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This was
going to be a rehash of 2008 with the
usual New Year comments about
resolutions I won’t keep and hopes for
2009 that probably won’t happen. There’s
enough of that sort of stuff going
around so I’m going to talk about
something that is happening right now
and is somewhat more important in the
general scheme of things than what the
President Elect, currently vacationing
in Hawaii, said today.
Presently, Israel is again busily
defending itself against Arab terrorists
and retaliating for the rockets the
Hamas group has been shooting into
Israel over the past year or so. After
several residents were killed by these
crude rockets, Israel finally had its
fill of it and decided to put an end to
the attacks.
As is
usually the case, whenever Israel fights
back for attacks started by Arab
terrorists, world governments
immediately condemn Israel and demand a
cease fire. Hamas and Palestinian terror
groups always position themselves in the
midst of women and children. When
non-combatants are killed and wounded as
always happens, the Arabs scream war
crimes, holocaust and the
usual accusations.
Demonstrations of riot proportions
occurred at the Israeli Embassy in
London Sunday. The London Times
reported, “Violent
confrontations broke out at the Israeli
Embassy in London today as up to 1,500
protesters against Israel's Gaza
campaign gathered in a vociferous
demonstration.
Campaign supporters, Palestinians and
British Muslims stood on the pavement of
High Street Kensington, west London, and
chanted in unison: “Five, six, seven,
eight - Israel is a terror state.”
Riot police were brought in to control
the crowd, some of whom turned violent.
Witnesses said some protestors were
forcibly removed and others were seen
with bloodied faces as violence
erupted.
One
campaigner was seen throwing a bag and
what appeared to be a book over some
gates towards the embassy and another
was seen throwing red liquid. Officers
retreated from the immediate scene as
the crowds swelled, and some appeared to
be trying to break through barriers to
access the embassy.
The
protesters waved Palestinian flags and
held up placards, including some which
read: “Holocaust in Gaza” and ‘no peace,
no justice’.”
Anyone who is paying attention knows
that Israel hasn’t instigated these
violent attacks. Why should they? It
isn’t the Israelis who are trying to
annihilate its neighbors whose stated
goal is to wipe Israel off the map. If
Israel is left alone, there will be no
violence in the region, apart from the
usual Arab factions fighting among
themselves. The Arabs always
start the trouble.
This morning, the UN Secretary General
was calling for an immediate cease fire
“for the children.” But why wasn’t he
moved to call for a cease fire when
Hamas rockets were fired into Israeli
residential areas? Perhaps the lives of
young Arabs are worth more to him than
young Jews.
In discussing the timing
of the retaliatory strikes against
Hamas, BBC Jerusalem correspondent
Katya Adler said, “There
is little appetite in Israel's political
circles for its soldiers to come home in
body bags but military sources have
suggested Israel may return to launching
repeated, limited incursions in
Gaza...It is also possible that Israel
has decided to act against Hamas now,
during the last days of a friendly Bush
administration in the United States. The
United States is arguably the only
outside power Israel deeply cares about.
President-elect Barack Obama is seen in
Israel as being more sympathetic to the
Palestinians.”
While this particular battle will
eventually end, I don’t see an end to
the war--ever. I say that because of the
fighting between the Sunni and Shiite
branches of Islam.
The split
between these two main branches is
nearly 1,400 years old, and started with
a fight over who should lead the
faithful after the Prophet Muhammad's
death in 632. Clearly, they aren’t
looking for peace or a peaceful
solution. One might justifiably conclude
that they just like to fight.
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