Selections from the New York Times:
"Challenged on the point that firing highly inaccurate rockets from Gaza into Israel carried a huge cost in retaliation, one 30-year-old Palestinian who refused to give his name compared the attacks to the impotent yet defiant gesture of the Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi, who became a folk hero across the Arab world for throwing his shoes at President Bush."
"Hamas seemed to end the cease-fire in part because of its longstanding discipline and consistency. For years it has preached to Palestinians the rejectionist credo that Fatah negotiated with Israel and got nowhere; Hamas’s way of armed force, it argued year in and year out, was the only way."
Hamas 2006 Election Banner:
“Israel and America say no to Hamas. What do you say?”
Or to summarize, quoting Bob Dylan:
"When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose."
Originally posted by spruce112358Normative rules are determined by power relations. Those with power determine what is legal and illegal. They besiege the weak in legal prohibitions to prevent the weak from resisting. For the weak to resist is illegal by definition. Concepts like terrorism are invented and used normatively as if a neutral court had produced them, instead of the oppressors. The danger in this excessive use of legality actually undermines legality, diminishing the credibility of international institutions such as the United Nations. It becomes apparent that the powerful, those who make the rules, insist on legality merely to preserve the power relations that serve them or to maintain their occupation and colonialism.
Selections from the New York Times...
Nir Rosen http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/29/gaza-hamas-israel
Originally posted by zeeblebotSimple. They realized they were in the wrong. No injustice had been done to them -- rather they had been the perpetrators of war and injustice.
certainly, in WWII the germans and the japanese could have continued with guerilla warfare long after their actual surrender dates. so why didn't they?
Nothing had been taken from them. And in the end, nothing was taken from them -- apart from a few square miles for military bases.
i gotta confess that when i first heard about the massive israeli attacks, my first thought was "why dont they just finish it for once and for all, destroy the whole place entirely, maybe it would be better than dragging out the interminable suffering" i think almost everyone must be sick and tired of it by now.
Originally posted by spruce112358never heard such rosy nostalgia re the immediately post-war status of german and japan ... where does it come from? ...
Simple. They realized they were in the wrong. No injustice had been done to them -- rather they had been the perpetrators of war and injustice.
Nothing had been taken from them. And in the end, nothing was taken from them -- apart from a few square miles for military bases.
Originally posted by zeeblebotRockets are Hamas' way of ensuring that the Israelis do not ignore them they way they ignored Fatah.
two cities, plus those that were firebombed ...
so do you think that's the way for Israel to stop the rockets? not nukes, but just stomping Hamas really, really flat?
Once Israel takes Hamas (and thus the Palestinians' demands) seriously, the rockets will stop. The rockets are too weak and inaccurate to serve any military purpose.
Originally posted by spruce112358Israel will never take Palestinian claims or demands seriously.
Rockets are Hamas' way of ensuring that the Israelis do not ignore them they way they ignored Fatah.
Once Israel takes Hamas (and thus the Palestinians' demands) seriously, the rockets will stop. The rockets are too weak and inaccurate to serve any military purpose.
The zionist nazis want Israel for the jews. Nobody else is welcome.
That's what it's all about. They want all the land and they certainly don't want any infidels running around the place.
Originally posted by spruce112358it sounds like israel IS taking them seriously ... just not the way Hamas would like ...
Rockets are Hamas' way of ensuring that the Israelis do not ignore them they way they ignored Fatah.
Once Israel takes Hamas (and thus the Palestinians' demands) seriously, the rockets will stop. The rockets are too weak and inaccurate to serve any military purpose.