Monday, January 24, 2011

Israel Absolves Itself

What a surprise.

"Israeli inquiry determines that flotilla raid was legal; Says blockade was justified; Turkey dismisses report" by Josef Federman, Associated Press / January 24, 2011

JERUSALEM — An Israeli panel yesterday cleared the military and government of any wrongdoing during last year’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound international flotilla, but the finding appeared unlikely to repair damage to Israel’s standing.

Nothing can repair the damage to Israel's standing other than a complete 180 with full apologies and reparations -- and we all know that ain't happenin'!

Nine pro-Palestinian activists — eight Turkish citizens and a Turkish American — were killed as Israeli commandos boarded one of the ships in the flotilla, the Mavi Marmara, last May 31....   

See: Gaza Forgotten

Not here; they at least cross my mind and gain my prayers once each day.

The flotilla aimed to bring attention to the blockade of Gaza, which Israel imposed after Hamas militants captured an Israeli soldier in 2006 and tightened after Hamas seized control of the territory the following year.... 

Sigh:

"Hamas overwhelmingly won Palestinian Parliament elections in 2006....  Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in early 2006....  In 2006, Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections

That's a SEIZURE, huh?  

Thanks again for the REPEATED OMISSIONS and LIES, AmeriKan media.   

Thus they are NOT TO BE BELIEVED on any matter -- especially ALL THINGS ISRAEL!!!

The report said.... 

--more--"  

Straight from the official Israeli mouthpiece.  

Same here:

"US rejects Palestinian resolution" by Associated Press / January 20, 2011

UNITED NATIONS — The Palestinians and their supporters presented a Security Council draft resolution yesterday declaring that Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory are illegal — despite a US appeal not to.

The document, sponsored by Lebanon, was circulated as the council engaged in open debate on the Middle East, including Palestinian issues. An additional 122 countries signed on as cosponsors....

WOW!!

“If it was up to us, we would love to see the Security Council acting on it immediately,’’ said Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian observer to the UN. But he acknowledged US opposition would make that difficult....

Key Middle East peace issues “can be resolved only through negotiations between the parties — and not by recourse to the Security Council,’’ said Rosemary A. DiCarlo, deputy US representative to the United Nations....    

Unless the U.S. wants to wage war and get a UN resolution behind it.

That's where the printed brief ended.

Also yesterday, The New York Times reported that the Israeli military has terminated a soldier’s military career after the fatal shooting of an unarmed 65-year-old Palestinian man in his bed during an arrest last week in the West Bank city of Hebron.

Related: Slow Saturday Special: Israeli Oooops!

They must be training US drug agents, too. 

Soldiers apparently mistook Omar al-Qawasmeh for a Hamas militant who lived in another apartment in the same building.

The killing infuriated the Palestinians. It was the third death in the West Bank in a week for which the Palestinians blamed the Israelis....  

As if there were some doubt?

In an effort to control the damage, the Israeli military quickly expressed regret for the killing and promised to quickly carry out an investigation.  

Oh, doesn't that make us all feel better! 

Yeah, we SEE the results of their "investigations." 

What's that, a Yiddish word for whitewash?

--more--"  

And could it be.... ?

"The surprise move shook up Israeli politics but was expected to have little impact on its policies....

--more--"  

So when they going back into Gaza?

"Hamas urges halt to strikes against Israel" by Associated Press / January 12, 2011

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The militant Hamas rulers of Gaza appealed to other armed Palestinian groups in the territory yesterday to halt a recent spike in violence, fearing an all-out Israeli invasion in response.

In the latest incident, a missile fired by an Israeli aircraft yesterday killed an Islamic Jihad militant who was riding a motorcycle in southern Gaza, the Israeli military said....

The military said the militant was planning a major attack on Israel....

All by himself?  On a motorcycle?

Hamas appears concerned about triggering another large-scale Israeli military campaign similar to a three-week operation two years ago that killed about 1,400 Palestinians — many of them civilians — and caused considerable damage in the impoverished territory. 

Of course, NOT ONE WORD about ISRAEL'S USE of WMDs and its OTHER WAR CRIMES in GAZA!

Hamas has largely kept a cease-fire since the Gaza war. 

Related: 

"Since fighting subsided in January, Hamas militants have held back from firing rockets, respecting an unwritten truce with Israel" 

Israel has not.

--more--" 

Related: The Gaza Rocket Squads

Who is firing those incredibly ill-timed missiles that never do anything?