In the face of daily rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip into Israel– 13 Kassam rockets and 12 mortar shells were reported fired on Tuesday– the Jewish state has declared the Palestinian-controlled territory an "enemy entity." The decision gives Israel the power to cut off all vital supplies to the region, including electricity and gas. Which they're about to do. Philadelphia's Bulletin quotes a military source who acknowledged the embargo's potential impact on Palestineans' lives and explained the tit-for-tat rationale for constricting fuel supplies. "There's no doubt that a gas shortage will make the Palestinians' lives more difficult. If they don't let us live and move around freely in the Sderot area and its surroundings, they won't move around freely either. Diesel and crude oil will enter the Gaza Strip regularly so as not to affect the ambulances, garbage trucks and fire trucks. As far as we're concerned, there's no problem if the terrorists and local police can't drive around in their private cars. The Palestinian civilians had better realize that Hamas doesn't care about them any more."
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These Palestinians wanted their own nation, they got it (for all intents and purposes) then continue to attack the very nation that gave them what they wanted, all the while demanding that Israel be removed from the face of the earth, etc etc and that Jews and Americans should all die etc etc.
Little wonder the Israelis are saying “enough, already” – my question is why did it take them so long?
I recall reading a story about a US Congressman visiting Israel, and witnessing cross-border attacks on innocents – and his comment was something along the lines of – if we had neighbors like this in the United States, we’d would not be so patient with them as you (the inference being that we’d be at war with them full time until such time as they themselves were wiped off the face of the earth).
hmmm. somehow the source mysteriously leaves out how israel can control power and energy for another “entity”, which is explained by the fact that gaza and the west bank have been occupied by israel for 40 years now. limit travel, create security checkpoints across local roads, build a segregation wall inside the occupied lands and to you, 25 rockets, if anything, are a feeble attempt at liberation.
There are parallels to other debates about banning things – organized criminals/terrorists are sure to have stockpiles. Civilians will be angered, and may discover that the best sources for those resources (just like everything else, even education) are groups like Hamas. Is it any surprise Hamas gets so much love?
Thanks Robert for the news report, but I’d rather avoid political comment on this issue. Highly sensitive, and not related to our topic: cars.
This said, areas like the Gaza strip are a great example of how durable cars can be, given how much abuse they take on a daily basis.
Perhaps car companies should test their products in similar countries. If a car survives there, it can survive anything!
This is just a counterproductive move on the Israelis part. Israel is the power in that region and Palestine is truly their problem to deal with.
It is obvious that Israel can not or will not use overwhelming force to end this problem so why continue to piss off all of the rank and file palestinians. This action only aids Hamas and allows their powerbase to continue to grow.
The truth of the matter is the Palestinians have very little to lose in this game while the Israelis have a wealth and posperous nation to defend. The Palestinians appear not to be afriad of the violence or death because their quality of life is already at a minimum. On the other hand the Israelis day to day “prosperous” lives are continuously being disrupted.
Here is a novel idea. Why not just make the Palestinians full flegded citizens of Israel rather than keep them in a state of limbo, living in what amounts to segragated ethnic enclaves.
The Israeli’s stole the land, and the Palestinians respond by blowing up children and mothers. Positions harden and peace will only come from the genocide of one the two sides.
There, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in one sentence. Now, let’s get back to cars.
Time to send some high mpg Youkon hybrids to Gaza
morbo:
If you believe in Biblical history, it goes back further than that.
Arabs (there were no “Palestinians” back then) invade Israel, lose, and demand their land back.
There, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in one sentence. If Israel lost a war, would the Arabs return its land?
Now, let’s get back to cars.
I think Cuba should donate all their old abandoned cars to the Palestinians. Oh, that’s right, Cubans drive old abandoned cars…and the combinations they create are really pretty cool.
Israel has the right to defend itself from attacks.Cutting gas is lot more forgiving than bullets or tanks.
I have a solution for Palestine.Why don’t we stop firing rockets and mortars at Israel,maybe the Israelis will turn the gas back on? Seems like a good solution to me
Maybe Connie Rice should call me for some advice I’m looking for new employment.
So the Israelis stop some services to the Gaza, the largest concentration camp in the world. What does this have to do with a site supposedly about cars?
Here is a novel idea. Why not just make the Palestinians full flegded citizens of Israel rather than keep them in a state of limbo, living in what amounts to segragated ethnic enclaves.
That would be the just solution, but a state based on prejudice is not likely to allow the their “undesirables” to vote. Look what it took to get the South Africans to finally give blacks their rights.
Hmmm.
Israel is being oddly restrained here (I support Israel).
Me thinks they may just be draining the area of possible noxious elements to be used as molitov cocktails, or possibly making sure there is no flamable liquids in the area for when the firebombing starts?
This looks like the Geo-Political version of flicking the lights on-and-off.
“You guys be quiet! Or just wait until your father gets home!”
Take out the Iranian government and Hammas/Hezbollah become powerless. Almost there.
Maybe Israel should send E85 if they really want to pee-off the Palestineans.
I second Mikey. Unfortunately I have no influence with Condoleeza.
As for Cuba, those classics belong there now. The Cubans have done an amazing job keeping them going. Those cars are anything but abandoned. (I recently saw an NPR film on the cars of Cuba. It was spectacular.)
According to the Free Market Theory, the Palestinians should be real close to finding a solution to the gas crisis, right? I mean, the free market should be giving them alternative sources of fuel any minute, right?
This is just one more step in the decades long process of ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the West Bank. Make life literally impossible for the Palestinians so they vacate to Egypt or Jordan; or they die. People in the US who depend on the one sided US media rarely are informed of the daily killing of Palestinians by Israel. Our support of this is the most shameful behavior in our history. For a perspective not understood by most Americans, look at this link:
http://ifamericansknew.org/
Mel23,
What garbage. The real shame rests at the feet of all Arab leaders that have used the “Palestinians” as pawns since the founding of Israel. Rather than using all of their petrowealth to fund medical research, build schools and improve their citizens lives (including the Palestinians), they preach hate to their people through Mosques, shame women for the crime of being raped, hang and stone victims of domestic violence or for being gay and teach their children in schools to hate Jews and anyone who isn’t Muslim.
Check out Memri.org, a site which translates Arabic newspapers and broadcasts into English. You’ll see where all the hate the Arabs have comes from.
jkroos22,
Right wing “Israelis” often point to the rotten arab regimes that border Israel to justify repression and killing in the Occupied Territories.
Lame, unless you think being able to claim “we are less morally repugnant than the Saudi regime” is worth something. I think the founders of Israel aspired to better.
And Yeah this shouldn’t be on TTAC
jkroos22,
Can you talk, read, or write Arabic? Do you have any understanding of the written character set that they use in the Arabic language?
I doubt you do?
Yet you appear to believe that everything you read on that site is translated correctly with no bias.
THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!!!
jkross22:
I agree that the Palestinians have been abused by Arab powers, but this in no way relieves Israel of their crimes nor us for enabling them. Considerable resources have flowed into the Palestinian territories only to be destroyed by US-supplied, Israeli-operated planes and rockets. Regardless of resources, roadmaps, etc., Israeli settlements continue to expand, the roadblocks continue to stifle Palestinian movement within their own area, and Palestinians continue to be killed and abused on a daily basis that goes largely ignored here. We should change our behavior because it’s the right thing to do, but, if that’s not enough reason, because it would be in our interest in changing our image in the Arab world.
mel23:
That would change our image in the Arab world?
Ryan Knuckles :
October 26th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
mel23:
That would change our image in the Arab world?
Yes it would!
Americans need to stop walking around with blinders over their eyes believing that everyone else in the world is ignorant.
When I was in school during the cold war we were always taught that the Soviets did not have a free press and they only believed what their government tells them.
I have watch my country men walk around believing that they “know” what is going on in the world when in reality they only know what our piss-poor media establishment wants them to know. Even in the age of the interent I find most Americans are still unwilling to explore what other people have to say about what is happening in the world.
Is it because the real news is rather bleak for us in the USA. We like to believe that everyone else outside of USA, Canada, Europe, and Japan are poor. We hate to find out that there folks all over the so called thrid world that are now enjoying a standard of living that is surpassing that of many US citizens.
We hate to here about how much US debt the Chinese hold. Once us Americans deal with that issue we can begin to understand how China has so much power over the decisions being made in Washington DC.
So in a nutshell do not sleep on all of those Arabs. Many of them are much better educated than most Americans and they are informed or desperately trying to get informed. They do know that the US and it policies are quite hypocritical. They do see us support the rather abusive Saudi regime today. They have seen us support the Shah and his serect police in Iran before the revolution.
They see us claim to support both sides in the Israeli/ Palestinian conflict yet the USA seem to always turn a blind eye to whatever misdeed the Israelis commit.
What these Arabs do know is that if the corrupt Saudis were not in the pocket of few Americans the middle east WOULD be a very differet and more stable place today.
We hate to find out that there folks all over the so called thrid world that are now enjoying a standard of living that is surpassing that of many US citizens.
Could you please point out an example? The only folks I know of like this are either NOT in the third world at all, or are part of a class that is exploiting another class that doesn’t live so well. By average, they are not so well off. At any rate, even the World Bank has now figured out that rights have economic value that makes household goods look cheap.
We hate to here about how much US debt the Chinese hold. Once us Americans deal with that issue we can begin to understand how China has so much power over the decisions being made in Washington DC.
Could you give an example of how their holding our debt has affected our decision makers? I would say that the shoe is on the other foot, because we can always do what the rest of the world does and burn them on the debt.
Many of them are much better educated than most Americans and they are informed or desperately trying to get informed.
I have a close friend who is Palestinian, and he is very bright, well traveled, and well educated. He is now an American. Since I was raised with an education that taught classics and skepticism, I am often suprised with the garbage he picks up from “international sources”. And no, I would never disagree with a “fact” simply because our press disagrees.