Three cheers for Israel giving up the Gaza Strip to Palestinian autonomy! Now the Gazans are so much better off, as we can see from the attempts by Hamas to impose strict Islamic or sharia law on these benighted people.
I'm no Israel-cheerleader, especially as concerns its ancient history, as well as its modern founding. However, as one commenter on my Freethought Examiner column remarked, on its face Israel presents a far better picture than its neighbors:
"There is ONE democracy in the middle east. One tiny sliver of land - the only one that actually protects Muslim women from the atrocities committed against her in the name of her faith; a tiny place that produces untold intellectual properties, has turned a dessert into a blossom while her neighboring country, Syria, has destroyed its water infrastructure; one place that has drawn the line in the sand between democracy and brutality in a tumultuous time; one country that waited 8 YEARS and endured 12,000 rocket attacks before going after the terrorists when any other nation would have said enough within weeks: one country whose doctors give medical care to terrorists side by side with their victims; one country that has given land back for peace, only to be proven wrong by her enemies; and that little land is ISRAEL."
Compare this description to life in Hamas-ruled Gaza today.
Hamas Bans Women Dancers, Scooter Riders in Gaza Push
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The Islamic Hamas movement banned girls last month from riding behind men on motor scooters and forbade women from dancing at the opening of a folk museum. Girls in some public schools must wear headscarves and cloaks.
Signs of Hamas’s creeping Islamization are everywhere in Gaza, the Mediterranean coastal enclave that Hamas has run by itself since 2007. Gaza is already politically divided from the West Bank, the Palestinian territory administered by the secular Fatah movement....
Some of the efforts are meeting resistance. When Supreme Court Justice Abdel Raouf Al-Halabi ordered women lawyers on July 26 to wear headscarves and caftans in court, attorneys contacted satellite television stations including Al-Arabiya to protest. On Sept. 6, Hamas’s Justice Ministry rescinded the directive.
Hamas officials say they have no plans to impose Islamic law. “What you are seeing are incidents, not policy,” said Younis al-Astal, a Hamas legislator. “We want Islamic law to be the standard, but we believe in persuasion.”...
The opening of the Palestinian Heritage Museum on Oct.7 was meant to include a rendition of the dabke, a line dance performed by girls and boys. Except that no girls were allowed.
Black-shirted men from Hamas carrying AK-47s appeared at the gates of the museum, on Gaza’s waterfront, said Jamal Salem, the curator. They said girls shouldn’t dance because it wasn’t religiously proper. Nor could they share the stage for the inaugural speeches, said Salem.
“They are trying to take Palestinian culture and make it all their own,” Salem said. “They say our traditions are against the law. Their law.”
In August, headmasters of several schools ordered girls to don white head scarves and black cloaks called jilbabs. They sent several girls in jeans home, according to Gaza press reports. The Education Ministry later said the orders were unauthorized acts of individual school officials....
“Hamas backs off when it looks like they are governing under Islamic law and people complain,” she said.
Israel, the U.S. and the EU say Hamas is a terrorist organization.
Swimming in Pants
In June, black-clad constables approached journalist Asmaa al-Ghoul, 27, and friends on a north Gaza beach, al-Ghoul said. Her offense: swimming in trousers and a blouse, not robes.
Male companions, including her brother, tried to defend her. Al-Ghoul said she phoned the government spokesman, who called off the police....
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|2009-12-22 07:41:11 skullnbonerAside from Hamas, whoever the commenter of that peice on Israel was, they were certainly a Jewish liar in almost every word. Alfred Lilienthal and other Jewish anti-Zionists are grave testimony to that Israeli peice of trash propoganda, which has been circulating for decades.
Hamas is exactly what Israel wanted and supported against rivals for it's own reasons and will provide the excuse for re-expansion in the near future. Now it is agreeable to oppose the lifestyle being imposed upon women etc., but Israelis were NOT loving and kind to the Palestinians since the day the terrorists stole the land that didn't belong to them. Let's keep this in perspective.
Israel is a toilet bowl of filth as wretched in a different way to that of fanatical Muslims, but filth it is no less.
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|2009-12-23 02:21:32 Acharya SInstead of spewing mindless hatred, Rene, how about some specifics? What about that quote concerning is Israel is wrong?
"There is ONE democracy in the middle east. One tiny sliver of land - the only one that actually protects Muslim women from the atrocities committed against her in the name of her faith; a tiny place that produces untold intellectual properties, has turned a dessert into a blossom while her neighboring country, Syria, has destroyed its water infrastructure; one place that has drawn the line in the sand between democracy and brutality in a tumultuous time; one country that waited 8 YEARS and endured 12,000 rocket attacks before going after the terrorists when any other nation would have said enough within weeks: one country whose doctors give medical care to terrorists side by side with their victims; one country that has given land back for peace, only to be proven wrong by her enemies; and that little land is ISRAEL."
Where is this quote found, other than here and on my Examiner page, I haven't seen it anywhere else. I believe the person who wrote it there originated it, but I may be wrong.
Almost every word is a lie? That is a ridiculous statement that casts the rest of your remarks as more of the same rabid and irrational hatred.
Here's an interesting article from Rense that points out other aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Interesting coming from such an anti-Zionist site.
I'm sorry, but I get really sick of the leftard Saudi-funded propaganda raising up the Palestinian when the Saudis themselves have little but contempt for them.
'Next To Jews, We Hate Palestinians The Most' - King Fahd
Quote:Simply put, the Saudi Government was laundering money through Florida charities run by the University of South Florida - Tampa Professor Sami Al Arian for the support of terrorist groups in the Middle East. Through the Al Arian network and others, the Saudi Government secretly funded Al Qaida, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The Saudi purpose was twofold: the destruction of the State of Israel and the prevention! of the formation of an independent Palestinian State. Two particular terrorist groups, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, were specifically chosen and funded by the Saudis for their willingness to undermine Arafat's Palestinian Authority. The secret Saudi goal was to create such animosity between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that it would wreck any chance for the creation of an independent Palestinian State.
Their tactics specifically called for the intimidation or murder of those Palestinians who were willing to work with Israel for peace. To put it bluntly, the covert Saudi network in Florida funded the murders of fellow Muslims for the crime of wanting to create the first democratic Arab State.
Whatever harm the Israelis may have done, they did build an excellent public education system, including several universities, for the benefit of their Palestinian neighbors. That was the problem: While literacy in the Arab world is below 50%, in Israel it is 97%.
Israel is the only place in the Middle East where an Arab woman can vote.
After 50 years, Israel has created the first Arab class exposed to democracy, literacy and western values.
To the Saudis, a democratic Palestinian nation would be a cancer in the Arab world, a destabilizing example of freedom that would threaten Arab dictators everywhere. As King Fahd said, "Next to the Jews, we hate the Palestinians the most." The harder the Israelis and Palestinians worked for peace, the more money King Fahd poured into his murder for hire program.
Yes, sub-file under:" People suffer under Hamas' Islamic rule"
These people actually have the unique misfortune to suffer under both Judaism & Islam at once. Palestine should be the posterchild for religious anti-humanity at work.