Moved: Israel and Palestine: The violence continues...
Ariel Sharon killed one Palestinian militant, nine children, five innocent adults, and injured 145 more yesterday.
In doing so he has created a thousand more suicide bombers for which the death of the children would be enough to push them over the edge. Let me ask you this, if George Bush ordered the launch of a missile or a machine gun attack that killed nine children in your town, would you not take violent action? I would.
When is enough enough? Can Israeli sympathizers not see that every day Sharon wages war against the Palestinians, he creates a brand new wave of reciprocal violence?
Prior to Sharon's visit of the Temple Mount, under the Barak Regime (16 months) a total of 11 Israelis and 28 Palestinians were killed in violence.
From Sharon's calculated instigation of violence on September 27, 2000, and January 31, 2002 (16 months) a total of 240 Israelis and 777 Palestinians were killed.
Background and statistics:
Ehud Barak was elected as Israeli Prime Minister on May 17, 1999.
What followed was a 16 month reign of peace and negotiation.
According to <a href="http://B'Tselem"; target="_blank">B'Tselem</a> , The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, from that date until September 27, 2000, a total of three Israeli civilians and three Israeli soldiers were killed by Palestinians in the occupied territories, and five Israelis were killed by Palestinian soldiers in Israel.
Despite the fact that 28 Palestinians were killed by Israelis over the same period, Ariel Sharon thought the Palestinians were getting more than they deserved in the peace talks. Arafat had adamantly refused to allow Israel a full concession of certain sites within Jerusalem; sites holy to Palestinians and Israelis alike, sites that Arafat was willing to share access to.
First, for those of you not familiar with the background on Ariel Sharon, prior to his election, he had long been widely blamed for war crimes leading to the deaths of
thousands of Muslims. There was an international movement to indict him as a war criminal, with ample evidence. Unfortunately, due to the strength of the Israeli right wing faction, Sharon remained "untouchable".
On September 27, 2000, Sharon, a man hated by Palestinians, Muslims, and anyone informed and with a conscience, visited one of the disputed sites, the Temple Mount, to make a point that Israel will not back down against Arafat's demand for shared access. Israel had been warned that such a move by the Sharon faction would lead to violence, but Sharon stuck to his guns and made the infamous visit.
As a result of the immediate violence that followed, 18 Israeli civilians and 19 soldiers were killed by furious Palestinians within the remainder of 1999. Meanwhile, Israel's response claimed the lives of 278 Palestinians, 243 of those civilians in the same period (!?).
The (practically unilateral) violence continued. Sharon was elected Prime Minister on February 6, 2001, at which time he legitimized Israel's bloody reaction. The Palestinians had to pay.
Between September 28, 2000 and January 31, 2002, as Sharon continued his militant policies, 240 Israelis and 777 Palestinians were killed. The statistics for the rest of 2002 are similar.
When can't people realize that the road to peace is paved with peace, forgiveness and tolerance. Barak's record proves this without a doubt.
This is not a question of right and wrong. Suicide bombers are evil. They deserve to be killed before they can kill innocent civilians. But so should reactivist militants, so the cycle of violence continues.
The cycle needs to be cut. Pride should not be an issue. The stronger side needs to back off, now.
Sometimes severe punishment is clearly called for. But often an act of punishment is unquestionably harmful and must be waived in the interest of peace.
[ 07-24-2002: Message edited by: tonton ]
[ 07-24-2002: Message edited by: Jonathan ]</p>
In doing so he has created a thousand more suicide bombers for which the death of the children would be enough to push them over the edge. Let me ask you this, if George Bush ordered the launch of a missile or a machine gun attack that killed nine children in your town, would you not take violent action? I would.
When is enough enough? Can Israeli sympathizers not see that every day Sharon wages war against the Palestinians, he creates a brand new wave of reciprocal violence?
Prior to Sharon's visit of the Temple Mount, under the Barak Regime (16 months) a total of 11 Israelis and 28 Palestinians were killed in violence.
From Sharon's calculated instigation of violence on September 27, 2000, and January 31, 2002 (16 months) a total of 240 Israelis and 777 Palestinians were killed.
Background and statistics:
Ehud Barak was elected as Israeli Prime Minister on May 17, 1999.
What followed was a 16 month reign of peace and negotiation.
According to <a href="http://B'Tselem"; target="_blank">B'Tselem</a> , The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, from that date until September 27, 2000, a total of three Israeli civilians and three Israeli soldiers were killed by Palestinians in the occupied territories, and five Israelis were killed by Palestinian soldiers in Israel.
Despite the fact that 28 Palestinians were killed by Israelis over the same period, Ariel Sharon thought the Palestinians were getting more than they deserved in the peace talks. Arafat had adamantly refused to allow Israel a full concession of certain sites within Jerusalem; sites holy to Palestinians and Israelis alike, sites that Arafat was willing to share access to.
First, for those of you not familiar with the background on Ariel Sharon, prior to his election, he had long been widely blamed for war crimes leading to the deaths of
thousands of Muslims. There was an international movement to indict him as a war criminal, with ample evidence. Unfortunately, due to the strength of the Israeli right wing faction, Sharon remained "untouchable".
On September 27, 2000, Sharon, a man hated by Palestinians, Muslims, and anyone informed and with a conscience, visited one of the disputed sites, the Temple Mount, to make a point that Israel will not back down against Arafat's demand for shared access. Israel had been warned that such a move by the Sharon faction would lead to violence, but Sharon stuck to his guns and made the infamous visit.
As a result of the immediate violence that followed, 18 Israeli civilians and 19 soldiers were killed by furious Palestinians within the remainder of 1999. Meanwhile, Israel's response claimed the lives of 278 Palestinians, 243 of those civilians in the same period (!?).
The (practically unilateral) violence continued. Sharon was elected Prime Minister on February 6, 2001, at which time he legitimized Israel's bloody reaction. The Palestinians had to pay.
Between September 28, 2000 and January 31, 2002, as Sharon continued his militant policies, 240 Israelis and 777 Palestinians were killed. The statistics for the rest of 2002 are similar.
When can't people realize that the road to peace is paved with peace, forgiveness and tolerance. Barak's record proves this without a doubt.
This is not a question of right and wrong. Suicide bombers are evil. They deserve to be killed before they can kill innocent civilians. But so should reactivist militants, so the cycle of violence continues.
The cycle needs to be cut. Pride should not be an issue. The stronger side needs to back off, now.
Sometimes severe punishment is clearly called for. But often an act of punishment is unquestionably harmful and must be waived in the interest of peace.
[ 07-24-2002: Message edited by: tonton ]
[ 07-24-2002: Message edited by: Jonathan ]</p>
Comments
The Israelis are paranoid, and for good reason. They are surrounded by complete enemies. The closest people who are somewhat friendly to Israel are the Europeans. Now lets be honest. The Europeans, except the British, would not shed one tear if Israel was destroyed. They are too worried about their oil predicament, which is much worse than the US's.