Suppose a UN investigation team claimed the US committed war crimes in its response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. While al Qaeda may have been culpable for the attacks, America was equally to blame for the civilian deaths caused during Operation Enduring Freedom. This is the framework suggested by the Goldstone report.
Hamas has officially announced that the period of calm, which began on June 19 and has been eroding since November 4, has ended. More than 50 rockets and mortar bombs have fell in Israel's towns over the weekends -
Here is an indepth coverage from Al Jazeera on life under constant rocket threats:
Hamas has been recruiting an army of husbands for Jihad widows. 300 such couples were married in a mass ceremony one evening in October. “Marriage is the same as jihad,” or holy war, said Muhammad Yousef, one recently married member of the Qassam Brigades, the Hamas underground. “With marriage, you are producing another generation that believes in resistance.”
Hamas Prime Minister rejoice over the economic turmoil claiming its a punishment from Allah because America has attacked Palestine, Iraq, Afganistan and Somalia..
There is a ceasefire in Gaza, but there is evidence of militant groups preparing for a return to violence. The Islamic Jihad, is training female suicide bombers. Here is one who just got married and is determined to die.
A few weeks ago, I was able to secure an interview with Mark Regev based on readers' questions. Many of you have responded by posting your questions, and selected topics were presented to Mr. Regev.
On a personal note, I wanted to apologize for the delay in posting
these answers. I gave birth to a baby boy a few weeks ago, thus was
less available than I hoped and was unable to upload these answers in a
timely fashion.
Here are some of the answers I've received, dealing with the following issues:
Terror attacks and the tools used against them - Israel has seen a dramatic reduction in terror attacks in the last few years and its not because terrorists have stopped trying.
Israel's relations with the media - many of you raised the issue of Hasbara, or how Israel is explaining itself to international media. Mr. Regev explained Israel's efforts in this field as well as its approach to new media trends such as social media sites.
The issue of torture - torture is illegal in Israel and the security services operate within the limits of the law.
The Jewish identity of Israel and its impact on non Jewish citizens.
I'd be happy to hear your thoughts on these matters.
Shocking testimonials by Palestinians reveal the treatment those opposed to the Islamic Hamas movement receive. Knowning Hamas this is not new, yet these people fled to Israel so they can now speak out and tell their stories.
The Hamas administration plans to move forward with efforts to combat global warming, despite the failure to forcefully close the Karni fuel depot that would have curbed Gaza's greenhouse gas emissions, officials said yesterday.
"We didn't get the fuel depot closed yet, but we did send a strong message by killing two Israeli officials who were responsible to most of the pollution" said Dr. Samir 'Abdullah, Minister of Planning. "All in all, we're in pretty good shape."
At the depot, which is run by Dor Alon, fuel trucks send their polluting cargo to Palestinian territory through an underground pipe. It is estimated that 25% of greenhouse gas emissions are caused by fuel sent to Gaza by Israel.
The two Israelis officials killed in the attack had been veteran employees at the fuel depot, where they coordinated the pollutions efforts of Israel by transferring fuel to the Palestinians, said Jacob Cohen, an official of the Karni fuel depot. "They've been here for years, causing lots of harm to the environment," said Cohen.
He added that the Hamas efforts to curb global warming might undermine the short-term interests of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. "Getting fuel is clearly in the Palestinian interest despite the pollution," said Cohen. "After all, they say that they want to operate their hospital. Now I believe that in the coming days the supply of pollution, but also of fuel, will stop".
Hamas officials rejected Cohen's claims and added "Millions of Palestinians could face poverty, disease and hunger as a result of rising temperatures and increased rainfall expected to hit Gaza. Having no fuel to operate our hospitals is a small price to pay for curbing global warming".
Hamas is expected to announce additional efforts in the near future, including switching to bio-degradable Qassams missiles and using green explosives that do less harm to the environment when exploding.
Iranian's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, congratulated the Hamas leadership on "their decisive actions for curbing global warming", and promised that Iran is hard at work on developing the Nassam, a Qassam with a nuclear warhead. "The new Nassam will considerably reduce the amounts of Kassams used and the strain put on the environment", Iranian officials said, "One Nassam will replace millions of Qassams and help us bring a clean, nice world sooner than expected".
Disclaimer: This post is a political satire. Any use of or similarity to real people or events, except for the terror attack on the Karni Fuel Depot , are accidental.
News and Views from Israel and about Israel from one of the founders of Giyus.org, a pro-Israeli public diplomacy group.
Email me at israeligirl67 _at_ gmail dot com