Gaza Disengagement/Expulsion Live Thread

FR live thread | 7/14/2005 | none

[dervish]

Yes, that indeed was a mistake, but one fixable today. It is not too late to annex most of the West Bank and Jerusalem as Israel proper creating defensible borders and retaining historical and biblical Jewish land.

According to your strange sense of international law that act would convey legitimacy where none existed before, right?

[BurbankKarl]

An Israeli soldier rushes into the Jewish Gaza Strip settlement of Kfar Darom in Gush Katif settlements bloc August 14, 2005. Five Israeli soldiers were hit by 'friendly fire' near a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, days before Israel is due to start evacuating settlers from the occupied territory, the army said.

Yakov Mazaltarin walks away after setting fire to one of the buildings on his property near the the Jewish settlement of Rafiah Yam, in the southern Gaza Strip Sunday, Aug. 14, 2005. Israeli troops were to seal off the Gaza settlements at midnight Sunday, marking the start of the withdrawal, the first time Israel will pull out of land Palestinians want for a future state. Two days later, soldiers will begin forcibly removing those settlers remaining in the 21 Gaza settlements.

[NRA2BFree]

I like the honesty of calling it the Expulsion Plan. But then, the Deportation Plan sounds correct also. Aw, heck let us call it for what it really is:

The Sharon/Peres RETREAT PLAN!

OK, if we're going to call it for what it really is, then this is what it is: The Bush plan.

[pollywog]

my prayers are going up for these Israelis. How sad and yet, how prophetic.

[Hischild]

Mark for later

[TAquinas]

It needs to be returned too, because, according to our President (that's "our" President Bush):

"I believe the decision that Prime Minister Sharon has made and is going to follow through on will be good for Israel," Bush said, interviewed at his ranch in Crawford, Texas."

Asked why he thought Israel's "disengagement" from the occupied land would help Israeli security, Bush replied:

"First of all the previous system wasn't working. There was an intifada (Palestinian uprising), there was death, there was killing. And if you notice, there's been a calm in attacks."

"I think this will create an opportunity for democracy to emerge and democracies are peaceful."

"I think in the long run two states living side by side in peace is the ultimate solution for Israel's security," he said.

[Will_Zurmacht]

classic!

[BurbankKarl]

What have we learned today....Terrorism pays!

[pollywog]

sad, so sad.

[adam_az]

"First of all the previous system wasn't working. There was an intifada (Palestinian uprising), there was death, there was killing. And if you notice, there's been a calm in attacks."



There has been no such thing.

I really hate to say this for the first time... but Bush Lied.

[the invisib1e hand]

And when does the pullout from Jerusalem start?

just before the end of time, I'd guess.

[the invisib1e hand]

What have we learned today....Terrorism pays!

So it would appear.

[pollywog]

You are so right BK........this photo just makes me sick to my stomach. Listening to the livecam of the wailingwall just makes me want to cry for these people.

[adam_az]

"You are so right BK........this photo just makes me sick to my stomach. Listening to the livecam of the wailingwall just makes me want to cry for these people."

It cuts in and out for me - you getting a steady stream?

[Sabramerican]

If Jenna and Barbara Bush ever want to take control of Dad's assets, at the competency hearing they should cite the above quote.

[agrace]

"First of all the previous system wasn't working. There was an intifada (Palestinian uprising), there was death, there was killing. And if you notice, there's been a calm in attacks."

In other words, he's advocating withdrawal to halt terror attacks. How is this not appeasement, and not a double standard considering our policy in Iraq?

[TAquinas]

"Bush and Sharon are both wrong."

I'm sure they know better than you and me.

If they say it's best for Israel to leave all occupied lands, I believe them.

[Piranha]

I haven't been there, but I lived in Tel Aviv.

That's precisely the problem. I've been to Israel probably eight times, and I've never been there either. As a result, people in pre-1967 Israel (to say nothing of the rest of the world) have a mental picture of crazy Jews with guns living in trailers on sand dunes. It's only in the last few weeks -- really, I think, since the human chain from Jerusalem to Gaza a few months ago -- that there has been any portrayal of Gaza Jewry as human.

If the West Bank is going to be saved, the Israelis living there have to start a PR campaign immediately. They need to show the rest of the nation (and the world) how established their communities are; they need to show that they are productive members of Israeli society (Gaza, for example, has exported $120 million/year in agricultural exports, mostly organic fruits and vegetables). They need to convince the rest of Israel to stop calling them "Settlers" and stop referring to the areas where they live as "the Territories." They need to build bed and breakfast inns and convention centers, and encourage professional associations to hold meetings in their towns. I don't think the average Israeli would have destroyed Sderot Jewry the way Gaza Jewry seems to be coming to an end. They must be made to understand that West Bank Jewry is in an equally precarious position.

[Alouette]

And if you notice, there's been a calm in attacks

I take a bugle with me whenever I go to the mall, and if you notice, there have been no gorilla attacks.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Do not EVER put blind faith in ANY man.