Israel must accept it is not the only victim

It is refreshing to find that there are still people in the world, whose views are not tinted by the biased media prevalent in the western world.
I was heartened by two letters that appeared in the Scotsman. The letters are reproduced here.

Published Date: 27 April 2010

It is unfortunate that three of your contributors (letters, 26 April), supporters of Israeli policies, are unable to tolerate the views of Israelis/Jews with whom they do not agree.
Israel claims to be the only democracy in the Middle East – such democracy is not served by this lack of tolerance and has led to the continual state of military readiness Israel finds itself in.
The assumption that only it has rights and only it is a victim led to Israeli refusal to allow Armenians to erect a monument in memory of its own Holocaust victims (about 1.5 million people) near a Jewish monument.

It should not be forgotten that Israel was a nation born of terror, and in terrorism. No-one would deny Israelis a homeland, but they should examine the past from more than one perspective. British soldiers were murdered by the Hagannah and Irgun, British office workers were blown up in the King David Hotel; Israel continually takes land from its neighbours, bombs civilians indiscriminately from sophisticated air platforms and assassinates political opponents.

When Israel invaded Lebanon, 20,000 Lebanese were killed. Israel has ignored 63 United Nations resolutions, but any breach by Arabs is condemned. Israel will only be at peace when it acknowledges the aspiration to peace and happiness that others hold.

BILL McLEAN

Rosemill Court

Newmills, Dunfermline

have often seen letters written by Joy Wolfe of Cheadle, Cheshire, in Scottish publications. It is a pity that she, Mr Grossman and Ms Selwyn have not acquainted themselves with the facts. For example, Ms Wolfe appears to believe that Israel was responsible for the invention of computers as well as mobile phones and various drugs.

I am a retired journalist, born in Edinburgh of Jewish parents. From the 1960s, I lived in London and travelled extensively in Israel and the Arab countries, carrying out, for four years, the research for my book, Prophets in Babylon: Jews in the Arab world (Faber & Faber). I visited Israel to write something about the 1967 war. I was appalled by the way the Palestinians were being treated by Jews who had taken over their country and were talking about "cleansing the land" as the Palestinians were forced out at gunpoint.

Ms Selwyn has written that "Gaza is not occupied by Israel but by Hamas, supposedly elected". Hamas was democratically elected and there was a cease-fire, which was ignored by Israel although not by Hamas.

Various human rights organisations have reported details of Israel's invasion and siege of Gaza from December to January, 2008-9, which followed an 18-month siege and blockade during which an occupied population experienced starvation, deprivation and trauma on a horrendous scale.

The invasion resulted in the deaths of 1,400 Palestinian civilians. More than 5,400 Palestinians received horrific wounds, burns and amputations. Ten Israeli soldiers were killed (four by their own fire) as were two Israeli civilians.

MARION WOOLFSON

Nelson Street, Edinburgh

Nato strike kills 33 civilians in Afghanistan

BBC reports that at least 33 civilians were killed in a Nato air strike that included women and children in southern Afghanistan on Sunday.
Nato said it hit a suspected insurgent convoy, but ground forces later found "a number of individuals killed and wounded", including women and children.
The attack, in Uruzgan province, was not part of a major Nato-led offensive in neighbouring Helmand province.
Civilian deaths in air strikes have caused widespread resentment in Afghanistan, and embarrassment to Nato.

Last year, Gen Stanley McChrystal, the Nato and US commander in Afghanistan, introduced much tougher rules of engagement in a bid to minimise such casualties.
The BBC's Chris Morris in Kabul says three vehicles on a road were hit by the strike on Sunday morning. But Sultan Ali, the governor of Uruzgan province, told the BBC all of the dead were civilians.
McCrystal has apologised to President Hamid Karzai and pledged a full investigation into the latest deaths" I have made it clear to our forces that we are here to protect the Afghan people, and inadvertently killing or injuring civilians undermines their trust and confidence in our mission.

These tougher rules of engagement don’t seem to make any difference to fatalities.
Is this just paper exercise? Surely if these rules were being applied then there would be a difference. They keep saying we are here to protect the Afghan people. However they keep making these mistakes again and again and they will keep repeating it unless someone is held accountable. Of course that is not going to happen because Afghan lives are cheap. You can simply write it off as collateral damage and issue an apology. An apology is just meaningless to the people whose loved one have perished because someone else’s mistake. Foreign force are there to protect the Afghan people. Is is how one protects people?

These lives are cheap because they happen to be muslims..
Here is what has happened so far:

• Sep 2009: Up to 140 civilians die in Kunduz province
• May 2009: At least 26 civilians die in strikes in Farah province
• Aug 2008: Ninety people killed in Herat province, UN says
• July 2008: Raid in Nangarhar kills up to 47 civilians at wedding party

Whenever people in Afghanistan read of civilians being killed by foreign military forces, there is going to anger right across the political and social spectrum.

Impregnable cage for Gaza ?

Just when you thought thing cannot get any worse, apparent confirmation that the Egyption government is building an underground steel barrier that is 18 metres deep designed to cut off one of the few lifelines sustaining the Gaza Ghetto, the tunnel economy. The BBC reports that the huge underground wall will be 10-11km (6-7 miles) long, will extend 18 metres below the surface and will take 18 months to complete. The project has been shrouded in secrecy with no official confirmation from the Egyptian governmentI It is understood that the design is commissioned by US army engineers, at the request of Israel, Ann Wright surmises.
The 'impenetrable' barrier is made of super-strength steel. It is bomb proof and cannot be cut. It will unlikely to succeed in halting all smuggling as it will force Palestinians to dig deeper.
If this report is accurate, it would be a new low in the levels of inhumanity, absurdity and wretchedness to which the Israeli regime, with active Egyptian and US complicity, are subjecting the beleaguered Palestinians of Gaza.
Egypt is a Muslim state but is indifferent to the suffering of their fellow brothers in the occupied territories. How does the President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak sleep at night? It seems as the compassion has been sucked right out of his soul.
Only a just political resolution will put an end to the tunnels.
This Egyptian underground steel wall not be able to contain the survival spirit of the people of Gaza.

Get your Peace Prize early

So president barrack Obama has been awarded Nobel Peace prize .Lets have a look at the facts. He would have barely been in office for two weeks when the nomination closed so what could he have possibly achieved in two weeks?
The only logical conclusion one can draw from this is that this must be an award in anticipation, in the hope that he will achieve peace
Peace is achieved when you actually stop people from killing each other. Has he done that? I don’t think so.
So why the award?

Besides he is singing from the same hymn book as his predecessor Mr Bush, apart from making great oratory wonders. The rhetoric has changed a little but there is no change in policy. He is sending extra 30,000 troops to fight.

Does he thinks going to war brings peace?

No it does not, it's the opposite.War and paeace cannot co-exist.

Its eight years since the best equipped force went into Afghanistan and they are still fighting the Taliban. Taliban are far from defeated, they are stronger than before and they cannot be defeated. Anyone can see that.

Do you still remember us?

Do you still remember us?


We are still under siege,




in darkness.... .

To get water we have to walk so far.....

Here two boys carry filled bottles ......

We still have No food.....

Or medicines



Our kids..... are dying every day.....

in their beds.....

And many have just tears to shed.....

Death!

is everywhere.....





Sometimes we have No place, to make Our prayer.....

We have nothing but pain.....

illness.....

And daily sadness..... .
to Share.....
So do you still remember us?!

at least in your prayer?!

Gaza children implore you! They are dying due to the blockade!

There is 'growing humanitarian crisis,' happening in Gaza.....

There is an EXTREME restricted access, to food, water, and medicine!!

Signature made by :



THE DEMOCRATIC!

X-HOLOCAUST VICTIM?!!!

PRESENT DAY HOLOCAUST MAKER!!!

THE EXTREMELY HUMAN RIGHT CONCIENTIOUS STATE OF ISRAEL!

PLEASE !

Saad - burnt by an unconventional Israeli bomb.

don't forget us!!

Please do Remember us!




Gaza Needs Your Voice!

keyboard tune

I was messing aroound with a guitar which someone gave me and i got interested in playing a simple tune.
I have since sold the guitar but I got hooked on the topic. Having no guitar I was getting bored so i started searching the net for virtual guitar. Using my computer and going online I learned to play a little tune.

Here it is:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfE_EGVr5ak

did you recognise the Tune?

Isn't it amazing what you can do with a computer and the internet?

Qirat- cheap mic