Gazans Continue To Violate Cease-Fire

I'm not surprised that attacks on Israel from Gaza have continued since the most recent cease-fire; I just hope that the Israelis follow through on their recent threats of retaliation.

Gaza militants launched two rockets and a mortar shell into southern Israel early Sunday, drawing a threat of "disproportionate" military retaliation from Israel's prime minister and further straining a cease-fire that ended Israel's devastating Gaza offensive two weeks ago.

Israel has the right to defend its citizens. If Hamas doesn't put a stop to the attacks on Israel, then Israel must respond. There are two options: "Disproportionate" retaliation or "proportionate" retaliation.

The world community has already condemned a so-called disproportionate retaliation, so maybe it is time for Israel to respond proportionally. If some individuals in Israel were to randomly fire mortars and rockets into Gaza at civilian targets, that would be a response that would comparatively match the magnitude of the attacks upon Israel. The Israeli government can note, as Hamas does, that the attacks are not being launched by the Israeli government, so the Israeli government isn't responsible for the proportionate retaliatory attacks on Gaza. Even the explanations and excuses could be proportionate!

Now, I don't believe that the world community or the terrorist apologists would accept a "proportionate" response, either. If a comparable attack was launched on Gaza from Israel in response to attacks upon Israel, then the world community and terrorist apologists would likely quote the Geneva Conventions and international law as to the illegality of such attacks, and demand that the Israeli government be prosecuted for allowing such "crimes against humanity," all the while neglecting similar calls for such penalties against Hamas and the other terror groups in Gaza.

Israel isn't going to win the popularity contest, and the double-standard will remain. Since no one in the world community or Gaza is going to stop the attacks upon Israel, Israel must ignore world opinion and act to protect its citizens in whatever manner it deems necessary and appropriate.

Personally, I would like to see the proportionate response I described above just to be able to tell those who oppose a "disproportionate" response that the retaliation is equal to the original attack(s), so there should be no complaints. I know that there would still be complaints, though, because Gaza doesn't have the same infrastructure that Israel has, so there would be a good probability of higher casualties in Gaza from an equal retaliatory strike.

In the end, I support the disproportionate response. The residents of Gaza do not turn on Hamas, in part, because they or their loved ones would be killed by the terrorists. Until Gazans are more afraid of the repercussions of terror attacks on Israel than they are of the repercussions of ousting Hamas and the terror infrastructure in Gaza, the attacks upon Israel will continue.

This is much like what the U.S. faces in our war against Islamic terrorists. We can tell the world that we will only use a pre-defined set of interrogation tactics in a bid to "improve our image" and claim a moral high ground. We can tell adherents to Islam that we believe that the majority of Muslims are peaceful, and that we only want to weed out the few bad seeds who have "hijacked their religion." Those and other similar platitudes will not help to find the terrorists in the midst of the Islamic community, because those in the Islamic community will continue to fear what the terrorists might do to them more than any repercussion from those of us in civilizations that follow the rule of law.

If Israel wants to stop the attacks coming out of Gaza, they should inform the Gazans that the response to any attack upon Israel will be to completely obliterate everything within a one-quarter-mile radius of the site that the attack was launched from; and then to carry out that threat if an attack is launched on Israel. A few absolutely immediate and brutal responses to the rocket attacks will get the attention of the Gazans, and they can decide to support more terror attacks, knowing fully the coming repercussions; or they can put an end to the terrorists around them in order to secure their own survival. Israel would likely never take such action, though, because they know that the world community (including the U.S.) would put harsh sanctions on Israel that would severely hamper their ability to resist attacks upon their nation from the surrounding Arab/Muslim countries.

Until Muslims are more afraid of a Western response than they are of the terrorists in their own midst, they will not turn over or turn against those terrorists. The West doesn't have the stomach for such extreme retaliatory measures yet, and I shudder to think of what sort of terror attack would create enough carnage to push the Israelis, or any other Western nation, to the point of executing a thoroughly punishing response against those sheltering and supporting Islamic terrorists.

USMC 9971 OUT

U.N. School A Valid Target

Israeli forces attacked a Hamas mortar firing position on 06 January 2009. Unfortunately, the Hamas terrorists were firing from a position on or near the grounds of a U.N. school, so the Al Fakhoura School was hit by the Israeli mortar strike. While a school would not normally be a target, protected areas lose their protected status when enemy forces attempt to use them as a point of cover to launch an attack from. Further, any forces who place themselves amongst civilians become responsible for any injury that befalls those civilians.

The Israeli army said the school in Jabaliya was targeted after militants launched mortar rounds from its grounds. An army statement said Hamas "terror operatives" Imad Abu Askhar and Hassan Abu Askhar were among the dead.

Two residents of the area who spoke by telephone said they saw a small group of militants firing mortar rounds from a street near the school, the Associated Press reported. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, the AP said. The residents said the two brothers were known to be low-level Hamas militants. They said a group of militants - one of them said four - were firing mortar shells from near the school.

"We face a very delicate situation where Hamas is using the citizens of Gaza as a protective vest," said Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Brigadier General Avi Benayahu.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum denied his organization was staging attacks from the school and accused Israel of carrying out "an open war on innocent civilians."

Two terrorists were found amongst the civilians that Hamas was using as human shields. Hamas, having taken a fighting position amongst the civilians, is fully responsible for their deaths. As such, it is actually the terrorists who are waging "an open war on innocent civilians."

Buried deeper in the story is a short, single paragraph about a Hamas rocket that struck a residential area of Gedera, Israel.

The Israeli offensive has failed to stop the rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. And yesterday, a rocket exploded in the town of Gedera, about 25 miles northeast of Gaza and the closest the group has come to Tel Aviv. The strike, which injured a baby, was the farthest north yet by a Hamas rocket. That distance means that 1 million Israelis are within range of rockets fired from Gaza, said Mickey Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman.

It is interesting that none of the intrepid reporters bothered to ask Fawzi Barhoum exactly what legitimate target that rocket was fired at. My guess is that the media avoids those tough questions so that they don't need to lie for the terrorists, because the fact of the matter is that Hamas isn't firing at any legitimate targets whatsoever. Hamas is simply lobbing rockets into Israel in the hopes of causing civilian casualties and terror; you know, sort of like Fawzi Barhoum said earlier, they are carrying out "an open war on innocent civilians."

Go get 'em, Israel!

USMC 9971 OUT

Religion Of Peace?

Video's YouTube Page

The video above is from a protest in Ft. Lauderdale, FL on 30 December 2008. In it, Gaza supporters are yelling across the street at supporters of Israel, angry with Israel's decision to finally strike back at Hamas terrorists who have been indiscriminately targeting Israeli civilians with rocket and mortar attacks.

The vitriol of the pro-terrorist side is a good look into the hearts of Islam. Some protesters chant, "Nuke Israel," and a Muslim woman at about 3:20 into the video yells at the pro-Israeli side to, "Go back to the oven," and "You need a big oven, that's what you need."

There is your face of tolerant Islam, presented by several followers of that so-called religion of peace. Such a perfect display of Mohammedans at their finest, right on the streets of a major U.S. city.

How long will it be until some adherent of Islam dumps a flammable liquid on someone on the pro-civilization side while another Muslim tosses the match right after the dousing?

Moderate Islam? Unfortunately for all of us, people like the Muslim woman in this video are about as moderate as Mohammedans come.

USMC 9971 OUT

Uninformed, Failed English, Or Recycling Old Signs?

Protesters demonstrate against the Israeli air strikes on Gaza, in Sanaa, December 28, 2008. (Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)

According to the tagline, the picture above was taken today. Read that sign again: "No Peace Unless Israel leave Gaza." I'm not sure if those protesters realize that their sign makes absolutely no sense, especially when one considers that Israel completed the full withdrawal of their troops and settlers from Gaza over three years ago.

Early Monday, a string of Israeli tanks and military vehicles rumbled across the border at the Kissufim crossing as heavy machinery moved in behind them to create a makeshift roadblock on the Israeli side of the border.

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman officially marked the pull-out at 7 a.m. (12 a.m. EDT).

After Israeli forces closed the Kissufim gate behind them, an IDF spokesman challenged Palestinian officials.

"From this point on, the full responsibility for events occurring in the Gaza Strip and for thwarting terror attacks against Israeli targets will be in the hands of the Palestinian Authority and its apparatuses," a statement said.

Gaza commander Brig. Gen. Aviv Kochavi expressed similar sentiments.

"For all that takes place in (the) Gaza strip lays on the Palestinians," he said. "The responsibility for the security of the Israelis is all ours.

"The very same soldiers that have left the (Kissufim) gate are those who are deploying now along the new line," Kochavi continued. "They are alert and they are ready to fulfill any mission and to face any challenge."

As the soldiers evacuated each settlement, Palestinians rushed in waving flags and chanting, "Allahu Akbar" or "God is great."

Maybe the protesters were never informed that Israel has, in fact, left Gaza. Maybe the protesters don't have as good a grasp of the English language as is necessary to concisely convey their message to the world in short phrases on protest signs. Maybe the protesters are just carrying an old protest sign that they used prior to 12 September 2005. Maybe the sign actually says something like, "No Peace Unless Israel leave Gaza Alone," but that key part of the phrase has been cropped out of the photo. Or maybe, just maybe, the protesters are simply inept terrorist sympathizers who would never let little things like facts get in the way of their righteous indignation over Israel defending itself following repeated rocket attacks on Israeli civilians by the "peaceful" denizens of Gaza.

I'm leaning towards the latter.

USMC 9971 OUT

Al-Aqsa TV Airs Sick And Twisted Puppet Show

Al-Aqsa Television aired a puppet show as children's programming in which a child goes to Washington D.C., kills President Bush with the "sword of Islam, the Prophet's Al-Battar sword," and turns the White House into "a great mosque for the nation of Islam." Oh, and the same kid brought "thousands of thousands of children from Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Afghanistan" with him to whom the American people have apparently surrendered.

Try to imagine, if you will, what would happen if anyone in the West put together a similar puppet show, where Western children went to Saudi Arabia, killed off the ruler for September 11th, and turned his palace into a church for Christendom. Don't you think that such an airing would be hitting the nightly news?

Considering that, and also considering all of the furor over "Fitna," why hasn't this five minute production been a topic of discussion on all of the cable and network news programs as well?

Child Stabs President Bush to Death and Turns the White House into a Mosque in a Hamas TV Puppet Show

Following is an excerpt from a puppet show, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on March 30, 2008.

Bush: Who are you? What brings you to my home? How did they let you in, boy? My guards! My soldiers! Get this boy out of here.

Child: Nobody will take me out of here.

Bush: Who are you to come here and threaten me?! You are on my own turf, you little child, you! Get out. My dear, bring your father, your grandfather, or your mother, so I can talk to them. Get somebody older and smarter than you. What, you came here on your own?

Child: You killed daddy in the Iraq war. It's true, you killed him in the Iraq war. As for my mom – you and the criminal Zionists killed her in Lebanon. You and the criminal Zionists also killed my younger and older brothers in the Gaza holocaust. I'm an orphan, you criminal!

Bush: What are you talking about? Where did you come from? Don't I have enough troubles already? Where did you come from?

Child: I have come to take revenge with this sword – revenge for my mother and my sisters. You are a criminal, Bush! You are despicable. You made me an orphan! You took everything from me, Bush! I must take revenge on you, with this sword of Islam, the Prophet's Al-Battar sword.

Bush: No... No, my dear. I give you my word that this is it. I repent, just don't kill me. Where are my guards? Where are my people? Help! Help! He wants to kill me. Help!

Child: There are no guards, and your people have surrendered, Bush. I have not come alone, Bush. I have brought thousands of thousands of children from Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Afghanistan. You have denied all these children their fathers and mothers. That's why I have come to take revenge on you and on all the criminal traitors who collaborated with you.

Bush: Okay, fine, that's enough. I will give you whatever you want from me.

Child: What can you give me? All I want is one thing. Bring back my father and mother. I don't want anything from you. I don't want anything from you, just bring back my father and mother. I place my trust in Allah. I need to kill you.

Bush: No, my dear. Enough. I will give you anything you want. I also... Enough with that. Come with all your friends to the White House. I will give you food and toys. We will sit in the White House and talk. You will get whatever you need.

Child: You are impure, Bush, so you are not allowed inside the White House.

Bush: What are you saying?! Why am I not allowed into the White House?

Child: Because it has been turned into a great mosque for the nation of Islam. I will kill you just like Mu'az killed Abu Lahab. I will kill you, Bush, because that is your fate.

[Child stabs Bush repeatedly]

Child: Ahhh, I killed him.

Where is the outrage of the MSM? Where is the outrage of the Muslim community? Is this their outrage right over here? Oh, wait, no; that's just their double-standard again.

USMC 9971 OUT

Destroy Hamas, And Gaza If Necessary

The AP titles this story, Palestinians halt talks, killings mount, but if you read down to the tenth paragraph, you see that it's the continuous rocket attacks from Hamas-run Gaza is what is inciting the Israelis to strike back at targets in Gaza.

Israel's response to incessant Palestinian rocket fire at southern Israeli communities drew hard international condemnation. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon accused Israel of "disproportionate and excessive use of force."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected the criticism and vowed to press on with the Gaza offensive.

"With all due respect, nothing will prevent us from continuing operations to protect our citizens," he told his Cabinet.

Olmert's defense minister, Ehud Barak, said an even broader Gaza operation was in the cards, aimed at crushing militant rocket squads but also to "weaken the Hamas rule, in the right circumstances, even to bring it down."

Israel regularly clashes with Gaza rocket squads, but intensified its operations after militants fired salvos last week into Ashkelon, a city of 120,000 closer to Israel's heartland than previous targets. By striking Ashkelon, some 11 miles north of Gaza, Hamas added pressure on Israeli leaders to exact a high price for the increasing sense of insecurity felt in southern Israel.

The onslaught failed however to stop rockets from battering southern Israel. Nine were fired at southern Israel by midday Sunday, including one that struck a house in the rocket-scarred town of Sderot less than a mile from Gaza, the military said. One rocket lightly wounded four Sderot residents, Israeli rescue services said.

About 50 rockets and mortars were fired Saturday, injuring six Israelis.

Honestly, I think that the Israelis should allow unidentified Israeli "militants" to do what the unidentified Gazan "militants" are doing; firing rockets indiscriminately into Gaza. There doesn't even need to be a military target when the Israeli "militants" act, since the Gazan "militants" take the same un-condemned action daily. If it's okay for the Gazans, why wouldn't it be okay for the Israelis?

The U.N. needs to take a long walk off of a short pier, too. When Ban Ki-Moon accuses the Israeli government of "disproportionate and excessive use of force," while not condemning the illegal rocket attacks on Israel against civilian areas, there is no chance of a fair discussion of the matter. Do you think that if South Korea took a military response against North Korean targets after "incessant [North Korean] rocket fire at [South Korean] communities," Ban Ki-Moon would be condemning the South Korean government?

Hamas needs to be crushed, and if the residents of Gaza want to continue supporting Hamas, then I won't shed a tear if they are crushed with them. Hamas was voted into power by these people in 2006, and they can now reap the whirlwind of that choice.

USMC 9971 OUT

Allow Me To Retort

Those peace-loving Palestinians had this little death to America editorial cartoon in the official Palestinian Authority newspaper (PMW). The prayer missiles say:

• Allah, scatter them!
• And turn their wives into widows!
• And turn their children into orphans!
• And give us victory over them!



Well, it might not be as colorful, but allow me to retort.



The missiles in mine say (from left to right):

• Delebo eos ut pulverem terrae quasi lutum platearum comminuam eos atque conpingam.
• Persequar inimicos meos et conteram et non revertar donec consumam eos.
• Et evellam lucos tuos de medio tui et conteram civitates tuas.
• Et indignabitur furor meus percutiamque vos gladio et erunt uxores vestrae viduae et filii vestri pupilli.

I will not be silent, and I intend to respond to Muslim provocation in kind.

USMC 9971 OUT

Executions In Front Of Wives And Children In Gaza

Hamas is overrunning Fatah positions and executing Fatah's fighters.

Hamas fighters overran one of the rival Fatah movement's most important security installations in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, and witnesses said the victors dragged vanquished gunmen from the building and killed them in the street. [...]

Fatah said seven of its fighters were shot to death outside the Preventive Security building. A doctor at Shifa Hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said he examined two bodies that had been shot in the head at close range.

A witness, Jihad Abu Ayad, said men were killed in front of their wives and children.

"They are executing them one by one," Abu Ayad said. "They are carrying one of them on their shoulders, putting him on a sand dune, turning him around and shooting." [...]

"We are telling our people that the past era has ended and will not return," Islam Shahawan, a spokesman for Hamas' militia, told Hamas radio. "The era of justice and Islamic rule have arrived."

There you have it, right from the mouth of an official Hamas spokesman: Islamic rule has arrived in Gaza. Members of Hamas' political opposition are being dragged out and killed, allegedly having the executions take place in front of the wives and children of the Fatah members.

For me, I'm shedding no tears. Both sides are worthless, and if they want to thin out their ranks by in-fighting, that's fine by me. If their violence extends outside of Gaza, however, then they should be crushed quickly and without mercy.

The Palestinians voted for the thugs that are dragging members of the Fatah-run security forces into the street to be summarily executed. This is the government that they chose, so when the hand-wringers in the West start talking about the plight of the poor Palestinian people, let's all remind them that the Palestinian people themselves are fully responsible for this new "era of justice and Islamic rule."

I have no sympathy for the lot of them.

USMC 9971 OUT

Pregnant Would-Be Suicide Bomber

Two women from Gaza were caught by Israel's Shin Bet before they could carry out their planned suicide attacks on Tel Aviv and Netanya. One of the two women was pregnant.

Fatma Yunes Hassan Zak, 39, a resident of Gaza, mother of eight children and pregnant with her ninth, had been responsible for an Islamic Jihad Gaza women's labor office for four years. She had been in contact with Islamic Jihad terrorists and coordinated contacts on their behalf with women who had volunteered to be suicide bombers.

Approximately three months ago, her niece, Ruda Ibrahim Yunes Haviv, 30, a resident of Gaza and mother of four children, sought her assistance in perpetrating a suicide attack. Zak, who decided to participate in the attack as well, contacted her Islamic Jihad liaison, who aided the two women in putting their plan into operation.

Fatma was ready to blow herself up while pregnant with her ninth child. The lefties would ask what kind of conditions the woman must be in to make such a tragic decision, but I say that it's just par for the course with the Palestinian/Islamic death cult.

No wonder Hamas won the election.

USMC 9971 OUT

The Religion Of Peace Riots Again

Israel is doing some repair work and building a ramp, but those peace-loving Palestinians are rioting because it might get too close to what they refer to as the Porkchop Sanctuary (or maybe it was Noble Sanctuary; that chicken scribble Arabic writing is tough for us kafirs to translate). Anyway, even Canadians ended up as targets of the "sporadic protests."

Sporadic Palestinian protests, including a rock-throwing attack on a busload of Canadian tourists, broke out in Jerusalem and the West Bank Saturday over Israel's construction of a ramp leading to a disputed holy site.

The demonstrations came the day after Israeli police raided the mosque compound, firing tear gas and stun grenades, in response to riots by Muslim worshippers. Protests have spread throughout the world as Muslim leaders accused Israel of trying to damage the Islamic shrines.

But angry Muslims aren't just protesting in Israel. Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria all had perpetually perturbed followers of the pedophile prophet demonstrating against this "outrage" as well. The Arab League is ticked-off; Turkey is urging Israel to avoid causing new tensions; Egypt, Jordan, and Indonesia are calling for Israel to halt their work; and Malaysia is calling for international action.

The tough guys attacked a busload of Canadians, they're protesting throughout the Muslim world, and Malaysia wants international action. All of this over some construction work? What a bunch of over-reacting morons.

USMC 9971 OUT

Nice Snow Job, MSM

Check out this headline, from an AP piece, as it appeared on the ABC News website (not to mention other news sources): Gaza Cease-Fire Raises Hopes for Peace. Now, if you haven't clicked on the link, see what is contained within.

The surprise truce was supposed to take effect at 6 a.m., but in the four hours that followed, 11 rockets were fired from Gaza at Israeli towns and villages and some Palestinian militants threatened to keep up the attacks.

Israel did not retaliate, saying it wanted to give the truce a chance.

"Even though there are still violations of the cease-fire by the Palestinian side, I have instructed our defense officials not to respond, to show restraint, and to give this cease-fire a chance to take full effect," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said during a ceremony at a high school in southern Israel.

Got that? Israel abided by the cease-fire, even though the Palestinians continued their attacks. What was that headline in the MSM again? Oh, yeah, "Gaza Cease-Fire Raises Hopes for Peace."

Yep. Lots of hope there. And if Israel retaliates against the Palestinians who continue to violate the cease-fire, what do you think that AP's headline will be then?

Wipe-out Gaza. It will make the world a better place.

USMC 9971 OUT

Fox News Crew Abducted In Gaza

On 14 August 2006, Palestinian terrorists kidnapped Steve Centanni, a reporter for Fox News, and his cameraman, Olaf Wiig. Fox News is keeping tight-lipped about the incident, apparently under instruction from Fox News Channel Senior Vice President John Moody.

None of the major Palestinian terror organizations have claimed responsibility for the abduction, and there have been no indications that any smaller or previously unknown groups have taken credit.

The witness said two vehicles blocked the journalist's transmission truck in the center of Gaza City and a masked man put a gun to the bodyguard's head, forcing him to the ground.
Reuters

The men, along with a bodyguard, were parked near the headquarters of the Palestinian security services when two trucks filled with masked gunmen pulled up and boxed them in, the Fox employee said. The gunmen took the two men out of their sports utility vehicle, which was marked "TV," and drove away, he said.
AP, via The San Francisco Chronicle

A television transmission truck is not inconspicuous, and neither is an SUV with "TV" clearly marked on it. The terrorists who did pull this off had to have known that they were grabbing members of the media, but why snag reporters?

If you start abducting members of the press, their presence in the area will be scaled back, and they will not be presenting your side of the story to the world. The Palestinians have used the media to their advantage quite skillfully, albeit dishonestly and deceptively, so I can't imagine that they would want to allow their relationship with the press to be diminished.

My first thoughts for the motivations of the terrorists in this incident are:

1 - Retribution: Fox News, I think it's fair to say, is the most conservative of the broadcast MSM. As such, their coverage may tend to side more with Israel, or at least less with the terrorists. Fox may have covered something that someone didn't like, or covered something in a manner that someone didn't like. The terrorists could be trying to send the message that the media needs to watch what they're doing, or how they're doing it, or else they will be targeted.

2 - Silencing: The kidnapped crew may have just recorded something that the terrorists don't want exposed, and the abduction could be part of an attempt to keep that something from ever coming to light.

3 - Getting Noticed: A smaller organization within Gaza may be attempting to garner name recognition and stature by pulling off such a stunt. Nab a couple of journalists, tell them your story while "negotiating," and then release them unharmed so that they can tell the world about your group.

4 - Secret Interview: It's possible that this is all a ruse to prevent anyone from following the reporters to the hiding place of the interviewee. As effective as the Israelis have been in finding and targeting terrorist leaders in Gaza, this scenario is not entirely implausible.

No one who knows anything is talking right now, so the rest of us will remain in the dark on the details of the situation. All we can do is hold fast and say a little prayer for the crew's safe and speedy release.

USMC 9971 OUT