Fawning on Israel - shame on the Irish Examiner

Does anyone else spot the problem with this piece in today's Irish Examiner?

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=world-qqqm=world-qqqa=world-qqqid=62119-qqqx=1.asp

Not really. Israel had a hard time of it in the beginning and a lot to be proud of and grateful for, having survived it.

Lots of countries remember their bloody past with pride. The French and Bastille day, the Yanks and Valley Forge. The British and their Blitz days, us and our various revolts.

Mark Curtis reviews John Pilger's book about the unpeople of the world.

http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1788937,00.html

It's an offence against every known principle that a review could be written of the last 60 years of Israeli history without a single mention of the Palestinians and their plight.

Aragon wrote:

Mark Curtis reviews John Pilger's book about the unpeople of the world.

http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1788937,00.html

It's an offence against every known principle that a review could be written of the last 60 years of Israeli history without a single mention of the Palestinians and their plight.

It's not dissimilar to writing a 60-year history of the UK, while missing out Northern Ireland. Or a 60-year history of China that misses out Tibet.

ibis wrote:

Aragon wrote:

Mark Curtis reviews John Pilger's book about the unpeople of the world.

http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1788937,00.html

It's an offence against every known principle that a review could be written of the last 60 years of Israeli history without a single mention of the Palestinians and their plight.

It's not dissimilar to writing a 60-year history of the UK, while missing out Northern Ireland. Or a 60-year history of China that misses out Tibet.

Or a history of the United States that doesn't mention the native american population?

Counterpunch even things out a little - scroll down to the article at the link:


http://counterpunch.com/avnery05052008.html

Let's look on the bright side. At least its not anti-semitic.

Aragon wrote:

Mark Curtis reviews John Pilger's book about the unpeople of the world.

http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1788937,00.html

It's an offence against every known principle that a review could be written of the last 60 years of Israeli history without a single mention of the Palestinians and their plight.

Speaking of fawning, that reviewer was pretty awestruck. Histories are often written with the defeated people left out. It's not particularly nice but it is almost a tradition. There are plenty of precedents; Australia springs to mind.

I have read four reports on Israel though, and all bar the Examiner mention the Palestinians. So well spoted there.

Jimmy Carter is in The Guardian today, here.

It is short, so I have added it (cactus flower)

The world is witnessing a terrible human rights crime in Gaza, where a million and a half human beings are being imprisoned with almost no access to the outside world. An entire population is being brutally punished.

This gross mistreatment of the Palestinians in Gaza was escalated dramatically by Israel, with United States backing, after political candidates representing Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Authority parliament in 2006. The election was unanimously judged to be honest and fair by all international observers.

Israel and the US refused to accept the right of Palestinians to form a unity government with Hamas and Fatah and now, after internal strife, Hamas alone controls Gaza. Forty-one of the 43 victorious Hamas candidates who lived in the West Bank have been imprisoned by Israel, plus an additional 10 who assumed positions in the short-lived coalition cabinet.

Regardless of one's choice in the partisan struggle between Fatah and Hamas within occupied Palestine, we must remember that economic sanctions and restrictions on the supply of water, food, electricity and fuel are causing extreme hardship among the innocent people in Gaza, about one million of whom are refugees.

Israeli bombs and missiles periodically strike the area, causing high casualties among both militants and innocent women and children. Prior to the highly publicised killing of a woman and her four children last week, this pattern had been illustrated by a report from B'Tselem, the leading Israeli human rights organisation, which stated that 106 Palestinians were killed between February 27 and March 3. Fifty-four of them were civilians, and 25 were under 18 years of age.

On a recent trip through the Middle East, I attempted to gain a better understanding of the crisis. One of my visits was to Sderot, a community of about 20,000 in southern Israel that is frequently struck by rockets fired from nearby Gaza. I condemned these attacks as abominable acts of terrorism, since most of the 13 victims during the past seven years have been non-combatants.

Subsequently, I met with leaders of Hamas - a delegation from Gaza and the top officials in Damascus. I made the same condemnation to them, and urged that they declare a unilateral ceasefire or orchestrate with Israel a mutual agreement to terminate all military action in and around Gaza for an extended period.

They responded that such action by them in the past had not been reciprocated, and they reminded me that Hamas had previously insisted on a ceasefire throughout Palestine, including Gaza and the West Bank, which Israel had refused. Hamas then made a public proposal of a mutual ceasefire restricted to Gaza, which the Israelis also rejected.

There are fervent arguments heard on both sides concerning blame for a lack of peace in the Holy Land. Israel has occupied and colonised the Palestinian West Bank, which is approximately a quarter the size of the nation of Israel as recognised by the international community. Some Israeli religious factions claim a right to the land on both sides of the Jordan river, others that their 205 settlements of some 500,000 people are necessary for "security".

All Arab nations have agreed to recognise Israel fully if it will comply with key United Nations resolutions. Hamas has agreed to accept any negotiated peace settlement between the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, provided it is approved in a referendum of the Palestinian people.

This holds promise of progress, but despite the brief fanfare and positive statements at the peace conference last November in Annapolis, the process has gone backwards. Nine thousand new Israeli housing units have been announced in Palestine; the number of roadblocks within the West Bank has increased; and the stranglehold on Gaza has been tightened.

It is one thing for other leaders to defer to the US in the crucial peace negotiations, but the world must not stand idle while innocent people are treated cruelly. It is time for strong voices in Europe, the US, Israel and elsewhere to speak out and condemn the human rights tragedy that has befallen the Palestinian people.

Jimmy Carter

soubresauts wrote:

Jimmy Carter is in The Guardian today, here.

It is short, so I have added it (cactus flower)

The world is witnessing a terrible human rights crime in Gaza, where a million and a half human beings are being imprisoned with almost no access to the outside world. An entire population is being brutally punished.

This gross mistreatment of the Palestinians in Gaza was escalated dramatically by Israel, with United States backing, .....

That statement ignores the fact that Gaza shares a border with Egypt. You would have thought that fellow Muslims would allow the Gazans free movement and so on but apparently not.

Lestat wrote:

soubresauts wrote:

Jimmy Carter is in The Guardian today, here.

It is short, so I have added it (cactus flower)

The world is witnessing a terrible human rights crime in Gaza, where a million and a half human beings are being imprisoned with almost no access to the outside world. An entire population is being brutally punished.

This gross mistreatment of the Palestinians in Gaza was escalated dramatically by Israel, with United States backing, .....

That statement ignores the fact that Gaza shares a border with Egypt. You would have thought that fellow Muslims would allow the Gazans free movement and so on but apparently not.

I was under the impression that Israel controlled the Egyptian/Gaza border, which is where all the rockets would be coming in after all.

905 wrote:

I was under the impression that Israel controlled the Egyptian/Gaza border, which is where all the rockets would be coming in after all.

Apparently not. Two Irish women got stuck in Gaza around February last when they illegally crossed from Egypt to Gaza and got stuck on the wrong side of the border.

Quote :

Egyptian troops have sealed the border with the Gaza Strip, ending 12 days of freedom of movement for Palestinians.

The troops are still allowing Palestinians and Egyptians to return home, but have stopped allowing any new cross-border movement.
The border was breached when Hamas militants blew up sections of the wall to break Israel's seven-month blockade.
An estimated half of Gaza's 1.5m population took the opportunity to cross into Egypt and buy supplies.
Map of the Egypt-Gaza border area


Egyptian forces came early on Sunday morning with metal barriers and rolls of barbed wire to close the only remaining gap in their side of the border.

Troops patrolled in armoured cars and stood on rooftops as the border was resealed.
Meanwhile, dozens of armed and helmeted Hamas militants wielded batons at crowds seeking opportunities to cross over from the Gazan side of the border.
"It is closed. Go home," said one of the Hamas fighters, as the crowd gradually dwindled.
Hamas 'co-operating'
The closure followed talks between Hamas and Egyptian officials on Saturday, after which Hamas said it would co-operate with Egypt to restore control of the border.

"We have concluded an agreement between us and our brothers in Egypt to operate channels at the local level at the crossing and along the border," said Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar.
Under the terms of the agreement, some Gazans who have already travelled into Egypt for medical treatment will be allowed to stay temporarily.
Others who wish to do so will be allowed to travel to a third country.
Meanwhile, Egypt arrested 15 Palestinians armed with weapons and explosives in the Sinai peninsula.
Smuggling route
Israel has said it is concerned that militants have been taking advantage of the freedom of movement to bolster their stores of weapons and explosives.
Earlier this week, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank but not Gaza, endorsed a 2005 plan for EU and Israeli monitors to prevent cross-border smuggling.
Although there is widespread sympathy for the Palestinians in Egypt, and closing the crossing will not be popular, Cairo had come under Israeli and US pressure to clamp down on potential arms smuggling routes, the BBC's Ian Pannell in Cairo says.
But the border's long-term future remains uncertain, with Egypt attempting to reconcile Israeli demands for the crossing to be permanently closed with Hamas demands for it to be open, he says.
Hamas is opposed to EU or Israeli involvement in the running of the border, but says it is flexible about its own role there.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7224734.stm