Must Read Articles on Israel’s Savage Attacks on Gaza

collected by Sheila Musaji

On November 21, 2012, a cease-fire was announced.  An end to the immediate violence is good, and every life saved on both sides is precious.  However, I cannot help but believe, that any such cease-fire is only temporary.  As long as there is not an agreed upon solution to the occupation, the settlements, the status of Jerusalem, an end to the blockade, and many other difficult decisions, then it is only a matter of time before the violence breaks out again.  This article collection will now be divided into sections - Before the Cease-fire and After the Cease-fire

DAY ONE - 11/22

The Israeli government does not seem very committed to the cease-fire.  Here are a few of the statements made about the cease-fire that make the Israeli government’s view clear:

  CBS News notes Netanyahu’s deliberate choice of words on Gaza cease-fire

In his reaction to the cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas faction in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chose his words very carefully, deciding to position himself as reluctant about the truce that went into effect today.  An official announcement from Netanyahu’s office said that in his latest telephone conversation with President Obama, the prime minister “acceded to his recommendation to give the Egyptian cease-fire proposal a chance.”

The Jewish Press also reports that

Opposition leader and Kadima chairman MK Shaul Mofaz expressed opposition to the ceasefire on his Facebook page.    Mofaz wrote that “the ceasefire is a mistake and the next round with Hamas is waiting around the corner.” Mofaz also wrote that “in practice the military’s operational achievements did not translate into political success. You don’t settle with terrorism. There decision. And, unfortunately, a decisive victory has not been achieved and we did not recharge our deterrence. As the Chief of Staff during the Defensive Shield operation I stopped the suicide bombers. I know it’s possible. It’s possible to defeat terrorism.”

Netanyahu’s use of the word “acceded” makes it sound as if he is doing this reluctantly at best. 

Reuters reports Relief at Gaza ceasefire can’t mask its frailty

Palestinians and Israelis alike were relieved that their eight-day conflict had come to an end without a bloody invasion of the Gaza Strip. But on both sides there was a foreboding that their ceasefire might not last very long.  “We are sceptical,” said a senior Israeli government official, who declined to be named. “But the Egyptians and Americans have backed this deal, so if it falls apart they know that we would have a legitimate reason to go in hard.”

On the face of it, both Israel and the Islamist group Hamas, which rules Gaza, can draw positive conclusions at the end of a brutal clash that killed 162 Palestinians, including 37 children, and five Israelis.  ...  “No one is under the illusion that this is going to be an everlasting ceasefire. It is clear to everyone it will only be temporary,” said Michael Herzog, a former chief of staff at the Israeli ministry of defense.

Marco Vicenzino notes on CNN

This development must be seized upon to convert the recent crisis into an opportunity after years of inaction. A desperate injection of diplomatic energy is required. The alternative is renouncing responsibility and initiative to continuous unpredictability, and becoming its hostage. In an increasingly volatile region experiencing historic transformation and shifting alliances, the potential for simultaneous conflict on multiple fronts remains real.

Diminishing the threat, and its catastrophic consequences, through a credible process is critical to regional stability and international order.  The cease-fire alone simply marks the end of another chapter in the decades-old vicious cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Ideally, a next phase of negotiations should focus on a permanent end of hostilities. Although its duration would be unknown, it is best to commence sooner rather than later.

The regional status quo is simply unsustainable in the long-term. Time is of the essence. A continuing game of brinksmanship risks miscalculation and another descent into the abyss at any given moment. After all, there is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conundrum.

The last time we went through this same process, back in January of 2009, Tariq Ramadan issued An Appeal For a Non-Violent Global Resistance Movement Against the Violent, Extremist Policy of the State of Israel.  I was one of the initial signatories to that appeal, and it saddens me to see that there is not a word that would need to be changed now, four years later.  Here is that appeal:

  The crisis in Gaza today underlines once more the horror—and the impasse—that the Palestinians face. We cannot simply wish a plague on both their houses; cannot hope for a negotiated settlement in the absence of direct, forceful outside involvement and intervention. To adopt a stance of false neutrality, to pretend to be powerless onlookers means letting events take their course; it means concluding, after every massacre, after every crisis, that the “peace process” has lead nowhere, that the situation grows more desperate with every passing day. A significant number of organizations around the world, and particularly in the West support the Palestinian cause. But these organizations are seemingly unable to agree on a common vision and strategies. In their discussions, they often confuse analysis of causes with the principles of resistance, or with the most effective methods of seeking support and the solutions to be put forward. In such circumstances, it is difficult to articulate a clear and coherent platform from which we can address the issues, engage in multi-dimensional action and build a solid united front. We must begin with a minimum program of principles we can all agree upon:

- The Israel-Palestine conflict is primarily a political one (even though it has a religious dimension that implies the obligation to respect religious freedom for all—Jews, Christians and Muslims—and freedom of conscience for all, irrespective of religious or non-religious persuasion.

- There is an oppressor (State of Israel) and oppressed population (the Palestinian people).
- The Palestinian resistance is, de facto, legitimate.
- The Palestinians have the right to their own state, and to full freedom within it.
- The equal dignity of the Palestinians requires full equality of rights and treatment, no matter the proposed solution.
- Palestinians expelled from their lands have a natural right of return.
- Our commitment is based on an unconditional and equal rejection of racism of any kind, be it anti-Jewish, anti-Arab, anti-Christian or anti-Muslim.

Based on these seven principles, we can build local, regional and national collectives and platforms. They can then determine the priorities and objectives of the local/global resistance movement. The examples of “collectives” or “coordinating committees” in England and France, and in certain regions (the United States, Europe) must now be expanded to all countries on all continents, especially considering that the ostensibly local Israel-Palestine conflict has a global impact on the political and economic realities of today’s world. These local, regional, national and international coordinating committees should pursue the following objectives:

Disseminate constantly updated and relevant information on the Middle East, in the form of websites, newsletters, lectures and teach-ins, videos, books, etc.; develop and sustain a citizen’s awareness of the issues, above and beyond moments of crisis and media coverage.

Determine appropriate non-violent, legal and global resistance strategies (boycotts and coordination of concrete action: demonstrations, appeals to political leaders, etc.) already developed by some organizations but lacking sufficient coordination and collaboration except in times of acute crisis.

Support and mobilize the economic solidarity movement for development and reconstruction projects (infrastructures, schools, etc.).

The most recent events in Gaza and the attitude of governments East and West make it clear that their widespread passivity and hypocrisy will rule out any solution to the conflict. It is as if the State of Israel, with the support of the United States and several European governments, has created an atmosphere of international intellectual terror: no one dares utter a word, speak the truth, or denounce the unacceptable. At the same time, the people of the world are far less gullible; increasingly large numbers of citizens are refusing to be brainwashed by the media, to be reduced to impotent spectators. These are the people who must be mobilized. Our task today is to state clearly our principles, to determine the most effective methods of resistance, and to coordinate our actions. Recent national experiences prove that this process can be generalized. We call upon those organizations with years of experience, as well as new structures and individuals, to view the creation of this global movement as imperative, and to build it by setting up broader-based, more effective local chapters and regional and national coordinating committees. We must reject both divisions and political manipulation: we must, instead, establish a platform of shared principles to shed light on our shared commitment; we must undertake actions that express the determination of our global resistance. Because we cannot stand idly by while the Palestinians are being humiliated, while their rights are being trampled, while they are victimized by atrocities, we are launching the Non-Violent Global Resistance Movement. We call upon public personalities (intellectuals, artists, etc.) to join the Movement; we appeal to activists and ordinary citizens around the world, to organizations committed to the defense of individual rights and dignity; we summon to our cause all those who refuse to tolerate the silent complicity of governments East and West, while in Palestine civilians are being slaughtered, or relegated to the new Bantustans that the Occupied Territories have become under Israel’s policy of colonization and apartheid.

Our only hope for success is a broad-based international mobilization.  Sign this Appeal, make it be known, be informed and keep people around you informed and aware. Join the already existing organisations, collectives and platforms or help creating new ones wherever you are. Multiply information activities and civil and political resistance around the world.

First Signatories:  Karen Amstrong (UK), Moazzam Beg (UK), Tariq Ramadan (UK), Michael Hudson (USA), Tariq Modood (UK), Michael Warschawski (JERUSALEM), Jean-Claude Meyer (France), Fareed Elshayyal (UK), Syed Faiyazuddin Ahmad (UK), Jeremy Henzell-Thomas (UK), Wilfried Mourad Hoffman (Germany), Roger Abdul Wahhab Boase (UK), Elfatih A.A/Salam, International Islamic University Malaysia (Malaysia), Ahmad Abuljobain (UK), Iftikhar H. Malik (UK), Sergio Yahni (Jerusalem), Lea Tsemel (Jerusalem), Nassar Ibrahim (Beit Sahour), Ahmad Jaradat (Hebron), Harfiyah Haleem (UK), Françoise Duthu (France), Umar Chapra (Pakistan/Saudi Arabia), Tahir Abbas (UK), Rafik Beekun (USA), Louay Safi (USA) , Sheila Musaji (USA), Bob Crane (USA), Jafar Siddiqui (USA), Muqtedar Khan ( USA), Charles Butterworth (US), Jocelyne Cesari (USA- France), Istishhad Mousa (Canada), Yahya Birt (UK), M Nasir (canada),Dr.Mario Liguori Presidente I.T.I. Istituto Tributario Italiano Centro Studi di diritto e tecnica tributaria (Italia), Tarik Ramdani (France), Remi maliz (France), Nadia BITTAME (France), Jeanne-Marie El Mejjad Marrakech (Maroc), Sadeekah Saban - CT (South Africa), Homera Ansari (India), Zineb RABI ANDALOUSSI (France), Shaheryar Akbar (Pakistan-USA), Gemma Slack (USA), Amjad Saleem (Sri Lanka), David Burrell (USA), Dr Serena Hussain, Loubna Youssef, PhD. Cairo University (Egypt, Claude Calame, le conseil scientifique d’Attac (France), André Tosel, Revue Contretemps (France)

ORGANIZATIONS :  European Muslim Network, Présence Musulmane Montréal, Présence Muslmane Toronto

None of the actual issues that led to the violence have been solved.  There has been no resolution to any of these problems between “Operation Cast Lead” and the “Pillar of Defense”. 

Richard Silverstein writes in Israeli-Arab Ceasefire # 6,432,821 “Israel and Hamas have announced a ceasefire that was midwived by Egypt and the U.S.  It will ostensibly end this round of fighting–until the next time.  And there will be a next time.  Of that you can be sure.  150 Gazans were killed in this garbage war.  Over 1,000 wounded.  Five Israelis were killed.  The ratio of Palestinians to Israelis killed was 30 to 1.  When next you hear an Israeli complain about their side not being accorded enough air time or a lack of balance or context, just remember this single statistic.”

He provides both the full text of the actual cease-fire agreement, and his take on what it actually means

Here’s the text of the ceasefire agreement:

Agreement of Understanding For a Ceasefire in the Gaza Strip

1. A. Israel should stop all hostilities in the Gaza Strip land, sea and air including incursions and targeting of individuals.

B. All Palestinian factions shall stop all hostilities from the Gaza Strip against Israel including rocket attacks and all attacks along the border.

C. Opening the crossings and facilitating the movements of people and transfer of goods and refraining from restricting residents’ free movements and targeting residents in border areas and procedures of implementation shall be dealt with after 24 hours from the start of the ceasefire.

D. Other matters as may be requested shall be addressed.

2: Implementation mechanisms:

A. Setting up the zero hour for the ceasefire understanding to enter into effect.

B. Egypt shall receive assurances from each party that the party commits to what was agreed upon.

C. Each party shall commit itself not to perform any acts that would breach this understanding. In case of any observations, Egypt as the sponsor of this understanding shall be informed to follow up.

Here is my (cynical) version of the ceasefire agreement signed by the parties:

1. Bibi has gotten what he needed–an election boost.

2. Hamas has gotten what it needed–striking body blows against the Zionist oppressor, further isolating and discrediting its mortal national enemy, Fatah.  The Iranian Fajr 5 rockets which reached Tel Aviv and environs, while mostly stopped by Iron Dome, served a useful purpose by reminding Israel that it was not invincible, and reminding Israel of what Iran can do to it if Iran is attacked by Israel.

3. Bibi avoids the worst pitfalls of an escalation–lots of Israeli body bags and a war extending into the election period–each of which would tend to weigh on the minds of the voters in ways that would be unpleasant and unproductive (for Likud).

4. Hamas gets to avoid the worst of an invasion in which there would be hundreds, if not thousands of civilian dead.  Stopping the war now allows them to keep much of their powder dry for a future war, of which one can be guaranteed.

If you review the real ceasefire document you’ll find nothing but bland, vague assurances of action accompanied by no concrete mechanisms for enforcement, as there was in the UN ceasefire that ended the 2006 Lebanon war.  The most hopeful clause, as far as Hamas is concerned, is the one concerning the end of Israel’s siege.  Here too the language is vague to the point of meaninglessness.  In 24 hours, some unspecified process should lead to further discussions which should lead to unspecified procedures that end the siege (or not).  Good luck with that.

This settles nothing, solves nothing.  It addresses no major issues and will lead to nothing positive.  But one positive thing that has come out of this indirectly is that if Obama ever gets his shit together and decides to implement a real peace process, then Egypt could be a real partner and interlocutor on behalf of the Palestinians.  It could both advocate for them and keep them in line at the point where the rubber meets the road.  The question is whether the U.S. can play the same role regarding Israel.  Certainly, with this government, the outlook is grim.  If Obama needed a reason not to get involved,that would be it.

Juan Cole has written Top Ten Steps that are Necessary for Lasting Gaza-Israel Peace (or, Good Luck!) in which he discusses in depth the following points:

1. The Israeli blockade on Gaza exports and non-military imports must be lifted altogether. 

2. Palestinians must be granted citizenship in a state. It is all the same to me if it is a Palestinian state or if they are given Israeli citizenship.

3. Egypt should broker a rapprochement between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Hamas. 

4. Egypt’s President Muhammad Morsi should put pressure on Hamas leaders to foreswear the use of terrorist tactics toward Israel. 

5. New elections for the Palestine Authority should be scheduled, perhaps overseen jointly by Israel and Egypt. The winner, even if it is Hamas, must be recognized as the legitimate government of the PA. 

6. Israel must return to a moratorium on its colonization of the Palestinian West Bank, so as to permit genuine peace talks to start back up. Settlements are the number one obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace. Palestinians cannot be expected to negotiate over how much of the pie they get if the Israelis are digging into the pie and eating most of it while the negotiations are proceeding. 

7. Israel must cease expropriating the property of Palestinians in East Jerusalem and must recognize that the status of Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations. 

8. Israel must cease demanding that people recognize it before negotiations begin.

9. Israel and the Palestinians, in the light of Hamas pledges of renouncing terror tactics and Israel’s moratorium on land theft, must return to the negotiating table for final status talks and the swift implementation of Oslo.

10. The United States should cease blocking United Nations Security Council resolutions critical of Israel. If the Israelis continue their illegal blockade of Gaza and their massive land theft from the Palestinians of the West Bank, the UNSC should place economic sanctions on Israel.

Sadly, based on history, I’m afraid that Juan Cole’s summation is correct.  He said: I’m not stupid or naive. I know that almost none of these 10 points is likely to be realized. All I’m saying is that these steps are would would be necessary for the achievement of peace. They won’t be taken, and therefore intermittent wars, bombings, attacks, and the blighting of human lives will continue.

DAY TWO 11/23

RT reports that “Israel and Palestine are momentarily at a ceasefire, but the potential reasoning behind the recess could have some real international implications. Israel’s Debka reports that the pause in fighting comes after the US promised to send troops to Sinai.  ...  Debka reports this week that Sinai will soon be occupied by US troops, who were promised by President Barack Obama to Israel’s leaders as a condition that a ceasefire be called. Once deployed, the Americans will intervene with the rumored arms trade orchestrated by Iranians, ideally cutting off supplies for Hamas while at the same time serving as a thorn in the side of Iran.”

The Middle East Media Center reports that “In a direct violation of the truce that was declared Thursday, Israeli soldiers shot and killed one Palestinians, and wounded 19 others after opening fire at them, near the border fence in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Two more Palestinians died of wounds suffered during the war.    The army opened fire at Palestinian farmers while in their own lands close to the border fence killing Anwar Abdul-Hadi Qdeih, 21, and wounded at least 12 other Palestinians who were moved to the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis; their injuries were described as moderate-to-severe.    The violation is the second since the truce was declared Thursday, as on Thursday evening, two Palestinians were injured when the army opened fire at residents celebrating the ceasefire deal, east of Khan Younis.”

ABC reports that “The Palestinians say the situation in Gaza is “extremely fragile” and Israel’s cease-fire violations and other illegal actions risk undermining the calm that was just restored.”

Philip Weiss reports that “Zbigniew Brzezinski gave a bravura performance, urgently calling on Obama to help impose a solution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before it further radicalized Arab societies, endangering world security. Obama had “dropped” the matter in his first term, Brzezinski said, caving to Netanyahu.”

DAY 5 11/26

Richard Falk has written an important article Gaza Ceasefire: An Early Assessment “The Gaza Ceasefire, unlike a similar ceasefire achieved after Operation Cast Lead four years ago, is an event that has a likely significance far beyond ending the violence after eight days of murderous attacks. It is just possible that it will be looked back upon as a turning point in the long struggle between Israel and Palestine. Many have talked about ‘the fog of war,’ but it pales besides the ‘the fog of truce making,’ and in our media-infected air, the outcomes along with conjectures about the future are already being spun in all possible directions. Supporters of every position give their own spin, and then proclaim ‘victory.’ But as with the violent phases of the conflict, it is clarifying to distinguish the more persuasive contentions and interpretations from those that are less persuasive. What follows is one such attempt at such clarification.”

ARTICLES

Gaza and the ethics of Jewish power, Marc H. Ellis
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/11/exile-and-the-prophetic-gaza-and-the-ethics-of-jewish-power.html

IDF Murders Gazan in First Major Ceasefire Violation, Richard Silverstein
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2012/11/24/idf-murders-gazan-in-first-major-ceasefire-violation/
Hundreds of Gazans were strolling through buffer zones which had formerly been their own farmland before Israel had peremptorily declared it an off-limits border zone.  They did this based on this clause in the ceasefire:  Opening the crossings and facilitating the movements of people and transfer of goods and refraining from restricting residents’ free movements and targeting residents in border areas and procedures of implementation shall be dealt with after 24 hours from the start of the ceasefire.

IDF reservists released after Gaza op: ‘We’ll be back’, Ilana Curiel
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4310719,00.html
Soldiers recruited during Operation Pillar of Defense disappointed that IDF ‘didn’t get to finish the job’

International law, the Gaza war, and Palestine’s state of exception, Mark LeVine & Lisa Hajjar
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/11/20121121103831534612.html

Israel warns of tougher operation if truce agreement violated
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/23/c_123990130.htm
“We will take much tougher steps in the next round, with the understanding of the world,” Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy Dan Meridor said at a press conference in Jerusalem less than 24 hours after a fragile Egyptian-brokered ceasefire ended the worst cross-border hostilities in years.

Three Reasons Why the Israel-Gaza Ceasefire Won’t Last , John Judis
http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/110404/three-reasons-why-the-ceasefire-wont-last#

*******************

BEFORE THE CEASE-FIRE

ARTICLES

4 Points about the Israeli assault on Gaza, Omid Safi
http://www.religionnews.com/blogs/omid-safi/four-points-about-the-israeli-assault-on-gaza
The “official” narrative, spun by the Israeli military and taken up wholesale by US corporate media, portrays the Israeli attacks as a “response” or “retaliation” against earlier Palestinian rocket attacks.    Here are four facts that are being deliberately and willfully neglected in the current coverage of this Israeli assault:  1) The Israeli “response/retaliation” narrative is a myth.  2) Palestinian Civilian casualties are not covered.  3) Morally bankrupt response of American government.  4) This Israeli assault is hurting US standing in the Middle East.  It is imperative to consider these as a corrective to the campaign of media misinformation. TAM Editors note: includes timeline of current crisis.

5 Lies the Media Keeps Repeating About Gaza, Omar Baddar
http://www.aaiusa.org/blog/entry/5-lies-the-media-keeps-repeating-about-gaza/
As Israel continues to assault Gaza, the Palestinian death toll of the latest round of violence has crossed the 100 mark. Thus far, the American media has given Israeli officials and spokespersons a free pass to shape the narrative of this conflict with falsehoods. Here are the top 5 lies the media doesn’t challenge about the crisis in Gaza.  -  1. Israel Was Forced to Respond to Rockets to Defend Its Citizens.  2. Israel Tries to Avoid Civilian Casualties.  3. This Is About Security.  4. Hamas Is the Problem.  5. There is a Military Solution to this Conflict 11/20

5 Ways America Enables Israel’s Atrocities, Alex Kane
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/5-ways-america-enables-israels-atrocities
1. Green Lighting Military Operations.  2. Giving Israel Weaponry.  3. Diplomatic Protection.  4. The U.S. Political System.  5. U.S. Media Bias   11/21

10 Things You Need To Know About Gaza, Mehdi Hasan
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/mehdi-hasan/ten-things-you-need-to-kn_b_2139356.html
2) (UN)FAIR FIGHT Remember: according to the Israeli human-rights group B’Tselem, in the last major conflict between Israel and Hamas - ‘Operation Cast Lead’ which kicked off in December 2008 - 762 Palestinian civilians were killed, including more than 300 children, compared to three (yes, three!) Israeli civilians.

Top 10 Myths about Israeli Attack on Gaza, Juan Cole
http://www.juancole.com/2012/11/top-ten-myths-about-israeli-attack-on-gaza.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29
1.  Israeli hawks represent themselves as engaged in a ‘peace process’ with the Palestinians in which Hamas refuses to join.  In fact, Israel has refused to cease colonizing and stealing Palestinian land long enough to engage in fruitful negotiations with them.  Tel Aviv routinely announces new, unilateral house-building on the Palestinian West Bank.  There is no peace process.  It is an Israeli and American sham.  Talking about a peace process is giving cover to Israeli nationalists who are determined to grab everything the Palestinians have and reduce them to penniless refugees (again).  2.  Actions such as the assault on Gaza can achieve no genuine long-term strategic purpose.  They are being launched to ensure that Jewish-Israelis are the first to exploit key resources.  Rattling sabers at the Palestinians creates a pretext for further land-grabs and colonies on Palestinian land.  That is, the military action against the people of Gaza is a diversion tactic; the real goal is Greater Israel, an assertion of Israeli sovereignty over all the territory once held by the British Mandate of Palestine.

Top 10 Steps that are Necessary for Lasting Gaza-Israel Peace (or, Good Luck!), Juan Cole
http://www.juancole.com/2012/11/top-ten-steps-that-are-necessary-for-lasting-gaza-israel-peace-or-good-luck.html
I’m not stupid or naive. I know that almost none of these 10 points is likely to be realized. All I’m saying is that these steps are would would be necessary for the achievement of peace. They won’t be taken, and therefore intermittent wars, bombings, attacks, and the blighting of human lives will continue. The US will likely at some point suffer further for these failures, just as it did on 9/11, which was launched in part to punish Washington for its treatment of the Palestinians. Given how many of our liberties we lost with 9/11, you worry that another such large-scale attack will finish off the constitution altogether.  11/22

38 Aid agencies warn of humanitarian disaster in Gaza if conflict continues
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/11/19/250590.html
Medics in Gaza already announced that they were running out of medical supplies. Intensifying violence is also hindering aid organizations to offer their help to people. — The World Health Organization says the shortage of medical supplies is critical http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96823/OPT-Gaza-hospitals-need-more-drugs  11/20

A message to Israel’s leaders: Don’t defend me – not like this, Michal Vasser
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/a-message-to-israel-s-leaders-don-t-defend-me-not-like-this.premium-1.478105#
If you want to defend me – then please: Don’t send the Israel Defense Forces for us in order to “win.” Start thinking about the long term and not just about the next election. Try to negotiate until white smoke comes up through the chimney. Hold out a hand to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Stop with the “pinpoint assassinations” and look into the civilians’ eyes on the other side as well.  ...  If you are interested in stopping the hostile actions from the other side – open your ears and start listening. If we are important to you – please stop defending us by means of missiles, “pinpoints” and “aeronautical components.” Instead of Operation Pillar of Defense embark on Operation Hope for the Future. This is more complicated, you need more patience and it is less popular – but it is the only way out.

A Palestine That Israelis Can’t See: How Does an Unsustainable Situation Keep On Going?, Sam Bahour
http://forward.com/articles/166163/a-palestine-that-israelis-cant-see/?p=all#ixzz2CflnnotY
The status quo in Palestine and Israel is unsustainable. Anyone involved in the reality on the ground in this part of the world knows this for a fact. As such, one can view the current Palestinian bid to the United Nations General Assembly for non-member state status as a last-ditch effort by the secular Palestinian leadership to save whatever may be remaining of the two-state paradigm as the basis to ending Israel’s 45 years of military occupation.    A significant driver of the current political paralysis is the stereotype, designed and propagated by Israelis, that Palestinians living on the other side of the separation barrier are violent and not deserving of freedom or independence. As such, most Israeli Jews do not see Palestinians as equal human beings, and thus any violent action against them becomes justified, no matter how cruel, illegal or in contradiction of Jewish values.  11/19

A Pillar Built on Sand, John Mearsheimer
http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2012/11/16/john-mearsheimer/a-pillar-built-on-sand/
So what is going on here? At the most basic level, Israel’s actions in Gaza are inextricably bound up with its efforts to create a Greater Israel that stretches from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Despite the endless palaver about a two-state solution, the Palestinians are not going to get their own state, not least because the Netanyahu government is firmly opposed to it. The prime minister and his political allies are deeply committed to making the Occupied Territories a permanent part of Israel. To pull this off, the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza will be forced to live in impoverished enclaves similar to the Bantustans in white-ruled South Africa. Israeli Jews understand this quite well: a recent survey found that 58 per cent of them believe Israel already practises apartheid against the Palestinians.

American Jewish Leaders Get Gaza Wrong, Sarah Posner
http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/sarahposner/6620/american_jewish_leaders_get_gaza_wrong/

Analysis: Gaza & the Politics of ‘Greater Israel’
http://beforeitsnews.com/international/2012/11/analysis-gaza-the-politics-of-greater-israel-2448034.html
While Netanyahu publicly announced support for a Palestinian state on the West Bank, his government has threaten to end the Oslo Accords if the United Nations General Assembly granted Palestine with non-member observer state status. [5] A panel of Israeli jurists assembled by Netanyahu’s government to determine the legal status of the West Bank concluded that there is “no occupation” of Palestinian lands and that the continued construction of settlement outposts are entirely legal under Israeli law, despite critical international opinion. Netanyahu’s far right-conservative Likud party was established on the philosophy of Ze’ev Jabotinksy, who called for the establishment of a ‘Greater Israel,’ a concept embraced by Israeli historian Benzion Netanyahu, the father of today’s Prime Minister. Under his fathers influence, Benjamin Netanyahu was indoctrinated in the ideological foundations of Revisionist Zionism, which promote Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria (Palestine) and the full biblical land of Israel by contemporary Jews, an oil rich landmass extending from the banks of the Nile River in Egypt to the shores of the Euphrates.  “The Bible finds no worse image than this of the man from the desert. And why? Because he has no respect for any law. Because in the desert he can do as he pleases. The tendency towards conflict is in the essence of the Arab. He is an enemy by essence. His personality won’t allow him any compromise or agreement. It doesn’t matter what kind of resistance he will meet, what price he will pay. His existence is one of perpetual war. Israel’s must be the same. The two states solution doesn’t exist; there are no two people here. There is a Jewish people and an Arab population… there is no Palestinian people, so you don’t create a state for an imaginary nation… they only call themselves a people in order to fight the Jews.” [1] -Benzion Netanyahu

Another Superfluous War, Uri Avnery
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/16/another-superfluous-war/
Conflagrations along the Gaza Strip don’t start. They are just a continuous chain of events, each claimed to be a [or “in”] “retaliation” for the previous one. Action is followed by reaction, which is followed by retaliation, which is followed by …  This particular event “started” with the firing from Gaza of an anti-tank weapon at a partially armored jeep on the Israeli side of the border fence. It was described as retaliation for the killing of a boy in an air attack some days earlier. But probably the timing of the action was accidental – the opportunity just presented itself.

As the discourse shifts, ‘NYT’ stays rooted in the past (the 1800s to be exact), Nima Shirazi
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/11/as-the-discourse-shifts-nyt-stays-rooted-in-the-past-the-1800s-to-be-exact.html
An new editorial explicitly puts the blame for a hundred Palestinian deaths in Gaza on Hamas, rather than the bombs dropped and missiles fired by Israel.  Many canards are repeated - Hamas has a nihilistic ideology of “hate”, it cares not about the deaths of Palestinian in Gaza, it resorts to violence, it “took control of Gaza in 2007 - all without even a pretense of actual fact-checking.  No mention is made of Hamas winning a democratic election only to be blockaded and attacked.  Naturally, no mention whatsoever is made of Hamas’ primary role as a much-needed social service organization, the actual timeline of recent events, of the historical context of occupation and siege and ethnic cleansing and apartheid.  Unsurprisingly, the editors even throw in the requisite garbage about “the threat of Iran’s nuclear program” and Israel’s “right to defend itself.”  11/21

Assassinating The Chance For Calm, Gershon Baskin
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/15/assassinating-the-chance-for-calm.html
I can only imagine that the assassination of Jaabari has bought us the entry card to Cast Lead II. This time, the experts say, “Let’s finish them off. Let’s do the job