JERUSALEM, June 24, 2008
Raid, Attack Put Mideast Truce In Peril
No Injuries Reported After Rockets Hit Southern Israel Hours After Troops Kill 2 Palestinians
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Palestinian mourners carry the bodies of Islamic Jihad militant Tarek Juma, bottom, and alleged militant Eyad Khanfar during their funeral in the West Bank city of Nablus Tuesday, June 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)
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Interactive Mideast Conflict Events, key players and a history of the world's most unstable region.
Islamic Jihad militants in the Gaza Strip says they carried out the attack to avenge an Israeli military raid that killed one of their fighters in the West Bank early Tuesday.
Israel's national rescue service says two people were lightly wounded in the rocket barrage.
The West Bank is not formally part of the truce. But Islamic Jihad says it "cannot keep its hands tied" when its "brothers" in the West Bank are being targeted.
However, the Gaza Strip's ruling Hamas group says it remains committed to the truce.
Israeli troops killed two Palestinians in the West Bank raid.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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- %u201CThose good Jews brought civilization and peace to the Arab Muslims, and they dispersed gold and prosperity over Palestine without damage to anyone or taking anything by force. Despite this, the Muslims declared holy war against them and did not hesitate to massacre their children and women%u2026. Thus a black fate awaits the Jews and other minorities in case the Mandates are cancelled and Muslim Syria is united with Muslim Palestine.%u201D
That statement is from a letter sent to the French prime minister in June 1936 by six Syrian Alawi notables (the Alawis are the ruling class in Syria today) in support of Zionism. Bashar%u2019s great-grandfather was one of them.
The problem was that the Palestinian Arabs saw themselves as Syrians and were seen as such by other Syrians. The Palestinian Arabs were enraged that an artificial barrier was being erected within their Syrian homeland by the infidel colonial powers %u2013 one that would divide northern Syrian Arabs from southern Syrian Arabs, the latter being those who were later misnamed %u201CPalestinians.%u201D
Steven Plaut - Reply to this comment
- Hungry 1968, Don''t take it personal. I am not attacking you by any means. True there were some areas that were populated. But much of it was desolate. Remember, there was to be 2 nations and the arab''s declined violently.
"Mark Twain visited the Holy Land in 1867, shortly before the commencement of modern Jewish resettlement, and described it as %u201Ca desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds%u2014a silent, mournful expanse%u2026 A desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action.%u201D
According to the careful population figures of the Ottoman Empire, in 1882 (at the very beginning of the modern, organized Jewish immigration back to the ancestral home), the total population of land between the Jordan and the Sea was less than 250,000"
By Michael Medved - Reply to this comment
- Israel doesn''t want peace. Why would it? Israelis have their state, their freedom, their independence, control over their airspace and borders. As long as the conflict with the Palestinian people goes on, Israelis can play for time by expanding their illegal settlements on illegally occupied lands. I keep saying it: Palestinians will NEVER have their own, truly independent state, with control over their borders and free movement of people. Israelis will never let it happen. Palestinians should drop their plan for their own state and demand equality within a greater Israel that OFFICIALLY includes Gaza and the West Bank.
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- Israel doesn''t want a truce. That is why they attacked the palestinians in the West Bank. They do this all the time. They use a lull or a ceasefire to conduct an assassination of "terrorists". The Hamas guys probably go on high alert every time a truce is declared. The Israelis, for whatever reason I do not know, do not want a truce under the current status quo.
- Reply to this comment
- There has never been a nation of Palestine! It was a territory that was desolate until the jewish migration in the late 1800''''s and early 1900''''s. It was very nomadic. Both jew and arabs existed there.
When the Imans saw that the jews population of the area had grown significantly, they claimed it was all theirs.
Posted by tcandrews62 at 05:22 PM : Jun 24, 2008
Your knowledge of the whole conflict, is incredibly lacking. Is there ANY CHANCE that you can try to learn about the subject before you begin posting comments about it?
If the area was so nomadic, perhaps you can explain "Nakba"? Perhaps you can also explain why - to THIS DAY - Israeli troops bulldoze and flatten Palestinians homes in an effort to force them to leave. Do Nomads typically live in houses?
But you are correct - Palestine was NEVER a nation or a state. It was a geographic region of the Ottoman empire - kind of like NY is a state in America, but NOT a nation unto itself. But it still doesn''t give rationale to establishing a nation ON TOP of the people that lived there. - Reply to this comment
- As many times that it has been mentioned and referenced, no one can deny that this was the implication.
This is the same country that militarily supports an ongoing attack on Israel with hamas!
What more do you need?
Look at the history. How many times has Israel been attacked by the arab and persian countries?
The Israeli people have full rights to the land of Israel. Remember, the UN approved the state of Israel. And I know the leftist love the UN.
Posted by tcandrews62 at 05:15 PM : Jun 24, 2008
What more do I need?
I don''t need anything - let Israel fight their own battles. They pick fights and expect "big brother" America to come to their defense with foreign aid, weapons, ammo, intelligence, etc, etc.
Then the muslims / arabs view it as fighting israel AND America, and then people like you can''t figure out why we were attacked on 9/11.
The UN was only 3 years old when they took Palestine away, and GAVE it to Israel. If it''s such a great idea, then why won''t the UN defend Israel?
And why is Israel guilty of SO MANY human rights abuses? - Reply to this comment
- "establishing Israel as a nation ON TOP of the already existing nation of Palestine"
Posted by hungry1968 at 05:12 PM : Jun 24, 2008
There has never been a nation of Palestine! It was a territory that was desolate until the jewish migration in the late 1800''s and early 1900''s. It was very nomadic. Both jew and arabs existed there.
When the Imans saw that the jews population of the area had grown significantly, they claimed it was all theirs. - Reply to this comment
- As many times that it has been mentioned and referenced, no one can deny that this was the implication.
This is the same country that militarily supports an ongoing attack on Israel with hamas!
What more do you need?
Look at the history. How many times has Israel been attacked by the arab and persian countries?
The Israeli people have full rights to the land of Israel. Remember, the UN approved the state of Israel. And I know the leftist love the UN. - Reply to this comment
- Actually it started prior to 1948. Their has been a jewish presence in Israel since before the 1st century.
Posted by tcandrews62 at 05:04 PM : Jun 24, 2008
Correct. There have been jews in Plaestine for milenia. But the Jewish state of Israel didn''t exist until 1948 when the Mandate of Palestine expired, and UN resolution 181 took over, establishing Israel as a nation ON TOP of the already existing nation of Palestine.
While I feel that the jews were wronged in Germany under Hitler, abolishing the nation of Palestine WAS NOT the way to make retribution.
Now if the UN would have established Israel in Europe, on the existing nation of Germany, which was already defeated in WWII, that would be different. - Reply to this comment
- Iran never vowed to wipe Israel off of the map. However, It takes very little to understand that it was implied.
Posted by tcandrews62 at 05:00 PM : Jun 24, 2008
It wasn''t implied - it''s a "hope" or a "wish".
It was NEVER threatened.
Big difference. - Reply to this comment
- Actually it started prior to 1948. Their has been a jewish presence in Israel since before the 1st century.
- Reply to this comment
- Iran never vowed to wipe Israel off of the map. However, It takes very little to understand that it was implied.
- Reply to this comment
- Please correct my misinformatin if in fact you believe it to be false...
What drives me to write these facts is the way many on this post automatically assume that Israel is at fault for every clash.
Posted by tcandrews62 at 04:54 PM : Jun 24, 2008
The whole thing started with Israel attacking the Palestinians in 1948, and peace won''t be restored until Israel withdraws from the Palestinians land.
Like it or not, that''s how the Palestinians and their supporters (like al Qaeda) see it. - Reply to this comment
- Blame the Iranian backed terrorists, Hamas, for their continued hatred and vow to wipe Israel off the map.
Posted by yongamerica at 01:08 PM : Jun 24, 2008
When did they vow to wipe Israel off the map? - Reply to this comment
- Please correct my misinformatin if in fact you believe it to be false...
What drives me to write these facts is the way many on this post automatically assume that Israel is at fault for every clash. - Reply to this comment
- Well this truce is doing well.
Israel kills Palestinians with a rocket attack.
Palestinians fire back with rockets into Israel (killing no one).
People like tcandrews62 come on and say, "Why do the arab''s continue to attack the Israeli''s?" along with loads of other blatant misinformation. - Reply to this comment
- Why do the arab''s continue to attack the Israeli''s? They claim the land to be theirs when in fact there never was a state or country called Palestine. There is no palestinian culture. There has never been a palestininian tie to the philistines. The philistines were greeks (not arabs). Please look at the facts! Haven''t you ever wondered why the other arab nations don''t support these palestinian people. By the way, Israel was called palestine from the romans to belittle the jewish people. Palestine is not even an arab word... Why have the arab nations allowed their people (arabs) to live in such conditions. Because they want to use them to blame Israel. What do you think?
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- This drives the point home about neo cons they can''''t or will not read. Take your choice because the stroy brings it out clearly Isreal attacked first.
Posted by antoniof123 at 01:03 PM : Jun 24, 2008
"The West Bank is not formally part of the truce".
What part of the story do you not understand? - Reply to this comment
- I am sure that the peaceful Palestinians were just trying to dispose of that bad old ammuntion so that no one could get hurt.
- Reply to this comment
- Why don''''t they all give up.
Posted by lewiston14 at 01:38 PM : Jun 24, 2008
Why doesn''t someone declare all out war, kill the other side and winner take all??
This kill a few here and kill a few there is death by a thousand cuts. - Reply to this comment
