40 thoughts on “In First Gaza Ground Battle, Israeli Commandos Repelled – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. What do you mean pushing people out? Straight out of Gaza or out their homes, but still in Gaza?

  2. You’re full of it.. Your well ranked source must be Hamas’ spokesman. Unless you can prove it, don’t write it (these are you words).
    AFAIK the mission was completed, although it didn’t go smooth..

    As for the rest of your text, you speak almost the exact words of Hamas… For someone who named his blog with promising title, you sure forget to promote it..

  3. The S13 operation was succesful, but on their way back to the sea thay faced an ambush. Nothing serious though.

  4. Thank you for your clear and timely reporting – it is so appreciated in this period of non-stop propaganda. my own Canadian government is among the worse offenders currently so your work is a genuine relief from this drivel. Please keep us all posted as we fight back against this brutal assault.

  5. “What’s historically interesting about this claim is that the Irgun and Palmach both stored their weapons in synagogues, believing the British would neither suspect nor search for weapons in a house of worship. They too took advantage of their religion to further their military goals.”

    Indeed Richard. In 1946 Menachem Begin while hiding from the Brits in a small hotel room in Tel-Aviv would get around undetected dressed as an ultra religious Jew – long beard and all. And it was from that same room that he planned and oversaw the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem with the Brits in it…….

  6. Amid the deafening silence of Australian newspapers it comes as a welcome surprise to find in the most prominent quality paper in the place where I am right now, the Philippines, an editorial that shows little sympathy for the “Israeli cause”.Yet this is a country that is probably the U.S’s most loyal ally in Asia; a country where, according to a recent international attitude survey, the U.S. is more popular than anywhere else (including the U.S.itself); a country, moreover, that has had a decades old problem of Muslim separatism in the South.

    The paper reminds its readers of the Philippines’ long history of support for the Israeli state project. In 1947 it was the only Asian country, and one out of only 33 in the world, to recognise Israel. But it then goes on: “ .. Israel’s policy of overwhelming response as applied to Palestine has undermined its own standing in the international community; worse, it weakens its own democratic project. How can Israel countenance the killing of innocent civilians, when the security threat it faces cannot by any stretch of the imagination be considered existential … A terrible tragedy: that the victimisation of the Jews during the Holocaust would prevent Israel from viewing their weaker neighbours as victims too.” ( Philippine Daily Inquirer – 7/14/14

  7. [Comment deleted. Comments consisting solely of a link violate comment rules. If you have something to say, say it. If you have nothing to say, don’t comment. If you have a comment and wish to support it with a link, you may do so.]

    1. A very good article which sums it all.. It’s not anti-Palestinian and not anti-Israeli. It just talks about choises being made… Like!

      1. @ Citizen of the World: Your nickname should be “Citizen of Hasbara.” Note how one hasbarist puts up a Jeffrey Goldberg link, then 50 minutes later another hasbarists talks up how great the article is. It stinks. But we know how these people work & it doesn’t work on us.

        1. [Comment deleted. Comments must contain substance. Cheerleading is not substance. You will be moderated. You may only publish 3 comments per day. ]

        2. [comment deleted–this comment too contains no substance & is not directly related to the post. BTW, I did insert the Goldberg link in Arie Brand’s comment which critiqued the original Bloomberg article. So you didn’t need to do that.]

          1. [Comment deleted. Again, if your comment has no substance, & telling us about “Jewish traits” is NOT substantial, it will not be published.]

          2. @Citizen of the World, There are very good wildlife veterinary at your closest zoo. Go there, they know how to cure your crocodile tears.

          3. I have absolutely no interest in Jeffrey Goldberg. Former Kahanists are not worth addressing. If you admire anything he writes it tells us all we need to know about you. And read my post at Tikun Magazine about his sordid Kahanist past.

      2. Well Citizen of the “World” how objective are Bloomberg’s media, Jeffrey Goldberg and Zara Kessler (editor responsible of the article)? I would see those three as objective and matter-of-fact based as a propaganda piece in a Hamas owned media company and written and edited by two extreme Palestinian Hamas members. Surely you as a educated and broad-minded citizen of the world do understand the backgrounds and bindings of Bloomberg (Michael), Goldberg and Kessler. Needless to say to what religion, ideology and to what country.

        These desperate attempts by your “side” to choose nicknames, which attempt to show larger international support to the “Israel project”, are simply amusing. Most of the citizens of the world despise more and more what Israel represents and what it is doing. Israel is already one of the most least liked countries in the world (number four in BBC’s poll), despite the massive and well oiled world wide propaganda machine trying to change the image. Well even if you would choose as you alias name Master of the Universe you are still that simple, small group’s propagandist trying to downplay land theft, mass murders, war crimes, racism, apartheid, ethnic cleansing etc.

        1. “Surely you as a educated and broad-minded citizen of the world do understand the backgrounds and bindings of Bloomberg (Michael), Goldberg and Kessler. Needless to say to what religion, ideology and to what country”

          @SimoHurtta, wow, are you suggesting that people with obvious Jewish names are incapable of being objective? Or are automatically represent a single ideology? What does that say about the owner of this blog?
          For someone accusing others of racism (not to mention worse things) you sure seem to cut yourself some slack here. Can you please talk to the point instead of attacking others based on their names, nicks, or origins?

          1. No, he is not suggest that. He is suggesting that someone doing Hasbara, and who has typical Jewish surnames, are very likely to be Zionist Jews.

            Richard is not doing Hasbara.

          2. Well, well? Who are the people behind Zionism? What is the ideology and what are the aims of Zionism? For whom is the Jewish state for? Who have the right to move there and begin to treat gentiles like sh..? Etc. Well who?

            The one who says, that Goldberg’s article is a neutral, balanced analysis/view of the situation doesn’t understand what neutrality and balance do mean. It is not my fault that M. Bloomberg lets his media be used to publish this kind of one sided propaganda/views. Also the background of this media and persons in question are well known. They are sure not “Muslims and Arabs” and not neutral in describing what happens around Israel. They are biased, which this article reveals to its reader. Why doesn’t BloombergView publish for example professor Juan Cole’s excellent satire The Court Trial of Bibi Netanyahu in order to give reader a different viewpoint to the background and morality. It could, but it will not. Why? Hmmmmm …

            Of course without doubt there are many Jews in Israel and abroad, who fiercely and honorably resist what Israel is doing and what it has become. And how their religion is used in ethnic cleansing, land robbery, mass murders and constant wars. One of them is Richard Silverstein. But the reality is most Jews are silent and power in Israel is in the hands nationalistic (religious openly or more or less “undercover”) extremists (lets call them politely as racists not the with the term which best describes their attitudes and political/religious views). So lets not play that Judaism and Jews do not have a dominant role in this tragedy. It is not antisemitic in pointing out this fact.

            Without doubt you people have no problems in linking in your comments al the time Islam and religious extremism to Palestinians’ struggle and resistance. Even it is clear even to you, that Palestinians do not resist what Israeli Jews are doing to them because Islam. They would resist in equal means even they would be Hindus. But the sad reality is that religion on the Jewish side is “dominant force” simply because only it defines Jews. If POLITICAL ISLAM is not tabu in commenting why should bringing out the role of “POLITICAL JUDAISM” be?

          1. It’s interesting that whenever Israel assaults Palestinians, a bunch of drones comes to defend it online. I was surprised, in Al-Arabiya, when I saw a huge up vote for Israel for a pro Palestinian post and a great down vote for pro-Israel post.

            These Harabara people are like a cloud of locusts or a damning weed infestation.

          2. Correction: I was surprised, in Al-Arabiya, when I saw a huge up vote for a pro Israel (Hasbara) post, a great down vote for pro-Palestinian post.

  8. Goldberg, in this article, is either badly informed or being very parsimonious with the truth.. He wrote in the article linked by Sam:
    .
    .“In 2005, the Palestinians of Gaza, free from their Israeli occupiers, could have … created the necessary infrastructure for eventual freedom. Gaza is centrally located between two large economies, those of Israel and Egypt. Europe is just across the Mediterranean. Gaza could have easily attracted untold billions in economic aid.
    The Israelis did not impose a blockade on Gaza right away. That came later, when it became clear that Palestinian groups were considering using their newly liberated territory as a launching pad for attacks. In the days after withdrawal, the Israelis encouraged Gaza’s development. A group of American Jewish donors paid $14 million for 3,000 greenhouses left behind by expelled Jewish settlers and donated them to the Palestinian Authority. The greenhouses were soon looted and destroyed, serving, until today, as a perfect metaphor for Gaza’s wasted opportunity.”

    
Peres in his notorious conversation with Erdogan was also raving on about those greenhouses, making it appear that a generous gift from Israel had been wilfully destroyed by the Palestinians.

    
The truth is quite different.
First of all this was no gift from Israel. The former Jewish settler-farmers were reimbursed from a fund with mainly private international capital. One person who invested in this, apparently to the tune of half a million dollars, was a very well respected Australian Jew, Sir James Wolfensohn, the former President of the World Bank and then special envoy on behalf of the Quartet to Gaza.I will come to Wolfensohn in a moment.
    
The greenhouse culture came to nothing. In the first place because Israel turned off the water that had to feed the sprinkler systems. And, secondly, because the arrangements on the border terminals was not lived up to.
    
Wolfensohn has made bitter comments on this in an interview that was published in Haaretz on 7/21/07.

    
Here are a few excerpts:

    
‘All the dreams we had are now gone’
    
By Shahar Smooha
…
.”Wolfensohn landed in the Middle East in May 2005 in order to monitor the Israeli disengagement from Gaza and to help heal the badly ailing Palestinian economy. In the beginning he was full of hope: He was able to raise $9 billion ($3 billion a year for three years) to bolster the Palestinian economy, and in November 2005, three months after the disengagement, he served as the mediator between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in negotiations on transit routes and on access to and from the Gaza Strip. He also donated money of his own to help the Palestinians buy Israeli-owned greenhouses in Gaza ”

    
Wolfensohn referred to the

    
.”agreement that Condi [Condoleezza] Rice announced in my presence and in the presence of the European representative Javier Solana,” Wolfensohn continues. “But in the months following, every aspect of the agreement was abrogated. In fact, the sadness of it is that the last remaining aspect – the opening to Egypt [via the border crossing] – has seen the international observers reducing their representation because of non-usage [of the terminal]. So all the dreams that we had then have now gone, ”
…
Before all that happened
    
“He toured the Gaza Strip with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) immediately after the PA asserted its authority there, and recalls a euphoric atmosphere that dissipated very quickly
    
“.I remember seeing the greenhouses with the chairman and looking at the fruits and everything, and there was a joyous atmosphere: ‘Boy, we’re about to get this going and we’re going to have hotels by the beaches and we’re going to have tourism and it’s going to be fantastic, and the Palestinians really know how to be hosts.’ But in the months afterward, first of all Arik [Sharon] became ill and the current prime minister came in, and there was a clear change of view”
    
“.At that time, Wolfensohn recalls, powerful forces in the U.S. administration worked behind his back: They did not believe in the border terminals agreement and wanted to undermine his status as the Quartet’s emissary. The official behind this development, he says, was Elliot Abrams, the neoconservative who was appointed deputy national security adviser in charge of disseminating democracy in the Middle East – “and every aspect of that agreement was abrogated
    
.The non-implementation of the agreement naturally had serious economic consequences. According to Wolfensohn, the shattering of the great hope of normality, which the Palestinians experienced so deeply when the Israel Defense Forces and the settlers left the Gaza Strip, brought about the rise of Hamas. “Instead of hope, the Palestinians saw that they were put back in prison. And with 50 percent unemployment, you would have conflict. This is not just a Palestinian issue. If you have 50 percent of your people with no work, chances are they will become annoyed. So it’s not, in my opinion, that Palestinians are so terrible; it is that they were in a situation where a modulation of views between one and the other became impossible.
…
“.The issue of the greenhouses is especially painful to Wolfensohn because of his personal contribution to them. “Everything was rotting because you couldn’t get the fruit. And if you went to the border, as I did many times, and saw tomatoes and fruit just being dumped on the side of the road, you would have to say that if you were a Palestinian farmer you’d be pretty upset. So my view is to try and not demonize the Palestinians…”

    
The Israelis, however, first sabotage them and then demonize them for the results that Israeli sabotage has brought about.

    1. @Arie Brand, thank you for pointing to this interesting interview. Unfortunately you did not provide a link, so I bothered to look it up, here: http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/all-the-dreams-we-had-are-now-gone-1.225828

      Interestingly, you managed to somehow drop some interesting sections (although you did have the decency to mark some with “…”) – these parts mostly mention how Hamas came to power, some are about the rocket firing, others mention corruption in the ranks of PA. Non of these is a game changer, the overall point is still the lack of hope which is indeed to root cause of this entire story, but somehow you managed to shift the blame to lay only on the Israeli side.
      Your last sentence in particular stands in a complete contrast to the story you just (mis)quoted – if anything, he blames the US (Elliot Abrams) for sabotaging what they saw as an EU brokered solution, perhaps to prevent them from gaining too much influence in the region, but definitely due to political reasons. Aside from that he expressed frustration, but did not blame any side in particular.
      In my opinion, this is the hard truth behind the story here – as human beings we always look for someone to blame, someone to hate, it fuels our feelings and dedication for struggle. We want to believe there’s some evil in this world as it makes it easier to understand. In truth however, the worst enemy is only the “boring” human traits of inadequacy, greed, and even stupidity, that are common everywhere. What killed these greenhouses was not an intentional act of sabotage, it was a set of events and people on both sides doing the wrong things, because they didn’t care enough to do the right thing.
      As much as I hate the Hamas leadership for fighting at all cost for the sake of the fight, and as much as I hate Bibi for playing into their hands for his own political reasons – I don’t think any of the sides is driven by pure malevolence. There’s no evil masterplan out there, just hatred and fear, that are completely understandable given the history of both sides. Fighting these with more hate mongering and blame exchange on “who started” or “who’s worse” is only going to fuel this infinitely. Please give it a though for a few seconds before you go back to your usual Israel-bashing agenda.

      1. @ leeor: Ah yes, the usual platitudes about the tragedy being sad and blame falling on both sides. And there’s no real fault because we’re all just fallible human beings. You’re light on the ‘shooting,’ but heavy on the ‘crying.’

        1. @Richard, I wasn’t the one who came up with this article, I only added the full text. The general theme (which I happen to agree with) came from the Jewish Australian philanthropist, one who had done more for peace and Palestinian welfare than any of us, and deserves praises, not distortion or mockery.

          1. @ Leeor: James Wolfensohn is repelled by Israeli policy toward Gaza. Why would you dream of using him as evidence to prop up Israel or prove the perfidy of Hamas or Palestinians?

  9. Trolling is part of IDF’ work as we see here. they are pro who pass all day long posting Zionist proaganda everywhere
    We should not answer. They should not be allowed to post.

        1. [comment deleted–I do not appreciate lots of back & forth chatter between commenters. State the substance of your comment. You don’t need to explain who you were speaking to and you don’t need to give anyone advice, wanted or unwanted.]

          1. She said that Zionist propaganda, which is pretty much trolling, should not be allowed. You complained about democracy and this blog is certainly not a democracy, it has rules concerning trolls.

    1. @Richard, I see you gladly delete comments for various reasons. But those rules and reasons do not apply for all commenters, only for those who are not pro-Hamas.
      As for thr article, now you see that Israel wants to stop this operation in order to get some rocket-free time for its citizens, while Hamas tends to cintinue Israel’s operation..

  10. Leeor, my main bone of contention was Goldberg’s mischievous remark that “The Israelis did not impose a blockade on Gaza right away. That came later, when it became clear that Palestinian groups were considering using their newly liberated territory as a launching pad for attacks.”

    It is clear that the agreement regarding border terminals was sabotaged and there is nothing in Wolfensohn’s remarks that supports Goldberg’s insinuation. And even though Wolfensohn points to an American official as the main culprit behind this intrigue it is inconceivable that the man concerned was acting on a personal whim without consulting the Israeli government. Wolfensohn alludes to this by remarking that Sharon falling ill and the new bloke in charge having different views had a lot to do with the whole thing.

    The whole story of these glass houses and those terrible, destructive Palestinians who were acting against their own good and the benevolent intentions of the Israeli government has apparently become a stock item in the hasbara arsenal. As I said
    Peres had the gal to bring it up in his altercation with Erdogan.

    Adriana I don’t mind trolls especially when they offer such easy targets as the hasbara spreaders usually do.

    In fact I am much more concerned about this blog’s comment section turning a poisonous dark green as soon as you attempt to type in it.

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