Dare said:
Explain how a couple dozen checkpoints can control an entire country of millions of people?
''A Checkpoint is a barrier built by the Israeli Defense Forces or Border Police to limit the movement of Palestinians who lack necessary permits. Normally, Israeli citizens, settlers and foreigners move through the checkpoints without being stopped. Palestinians with permits frequently experience extreme delays and humiliation at these barriers. On occasions, deaths have occurred at checkpoints when individuals, including pregnant women in labor, have been unable to reach hospitals. Often farm produce, especially from Gaza, has spoiled at checkpoints due to delays of up to several days.''
"What is a checkpoint? Let me give you a brief description. Usually it's some cement blocks in the road that you have to stop at. Soldiers with big guns motion for you to come forward when they want; sometimes they'll keep cars for hours while they stand around and joke with each other. Usually there's maybe one soldier checking a long line of idling cars and one checking a long line of tired pedestrians, and about five sitting in the shade, doing no apparent 'work.' Some times they let you through with a cursory ID check, sometimes they make you unload all of your gear, they check under the vehicle, they question you about irrelevant facts, and they turn you back. At checkpoints near Jewish settlements, there is a separate way, without a stop, for settlers, who are distinguished by yellow Israeli license plates as opposed to green Palestinian ones. Allegedly set up for Israeli 'security,' their effect, as I'm sure I've said before, is to slowly strangle Palestinian life and freedom." (reflections from Liala)
http://www.jatonyc.org/checkpoint.html
What happens every time Israel withdraws? Do you not notice the pattern? Do you recall the beautiful greenhouses that were obliterated by the Palestinians when given to them? They now build tunnels there into Israel to kill more Israelis.
When Israel withdrew from Gaza, they were busy building more settlements in the West Bank! Nice distraction though. And do you remember the amount of media coverage the withdrawal received? All you would see on CNN were poor Israeli families being forced out of there homes. But NO coverage on the increase in building settlements in the West Bank where Palestinians were routinely having their homes bulldozed down to make room for Israeli settlements.
And Gaza still isn't really free. Israel still controls all land, sea and air borders.
This war has absolutely nothing to do with economic conditions and everything to do with cultist behavior. Every inch of ground ceded to the Palestinians is ground that Israel will one day have to shed blood to recapture or pacify.Israel's arsenal is powerful because of who else surrounds them. Those others fuel this conflict. If it were simply Palestine vs Israel (Painting Israel as Goliath) it'd be one thing, but it's really every Islamic government in the area Vs Israel (Painting Israel as David). The Palestinians have sophisticated anti-tank weaponry now. It's really a matter of time until they are able to lead offensive assaults.Possession is 9/10 of the law.
This is not a war. Israel has occupied Palestine and has built settlements ON PALESTINIAN LAND for over 400,000 settlers. This conflict is about occupation and the effects of living under occupation.
Illegal under who's law? I do believe the law of self-defense is one of the most sacred and inalienable laws since the history of laws! The UN is an authority on nothing but waste. If someone had in their mandate for life an article that you, personally, were to be killed, would you not feel obliged to prevent that from happening?
- Article 49, paragraph 6 of the Fourth Geneva Convention explicitly stipulates "the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies".
- Article 46 of the Hague Convention prohibits the confiscation of private property in occupied territory. The confiscation of land by the Israeli government for settlement construction is in violation of this article.
- Article 55 of the Hague Convention stipulates that "the occupying state shall be regarded only as administrator and usufructuary of public buildings, real estate, forests, and agricultural estates belonging to the hostile State, and situated in the occupied country. It must safeguard the capital of these properties, and administer them in accordance with the rules of usufruct." This means that the occupying power does not become the owner of the territories and properties of the occupied country and does not use them for serving the interests of its civilians. This rule applies to all of the occupied territory's natural resources.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/factsheet/settlement.html
There are too many laws that Israel has broken to list here. Those are just a few regarding occupation.
Yes Kirkhill, this whole Palestinian-Israel subject has been beaten to death, I know. But as long as people on this site continue to label Palestinians as terrorists while praising Israeli actions, I'll voice my opinion and try to shed some light on things the media fails to mention.
