53 Replies to “Free Gaza”

  1. These are fake photos, because Gaza is a refugee camp, with all the starvation and disease and misery that the CBC and Reuters can muster up.
    (Not that Reuters has ever Photoshopped a picture, or the CBC used photos out of context), no, these are very reputable news organizations.)
    Why. people have even died trying to take shiploads of relief aid to the poor people living like animals in tents and, like, everything.

  4. I’ll put an offer in on Yasser’s ’65 Impala, if they throw in an AK47.

  6. Malls.
    Beaches.
    Water parks.
    Pools.
    Schools.
    Universities.
    Graduation ceremonies.
    Freshly asphalted roads.
    Newly opened prisons.
    Almost seems …. normal. Until you see the pictures of the ‘militants’.

  7. Christ, will you stop dedicating your life to trying to prove that Palestinians are better off than they actually are!
    Face it, they are caught in the middle of a rock and a hard place. They have been displaced from their homes, they are second class citizens, if that, in Israel, they are a pawn for the super-powers and middle east countries. People are starving and their economy is held at a standstill…that doesn’t mean every single Palestinian is dirt poor, but MOST of them are not what you’d call ‘well off’.

  9. Ah, BJT, most of the Palestinians in Gaza are living on handouts from Euro nations and U.S. – its called welfare. I invite you to check out the surrounding Arab countries and their treatment of Palestinians. (National Post, July 24, 2010, Page A 17). For example in Lebanon over 50 occupations are restricted for Palestinians such as Doctors, Pharmacists, and many professions – indeed they cannot own land or vote,and are more repressed than in Israel where they are free to do all these things. In Gaza they would be able to do these things as well except for one small item, their Gov’t wants to annilate all the Jews. Israel is not impressed with that!

  10. “Christ, will you stop dedicating your life to trying to prove that Palestinians are better off than they actually are!”
    LOL. Kate’s not proving it, they are doing that themselves.
    And like Black Mamba says, put up or shut up BTJ.

  11. BTJ at July 24, 2010 12:45 PM
    They are BY CHOICE “refugees”. It could’ve all ended years ago, except for them not wanting to give Israel the right to exist.

  12. BTJ
    They want to support Hamas who would fight on till victory (i.e. destruction of the neighbor) but they also want money and a good life NOW. And yet, they can not have both.
    So indeed, they ARE caught between a rock and a hard place.
    BTW in the ME everybody thinks that they are pawn of somebody …. Western Imperialism, Globalisation, Crusaders, their own governments, neighbours, and so on. They are not accountable for their own misery – it is nearly always somebody else fault.

  13. “Care to back that up?”
    You disgust me.
    Does this sound like a situation in which people can live a healthy life?
    http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/122263548/PDFSTART
    When I wrote this essay, the media
    were still barred from Gaza so as to
    prevent reporting of the situation on the
    ground. A foreign journalist from within
    Gaza reported on the incredibly fearful
    state of Palestinians, the lack of medical
    treatment, and the sense that the Israelis
    simply intended to infl ict whatever harm
    was possible. Since Israel possesses the
    technology to hit missile launchers with
    accuracy, the ill intent towards all Gazans
    is obvious. At least 500,000 Palestinians
    have been displaced, and more than
    4,000 buildings were destroyed.
    The Jerusalem Report
    June 7, 2010
    Planet Gaza
    “An occasional visitor sees all the faults,” the saying goes, and the biggest fault the lecturer from Jerusalem saw was ruins: the ruined homes are almost everywhere on the way from the Erez checkpoint to Gaza and in Gaza itself. Amid the ruins, you can still see children picking through the blocks of concrete in the hope of finding something. There are also many ruins in the northern Gaza Strip and the Beit Hanoun area, where battles raged during Operation Cast Lead more than a year ago, and on the seashore.
    Israel and the PA have chosen, with American and international support, to impose an economic siege on Gaza, while encouraging economic growth in the West Bank. The idea behind this is that the residents of Gaza would see that their brothers under Abbas’s rule are enjoying prosperity and plenty, while they are besieged and suffering in Gaza. ”
    Instead of blabbering on about just how crappy it is in Gaza, why not create a more productive discussion regarding the Israel-Palestine issue.

  14. BTJ, whom I disgust – I am not going to “purchase online access to this article for a 24-hour period”, nor am I “complet(ing)the brief registration form” in order to “click ‘Buy Now'”. Since, based on the level of international news coverage, one would assume that that little strip of land on the Mediterranean accounted for half the space and three quarters of the suffering in the world, come up with some less esoteric piece of “journalism” to prove your case.
    “Instead of blabbering on about just how crappy it is in Gaza…”
    You’re an idiot. She’s talking about how awesome it is in Gaza.
    The seige in Gaza is a seige blocking weapons. The Mavi Marmara and the rest of that wretched flotilla would have docked at Ashdod and had their “humanitarian aide” driven into Gaza by the Israelis had they been remotely interested in delivering aide.
    Anti-Semite trolls disgust me. Sod off.

  15. “Ah, BJT, most of the Palestinians in Gaza are living on handouts from Euro nations and U.S. – its called welfare”
    No they aren’t, they are living off of trade with Egypt. Israel on the other hand recieved billions from the US and Jewish/Zionist organizations. In fact contributions to Israel by US citizens are the only ones that are tax free, contributions to any other country are not.
    ” I invite you to check out the surrounding Arab countries and their treatment of Palestinians. ”
    Like I said, they are stuck between a rock and a hard place…they are pawns. I never implied that Israel alone mistreats them.
    ” more repressed than in Israel where they are free to do all these things”
    You are sadly confused my friend, they cannot own land and their political representation is restricted, as well as being professionally limited to second and third class jobs/social status.
    “They are BY CHOICE “refugees”. It could’ve all ended years ago, except for them not wanting to give Israel the right to exist.”
    You have no idea what you’re talking about.
    “They are not accountable for their own misery – it is nearly always somebody else fault.”
    Did they kick themselves out? Did they destroy their own homes? You are delusional.

  16. Yes, that settles it, I want to vacation there….
    Malls.
    Beaches.
    Water parks.
    Pools.
    Schools.
    Universities.

  17. ” I am not going to “purchase online access to this article for a 24-hour period”, nor am I “complet(ing)the brief registration form” in order to “click ‘Buy Now'”. Since, based on the level of international news coverage, one would assume that that little strip of land on the Mediterranean accounted for half the space and three quarters of the suffering in the world, come up with some less esoteric piece of “journalism” to prove your case.”
    Now, now, don’t get all pissy because I have WAY more access to information than you. YOu could have just asked me to send you the article.
    Should I ignore the fact that I can access a ton of journals and newspapers and bring myself down to level of the average person? Should I commit myself to mediocrity just because not everybody has the priviledge to access certain information?
    By esoteric do you mean ‘not mainstream’? Why should I have to limit myself to that crap?
    “You’re an idiot. She’s talking about how awesome it is in Gaza.”
    Oh wow, thanks for clearing that up! :S She’s talking about just how not very crappy it is…pretty much impossible to even allude to Gaza being ‘awesome’.
    “The seige in Gaza is a seige blocking weapons”
    And construction materials, and trade with third parties (basically eliminating any chance for a real economy), and anything else they deem a ‘security threat’.
    “Anti-Semite trolls disgust me”
    Ah, the tried and true Neo-Con strategy of calling anybody who does not agree with the actions of Israel…or even argues for the rights of Palestinians..a ‘jew hater’ or ‘anti-semite’. It’s a quick and easy, yet pathetically simple minded and ignorant tactic.

  18. Well, BTJ it is you who are “blabbering on about just how crappy it is in Gaza”. It is also you who instead of checking who is preventing journalists to report from Gaza (see the Reporters Without Border on Gaza) is quoting Sherifa Zuhur saying that the fault is Israel.
    Try to get more objective source of info i/o quoting from the article which says that Hamas should not be faulted because palestinians voted for them (similarly one can say “democrats (Obama)or conservatives(Bush) can not be faulted because Americans voted for that party/politician)
    …Declarations like “Hamas has to be taught a lesson” belie the fact that Hamas is a movement located throught the Palestinian national body, just as Hizbollah represents large numbers os Shii Muslims in Lebanon…..to claim that the goal is to reduce numbers of rockets (which killed very few Israelis) fired into southern israel to Gaza sice long before Hamas actually assumed political control of the area is also clearly a nonsense. That is not the goal…..
    Sherifa Zuhur

  19. “Should I ignore the fact that I can access a ton of journals and newspapers and bring myself down to level of the average person? Should I commit myself to mediocrity just because not everybody has the priviledge to access certain information?”
    To quote that J-E-W Jerry Seinfeld, they’re doing wonderful things at psychiatric institutions these days, BTJ.
    Anyway, done engaging because you’re a deranged troll.

  20. BTJ, this is what the “poor” Palestinians did to the Church of the Nativity:
    “In 2002, dozens of terrorists commandeered Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity for 39 days, knowing that Israeli troops would refuse to storm the church. The gunmen, holding 200 priests hostage, desecrated the traditional birthplace of Jesus with graffiti and a fire, stole relics, and used the Bible as toilet paper.”
    http://w3.newsmax.com/a/jan10/palistinian/
    I can’t recall Israeli soldiers desecrating a mosque in such a way.
    I guess the Palestinian Muslims don’t know who the Jewish Jesus’ Father is.

  21. “Try to get more objective source of info ”
    It’s the Jerusalem Times! It’s one of the most pro-Israel papers out there!
    “Anyway, done engaging because you’re a deranged troll.”
    Or is it because you got your ass handed to you for demanding mediocrity?
    “I can’t recall Israeli soldiers desecrating a mosque in such a way.”
    Turning them into ruins and rubble isn’t a form of desecration to you? Let alone the worst form possible?
    I see you’re a fan of propaganda and reading/regurgitating worthless crap.

  23. I see you’re a fan of propaganda and reading/regurgitating worthless crap.
    Posted by: BTJ at July 24, 2010 2:48 PM
    …………..
    Is that one of those Snow White evil queen “Mirror, mirror on the wall” thingies?

  24. Those poor Gazans, surrounded on all sides by Israel and whatnot.
    (Apropos of nothing, what is the Maṣri word for “whatnot”?)

  25. The Christian Science Monitor
    June 17, 2010 Thursday
    Israel eases Gaza blockade, allowing building supplies and ketchup;
    Israel says it will allow construction materials into Gaza for civilian projects only. In response to international pressure, Israel will ease the Gaza blockade on food, toys, and kitchen utensils.
    For the last three years, Israel has prevented a range of items – including cilantro, fresh meat, margarine and children’s toys – from entering the Gaza Strip. The limited food and medicine items cleared for passage were aimed at bolstering Israeli arguments that Gazans were not threatened with a humanitarian crisis.
    According to the UN, Gaza suffers from 44 percent unemployment.
    The Christian Science Monitor
    March 22, 2010 Monday
    In large part due to the closure, the UN says, nearly half of Gaza’s population relies on septic tanks or cesspools to dispose of its raw sewage, with only three wastewater treatment plants for the entire territory. The sewage in the cesspools, one of them larger than 100 acres, seep back into the coastal aquifer, the sole source of freshwater for Gaza’s 1.5 million people. Aquifer also becoming salty, contaminatedOnce a vehicle for Gaza’s historical position as a major agricultural export hub for neighboring empires, the aquifer is now at the crux of its twin problems of water scarcity and pollution. The more the aquifer is used, the more salty and contaminated it becomes, says Mr. Thummarukudy. At least 90 percent of the water sampled from the aquifer is unsuitable for drinking as a result. “More water is currently extracted from the aquifer than is flowing back into it,” Thummarukudy says. “The contaminated saltwater from the sea then fills that gap – and the people are left with no choice but to drink it.” Gaza’s drinking water, according to rights group Amnesty International, contains dangerously high levels of both saline, or salt, and nitrate, an organic compound often used in fertilizer and particularly harmful to infants
    An acute example of the human cost can be found in the densely populated Gaza Strip, where experts say a potent mix of politics and geography are pointing toward the onset of a full-blown water crisis. In the small coastal territory, resources are either scarce or contaminated, sewage goes largely untreated, and already ailing infrastructure buckles under an Israeli economic blockade in place since Hamas took over in 2007.

  26. http://www.topnews.in/amnesty-egypts-housing-plans-failing-cairos-poor-2236922
    Qoute: “Slum dwellers describe a life characterized by deprivation, neglect, insecurity and the constant threat of forcible eviction,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty’s Middle East director.
    “The state must guarantee their right to adequate housing and put an end to forced evictions,” Smart said.
    According to witnesses interviewed for the report, “Buried Alive: Trapped by Poverty and Neglect in Cairo’s Informal Settlements,” people in the area said they had informed governmental authorities that signs were showing in the period leading up the disaster that a rock-slide was imminent, but nothing was done to protect them.
    The Egyptian Interior Ministry, which is responsible for safety in Egyptian governorates, declined to comment on the report. Amnesty said it had received no response from the ministries of housing or planning in its research for the report.
    Manshiyet Nasser and similar “informal” settlements are so called because they have sprung up without government license.
    The neighbourhood sprung up in the 1960s as people poured to the capital from the countryside. Today, an estimated 8 million people live in the Manshiyet Nasser and similar slums in Cairo. More millions still live just across the river in Giza.
    “The Egyptian authorities failed to respect human-rights standards in their responses in the aftermath of the rock-slide,” Amnesty said, noting that people did not receive adequate compensation, and that some victims were left homeless.”
    Israel’s fault too? That’s life in the M.E.

  27. http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=3&id=13528
    From 2008
    Quote: “Entitled “Employment and Unemployment in the Arab States: Towards Effective Policies and Mechanisms”, the report indicated that unemployment among young Arabs was estimated at 25 percent most of whom were educated while those entering the job market were estimated to be approximately 4 million. The report also found that unemployment rates were as high as 66 percent in some Arab states.”
    Israel again?

  28. bj said: “…where experts say a potent mix of politics and geography are pointing toward the onset of a full-blown water crisis.”
    Uh huh, hence the water park pictures eh?
    Yep, life must be tough for Gaza when all they can muster for a big new mall is 15 shops and a supermarket. Given that all that stuff has to come from somewheres, I guess the Israelis must be letting more through than people give them credit for.
    Yes I’m sure there’s crappy parts of Gaza. But there’s plenty of crappy parts of Cairo too. Even Dubai has its low-rent district.
    I think you’ve been drinking the MSM bong water ‘way too long dude. When are you going to get it that our media prints Hamas/Hesbola propaganda verbatim? Including the frickin’ Christian Science Monitor, I’ve caught them out enough times to take everything they say with a box of salt.

  29. BTJ, who hid weapons in mosques? Who hid behind women and children? I’ll give you a hint- it wasn’t the Israelis or the Christians.
    When will Christians get apologies and compensation for the discrimination, abuse, torture, murder, forced conversion and desecration of one of Christianity’s most holy sites (by the Muslims, NOT the Israelis).
    Your deflection and denial is- to paraphrase you- “worthless crap”.

  30. The women graduating with their faces covered is a disgrace to all that is civilized. To the pond scum that will try to defend this as free will I say crap. In a free society where women are truly free have two of them show up at a party wearing the same outfit and see how that goes. If everything is relative then the people who live under the rule that people are free to make their own decisions are the most advance. And we have decided that a women can dress anyway she pleases. Real men will fight for the right for women to wear thong bikinis to the beach even if they should not.

  31. “Real men will fight for the right for women to wear thong bikinis to the beach even if they should not.”
    Yes. Many men would go to their graves for that right. Right guys?

  32. ..simple question for the above poster.. and BTJ..
    Do you accept Israel’s right to exist?

  33. well …
    BJT…calgary is just over a million people and we have only one raw sewage plant here ? and i would like to think we are smaller in landscape than the “gaza strip” so as for sewage i would think they are doing pretty well even if they only have a third of our technology when it comes to sewage treatemnt .
    I have watched you slowley but “RADICALLY” …….LOL move to the left your a sad case of a person who has nothing better to do with there time much, like the other elite liberal folk just because you have money doesn’t mean you are smart.
    Paul in calgary

  34. “Uh huh, hence the water park pictures eh?”
    If only one could get an accurate picture of a complex, regional issue from a few pictures. Are you saying that article is a complete falicy?
    “I guess the Israelis must be letting more through than people give them credit for”
    Or Palestinians are trading with Egypt through the many tunnels connecting the two.
    “I think you’ve been drinking the MSM bong water ‘way too long dude.”
    How many times do I have to state and show that I do not restrict myself to MSM sources…none of the sources I’ve used this thread are MSM. In fact I’ve been hasseled for using ‘esoteric’ sources…I guess I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t eh?
    ” Including the frickin’ Christian Science Monitor”
    The Christian Science monitor is a FAR cry from MSM…what have you ‘caught them out’ for?
    “Do you accept Israel’s right to exist?”
    Yes, do you accept the Palestinians right to exist? do you accept the Palestinians claim to violations of their rights?
    “calgary is just over a million people and we have only one raw sewage plant here ? and i would like to think we are smaller in landscape than the “gaza strip” so as for sewage i would think they are doing pretty well even if they only have a third of our technology when it comes to sewage treatemnt . ”
    There is a glaring difference between the number of treatment plants and the TECHNOLOGY of treatment plants. Also, Calgary has many times the total infrastructure of Gaza, and Calgary is not situated right next to a saline body of water.
    ” move to the left…just because you have money doesn’t mean you are smart ”
    Ah, some good old fashioned ignorant bigotry. What makes me a liberal? I’m certainly not a Neo-Con, which is the stance most posters here take on Israel, and is closer to Liberal than Conservative. Why do you assume I am rich? I can assure you I am far from it.

  35. ” and i would like to think we are smaller in landscape than the “gaza strip” ”
    You can think that all you want…it’s completely inaccurate…Calgary is twice the size with 2/3rd the population. The population density of Gaza is about 3 times that of Calgary.

  36. ‘Some’ of us appear to be ignoring the fact that if the Palestinians ceased firing rockets, etc, etc, at their neighbours the Israelis, they wouldn’t have any of the local self-inflicted problems that currently exist.
    Of course, their ‘maltreatment’ at the hands of other ARABS would continue unabated, but that would ‘probably’ (LOL) also be blamed on ‘The Jooos’.

  37. “‘Some’ of us appear to be ignoring the fact that if the Palestinians ceased firing rockets”
    So because a few Palestinians are firing crappy little homemade rockets all Palestinians should be subject to occupation, suppression, and suffering? Which came first, the rockets or getting kicked off their land and suppressed?
    I will direct you to the similar issue of the IRA vs the English. The conflict ceased when the English took responsibility for their repression of the Irish and stopped their violent actions.

  38. 1948, who attacked whom?
    The Palis were ‘kicked off their land’ because they, (and their fellows), lost not only that war but also subsequent wars…….that they, and their cohorts, initiated, even though the Israelis appealed to them for peace before every instance.
    The Palis’ entire situation can be attributed to ‘self-inflicted wounds’, and I, for one, have zero sympathy for them, especially vis-a-vis the Israelis who still treat them better than other Arabs do.

  39. “1948, who attacked whom?”
    Not the Palestinians.
    “The Palis were ‘kicked off their land’ because they, (and their fellows), lost not only that war but also subsequent wars”
    Huh? You don’t have a very good grasp of the issue. They got kicked off because Zionists laid claim to their land and continue to do so.
    “The Palis’ entire situation can be attributed to ‘self-inflicted wounds'”
    Again, you need to do some more reading.

  40. “Not the Palestinians.”
    LOL…..so Abd-El-khader Al-Husseini was delivering pizza when he was shot?

  41. “LOL…..so Abd-El-khader Al-Husseini was delivering pizza when he was shot?”
    Again, you should read more..your opinion of the Palestinian people is clearly based on a very incomplete consideration of history.

  42. “”LOL…..so Abd-El-khader Al-Husseini was delivering pizza when he was shot?”
    Again, you should read more..your opinion of the Palestinian people is clearly based on a very incomplete consideration of history.”
    ………..
    In conjunction with my having actually been in the area.

  43. “In conjunction with my having actually been in the area.”
    I live in BC, that doesn’t automatically bestow an understanding of BC’s history upon me.
    Lots of American citizens have a very distorted and incomplete consideration of US history, despite their “having actually been in the area”

  44. BTJ the ‘Palestinians’ were not ‘kicked off their land by the Israelis’. The Israelis purchased the land from absentee Arab landowners, the Arabs living there were tenant farmers and had no claim to the land.
    Further more the birth rate of the ‘Palestinians’ is so high there can be no hope of integrating them into what little economy exists, particlularly if their constructive energy is focussed on war.

  45. “BTJ the ‘Palestinians’ were not ‘kicked off their land by the Israelis’. The Israelis purchased the land from absentee Arab landowners, the Arabs living there were tenant farmers and had no claim to the land.
    Further more the birth rate of the ‘Palestinians’ is so high there can be no hope of integrating them into what little economy exists, particlularly if their constructive energy is focussed on war.”
    You are delusional, ignorant, misinformed, and uninformed.

  46. “I live in BC, that doesn’t automatically bestow an understanding of BC’s history upon me.”
    ………..
    Neither does sitting in Port Alberni absorbing Pallywood propaganda, presented by various biased media outlets, render any understanding of the Middle East.
    Still, I presume it’s comforting for you to imagine yourself as a stationary Knight Errant battling on behalf of illusory ‘victims’?

  47. “Neither does sitting in Port Alberni absorbing Pallywood propaganda, presented by various biased media outlets, render any understanding of the Middle East.
    Still, I presume it’s comforting for you to imagine yourself as a stationary Knight Errant battling on behalf of illusory ‘victims’?”
    Port Alberni? I never suggested getting reliable information by reading MSM or any other media outlet. Read books…a good one on the topic is ‘Middle East Illusions’ by Noam Chomsky.

  49. F-U-C-K-G-A-Z-A….. and the Arabs who think they own it … and the dimwits who think they deserve anything other than contemp!

  50. “Noam Chomsky? That about sums up your ‘argument’. ROTFLMAO.”
    Great critique…the old ROTFLMAO…powerful :S
    Is it that Noam Chomsky’s work is a little over your head?
    What is wrong with Chomsky’s academic work? He’s the father of modern linguistics, the guy reads and interprets a HUGE amount of information, he makes his position clear and gives personal information that may affect his work to the reader in order to allow for a degree of transparency.

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