Time for the US and European governments to stop backing dictators and occupations in the Arab world and start supporting democracy

The media coverage of the leaked ‘Palestinian papers’ – messages sent between the Israeli government and the Fatah government in the West Bank under President Abbas – and of the demonstrations across dictatorships across the Arab world from Tunisia to Egypt and Yemen, is missing the context and the key facts. The context is that the US and European governments continue their shameful support for dictatorships and appointed governments and undermine democracy across the Arab world from the West Bank and Gaza to Egypt, Saudi, Tunisia, Jordan and Libya. The fear mongering about Islamists is just a cover story – Islamic political parties are not Al Qa’ida and are often, as in Turkey, more moderate than some extreme secular nationalists. It’s time to tell our governments to back the people of the Arab world, not the dictators.

One of the big myths on Israel and the Palestinians is that Abbas and his Fatah party (the largest in the PLO) are the legitimate, elected Palestinian government, while Hamas seized power by force in Gaza.

The reality is that after EU and other election observers found Hamas won free and fair parliamentary elections in 2006, the US, Israeli and Egyptian governments refused to recognise or negotiate with them and imposing sanctions on the whole of the Palestinian Authority - pushing Hamas and Fatah into civil war - and when Hamas ended this by offering to share power with Fatah despite Fatah having lost the elections, still refusing to lift sanctions on the whole of the PA.

above - Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, elected Palestinian President in 2005

This led to renewed civil war as the US, Egyptian and Israeli governments backed a military coup attempt by Fatah's armed wing, which failed in Gaza, but succeeded in the West Bank.

Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah (elected President in 2005) then went far beyond his constitutional powers to appoint his own (completely unconstitutional and unelected) Prime Minister (Salaam Fayyad) and Cabinet, ignoring the elected PM Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.

While Gaza is under blockade new elections there would be irrelevant - especially while Israel and the US and EU continue to refuse to recognise the results of past elections, which means if new elections don't go the way they want they'll ignore those too.

Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas - elected Palestinian Prime Minister in 2006

There will be no peace until the results of democratic Palestinian elections are respected and Hamas are included in negotiations.

Israelis have elected a string of war criminals - the worst being Ariel Sharon - but no-one places sanctions on Israel and demands they reverse the results of elections as a result.

The constant claims that Hamas aims to destroy Israel are as untrue as they are ludicrous given the respective military strengths of the former and the latter (Hamas has no nuclear weapons, nor US supplied advanced artillery, tanks, jet fighter bombers or

The claims that Hamas has refused to negotiate with Israel or to consider recognising it’s existence are also lies – they have offered to do so repeatedly – and many Israelis, from former heads of Shin Bet military intelligence and Mossad to former foreign ministers have said for years that negotiations should begin without any preconditions.

Abbas and Fatah know they will lose any elections in any case, due to their corruption and their decision to collaborate with the Israeli government against their own people. Leaked documents show they had asked Israel to make military attacks on Hamas in Gaza, asked the Israeli and Egyptian governments to tighten the blockade on Gaza (punishing not just Hamas but the whole population of Gaza); helped stall a UN report on Israeli war crimes in the Gaza war at the request of the US government;  and asked Israel to assassinate members of Fatah’s own armed wing. This just adds to Fatah’s long history of torturing and jailing it’s own people in alliance with the Israelis.

Children search for food in a rubbish dump in Gaza

No wonder Fatah sent some hirelings to attack Al Jazeera’s offices in the West Bank for publishing the leaked documents.

Far from supporting democracy for Palestinians, President Obama’s administration threatened to end US aid to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank if anyone but Abbas is elected President - leading Abbas to cancel elections in the West Bank despite his term having ended in January 2009. New legislative elections should have been held in 2010, but are just as unlikely as long as the blockade of Gaza continues.

This is nothing unusual. The US and various EU governments are hostile to democratically elected governments across the Arab world, because, from the empires established by the French and British between World War One and World War Two on, dictators have always served the interests of the wealthiest and most powerful in the “developed” world. Palestinian American historian Rashid Khalidi’s book ‘Resurrecting Empire’ is very informative on the continuation of these policies from 19^th century European empires to the present US led ‘war on terror’. ( To read more about the truth about the war on terror from Iraq and Iran to Somalia go here).

 While democracies want annoying things, like a decent standard of living and enough food for all their people, dictatorships will happily sell their people out for a share of the spoils.

That’s why the Obama administration continues to give massive military aid, training for police and militaries and political support for the corrupt, torturing, murdering, dictatorships across the Arab world from Saudi and Egypt to Libya, the same way the Bush administration did before them. As long as that continues Obama’s much hyped Cairo speech is so much hypocritical hot air.

Protests against the Mubarak dictatorship in Egypt

It’s why, as Egyptians are currently being shot dead by Egyptian police and soldiers for demonstrating and demanding Mubarak’s dictatorship is ended, the US government has funded the arming and training of the people killing them – and President Obama – who condemned this kind of “brutal repression” when the Iranian government was responsible, has vaguely pontificated about how both Mubarak and his people should avoid “violence” as “violence in not the answer”.

It's why US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, rather than backing the protesters for democracy, has claimed the Mubarak regime is "stable" (stability being the usual codeword for a client dictatorship "doing what the US government tells it to do) and that it shooting several people dead and jailing a thousand counts, for her government, as “looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people”.

Egyptian and former head of the IAEA, Mohammed El Baradei, responded “"I was stunned to hear secretary Clinton saying the Egyptian government is stable. And I ask myself at what price is stability? Is it on the basis of 29 years of martial law? Is it on the basis of 30 years of [an] ossified regime? Is it on the basis of rigged elections? That's not stability, that's living on borrowed time,” said ElBaradei.

"When you see today almost over 100,000 young people getting desperate, going to the streets, asking for their basic freedom, I expected to hear from secretary Clinton stuff like 'democracy, human rights, basic freedom' – all the stuff the US is standing for," he said.

Photo: Mohamed El Baradei

Clinton's claim that Mubarak's regime is “stable” will look very stupid soon - just like Carter's similar claim about the Shah's regime a few months before it was overthrown in the 1979 revolution – “Iran, because of the great leadership of the Shah, is an island of stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world.”

It’s also why the initial response of the French government to demonstrations against Ben Ali’s dictatorship in Tunisia was to say it would send Ben Ali’s regime some French police to help keep the demonstrators from getting out of control – before pretending, like Obama and the rest, that it had always been for democracy once Ben Ali was overthrown (while the hypocrites continue their arms sales, financial aid and political support to other dictators across the region).

Many are trying to present the demonstrations in Egypt as a choice between Mubarak or Islamic extremists. That’s very far from the truth, as Amnesty International report

‘This was a protest that crossed class, ideology and religion, and that is what scares the government, so long used to successfully playing divide and conquer among the opposition groups. “The psychological barrier of fear has been broken,”  Shadi Hamid, director of research for the Brookings Doha Center told the Washington Post, a comment repeated by several others. “Eighty million Egyptians saw [Tuesday's protests]. They saw that it’s okay to come out and that there is safety in numbers.”’

An Egyptian woman protester and riot police

The idea that Muslim equals extremist or terrorist is also ludicrous scaremongering. The ruling party in Turkey is Islamic, but considerably more democratic than the extreme nationalist secular military governments that preceded it – and have plotted failed coups against it since. Turkey’s government is no more extreme than Italian or German Christian Democrats have been in government. So assuming any dictatorship is better than allowing Muslim parties to form a government is fear mongering.

Democratically elected governments like Hamas in the Palestinian Authority and the coalition including Hezbollah in Lebanon are out of favour and the US is happy to let Israel (which pretends to be “the only democracy in the Middle East”) bomb and invade the only other two.

Abbas and Fatah are as corrupt and oppressive as most of the unpopular collaborators the US and European governments prop up

This does not make Hamas paragons of virtue – they have murdered Fatah supporting Palestinian civilians and Israeli civilians (just as Fatah have murdered Hamas supporters and Israelis and Israeli forces routinely murder Palestinian civilians) and are trying to enforce ludicrous and oppressive Islamic fundamentalism on Gazans, but the fact remains that until the US and European governments stop funding  and arming the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the blockade on Gaza; and stop funding, arming and supporting dictatorships across the Arab world, their claims to support democracy should be met with vocal contempt by everyone; the fact remains that our allies like Fatah and our own governments have no better record on human rights or democracy in the Arab world than Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhoods in Egypt or Jordan do; and the fact remains that we should recognise the results of free and fair elections.

Supporting dictatorships is supposedly excused by the need to keep Islamic groups out of power. What right does anyone have to tell another country what government they should elect? How likely is supporting dictatorships that murder and torture people in other countries to make their populations less extreme and more friendly towards us? Read, for instance ‘The Far Enemy’, a book by Fawaz Gerges, an expert on Jihadist groups, and you’ll find that the entire existence of Al Qa’ida and it’s decision to target the US and it’s allies are the result of our governments’ support for these dictatorships. The “near enemy” is the Jihadists’ term for the dictatorships in their own countries – the “far enemy” being the governments abroad supporting those dictatorships.

The obvious way to reduce the threat from terrorism is to stop aiding torturers and dictators – and recognise democratically elected governments, including Hamas as part of the Palestinian Authority’s government. This will weaken the armed Jihadist groups as their main recruiting points will be gone.

Seven lies that kill – and the truth on Israel , Palestine, Gaza, Fatah , Hamas and the West Bank

The continuing killing in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel can only happen thanks to seven lies which prevent negotiations and allow the killing to go on as long as enough people believe them.

There's an easier to read version of this post with contents links and links to footnoted sources on my website on this link

Lie One : Hamas are merely a terrorist group that took power by force

Condoleezza Rice told the UN Security Council, Hamas is “a terrorist organization” which came to power in Gaza by force. In fact Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections and they, not President Abbas of Fatah, have the power under the Palestinian constitution to form a government. The Israeli campaign aims at overthrowing the elected government, like the US campaign against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua in the 80s (1)– (8).

Fatah forces backed by the US, Israel and Egypt, attempted a coup in late 2007, after Israel refused to lift sanctions on a Fatah-Hamas coalition government. It failed in Gaza but succeeded in the West Bank (9) (10), (11), (12).

Another part of this lie is that Hamas members are all armed terrorists who aim to kill all non-Muslims. In fact apart from their armed or terrorist wing Hamas are also a political party and run hospitals and schools for Palestinians of all religions and none (13).

Lie Two : Hamas refuse to negotiate with Israel and aims to destroy it

In fact Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshal, two of the most senior Hamas leaders, have repeatedly said they could co-exist with Israel if Israel’s government ratified a peace agreement on a Palestinian state in Gaza and most of the West Bank and a majority of Palestinians voted to approve the agreement in a referendum (polls show they would).Haniyeh has also repeatedly offered negotiations with Israel throught 2006, 2007 and 2008 . Hamas leaders are well aware that their machine guns and rockets will never defeat thousands of Israeli tanks, jets, helicopters and artillery units (14) – (20) .

Prime Minister Olmert of Israel has repeatedly refused any negotiations unless Hamas first recognises Israel in its current borders (i.e including the occupied West Bank without any Israeli commitment to recognise a viable Palestinian state in Gaza and most of the West Bank in accordance with UN resolution 242 and others) , gives up violence (which Israel won’t do, even during ceasefires) and abides by the Oslo Accords (which Israel has failed to, continuing to take Palestinian land and destroy Palestinian houses at gunpoint in the West Bank). (14) – (20) .

Lie Three : Israeli forces don’t target civilians

The driver of the U.N. truck died immediately; another worker in the truck died later of his wounds. The truck…in northern Gaza, was marked with the U.N. flag and insignia….We've been coordinating with them (Israeli forces) and yet our staff continue to be hit and killed," said a U.N. spokesman, Chris Gunness...

AP 08 Jan 2009 (24).

In fact Human Rights Watch, the UN, Oxfam, Amnesty international, the ICRC and Israeli human rights group B’T Selem have reported Israeli forces killing civilians including aid workers and ambulance crews in clearly marked ambulances and UN trucks and buildings; bombing the houses of Hamas leaders, killing their families and children with them – and using Palestinian civilians as human shields, as in past wars. So deliberate targeting of civilians has been at least as big a factor as much as “collateral damage” in killing over 250 women and children in Gaza and certainly many more adult male civilians along with Hamas rocket teams and gunmen (21) – (44) .

Comparisons with Hezbollah’s use of human shields supposedly causing civilian deaths in Lebanon in2006 have been rife. The trouble with that is that Human Rights Watch investigations found that wasn’t the cause of most of the civilian deaths in Lebanon.

“Israeli forces have systematically failed to distinguish between combatants and civilians in their military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said …The pattern of attacks in more than 20 cases investigated by Human Rights Watch researchers in Lebanon indicates that the failures cannot be dismissed as mere accidents and cannot be blamed on wrongful Hezbollah practices. In some cases, these attacks constitute war crimes.”(45).

Most civilian deaths in Gaza now and in past Israeli wars are similarly caused by Israeli forces targeting civilians along with combatants as sources (21) to (45) show.

Lie Four : Military action reduces deaths from terrorist attacks and can weaken or destroy extremist groups

As with every previous military strike attacks on Israeli civilians have increased since the offensive began. The Israeli foreign ministry’s website shows one Israeli was been killed by rocket attacks by Palestinian groups firing from Gaza in the six months before the offensive (partly the result of the Israeli blockade and its violation of a ceasefire agreement by bombings killing Hamas members and civilians on November 5th). It three Israeli civilians killed by Palestinian rocket fire in the 18 days since the offensive began (46) , (47), (48).

As for “destroying” or “weakening” Hamas are there really people with decades of experience in the Israeli military and government who could have failed so completely to learn from experience as to believe bombing and shelling can do this?

Hezbollah didn’t even exist before Israel invaded and occupied Lebanon in 1982. Over the subsequent two decades of occupation it grew stronger thanks to Israeli military torture, killings of civilians and backing of nationalist militias against Hezbollah (much like its current backing of Fatah’s armed wing against Hamas in a similar strategy of divide and conquer ) (49), (50), (51), (52), (53) .

Hamas itself won the 2006 elections partly thanks to Ariel Sharon’s campaign of sanctions, bombing and invasion which attempted to overthrow Arafat’s Fatah government by force, declaring that Fatah were terrorists who couldn’t be negotiated with. That, financial corruption among Fatah’s leaders and their willingness to give information on Hamas to the Israeli military all contributed to their election defeat.

Why do Israeli planners and policy makers believe that Palestinians will give in if their fighters and civilians are killed any more than Israelis would after a suicide bombing?
Did 9-11 make Americans surrender to Al Qaeda? Of course not – it made them rally behind the extreme policies of the Bush administration.

Inflicting extreme suffering on Palestinian civilians in Gaza similarly makes them more likely to join and support extremist groups like Hamas’ armed wing – and if the bombing and sanctions continue maybe Islamic Jihad and Hizb Ut Tahrir, who, unlike Hamas’ political leaders, will make no compromises on talks with or co-existence with Israel.

Lies Five and Six : Israel has abided by the Oslo Accords and There’s Peace in the West Bank

In fact negotiations with President Abbas of Fatah in the West Bank have made no progress, partly because they can’t without Hamas, who got 45% of the vote to Fatah’s 42% in the 2006 elections – and partly because there is no peace in the West Bank because Israeli settlers and the Israeli military are killing Palestinians, destroying their homes and taking their land and water. Fatah have called the continued settlement building “a slap in the face to the Peace Process”. One hundred and thirty-one Palestinians were killed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank in 2008, many as the Israeli army watched and did nothing. Palestinian homes have been bulldozed and Israeli settlements keep expanding and new ones are built. All of the settlers removed from Gaza with such televised wailing and theatrics were given $250,000 compensation each and re-settled on Palestinian land in the West Bank. The barrier wall keeps being built, annexing Palestinian farmland and leaving farmers with nothing (54) – (61).

Israeli forces have also killed unarmed Palestinians in the West Bank who were protesting against the bombing of Gaza (62) – (64).

The Gaza fighting provides a convenient distraction from Israel’s total failure to abide by the terms of the Oslo peace agreements, which called for an end to new settlements or the expansion of existing ones in the West Bank. Failure to sign up to the Oslo agreements is one of the charges levelled at Hamas by Israel and “the international community” (the EU, US, Chinese and Russian governments).

Lie Seven : The Israeli blockade of Gaza lets plenty of supplies in and causes no civilian suffering or deaths

Fifth, that the Israeli blockade of Gaza lets enough supplies in. In fact the UN reports severe shortages and many Palestinians searching rubbish dumps for food (65), (66). In 2007 five Palestinians in Gaza drowned in sewage because Israel wont allow spare parts for sewage treatment plants. The World Bank say a similar crisis now risks killing 10,000 people (67), (68).

What we can do

We simply need to challenge these lies and keep responding to them with the truth every time someone makes one of these claims. Repeating these lies or refusing to challenge them results in more civilian deaths in another war that doesn’t need fought.

(1) = US Department of State 08 Jan 2009, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice ‘Remarks at the UN Security Council Session on the Situation in the Middle East’,
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009/01/113698.htm ; back

(3rd sentence of 5th paragraph reads ‘Eighteen months ago, Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in a coup’)

(2) = Associated Press 26 Jan 2006 , ‘Hamas Wins Landslide 76 Seats’, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/01/26/international/i094327S41.DTL&feed=rss.news

(3) = House of Commons Library Research Paper 06/17 ; 15 Mar 2006 , ‘The Palestinian Parliamentary Election and the rise of Hamas’, http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp2006/rp06-017.pdf (see Section C, page 12 ‘Conduct of the Elections’ – also note the paper mistakenly gives the date of the elections as January 2005 – this must be a typo – the parliamentary elections were a year later)

(4) = Political Risk Monitor – Special Coverage - The January 2006 Palestinian Elections , ‘Palestinian elections: MEPs hail success of democratic process but urge Hamas to take the path of peace’, http://www.politicalriskmonitor.com/hamas/electobserv.shtml

(5) = Europa (EU) News Service 27 Jan 2006 ‘Palestinian elections: MEPs hail success of democratic process but urge Hamas to take the path of peace’, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/030-4661-026-01-04-903-20060124IPR04643-26-01-2006-2006-false/default_en.htm

(6) = BBC News 9 Feb 2007 , ‘Palestinian rivals in unity deal’, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6344297.stm

(7) = NPR 18 Mar 2007, ‘Israel Rejects Palestinians' Unity Deal’, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8983689

(8) = FMEP/Reuters 9 July 2007, ‘Abbas Exceeded Powers in Sacking Government’,
http://www.fmep.org/analysis/analysis/abbas-exceeded-powers-in-sacking-government

(9) = Haaretz (Israel) 28 Dec 2006 , ‘Israeli defense official: Fatah arms transfer bolsters forces of peace’, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/806603.html ; back

(10) = Christian Science Monitor 25 May 2007, ‘Israel, US, and Egypt back Fatah's fight against Hamas’, http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0525/p07s02-wome.html

(11) = Guardian 26 Jun 2007, ‘A thankless task with four bosses and no office’, http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2111447,00.html

(12) = Israel Today 18 Jun 2007, ‘Bush to replace arms Fatah surrendered to Hamas’, http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=13150

(13) = Khaled Hroub (2006) ‘Hamas : A beginner’s guide’ , Pluto Press, London, 2006; >(13)

(14) = Telegraph 09 Feb 2006 ‘Hamas offers deal if Israel pulls out’,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/1510074/Hamas-offers-deal-if-Israel-pulls-out.html
; back

(15) = Guardian 4 Mar 2006 , ‘Hamas says peace possible at Moscow talks’, http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1723217,00.html

(16) = Guardian 22 Jun 2006 ‘Climbdown as Hamas agrees to Israeli state’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1803184,00.html

(17) = Ynet news (Israel) 22 Dec 2007 ‘Report: Hamas weighing unconditional truce with Israel’, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3485394,00.html

(18) = IHT 23 Dec 2007 ‘Israel rejects Hamas request for cease-fire talks’,
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/23/africa/hamas.php

(19) Guardian.co.uk 21 April 2008 ‘We can accept Israel as neighbour, says Hamas’,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/21/israel

(20) = Khaled Hroub (2006) ‘Hamas : A beginner’s guide’ , Pluto Press, London, 2006

(21) = Amnesty International 08 Jan 2009 ‘Gaza civilians endangered by the military tactics of both sides’, http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/gaza-civilians-endangered-military-tactics-both-sides-20090108 (2nd paragraph reads ‘“Our sources in Gaza report that Israeli soldiers have entered and taken up positions in a number of Palestinian homes, forcing families to stay in a ground floor room while they use the rest of their house as a military base and sniper position,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. “This clearly increases the risk to the Palestinian families concerned and means they are effectively being used as human shields.”’) ; Back

(22) = UNoCHA 012 Jan 2009 ‘FIELD UPDATE ON GAZA FROM THE HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR 12 January 2009, 1700 hours’,
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_humanitarian_situation_report_2009_01_12_english.pdf

Under ‘Protection of Civilians’ on first page reads “The Palestinian Red Crescent Society suspended activities in the Al Zeitoun and Al Atatra regions as of 11 January after their ambulances were exposed to gunfire in those regions (on 9 and 10 January, respectively), injuring two ambulance personnel and damaging one ambulance. The Palestinian

Medical Relief Society reported on 11 January that their two mobile clinics, normally serving more than 42 Gaza communities, have not been operating since 28 December due to insecurity. Twelve medical personnel have been killed since 27 December.

The Palestinian civilian casualty rate continues to increase. Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) figures as of 1600 hours 12 January are 910 Palestinians dead, of whom 292 are children and 75 are women (correction: 71 as of 11 January). The number of injured stands at 4,250, of whom 1,497 are children and 626 are women.”

(23) = The Herald January 6 2009 ‘‘The killings came as a complete shock’’, http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/foreign/display.var.2478359.0.The_killings_came_as_a_complete_shock.php

(24) = AP 08 Jan 2009 ‘UN curbs Gaza aid after trucks hit by Israeli fire’,
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD95J82Q00 ,
9th paragraph reads “"We've been coordinating with them (Israeli forces) and yet our staff continue to be hit and killed," said a U.N. spokesman, Chris Gunness, announcing the suspension. The U.N. is the largest aid provider in Gaza.” ; Back

(25) = Guardian 02 Jan 2009 ‘Israeli bomb kills Hamas leader and six of his family’,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/02/hamas-leader-death-israel-bombing

(26) = IRIN 29 Dec 2008 ‘ISRAEL-OPT: Dire humanitarian situation looms in Gaza’,
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=82131,
(see under sub-heading ‘Air Strikes’ – ‘"Eight students from Gaza Vocational Training Centre in Gaza City were killed and 20 injured? by an air strike," said UNRWA [UN Palestinian agency for refugees] spokesperson Sami Mshasha. "Two UNRWA teachers were also killed.")

(27) = UNISPAL 06 Jan 2009 ‘DIRECT HIT ON UNRWA SCHOOL KILLS THREE IN GAZA’,
http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/766674819c81f04a852575360053c075!OpenDocument

(28) = UNISPAL 06 Jan 2009 ‘Dozens killed in strikes on UN schools in Gaza’,
http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/92efe566c5e0db4c852575360065480d!OpenDocument

(29) = Haaretz 07 Jan 2009 ‘UN rejects IDF claim Gaza militants operated from bombed-out school’, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1053455.html(30) = Oxfam 4 Jan 2009 ‘Gaza: Oxfam supported health worker killed, ambulance destroyed’,
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/applications/blogs/pressoffice/?p=2906

(31) = BBC News Online 23 Feb 2007 , ‘UN envoy hits Israel 'apartheid'’, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6390755.stm (UN special rapporteur John Dugard on Palestinian terrorist war crimes and Israeli war crimes)

(32) = UN Human Rights Council 8 Jun 2007 ; Fourth session Item 2 of the provisional agenda ; IMPLEMENTATION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 60/251 OF 15 MARCH 2006 ENTITLED “HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL” ; ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, John Dugard’, http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?m=91 (ditto, Dugard reporting Israeli war crimes against civilians “on a much greater scale” than Palestinian ones)

(33) = UNRWA 10 Dec 2002 ‘Ten killed in Gaza including two UNRWA staff’,
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/AllDocsByUNID/3c74b0acd9085fc385256c8700539476

(34) = BBC News 06 Dec 2005 ‘British UN worker unlawfully shot’,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/4534620.stm

(35) = Jessica Montell, Executive Director of B’Tselem (2004) ‘‘The search for truth: human rights documentation in the war of representation’ In
Humanitarian Exchange Magazine Issue 28 Nov 2004,
http://www.odihpn.org/report.asp?id=2667

(36) = Haaretz (Israel) 12 Oct 2004 ‘IDF admits Qassam was not transported in UN ambulance’,
http://lists.mcgill.ca/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0410b&L=fofognet&P=2138

(37) = UNISPAL/Human Rights Watch 13 Sep 2006 ‘Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories: Don't Fire on Gaza Medics ; Six Attacks on Palestinian Ambulances, Paramedics’,
http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.nsf/0145a8233e14d2b585256cbf005af141/088e7c424b63cc19852571ea00536864!OpenDocument

(38) = Observer 3 Feb 2002, ‘Hatred sown in a carer's heart' http://observer.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,4348774-102275,00.html

(39) = Guardian 28 Jun 2005, ‘Snipers with children in their sights’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1516362,00.html

(40) = BT’Selem eyewitness testimonies – IDF soldier shoots and kills a 14 year-old boy playing with his friends, in Tubas, north of Nablus, January 2005 - witness Abu Muhsen -
http://www.btselem.org/english/Testimonies/20050120_Salah_Abu_Muhsen_Shot_to_Death_in_Tubas_witness_Abu_Muhsen.asp

(41) = BT'Selem eyewitness testimonies - IDF soldier shoots and kills a 14 year-old boy playing with his friends, in Tubas, north of Nablus, January 2005 - witness Daragmeh - http://www.btselem.org/english/Testimonies/20050120_Salah_Abu_Muhsen_Shot_to_Death_in_Tubas_witness_Daraghmeh.asp

(42) = Summerfield, Derek ‘Palestine – The Assault on Health and Other War Crimes’,
British Medical Journal 16 October 2004 http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/329/7471/924?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Derek+Summerfield+Palestine&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

(43) = Guardian 6 Sep 2005, ‘Israeli troops say they were given shoot-to-kill order’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1563476,00.html

(44) = Guardian 6 Sep 2005, ‘Israeli soldiers tell of indiscriminate killings by army and a culture of impunity’, http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1563255,00.html

(45) = Human Rights Watch Aug 2006 ‘Israel/Lebanon: End Indiscriminate Strikes on Civilians’, http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2006/08/02/israellebanon-end-indiscriminate-strikes-civilians
; Back

(46) = Israel Foreign Ministry ‘Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism since September 2000’, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Victims+of+Palestinian+Violence+and+Terrorism+sinc.htm ; Back

(47) = NYT 19 Dec 2006 ‘Gaza Truce May Be Revived by Necessity’,
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/20/world/middleeast/20mideast.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=Ethan%20Bronner%20December%202008%20gaza&st=cse

(48) = Guardian 05 Nov 2008 ‘Gaza truce broken as Israeli raid kills six Hamas gunmen’,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/05/israelandthepalestinians

(49) = BBC News 23 May 2000 ‘Q & A: Leaving Lebanon’,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/636594.stm ; Back

(50) = Morris, Benny(1999) ‘Righteous Victims – A History of the Arab Israeli Conflict’ , John Murray, London , 2000 (hardback)edition, Chapter 12 especially pages 552-560

(51) = Time magazine 28 Jun 2006, 'Will Hizballah Go To War for Iran?', http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1208916,00.html

(52) = BBC News 25 Jan 2007, 'Who are Hamas?', http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1654510.stm

(53) = Robert Fisk (1990) ‘Pity the Nation : Lebanon at War’ 3rd edition, OUP, Oxford & NY, 2001

(54) = UNOCHA Dec 2008 ‘Unprotected: Israeli settler violence against Palestinian civilians and their property’, http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_settler_vilonce_special_focus_2008_12_18.pdf ; (54)

(55) = Amnesty International 11 Mar 2008 ‘Palestinian homes demolished without warning’, http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/palestinian-homes-demolished-without-warning-20080311

(56) = UN radio 11 Mar 2008 ‘UN envoy alarmed at Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes’, http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/detail/35534.html

(57) = Independent 10 Mar 2008 ‘Israel defies freeze on illegal settlements’,
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-defies-freeze-on-illegal-settlements-793685.html

(58) = BBC News 02 Mar 2004 ‘Israeli settlement building grows’,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3526791.stm

(59) = BBC News 27 Dec 2006 ‘Israel approves W Bank settlement’,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6210721.stm

(60) = Guardian 06 Dec 2008 ‘Footage shows settlers shooting two Palestinians’,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/06/settlers-shoot-palestinians-west-bank

(61) = Also see sources at the bottom of this page

(62) = Reuters 4 Jan 2009 ‘Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian WBank protester’,
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL4619326 ; Back

(63) = AP 03 Jan 2009 ‘Worldwide protests staged against Israel's offensive in Gaza’
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtStEng.jhtml?itemNo=1052263&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&title='Protests%20against%20Gaza%20assault%20sweep%20the%20Mideast'&dyn_server=172.20.5.5 – “Protests erupted as well in the Palestinian territories. In the West Bank city of Ramallah, thousands demonstrated in solidarity with Gazans, calling for Palestinian unity and accusing Arab leaders of silence over Israel's bombardment”

(64) = The Herald January 6 2009 ‘‘The killings came as a complete shock’’,
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/foreign/display.var.2478359.0.The_killings_came_as_a_complete_shock.php

(65) = UN 29 Dec 2008 ‘PRESS CONFERENCE on situation in gaza’,
http://un.org/News/briefings/docs/2008/081229_Gaza.doc.htm
(4th paragraph includes ‘Because of the blockade that had been in place for months and the recent tightening of that blockade, the stocks of some vital items were very low or non-existent. Today, however, around 60 truckloads of goods had been allowed in, including 4 trucks of medical supplies for UNRWA and 18 trucks of food supplies for UNRWA and the World Food Programme (WFP). UNRWA needed about 100 trucks of wheat flour a day’) ; Back

(66) = Observer 21 Dec 2008 ‘Israeli blockade 'forces Palestinians to search rubbish dumps for food'’,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/21/israel-gaza-strip-middle-east

(67) = Times 27 Mar 2007 ‘Five dead in Gaza 'sewage tsunami'
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article1576633.ece
; Back

(68) = AFP 07 Jan 2008 ‘Threats to Gaza sewage put 10,000 lives at risk: World Bank’
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090107/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazahumanitariansewage_newsmlmmd

copyright©Duncan McFarlane2008

De Facto in Gaza - where the elected government "siezed power by force"

The topsy-turvy world where the coup-makers are democrats, elected governments 'siezed power by force'and 'western backed' = legitimate and democratically elected

Much of the media have consistently referred to Ismail Haniyeh as “de facto" Prime Minister "in Gaza" and claimed that Hamas siezed power in Gaza by force and aim to destroy Israel. They're giving too much credence to the rhetoric of the Israeli government and its allies.

Haniyeh is the democratically elected Prime Minister of all Palestinians, West Bankers and Gazans. The January 2006 Palestinian legislative elections were verified free and fair by EU monitors. (2), (3), (4),(5).

Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah is the elected Palestinian President, but his appointment of his own ‘Prime Minister’ and Ministers in the West Bank is undemocratic and against the Palestinian Authority’s constitution, which gives parliament, not the President, the power to sack and approve ministers. Hamas has a parliamentary majority (6), (7).

The US and EU governments may recognise Abbas’ appointed, unelected PM and cabinet but the legitimacy of governments does not derive from other governments but from free and fair elections and adherence to a country's constitution. Fatah lost the 2006 elections because of Israel's campaign to overthrow Arafat and Fatah by bombing and sanctions under Ariel Sharon - and because of it's corruption, with many Fatah officials living in luxury by taking aid money that should be going to their people, while the majority of those people suffer malnutrition caused by food shortages.(8), (9), (10)

Hamas didn't 'sieze power' in Gaza either. A coup by Fatah gunmen, armed and trained by Egypt, the US and Israel, failed in Gaza but succeeded in the West Bank. Both factions' gunmen have murdered the other side's supporters (11), (12), (13), (14). The refusal of Israel and the Quartet to lift sanctions after a peace deal and coalition government formed by Hamas and Fatah in 2007 Israel led to renewed civil war (15), (16).

The ‘barrier to negotiations’ is not Hamas but the Israeli government’s refusal of all offers of talks with the elected Palestinian Prime Minister and attempts to overthrow his government by starvation and force. Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshal of Hamas have repeatedly offered negotiations and said that a Palestinian state could co-exist with Israel - and would have to since Israel's military is immensely more powerful than the Palestinians'.(17), (18), (19), (20), (21), (22).

Since Hamas' election the Israelis have made a great show of offering to negotiate with Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah but saying Hamas are terrorists who can't be negotiated with. They now call Fatah "the forces of peace". Four years ago they were saying Fatah were terrorists who couldn't be negotiated with (and Israel's Foreign Ministry website lists attacks on Israelis by Fatah's armed wing every year too). It isnt too hard to make sense of this - the aim is to divide and conquer the Palestinians. In negotiations with Abbas the Israeli government offer him nothing of any substance and continue expanding settlements and seizing water supplies and farmland from Palestinians forced out at gunpoint. As long as the focus is kept on Gaza by sanctions and bombing and rocket attacks on and from it the annexation of the West Bank can continue.

Hamas and Fatah are both involved in terrorism - but they also have political and social wings, with Hamas providing hospitals and schools for everyone (including Christians). Many of Israel's Prime Ministers were terrorists bombing their way to an Israeli state before Israel's foundation - and every one of them has been a war criminal with as much civilian blood on their hands as any Palestinian terrorist.

Bombing and invasions have been tried before to end rocket attacks and suicide bombings. Predictably they create more of them by killing 50 Palestinian civilians for every Israeli civilian killed.

Negotiations are possible - and the only way forward.

(1) = See e.g Guardian 07 Jan 2009 ‘Gaza’s Day of Carnage – 40 dead as Israelis bomb two UN schools’, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/07/gaza-israel-obama

and

Independent 06 Jan 2009 ‘Tunnels – the secret weapon for Hamas’, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/tunnels-ndash-the-secret-weapon-for-hamas-1228140.html

(2) = Associated Press 26 Jan 2006 , ‘Hamas Wins Landslide 76 Seats’, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/01/26/international/i094327S41.DTL&feed=rss.news

(3) = House of Commons Library Research Paper 06/17 ; 15 Mar 2006 , ‘The Palestinian Parliamentary Election and the rise of Hamas’, http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp2006/rp06-017.pdf (see Section C, page 12 ‘Conduct of the Elections’ – also note the paper mistakenly gives the date of the elections as January 2005 – this must be a typo – the parliamentary elections were a year later)

(4) = Political Risk Monitor – Special Coverage - The January 2006 Palestinian Elections , ‘Palestinian elections: MEPs hail success of democratic process but urge Hamas to take the path of peace’, http://www.politicalriskmonitor.com/hamas/electobserv.shtml

(5) = Europa (EU) News Service 27 Jan 2006 ‘Palestinian elections: MEPs hail success of democratic process but urge Hamas to take the path of peace’, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/030-4661-026-01-04-903-20060124IPR04643-26-01-2006-2006-false/default_en.htm

(6) = Ha’aretz 15 Jul 2007, ‘Fatah to boycott parliament session convened by Hamas’, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/881670.html

(7) = FMEP/Reuters 9 July 2007, ‘Abbas Exceeded Powers in Sacking Government’,
http://www.fmep.org/analysis/analysis/abbas-exceeded-powers-in-sacking-government

(8) = Jerusalem Post 27 Jan 2006 'Fatah leaders reeling from 'the big punishment''
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1137605926202
5th paragraph reads "Fatah activists here blamed the party's veteran leadership for the humiliating defeat. "The people punished us because of the mismanagement and corruption of the mafia that came from Tunis," said Nasser Abdel Hakim, referring to the Fatah leaders who returned with Yasser Arafat from Tunis in 1994."

(9) = Israel National News 30 Mar 2008 'Fatah PA Corruption Exposed', http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125722

(10) = See http://www.duncanmcfarlane.org/Israel-Palestine/thecoup/ under sub=heading 'Economic Warfare' and source notes and links for it - and also http://www.duncanmcfarlane.org/Israel-Palestine19thJan08/index.html#2

(11) = Haaretz (Israel) 28 Dec 2006 , ‘Israeli defense official: Fatah arms transfer bolsters forces of peace’, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/806603.html

(12) = Christian Science Monitor 25 May 2007, ‘Israel, US, and Egypt back Fatah's fight against Hamas’, http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0525/p07s02-wome.html

(13) = Guardian 26 Jun 2007, ‘A thankless task with four bosses and no office’, http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2111447,00.html

(14) = Israel Today 18 Jun 2007, ‘Bush to replace arms Fatah surrendered to Hamas’, http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=13150

(15) = BBC News 9 Feb 2007 , ‘Palestinian rivals in unity deal’, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6344297.stm

(16) = NPR 18 Mar 2007, ‘Israel Rejects Palestinians' Unity Deal’, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8983689

(17) = Telegraph 09 Feb 2006 ‘Hamas offers deal if Israel pulls out’,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/1510074/Hamas-offers-deal-if-Israel-pulls-out.html

(18) = Guardian 4 Mar 2006 , ‘Hamas says peace possible at Moscow talks’, http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1723217,00.html

(19) = Guardian 22 Jun 2006 ‘Climbdown as Hamas agrees to Israeli state’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1803184,00.html

(20) = Ynet news (Israel) 22 Dec 2007 ‘Report: Hamas weighing unconditional truce with Israel’, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3485394,00.html

(21) = IHT 23 Dec 2007 ‘Israel rejects Hamas request for cease-fire talks’,
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/23/africa/hamas.php

(22) Guardian.co.uk 21 April 2008 ‘We can accept Israel as neighbour, says Hamas’,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/21/israel

Is trying to bomb an elected government out of power democracy or terrorism?

There’s a theory among ‘political scientists’ (an oxymoron if there ever was one) that one democracies don’t go to war on one another. If you needed evidence against this ‘scientific law’ then Israel’s continuing attempt to overthrow the democratically elected Hamas government by bombing and starving the whole population of Gaza provides another example of the fact that there are no scientific laws of politics.

Hamas incidentally were not only elected by Gazans but by Palestinians in the West Bank too – but the Israeli and Egyptian governments succeeded in carrying out a coup that put Fatah in sole power in the West Bank. In Gaza however Hamas gunmen defeated Fatah (gunmen armed by Israel and Egypt). Yet this is widely referred to as having been a Hamas ‘coup’. Both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ishmail Haniyeh were democratically elected in elections declared free and fair by international obsevers, including EU delegations. Abbas is the leader of the Fatah party – which the late Yasser Arafat led. Haniyeh is a senior Hamas leader. Yet the Israeli, US, Russian, British and Chinese governments only recognise Abbas and Fatah as the Palestinian government and refuse to recognise Haniyeh or Hamas. Abbas has even appointed a new (unelected) government made up of Fatah members to replace the elected Hamas ones in the West Bank – which is against both the Palestinian constitution and the basic principles of democracy. Yet other governments and the media still refer to these appointees as Palestinian ministers. (click here for details and sources)- and also see here.

For decades Israel’s government condemned Arafat and Fatah as terrorists who could not be negotiated with. Since Hamas won the January 2006 Palestinian elections the Israeli government have referred to Fatah gunmen as ‘the forces of peace’. While claiming that they can’t negotiate with Hamas because some groups linked to it continue rocket and mortar attacks on Israelis they continue to negotiate with Abbas and Fatah – despite the Israeli foreign ministry’s own website listing killings of Israelis by armed groups linked to Fatah. after January 2006 (see e.g entries for November 19th 2007 and January 24th 2008 and three in July and August 2006 on killings of Israelis by Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade ) (1).

The reason is pretty obvious. The Israeli government aren’t trying to get peace – they’re trying to divide and conquer Palestinians – with help from the US government. (click here for details and sources).

Israeli spokesman Mark Regev, interviewed on the BBC’s News 24 today, claimed that the whole world had condemned Hamas’ ending of the ceasefire – omitting to mention that the Israeli government stated days before that it had never signed up to the ceasefire itself - which just goes to show that rewriting history is a never ending process. Israeli forces continued kidnappings and killings of elected Hamas MPs and indiscriminate bombing of Gaza just as much as Palestinian armed groups continued theirs against Israeli settlements. Both kill civilians – the only difference being that Israeli forces’ weapons are much more powerful so kill far more. Despite Israeli claims that they do everything to avoid civilian casualties the Israeli human rights group B’T Selem and others have reported every year that at least half the Palestinians killed by Israeli forces are unarmed civilians – and many are children (2). (also see here and here and here for more details and sources).

Regev said his government had ‘tried everything’ to end rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian terrorist groups. Well that’s not quite true is it Mark? You’ve not tried talking to Hamas, even after dozens of offers of negotiations from Hamas. You’ve not tried accepting they’re the government the Palestinian people elected in 2006 – in fact your government has refused all talks with Hamas from the start and attempted to overthrow the government they elected by force or by trying to get Palestinians to replace them themselves to stop your own government continuing to kill them by the hundred through a combination of bombing and starvation.

(For anyone who claims Israel is supplying Palestinians with enough food perhaps they could explain why food shortages in Gaza under the Israeli blockade have become so bad that the UN Relief and Works Agency reports that many Palestinians are now forced to search through rubbish dumps for food. No doubt the reply will be the standard, unconvincing ‘it’s entirely Hamas’ fault and nothing to do with the Israeli government’. (3))

We have a word for it when we’re attacked by people who kill our civilians and soldiers in order to try to get our elected government to change its policy or else be replaced. We call it terrorism.

The most dishonest thing about the campaign to overthrow the elected Palestinian government is the pretence that the Israeli campaign aims to replace them with moderates in order to allow peace.

Did bombing Palestinians to try to get rid of Arafat and Fatah result in a government more acceptable to Israelis when Israel under Yitzakh Shamir, Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon tried it for decades? Of course not. It hardened Palestinians’ attitudes, the same way Palestinian terrorist attacks move Israeli politics to the right – and brought Hamas to power – just as the September 11th and July 7th bombings shored up support for unpopular governments and their unpopular foreign policies in the UK and the USA.

Anyone who tells you that continuing Israeli ‘military action to defend our civilians’ will have a different result and bring peace is incapable of learning from experience or else dishonest. Decades of Israeli raids and bombings have only continued the cycle of Palestinian and Israeli ‘revenge’ attacks killing each others’ civilians.

If they’re dishonest the plan may be to ensure there can be no negotiations with a representative Palestinian government – to divide and conquer Palestinians and ensure Palestinians elect a government even more extreme than Hamas, with the plan being that then Israel can pretend its justified to bomb and starve enough Palestinians to force the rest into exile. Then Israel can take back Gaza and – more importantly – the West Bank, with its abundant water supplies and farm land – both almost as highly valued as oil in the deserts of the Middle East.

So if it’s ok to bomb and starve Palestinians in order to try to force them to replace those elected members of its government Israelis aren’t happy with then what would the Israeli government response to other governments recognizing the Israeli President but refusing to recognise its Prime Minister and cabinet ministers be? What would it be if they also kidnapped Israeli cabinet ministers and MPs or killed them? And if it killed a lot of other Israelis, including civilians in the process? Wouldn’t that be terrorism?

Hamas certainly has an armed wing and some of them are involved in terrorism. The Israeli government also has an armed wing though – its military – and it and many current and former Israeli Prime Ministers, cabinet ministers and MPs have been involved in war crimes against civilians, including , in the case of Ariel Sharon for instance, deliberate massacres. There is no entirely right or entirely wrong side here.

More attacks by either side only strengthen support for extremists on each side and weaken those who want to negotiate – people who favour negotiations exist even in Hamas – like the elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.

Both Israelis and Palestinians have a right to elect their own governments and to have those governments recognized. Neither Israelis nor Palestinians should die as punishment for what their government has done. It’s time our governments stopped their unquestioning support for Israel and recognized the government Palestinians elected too.

The plain fact is that trying to bomb an elected government out of power won’t bring peace – it’s terrorism and will only create more terrorism by the other side.

Source notes

(1) = Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs ‘Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism since September 2000’,
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Victims+of+Palestinian+Violence+and+Terrorism+sinc.htm

(2) = B’T Selem press release 3 March 2008: Contrary to Israel's Chief of Staff, at least half of those killed in Gaza did not take part in the fighting,
http://www.btselem.org/english/Press_Releases/20080303.asp

(3) = Observer 21 Dec 2008 ‘Israeli blockade 'forces Palestinians to search rubbish dumps for food'’,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/21/israel-gaza-strip-middle-east