THE GAZA "DISENGAGEMENT" - Your Opinions

.: Free Palestine:.

format_quote Originally Posted by mary

I think the media in the Uk is overly sympathetic. Throughout the day we see images of Israelis in Gaza in despair as they have to leave their homes. U know they've occupied the area for 38 years, but u dont hear that as often now!

And what really gets me mad is that nobody talks about how it was like for the Palestinians to leave in the first place :mad:, that would have been worse becase there were more than just 2 generations of people living there the Palestinians were there for thousands of years while the settlers were there for only 38 **points at TV** if thats how hard it is for the settlers to leave then I can't even imagine the state the Palestinians were in 38 years ago ....

.: Al Hoorya LiFilisten:.

.: Free Palestine:.

format_quote Originally Posted by minaz

Actually quite reverse, the Jewish "Gazanians" get $140,000 as compensation - I read that in the newspaper to work

I think what he ment was that Israel will pay for occupying the Land of Palestinians as in "we'll get even", as for the conpensation it wasn't like they conpensated the Palestinians (not that any of us expected it)

.: Al Hoorya LiFilisten:.

The settlers' retreat was the theatre of the cynical

There was no 'sensitivity training' when bulldozers went into Rafah

Jonathan Steele
Friday August 19, 2005
The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Sto...552361,00.html


Contrast the world's overwhelming coverage, especially on television, of the departure of Israeli settlers from Gaza with the minimal reporting of larger and more brutal evictions in previous months.
There was no "sensitivity training" for Israeli troops, no buses to drive the expellees away, no generous deadlines to get ready, no compensation packages for their homes, and no promise of government-subsidised alternative housing when the bulldozers went into Rafah.

Within sight of the Gush Katif settlements that have been handled with such kid gloves this week, families in Rafah were usually given a maximum of five minutes' warning before their houses, and life savings, were crushed. Many people did not even have time to go upstairs to collect belongings when the barking of loudspeakers ordered them out, sometimes before dawn. Fleeing with their children in the night, they risked being shot if they turned round or delayed.

As many as 13,350 Palestinians were made homeless in the Gaza Strip in the first 10 months of last year by Israel's giant armour-plated Caterpillar bulldozers - a total that easily exceeds the 8,500 leaving Israeli settlements this week. In Rafah alone, according to figures from the UN relief agency Unrwa, the rate of house demolitions rose from 15 per month in 2002 to 77 per month between January and October 2004.

Parts of Rafah now resemble areas of Kabul or Grozny. Facing Israeli army watchtowers and the concrete wall that runs close to the Gaza Strip's boundary, rows of rubble and ruined homes stretch for hundreds of yards.

The house where I stayed three years ago, which was then one row back from the frontline, has gone. So have three more lines of houses behind it, thanks to Israel's remorseless policy of clearing the zone for "security" reasons even after Ariel Sharon announced his plan to leave Gaza.

Palestinians who visit the ruins or try to use one or two rooms that survived the onslaught risk their lives from Israeli bullets. A warning shot rang out as one homeowner took me on to his roof in broad daylight last month to survey the miserable scene. We quickly came down.

These cruel evictions have of course been reported, and some foreigners who tried to block or record them, such as Rachel Corrie, Tom Hurndall and James Miller, paid with their lives alongside scores of murdered local Palestinians. But coverage was never as comprehensive or intense as this week's removals of Israelis. Sharon wanted the world's media to see the protracted agony of the settlers, so as to make the (spurious) point that if it is hard to get 8,500 to leave Gaza, getting 400,000 to withdraw from the West Bank and east Jerusalem will be impossible. However sincere the settlers' grief is at leaving their homes, for the organisers of the retreat it was theatre of the cynical.

The exaggerated focus on the settlement evictions has some benefits. Those who claim, genuinely or dishonestly, that the world's media are biased in favour of Palestinians had their argument collapse this week. TV viewers around the world have also been exposed to the ugly sight of rampant religious fundamentalism.

As they were dragged off, some Israeli zealots had no shame in minimising the Holocaust, absurdly comparing unarmed Israeli police to the Gestapo. Others used racist insults. "Jews do not expel Jews," they shouted, presumably wanting to imply that only non-Jews do it. They apparently did not realise that most people will see the irony in terms of contemporary rather than historical events - "Jews do not expel Jews ... Jews expel Arabs."

Perhaps the ugliest part of the Israeli settlers' behaviour was their corruption of youth, with parents instigating their children to wrap themselves in prayer shawls and sob or shriek defiance.

No one who spends time in Gaza's Palestinian communities can avoid being saddened by the ubiquitous focus on the gun, which also diverts children from normal growing up. It appears on graffiti everywhere alongside the names and faces of those who died by violence, in suicide attacks or shot down by Israeli fire. Almost every teenage boy aspires to use a Kalashnikov or hand grenade. At a recent wedding, I saw a dancing mother twirl a rifle in both hands above her head like the baton of a majorette.

Trapped in their Israeli-enforced ghetto, Gazans can at least claim that this pervasive and corrupting militarism is the legacy of a decades-long national resistance movement to defend land that belongs to them. Islam is part of the mix, but religion follows the national flag. For many Israeli settlers in Gaza that dynamic was reversed. Religion was their driving force, and they had no individual or national right to the land on which they built their armed camps.

Israel's worst practices from Gaza are likely to be transferred to the West Bank now. Controls over freedoms in the West Bank have been tightened relentlessly in recent years. More roads were closed. More checkpoints sprang up. Walls and fences were extended, in defiance of the international court of justice's ruling that they are illegal. However, even with this creeping oppression, life in the West Bank is not yet as constricted as it was for those in Gaza.

That will probably change. Sharon - one of whose nicknames, appropriately, is Bulldozer - wants to expand the West Bank settlements and demolish more Palestinian homes around Jerusalem. Unless his strategy of unilateralism is blocked, evictions may reach Rafah-like proportions.

The break-up of the settlements will give those in Gaza freedom to move within their narrow enclave, but this benefit may be outweighed by the West Bank's losses. One of the worst places in Gaza used to be the Abu Houli crossing, a tunnel for Palestinian vehicles that went under the road to the Israeli settlements of Gush Katif. At any moment Israeli Land Rovers or tanks would emerge to block the tunnel, leaving Palestinians stranded on what was the only road linking the north and south of Gaza. Pregnant mothers could not get to hospital. Relatives missed weddings. Students failed to reach their colleges to take exams.

Israel intends to build at least 16 gated crossings in the West Bank. It is one thing to have segregated roads - a step that America's Deep South and apartheid South Africa never reached. But to insist on the right to block even those roads that are allocated to Palestinians is grotesque. The West Bank will be sliced into a series of ghettoes that Israeli forces can isolate at will. Whatever the security justification, the effect is to impose collective punishment on every Palestinian.

No one should be surprised if, in the face of such injustice, Palestinian anger and resistance grow.

It was a token gesture.

What is important is the West Bank and Israel will never make a significant withdrawal from there or Jerusalem.

.: Free Palestine:.

2 things I wanted to mention. firstly, did you know that (this should not come as a surprise) the Israeli govnt is crushing all the settlers homes instead of leaving everything the way it is for Palestinian use. What should come as a surprise (well not really) is that one everything is crushed the rubble is being left for the Palestinans to clean up the thing is that Israel is saying that Palestinians should use the rubble to build their homes and concrete etc.What a BIG help they've been don't you think?!? Now here's the big surprise Israel had the nerve to invite Egypt to the rubble as well.

Secondly I wanted to talk about the points that I mentinioned in the first post.
"Although Israel plans to dismantle its illegal settlements and military bases in the Gaza Strip, it will still maintain a full-scale sea, air, and land siege of the territory. Gaza will remain an open-air prison under Israeli control, preventing Palestinians from exercising their right to freedom of movement and from engaging in economic activity. Under these conditions, Israel will still in effect be occupying the Gaza Strip, according to international law.


Israel's plan to "disengage" from the Gaza Strip does not meet even the minimum expectations articulated by the United States. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated that "when the Israelis withdraw from Gaza it cannot be sealed or [an] isolated area, with the Palestinian people closed in after that withdrawal. We are committed to connectivity between Gaza and the West Bank, and we are committed to openness and freedom of movement for the Palestinian people"
So apparently the deal is that Israel hasn't even reached Americas "expections" (not that there will be any consequences), but seriously if they haven't reached Americas expectations then you know that they've sunk really low. Then again Israel has had a ton of practice sinking.

To sum it up basicly what Isreal is doing is 1- Caging the Palestinians then 2- Adding a torturer to the cage (settlers who are allowed to carry weapos and enter a Palestinian persons property and force them off for however long they want) then 3- moving out the torturer. NEWSFLASH! were back to square 1 caging in the Palestinians. :mad:

.: Al Hoorya LiFilisten:.

Yah sister Palestinian_Lib we understand, its tough situation for those who live there Allahu al Musta3an but you know Israel is always cheap there not gonna give something without first having an interest, Hezbillah in lebonan says that they want to occupy more of the land or even attack lebonan. Allah knows best but Israel wouldn't take Gaza and set up settlements and then give Gaza back and force the people out without having a plan to invade something else so I don't this is possible especially with the israelis there is something behind it all.

Of course the Israelis will destroy the homes. The homes were built by Jews with Jewish money, they are not going to just give all of that to the people they consider their worst enemies.

The Jews will invade the Gaza Strip again as soon as Hamas or some other terrorist group uses it to attack Israelis outside of Gaza.

format_quote Originally Posted by nikki

(its also evidnt tha west r bein too sympathetic, they supportd the israelies in tha 1st place to my knowledge!)

wa salaams xxx

But if they supported the Israelis in the first place, how can they be too sympathetic?

format_quote Originally Posted by Hashim

Akhee for once can you show some compsssion for your fellow muslim brothers and sisters. I dont know how you can term the mujahideen terrorists and you are obvously labelling Hamas (islamic resistance movement) a terrorist organization, which is totally incorrect. The Isreali's are not a legitamate people and we do not recongnize Isreal as a legitamate nation. There 'homes' are built upon muslim land, simple as.

I do consider Hamas a terrorist organization. If the shoe fits, wear it.

Israel is a legitimate people and their nation has fought for its right to exist.

I support a mutual agreement between both sides that gives each people self-determination and peace.

Both sides have handled the situation badly and both sides have blood on their hands.

format_quote Originally Posted by Aqib

Asalam o alikum warahmatulahi wabarakatuh..

bro did u knw the state was a palestinian state.. time passed by and the british or americans took over. they gave the state to the jews because the jews didn't have a nation. this lead to the palestinians getting kicked out of their own homes and the jews took over their homeland.. if u think israel is legitimate now then put yourself in the position of the palestinians.


wasalam o alikum warahmatulahi wabarakatuh.

Palestine was a British possession before the UN mandated it's handover for a Jewish homeland. Much land the Jews had in Palestine and Israel was purchased by the Jews legally, even before Israel was created.

I feel bad for the plight of the Palestinians and they do deserve justice as well.

But both sides have to respect each other, stop killing each other and lerarn to live side by side.