Oh and in case people need more motivation to get those lobbying fingers typing....

Some grisly pictures from Gaza you won't see in the media (warning you'll need a strong stomach).
http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/10156

did anyone notice that the link in the first post was bugged? crashes machines. Where did it come from originally? It open in Window media player and crashed the F*** out of my machine. Admin have broken the link now! Now I definitely avoiding Jaffa oranges!!
nb

Pax wrote:

EVm, the short answer is Hamas are the elected government of Palestine.

The Palestinian people are amongst the most secular in the middle east.
Hamas does not want an Islamic republic or a Saudi style religious
dictatorship.

The Palestinian people voted for Hamas because they saw that they could
provide public services unlike the quisling, corrupt Fatah.

However, like with the recent banning of arab parties in Israel proper prior to the upcoming elections there, Israel
interferes and attempts a divide and conquer strategy to try and get the
party it wants elected by the Palestinians. This is all profoundly
undemocratic and illegal.

Gaza is surrounded in the North and East and the sea in the West, by a
US client state which receives over $3 billion a year from the US. This is of course
Israel.

And in the South by the US client state of the Mubarak regime which
receives $2 billion a year from the US and jails and shoots union
protesters. Of course Egypt

Was Fatah under Arafat or Arafat himself corrupt? Was Arafat a quisling?

I know there is an interesting conversation going on there about the history and details of the participants in this conflict so carry on on this thread if ye like, I'll split it out into a new one if the momentum keeps up on that - we could do with a few "Q &A" threads around here to explain what is going on.

From Al Jazeera last night - face to face - a resolute Ban Ki Moon condemns Israeli bombing of UN compound and surely has some weight on his shoulders while Tzipi Livni, Israeli foreign minister mentions ceasefire with a sickening smile on her face that I wish she'd wipe off but it is reported that she and Ehud Olmert are arguing in their cabinet for a ceasefire.

from elainec