AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Talk Belize Chat Area Gaza

No, not at all. I merely mentioned that as an aside. You're right that at a personal level I have a big problem with Zionists, but then I do with fanatics of all persuasions. My assessment of the situation is based on what I read and what I've seen on numerous visits to the region. I don't dislike Jews any more than I dislike the French, or Americans or anyone else, but I do dislike much about the Israeli state. My brother was once an official celebrity visitor to Jerusalem, but said afterwards he could never go back as he would probably be arrested for attempting to cause civil unrest. What he saw there appalled him.

Your analysis of the racial/ethnic origins of the people there are interesting but don't really change anything. You would expect a society that has cut itself off from its peers for hundreds or thousands of years to acquire distinct traits. There are other similar examples. But even if true (I'm not saying it isn't, just that it's irrelevant whether it is or not) it has no bearing on their right to occupy that area of land, which I think is spurious. More to the point, so do the Arabs.

I read that Israel is actively preventing foreign press from entering the war zone. Why?

Although I presume your question is rhetorical, may I suggest a few reasons:

Skippy's New Years Eve Top Ten Reasons Israel Is Preventing The Press From Entering The War Zone! (to the refrains of The Who and "I Can't Explain" from Live At Leeds)

10. Ran out of luxury cots and pillows for their comfort during their stay;

9. Didn't like the cut of their jib;

8. They didn't say "pretty please";

7. Couldn't guarantee their protection from Gaza-based organ grinders and those annoying monkeys;

6. Misunderstood "enter the war zone" and thought they wanted to enter the war stoned;

5. Told them to come back after tea;

4. Knew they would write kind things and in all modesty had to decline, thanks all the same;

3. Just hate trying to get journalist blood out of their clean linens;

2. "Did we say you can't go in? Oh my no, be our guest, we'll be right behind you";

1. And the number one reason why Israel won't allow the foreign press into the war zone: They have something to hide! Wait a minute, the war zone is in Gaza. What was the question again?

Happy New Year, Peter!

The latest is that the Israeli military are preventing delivery into Gaza of diesel required to run the sewage pumping stations. This is despite an order from the Israeli Supreme Court that such deliveries should be permitted. Israel has also been blocking for months the delivery of machine parts needed to complete a new sewage system. They started this action well before the present surge in unrest.

They know how serious the health problem is in Gaza, and has been for over a year. They don't care. Small wonder the "extremists" then retaliate in the only way open to them.

I stick to my viewpoint that this crisis is of Israeli manufacture and can only be resolved by a total about-turn in Israeli attitudes.

Can Israel and the USA not read the reactions they are generating around the world?

Oh, by all means, stand behind it. But accept how foolish you look when you and the entire world has observed Hamas indiscriminately firing missles into Israel for months now, trying to provoke a response. Well they got their response.

Oh, and by the way...

"Israel is so scrupulous about civilian life that, risking the element of surprise, it contacts enemy noncombatants in advance to warn them of approaching danger. Hamas, which started this conflict with unrelenting rocket and mortar attacks on unarmed Israelis - 6,464 launched from Gaza in the past three years - deliberately places its weapons in and near the homes of its own people. . . . There's only one grievance and Hamas is open about it. Israel's very existence."

Yes, the writer is Jewish. So what?

The rockets from Gaza are like bottle rockets compared to what is incoming.

Danny2, here is one of the types of "bottle rockets" Hamas is using. It is a Russian made BM-21 Mobile multiple rocket launcher that can hold up to 40 launch tubes per vehicle:

The BM-21 fires a "9-ft rocket" with a range of 20,380 meters. Each launch tube is grooved to impart a slow rotary motion to the rocket. However, the rocket is primarily fin-stabilized. This combination of spin- and fin-stabilization ensures closely grouped fire at ranges of up to 16 kilometers. The BM-21 and other 122mm rocket launchers can fire all 122mm rockets designed to fit in Soviet-derived 122mm launchers (including those that can achieve ranges of 30,000 to 36,000 meters). The 122-mm fin-stabilized rockets can deliver Frag-HE, chemical, or incendiary warheads to a range of over 20 kilometers, or the newer HE and cargo rockets out to 30 kilometers. On explosion, the warhead produces a great fragmentation effect and shock wave.

That is some "bottle rocket"!!!!!

Skippy et al - do you think the "war" can be won by Israel and all "terrorism" ended for good? If not, what more do they need to do to produce a lasting peace for the residents of Israel?

Everyone would love that, but I don't know how it will ever be possible. If they would just let Israel exist then yes peace is possible. Israel is not militant, they are surviving and damn good at it! They have never had a choice but to survive!

Israel should exist in some other part of the world and start fresh to build their nation and not on others endeavors. Let's face it Israel as it is now was created by decree as a spoil of war in 1947 or so. They are a tough people, they can do it again.