At just after 6:30 pm on Tuesday evening, almost immediately after the Davis City convened their regular agenda, a group of at least one hundred mainly Muslim students flooded community chambers in Davis, quietly and politely holding signs urging action on what has now been over a week long war in Gaza that has seen hundreds killed.
During public comment, one-by-one, the students spoke out about what they saw as atrocities of innocent women and children and civilians being killed by military action by the Israeli army.
Their message was simple–they want the violence to stop. They recognize that the city council cannot do a whole lot, but they want the council to write Senators Boxer and Feinstein, Congressman Mike Thompson, and most of all President-elect Barack Obama and ask them to do what they can to make the violence stop.
With literally dozens of students wanting to speak but a long agenda ahead of them, Mayor Ruth Asmundson tried to cut off public comment after 15 minutes. This clearly angered and frustrated the students, but also some of Asmundson’s council colleagues.
Councilmember Stephen Souza explained to them that they could only listen to them this evening, they could not take action on anything by law. They would at the end of the meeting be able to discuss putting a resolution on the agenda for next week however.
When Mayor Asmundson attempted to cut off speaking however, Councilmember Sue Greenwald interrupted with a point of order. After brief discussion. Councilmember Lamar Heystek moved to allow the students to speak for an additional 15 minutes. Councilmember Greenwald seconded the motion and they were joined by Councilmember Souza in a 3-2 vote to continue public comment.
An additional 10 to 15 students spoke in that time. Many of them were in fact Palestinian. Some of them still had family and friends there. One pointed out that more Palestinians have been killed in this operation in the last week and a half than Israelis have been killed in total for the last seven years (and frankly it’s probably longer than that). The Israelis have used ongoing rocket attacks to justify their operation, but the response has been disproportionate to the threat. Palestinians, many of them innocents, are now trapped in Gaza, unable to leave and unable to stop the killing.
The students pledged to return next week and to continue to return until the council passes a resolution to write a letter.
During the long range calendar discussion at the end of the council meeting, Stephen Souza moved and Councilmember Heystek seconded a motion to put a resolution on the long range calendar. It was supported unanimously. Councilmember Greenwald recommended a subcommittee work with the students to draw up an appropriate resolution.
I spoke very briefly at the very end of the meeting to recommend to the council that their message deplore all violence–violence against the Israelis and violence against the people of Gaza. It was agreed.
Last week, I expressed my views on the situation in Gaza. Frankly, it has gotten worse since then. I oppose all violence and believe in non-violent means to resolve conflict. To me, Hamas perpetrated wrong by launching rocket attacks on Israeli cities, however, Israeli response has been completely disproportionate.
Moreover, I believe in democracy, small d. I think it was wrong to try to cut off discussion last night and I applaud the three members of council who extended the length of public comment. There are times when the council needs to allow segments of the community to speak. It was telling during the discussion on wood burning stoves, that two members of the public spoke and applauded the students for their activism, regardless of whether or not they supported their exact cause. It definitely made an impression on members of the public who were there for another issue.
Finally, many have complained about the council’s use of resolutions on matters that do not directly impact them. What became clear Tuesday night was that the council in many ways serves as the point of first contact for aggrieved citizens. For the students it was their outlet to express themselves, to give themselves a voice, to enfranchise themselves in a way that without that vehicle they would not be able to directly access their government. From that perspective, perhaps we need to look at the city council a bit differently. They do not have direct say over other branches of government, but they are in many ways people’s points of access along with their representatives in Congress and the Senate.
It was a valuable lesson in civic activism that all could learn from and it was unfortunate that one of the lessons they learned was that some were trying to silence their voices, not out of malice but because there was a heavy agenda this evening. I applaud the three members of council who voted to give the students a voice for an additional fifteen minutes. I spoke with the students afterward and it is clearly very important to them. Their persistence and willingness to petition their local government on issues that affect them, their families and friends is impressive and gives me hope for young people who will be running our government in the future.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
What a refreshing story! I commend the students for speaking up and asking our council to write a letter. If a student reads this blog they should give us a contact email and we can forward letter of support to them as well to deliver to Senators Boxer and Feinstein.Thank you for this good story David.
Listening last night to KGO
President-elect Obama reminded us that if you want real change you must organize and demand that your elected officials at all levels respond to injustice no matter where it occurs. Kudo
Kudos to Councilmember Heysteck for making the motion to extend public comment. Instead of arguing with the mayor, he used parliamentary procedure effectively.
From The Independent, Wednesday, 7 January 2009 WHY DO THEY HATE US SO?,WE WILL ASKby Robert Fisk**Robert Fisk is an internationally respected British reporter and author for the British daily newspaper, The Independent. He lives in Beirut and has reported on the Middle East for over 25 years.So once again, Israel has opened the gates of hell to the Palestinians. Forty civilian refugees dead in a United Nations school, three more in another. Not bad for a night’s work in Gaza by the army that believes in …purity of arms…. But why should we be surprised?Have we forgotten the 17,500 dead
The Current Israeli Defense Minister,Yehud Barak, has publicly said in the past that if he was a Palestinian, HE would be a …terrorist….
An additional 10 to 15 students spoke in that time. Many of them were in fact Palestinian. Some of them still had family and friends there. which makes them biased.One pointed out that more Palestinians have been killed in this operation in the last week and a half than Israelis have been killed in total for the last seven years (and frankly it’s probably longer than that).Yes, Israel is winning the argument. Kudos to them. The Israelis have used ongoing rocket attacks to justify their operation, but the response has been disproportionate to the threat. Palestinians, many of them innocents, are now trapped in Gaza, unable to leave and unable to stop the killing.They should have thought of that before they launched rockets. It never ceases to amaze me how these protestors only call for an end to violence when Israel gives back better than they get.And isn’t it interesting how none of them show fierce opposition to Hamas and other terrorist groups that start the conflicts in the first place?
…which makes them biased….And?
DPD,I don’t blame a victim who can fight back and give better than they get. Israel did that. Kudos to them for doing what a wimp like Obama will not do against terrorists. Maybe Israel can do the bulk of the fighting we won’t do in Iraq. That would be nice.
DPD said:…I oppose all violence and believe in non-violent means to resolve conflict….SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS, BOYCOTTS AND DIVESTMENT,the most effective non-violent means of bringing the Israeli electorate to its collective political senses.
I think it is good to hear from the students, but I don’t agree that the council should draft a resolution in response to the students …threat… that they will come to every meeting and talk. I really think they should stop with these resolutions that are not city-related because it keeps the precedent going and encourages activists of all types from coming to council meetings and taking over. Yes I am fine with hearing from them but if they took up a large amount of time every single week, this is going to impact city business.
…Yes, Israel is winning the argument. Kudos to them….As with any lobbying, money and connections mean a lot, and offer a tremendous advantage over poor people.I love winning arguments. Even if I’m wrong.
As with any lobbying, money and connections mean a lot, and offer a tremendous advantage over poor people.I’m not even sure how this relates to Israel vs. Palestinians, but that is okay.I love winning arguments. Even if I’m wrong.I take this to mean …Israel is wrong to do what it is doing….When a victim fights back and gives the bully better than he dishes out, that is not …wrong…, it is poetic justice. Furthermore, it is not fair to keep quiet about ending violence when Israel gets hit out of nowhere by rocket attacks, then call to end violence when they hit back. Hamas picked the wrong people to mess with.
Thank you for posting this article. I had a correction though about the chain of events."To me, Hamas perpetrated wrong by launching rocket attacks on Israeli cities, however, Israeli response has been completely disproportionate."This is actually untrue, as Israel was the one to break the truce by bombing Gaza in November, which led to Hamas' retaliation ("in self-defense," to use Israeli jargon) with rockets. Check out CNN's report to confirm this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KntmpoRXFX4In other words, Israel broke the truce (with phony excuses given by Jim Clancy that sound a lot like Bush talking about Iraq), maintianed the blockade (an act of war), then launched a full-fledged war on the civillian population of Gaza, killing almost 700 and injuring over 3,000 so far. In short, Israel is the bully & Palestinians are the victims.
To Anonymous 7:50 You can’t make a motion unless you are recognized by the mayor. A point of order is the only correct way to interrupt if the mayor refuses to recognize.
Excellent article and accompanying photos.I think it’s great what the students did, and the violence seriously needs to end.
Seven points are missing from this discussion:1. Hamas never stopped bombing Israel during the …truce….2. The Arabs/Hamas are the bad guys in this drama who wanted and started this war. That is indisputable. If you don’t see that, you are blind and ignorant. 3. Israel had nothing to gain by this war, but was forced to respond when Hamas bombed its innocent citizens with thousands of Iranian supplied rockets. (Iran, too, is dedicated to destroying …the Zionist entity….)4. When Hamas was bombing Israel every day during December, the anti-Semites who are protesting Israel’s …over-reaction… never had a single peace rally or protest. Instead, they said Israel deserved to be bombed and gave a long list of grievances why.5. Hamas is an evil organization dedicated to building a 7th century Islamic state where no one has freedom, where heretics are crucified (literally), where women who are raped get stoned (literally) for their …impurity…. There is no difference in the aims of Hamas from the Taliban, which is also evil.6. Hamas will never make peace with Israel, so ceasefires and truces mean nothing to them. Only fools buy the propaganda that a ceasefire means peace.7. The Palestinian people support Hamas (they elected them) and do not want peace and have never yet wanted peace.8. Israel wants peace and wants a two-state solution. Israel has given land for peace and remains willing to do so if the Arabs ever want peace.9. If the Arabs set down their arms, there will be peace.10. If Israel sets down its arms, there will be no Israel.
That should be 10 points, not seven.
…9. If the Arabs set down their arms, there will be peace….As much as I’d like to believe this , I think the fact of the matter is that if the Arabs set down their arms they’d still be in refugee camps without a country. That’s a problemAs long as Israel overreacts as they have this past week, you will not see the Palestinians set down their arms.Israel is also killing people who have not attacked them.To put everything on the Palestinians is not helpful and not accurate.
Hamas is an evil organization dedicated to building a 7th century Islamic state where no one has freedom, where heretics are crucified (literally), where women who are raped get stoned (literally) for their …impurity….Crucified? Like Jesus?
I think the fact of the matter is that if the Arabs set down their arms they’d still be in refugee camps without a country.Israel is not keeping any Palestinians in any refugee camps. If the terrorists would stop attacking Israel, you’re right that it would not change the plight of Palestinian refugees. But by continually trying to violently destroy the state of Israel, the refugees have been made worse off, not better.As long as Israel overreacts as they have this past week, you will not see the Palestinians set down their arms.I don’t know that Israel is benefitting by its …overreaction,… but at least you concede that it is a reaction to Palestinian terrorism.Also, when Palestinians instigate wars, they lose the right to decide how proportional Israel’s reaction should be.Israel is also killing people who have not attacked them.That is true in any war. That was true when we bombed German and Japanese cities in WWII. It’s even more true in Gaza, because that is the strategy of Hamas. They want women and children and other innocent Arabs to be killed, in order to rally the Muslim and anti-Semitic world against Israel. To accomplish that aim, Hamas holes up in civilian neighborhoods. Yesterday, Hamas began firing RPGs out of a school run by the United Nations. Civilians had been using that school as a shelter. Hamas hoped that Israel would react by fighting back. The IDF complied by defending themselves and accomplishing the goal of Hamas – to kill civilians and gain more sympathy.The reason that large group of Arab students paraded through the Davis City Hall last night was because Hamas’ propaganda campaign has worked. It’s probably worked on a lot of others. Civilians are being killed, and therefore people are sympathetic to them and are rallying to Hamas’ cause by blaming Israel. The sympathizers (many of whom hate Israel already) ignore the fact that Hamas is using civilians as human shields and that Hamas, due to its religious beliefs, does not value life on earth, but is looking forward to martyrdom.
…Crucified? Like Jesus?…Yes, according to Al-Hayat.The Palestinian Legislative Council approved a bill …to implement Koranic punishments…. The Arabic website, the online arm of the popular Al-Arabiya satellite news outlet, refers to the London-based Saudi-owned newspaper Al-Hayat, which said the decision to implement shari’a (Islamic law) was …seen as unprecedented,… and that it has …brought criticism and concern from human rights organizations in the Gaza Strip…. The criminal code adopted by the PA includes such punishments as lashes, amputation of thieves’ hands, crucifixion, approval of blood revenge, and execution. According to the Arabic press, the law stipulates that only the victim of a crime can pardon opt to forgo the …Koranic penalties….Among the crimes punished with lashes, and that have no specific …victim… who can pardon the offender, are the consumption, owning or producing of wine. According to the new PA law such an individual …will be punished with 40 lashes if he is Muslim, and anyone who drinks wine, or angers another person [with wine], or causes him distress when drinking wine in a public place, or goes to a public place while drunk, will be punished with no less than 40 lashes and imprisonment for the minimum of three months….Touching on the political aspect of the Hamas ideology, the new law reportedly includes the death penalty for anyone who …raised a weapon against Palestine on behalf of the enemy during war, was appointed to negotiate with a foreign government on a Palestinian issue and negotiated against Palestinians’ interest, performed a hostile action against a foreign country in a way that endangers Palestine in war or in harming political relations, served a foreign army in time of war, advised or helped soldiers to enlist in this army, weakened the spirit or the force of resistance of the people, or spied against Palestine especially during war….
The students came to the right place. Once the City gets involved, this thing will be over in like, 15 minutes. The City’s influence in geopolitical affairs has never been in doubt. Our ability to stop this invasion is second only to Winters, or possibly Esparto or Zamora (if only they were incorporated).Good to see the students know the chain of command with regard to foreign military adventures.
…The reason that large group of Arab students paraded through the Davis City Hall last night was because Hamas’ propaganda campaign has worked….I agree. Hamas loves this war.
You’re right it had nothing to do with the fact that it’s their people getting killed. Come one people, don’t turn off your brains.
…Israel is also killing people who have not attacked them….So your litmus test for supporting Israel defending themselves from non-stop rocket attacks is if they don’t kill anybody that hasn’t attacked them? What would a
The current Gaza travesty is driven by the fact that Netenyahu of the far-right Likud party was polling as significantly more popular than the current Kadima/Labor coalition government and his Likud party looked like it would win the upcoming Israeli Feb. elections. Tragically,the slaughter of Palestinians has become part of Israeli general election cycle, each party’s candidate trying to outdo the bellicosity of the another at the expense of Palestinian lives. The fundamental political fact is that about half of the Israeli Jewish electorate enthusiastically support transfer(read ethnic cleansing) of their own Palestinian-Israeli citizens and the use of the …iron fist… to crush Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation.At this time,there is no significant democratic political movement in Israel for a just peace with the Palestinians; such a peace will have to be imposed upon Israel with the real threat of sanctions, boycotts, divestment and the cutting off of military aid.
You’re right it had nothing to do with the fact that it’s their people getting killed. Come one people, don’t turn off your brains.Your …brainless… presumption is that Islamic fundamentalists value human life. They don’t. They want to be martyrs. They believe in a polygmous …heaven… where a man who dies for Islam will be rewarded with 72 virgins. People who strap bombs on themselves and blow themselves up DO NOT value human life, their own or anyone else’s.It is therefore Hamas’ great hope to see lots of …their people getting killed….As long as refuse to opening your eyes as to who this enemy is you will be blind to reality.You get agitated living next to a guy who burns logs in his fireplace once in a while. Try living next to a guy who would gladly kill himself and your entire family because you don’t share his passion for the Koran.
Likud party looked like it would win the upcoming Israeli Feb. elections.The problem with this …October surprise… argument is that before Kadima lifted a finger, Hamas began a reign of terror, firing hundreds of rockets at Israeli homes.I don’t doubt that Kadima politicians reacted politically in an election season. But if they did so, it was a reaction to what Hamas and the Palestinians wanted.
The students came to the right place. Once the City gets involved, this thing will be over in like, 15 minutes. The City’s influence in geopolitical affairs has never been in doubt.LOL… exactly. This is ridiculous.
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often. Sarahhttp://www.thetreadmillguide.com
The moral responsibility for all the death in Gaza rests on Hamas and their supporters. The innocents killed in Gaza have been targeted for death by Hamas which deliberately puts civilians in harm’s way to put international pressure on Israel. Those who then cooperate with this tactic by condemning Israel are facilitating the death of innocents and share responsibility for this evil.Mohammed
As Ron Rosenbaum explains, there is a good case that Hamas is worse than the Nazi’s
Ok, so assume that militants in Eastern Canada, and Northern Mexico, took it upon themselves to launch missles into New York City, and into Houston, over and over again for a period of years. And assume that those missles were launched from Canadian and Mexican playgrounds, hospitals, and nursing homes. And assume the groups doing this were bent on the complete destruction of the United States, at all costs, no matter what? What would we here in the United States do? We would certainly implore the security forces/governments/anyone else listening to make the problem stop immediately. And if it did not stop, we would pretty quickly go in and crush the problem like a cockroach. Probably killing way more peoeple than in this recent counter. Even those of you drinking the most pro-palestinian cool-aide possible, who love your country here in the US and who cherish your freedom and safety in the US would be cheering the actions of your government because you would not have to worry that the kids in your backyard in New York and Houston might have a missle come down on top of them during a game of tag. You would literally be cheering from your roof-top the complete crushing of the missle senders, no matter how many innocents were harmed due to the locations in which these missle sites were intentionally located.Step outside the situation and at least see the issue 10% from the side of Isreal, instead of viewing the issue through blinders. The concept of …proportionality… is one invented by people that have no concept of the real history of conflicts through time. People want to live in peace. When one nation makes war on another, they should not be surprised if their opponent wakes up and actually fights back. And when they do fight back, you do not get the luxury to prescibe how hard they will fight. You asked for it, take the consequences!The city council will of course pass a one sided resolution condemming the country fighting back. So predictable, and coming from the comfort of the Davis community where you are far from the sights of missles coming in from other places.
While I applaud the students for speaking out. I think their time would be better spent protesting at the state capitol in Sacramento. Which would probably provide better results than protesting at the Davis city hall.
Nice piece Greenwald. Good declaration on your …deploring… violence.Are we in the grips of a huge global paradigm shift? Where in our community are the peacenik kibbutz offsprings, the new generation to defend the actions of Israel? All I saw was some flags of Palestine.Is there such an Islamic revolution sweeping the globe that their influence is felt everywhere?Can you feel the shift to Israeli anti-sentiment the world over? Yes, I did say …anti-sentiment…, not to immediately be misconstrued as anti-semitic!Will …violence deploring… people the world over sit back and watch, as Israel is accused of perpetrating inhuman atrocities to a trapped and displaced people.Will Israel be seemingly recognized, as a rogue, upstart, junior, American bully pulpit, puppett nation?What sort of support will they receive from the new Obama administration?What’s Iran got to say about it?
…which makes them biased…Response to Bush’s Fist: You can say its bias, but it also means those individuals feel the pain firsthand
Response to Hayden: You can’t judge islam on what islamic fundamentalists do. Islam and muslims are diffrent. and also when you said: …Try living next to a guy who would gladly kill himself and your entire family because you don’t share his passion for the Koran… Where in the Koran does it say that you must kill someone that does not have passion for the Koran? You can not judge a religion based on a very small percentage of its followers, who might I add are not good followers because they kill innocent people which is a clear-cut sin in islam.I would like to state this once more to understand islam you must look at what islam is and and what the koran states, do not look at a very small perentage of some of its followers and acuse all the religon and its followers of wanting to kill …your entire family because you don’t share passion for the Koran…
A medical student in Egypt stated a few years ago, (SacBee), that if the A-Rabs had 8 suitcase bombs,(nuclear), the problem of Israel would be gone. That’s what arabs have promised Israel for more years than I can remeber. The opposite solution is to kill all the hamas members. What do you think? An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? And pretty soon the whole world would be blind and toothless. The hate in the arab world for Israel is palpable and I do not blame Israel for kickin butt and takin names. One day the stupid people of the middle east will involve the entire world in a deadly war that will culminate in the death of all haters and war lovers. How do I know this? I have seen it……
Israel is a political environment where coalitions rule that give fringe minority parties extraordinary power. No Israeli coalition government for at least the past 20 years has been able to finish a full term of office without collapsing and requiring special elections. This gives near-fascist supernationalist …settler… parties and the near-fascist party of the new Russian …Jews… extraordinary political power. Their Russian-Israeli MK leader Lieberman,overwhelming supported by his fellow Russian-Israelis, advocates the transfer(ethnic cleansing of all Israel-Palestinians) from Israel. The Israeli government vigorously recruited this Russian population with free …Settlement Enterprise… housing and other benefits to thwart the possibility of a demographic shift in favor of the Palestinians. With the economic collapse of the Soviet Union, Israel found many willing Russians emigres with only the most tenuous connection to Judaism(the Israeli Right of Return rule being one grandparent with any Jewish background) and no history of Western political democratic values.
You can’t judge islam on what islamic fundamentalists do. Islam and muslims are diffrent. I can judge islam any way I please. Islamic Fundamentalists cause a lot of problems for a small group. and also when you said: …Try living next to a guy who would gladly kill himself and your entire family because you don’t share his passion for the Koran… Where in the Koran does it say that you must kill someone that does not have passion for the Koran? You can not judge a religion based on a very small percentage of its followers, who might I add are not good followers because they kill innocent people which is a clear-cut sin in islam.It is a clear cut sin? I’m glad you told me this. You could have fooled me.Furthermore, I’m getting really irritated when Muslims on the one hand don’t want to be associated with Bin-Laden and his cohorts, which is fine, but when groups like Hamas fire rockets, they fail to acknowledge this as causing the violence and act as the defense attorneys for Hamas. You can’t disassociate youselves from Hamas on the one hand and act as their lawyer on the other.
Response to YousefYou can’t judge islam on what islamic fundamentalists do. Islam and muslims are diffrent. I agree with you. If you reread my posts, you will see I never judged Islam as Islam. I said what …Hamas Islamic fundamentalists… believe.However, I think it is fair to point out that Hamas was popularly elected by Palestinian Muslims (I doubt any Palestinian Christians or atheists voted for Hamas), and therefore what Hamas says Islam is all about is what Islam means to many Palestinians right now.Religions, of course, change with the times. For hundreds of years Christians (in the form of the Roman Catholic Church) violently repressed people they deemed …heretics…. Victims of these inquisitions were tortured, burned at the stake and so on because they did not agree with the Gospel according to Rome. Today’s Christianity is quite different from that.Back in the Middle Ages when Christianity was so violent, the Muslim world was much more advanced and tolerant. But for the last 400 years, the Muslim world has been in decline relative to the Christian world, and what Islam now means to many Muslims is not the tolerant, open-minded faith of the Ottoman Caliphate.You said: …Try living next to a guy who would gladly kill himself and your entire family because you don’t share his passion for the Koran…Where in the Koran does it say that you must kill someone that does not have passion for the Koran?Passion did not belong in that sentence. Sorry.I was thinking of suicide bombers, all of whom are Islamists. They are blowing themselves up to kill …infidels…, because infidels have a different faith. It’s incorrect to think that suicide bombing is a simply war tactic (like other forms of terrorism), because only religious extremists do it. It is their great belief in the rightness of their religion which leads them down this path.Also, in today’s Gaza and other places where Islamists have some power, passion for Islam (as the fundamentalists view Islam) is at issue. Muslims are being harrassed, beaten, killed and so on if they don’t live up to what the Islamists believe Islam requires. A Muslim friend of mine from Iran told me his 25 year old niece was beaten two years ago by the Islamic police in Teheran because she was seen on the street and her sleeves were deemed to be too short. They arrested her, took her to a women’s jail, and broke one bone in her hand and two fingers. You can not judge a religion based on a very small percentage of its followers, who might I add are not good followers because they kill innocent people which is a clear-cut sin in islam.I agree. I think the bigger issue is that Muslims who are not extremists are not holding protests against Islamic extremism. When an Israeli pizza parlor is blown up in the name of Allah, I don’t recall Muslim students in Davis coming to city council chambers and protesting that atrocity in the name of their faith. If Islam is to improve, then Muslims who don’t agree with the extremists needs to stand up to them and protest what they are doing every day in the name of Islam.
2. The Arabs/Hamas are the bad guys in this drama who wanted and started this war. That is indisputable. If you don’t see that, you are blind and ignorant.andAs much as I’d like to believe this , I think the fact of the matter is that if the Arabs set down their arms they’d still be in refugee camps without a country. That’s a problemandA medical student in Egypt stated a few years ago, (SacBee), that if the A-Rabs had 8 suitcase bombs,(nuclear), the problem of Israel would be gone. That’s what arabs have promised Israel for more years than I can remeber.Do these comments refer to Muslim Arabs, Christian Arabs, Jewish Arabs, or possibly Palestinians? Or do these comments cover everyone in the Arab racial group?Without better clarification, these comments are blatantly racist.
…It’s incorrect to think that suicide bombing is a simply war tactic (like other forms of terrorism), because only religious extremists do it….Our culture also glorifies those who sacrifice their own bodies(lives)for someone else or a cause . We gave Medals of Honor to those who threw their bodies upon a grenade to protect their buddies or US airmen who crashed their US torpedo plane, when the plan was crippled and out of weapons, into enemy Japanese ships in WW II. We have all grown up on war movies that glorified the individual who committed such a suicide for a noble cause. The glorification of martyrdom is not limited to Islam.
…It’s incorrect to think that suicide bombing is a simply war tactic (like other forms of terrorism), because only religious extremists do it….Our culture also glorifies those who sacrifice their own bodies(lives)for someone else or a cause . We gave Medals of Honor to those who threw their bodies upon a grenade to protect their buddies or US airmen who crashed their US torpedo plane, when the plan was crippled and out of weapons, into enemy Japanese ships in WW II. We have all grown up on war movies that glorified the individual who committed such a suicide for a noble cause. The glorification of martyrdom is not limited to Islam.big difference: the people who sacrifice themselves in the name of islam openly target innocent civilian populations. We didn’t pin medals on US soldiers who participated in the Mai Lai massacre. We pin medals on people who defeat enemy soldiers or combatants in battle. Big difference. Nice try though.
Whoa, those are some happy-looking women holding up the flag in the top, biggest, picture.
Meanwhile, former President Jimmy Carter has denounced the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip. Writing in the Washington Post, Carter criticizes Israel for breaking the six-month ceasefire by launching its November 4th attack that killed seven Hamas militants. He also faults Israel for failing to uphold its commitment to ease the humanitarian blockade of Gaza.
From the Israeli daily newspaper, Haaretz: Friday, Jan. 8 2009 UN: IDF bombed building in Gaza that housed civilians By News Agencies Tags: Gaza, Israel News, Israel A UN agency has said Israeli troops evacuated Palestinian civilians to a house in Gaza City, then shelled the building 24 hours later. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs dated the incident to Jan. 4, a day after Israel began its ground offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza. Based on eyewitness testimony, the account added details to an incident previously reported by The Associated Press and an Israeli human rights group. Advertisement The UN agency said 110 people were in the house and 30 people were killed, far higher figures than in other accounts. It said a Red Cross medical team was blocked from reaching the area until three days later. Rescuers were allowed in on foot, without ambulances. Witness claims relatives among the dead …Abu Salah died, his wife died. Abu Tawfiq died, his son died, his wife also died. Mohammed Ibrahim died, and his mother died. Ishaq died and Nasar died. The wife of Nael Samouni died. Many people died…. …There were maybe more than 25 people killed,… said Ahmed Ibrahim Samouni, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy who was wounded in the leg and chest but survived the Israeli shelling of a house in north Gaza on Jan. 4. A report by the UN’s Office for the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said at least 30 people were killed in the incident. Most were members of Samouni’s family. OCHA deputy chief Allegre Pacheco quoted eyewitness in the Zeitun district as saying Israeli troops had ordered about 100 civilians to get into the house and stay there, out of their way. But the following day the house was hit by Israeli shells. …There are no bomb shelters in Gaza,… she said. The Israeli army said it was investigating the incident. Speaking to Reuters from his hospital bed in Gaza, the boy recounted how his family came to be herded into the building that was later targeted. …We were asleep when the tanks and the planes struck, we all slept in one room,… Samouni said in a weak voice. …One shell hit our house. Thank God we were not hit…. …We ran out of the house and saw 15 men … they landed from helicopters on rooftops of buildings…. Soldiers beat residents and forced them all into one house. After it was hit the next day and his mother was among those killed, Samouni kept his three younger brothers alive and tried to help injured adults lying among the dead. …There was no water, no bread, nothing to eat,… he said. Local Red Cresent rescue workers and a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) managed to reach the house on Jan.7 after being denied access by the Israeli military for what the Red Cross called an …unacceptable… period. The children were starving when help finally reached the place, the Geneva-based ICRC said. …They were too weak to stand up on their own. One man was also found alive, too weak to stand up. In all there were at least 12 corpses lying on mattresses,… it said. Earth redoubts built by Israeli bulldozers blocked the streets so the ambulances could not get close. …The wounded had to be brought out on donkey carts,… Pacheco told Reuters. …This is a shocking incident,… said Pierre Wettach, ICRC chief for Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. The ICRC accused Israel of delaying ambulance access to the area and demanded it grant safe access for Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances to return to evacuate more wounded. …The Israeli military must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded. Neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestinian Red Crescent to assist the wounded,… he said. In a written response, the Israeli army said it works in coordination with international aid bodies …so that civilians can be provided with assistance… and that it …in no way intentionally targets civilians….
Thank you to everyone who sees the aggression of Hamas against Israel for speaking up in the enterprise and not letting the protestors have the floor completely.Also thank you to those who refuted Hamza al-Nikhail’s statements.It is proof that not everyone is willing to allow the protestors get away with their pro hamas rehtoric indefinitely.