Dear Editor,

I refer to the letter by Andaiye et al (SN 14/1/09) captioned “Israeli Action in Gaza Is a War Crime”, and would appreciate the opportunity to rebut.

The letter is shallow and ill-considered, and is hopelessly inadequate as to its treatment of the opposing view. Guyanese are being asked, again wrongly, to pander to a careless and lazy point of view. The letter represents a unique alliance in off-the-shelf deception rarely seen in Guyana, and is easily rebutted on several distinct grounds.

Firstly, Israel’s action in Gaza is not a “war crime”, merely the expected and woeful result of war … any war. Melanie Phillips makes the point (“War Is Terrible, but the Alternative in Gaza was Worse”; http://www.melaniephillips.com/articles-new/?p=636 ) that, for persons like Andaiye and her colleauges, the main complaint is that Israel’s response is ‘disproportionate’, since some 900 Palestinians have been killed compared with ‘only’ 13 Israelis since the war started 20 days ago. This would be absurd. In World War II, 20 times more civilians were killed in Germany than in Britain. Did that make the war against the Nazis ‘disproportionate’? Of course not!

Secondly, Andaiye et al miss the point that wars do not start by themselves. To infer that the current catastrophe was somehow initiated by Israel is patently ridiculous. Melanie Phillips makes the UNDISPUTED point that “…. this is a war that Israel spent more than seven years trying to avoid, while no fewer than 6,000 rockets and other missiles rained down from Gaza upon its southern towns. No other country in the world would have sat on its hands while its traumatised children were raised in bomb shelters….” Despite Andaiye, destroying Hamas’ capacity became necessary!

Thirdly, to argue that Israel is investing in the ‘heavy and merciless blowing up of children, women and men’ challenges logic. If a modern army of Israel’s strength took 20 days to kill 900 people, this would be considered as incompetence. The reality is more believable. Melanie points out the following: “… Contrary to Arab propaganda, the Israelis are taking enormous pains to avoid civilian casualties in their attempt to curb these rocket attacks. The UN has confirmed that the vast majority (75 per cent) of the dead in Gaza have been Hamas terrorists. Given the huge number of bombing sorties that have been conducted, this proves that the Israelis are specifically targeting the Hamas infrastructure. Alas, the civilian death toll will unavoidably mount, which is deeply regrettable. But what must be understood is that Hamas have deliberately situated their weapons under apartment blocks, in mosques and in hospitals …”

Fourthly, therefore, some cruel facts: the Israelis build bomb shelters for their civilians; Hamas store bombs underneath their civilians in order to create as many civilian casualties as possible to manipulate world opinion. What people find so hard to grasp, says Melanie, is that Hamas actually want to maximise the number of Palestinians who are killed because, as they boast: ‘We desire death as you desire life.’

Fifthly, if the general Palestinian population (who foolishly elected Hamas to power on a promise of continued aggression against Israel) shares this outlook, it is indeed strange that Andaiye and her colleagues would defend the lives of those sworn to kill themselves … but then this is the nature of the abiding paradox and hypocrisy that drives her letter … and Hamas’ social policy. It is easy to infer that it was this self-induced suicidal idiocy of Hamas, masquerading as a plausible national defence strategy, that fuelled James Petras’s compellingly (but yet to be verified) poetic account of disaster. In the meantime, Israel’s practical and effective offensive counter-insurgency policy simply became: seek out and kill the Hamas-terrorist wherever he fires from.

Sixthly, Andaiye et al make the inane connection with “… the massive support tentacles of AIPAC …“ We are at a loss to understand where this is leading to, because Ahmed Ahmadinejad and his oil-rich country Iran is the foremost public bankroller for Hamas. While the AIPAC does not ask Israel to lob 6,000 missiles unprovoked at Gaza, Ahmadinejad has publicly promised to, upon acquiring nuclear capacity, “blow Israel off the face of the map”. Now Israel is a UN-created state, and enjoys legitimacy with that organization … but no one has labelled that threat as a “war crime”. If this is lost to Andaiye and her colleagues, then they are drinking from the cup of delusion. Phillips therefore concludes: “…. Most important of all, this war is not actually about Israel and the Palestinians. Hamas is controlled by Iran. Unless Hamas is stopped, Iran’s growing influence in the region will be entrenched and put Britain and the West in even greater danger from Islamist aggression and blackmail….”

Seventh, Andaiye et al display a remarkable degree of error in referring to “… the defeat of the Israeli military at the hands of Hezbollah in their last incursion into Lebanon…”. This would be laughable were it not a “serious” treatment with the signatures of eminent persons like Rupert Roopnarine and Eusi Kwayana. They obviously did not read the script before signing, and must by now be hugely embarrassed. The Israeli version makes for easier digestion. An enormous amount of Lebanese infrastructure was damaged in that campaign before Israel withdrew, and Hezbollah’s promise of future incessant rocket-fire was comprehensively stopped by an adamant Lebanese government. Hezbollah sustained heavy losses of personnel and munitions in that campaign, and the net result was a face-saving mantra that “to survive an attack by Israel equals victory”. What utter rubbish!

One of the contributors to SN’s webpage comments had already raised the ludicrous spectacle of a defeated Hamas leader throwing a rock over the border after Israel has withdrawn and shouting “Victory!”.

Andaiye and her colleagues should cease and desist.

Yours faithfully
Roger Williams
Jan 14, 2009

If the Palestinians do not remember their horrible lapses of judgement in the past, they are condemned to repeat the same mistakes ad infinitum.

That, sadly, means more body bags need to be ordered by the Gazan authorities, because Israel has now shown that it will not tolerate any rocket fire on its territory, and will never again give up her territory because of previous Palestinian treachery and broken promises on the issue.

So … are you implying that the Palestinian mindset is incapable of saying … “We messed up! We need to re-think this”

We will visit antiwar.com and see what descriptives they have for the paradox of Hamas dropping 6,000 rockets on Israel … and the sane explanations they will give us as to why attacking with 6,000 rockets constitutes an “antiwar” effort.

In the meantime we should note that Hamas, Hezbollah and other Palestinian degenerates have been trying (have managed?) to infect a gullible minority in the onlooking world with a nasty disease called “delusional denial”.

Melanie Phillips captures … and answers … the classic symptoms:

“…. The main complaint is that Israel’s response is ‘disproportionate’, since some 500 Palestinians have been killed compared with ‘only’ four Israelis since the war started nine days ago.

This is absurd. In World War II, 20 times more civilians were killed in Germany than in Britain. Did that make the war against the Nazis ‘disproportionate’? Of course not.

Then there’s the belief that the Hamas rockets are some kind of homemade, harmless Dad’s Army effort which could and should be ignored.

But the only reason more Israelis haven’t been killed by them is that in the south, the population has been all but living in bomb shelters. And there is nothing ‘homemade’ about the Russian-designed Katyushas and Iranian Grad rockets now putting around one-tenth of Israel’s population within their range.

Contrary to Arab propaganda, the Israelis are taking enormous pains to avoid civilian casualties in their attempt to curb these rocket attacks. The UN has confirmed that the vast majority (75 per cent) of the dead in Gaza have been Hamas terrorists. Given the huge number of bombing sorties that have been conducted, this proves that the Israelis are specifically targeting the Hamas infrastructure.

Alas, the civilian death toll will unavoidably mount, which is deeply regrettable. But what must be understood is that Hamas have deliberately situated their weapons under apartment blocks, in mosques and in hospitals.

The Israelis build bomb shelters for their civilians; Hamas store bombs underneath their civilians in order to create as many civilian casualties as possible to manipulate world opinion.

What people find so hard to grasp is that Hamas actually want to maximise the number of Palestinians who are killed because, as they boast: ‘We desire death as you desire life.’

Despite this fanaticism, many fear that Israel’s attack will merely create yet more suicide bombers. There is a grain of sense in this — but only a grain.

This is because every single act of self-defence against Islamist aggression is used as a recruiting sergeant for the Islamic holy war. So if this is allowed to dictate world responses, it follows that no one can ever defend themselves against Islamist rockets and bomb attacks — not just in Israel but in Afghanistan or against Al Qaeda anywhere.

Islamists such as Hamas are galvanised into battle by the perceived weakness of their victims, and are deterred only by implacable strength ….”

http://www.melaniephillips.com/articles-new/?p=636

How does the penultimate paragraph grab you?

“Most important of all, this war is not actually about Israel and the Palestinians. Hamas is controlled by Iran. Unless Hamas is stopped, Iran’s growing influence in the region will be entrenched and put Britain and the West in even greater danger from Islamist aggression and blackmail.”

The truth is stranger than fiction sometimes. As to the non-Biblical evidence for the legitimacy of Israel, we should consult any encyclopedia … or assess the following excerpt:

“…. On the day after Ben-Gurion declared its independence, six Arab armies invaded and tried to wipe it out. With the current exception of Egypt and Jordan, the Arab and Muslim world has been trying ever since.

ISRAEL IS THE ONLY COUNTRY whose creation was approved by the UN; yet it is the only country whose legitimacy is called into question.

II IS THE ONLY COUNTRY which the world requires to compromise with its Palestinian Arab attackers and accede to their demands, even while they are firing rockets at its schools and houses and blowing up its citizens.

IT IS THE ONLY COUNTRY which continues to provide electricity and basic services to those attackers and routinely treats thousands of Palestinians in its own hospitals, even those who have Israeli blood on their hands.

ANY YET IT IS THE ONLY COUNTRY which, in the court of public opinion, is condemned for behaving ‘disproportionately’ when it uses targeted military means to defend itself, and is accused of causing the very ‘Nazi’ or ‘apartheid’ atrocities of which it itself is the victim….”

( http://www.melaniephillips.com/articles-new/?p=582 )

So many years the Israelis tried to `prevent a war with the hamas/palestinains, their death toll by the hamas rockets are not astronomical because the Jewish State always spend millones on their citizens safety by building bomb shelters.
Meanwhile hamas uses the civilians as human shields we all sees it daily in Iraq/Afganistan.

The World would judge the day a nuclear weapon falls in their hands, but the lament would be too late.

- when you finish your curry and roti for lunch…I’m racist?
- when you finish your plantain and dumplin’….. I’m racist?
If that’s your conclusion….then you are intellectually barren. Do not assume anything about me, for you are not up to it.
Here’s my Guyanese saying…”In my sleep…I’m more intelligent than you are or will ever be. What I have forgotten, you are now probably learning, and what I know now, you will never know”.

Moderators…leave my statement alone. Please. It will probably be my last one.

cheers.

What ARE some of the facts ABOUT HAMAS that we should be considering?

“….This is a war that Israel spent more than seven years trying to avoid, while no fewer than 6,000 rockets and other missiles rained down from Gaza upon its southern towns. No other country in the world would have sat on its hands while its traumatised children were raised in bomb shelters….”

( http://www.melaniephillips.com/articles-new/?p=636 )

Concerned … I need to know … is the relentless launching of 6,000 rockets on a soverign state be considered a “war crime” in the Islamist mentality?

On the other hand, maybe a few discerning Palestinians will see the carnage, then reflect on the following:

1. Is it possible that we Palestinians made a huge mistake when we invaded Israel in 1948 after the UN had established our state and a state for Israel!

2. Is is possible that we Palestinians made a huge mistake at Camp David when Yasser Arafat refused Israeli offers of land for peace (See Adam Frankowski’s concise contributions elsewhere)

3. Is it possible that we Palestinians made a huge mistake when we decided to rain 6,000 rockets … unprovoked … on Israel over 7 years … knowing full well that our day of reckoning would come …

4. Is it possible that we Palestinians should have learnt from Israel’s recent invasion of Lebanon, and Georgia’s abortive attempt against Russia, that there would be serious repercussions to military action?

5. Is is possible that we Palestinians miscalculated our capacity to manipulate world opinion on this issue, and that we miscalculated the resolve of the Israeli people on this issue?

Then they will renounce violence, dethrone Hamas, and sue for a lasting peace in their lifetime.

does the compilation of the names of this “group” an assertion of the only minds in the GUYANESE strata that is capable of defining “right from wrong” ??????????…….

was it necessary to to lend support to ur facts which anyone of a balanced mind would be inclined to lean on ???????

Now, before we talk about Hamas rockets.. which is teh Israeli line. let’s talk about what cause these people to resort to home made rockets in teh first place. Ther has been a blocade of goods and movement of Palestinians for over 2 years. The israelis hasve been building illegal settlements continuously on Palestinian land. Is that not terrorism. How many people were killed by those Hamas Rockets before the recent invasion by the Israelis.. how about NONE!
About Hamas using women and children as shields.. this is an out and out lie that has been debunked by independent reporters in the area.

Do you know that teh Israelis have refused to let non Israelis reporters enter the current war zone. Furthermore,it has been documented that Israel ask their own reporters not to show ait any video that will show Israel in a bad light. Recently the Israelis bombed a UN facility (a schol was there) and then claimed that “Rockets were fired from there”. The UN people who were there denied it and the next day the Israelis backed off their claim when confronted.

You want the truth about Israel.. go to http://www.antiwar.com

http://www.antiwar.com the truth shall set you free

If Israeli leaders are to be tried for war crimes, then Hamas leaders need to be instantly executed, without trial, for their stupidity. Not even South Africa’s leaders used women, chilren and the aged as human shields against the brutal apartheid South Agrican regime.

Hammas/Palestinians should not have been zoned on that piece of land within Israel in the first place – I guess that was an UN deceision. I can’t imagine how they decided to divided up that tiny piece of land – Israel. It is what UN or whoever thought it was a bright idea to do so then = death. Instead decision should have been for them (Jews and Hammas/Palestinians) to be more tolerant to each other; learn to live in a more civilized way and have respect each other’s lives – especially the innocent – the children.
Have any one you – undersigned – visited there to know what I am talking about?
“Jokey” part is that every day many of the Hammas/Palestinians come out of that zoned area every day – Gaza Strip – to go to work in Israel – and go back into the ‘cage’ at the end of the day.
Let’s hope that current situation open up the eyes of UN and every body involved to decide whether or not that situation -zoned- should continue.
UN – please break down the walls of Gaza – let the people go free – because after this I don’t think the right thinking Palestinians would like to live that way for the rest of their lives – caged up.