As a Venezuelan watching the international news I have to say: bravo for the people of Colombia and shame on the government of Israel.
First with Colombia:
I very much wanted Mokus to win the elections in Colombia, but it seems that won't be the case (El Tiempo in Spanish). Colombians have voted very much in favour of Uribe's man, Santos. I preferred Mokus's approach and credentials. I do not like political dinasties, I do not like the Santos family getting a monopol on news and politics, I think military men should not be heads of state in the XXI century and I am very weary about Santo's role in the "false positives" (innocent people killed by some in the Colombian army - investigations ongoing -). Still, Colombians voted and they did so through an electoral system that, although manual - as in Norway, Germany or the Netherlands - is way more efficient and transparent than the Venezuelan one. Colombians got results fast, there were no threats from any leader, unlike what we have in Venezuela since Chávez is in power.
Going back to the Palestinian-Israel issue:
First with Colombia:
I very much wanted Mokus to win the elections in Colombia, but it seems that won't be the case (El Tiempo in Spanish). Colombians have voted very much in favour of Uribe's man, Santos. I preferred Mokus's approach and credentials. I do not like political dinasties, I do not like the Santos family getting a monopol on news and politics, I think military men should not be heads of state in the XXI century and I am very weary about Santo's role in the "false positives" (innocent people killed by some in the Colombian army - investigations ongoing -). Still, Colombians voted and they did so through an electoral system that, although manual - as in Norway, Germany or the Netherlands - is way more efficient and transparent than the Venezuelan one. Colombians got results fast, there were no threats from any leader, unlike what we have in Venezuela since Chávez is in power.
Going back to the Palestinian-Israel issue:
Al Jazeera (English)
BBC (English)
Spiegel (German)
El País (Spanish)
Haaretz (English)
Aftenbladet (Norwegian)
and if you want to vomit, FOX. Check out for the "anonymous statements" there.
Israel's Deputy Foreign minister said "this is a provocation intended to delegitimise Israel". Actually: what has Israel being doing by taking over more and more land from the Palestinians since 1968 completely against international law? Israel has been occupying land and removing original inhabitants from there based on either "land for war" principles or some weird interpretation of the Book of Joshua, as if Palestinians themselves were not at least as much descendants of the original inhabitants of that land (most of them were already there when Islam arrived).
Update: here a new declaration from Israel declaring Al Qaeda connections on board.
I hope the international community finally does a better job in bringing about justice to this region.
I wonder if we cannot try this: let United Nations bring in all the humanitarian material Gaza needs, with presence from Palestinean and Israeli authorities.
Update: here a new declaration from Israel declaring Al Qaeda connections on board.
I hope the international community finally does a better job in bringing about justice to this region.
I wonder if we cannot try this: let United Nations bring in all the humanitarian material Gaza needs, with presence from Palestinean and Israeli authorities.
The Gaza strip is run by Hamas, a terrorist organization. No one can blame Israel for wanting to have at least some control over what pass the border, like they have now; every day dozens and dozens of trucks with aid cross the checkpoints into Gaza.
ReplyDeleteThis flotillas real mission is just anti-Israelly propaganda.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI reject Hamas attacks on Israel. Now, 1) the attack seems to have been completely out of proportion. I hadn't seen anything more out of proportion in a long time. I wonder if Lieberman will now say all the guys who died actually committed suicide. And it was in international waters.
2) the issue is more complex than Gaza getting enough bottled water and enough UN packages per person. You cannot keep a nation in permanent concentration camps and think they first have to elect the group you want.
Some Israelis say Gaza could become the Singapur of the Middle East. How is that possible if there is no freedom of movement and there hasn't been since BEFORE Hamas took power there?
1 million of the inhabitants of Gaza are actually refugees.
Singapur was not the product of a sudden influx of refugees in such a tiny place.
Are you going to let the refugees from the land within Israel and who are now in Gaza go back to Israel? Or circulate to the West Jordan?
Is it further "kosher" to take away land from Palestinians as Israel has being doing in the West Jordan since 1968? It is not, they cannot claim they have more international-law rights to the West Jordan because they themselves think they have more real relation (genetic? historical? religious?) to the people who were living there 2000 years ago.
There is a lot going wrong on both sides. The Arabs are blaming it on the Jews all the time and vice versa. I don't have much time for a lenghty discussion this week, but right now the reaction from the Israeli side was completely out of proportion and in international waters (not sure this is something you are aware of) and it has been like that for quite some time...and meanwhile they keep throwing out people from Palestinian land in the West Jordan and giving it to new Jewish settlers coming in.
Kepler,
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot of comments and points to make towards some "Anonymous" fellow, but I'll take the bait and respond on this very complex matter.
1. Hamas is a terrorist organization, just like FARC. No real democracy would ever allow a "party" with a armed wing to run for office.
2. Colombia are none to happy with Farclandia on it's borders and occasionally takes steps to prevent supplies and arms from reaching that enclave, and maybe kill some of its enemies (i.e. Reyes).
3. Boarding ships in international waters are legal, we do it all the time outside places like Somalia.
4. Gaza had access to maritime waterways. They even had an international airport. Remember Karine-A? They forfeited that privilege when they started doing things like that, and blowing up pizzerias.
It's to bad with all those lives lost. And all for a propaganda stunt against the only democracy in the middle-east, and for a terroristic organization. What a waste.
Hamas is a terrorist organization and that is bad like
ReplyDeleteארגון and there were others and they would have gone on and on (they actually did by helping in ethnic cleansing of village)
In any case: Israel can be the only "democracy" on Earth (although it is mostly so with a strong religious component whereby rabbis decide who is a Jew, with all the benefits and where Arabs are second class citizens). That does not make it any less exempt from respecting international law.
Get it: Israel is not special. It is just another country.
It is carrying out ethnic cleansing in West Jordan, among other things. This does not have to do with the terrorist attacks by Hamas but this creates a lot of anger. In fact, the hawkish sectors in Israel just benefit from Hamas terrorist acts.
Israel is not above the law.
By the way: the attack was on international waters and it was completely out of proportion for any state (yes, that includes Israel).
I think you make your point and I mine.