the gaza "withdrawal" (1 Viewer)

[taubstumm]

hi peeps.

i wasn't going to post anything about this, because to do so is to dignify a giant p.r. maneuvre with attention and response. however...

the eviction of settlers from gaza by the israeli army (the i.d.f.) has been going on yesterday and today. the whole thing has been carried out in a blaze of publicity and media attention, the vast majority of which has been uncritical, dishonest and misleading, ignoring the fact that the 'gaza disengagement plan' would be more accurately described as an israeli (or even a us-israeli) west bank expansion plan, and is designed to more or less kill off the 'roadmap' and any other prospects for justice and peace.

i was just in the shops a few minutes ago and saw the headline in the irish independent - "exodus: day of tears as gaza is cleared". i found this to be really depressing - the media are essentially playing the whole thing just as the israeli government wants them to, and abdicating any kind of critical, independent role.

the facts are pretty simple, and not really disputed by any serious observers. israel needs to get out of gaza for its own demographic and resources reasons, and can use the process of doing this to create a p.r. front of 'sacrifice' and 'willingness to suffer for peace'. it may even go so far as to declare gaza an 'independent state', something that south africa attempted with the bantustans under apartheid.

as for the extent to which this will create an 'independent' gaza, that's a non-starter. israel will continue to control gaza's borders, coastline, and airspace, and reserves the right to undertake military operations at will inside the territory. gaza will also remain dependent on israeli water, communication, electricity, and sewage networks; existing customs arrangements with israel - whereby imports from israel to gaza are not taxed, exports from gaza to israel are taxed, and israel collects customs duties on foreign products entering gaza - will remain in force, and israeli currency will continue to be used.

the gaza withdrawal is being conducted in a manner which aims to extract the maximum possible amount of public sympathy with the 'plight' of a group of people who have been illegally occupying and settling land for 38 years, laying the groundwork for future grinding down of the palestinians in both the west bank and gaza.

it's a pity and a shame that these and other related aspects are being completely ignored in the vast majority of the coverage of what's going on.

 

[Lord Damian]

i read today some settlers who were clashing with police were throwing what appeard to be acid on them. now, i'm no fan of da fuzz, but ACID? a step too far, i think.

 

[oh shit]

it's an incredible amount of bullshit.

 

[Latex lizzie]

The odd part is that the Israeli government laboured little to give false impressions regarding the real meaning of its army and settlers deployment," he wrote.

"Israel did not wish to hide the fact that it would retain control over the borders of Gaza, its land, its air and its water. Equally there were no real efforts made to hide the fact that Israel maintains the right to strike the impoverished and utterly crowded strip at the time of its choosing."

Among bloggers, The Angry Arab was cynical about TV images of the evictions.

"Are they supposed to be tear jerking?" he asked. "Do I detect some acting on the part of those colonial settlers for the benefit of the cameras? Are those settlers or performers?"


http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1552248,00.html

what do you expect from the independent? rag that it is. Modern media in gerneral is misleading anyway. Very few outlets are telling the truth(or without a political agenda). Im surprised you're surprised by any of this.

 

[aoboa]

Anyone else seeing that 'Send Flowers To Israel' google-add on the left of the page???

 

[broken arm]

bbc radio 4 has had some good coverage of what has being going on.

they have had good interviews with people like Israeli foreign minister types, palestinian planning ministers.

they emphasised the point that some of the stipulations of the 'disengagement' plans like the fact that no palestinians can work in Israel anymore, economic corridors will remain shut (ports etc.), andf that there will be greater expansion in the west bank etc.

one of the bbc 4 people said it may turn gaza into a large prison.

and they had reporters in the synagogue talking with people and were certain to pose the question of legitimacy.

 

[Latex lizzie]

"one of the bbc 4 people said it may turn gaza into a large prison."

that's exactly what it will do.

 

[taubstumm]

i was having a big chat with spiritualtramp about this earlier on today. she was saying that i'm being cynical about this, and that the gaza 'disengagement' could be a positive step. i was going to find her some links and stuff to show the other side of things, but she was saying that i should really just post them here, for context, and to let people make up their own minds. so here you go...

bbc news on west bank settlement expansion announced earlier this month: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4744989.stm

pakistan daily times on the same events (not sure about editorial bias of this newspaper - pakistan is a military dictatorship, after all - but they have some good stuff sometimes): http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_5-8-2005_pg4_6

beiruit imc: http://beirut.indymedia.org/

israel imc (mostly in hebrew, and on a secure server for some reason): https://israel.indymedia.org/

gaza withdrawal background, by mitchell plitnick of jewish voices for peace: http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=107&ItemID=8529

the jewish voices for peace website (again, not sure about their exact editorial stance/background): http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/

history of settlement in the west bank (wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bank_settlement

west bank population statistics (wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_settlement/West_Bank_Israeli_Population_Statistics

demographics of the west bank (wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_West_Bank

general overview of the palestinian territories (wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_territories

map of the west bank 'security wall' - i would regard it as a land-grab mechanism, judge for yourself (wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:BarrierFeb2005.png

un security council resolutions 242 and 338 (wikipedia articles and also pdf documents, from the un website):

242:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_Security_Council_Resolution_242
http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/240/94/IMG/NR024094.pdf

338:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_Security_Council_Resolution_338
http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/288/65/IMG/NR028865.pdf

right, that's all for now, i might post some more later.

 

[spiritualtramp]

i was having a big chat with spiritualtramp about this earlier on today. she was saying that i'm being cynical about this, and that the gaza 'disengagement' could be a positive step. i was going to find her some links and stuff to show the other side of things, but she was saying that i should really just post them here,

No settlements in gaza = no attacks on settlements = no reprisals on attacks = less Gazans killed = a positive thing. The West Bank is a different kettle of fish but looking at this from the perspective of Joe Gaza it is a good step. It isn't Israel getting the hell out of Gaza totally (which I can only imagine will be a gradual thing) but it is a step in the right direction.


I thought it was really cynical of some to accuse the removed settlers of acting. Their distress seemed pretty real to me. Delighted they got booted out, mind.

As for this

as for the extent to which this will create an 'independent' gaza, that's a non-starter. israel will continue to control gaza's borders, coastline, and airspace, and reserves the right to undertake military operations at will inside the territory.

With the settlers gone Israel will not need to conduct as many military operations in Gaza.

From a military view it would be a bit daft for Israel to leave themselves open to attack from the land, sea or air at the moment.

gaza will also remain dependent on israeli water, communication, electricity, and sewage networks;

But the thing is, Israel owns all the infrastructure, it isn't like the Gazans have their own communications networks, leccy stations sewerage plants etc etc. all ready to go and waiting to be used.

If Israel just cut off all the water etc everyone would be screaming blue murder about it.

 

[Janer]

hi peeps.

i wasn't going to post anything about this, because to do so is to dignify a giant p.r. maneuvre with attention and response. however...

the eviction of settlers from gaza by the israeli army (the i.d.f.) has been going on yesterday and today. the whole thing has been carried out in a blaze of publicity and media attention, the vast majority of which has been uncritical, dishonest and misleading, ignoring the fact that the 'gaza disengagement plan' would be more accurately described as an israeli (or even a us-israeli) west bank expansion plan, and is designed to more or less kill off the 'roadmap' and any other prospects for justice and peace.

i was just in the shops a few minutes ago and saw the headline in the irish independent - "exodus: day of tears as gaza is cleared". i found this to be really depressing - the media are essentially playing the whole thing just as the israeli government wants them to, and abdicating any kind of critical, independent role.

the facts are pretty simple, and not really disputed by any serious observers. israel needs to get out of gaza for its own demographic and resources reasons, and can use the process of doing this to create a p.r. front of 'sacrifice' and 'willingness to suffer for peace'. it may even go so far as to declare gaza an 'independent state', something that south africa attempted with the bantustans under apartheid.

as for the extent to which this will create an 'independent' gaza, that's a non-starter. israel will continue to control gaza's borders, coastline, and airspace, and reserves the right to undertake military operations at will inside the territory. gaza will also remain dependent on israeli water, communication, electricity, and sewage networks; existing customs arrangements with israel - whereby imports from israel to gaza are not taxed, exports from gaza to israel are taxed, and israel collects customs duties on foreign products entering gaza - will remain in force, and israeli currency will continue to be used.

the gaza withdrawal is being conducted in a manner which aims to extract the maximum possible amount of public sympathy with the 'plight' of a group of people who have been illegally occupying and settling land for 38 years, laying the groundwork for future grinding down of the palestinians in both the west bank and gaza.

it's a pity and a shame that these and other related aspects are being completely ignored in the vast majority of the coverage of what's going on.

Well written piece and my very own views summed up 100%

 

[spiritualtramp]

*cough*

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4437936.stm

 

[Latex lizzie]

"Condi did it.

all on her own".

the history books will say.

 

[hugh]

The most alarming thing about that article is the fact that seemingly Condi Rice only got two hours sleep one night becuase of the intensity of the negotiations. That's just shocking. I wonder is this in sympathy with all the citizens of Gaza who have had recently to put up with constant so-called "Noise Bombs" all night - where Israeli jets overfly the strip causing sonic booms at two hourly intervals or so .....

Anyway hopefully this will improve things .... time wil tell ......