GAZA

Gaza was under the British control after the the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. When Egypt attacked Israel in May 1948, they overran the area. Cairo started the All-Palestine Government but ruled the territory as a protectorate. This ended in 1967 when Egypt attacked Israel again and lost. Israel took control of Gaza at that point. Israel was not too happy abobut inheriting this poor, heavily populated and hostile territory.

Since 1948, Egypt has received $1.8 billion a year from the USA. They could just absorb Gaza and thus earn this money.

The 1.3 million Gazans speak a colloquial Arabic exactly like the Egyptians of Sinai. They have more family ties to Egypt than to the West Bank where Fatah resides. They are more economically tied to Egypt. Hamas terrorists came from the Egyptian organization, The Muslim Brethren. They really are not "Palestinians" anymore, but are called that to be politically correct.

The intifada began in 1987. That brought about the Oslo accords of 1993. In 1994 went to Yasir Arafat's Fatah that was promising to bring stability and prosperity to Gaza. However, in 2006 the radical terrorists, Hamas, won in elections and controlled Gaza. Fatah joined them. Israel pulled out completely then. Fatah launched rockets into Israel in 2002, hitting Israel's Sderot constantly along with other neighboring towns.

Condoleeza Rice warned Israel not to retaliate to rocket firing, so Olmert tried some economic hardships to cause Hamas to lose favor with the population. On January 17 the Israelis escalated by cutting fuel and closing the borders because the attacks were getting much worse. The press has put pressure on Israel to stop, and they have. All this has happened because of Israel pulling out of Gaza and giving in to the demands of others.

Daniel Pipes suggests that the Gazans are incapable of self rule and Egypt should take it over again. I think he has a great idea.

References: www.jewishworldreview.com/0108/pipes012908.php3?printer-friendly

No Peace in West Bank (Judea/Samaria)

The West Bank is where Fatah has moved. It is supposed to be where the future Palestine will be.

In 2007 30 mortar shells were found by Israeli security forces in the West Bank.

In December 2007 The IDF and GSS found 6.5 tons of potassium nitrate hidden in sugar-sacks marked as humanitarian aid from the European Union. Potassium nitrate is used by terrorists for the manufacture of explosives and Qassam rockets. The truck with the potassium nitrate was stopped at one of the crossings from Israel into the West Bank.

On January 5, 2008, the Israeli IDF checked out Nablus, a city there, and found a weapons factory containing two rockets in the first state of manufacture and a suicide-bomb belt.

On January 14th, a Palestinian boy was found with a 60mm motar shell at a checkpoint near Nablus.

I'm afraid that Abbas, head of the Hamas terrorists, is not doing a very good job of promoting peace with Israel.

I was just reading about the West Bank in my book, Letters From Israel. On October 7, 1982, I was there. "We drove on the highway from Haifa to Tel Aviv along the coast. It is a lovely drive, and turned left at Kvar Saba, went into that little teeny town and out of it, and we found ourselves in Samaria. I was so shocked. It's practically on the other side of the highway. we stood at a plaque where Sharon and his men had fought not too recently and saw our highway and car. It was unreal! we drove deeper into Samaria and saw Arabs, sheep, a little Arab town outside Kafar Saba, and in the distance Ramalla, a larger Arab city. I saw lots of land that looked somewhat like Eastern Oregon, and finally came some 25 minutes later to a Jewish settlement where we had lunch in their succa. We brought our own sack lunches with us. This settlement is made up of mainly Israelis and a few Americans who are very dedicated and Zionistic. One of their people is not Jewish and is Japanese recently from Japan who has a paper factory there where he makes paper for computers. ...They are building beautiful homes but no apartments there, and are almost ready to move in. The establishment is 6 years old....We continued from this place to the Roman ruins where King Ahab, a Jewish king also lived and we walked all around. The weather was so warm and pleasant. I got a suntan from it. It was incredible to see all the stonework, columns, and amphitheatre. Then we went back to Haifa and drove home. We had left Haifa at 8:15am and got back to Safed at 4:30pm with lots of time to rest and explore at the ruins. No wonder Begin didn't want to give up Samaria and Judea. Remember, it's within stone throwing distance of our highway. You just wouldn't believe how close it is to us. The problem is that they don't just throw stones at us anymore".

History of Palestine

Nadene Goldfoot

There has never been a country of Palestine. There was a territory called Palestine. When the Romans conquered Jerusalem in 70AD, they renamed the whole area "Palestine" to shatter the real names of Israel and Judea.

The area remained a wasteland. Nobody lived there. It was finally to become a part of the Ottoman Empire, which the Turks controlled. In the WWI, the Turks, who had sided with Germany, lost their empire to the allies. It went under the control of Britain.

To win the war, a Jew helped Britain by developing a dynamite by the name of Chaim Weizmann. The Balfour Declaration, written by Britain, declared the whole area of "Palestine" to become the new Jewish state, in honor of Weizmann's help. However, certain Arabs complained, scaring Britain, so the end result was that the area was chopped in pieces and the future Israel got a very small piece. We said we'd take it. Something was better than nothing. The rest of the area was offered to complaining Arabs who the British were placating. They did not want it and refused the land offer.

Before 1948, Jews were leaving Europe and the Holocaust and trying to get into "Palestine", and the British decided to stop their entering. But, on May 14, 1948, the United Nations made Israel a state, and immediately, 7 Arab countries attacked Israel.

After one of the attacks, the Arabs were told by their leaders to leave and let the Arab armies do their thing. As soon as they won the war, the Arab population could come back. Instead, the Jews won the war. The Arab leaders kept the Arab population out of Israel and in camps. Even the other Arab countries that surround Israel would not let them into their country. It was like a chess game. They served the leaders' purpose better by being in camps, fed by the UN and gaining support from the world. Israel had asked them (somehow, through bull horns, etc, not to leave. ) Those that did not leave are citizens of Israel, and are even in politics in the knesset. These people have served as propaganda for the Arabs.

This year, we are celebrating Israel's 60th birthday. We've been constantly attack by Arab countries, and yet we exist. More than half of the Arab population living in Israel prefer to be in Israel rather than a future Palestine. They have more freedom in Israel.

Terrorists Fire 70 Rockets in Two Days; Threaten Israel For Retaliating

Gaza terrorists are threatening that Israeli strikes will harm peace, yet they have been the aggressors firing 70 rockets in the past two days as well as firing rockets ever since Israel pulled out of Gaza. Abbas of Fatah joined his brother Hamas in warning that "serious consequences for the peace talks will happen if Israel retaliates the attacks. "

How can these people think that they can attack Israel and not receive attacks back? They have the gall to complain and threaten. Where is it written that Israel should receive punishment for trying to progress in peace talks with terrorists? The thinking is illogical and meshugana. I'm afraid this is what happens with trying to reason in the Middle East.

Olmert has vowed that Israel will only try to hit those who are firing on Israel and are not aiming for civilians as Hamas is aiming at civilians in Israel.

A spokesman for Hamas said, "One martyr goes to heaven and thousands rise to fire more rockets and to fight the Zionist entity." I don't think we'll see a peace accord in the near future, and Bush will have to understand why.

Reference: Reuters article by Avida Landau

My input

Likud Gains Popularity for Future Elections

The Yisrael Beitenu Party left the Israeli government today led by Avigdor Lieberman. Now Ehud Olmert, prime minister, is left with 67 MP out of 120 in the parliament. Two other parties, Shas and the Labour party warned they could also pull out of the coalition. Then there would be a new general election.

Lieberman pulled out because of Olmert deciding to give Palestinians land they inherited in 1967. He is against negotiating land for peace. He and others feel nothing will change. The conflict and terror would not stop. I note that this is precisely what has happened in Gaza.

References: United Kingdom: telegraph.co.uk

Israel Responds to Rocket Attacks

Israel has been holding off attacking Hamas terrorists who have continually fired rockets into Israel, even hitting Ashkelon again, but on Tuesday, raided the Gaza Strip and killed 16 of them. A volunteer from Equador on an Israeli kibbutz had been killed by a terrorist sniper.

Amazingly, Fatah's response was to say the raid was a "slap in the face" to Bush's peace efforts! It's as if they can attack Israel but how dare Israel respond. Abbas went on to shock us by saying that "there was a massacre today against our people, and that our people will not remain silent against such crimes".

Israeli President Shimon Peres said that as long as Gaza militants continue to fire rockets into the Jewish state, "we are left without a choice but to answer and stop it."

The Hamas terrorists have refused to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept existing Israeli-Palestinian interim peace deals. Abbas, as shown above, sides with them whenever possible, showing his true colors. Hamas oppose peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Fatah group. Bush predicts a peace treaty will be signed before he leaves office in January 2009, though most people are highly skeptical.

References: Yahoo News: Israeli forces kill 16 Palestinians in Gaza

Bush Pressuring Israel to Make Most Concessions

President Bush went to Israel to pressure Israel into making unreasonable concessions. He stated that there should be an end to the occupation that began in 1967. Then he stated that he believes Israel must loosen its control of Jerusalem.

Bush has lost favor in the Americans eyes. I wonder who he is trying to impress now. To me this only shows that he knows nothing about the history of Israel. This is something that the Arab states want to reimpose, so it must be the Arabs he is trying to ingratiate himself with.

Israel's return to its pre-1967 borders would tempt aggressors to launch attacks on the Jewish State as they did all the time before 1967. Israel would lose the extensive system of early-warning radars it has set up in the hills of Judea and Samaria, which America calls "The West Bank". This is another problem of turning over the area to "Palestinians". Palestinians do not recognize Israel as a Jewish State and have not stopped their terrorists from attacking Israel. They are the aggressors who would like to see the destruction of Israel.

If a hostile neighbor seized control of these mountains, its army could split Israel in two parts. From there, it is only about 15 miles to the Mediterranean Sea. At their narrowest point, these 1967 lines are within 9 miles of the Israeli coast, 11 miles from Tel Aviv, 10 miles from Beersheba, 21 miles from Haifa and one foot from Jerusalem.

Early-warning stations and the deployment of surface-to-air missile batteries can provide the time needed to sound an air-raid alert, and warn the population to take shelter from a missile attack. They could allow enemy missiles to be intercepted in mid-flight.

In 1967, US concluded that Israel would require the retention of some captured Arab territory in order to provide militarily defensible borders. They said that Israel would need a defense line. The report also provides support for a united Jerusalem under Israeli control. Israel would need to have its border positioned to the east of the city.

Is President Bush throwing all this knowledge to the winds? He evidently does not care about Israel's security at all at this rate. This statement comes with the full knowledge that Israel has been bombarded by rockets from Gaza which are coming closer to the more heavily populated areas of Israel all the time. Sderot has received bombings every day for over a year, and now Ashkelon has been hit besides recent bombings from Lebanon terrorists. Bush is asking Israel to commit suicide.

References: Victor Sharpe: One Jerusalem, Bush's public statement on the "peace process" at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.

Myths and Facts by Mitchel G. Bard p. 92.

Katyusha Rockets Hit Shlomi, Israel

Shlomi is in the Western Galilee very close to the border of Lebanon. It has about 5,000 people in this city. It's 12 km NE of the larger city, Nahariyya. The Bader Battalion of Jihad, a new Lebanon terrorist group has claimed responsibility. They have vowed more attacks. The two 107 mm Katyusha rockets landed in the yard of a home, and fragments were also found on a balcony. The attack came at 2:15am on Tuesday, January 8, 2008 and at first was mistaken for thunder. They had had no attacks for the past six months. This happened the day before President Bush arrived to talk about Peace.

UN Vehicle hit by roadside bomb after Shlomi was hit. This happened near Sidon in Lebanon and wounded two peacekeepers.

Beirut army official denied that rockets were fired from Lebanon. He said the reports were baseless and completely fabricated.

Tuesday's strike was the second on Northern Israel since the end of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah who had fired 4,000 rockets at N. Israeli towns and cities and killed 43 civilians, besides causing many to to evacuate for several weeks. Then over 1,000 Lebanese, mostly civilians, were killed along with 119 Israeli soldiers.

In June, the last Katyusha attack hit Kiryat Shemona. The group who attacked were Jihadi Badr Brigades, Lebanon Branch, the same group who fired on Shlomi Tuesday.

References: Washington Post

Swimming Against the Current in the Peace Process

Nadene Goldfoot

Dr. Dore Gold, Israel's ambassador to the UN in 1997-99, is President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and author of "The Fight for Jerusalem " asked the question about the Oslo peace process of the 1990's and the present day Road Map of 2003.

He brings out that in phase I of the Oslo peace process, the Palestinians were to end incitement against Israel in all their institutions. It was after this happened that there was to be talks about an independent Palestinian state with provisional borders. Education for Peace was an Oslo requirement.

Again, there are no negotiations about Palestinian statehood, according to the Roadmap, until the Palestinians' phase I obligations are fully met.

The Palestinian textbooks for the 12th grade show a regression to the use of hostile language referring to jihad and martyrdom, emphasising the need for steadfastness against the enemies of Islam. Israel was removed from all the maps in the text. The West Bank Palestinians are being governed by a Fatah-dominated government led by Abbas which still uses older textbooks, so they are maintaining hostile propaganda against Israel in Palestinian schools.

It looks to me like Condoleesa Rice is trying to negotiate a future Palestinian state by circumventing the Bush administration's own 2003 Roadmap sequence. She's forgetting about the Palestinian obligations by talking about the issues like borders, Jerusalem and refugees. In the meantime, Hamas and Fatah have been engaged in secret backchannel talks to restore their relationship.

How can Israel have a Palestinian neighbor who continues to teach hatred for Israel? How can Israel expect a peaceful coexistance? Do we think peace will come about after the establishment of a Palestine at this rate? No, I don't. It will mean they will be that much closer and will be armed with more weapons to destroy Israel.

Oslo had the right idea in the beginning; that of asking the Palestinians to teach acceptance of Israel first before talking about creating a state. It's too bad that the current is so strong that it is carrying Rice along with it and she has given up these expectations. Swimming against this current could save the world.

Reference: Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs 25 September 2007 Where is the Issue of Education for Peace in the Olmet-Rice-Abbas Initiative? by Dore Gold