The Worst President Ever has a column up at the Washington Post which even pigeons won’t poop on, essentially finding that it is Israel at complete fault. Go figure.
He starts off with a little background on how only 3 people have been killed by the Hamas rockets, but, the people have been terrified and do not go out because of the fear. That is why Hamas is called a “terrorist organization,” Jimmy! Then
Knowing that we would soon be seeing Hamas leaders from Gaza and also in Damascus, we promised to assess prospects for a cease-fire. From Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who was negotiating between the Israelis and Hamas, we learned that there was a fundamental difference between the two sides. Hamas wanted a comprehensive cease-fire in both the West Bank and Gaza, and the Israelis refused to discuss anything other than Gaza.
Kinda hard to have a cease fire negotiation for more then Gaza with rockets being fired at ya, Jimmy.
We knew that the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza were being starved, as the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food had found that acute malnutrition in Gaza was on the same scale as in the poorest nations in the southern Sahara, with more than half of all Palestinian families eating only one meal a day.
We also knew that rather then teaching people to farm, raise livestock, create businesses and industries that would raise capital to make sure that the people were fed, they were being taught to hate and kill Israelis. Must be Israel’s fault.
Palestinian leaders from Gaza were noncommittal on all issues, claiming that rockets were the only way to respond to their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian plight. The top Hamas leaders in Damascus, however, agreed to consider a cease-fire in Gaza only, provided Israel would not attack Gaza and would permit normal humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Palestinian citizens.
Israel allows plenty of humanitarian supplies. Plus, I do think Jimmy has forgotten that Gaza has borders with Egypt, as well. Why won’t those evil Egyptians allow humanitarian aid? Not to mention abotu 50 kilometers of Mediterranean Sea waterfront. Ships have been invented, Jimmy!
After extended discussions with those from Gaza, these Hamas leaders also agreed to accept any peace agreement that might be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the PLO, provided it was approved by a majority vote of Palestinians in a referendum or by an elected unity government.
The Palestinians seem to constantly accept peace agreements, then they break them by, oh, say, firing rockets into Israel. Israel’s fault, right, Jimmy? He continues on in this vein for a bit more, then
After 12 days of “combat,” the Israeli Defense Forces reported that more than 1,000 targets were shelled or bombed. During that time, Israel rejected international efforts to obtain a cease-fire, with full support from Washington. Seventeen mosques, the American International School, many private homes and much of the basic infrastructure of the small but heavily populated area have been destroyed. This includes the systems that provide water, electricity and sanitation. Heavy civilian casualties are being reported by courageous medical volunteers from many nations, as the fortunate ones operate on the wounded by light from diesel-powered generators.
Isn’t it interesting how this former president turned Islamist apologist fails to mention that those mosques and the school were being used by Hamas to store weapons and launch attacks? Nor does he mention how Hamas uses civilians as humans shields on purpose.
Maybe we should stop calling Carter the worst president ever and rename him the first dhimmi president.
I’m sure you know that you’re being biased here, but have thought to stop and wonder why the rockets were being fired in the first place? The Palestinians say it was because of Israel’s strangle hold on Gaza. Sure, they moved out, but they strictly control the area, prohibiting aid shipments and supplies. When you are blocked without any army, tanks, planes, etc., what other options do you have? I’m not saying that I support the rocket firing or the killing of innocent civilians, but maybe Israel could’ve had a hand in bringing about the attacks. Maybe they could allow shpiments into Gaza.
Teach, you really ought to try better to live up to the “rational” label you’ve given yourself. Let’s do the math. We have about 1.5 million people stranded on about 139 square miles of land, only half of which is able to be cultivated in some form (according to CIA world factbook). That comes to about 0.06 acres per person. Do you think that’s enough arable land to support this population? I don’t. Chances are, they are going to rely on massive imports to sustain life, which Israel is tightly controlling.
So the rest of the world is just making up the claims of a humanitarian crisis, right? Carter has no basis for his statements about normal supply levels being 700 trucks per day, and actual levels dropping to 20 or 15% of that amount? What is your definition of “plenty”? What is your source for this statement? Just like with the global warming debate, use specifics. Don’t just expect a vague, unbacked statement of “plenty” to debunk Carter’s specific numbers, especially since he’s actually been there.
Yes, ships have been invented, but they’re also being blocked by Israel. Israel’s navy has a blockade on Gaza as well:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/12/01/israel.gaza.aid.ship/
This is the kind of thing I was talking about earlier when I said that you and others seem to take a position based on ideology, rather than logic or reason. You consistently make claims that are easily debunked by the facts. You say that Palestinians in Gaza could get shipments, as if you had no idea that Israel’s blockading Gaza. You claim that the Palestinian’s problems are that they don’t cultivate enough land, as if you had no idea that their land couldn’t possibly support their needs. It’s as if you have not even tried to objectively examine both sides of the issue, as you’ve that you actually do.
0.06 acres per person is the total amount. The total arable and permanent cultivatable land is 0.03 acres per person. Also, that’s not to mention the percentages that are available for specific needs, or what crops will actually grow there. This is much more complex than “they should grow more crops instead of hating Israel”.
It’s really difficult, given the plethora of real and suspect facts that just keep getting flung in from various pro and con sources, to get an tangible and dispassionate grasp on who/what/why this is all happening. For every reasoned plea for civility based on one or the other country’s right to exist, there’s at least dozens of rabid rants and disengaged diatribes flung with equal fervor, clouding the already muddled issues. It’s a lot like having bees run loose in your head.
As part of my hopefully not-pointless attempts at community integration, and in the hopes of both sides returning to the austere table of reason and justice, I’m further continuing with my exploitation of the different faiths available 24 hours in my village in the hopes of gaining erudition and perhaps chasing the spooks of bedlam away. Because I care!
Today I attended seasonal bung service at the Zion Christian Church (ZCC). From what I’ve gleaned from the disinformation of their web site so far, the ZCC pastor has the largest member of all the churches in my village. I believe the ZCC has grey and roan foal origins, related to Gum Legs, which I bet the entire family fortune on in the 5th at Santa Anita, only to end in disappointment whence he slipped on the errant stool left from the previous $10,000 claimer. It’s easy to know who ZCC members are in the community because they all wear a miniature commode tool over a small piece of green felt, cut in the shape of their favorite cookie. Both of the General Duty Bottoms (short for assistants) in my surgical Johnson clinic are ZCC members. Non-ZCC members are sworn to a vow of silence, uncovered and forced to engage in the ZCC and their odd rituals, I was warned. Today as the clinic driver was transporting me home, I mentioned ZCC and he laughed. He said that the ZCC do indeed have some odd rituals, among them drinking lots of instant coffee, sticking a metal pipe in their “output†to induce free flow, listening to “Bob and Ray Show†reruns, and jumping while simultaneously venting and singing. Well, at the service I attended I observed none of these odd rituals except the coffee and the jumping/venting/singing thing. I was especially happy about being left out of the metal pipe to the “output†ritual!