Post To The Left

It's been a scandalous couple of days for Israel. First Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government slammed American Jewish cluture as corrupt and urged them to come home to Israel, the land of purity. Then in incredible move the Israeli government is posed to launch an assault on freedom of the press in Israel. In a move right out of Chavez or Mussolini's handbook Netanyahu is aimed his sights at the Media. His Israeli government is set to approve a set of laws that will severely limit the free press as well attack media outlets that don't toe the "official" line. Already one station has been kicked off the air. It has gotten so bad that even America has become alarmed. Already upset with Israel's increasing moves against women's rights in Israel, such as segregating women in public or even in the former secular bastion the exalted IDF. Clinton has come out publically against attack on Israel freedoms and that Clinton is 'concerned over Israeli democracy' And she should know since the Jewish press deemed just the sight of her, a woman, as unclean and edited her out of the iconic Bin Laden photo. Where is this all going to end? Jewish women forced to were head to toe covering so as to not offend the JudeoFascist religious extremists?

Which EU officials? The media have been saying there are only 10 days left for the last two years.

First the Israel's seize land after Jewish Settler attacks drive off the Palestinian farmers then pro-settler judges seize through a number of dubious means including seizing it after Settlers have caused the land to be abandoned. Then to protect the settlement from an outraged Palestinian population the IDF seizes more land for roads, utilities, military outposts, etc. And the Palestinians are caught in a system where they have little if any rights under the apartheid occupation territories.

Palestinians don't enjoy democracy in the occupied territories they are disenfranchised and denied basic human rights. When that happened in America it set off a bloody revolution to fight for their freedom but when it happens now, they're just terrorists who don't deserve their own country. I don't know why you try and justify the oppressive treatment of Palestinians with an argument like two wrongs make a right. Treatment by brutal foreign dictators should have zero influence on how a people are treated in another country. Palestinians living in the occupied territories shouldn't have to suffer the harsh Israeli apartheid system:

In 2002 the Americans bombed the shit out of Canadian forces that killed some of our boys. So following your logic it wasn't an unfortunate mistake, it is because the American's aren't our allies? That said this sort of thing happens all the time on the vague border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The two countries already have a system worked out. Last time American bombs killed some Pakistan border agents America simply allowed Pakistan to kill some of its soldiers in a revenge attack:

Israel is small but it's not so small that one nuke would wipe it out. That is just crazy talk. It would take one for each population center of Israel, probably 10-15 nukes. That amount of nukeage is a whole lot of radiation that you're going to be sending out over the region ... a Muslim region that contains Iran's big allies, Hezbollah and Syria. Keep in mind Iran has been sending Shi'ite death squads into Syria to suppress the uprising there. Also, I doubt a nuke would knock out the Israeli nuclear retaliation ability. When Mordechai Vanunu defected he told of over a hundred nukes that were well protected and bunkerized. Then you're ignoring the biggest flaw in your narrative. Even if the Iranians didn't care about the Palestinians Israel and the occupied territories contain the third most holiest place in Islam. Why would they nuke their holy lands?

I don't get the legal contract demand. I mean so they get a legal contract that says the US won't attack them with a nuclear strike then when America A-Bombs Russia back to the stone age what the surviving 100 or so Russians are going to go the International court and press charges?? Seems ridiculous. And its not just the Russian even the whole premise of the missile shield is flawed. So if Iran develops nuclear weapons, and that's a big IF, why would they attack America when they knew the States have the capability to totally destroy their nation? I don't care if you're a dictator or some jihad loving mullah it just doesn't make sense launch an attack on a country when you know it will not only destroy you but would involve erasing your entire nation off the map. Now if Iran develops nuclear weapons, big IF again, then you might have an argument that the nuclear weapons could fall into terrorist hands but then what use is a missile shield against a bomb smuggled into America or a friendly country?

The true climategate is how conservative groups are trying to deny the fact of global warming. When they are forced to follow the rules even they have to admit global warming is real! The big oil group the, Charles Koch Charitable Foundation, "widely seen as a source of money for conservative organizations and initiatives that have fought efforts to curb greenhouse-gas emissions" funded a study to prove global warming isn't rule ... the only thing is, it backfired and in fact proved global warming exists!

If by "many" you mean 17% of the West Bank (41% if you add Area B areas that only have civil control) then yes the PA controls "many of the land." Here is a map of the cantons the PA controls: Map showing governorates and areas of formal Palestinian control (Areas A and B in deep green) Arafat never ripped up anything and Arafat has never said he wanted a Muslim state where Israel and Jordan are. At the most you could claim that Arafat wanted two separate states, Israel and Palestine, but Arafat wanted a higher number of people to return to Israel who owned land but were chased off their land in '48 in what is now Israel. I agree the West Bank and Gaza strip have a murky status that can't be compared to other modern nations. I agree that the land that makes up the West Bank and Gaza have never been a nation (Of course if you don't count when it was part of the Ottoman Empire before WWI). But this situation makes the comparison with South Africa's cantons what they called the Bantustans all the more true. White South Africans defeated the African Nations that were migrating into South Africa from the North the same time the White settlers were moving up from the south. The hostile defeated Black nations were driven from their lands and given "homelands" or Bantustans so that White Apartheid South Africans could still control - de facto control as you call it - all of South Africa but give some autonomy to the Blacks without giving them any real rights or what became known as apartheid. This directly compares to Israel where Israeli forces drove people from their homes in '48, in this case actual homes with land deeds, as opposed to tribal areas controlled by say the Zulu. Then decades later they occupied a territory (West Bank, Gaza) that they didn't want to annex because that would entail giving its residents citizenship, same as the situation with White South Africans and not wanting to give the blacks citizenship instead putting them in the Bantustans) No, the present Prime Minister of Israel has already vowed NEVER to allow a Palestinian state "Israel's Likud Party has passed a resolution saying that it will never agree to an independent Palestinian State. "

Israel. You don't even have to live there to become a member, you just have to be Jewish. You of course realize that by saying people who aren't born in a country have no claim over totally negates the argument that Israel is for the Jews. After all they lost their claim after the first generation was pushed off their land thousands of years ago.

So have the Israelis.

That's the problem though. Israel is sitting on a demographic time bomb. Soon Secular Jews will be VASTLY outnumbered by non-working ultra Jewish extremists and hostile Israeli Arabs not to mention a huge population of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel is undefeatable NOW but the tide is coming in and not even they will be able to stop the ocean.

How has it not annexed it? If Israel doesn't control it then who does? Palestinians have no control over their land, their water, their sea access, their air space, they aren't recognized as a nation, etc, etc If the West Bank isn't part of Israel then where is a part of? Obviously it's viewed as a territory of Israel. As such as a part of Israel its inhabitants can't vote, can't leave the country, can't move around the interior of the country, all the things that define a canton in the South African example.

I think you're missing the point. In your article Abbas was raising a valid point: Why indeed are the Palestinians being punished for a 64 year old mistake? Other posters have raised valid points i.e. Arab countries have shat on the Palestinians for decades, Hamas has declared that it would only accept a long term truce with Israel, "Turks treat Kurds worse" (not sure what that has to do with anything) But the Palestinians aren't the only ones who made mistakes: -Israeli's should never have started the settlement program -You talk about how Hamas, a political party in the occupied territory refuses to recognize Israel but why the double standard? Likud the party of the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did the same thing, "Israel's Likud Party has passed a resolution saying that it will never agree to an independent Palestinian State. " -As the American government officials have stated Israel should have never birthed Hamas, "U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer made the connection between the growth of the Islamic fundamentalist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and Israel's promotion of the Islamic movement as a counter to the Palestinian nationalist movement. "

Israel views the occupied territories aka the West Bank as part of Israel. In the West Bank Arabs aren't allowed to vote, they don't have freedom of movement and leave in cantons very similar to the situation in Apartheid South Africa.

Didnt they pay it all back? Last I heard the government wasn't defaulting and Iceland would pay back all its debts and the Iceland ... ish, Icelanders? were supper pissed about it because they wanted to tell the International banks to go fuck off but the government paid it all back.

One of the deal's components is that the banks wipe out 50% of the value of Greek debt.

At times it seems a little ra ra ra but they do bring up some good points: -Chinese minimum wage is rising at an incredible rate of 16% a year which means very soon it won't make financial sense, with things like shipping costs or technology piracy in China, to manufacture in China. Other countries that do have cheap wages are decades behind in infrastructure required to export on China's scale. -America is almost at energy self sufficiency with new tech providing "72pc of its own oil needs, up from around 50pc a decade ago. " -America is almost the only economic power with a fertility rate above 2.0 - and therefore the ability to outgrow debt - in sharp contrast to the demographic decay awaiting Japan, China, Korea, Germany, Italy, and Russia.

Now the Jewish extremists are attracting attention over their inability to have women and men sit in the same seat. Due to Fundamentalist Jewish men thinking women are inferior beasts that should be covered and hidden away women are forced to ride in the back of buses in Jewish Areas of New York: How long before Jewish women are forced to cover their bodies on the streets of New York so they don't offend Jewish men?!?! Stand with women everywhere against this injustice and these Jewish extremists!

You have a point in that it is really too early to tell how the successful revolutions, where the oppressive dictator was overthrown, will turn out. All we have now is Tunisia with the election results for a 217 seat Constituent Assembly breaking down like this: Ennahda - 90 seats - Basically the same party as muslim AK Party in democratic Turkey Congress for the Republic - 30 seats - centre-left secular Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties - 21 - centre-left secular Popular Petition - 19 - A party built around a Tunisian Ted Turner and his media empire Progressive Democratic Party - 17 - secular liberal The Initiative - 5 - The old guard, the supporters of the former dictator

Aircraft Carriers are equipped with gymnasiums, movie theatres, and several cafeterias. http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2011/05/12/game_deck_aircraft_carrier/

As I talked about earlier, Israel is facing an upcoming demographic crisis that will hit when the ultra religious Jewish fundamentalists take more and more control of Israel with their increasing population. Already a harsh form of Judaism is being exported to Israel where women are erased from all forms of life like last year when an American Newspaper edited out Hilary Clinton from a picture because as a women she was thought of unclean and dirty. In addition to eliminating women from public life, as shown even by editing out pictures of women in newspapers, Jewish religious leaders are slowly restricting how people can dress, act and function in society. Large sections of Israel have areas where women are forced to cover-up, men wear beards and other oppressive measures. Due to the high birth-rate of Orthodox Jews these Areas will expand exponentially. Already Jewish groups are seeking to purify their race by preventing mixed marriages. During negotiations with the Palestinians they also seek to expunge all non-Jews from Israel. Now in another crisis the powerful Jewish "Rabbinate" are further extending their misogynist tentacles into the secular IDF: Luckily the brave women of the IDF stood up to these religious zealots and out of principal left the party rather than be shunted aside. I hope everyone can applaud their bravery in standing up to these religious extremists and that Israel can maintain its secular culture from the Jewish extremists.

Didn't you hear there is a "conspiracy" of medical professionals trying to kill him! "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." -- Lord Acton

Times did an interesting piece on just how far the alliance goes: You've got to remember that Pakistan civil government has little or no control over the military or the ISI. There is so much going behind the scenes in that country that it is basically a basket case. I mean look at this:

As you've said Sharia prohibits the fixed or floating payment or acceptance of specific interest but there are still Western Banks using Interest operating in the Arab world. Also some of biggest and newest banks are Islamic Banks that don't use interest to make their money. According to this report from the IMF website: "Total assets of Islamic banks worldwide are estimated at about $250 billion, and are expected to grow by about 15 percent a year (Choong and Liu, 2006; Ainley and others, 2007)." If Arabs were given a chance they could access credit from Western Banks or the new emerging Islamic banks. Arabs have the knowledge of and access to Western style banking and there is also a growing Islamic banking sector. However in the past corrupt regimes, which tried to create Soviet style economies stifled any economic development. Why did the Tunisia uprising kick-off? Because a small business owner, a street vendor, wasn't allowed to operate under the old, corrupt regime. Arabs have the know how to have a diversified economy but were always prevented from doing so my corrupt regimes propped up by Western Interests. Some of the west's most successful entrepreneurs are Arabs who once they enter a free and democratic society thrive under an open economy.