Free Republic

A decade after the Islamist group Hamas seized Gaza, the Palestinian enclave is effectively unliveable for its 2 million people, with declining incomes, healthcare, education, electricity and fresh water, the United Nations said. In a report examining humanitarian conditions in the territory, which Hamas took over in June 2007 after a brief conflict with forces loyal to the Palestinian Authority, the United Nations concludes the situation in Gaza is deteriorating "further and faster" than was forecast only a few years ago. "Across the board we're watching de-development in slow motion," Robert Piper, the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development...

Resolve & Frustration By Ari Bussel Most politicians in Israel are bureaucrats. Most bureaucrats in Israel excel at being politicians. Here and there, however, one may find a singular exception, a person who looks beyond the nine-to-five workday, who sees the bigger picture and has the nerve to do something beyond the call and comforts of what would ensure lifetime employment. They are often frowned upon, for they rattle a system otherwise quite stable. Why change something and cause more work? The salary, benefits and pension are all guaranteed and anchored with collective bargaining. If at the group level there...

Going to a War Zone By Ari Bussel “You realize you may be going into a war zone?” I was asked as I booked my ticket to Israel. The time is Passover, a major holiday in Israel, and unlike all my other travels, this time I do not dismiss the notion outright and altogether. The time to go to an all out war against Israel is actually as good as any. Iran has benefited greatly from the turmoil in the Middle East (which she may have actively orchestrated in part), the constant rise in the price of a barrel of...

"But why", more than one reporter from highly reputable publications has asked me, "is Israel attacking Gaza now?" At first, I was astonished: because Hamas canceled the ceasefire and started massive rocket firings at Israel. No, they responded, as if I had said something rude. Isn't it the election, or an attempt to stop the tunnels, or this or that reason? Absolutely not, I say, it's like Pearl Harbor, or September 11. If someone announces they are going to go to war with you and then does it, you retaliate and fight. At that point, the reporters seem to lose...