

To those of you who don't know the "Clinton Plan": "The plan does not mention the right of return of Palestinian refugees to Israel. Arafat also said he supports border corrections and territorial exchanges, and that he is proposing Israeli sovereignty over, and access to, the Western Wall and the Old City's Jewish Quarter." - Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak offered all of that to Arafat 2 years ago in Camp David.

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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:6/21/2002 09:15:00 PM
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BODY: 3 days toll: 33 Israelis killed, 7 of them children and teenagers

That is the sad statistics. The last terror attack: the butchering of a mother 3 of her children (ages: 15, 12, 5) and a neighbor in Itamar.

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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:6/20/2002 09:48:00 PM
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BODY: The new international war crimes tribunal

AP: "The United States put a clearly reluctant UN Security Council on the spot, demanding immunity for Americans from prosecution by the new international war crimes tribunal - and threatening to end U.S. participation in UN peacekeeping operations if it doesn't get its way. The Bush administration made its move less than two weeks before the International Criminal Court officially becomes a reality on July 1.

All 15 nations in the European Union - including Britain and France, which are veto-wielding members of the Security Council - are among the 67 countries that have ratified the Rome treaty establishing the court, and are now legally bound to support it. French diplomats say the treaty supersedes its national laws.

The United States objects to the idea that Americans could be subject to the court's jurisdiction if a crime is committed in a country that has ratified the treaty - even if the United States is not a party. Washington says that would leave U.S. troops and citizens vulnerable to frivolous or politically motivated prosecutions - and that other countries could use it to try American soldiers for war crimes, in effect threatening U.S. sovereignty."

The Americans are afraid that after they do all the hard job of fighting against terror some "enlightened" European countries will blame them for committing war crimes. A good example is Norway's U.N. Ambassador Ole Peter Kolby to the American demand: "I don't know if there is a way( to except it)." Those "prim" Europeans make me sick.

The problem for Israel is that once this court will be operative it will start to hunt down Israelis for allegedly War crimes. Ridicules.

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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:6/20/2002 09:22:00 PM
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BODY: I bet Ted Turner loves this photo

When ever I want to watch how Israel looks in world media I open the tv and switch to the foreign news channels. Till today only CNN International, BBC World and SKY News are available to Israeli audience. It is very difficult to decide which one of those 3 news channels is the most biased towards the Palestinians.

Beginning from today the Israeli satellite television "Yes" will broadcast the Fox News channel. Now I've never watched it but people say that Fox News coverage of the Middle East is more balanced than CNN's.

The recent remarks made by CNN founder Ted Turner are absolutely idiotic, the man is obviously a fruitcake. People in Israel weren't too excited about his remarks because no one gives a damn about Turner here in Israel.

Ha'aretz reports that: "Even before Turner's comments, Israel's cable and satellite companies had received numerous letters from viewers requesting that the Fox News station be added to the viewing package."

So some people will enjoy Fox News now, unfortunately I'm connected to cable tv, not the satellite, so I still have only those 3 hating Jews stations. I guess it won't be long and Fox News will be available in Cable tv as well.

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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:6/19/2002 10:19:00 PM
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BODY: Six murdered in today's terror attack

Ha'aretz: "Six people were killed and 38 injured, eight seriously, when a suicide bomber blew himself up Wednesday at the French Hill intersection in Jerusalem close to 7:10 P.M. ... Body parts were scattered on the street, a baby carriage was overturned, and rescue workers covered it with a black plastic bag."

I was at home studying with a friend to one of my finals in university when his girlfriend called. She lives in Jerusalem right next to the French Hill junction where the suicide bomber blew himself up. She said that she just heard a big explosion and her apartment was shaken from the blast. It was a good thing that she called immediately because after a few minutes the phone lines in Jerusalem got jammed. As my friend got the call I opened the tv and in less than two minutes came the breaking news.

As usual in those cases there was no clear information, at first they talked about 20 injured. Only later the numbers begun to rise to the real numbers, first 3 dead then up to 5 and 6 and currently the number of dead people is 7. Update: the number of confirmed deaths is back at 6.

Here are photos from the scene. Please take a look, they are much stronger than anything I can write:

1. A body of a victim 2. Collecting body parts 3. Covering the body of a victim 4. The shock 5. Evacuating a victim 6. Israeli bomb disposal expert working 7. The mayhem 8. Debris and body parts.

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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:6/19/2002 01:18:00 PM
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BODY: "Little Bin Ladens"

Ze'ev Schiff writes an excellent analysis in Ha'aretz. Here the best parts (I marked the parts which I agree with the most):

Two weeks ago, on June 5, a suicide bomber killed 17 people on a bus near the Megiddo Junction. Yesterday, the pictures repeated themselves with 19 dead.

Israel's reaction after the Megiddo bombing was somewhat odd - the demolition of a single building in the Ramallah headquarters of the Palestinian Authority. Clearly, the reaction now will not be the same.

A higher profile retaliation need not be Yasser Arafat's expulsion. Despite the raft of reports, the subject did not come up for discussion yesterday. A qualitative change could be retaliations against relatives of suicide bombers, or against those who send them. It could mean operations against higher level commanders in the terror organizations, considered by Israel as "little bin Ladens" that should be eliminated or, at the very least, constantly chased along with their families.

There is also a proposal to use pressure to force Palestinians to leave particularly problematic communities, in other words, to create waves of refugees inside the territories.

For some time, there has been a need to "unlink" the cycle of Palestinian terror immediately followed by a more or less forceful Israeli reaction. This is accompanied by a diplomatic ritual that began after the Dolphinarium discotheque bombing last year, when various foreign ministers condemn Palestinian terror and then criticize Israel for its military reaction.

Another flaw in that system is that the IDF loses the element of surprise. On the Palestinian side, they expect an Israeli reaction, especially as the anticipation is echoed, reverberated and amplified in the Israeli media, which promises a forceful reaction. It's only natural under such circumstances that the terrorists and their controllers take cover.

The war against terror must be unceasing, at least until another trend develops on the Palestinian side. All the opinion polls among Palestinians show that there is a majority of Palestinians who support suicide attacks on Israelis and against Israeli civilians, while the condemnations by the PA are greeted with as much skepticism on the Palestinian side as on the Israeli side.

The full article over here.

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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:6/19/2002 09:08:00 AM
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BODY: Not enough

The Israeli army entered (again) the West Bank cities of Jenin, Nablus and Qalqilyah overnight in response to the Jerusalem suicide bombing. I don't like this response, The army should strike with fierce power in specific points. One example that comes to my head: the village of the suicide bomber.

Israel needs to shock the Palestinians, Those reentries to their cities will not do the job.

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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:6/18/2002 09:27:00 PM
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BODY: Punitive strike

A new painful punitive strike must be unleashed against those savage monsters also known as "Palestinians", I don't care what will it be as long as its going to hurt them badly.

Those animals praise and worship death and blood - I say lets give them blood and death. In the Middle East only the strong survive and the only way those damn Arabs get it is by painful hits.

A slight problem though: Some big country (I can't recall its name) is not backing Israel although that same country launched (seemingly) a "war against terror".

At the evening news here in Israel they reported that a military reaction is on the way. I doubt if it will something unusual like needed.

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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:6/18/2002 01:08:00 PM
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BODY: Again

19 people were slaughtered by a Palestinians animal this morning in Jerusalem. I first heard that when I was on my way to university, I got so mad. All I could think of was: "kill those bastards, kill them". Now a 3 hours later as the daily routine continues I'm not mad any more. It's hard for me to explain how I feel now. I can say that I became numb. I can't think of anything concerning the last suicide bombing so I just "ignore" it for a while. Almost no one here in Tel Aviv University talks about it. People can't handle the pain so they just keep quiet.

In the meantime please take a look in these photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

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AUTHOR:G.
DATE:6/17/2002 08:33:00 PM
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BODY: Separate

Finally after 530 Israelis have died Israel has begun the construction of the security fence (map) between Israel and the West Bank. The planned length of the entire fence is around 115 kilometers, and it will cost around $1 million per kilometer.

I wasn't a great supporter of the fence in the past but I've changed my mind. Lets face it the Palestinians are going to have their own state in the West Bank and Gaza. There are a few millions living there and they will stay there. I don't won't to control them nor do I want them to become citizens of Israel. I think 95% of Israelis and Palestinians know that its going to happen sometime eventually.

Most of the settlements will have to be dismantled. The big ones close to the 67 border should be annexed to Israel. We can't leave with those animals (Palestinians) among us, I for sure don't want that. I want to get rid of those bustards to live in my secure Israel and to have nothing to do with them. I want this security Fence to spread all around this Palestinian entity and I wont it to have no gates.

I don't to see another Palestinian for the rest of my life. As far as I care Israel shouldn't allow even a telephone connection to them. I don't want them to come to work in Israel, to murder our people, to steal our property and ruin our lives.

The Beast should be quarantined in its tiny compound. I don't want anything to do with them. Let them lie, steal, murder and lynch them selves. If any one comes near that fence shoot him.

The Palestinians abandoned the route to coexistence with Israelis - so let them choke and decay inside their tiny territories. Let Israel to prosper without them.

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