The Biden-Netanyahu relationship is at a boiling point over Israel’s planned invasion of Rafah. OK, but what is Biden doing about it?
Boiling Point in Talk, Not Action
The Wall Street Journal reports Biden-Netanyahu Relationship at Boiling Point as Rafah Invasion Looms
The looming Israeli military plans to invade Rafah have exacerbated tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the Biden administration, which has grown increasingly frustrated with its attempts to rein in Israel’s military campaign.
The consequences of the distrust between President Biden and Netanyahu, who have spoken 18 times since Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault, have grown only starker in recent days. Biden now appears to be trying to draw a line with Israel’s proposed military operation on Rafah where 1.1 million Palestinians—many of them displaced—now reside.
The growing clash between the two governments over Rafah underscores the Biden administration’s waning leverage over Netanyahu as his military continues to hammer Gaza, even as pressure grows inside the U.S. government to rein in Israel. The State Department has launched a probe looking at several Israeli airstrikes in Gaza that killed dozens of civilians and the possible use by Israel of white phosphorus in
Lebanon, to determine whether the Israeli military misused American bombs and missiles to kill civilians, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal.
In recent weeks, U.S. officials have been exploring different ways to exert pressure on Netanyahu, but Biden has shown no willingness to use the biggest tool in his arsenal: weapons sales to Israel. The president has dismissed any talk of slowing arms sales to Israel, U.S. officials said, and instead has largely relied on the bully pulpit to try to express discontent.
What Biden and Netanyahu Say
- The U.S. has communicated that it wouldn’t—under any circumstances—support a plan for a full-scale invasion of Rafah.
- Netanyahu, has vowed to forge ahead, saying Wednesday that Israel would mount a “powerful” operation in the city once residents are allowed to evacuate.
- Biden recalled something he once said to Netanyahu, whom he has known for nearly 50 years: “I said, ‘Bibi, I love you, but I don’t agree with a damn thing you have to say.’ That remains to be the case.”
- Netanyahu told Biden “We have taken extraordinary steps to protect civilian lives.”
What is Biden Doing?
- Sending 2,000 pound bombs to Israel
- Pressuring Congress to send money to Israel and Ukraine with no strings attached.
Meanwhile there are only 28,000 dead in Gaza. I said 30,000 but it will far exceed 30,000 that once Israel starts blasting Rafah.
What Are the US Goals?
Biden has never clearly articulated any goals. We never had any goals in Afghanistan either.
Importantly, when have we ever had any clearly defined goals or defined funding amounts in any of these foreign missions?
The result speaks in death tolls and debt. We have blown many trillions of dollars on nebulous, open-ended nation founding missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, our own border is under siege as our national debt blasted past $34 trillion.
$95.3 Billion in Free Money
On February 13, I noted Senate Votes to Send Ukraine and Israel $95.3 Billion in Free Money
The only sensible action is to throw the bill in the ashcan on grounds of fiscal responsibility.
But Republicans are on board with this no strings attached, no clearly defined mission funding. Like Biden, they say one thing and do another.
As usual, there is no discussion of goals, no time frame, no strings attached, and no mention of how we are going to fund this.
Bombs away!
It would be a shame if people didn’t buy pom wonderful or wonderful pistachios by zionist reznick family of California or Sabra hummus made by Israeli company. It would b so bad would it!
Nothing! The zionists completely control congress and will use America till the last penny and sell it off piece by piece just like netanyahu actually was caught saying essentially.
https://i.ibb.co/WHyvVH0/191-STORMERMEME120224-jpg-618×609.png
Proof of the above statement?
Um, try to find Israel on a map? That would be a good start.
Of course, Trump and more than one of the last few presidents would have the same problem.
BTW: I’d guess that the Palestinian dead total, assuming the current numbers are in the ballpark, is likely closer to 40k or more because a large number are buried under the rubble of the war.
Give your thanks to Hamas, which initiated the carnage by foolishly attacking Israel on Oct. 7th.
I’m certain that many Palestinians would have been happy if Hamas/Islamic Jihad, etc. had just continued their regular shooting of rockets into Israel territory and let it go at that.
jojo for Israeli intelligence. how do children killed by Israel stop Hamas. Hamas is funded by Israel.
Yes it would sure be nice to know what we are getting for the Billions, But what did Jack N say, “we can’t handle the truth” so shut-up and pay your damn taxes you grunts.
The question I would have is why does the US need to have goals for Israel? We can supply Israel with weapons and we can leave the Israelis alone to prosecute their war against Hamas as they see fit.
And while there might be legitimate concern for Palestinian civilians we need to remember that those civilians are suffering because of the direct actions of the political authority in Gaza which is Hamas. And most of that civilian population voted for Hamas and they’re now reaping the benefits for doing so. All of which is to say, why so much handwringing for the Palestinians? I don’t recall people in the US, or Great Britain, or France being overly concerned with the fates of German or Japanese civilian populations when they were being bombed, fire-bombed, and nuked as we pursued the defeat of their respective governments.
Why not encourage the United States to gift Hamas $20 Billion a month in fighter jets, bombs, tanks and ammunition? Why have goals? Hamas could use the money and weapons to level Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Beersheba while indiscriminately slaughtering thousands of Israeli civilians. They could use the gifts as they deem appropriate.
If there were handwringing over butchered Israeli babies, what would it matter?
….Whorekraine in your mind ?
Great point that is lost on the brainwashed sheeple who endlessly bleat: Israel good, Palestinian bad.
Biden is not in charge. The Military Industrial AND Censorship Industrial Complexes are. I KNOW, you are being rhetorical in your writings, Mish, so I am being so in my comments.
NOTHING will change when there is BIG MONEY involved. The MIC and the PIC are working hand-in-hand and the messaging does NOT matter one bit.
What’s He Doing?
Well he does sleep an awful lot. So for the most part, that would be nothing at all. He does appear to be getting much grumpier these days, but that’s a sign of his non-discussed issues everybody is obviously aware of, but him of course.
I think the much larger question here, and at this point, is: What’s He Not Doing?
Things like running the Country? Does anybody, but him, think he has the nuclear codes at his discretion? Does anybody possibly think that he is running our Military? The Man has issues Completing whole sentences, and walking up a flight of stairs. He thinks he is an historical figure of sorts, and changing the World. If that is the definition of a “Dolt” then he is!!!
In other words, the Man is entirely delusional…
Um, I think good secondary question is whether anyone (at least in the govt) is running the country. I work in a number of govt agencies which need not be named here but which most people would agree should have someone in charge who has some knowledge of the work the agency does. But, unless you have a dark skin and a vagina (preferably artificial) good luck getting one of those posts. It goes pretty far down the food chain, too. If you’re a white man, you’re screwed. Fortunately, I’m a contractor for the feds and such companies know they have to deliver to get paid, so race, gender (or lack thereof) etc. doesn’t count for one hell of a lot.
In most cases, having govt agencies run by someone completely clueless is not necessarily a bad thing, but I work for ones where screwing up is a very very bad thing for the continued existence of the West.
….as long as you get paid (overpaid) …
Hmm.. you asked.
– whether anyone is running the country (in our Government?).
> Worse than that, everybody in Government is running the Country! With no clear direction of a chain of command, you have what we currently have within our existing Government, chaos!
Think of it as having two parents (Parents=States) not agreeing on absolutely anything, in regards to the way of raising their children.One parent gives you total permission to take whatever you would like out of the refrigerator to eat, and whenever you want it. The other Parent tells you about discipline and tells you 3 meals a day, at certain times, and these are your available options.
These are two real options, but in a structured environment, and to always have food available, there is only one choice, and it’s an easy one to make. In a chaotic environment you will never know what you have, how much of it, and what you need, because there are zero controls in place.
This is what we now have in Our Country. A bunch of people running around, and doing anything they want to do. Taking whatever they want, eating whatever they want, living wherever they want, and going to the bathroom wherever they feel like. They don’t/can’t get medical treatment, they have all sorts of medical issues, health issues, mental issues etc. and at some point they will all have to e cared for.
Who do you think (or know) will Pay For This? Working Class America is WHO!!! It will cost us dearly in expenses to get all of these people healthy and viable adults in society once again, if ever!!
– They are trying so desperately, by putting things in place like: You must house one of these people. You must wait for your Doctor, as they have hundreds of folks in front of you first. You must wait for a job opening, because all are now filled with new people. Your S/S will be getting cut, to help pay for others that might need it. Seats on a plane, only if available due to lack of others that might need the flight, Seats on a bus/train, only if available due to lack of others that might need the ride.
> This truly is what we are all voting for! Figure out what kind of life you wish to live in America (what was once your/our Country), and Vote accordingly. You have two very clear choices to choose from: “Chaos” or “Order” please decide in November so we can get things fixed or start figuring out where we need to live moving forward…
This is what happens when a foreign entity controls your government. George Marshal serving as Secratary of State warned Truman about the consequences of recognizing Israel, but, Truman needed the money and support of the Zionist. Thus we have this perpetual mess and the endless cash given to this criminal nation. Time to cut of this parasite nation from the US Treasury.
PS the Iraq war, Syrian War and Libya war were all fought for Israel.
Are you going to whip out some material from “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, or maybe some “Mein Kampf”? That’s where you can find the really juicy Jewish conspiracy theory stuff. Go ahead, indulge yourself in a little (more) Jew-hatred, maybe you need the Hamas Charter for some encouragement in killing all the Jews? It’s there. But you know that.
Where can readers find these juicy texts, the library? Jew-hatred tracts are very hard to find in western lands.
In fact, you can lose your job or face extraordinary censorship in the United States and many other places just for criticizing Israel or advocating for Palestinian rights.
Islamophobic and anti-Arab screeds are sure easy to find, though. Do you have a copy of the ‘Hamas Charter’ that you could reprint in this comment thread? Thank you.
You don’t know how to use a search engine, apparently. You also don’t know where to look in libraries.
Hamas Covenant 1988
The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp
One just needs to listen to Israeli leaders to know who the true psychopaths are. This was well documented in the International Court of Justice. One just needs to look what’s happening in Gaza.
Bbbb, you are either a brainwashed sheeple or one of the tribe. It’s hilarious how you cite the ridiculous trope of jews as perpetual victims, while accusing others of conspiracy theory. Sorry but Jewish power is on display for all to see and some of us a sick of having the tribe bribe our corrupt politicians with $millions to get a return in $ billions from American tax payers.
Fought for control of energy not Israel. Israel has been valuable in the wests goal of Balkanizing the Middle East to access their national resources on the cheap
PS, Mish, this article is listed under “Economics” not “Politics”. I’ve noticed a few misclassifications here. Might want to have a re-look. Thx.
Just think how happy Biden would be if he could get Israel to drop OUR bombs on Russia instead. All human life is precious, unless it’s a Russian life 😉
Or Palestinian since Biden is obviously is just saying stuff for political purposes.
People are down-voting truthful comments here. I think, Mish, that the BOTS are here now.
I’m sure that Mish has tens of thousands of readers, certainly far more than those who post here regularly. Simply because people do not agree with YOUR personal opinion of what is truth or not truth does not mean that hanky panky is in play. Sheese.
Rafa bs. After blowing up Mt Meiron radar, the “eyes of Israel”, with RPG, Israeli special forces might raid southern Lebanon, expanding the war to two fronts.
Once again, you are crowing at the rising sun. Of course Biden’s actions don’t make any sense, nor do the actions of all the other WEF-aligned countries and fanatics pushing gloBull warming, coronadoom, and orchestrated wars. However, they will continue because what are you and the millions of other outraged people going to do about it?
None of the citizens of Gaza, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Yemen, US, etc., want war. Why would they? What have they got to gain, except maybe coming home in one piece? As Field Marshall Goring said, it’s always the loonie leaders who make the policy and it’s easy to bring patriotic citizens along for the deadly ride –
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Goring-Herman-on-War.png
Goring was a real loser.
Your comments, though SPOT on, are being down-voted by some idiot or a bot.
Thank you for your kind comments. It’s sad, but the propagandists are much better than human nature. Yuri Bezmenov tried to warn us about the effectiveness of ideological subversion, but it’s human nature that makes us believe we’re different from previous generations that were duped by the same crap. As Adam Smith said, history repeats because the passions of man never change.
The truth always prevails, as the victims of the jab are learning, and the gloBull warming fanatics will soon figure out when the coming cooling cycle cranks up, and the war cycle produces WWIII, which will be obvious this summer.
Iran recruited Shia Muslims to spy on the UK and her Jewish population. On Oct 7 UK shit hit the fan : 2,700 incidents of antisemitic attacks and 2,200 “neutral”events against Jewish institutes. Biden, the UK, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen…gang on Bibi. They will declare a Palestinian state to please their voters and to give the Palestinians some hope. Since Oct 7 many sectors in Israel were shut down. Palestinian were not allowed to work in Israel. 90K Palestinians out of 300K in the construction sector are currently unemployed. Moody downgraded Israel. Elta, IAI and Rafael are booming, producing weapons. Indian construction workers are coming to Israel, blessed by Modi. $2K/$4K per month vs $200/$400 per month in India.
Looks like Egypt is ready to allow Palestinians to be forced into the Sinai desert! Hamas and the Palestinians have no allies, not even their Arab brethren will stand up for them. They cannot win this fight.
———
Egypt Erects 8-Square-Mile Walled Enclosure In Sinai Desert For Rafah Refugee Spillover
Friday, Feb 16, 2024 – 02:20 AM
In a press briefing earlier this week IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi said, “We know that it is more difficult for us to fight in an environment where there are over a million people and another 10,000 Hamas operatives” – as we highlighted previously.
There are now some 1.5 million people crammed into the far southern city, which is more than six times its pre-war population, according to UN estimates. Egypt is now fearing the crisis will spill over its border, and is racing to erect a large walled compound to physically keep refugees from Gaza out, amid fears a bigger Israeli ground assault is imminent.
Egyptian officials have said they are constructing an 8-square-mile walled enclosure in the Sinai Desert close to the border, in an anticipation of at least some Gazans getting into Egypt. It appears this a ‘plan B’ of sorts in order to contain the anticipated swarms of refugees coming into the Sinai desert, but without allowing them freedom of access to the rest of Egypt.
According to the The Wall Street Journal, this would be a massive military guarded camp of sorts, which could see over 100,000 people settle there:
…
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/egypt-erects-8-square-mile-walled-enclosure-sinai-desert-rafah-refugee-spillover
Poetic justice.
jojo ur a vicious animal. Israel and zionism is dead
Let’s be honest, 99% of the worlds population couldn’t care less. Myself included, they mean nothing to to my life.
All this pearl clutching is so fake. Most folks couldn’t find the Gaza strip on a map.
That’s the honest truth folks, move on, nothing to see here.
It has been going on a long time. The trick however was always convincing the public (with the media) that we got sucker punched when we really didn’t. Israel tried the same approach but hit back with an aluminum bat in one hand and a glock in the other. Not how it works and people are saying hey, wait a minute. They have lost favorite pity party nation status in the process.
Too many in the US, such as Mish, fail to understand that Israel IS a sovereign country and NOT a vassal state of the US that can be ordered around by President Biden or any president.
A large majority of the US and Congress support Israel and their right to respond to Hamas Oct 7th attack. When any of you bleeding hearts feel that response is “proportional” or not is of no import to anyone in Israel.
Additionally, this is an election year and Biden needs to be very careful to not step on the wrong toes as he attempts to tell Israel what to do.
Regardless, there is one sure way to stop the killing of civilians in Gaza and that is for Hamas to return the remaining hostages, dead or alive and to lay down their weapons and surrender. PERIOD.
As long as Hamas refuses to surrender, then it is THEY that are causing the killing of their civilian and therefore, it is Hamas that should be investigated for genocide by the ICJ, not Israel, as this article posits.
———-
Palestinians in Gaza are engaged in effort that could result in their own destruction
By Gerard Leval – – Monday, February 12, 2024
We are being subjected to endless allegations that Israel is committing genocide. From college campuses to the International Court of Justice, Israelis have been accused of this most heinous of crimes. Furthermore, we keep hearing that anyone who supports Israel should be castigated as a supporter of genocide.
As a lawyer, whenever I confront an accusation, my first focus is on relevant definitions. Thus, as I contemplate the increasing dissemination of the accusations against Israel in connection with the war in the Gaza Strip, I find myself seeking a valid definition of the critical word that is at the heart of the accusations being directed at Israel and its supporters. Obviously, that word is “genocide.”
“Genocide” is a recent concept. It arose after the most egregious example of an attempt to destroy a people in recorded history, the German mass extermination of Jews known as the Holocaust. As the horrors of that event emerged after World War II, Western society struggled with the question of how to define what had transpired.
A Polish lawyer of Jewish descent named Raphael Lemkin came up with the word genocide. The term was based upon the blending of “genos,” the Greek word for race or tribe, and “cide,” the Latin word for killing. Lemkin directly and unambiguously defined his newly created word “genocide” as “the destruction of a nation or an ethnic group.” This was codified in the 1948 Genocide Convention as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”
The industrialized mass murder of Jews by Nazi Germany epitomized Lemkin’s notion of an effort to destroy an entire ethnic group. The systematic killing of some 6 million Jews is evidence of Nazi Germany’s goal of committing genocide. But it is not the only evidence.
…
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/feb/12/palestinians-in-gaza-are-engaged-in-effort-that-co/
Israel to Hamas: “Surrender yourselves and all remaining hostages or we’ll keep killing tens of thousands of innocent civilians (including children) who had nothing to do with October 7th.” Who’s the terrorist?
The population broadly supports Hamas, they are also responsible for their predicament.
No one is innocent in Gaza.
They all supported the terrorism of Hamas. They knew where the rockets and bombs were stored. They knew where the launches of missiles were conducted from. They received 500 trucks of aid every single day on a decades long scam of claiming to be refugees oppressed by Israel. Qatar and other Arab nations sent Gazan’s millions of $$ in cash monthly.
Everyone in Gaza is guilty.
Even the three year olds, huh? Consider the possibility that you are a monster.
Hamas is very protective of Israeli babies aren’t they?
Judging by relative number of babies killed, it seems they are more protective of Israeli babies than Israelis are of Palestinian babies, yes.
Elementary arithmetic can no longer be taken for granted in the #DumbAge….
Remember “sins of the fathers” from your bible studies?
“decades long scam of claiming to be refugees oppressed by Israel” – Residents of Gaza are largely refugees from the (now) southern Israeli towns of Ashdod, Ashkelon and Sderot, none of which has any meaningful Jewish presence pre-1948 and were all thriving 98%+ Palestinian towns. They had been Philistine towns in antiquity. So, yes, they are refugees.
“Everyone in Gaza is guilty” – Would you be willing to apply the same logic to Israelis? Meaning, if Israelis took land in ’48, ’67 and continue to do so via settlements today, are all Israelis including civilians complicit, and therefore legitimate targets for resisting the illegal occupation and ongoing land-grab? If “everyone is guilty” then we have no basis for condemning Hamas’ attack on civilians either. Be careful when you loosen the rules of morality for just your favored sides of a cause As Nietzsche said, “Beware, when wrestling with monsters, you do not yourself become a monster.”
Innocent as the German and Japanese populations during WW II. Hamas doesn’t see the US or Israeli populations as “innocent.” Fundamentalist Islam doesn’t see nonbelievers as innocent either.
If you believe what (you claim) fundamentalist Islam believes, then what makes you any better, morally?
Why do I care whether anyone things I am more or less moral than anyone else?
no one cares about ur zionist pimple ass u degenerate animal
it was your Biden who said years ago, when he didn t suffer dementia yet : IF WE DIDN T HAVE AN ISRAEL WE D HAVE TO INVENT ONE ! So keep on being deluded, I d say … Israel IS your fckn vasal !
Israel has committed a major faux pas. The west must always be the victim.It creates a wedge with victim status and pushes with the full brunt of media propaganda.
Genocide has broken the formula. Have to establish the wedge like weapons of mass destruction or the tower dropping Taliban. Can’t just go full genocide with less than 2K deaths. The body count and destruction value is not there. Horrible no doubt but have to simmer it down Way too much force out the gate.
Rafah falls under the Israel/Egypt Peace Treaty..
Israel is about to violate that TREATY!!!
Egypt has warned they will withdraw from the Treaty if Israel invades Rafah!!!
Which means the Peace between the Arab nations and Israel will be over…
Well Israel will just have to go in and kick some Arab backside again, which will result in a new treaty with better terms for Israel.
ya just like they got their butt kicked in Lebanon
From the river to the sea
The Holy land will be free….of Palestinians. Which will be a good thing.
Wouldn’t take many more of them moving to congressional districts on sw side of Chicago and burbs to knock out Chuy and Casten.
Somebody who believes in ETHNIC CLEANSING???
Jews vs. Muslims. When is it a religion and when it is a cult? Pilate had to answer that as the Romans had freedom of religion, but not of cults that might over throw Ceaser. The IRS has to answer that as a lot of taxpayers claim they are a religion. The answer is important.
David Cameron, Antony Blinken and MBS stabbed Bibi in the back. They want a Palestinian state. They want a regime change in Israel. Israel is building a tent city near Khan Unis to reduce the pressure on Rafa.
One Hard Fact: Netanyahu has a control over Congress that is greater than Biden. Years ago, he traveled to the US to lecture Congress directly, like a staff meeting to his employees. Buchanan described Congress as “Israeli occupied territory”. That’s just how it is.
Since bypassing Obama, the regime change unit failed to kick Bibi out of office. He was too smart for Obama. Now they are ganging on him, setting a new trap for him.
Bibi set his own trap. He is a fundamentalist, beholden to worse fundamentalists. Israelis will kick him out of office themselves.
And perhaps rightly so but hopefully, after he has eradicated Hamas.
Again, Israel, as a democratic state, has the right to choose who leads it by voting.
That right was not afforded the Gazan Palestinians by Hamas. Any attempts to protest against Hamas were met with violence by Hamas. Elections have been forbidden since Hamas came to power in 2005. Prove me wrong.
Israel is not a democratic state, it is an apartheid state. Palestinians in Israel have no rights, no habeas corpus, no right to trial, no voting rights.
The hypocrisy of ‘victims’ now victimizing the Palestinians is beyond comprehension.
No one has attempted to prove wrong the affirmation that Hamas also practices repression against Gazan Palestinians, ‘forbidding elections since 2005.’
Yet part of the rationale of virtually every defender and protector of the genocidal holocaust Israel unflinchingly perpetrates against Gazan Palestinians today is that Palestinians all are wittingly complicit in the Hamas terror.
Your own numerous posts, just in the comment thread for this article, include this nonsensical victim blaming:
“They brought this on themselves” appears in one post while “everyone in Gaza is guilty” appears in another.
How does this square with your affirmation that “any (Palestinian) attempts to protest against Hamas were met with violence by Hamas.”?
Thank you for posting a link to the Hamas Charter. I’m sure it is vile, racist garbage just like the Likud party platform espouses and the Israeli ‘War Cabinet’ practices.
From the river to the sea . . .
Netanyahu is a corrupt motherfckr that a real ‘democratic state’ would definitely lock up !
Biden needs to be careful he does not offend Jewish voters. The demographic is predominantly Democrat. Come to think of it, so are Hispanics and Blacks. One report already indicated some Blacks and Hispanics plan to vote Republican this election. Add in Jewish voters and Republicans should win by a statistical margin.
And unions voters plan to toss Democrats into the trash can. What a disaster this administration is.
Independents and women will vote for the dems. Trump was a lousy president and many remember. I’ll sit this election out.
The WSJ reporting maybe contains as much editorializing as reporting.
“The consequences of the distrust between President Biden and Netanyahu…Biden now appears to be trying to draw a line with Israel’s proposed military operation on Rafah…The growing clash between the two governments …Netanyahu as his military continues to hammer Gaza…
Note: “the distrust..appears…growing clash…hammer Gaza”.
That’s unbiased reporting?
When Israel was formed it was attacked by several Arab armies and recently its men, women and children were butchered by Hamas and yet WSJ reporters, apparently military experts, assert that Israel should hold back from attacking Rafah.
Wonder if these reporters think Israel shouldn’t destroy Hamas.
“When Israel was formed it was attacked by several Arab armies ” Before Israel was formed, pre-Israelis attacked Arab populations inside of what would become Israeli towns. You can look that up to confirm.
Regardless, when the IRA was bombing London during “the troubles”, the UK did not bomb Belfast to kill 30,000 Catholics as Israel is doing to Gaza. They worked out a peace. In the Levant, that peace looks like Israel should stop eating up additioanol land in the WB with settlements and interfering with Palestinians’ right to a state. A real state. Not a district within Israeli control. That would be the high road. The low road is the one Israel has taken.
Belfast was and is British territory. If the IRA had been the elected government of Ireland and launched terror attacks on British soil then you might have seen actual British military action against Ireland.
And why do the Palestinians have a right to a state? Does every ethnic group have the right to a state of its own? Why cannot Palestinians make claims on Egypt or Jordan to grant them citizenship? Why are we not supporting the immediate creation of Kurdistan if every ethnic group or subgroup has a right to a state?
Why should Palestinians have a right to Palestine? Are you serious?
The goal is quite apparent. Pump money into the industries which produce war material. These industries are essential for maintaining the empire.
America can stop the genocide with a single telephone call.
The weapons (and the funding) come from the US tax payer.
What is said to newspapers is to distract the rubes.
Expect Israel to blow a hole in the border wall at Rafah and push the Palestinians into the Sinai desert.
Any politician that attempts to do this will lose their next election. Guaranteed.
“what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”
Anybody who wants Hamas to thrive please raise their hand.
Hamas has been normalized by the MSM. People forget that they are a terrorist organization.
So, like Israel – only less so.
Not like Israel at all.
This story has not received any MSM traction. Unsure why not. Regular Palestinians bravely speaking out against Hamas is major news!
——–
In Gaza, anger grows at Hamas along with fury at Israel
By Daniel Estrin, Anas Baba
February 8, 2024
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — “Hamas … has destroyed us,” says Adnan Abdelaal, who has fled for safety four times in the past four months of war.
First, he escaped Israeli bombing on his Gaza City neighborhood. Then he sheltered in a U.N. school until it was hit 40 days later. Then he fled to central Gaza, then farther south to Khan Younis, then even farther south to Rafah, escaping each time the Israeli military got closer.
He is in the same clothes he has worn for the past month, living out of a backpack and searching every night for a new place to sleep.
“I don’t know if they thought about it, and what would happen to us,” Abdelaal says about Hamas’ decision to attack Israel on Oct. 7. “We didn’t receive any warning to leave.”
Hamas has not tolerated dissent among Gazans in the 17 years it has ruled the tiny territory, choked by an Israeli-led blockade. But dissent against the Islamist militant group is now widespread and out in the open, voiced alongside Gazans’ fury with Israel.
“Enough Israel, enough Hamas,” Abdelaal says.
…
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/08/1229749527/in-gaza-anger-grows-at-hamas
This is true. So are the protests against Netanyahu’s bloody campaign in Israel getting little coverage.
On the whole, most of Israel continues to stand behind Netanyahu and his war cabinet. But there is coverage in the local Israel press of protests. This is possible because unlike say Russia or Gaza, Israel is, at heart, a free democratic country where everyone is allowed to make their voice heard.
There is nothing for Biden to do. His useless whinings are at best just more motivation for the IDF to complete hamas extinction faster.
Hamas extinction is code for Arab extermination campaign.
Nobody will stand up to the creeps in the holy land.
Who are the “creeps”?
The Creeper from Scooby-Doo. The show was always the same plot, but each episode the bad guys wore different masks.
I know but he say who they are.
How many of the so-called 30,000 civilians were actually Hamas operatives dressed in civilian clothing? Answer: approximately 15,000. What incentive does Israel have of not going into Rafah and finishing the job? Answer: None.
Ok let em do it on their own dollar.
Is that too much to ask?
While Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Islamic terrorist groups are freely funded and given weapons by Iran, Russia and possibly China?
None of whose even existence, has anything whatsoever to do with any US government enumerated power.
If individual Americans want to donate; to either supposed “side”/any supposed hobgoblin: have at it. Just leave those of us higher up the evolutionary ladder out of it.
You know that you don’t get choices like that is the real world. Just as you don’t get a choice in funding schools, even if you don’t have children or any of the other myriad things necessary to keep a complex economic and social system running.
And hence why not even the tiniest sliver of the current “system” remain even remotely functional anymore.
The Founders; being literate and all; restricted government to those enumerated powers, in large part: Specifically to prevent government from being changed from limited and hence legitimate, into some pointless exercise in complexification serving no other purpose than obfuscating (for the gullible and well indoctrinated) theft and overreach by a gaggle of harebrained, connected clowns on the make.
Strange as this may seem today: At one point America was an admired country. As well as a place useful for something. Heck, it was a better country to be born in than communist China,even; as weird as that may sound today. And the reason for that; was specifically that it once was a freer country than communist China. With a government that robbed and harassed it’s citizenry less than commies do. Instead leaving them to, themselves, decide how to arrange their lives and livelihoods. Including deciding whom to support with the proceeds of their work.
I’d offer their blood and sweat in taking out the rats is at minimum skin in the game.
I believe you mean, on their own shekel.
Palestinians have a duty to fight back against their oppressors. Israel as an occupying force has no right of self defense, according to the UN. Anyone with a shred of political awareness has long known that Israel is the most evil oppressive Country in the world. As the genocide accelerates in real time and in living color a whole new generation of people are becoming aware of the true nature of Israel. Israel is likely finished, I don’t see the Country surviving much longer.
[rotflol] Palestinians have no such “duty” and Israel is not their oppressor. For those who believe this, you will never advance in life for you will forever be whining about being oppressed.
If Palestinian terrorists would accept Israel’s right to exist and stop shooting rockets into Israel territory, then the chances for an enduring peace would be much enhanced.
If Israeli terrorists would stop murdering Palestinian women and children, stop stealing Palestinian land and cease the genocide, then the chances for an enduring peace would be much enhanced.
Doesn’t Israel illegally occupy the WB and blockade Gaza? Aren’t Israelis stealing additional land in the WB today in order to make a Paly state impossible? Don’t settlers kill, attack and harass Palestinians in the WB daily? Do Palestinians have a legitimate right to defend their claims? (I do not tolerate killing of civilians – and I don’t feel the need to check their religion first. Same answer for all civilians.)
I would find it very hard to argue that Israel is not inflicting harms on Palestinians for decades. But you do you.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
” Israel as an occupying force has no right of self defense”
The right of self defense stems from God. Not some UN cackle gallery. Also, like all rights, it applies to individuals. Not countries. No matter how convenient it is to indoctrinate captive idiots into not comprehending that one, for self styled “leaders” of terror states.
Even if one does grant the UN some authority over inter nation disputes: The Israelis killed by the latest Hamas attack were, from what I gather, killed while hanging about within the ’67 borders generally accepted by most people in most countries,as wellasthe UN, as Israel proper. So yes: Those guys, and those to which they had delegated their security; the IDF; did have rights to hit back.
But; again: Hit back at _individuals_ responsible. Not weird,paranoid delusions about some mythical “they” which are supposedly “all the same.” Legitimate rights _always_ refers to individuals. Not to some “them.” Not to “Palestinians”. Nor even to “Hamas.” Hamas has thousands of “members.” Most of whom are only members because being so is required to get a job over there. At the very most: If it was genuinely too hard to figure out who was who (fat chance considering the resources Israel has already spent on their current self-destructive, childish tantrum): Hamas’ armed wing, at least to the extent its members really are bent on exterminating Israel along with everyone in it; is as far as any legitimate response could possibly extend.
It sure as heck does not extend to bombing any three year old, nor for that matter 21 year old, who just happens to live in the general area that some murderer may live in a tunnel under. Pretending that it does, completely undermines any legitimacy the Israelis may have claimed after the Hamas attack. And: Neither did it ever extend to blockading an entire population into what was little more than a nicer weather 1940s era concentration camp.
And: Now they’re stuck with what? The entire surrounding region are lobbing missiles at them. And, honestly, why not? Noone withing a thousand miles likes having them around. Israel is already bombing Syria. Bombing Lebanon. 95% of Jordanians are fed up with them. Saudis are so tired of their nonsense, that seemingly most of them are cheering for the Houthis,of all things! And that despite the same Houthis having been lobbing rockets their way for the past decade. And the Egyptians. And even Turks… Not to mention Iranians: Quite a few of whom had become increasingly vocal about Iran’s problems being more due to their homegrown Mullahs, than to the supposed “Satan” state Israel. Now, any possible rapprochement there is gone as well…..
The corner they’re painting themselves into, is one where they’ll forever be stuck bombing away at targets further and further away (With “The US having their backs” serving no other purpose than ensuring a steady flow of ever more sophisticated weapons to anyone who wants a crack at them. Just as the Israeli weapons industry likes to try and demonstrate their wares on Palestinians; many others want to beta test against Israeli defenses, as a proxy for The West in general.). Resulting in the Israeli population’s security situation never normalizing. Nor the country ever becoming safe: The more people they bomb, the more people turn against them. And so on and so on.
All for no other reason than some blowhard mediocrities wanting to appear “tough”; instead of working towards a reality where not everyone anywhere close, and increasingly everywhere else as well, hates their guts.
No. As a criminal occupying force Israel should expect resistance and quit whining about it. https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/un-official-says-israel-has-no-right-to-self-defense-after-hamas-attack/
They’re not; even per the UN; an occupying force where the Hamas attack took place.
Inside Gaza, sure. And ditto in the West Bank parts of ’67/UN Palestine where Israelis are running around building illegal (per UN) settlements.
But the idea that every Israeli; even civilians inside their pre ’67 borders; are somehow legitimate “enemy combatants”, is just as silly as the nonsense that all Palestinians are somehow legitimate targets for bombing raids and shelling; just because some Palestinians killed some Israelis somewhere. Either illogic makes about as much sense as justifying the holocaust by pointing out some Jew may have committed a crime of some sort in Germany at some point.
The USA needs to stay out of the middle east and Ukraine battles. Let Isreal do what it thins best, just as we do for our country. And Russia and Ukraine need to negotiate a settlement. It is NONE of our business
Except that the weapons are coming from the USA; mostly funded by the US tax payer. Without the weapons the war would stop, or even never have gotten started.
This is also a war crime, when the ICJ genocide trial concludes I hope the USA is held accountable.
[rotflol]. You are not allowed to create your own personal definitions as to what is or is not a war crime.
Aiding genocide is a war crime by anyones definition.
Just because this is YOUR POV does not mean that it meets legal standards. I understand this is hard to accept for people who think they know everything.
I think you’ll find this is the POV of most of the world, at least those who are not blinded by their devotion to Israel. And it assuredly does meet legal standards.
And I know that you are wrong on both counts. So the test is to see what happens. Guess we’ll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, the body count for Gazans continues to grow, day by day.
ICC, ICJ are just the West’s puppet.
Does that include stopping the flow of UN “relief” money to Hamas so they can buy weapons that also comes from US taxpayers?
Should we have fought the Nazis? They didn’t attack us first. It doesn’t affect our national security if Iran controls the Middle East or China takes Taiwan?
“Should we have fought the Nazis?” Only under the shopkeeper admonishment, “you break it, you bought it.
U.S.bank financing / arming both sides 1914 heavily weighted to the Brits. who for 500 years were all about striring sh-t up on The Continent in the name of “balance of power”.
Mighty Wurlitzer of Bernays, etc. pumping up the propaganda.
Wilson gets U.S. into WWI in 1917.
Terms of Versailles.
Weimar.
# 88 takes the field.
Correctly, they declared war on the US after Pearl Harbor. Dumb move by Hitler.
Iran? Limit it externally and leave it alone. Do not invade or bomb it because its religious government needs to rot, without reaction.
Taiwan is none of US business. If strategists want to do something, make a huge provision for massive Taiwan immigration to the US. It’s the skilled people who are valuable, not the island.
Wars are not meant to be won but to be continued.
If the world is peaceful how MIC make money.
China “takes” Taiwan? Taiwan is part of China – as agreed to for decades in official US policy. For years the “Republic of China” claimed to be the true government of all of China. So there is no question that Taiwan IS China. The only question is whether the government of China is based in Beijing or Taipei. Hmmm. Who is destined to be in charge? The portion with 1.3 billion people or an offshore island of 24 million? Do you really think the US – a country in decline on the other side of the globe – can perpetually ensure the independence of that little island off China’s coast? Reunification is not in doubt. The only unknown is how many will die trying to senselessly prevent the inevitable.
If reunification happens it will likely be on Taiwanese terms and not on that of a declining mainland.
Taiwan claims it is the rightful government of all of China.
But this gives me an idea related to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
The population of Taiwan is ~24 million. Perhaps we could similarly find a spare island somewhere that we could offer to the Palestinians so they would finally have their own “state”? [lol]
Yes! This! We need to fight the VietCong, no, sorry, I mean help our ally Saddam fight the evil Iranians, no, no, I mean help the Taliban fight the Soviets, no, I mean, eliminate the WMD in Iraq, no, no, I mean help the moderate rebels (ISIS) fight that mean-baddie Assad, no I mean help the Ukrainians against evil Russia that wants to take over the world and fight China over there so we don’t need to fight them over here! Yawn. Do you have an original justification for war, at least?
But, but… they dropped LEAFLETS before killing the 30,000. They are clearly the most moral army in the world. Anyway, we only have fights going in the Middle East, Africa and Asia right now. I hope we can find a war to participate in in South America soon.
Corroborated evidence for Israel killing 30,000?
Everyone killed in wars should have their name inscribed on a memorial wall.
For example, there is a wall of this kind which is about 500 feet in length with about 60,000 names. Ipso Fatso hypothetically, a memorial wall of this kind with 6,000,000 names would be 50,000 feet in length, about 9.5 miles. Just third grade arithmetic.
Corroborated by who? Israel doesn’t allow independent reporters to enter (or remain alive) in gaza
Have any reputable news sources substantially challenged the generally reported 28,000 killed and 8,000 missing in rubble since Israel began its genocidal holocaust campaign in Gaza?
Corroboration is challenging when IDF targets journalists (125 killed) in addition to women, children, seniors, hospital personnel, university staff, first responders and anyone else moving, including Israeli hostages.
The pertinent question for corroborating evidence is whether Israel has neutralized any Hamas fighters or made any significant reduction of Hamas influence.
I can’t tell if you are questioning the source or the figure. The IDF relies on Gazan health ministry figures. The confirmed dead are around 28,000 with another 7,000 missing (likely also dead). In past attacks on Gaza, the Health Ministry, Israel and the UN’s numbers largely coincided.
That is a Hamas count and not an official count accepted by Israel. Second, Hamas does not state how many of those killed were its own fighters. Third, Hamas does not even give breakdowns by gender so we don’t know how many of these numbers were woman, children or men. Fourth, simply because KIA’s happen to be woman and/or children does not mean that they were not working for Hamas and carrying ordinance, wearing a suicide vest or shooting at Israel soldiers.
The IDF has said that Hamas militants killed total between 10,000-20,000 so far.
Israel has probably done more to try and minimize non-fighter casualties than any other country. Certainly far more than say, Russia or Sudan, for example.
You and your ilk can continue to try and tug at people’s heart strings but 30k killed (assuming the number is ballpark accurate) is a relatively small number under such heavy duty operations. You are not converting anyone new to your tear jerk party.
UNOCHA reports that, as of January 11, at least 23,469 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 59,604 injured. And some 1.9 million people, nearly 85% of Gaza’s population, are internally displaced. https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-83
Who cares what the numbers might have been back on Jan 11. It’s Feb 15th now. And UNOCHA is just another UN agency that is going to get their info from UNRWA, which is owned by Hamas.
——-
Hamas, UNRWA both embedded in fabric of Gaza, org head admits
By DARCIE GRUNBLATT
February 12, 2024
In an interview with The New York Times on Friday, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s commissioner general, said, “Our employees are part of the social fabric in Gaza and its ecosystem. And as part of the social fabric in Gaza, you also have Hamas,” alluding to the organizations’ connections to terror group Hamas.
This interview occurred against the backdrop of the exposure of UNRWA’s Hamas ties after the October 7 massacre and the Hamas tunnels revealed underneath the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza.
The Times revealed that ten years ago when a senior UN legal officer in Gaza began investigating whether several of its employees were members of Hamas, he began receiving death threats, culminating in a live grenade sent to his office. This officer was evacuated from the region. Several of these instances occurred and remained unreported.
Although UNRWA says that it has taken reports that its employees were also members of Hamas seriously, Israel says that UNRWA has not gone far enough to root out Hamas in the organization and was unwilling to clean up the issue systematically, the Times reported.
…
https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-786447
Yawn. Ad hominem discredit. Can we also discredit everything Israel says because it claimed 1,400 dead Israelis, 40 beheaded babies, fetus’ cut out of wombs, and the command center of Hamas under Al-Shifa? Remember that lovely 3-d animation produced by Israel about the multi-story underground command center? And the outrage that Israel would bomb Al-Ahli because Israel would never bomb a hospital? I do.
Believing one of the combatants (Israel) in everything they say and discrediting everything the other side says because you don’t like them is NOT the road to truth.
——
Don’t “like” them? You are a fool.
Hamas is a freaking world recognized TERRORIST organization. They exist to KILL. They have a charter and over the past few months since Oct 7th, have reiterated their dogged determination to kill jews and repeat Oct. 7th whenever and wherever possible.
They also have no compunction against killing their own people that don’t toe the Hamas line, including throwing their people off of roofs (while they are alive), dragging people through the streets and hanging them from lamp posts.
“Israel has probably done more to try and minimize non-fighter casualties than any other country.”
They’re just killing people wantonly. They’re also trying to starve them out. Their goal is to make it so bad that Egypt lets them into Sinai. Israelis are already planning to reconstruct Gaza as Jewish-only once they’ve cleared it of Arabs.
Yes, the most moral army in the world dropped more bombs in a month than the US did in its campaigns in Afghanistan. But these were MORAL bombs, see?
First point addressed below. Israel accepts the counts.
I agree with your 2nd and 4th points. I don’t know about the 3rd.
Yet on the 4th, couldn’t the same argument be inverted to dismiss attacks on Israeli soldiers and reservists? I just want one set of valid moral principles to apply to all cases.
third paragraph is false judging by numbers and time. And a bumper sticker anyway.
I’m sorry if my offense about dead civilians troubles you. I also have tears for dead Israeli civilians. I understand you think I’m only allowed to feel for Israelis.
“is a relatively small number under such heavy duty operations” Other than than that, Mrs, Lincoln, how was the play? THAT is my favorite part of your post.
I also am sad to see so many Palestinian civilians killed unnecessarily.
But they brought this reality onto themselves by embracing and supporting Hamas, a world recognized terrorist organization. Actions have consequences in the real world.
As I keep repeating, the civilian killing would stop tomorrow if only Hamas would release the hostages, dead or alive, that it hold sand lay down their arms to face the justice due them.
As long as Hamas refuses to do this, Israel has no other option other than to continue to chase Hamas fighters down and where necessary to get at that those fighters despite any civilians that may be in the way.
Point of fact, more than 300,000 Syrian civilians have been killed, some via poison gas over the 10 years of so of the war there. That is an order of magnitude greater than what might have occurred in Gaza. How about Sudan (600k+?)? Or Ukraine (at least 300-400k between civilians and soldiers)? Or the Rohingya, etc., etc.
But none of this matters because there is a special override that Jews are not allowed to defend their country from attack by terrorist organizations without criticism, confirming the undercurrent of enduring antisemitism that exists across the world in almost all countries.
“Assad gassed his people”. Bullshit. CIA bullshit.
Arab on Arab violence is so ubiquitous that neither they nor we are shocked by it.
Oh, look. Squirrel. And antisemitism. Original. Do you have a relevant response?
Enjoy this: https://youtu.be/4vKuB1su43c?t=7
I don’t follow blind links. Make your case as to why I should click your link.
Kind of reminds me of war crimes. It’s ok to kill people but you have to kill them nicely.
As long as you convince your friends that you weren’t actually trying to kill a group of people, or that it’s someone else’s fault, you’re good to go.
Whoops. Forgot Ukraine is in Europe. Middle East, Africa and Asia AND Europe.