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Gaza Explosion

By Justin Podur at Dec 13, 2004

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Media will dutifully be reporting the deaths of five Israeli soldiers -- though some media are calling them simply 'Israelis', not specifying that they are soldiers -- in a Palestinian armed attack at a military checkpoint in Rafah. Israelis have already bombed Rafah since -- in 'response', of course. The rest of the media stories will have something on the elections, something on the 'withdrawal' from Gaza, perhaps something on the need to 'clamp down on terror'. What they won't say, I can virtually guarantee, is how many Palestinians Israel has been killing in Gaza over the past few months. The statistics on the Israeli human rights organization Btselem's website don't give a breakdown by region, but remember that Israeli killings of civilians in the territories are constant and have been for years, and that Rafah is perhaps the most intense zone of all-out war against the population. You should look at the tables. I just thought it would be interesting to look at the past year -- from last November to this November, bearing in mind that a large share of the Palestinians killed are killed in Rafah. So, from November 2003, the Israeli military has killed 814 Palestinians, 185 of them children, in the Occupied Palestinian territories, according to Btselem's figures. In the same period, Palestinian attacks killed 60 Israeli civilians, 8 of whom were children, and 42 Israeli security personnel (total of 102 Israelis, 8 of whom were children, though attacks on military personnel and civilians are different morally and legally and should be treated as such). Of course, it's not a simple matter of weighing 814 Palestinian deaths, including 185 children, against 107 Israeli deaths, including 8 children. No Israeli children are in Palestinian prisons, for example, and hundreds of Palestinian children are in Israeli prisons. For that matter no Israelis are in Palestinian prisons but thousands of Palestinians are in Israeli jails. No Israeli children are malnourished because Palestinians refuse to allow them basic services, but 22% of Palestinian children in Gaza are malnourished according to UN figures because of Israel's closures policy. Palestinian tanks, helicopters, and fighter planes do not routinely attack Israeli towns or drive around in them enforcing curfews and denying children their right to education, but the reverse does occur. And of course, the 814 Palestinians who were killed over the past months, for the most part, were killed in impunity and silence, whereas the Israeli deaths, like those of today, were reported.

Comment On This Blog Post  See All Comments (13)

Person

Lets use more accurate

By Kissenger, Clark at Jun 28, 2006 15:50 PM
Lets use more accurate terms, Israelis and Arab Palestinians.

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Person

Islamic imperialism will

By Kissenger, Clark at Jun 28, 2006 15:49 PM
Islamic imperialism will never allow Israel to exist. Giving back one square inch of land is verboten. These racists actually believe any land once  ruled as part of the Caliphate must be returned to such. Its not a rational arguement. And the Israelis know this.

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Person

"The rumour of Arab

By Kissenger, Clark at Jun 28, 2006 15:46 PM

"The rumour of Arab Broadcast telling Palestinians to make way for the advancing Arab army was an Israeli fabrication" is not discredited. Many Arabs were not allowed back justifiably. 

Benny Morris is not an accepted authority.

 

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Person

There is no semitic race.

By Kissenger, Clark at Jun 28, 2006 15:42 PM

There is no semitic race. Semitic is a language group.

I consider the Muslim regimes in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria as far more imperialist than 13 mile wide Israel.

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Person

Gazan Explosion

By Kissenger, Clark at Jun 28, 2006 15:38 PM
The Arab Palestinans were deceived by the leaders of the nations that employed the 5 Arab Armies that invaded Palestine in violation of UN resolution 141. There is even some emerging evidence that Deir Yassin may have been a battlegoround rather than a massacre. Of course massacre sounds good in the Arab press due to their martyr driven  values, that even attempted to label the recent Jenin battle as such.

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Person

Re: Gaza Explosion

By Sophphilo, Zubub at Jan 16, 2006 15:03 PM
Gaza is in chaotic hell because armed Palestinian thugs and Islamist fanatics are running amok, kidnapping even pro-Palestinian western human rights activists, and attacking the Palestinian authority. We know, of course, the excuses. On the views of the anti-Israel "left", when Jews kill Arabs it's because the Jews are murderous aggressive colonialist racists. When Arabs kill Jews it's also because the Jews are murderous aggressive colonialist racists, whom the poor Palestinians and other Arabs are just "resisting". And when the same Palestinians slaughter each other, kidnap western activists, etc.? You guessed it, it's the fault of the same Jews/Israelis, who victimised these poor innocents so much that they kind of lost it. If only Israel would stop "oppressing" them they'd flourish in stable peaceful democracy like other Arab countries, er... umm... Algeria, Yemen, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon.... Prejudice as analysis: Justin Podur wants to count dead children to see which side is worse. By this method the British were the aggressors of WWII, since they killed many more German children than the Germans killed British. In fact, the Germans lost more civilians (around 7 million) than the Jews (6 million) so I guess we should agree with Goebbels that the Jews were the aggressors. Irrelevant that Palestinian exterminationist hatred preferred a bloody campaign of murdering civilians when the negotiators at Taba were on the brink of a historic agreement.

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Person

Re: Gaza Explosion

By Gammon101, Bwong at Dec 17, 2004 02:59 AM
"In the military documents of those countries, it said that the Arab generals told the Arab population to retreat so as to not get in the way of the Arab's slaughtering of Jews. It is well known that the Arab populations left on their own accord. " yakov It is fairly well known by now that the Palestinians did not "retreat" on their own accord. The rumour of Arab Broadcast telling Palestinians to make way for the advancing Arab army was an Israeli fabrication.This is so throughly discredited that even the Israeli government no longer repeat it. Moreover, tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees were already driven out of their land, tens of hundreds of Arab villages already destroyed and burtnt to the ground months before the Arab army fired the first shot. According to IDF document 80% of the refugees were driven out by the Israeli army and paramilitary groups such as the Irgun. See Benny Morris's account for the Palestinian refugees.

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Person

Re: Gaza Explosion

By Bok, Yakov at Dec 17, 2004 00:22 AM
Finally, if you are against imperialism, you would speak out against those in the region, i.e. Syria, Iran, and Iraq, who are truely acting imperialistically.

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Person

Re: Gaza Explosion

By Bok, Yakov at Dec 17, 2004 00:21 AM
First, your own BBC had a series of articles when the war was about to start that described how oil economics do not support the "blood for oil" theory. While oil may be A factor in the war, it is not THE factor in the war. It is a crucial distinction. For those who continue to say otherwise, I seriously question your ability to grasp the economic principles. Second, you are inferring some nefarious conspiracy on the part of the U.S. and British governments when they have stated time and time again the purpose of the war is to enforce UN sanctions, rid the world of a horrible dictator, and attempt to bring democracy to the one region in the world that is acting to destabalzie the entire world. Thirdly, when Israel gained Gaza in a defensive war, it was hardly acting in an imperialistic manner. There is nothing in Gaza to exploit, allowing Israel to act imperialistically. You have prejudicially expanded the definition of imperialism. Again, Israel has time and time again attempted to give back Gaza and the West Bank. That is hardly acting like an empire.

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Person

By Bok, Yakov at Dec 16, 2004 05:44 AM
Further, Israel DOES have the right to exist which is at the root of this arguement. The Arab world, and now progressives, have been at war with Israel since 1948 because of the belief that Israel does not have the right to exist. Once Arabs and progressives say "Yes, Israel does have a right to exist," then half this war will be over.

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Person

Re: Gaza Explosion

By Bok, Yakov at Dec 16, 2004 05:27 AM
To say that rights are for states and not people is utterly absurd. States have the right to control things such as international treaties. People do not. Further, if you were truely anti-imperialist you would speak out against Iran's dominance over Syria through Hezzbolah, HQ'd in Damascus, and controls Southern Lebbanon, and know directly funds Hamas in an attempt to gain the hegmonic position over the Shia world. Further, Syria has controlled Lebbanon for over 20 years. Israel on the other hand, has been trying to give back Gaza and the West Bank for over 30. That is hardly imperialistic. Your failure to criticize true imperialism leads to me believe that you are simply anti-Jewish.

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Person

Re: Gaza Explosion

By Bok, Yakov at Dec 15, 2004 22:48 PM
Your "anti-Zionism" can only be taken as anti-Semitism. 1948, four Arab countries simultaneously attacked Israel. In the military documents of those countries, it said that the Arab generals told the Arab population to retreat so as to not get in the way of the Arab's slaughtering of Jews. It is well known that the Arab populations left on their own accord. Those who stayed are known today as "Israeli Arabs" and have full citizenship. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the 3 million Jews that the Arab countries kicked out when Israel was created. But that is besides the point. When the Arab world and "anti-Zionsists" such as yourselves vocally state "Israel has a right to exist and a right to be free from attack," that will be the first step towards peace.

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Person

Re: Gaza Explosion

By Bok, Yakov at Dec 15, 2004 05:00 AM
Why don't you mention that the Arabs had built a tunnel under a Jewish building, lowered a ton of explosives into the tunnel, and then blew up the Jewish building? Your rhetoric destorts the travisty of the matter. I know you will say the Arabs are justified because of Jewish "occupation." But you're forgetting that the Arabs started a war and lost a war in attempt to destroy the Jewish nation. The root of this is Israel's right of existence. Israel has a right to exist. If the Arabs didn't act as aggressors, their would be no "occupation." If Egypt had wanted peace in 1967, they would have agreed to the return of Gaza for the peace deal that Israel offered. Why don't you ask why Egypt doesn't want Gaza? Israel gained Gaza during a war. Gaza was and still is full of hostile enemy combatants. What do you suggest? That Israel simply return the land and say, "Here you go, you are free to attack us?" Get real.

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