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Saif Dahlah / AFP - Getty Images
Palestinians protesters demonstrate with their hands chained during a procession in the West Bank city of Jenin on Friday in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails.
NEWS ANALYSIS
Few people in the West would recognize the names Bilal Diab or Thaer Halahleh.
After all, they didn’t seek refuge in an American embassy beyond the reach of a repressive government or publicly decry the behavior of America’s adversaries.
However, their names have become a rallying cry for human rights activists, lawyers and millions of Palestinians fighting against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Halahleh and Diab are in custody in Israeli jails and have been on a hunger strike for 74 days as of Friday, protesting what they say is their illegal detention. And now an estimated 1,600 other Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have joined them in refusing nutrition, this time in protest against the way they have been treated while in custody.
In recent days, Halahleh and Diab’s conditions have worsened and their deterioration has once again triggered international debate over Israel’s practice of “administrative detention” and the tools available for Palestinians to protest the policy.
Administrative detention
Israel’s practice of administrative detention allows the military to hold prisoners indefinitely based on secret information without charging them or allowing them to stand trial.
Israeli officials defend its use as a way to hold Palestinians who pose an immediate threat to the country's security. Israel says they keep the evidence secret from lawyers and the accused because it would expose their intelligence-gathering networks if released.
In Halahleh’s case, he has not been charged with a crime and he isn’t even aware what evidence is being used to hold him. In addition, an order by an Israeli military judge for him to remain in administrative detention has been extended eight times.
Over the past year, the number of administrative detentions has nearly doubled, according to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights, and more than 300 Palestinians remain in Israeli jails under the classification of administrative detention.
As Palestinian hunger strikers starve, a mother waits
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev has said administrative detention is "unfortunately a necessary tool" in fighting terrorism.
He has also been adamant that the hunger strikers are dangerous men. “This strike is not about human rights. This strike is being led by hardcore Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The leaders of this strike are people who've been directly responsible for brutal acts of terror against innocent civilians, people who blown up people in pizza parlors in coffee shops on school buses,” Regev said earlier this week, according to the Associated Press.
Only tool left: starvation
What’s most fueling the hunger strikes, however, is the sense of hopelessness gripping Palestinian prisoners.
Many Palestinians believe they have no impartial legal recourse to ensure their rights since their cases can only be tried in Israeli courts. Israel’s Supreme Court rejected the petitions of Halahleh and Diab against their detention on Monday.
Adding to the tension is the fact that many Palestinians have had a family member or friend detained or arrested and held in an Israeli jail at some point since Israel began its occupation of Palestinian Territories in 1967.
And with no major international media organization spotlighting their case, the prisoners have resorted to the only form of protest they can to draw attention to their plight: their bodies.
This form of protest has become the latest tool adopted particularly by prisoners in the broader Palestinian non-violent struggle against Israel’s occupation.
Non-violence strategy
In recent years, non-violent protests, including marches, acts of civil disobedience, sanctions, boycotts and now, hunger strikes, have become the increasing norm among Palestinian activists demanding their inalienable rights of freedom and justice. However, there are elements within Palestinian society, including Hamas and other militant groups that are considered terrorist organizations by Israel and the U.S., that still advocate armed resistance to the occupation.
But the increase of the Palestinian non-violence movement has been largely ignored by the West. Despite the fact that for years, Palestinians were promised that their cause would be advanced globally if they would only rejected “terror” and embraced non-violent forms of protest.
Palestinian activists say they are doing that, it’s the global community, they claim which has not lived up to its promises and diplomatically rallied behind their cause.
Like their Palestinian prisoners behind Israeli walls, the broader Palestinian public feels a sense of isolation and hopelessness being heard by the global community.
International attempts to reign in Israel’s expansion of Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank have failed and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has received less and less diplomatic attention in the face of Arab revolutions and increased tension between Israel and Iran.
Many observers feel the Palestinian struggle for freedom, and Israel's quest for security, has been held captive to a failed peace process.
Ignoring the hunger strikes and the Israel-Palestinian conflict amidst the sweeping changes in the region is perilous.
For a society that revers and holds in high esteem its prisoners, the death of one or many of these prisoners could have broader reverberations and trigger unrest on the occupied Palestinian street. Unfortunately, that would get the attention of many probably for the wrong reasons.
Leave a Comment:
I remember Gilad Shalit, and I don't remember anything like this article in support of him from anti-Israel MSNBC.
Correct, @StevenB, and that was a long nightmare for Shalit, who was held against his will.
These folks are free-will choosing to starve themselves , claiming martyrdom for self-inflicted death.
This writer is an idiot !
"Israel began its occupation of Palestinian Territories in 1967. "
According to Hamas Israel doesn't occupy Gaza & most of WB ! In 2005 Israel disembarked from the so called Arab territories which in fact have no legal status.
Maybe this clown should research what he writes about.
If occupied they couldmn't receive UN acceptance as a state.
"
I know right? UN established Israel as a home country for Judaica on the run around the world.The UN for the last 30 years have taken on a new mission to create an Islamic Palestinian (fantasy) state right in the middle of Israel. It's like a bully egging on two people to fight by shoving them into each other and making rumors to each other. Or a Tarantula wasp laying an egg in the abdomen of a paralyzed victim.
Makes me wonder why Israel trust the UN at all.
I have no idea whats going on anymore. I don't blame myself for my ignorance however. I don't have the time to decipher nonsense.
everybody in prison is not guilty,,,,,just ask them,,,,,
Of course, these people haven't been convicted of anything, have they? I don't trust Israel. If Israel cannot bring forth any evidence, then the assumption must be that they are abusing their power to hold people they know are innocent.
Tempus:
And what do you know? These people are being held against their will, too. And the powers-that-be won't even charge them because they haven't actually done anything wrong.
It's a shame that because of fanatics, on both the Israeli and Palestinian side, innocents among both the Israelis and Palestinians suffer. There's never going to be peace in that part of the world.
Gild Shalet is an Israeli soldier(Thug) was heading to Gaza to kill innocent Palestinians and was captured as a prisoner of war. The Palestinians in Israel jails have done nothing illegal except resisting and opposing a brutal and illegal Israeli occupation. You should try and be under Israeli occupation for years on in, and we'll see how you would react, stupid.....
kamal, you should read to what happend to Galid...he wasn't a thug and he wasn't heading anywhere...your lies make you look even dumber. take a chill pill and stop spreading lies...not cool. Oh poor folks under Israeli occupation...give me a break...
Kamal, the Palestinians are just a bunch of disorganized animals, used as leverage by the Islamic world in their ongoing war against the Jews. If you're one of them, I pity you. If you're on their side, I pity you. Your own brethren cannot provide support other than paying them to blow themselves up. At the very least the Israelis have managed to build a successful, non oil-based economy. They have a world-class high-tech industry, world-ranked learning and research institutions, and a GDP to rival any western nation. What have your people done in the last 1000 years? Nothing.
The world is too small for your ilk. Move along and let evolution do its work. In short, hurry up and die out.
thx natawa and awesomealex for helping us see how racist and ignorant your position is.
p.s. alex Israel is rich because we give them billions of US taxpayer dollars a year and because they steal the Palestinians resources and labor.
Agreed, and it's hard for me to express my opinions in regards to this article because I'm Israeli.
Franco Relaxo: You are completely wrong, Palistine overall was a waste land until the Jews returned to Judea. Don't believe me, read the real history. Much of the agricultural land was not taken from the arabs who tilled the soil, but from the land no one tilled. How about the Isreali government forcing the Jewish settlers out of Gaza only to be met with rockets by Hamas after they left. Read the news and facts! Also, the aid provided to Isreal is military equipment, not farm machineary or inginuity. When was the last time a Jewish suicide bomber tried to blow up New York or anywhere else?
@shlomi there are a lot of Israeli's like yourself who are on the right side of this, most of the people fighting the hardest for justice for the Palestinians (other than Pals) are Israelis, many of whom realize that the crimes committed by their leaders reflect on all, i commend those people, without those Israelis the Palestinian movement would be a shadow of what it is, especially since the Pals have so little voice or recourse in Israeli politics, Israel at the moment is being run by a hardline right wing government that uses fear of Arabs to justify grabbing more and more power, people like you are the only hope for the future of Israel.
@working, just more racist propaganda, i know the facts, it seems you know a few sentences that are supposed to be a summary of 60 years, unsurprisingly, you are incorrect.
Hunger strike.........they are punishing themselves. Idiots
Go ahead, starve yourselves. And no dessert for you either.
Lol reading through the comments, I see the IDF media army in action!
With all your discouraging words, this splendid and just article made it to the top page.. and many many people would see it, to your misfortune! Thank you MSNBC for speaking the truth for once!
Fed by American tax payers money...Israel is a state of death, evil and hate.
Long live Palestine!
I remember the Palestinians having a parade in the streets and shooting guns in the air celebrating 9/11.
Why should I care about those Hamas terrorist?
Let them kill each other.
Palestinians never owned land…they were MIGRANT WORKERS!!
When the Jordanians and Egyptians controlled the so-called West Bank and the Gaza Strip for 19 years (1948 to 1967), there was never a thought of giving the disorganized mass of “migrant workers” a state. Why? Because they knew there was no cohesive, homogeneous people known as “Palestinians.”
By all eyewitness accounts of that era, Palestine was a total desolation. There were virtually no trees and no people. Because of lack of trees, the weather changed and it rarely ever rained. The irrigation systems of the once fertile valleys were all destroyed, rendering most areas into malaria-ridden swamps. The terraces of the mountainsides were torn down, causing terrible erosion that left only barren rocks. This was the condition of Palestine by the beginning of the 19th century.
It was at this time that Jews began to flee severe persecutions in Russia and Eastern Europe. In the mid-1800s, some Jews came to Palestine and, with the generous aid of some successful Jews like the Rothschilds, began to buy property from Muslim Ottoman Turks. The Muslims thought the land was worthless anyway, so they sold it to the “dumb Jews” for extremely inflated prices.
To everyone’s amazement, the Jews were very successful at reclaiming the land. Many of them died from malaria and the rigorous life the work demanded, but they performed an agricultural miracle that made the land very productive again. As a result of their success, poor migrant workers from the surrounding Muslim countries began to flood in to work for the Jews. The Jews literally became victims of their own success – almost all of the people calling themselves “Palestinians” today are the descendants of those migrant workers.
-Hal Lindsey's book "Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of Jihad,"
Well Kamal, I am very familiar with that feeling.
Peace is not possible when the aggressor does not want it. Israel learned a lot from Nazi Germany and has perfected it's practices. It's a shame that Jews everywhere will be blamed for the actions of the far right in Israel.
THIS is where NBC goes to get their "unbiased" reportage:
"Ayman Mohyeldin was previously a Middle East-based correspondent for Al Jazeera..."
"Mohyeldin was born in Egypt to an Egyptian father, and a Palestinian mother."
Don’t let a little thing called the The Six-Day War of 1967 get in the way of FACTS kamal… Israelis today face the greatest threat to their existence and they DO HAVE A RIGHT TO EXIST! Too bad you and the rest of the Palestinians don’t like it.
Netanyahu forfeited September elections that would have given him four more years in power. He chose instead to form a national coalition that guarantees 18 months of stability — 18 months during which, if the world does not act to stop Iran, Israel will.
So WHO is trying to establish peace? Certainly NOT the Palestinians!!
the Israeli's attacked in the six day war, and as usual used a hypothetical threat to justify their aggression. An Israeli attack on Iran would just be more of the same, an unprovoked attack, with once again Israel being the aggressor, claiming they had no choice due to a hypothetical threat. aggression and lies, thats Israel. this right to exist nonsense is just another way for Israel to attack and kill people (always innocent people as well) and use someone's words to justify their murderous aggression. teenage girls attack because of what someone said, countries should not. furthermore, an Israeli attack on Iran would not only be unjustified, but would also cost American lives, as well as not stop the Iranian nuclear program, more deaths at the hands of Israel, just so they can beat their chest and say "look how tough we are!" i wonder if in the future when history recognizes the criminality of Israeli apartheid if people like you will proudly tell your children that you supported those crimes against humanity, or will you like the cowards how supported apartheid in S. Africa pretend you were against it all along, i get the feeling its the latter. Internet warriors like yourself crying for wars that will cost thousands of real lives... as long as its not yours.
I see that Israel's supporters are out in force collapsing away facts that they don't like to have known.
steven the dork,
gilad represents the oppressors, palestinians are the oppressed... get it?
As for MSNBC being anti-isreali? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.. Thats funny!
Just look at the MSNBC line-up: One jew after another either, host, commentator, contributor, editor or some freaking capacity...
It is practical training for young jews who would say anything for the exposure, they are not liberal...
And, how is that anti-isreali to write story about palestinian suffering?
if MSNBC says, enough with these isreali apartheid, lets boycott these 21st century slave masters,, I undersatand that MSNBC can be considered anti-isreali..
Who, in the world, any human being, with the right mind and decency will not be anti isreali?
Now, here's what MSNBC should have in their news:
and every time cancer develops, it is diagnosed and a decision made. and that's what these terrorists are in the land. and as cancer in the body needs excision, radiation or chemotherapy, and sometimes surgergy so do these people need removal. that there may be healing and wellness. rebels, they are. having gone errant and leading others astray. and so rebellion must be cleansed because "... their word will eat as doth a canker of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus ..."
Hogwash out of the mouth of a dummy. If they have that capacity; how is it that they have not used it?
Not every member of a certain nationality is a terrorist, or a "cancer" on the world body... There are also terrorists who arennt Arabs (as Timothy McVeigh had demonstrated...) But one should be careful of that analogy there; because actual cancer (and I mean the disease, not your analogy here) is where cells begin to grow and multiply out of control... I don't even want to contemplate all the ways different groups could try to use that to describe one another :o
steven the dork,
what is wrong with that?
isreal has benn barking for a year now that it can and will hit targets in iran, so what is the problem with
some mullah return the favor?
We have the same thing here in the US They can hold you without any trial for as long as they like. Now I know where they got the idea from.
Okay , give us one name of a person held like this and don't say it a secret so you don't know the name !
If it was secret you couldn't make your statement
Actually, Tallman she can make the statement. The US government admits to doing this in places like Guantanamo Bay and Gitmo. It just hasn't publicly identified its victims.
Just look at new bills past,NDAA? Obama has made the police state even larger.Drones?new executive powers.
Gitmo is in Guantanamo Bay US area. The people held there are captured enemy combatants. They are not US citizens. So MaryJones and tallman you are misinformed or uncomprehending.
You do not give Miranda rights to the enemy captured, their crime is that they were millitants fighting against the US.
Why does Israel have to treat prisioners of war with any other rights that what international law requires. Give these guys bacon and eggs, ham sandwiches, and pork rinds to fatten them up.
Dealing with terrorist allows no other options unfortunately. Besides, I support the action as in the U.S as well as long as its for the safety of the nation I live in and support.
Guess Mary is still out looking for a name.
@17571, and your problem with much needed law inforcement is ______— (A) I can't drive 80 in a 65, (B) I'm having trouble finding a drug dealer because they keep arresting them. (C) They busted me for a joint, charged me $100 fine and didn't give me my joint back. (D) Other.
For publius : Her post said we have the same thing in the US ,not Gitmo or other places 1
Are you saying the prisoners at Gitmo , captured on the battle field , should be released while the war on terror continues and we know at least 25 % of those released return to fight us ?
The practice does exist here and it has a name. Unfortunately I don't remember it right now but there are movies about the victims.
Gitmo is why I'm not sure that going to a US Embassy and doing as the blind dissident in China did, would hold any traction. It wasn't just the media, but actions of the state department and negotiations with China... How could we honestly negotiate anything with Israel or say anything regards to administrative detention, when we have much the same at Gitmo... No doubt the Israeli counterparts (diplomats) would see right through that one, and might even point it out... Not that any attempt to enter into negotiations with them, should the administration chose, wouldn't hold elements that could be politically dicey during an election year either...
And for those who say the same had never occured with citizens, take a look at the Japanese internment camps around the time of World War II.... Now one can say that was 70 years ago, but we had participated in the practice....
The people being held are not being held as prisoners-of-war. As for "criminal combatants," they have not been charged and tried in a court of law either. Our Congress and President have passed legislation to do that very thing. You don't need names. The improperactions of the government are there for all to see.
NBC used to be a middle of the road mostly unbiased network.Now it seems to have been hijacked by sympathizers of violent Islamic terrorists, and Palestinians that rejected their own state through partition in 1948 and set out to destroy another country. A 2 state solution .not a 1 state solution with the citizens of Israel murdered.So much focusing on Israel by NBC..The Israelis are the victims of criminals against humanity and the peace..much like the Tibetans are by the Chinese. NBC ..fire most of your Mideast journalists .They are warped and unreliable.Or maybe you proofread them and support what they say..Either way .it seems you have alot to explain for your very biased and very one sided views .What´s going on?
I wonder how long the world would stand by and watch Palestinians treat the Jews the way the Jews treat the Palestinians? We should all feel shame, but we wont!
You mean like defending them selves against Pal rockets, Killing the 5Fogel family in their bed, sending women & children to blow up Israelis.
Only the ignorant should feel shame like you !
Free the Palestinians now!
Mr. Binkie
They are free to leave the area and go to Iran, or Pakistan if they would like.
it's our land and one day we'll go back either u like it or not but i bet u know that already
First you will have to murder 7 million people. Iran will help.
Go back to Jordan where you belong. Go some where that likes terrorists and think they are just misunderstood and only kill and blow up families because the pedophile Mohammad thinks that is what good Muslims should do.
Mr. Binkie, your stupid is showing... Palestinians are free from Israel...but not so much from Hamas...so... shut it.
i have read all of the comments here and most of you should really just not comment. i live in the area and i can say 90% of you have watched too much media propaganda sorry you are very very misinformed.and yes i am american. i just don't have my head stuck where the sun don't shine and can see what is really going on. Palestinian Freedom!!!!!
@cheryl04:
go rachel corie yourself
The Palestinians rejected partition of the old British mandate even though the israelis and most of the world including the UN accepted it.A Jewish state to reflect the hsitorical homeland of the Jews and an Arab state to refletr their reality..Accept Iisrael like they should have in 48. And stop trying to destroy a country that is now as much a country as any in the world.The Palestinians are digging their own grave as Israel won´t roll over and play dead to the hamas.or hezbollah or Iranian terrorists.If these prisoners who mostlly are gulity of very violent crimes want to starve themselves to death,then only hamas and hezbollah will be to blame.The Muslims extremists want a Jewish and Christian free Mideast-- Sorry boys if anyone should leave.. it´s the Muslims who conquered it by the sword... 3 religions living in peace ..Jews,Christians and Muslims.The first two can handle it.The last group can´t .Well worse off for them.-They should just buzz off then and go back to Mecca where Mohammed was from before he began his world conquest-Hamas and hezbollah will be happy if these prisoners die,More fuel for their terrorism and sacrificing of their populations. Strong word ..but unfortunately true!!
Israel made a big mistake when it did not kill all the Palestians and Arab (old, young, men, women) instead of just kick them out of their land in 1948. Israel may avoid the 1967 and the 1973 wars and the constant rocket attacks if it did kill all the Arabs that its soldiers could find. The surviving Arabs will be living in fear of the Jews!!! The US had to kill most Indians before it could live in peace over 200 years ago! May be it not to late for Israel to do thing right this time by using nuke to kill all Iran and using its arm force to occupied and kill all the Palestian and Arab it can find. No super power will dare to mess around with a nuclear armed Jew!!
Looks like you are an idiot and most of zeros who have commented and have no character whatsover. That just shows how stupid these people are. It is only a matter of time before Arabs take over their deserving land. History repeats itself and can see opposite to exactly what you see now!!
If we follow history the Arabs, deserving land is the entire planet. Their enemies are the infidel which is everyone else on the planet besides themselves. So I guess we should line up everyone on the planet that isnt a Arab and kill them, and let the arabs have it all? You can claim whatever you want about the stupid crusades, I dont agree with that small part of christianity that was led politically. You can try to blame others, but what about blaming all others? The bhuddists tried to kill the arabs too? The Hindu?, the russians, the greeks, romans? I can see people not believing in what I do, but when it means killing others or when not others killing themselves for over 4000 years, that I have a problem with.
The Israelis simply happen to be the easiest target for their hate. Look at afghanistan, where within their own borders with no other targets they killed each other. Same in the Iraqi, Iran war. If the Russians are there they will attack them, when they leave, each other. When the americans are there attack them, once we leave, back to each other. You would think they would be glad to have america there so they can have a common target for a change.
I wish there could be a peaceful muslim religion, but as long as they are either being hostile, or supporting hostilities, or remaining silent and allowing/condoning hostilities, I dont see how I can respect or trust them much. If I were in Israel, I imagine it would be 1000 times worse, where you are surrounded by this hostile religion on all sides always.
great article!! I am surprised that MSNBC editor did not pull it down. Just like the zionists tried to pull out CBS 60 minutes (Holy Land) regarding Palestinian Christians sufffering under Israel occupation. The zionists in this country wants to muzzle anyone from telling the truth that Palestians suffering under Israel oppressive occupation. END THE OCCUPATION
Actually the largest Muslim-majority nations are in Asia not the Middle East, and have stable, modern societies...so Islam actually does function quite well in today's word.
V.Nugent, your diatribe is disturbing. Commit wholesale slaughter of people? Seriously, that's YOUR answer to human conflict? You'd better hope that sometime in the future that's not some other nation's idea of how to handle conflict with us or our own government's idea of how to handle dissent by citizens.
Oh yeah, I happen to be Native American Indian by the way and your apparent view of my people as the original obstruction to peace in this land really pisses me off. How about the fact that your people refused to share the land as we were originally willing to do? Y'all did us dirty from the start and then have the gall to blame us for what you "had" to do to us. As the old saying goes, what goes around comes around and at some point y'all will be in the same boat and will probably receive the same mercy y'all treated us with.
What the hell are you talking about? The issue of the CBS 60 Minutes episode was to highlight that the Palestinian Christians were being pushed out of Bethlehem due to the overpopulation of Muslims. That sounds familiar? The other issue was that Christians were losing equity on their properties because of the ugly terror wall; the wall that has stopped 90% of suicide attacks. Who is to blame for that, who are the suicide bombers?
@latekate
nope, nothing like that latekate, i watched it it's on the internet, and the christians said in no uncertain terms that the israeli occupation was forcing them to leave because of the economic and travel disruptions. Mark Regev , said something different, and we all know exactly how truthful those Israeli Spokespersons can be, now don't we
How about they stop trying to slaughter Jews as they have
tried for 60 years? How about they accept the state that’s been offered them at
least 4 times. Not a perfect deal? Do they want peace and a state of their own,
or just more bloodshed? Show some humanity for goodness sakes. With peace, Arab
money, and Jewish technology, the region would be an economic powerhouse. For
goodness sakes, give peace a chance!
Arabs do not want peace, they want to destroy Israel. And get the UN handouts.
No dictatorship wants peace. It want instability and an imaginable internal and external enemy. I grew up in the USSR. From when I was three years old we were told that the enemy is the US, and we have to sacrifice our lifestyle and lives in order to build a big army that will defend us from American occupiers.
@alex613, we had no animosity against the russians it was all a Stallin thing.
That is the only venue to let the world know the treatment n unjustice done by the notorious war criminals zionist regime to innocent beloved Palestinians. Shame on not only Muslims leaders to all the peace lovers they don't raise voices against the killer zionist terrorist thugs regime, they have broke all the so called UN resolutions and human rights, still brutalizing occupied Palestinians citizens. Time is coming soon when all the patients will b over n all the peace lovers around the world will just b walking peacefully without even throwing a pebble to liberate every inch of occupied land from the zionist terrorist thugs regime n in the last, zionist terrorist thugs regime will be wiped out from the face of the earth, time is not far away, zionist regime know n at large world know that also. www.ifamericansonlyknew.org
More empty rhetoric from a follower of the religion of peace. As my late mother once told me, "There is nothing worse in God's eyes than a religious hypocrite, never become one, never befriend one for they may infect you with their disease, but always forgive them for their ignorance". Pray for an epiphany to lead you to enlightenment.
you're an idiot
A lesson for an idiot.
UN res mean notning unless signed under Chapter 7 by the security council.
The General Assembly res are worthless & are ignored not broken. Muslim states & some Euros (Nazis) sponsor anti Israel res but rarely against Pals. They
mean nothing. However the UN Palmer Report stated the blockade is legal since Israel a member state faces a hostile imminent danger !
Well , your rant possibly shows you to be among the peace lovers of Islam !
What maniacal non factual rant you anti semite ! Realize , the world will not allow another holocaust no matter the growing anti semitism !
it already is allowing another one. only you support it this time
Shame on MSNBC ... shame on Microsoft and shame on NBC ... for publishing this very biased account of the situation....If the Palestinians and their supporters laid down their arms, there would be peace. If the Israelis laid down their arms, there would be no more Jews. Does that make the point?
Why not make war on them, then?
Sorry Newsman, but Israel has two options: keep living on stolen land and be hated, or stop living on stolen land and be liked. They can't have their cake and eat it too. In the end I can't care less which they choose, but we need to stop spending American tax dollars and losing American lives supporting one side in this dispute between two terrorist nations.
What is the purpose of having cake you cannot eat? If someone stole your cake and you fought them and succeeded in getting it back, would you just look at it and not eat it? I wish someone would explain the logic behind this.
I don't know what you've been smoking, it is Israel with all the Arms. over 200 nuclear weapons and a huge arsenal of WMDs. Israel has been the aggressor since the very beginning. Israel was created on stolen Palestinian land. Palestinians have been living in hell under the most brutal and heinous regime ever existed bar none....
Wrong. Who attacked Israel first in 1948, the day after they proclaimed statehood? Who has initated all those attacks? They even asked the Palestinian Arab's to side with them, and help. And as for the 7-Day War in 1967, in an amazing and most miraculous way, they defeated the combined armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria, whom had them outnumbered. If the Arab's lost the WB, GAZA, Sinai, Golan Heights and Jerusalem, after they had been defeated, this is called spoils of war!
Furthermore, who backed the Axis powers in WWI and the Nazis in WWII, yet some Americans try to stick uop for them?(Hint ... the Arabs declared a Jihad on the Allies). Furthermore, Israel fought Russia by Proxy during the Yom Kippur and 6 day war. It was as much or more a war of ideology than theology. Where do the Arab countries in nthe ME, for the most part, get their weapond from?
So basically Curt, if you come into my home, force me and my family out at gunpoint, and then I attack you for this gunpoint eviction, it's MY fault?
What is the origin of this Israel - Palestine squabble? For real now, no rhetoric and jabbering. And it's somehow okay for Israel to dominate millions of people in their own homeland? What is this, some sort of Semitic pay-back for a history Jewish repression? Never mind laying down arms, just give the Palestinians their country back and step-off...
If the Palestinian Arabs and their supporters laid down their arms, there would be peace. If the Israelis laid down their arms, there would be no more Jews. Does that make the point?
The fact is that if you take over peoples' land and homes and then round them into bantustans and concentration camps, they're probably not going to like it and will probably fight you. The origin of this is 1948, when the United Nations agreed to ethnically cleanse a patch of desert and move in foreigners to take over, and we've seen the disastrous results.
Toasty going by your logic then we should be killing the Arabs in Historical Israel which is easily provable to have belonged to the Jews at the point in history called the time of christ, or up to the roman occupation. We can trace it backwards from there to many other leaders before that. So I guess by your statement it should fall back to the roman empire? If not then it should go back to the jewish nations since it was theirs first as an actual nation. Before them in hostory all we had were basically fiefdoms all fighting each other constantly (seems to resemble what they do now).
If the palestinians would quit being so racist and simply work with the jews they would be a massive powerhouse as was suggested by someone else. Israel has allowed everyone that wants to actually be part of their nation to peacefully live within their borders. There are muslims, christians and jews that live in Israel. Its only the hostile ones that cant. And like someone else stated at least twice now. If the Palestinians and their supporters laid down their arms, there would be peace. If the Israelis laid down their arms, there would be no more Jews. Does that make the point? If not its because its a biased source reading it and your opinion is also biased and doesnt count.
I'm not jewish in any way shape or form so I have no gain in this either way, but If we are going to cry to the U.N. to lead us and they are the ones that gave the land to Israel. Then we should work together to keep it that way. Otherwise we are like the heart patient that goes to the doctor and lights a cigarette afterwards right before their stake dinner. If you are going to have leadership or advice, or whatever, follow it or dont ask for it to begin with and lets all just go back to anarchy.
Let's try a bit of historical truth.
Between 1948, when Israel was created, and 1967, when Israel captured Gaza in a defensive war, the Gaza Strip was administered by Egypt. During those 19 years, the Egyptians never offered citizenship to the Palestinians living in Gaza, nor did they permit them free transit from the Strip into Egypt proper. They did nothing to encourage the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. In fact, in 1958, Egypt's
President Nasser formally annulled the so-called "All Palestine Government" — a remnant of the Palestinian state the Arabs rejected in 1948. Egypt, like all of the other Arab states and, importantly, the U.N., chose to keep the Palestinians bereft and stateless — a permanent and growing dagger aimed at Israel.
Even more instructive is this: When Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, Gaza's residents had a golden opportunity to begin to build the sort of state they have claimed to desire. The Israelis even left behind the infrastructure to give the Palestinians a start: roads, houses, swimming pools, fish farms, nurseries, orchards, and factories. The Palestinians chose to kill each other (see Jonathan Schanzer's book, "Hamas vs. Fatah") and to fire missiles across the border at Israel instead. Apologists like Columbia's Rashid Khalidi protest that Israel continued to control sea lanes, borders, and air space around Gaza and cut off aid after the Palestinians elected Hamas. Well, Hamas didn't seem to have any trouble importing longer and longer-range Iranian missiles despite Israel's blockade. And in any case, despite the advice of some hardliners in Israel, the Israeli government continued to permit humanitarian supplies through.
Pick your sides all you want. After over 4000 years I guess one would call it a Family Tradition. Fighting and feuding is all they know. If they ever discover what gold mine they have there, but one of them must make the first gesture and one has to agree with it.
@kelsin21, Thanks for the informative write, it answered a couple of questions for me.
Let them starve. It will be less terrorists to worry about in the future. They are not in prison for nothing you know.
You should be sent to a camp, you know the camp I mean. It was people like You that made Hilter do what He did. You should burn in hell. They are in prison because someone stole their land and is now trying to steal their soul and drive them into the sea. You have it upside down. The jews want all of the land, money and anything else they can steal. Think maybe Hilter had it right.
"bluewellYou should be sent to a camp, you know the camp I mean. It was people like You that made Hilter do what He did. You should burn in hell."
reported
Wonder what group you would have been identified with according to your "hitler had it right"??? Jews were not his only target and there were more targets on the horizon for our "beloved fuhrer". sarcasm in case you missed it.
In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up."
-- by Martin Niemöller, prominent German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor, best known as the author of the poem First they came....
The poem doesn't even cover all of the "enemies" of the nazis.
You approve of a government coming in, stripping people of their homes, livelihoods, possessions, families loaded on rail cars to face torture and ultimately death??? Israel ships food, medical goods and medical services to those that wish to destroy her. Any comparison between the two is sheer madness.
I also reported your comment.
not the same the nazis did to the European Jews. however, there are some similiarity: forced the out during the 1948 war and not allowed them to return to their home; imprisoment without trial; extrajudicial killing; homes & farm land destroyed; and a slow methotical ethinic cleansing under the disguise by building more illegal Jewish settements in the West Bank
It's the occupation and Palestinians have every right to fight back against the occupiers. We would do same if we were under occupation. Would we be considered terrorists?
You forgot to mention a few things...Gazans permitted to build waterfront luxury hotels in Gaza (i think one night will set you back around $250) - that's really some occupation - isn't it???; Israeli Jews forced out of their homes by the government; Jews also forced out of their homes / abused in Arab or Muslim countries in alarming numbers and forced to flee and become refugees - for no other reason than they are Jewish (the families had previously been in these other countries for hundreds of years); humanitarian medical services provided at no charge to enemies of Israel; Israel, which is specifically the Jewish Homeland accepts refugees from other countries regardless of their backgrounds...I'm forgetting more than I'm remembering but I'll be happy to provide the links for this small list if you need to see them.
An illustration of how small Israel is compared to the rest of the Arab world: Imagine a football field and now a pack of matches. Slice the pack of mathches in half and lay it down on that football field...that's how big Israel is compared to the entirety of the Arab world. They will not be satisfied until all Jews are driven into the sea.
bluewell, you are suspended for a day for violating rule # 1 of the Code of Honor.
That's cool! Any chance we can get them to convince the GOP to do that to protest Obama?
I'm just gonna say it, probably not Newt Gingrich.
Beats suicide bombing for both sides: Arabs and Israel. Even one dead terrorist makes the world a better place.
I'd love to open a Cinnabon store upwind from the basturds.
Why would this country, suport and give billions of dollars to a country that would treat another people like this. Why does the media not get on this? I think We all know the answer, Right... Shame on Israel and anyone who would turn a blind eye to this. Has Israel forgotten how they were treated by Hitler, or did He know something we do not. Hard to say, but it makes one wonder. Wake up folks....
Be careful about throwing those stones. We have the same thing here, called Guantanamo Bay. I guess it's ok when we do it though, because our government is more trustworthy?
Did you know that Israel treats many Pals in Israelis hospitals, they deliver truck loads of aid every week. Even the racist UN sends all aid through Israel.
Unfortunately suckers like you are easily misled by Pal propaganda .
I have no sympathy for ignorance !
You mean the terrorists that purposely target children for murder ?
What the hell kind of person are you ?
of course Israel is innocent of killing thousands of Palestinian children during 1st & 2nd Intifada, Deir Yassin, Jenin and Gaza where approximately 1,400 died of which over 300 children were victims of Israel brutality.
of course some of you zionist in this post would say what about the 1,400 rockets that landed in Israel?
how many Israelis died from these crude rockets? ONE resulted from heart attack
If the Palestinians had the same war materiale we gave to Israel beside over $3 billion a year. The Israeli government would have a real sit down with the Palestinians to end the occupation
Marinegrunt - Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip have occurred since 2001. Between 2001 and January 2009, over 8,600 rockets had been launched, leading to 28 deaths and several hundred injuries, as well as widespread psychological trauma and disruption of daily life.
Are you just writing down your own sick little hate-filled fantasies, or are you simply vomiting back propaganda that some other idiot fed you?
28 wow. and how many palestinians??? innocent palestinians children, women the old? in the thousands and i don't have the specifics here but i would almost bet near the 10000 mark. that being said, it shouldn't be 1 death on either side!
Even though the Palestinians are attempting to kill Israelis and are inept you are defending the Palestinians ? Name one time the Israleis have targeted innocent people !
You need help , try reading some historical facts !
Hard to pack so much ignor.ance into one post.
My parents were Holocaust survivors.
They tried to "go back." You know what happened to Jews who tried to "go back to Poland?"
Look up the Kielce massacre.
It was far from the first. In a book of letters written by the American Army commandant of the LAndsberg Displaced persons camp, he writes in October 1945 (9 months before Kielce) that most of the Jews coming into the camp had tried to return to Poland, but were driven away (or murdered) when they tried to reclaim their homes and belongings.
BTW, if you want some history, there were Jewis tribes in what is now Saudi Arabia until Muhammed massacred and exiled them. The Arabs did not arrive in what is now ISrael until the conquest of Jerusalem in 637.
There never was such a thing as an independent Arab nation of Palestine, the very word "Palestine" derives from "Philistine," a people of Aegean (Greek) origin.
Prior to 1918, the Ottoman Turks controlled the area, and prior to 1967, Egypt ruled Gaza and Jordan ruled the West Bank.
Gingrich was absolutely correct when he said the Palestinians are "an invented people"
The thing is, Israel is no less a made-up nation. So why are we giving one preference over the other in a war between two terrorist nations?
I can see you're the king of ignorance. your misleading and distorted tactics will not fly. The real truth is out there for all to fined. Muslims have always treated Jews with dignity and respect. Jews in Arab countries are treated better than Jews form Arab countries living in Israel, check it out.
Mohammad never killed Jews. Muslims killed infidels none believers only....You really should read more, or tell the truth, you probably are capable of neither....
As for the myth of all those innocent PAlestinians languishing in Israeli jails...
Of the first 477 prisoners released in exchange for Schalit, 280 had been convicted of murder, many of them were serving multiple life sentences for multiple murders.
It is not a myth. These Palestinians are innocent, their crime is fighting the most brutal and heinous occupation.
The real myth is, Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, now that IS the MYTH. Israel should be the last country to proclaim that title...
Well muzzie, name me one instance when Israel has called for the destruction of ALL Muslim countries as numerous Muslim countries have called for the destruction of Israel !
Israel is not going away so stop your murderous attacks on innocent people and you will have peace !
israeli actions speak louder than words, from 1898 on the zionist had determined that they would use military force to remove the arabs from the land that streches from the nile to the euphrates, I would surely take that as a threat to call for the destruction of quite a few Muslim countries, btw......there is a Saudi Peace initive out there that would normalize relations with every single arab country and iran, but do you think the Israelis are going for it................Hell no, Eretz Yisrael is not complete therefore the killings and the settlements will not be halted......................Fuhrer Netanyahoo has spoken, as have all the Israeli Fuhrers before him
There are many Jews in Israel who feel that their government is oppressing the Arabs living in the territory under Israeli occupation. But they have neither political power in Israel nor the support of American politicians.
Why do 90 % of the Palestinians living in Jerusalem want the Israelis to retain control of Jerusalem ?
They are able to live in peace , they are treated equally , thaey have Jopbs and security !
Bill clinton offered that murderous little bastard Arafat 90 % of what he asked for and he walked away !
The reason ? He would have been signing his own death warrant ! The PALESTINIANS do not want peace , they want the murder of all Jews through out the world ! By the way , Arafats widow is living in Paris off a bank account of almost 1 billion dollars meant for the Palestinian people and Obama has promised millions more !
Wake up and educate yourself !!!
Idiot that means what exactly ?
Many idiot Americans don't like what their gov't does. Does that make them right ?
Read Jihad Watch to see the reality of Muslim hate. Their daily atrocities in the name pf Allah.
The USA is under attack from within as Islamics use the freedoms of the constitution to introduce Sharia here !
Every Muslim is charged with converting non Muslims to Islam. Figure it out !
The US give 2.6 billion each year in military aid to Israel for a very good reason !
I am disgusted with this article !
Tallman you are absolutely correct.
If Pals were suffering where is the UN & their peacekeepers ??
They bought 15000 kites & T shirts for Pal kids to break a Guinness world record ! What the heck were they thinking ?
he Pal men & women are among the fattest in the world, their population is growing & infant death rate is on a par with other arab countries. Egypt's Infant death rate is much higher.
The Pal propaganda shows the contempt it has for Americans & how gullible they can be.
Just remember if Israel looses that territory you can kiss you religious shrines goodbye. You'll never be allowed to enter the city and within a few years the churches will be turned into mosques. Just look at what happened in other parts of the middle east.
tallman I guess you did not see CBS 60 minutes about the Palestinians living in the Holy Land.
Palestinian Christians are leaving the WB because of Israel oppressive occupation not by Muslim Jihad expoused by the Israel government prapoganda and their US mouth peace
Israel dosent care about the palestinians, if they did they would stop stealing their land via building settlements. Really though, i confess i dont understand israel at all. Ive tried researching the history of when and why israel was created, and whos land was stolen to create it, but it is just too convoluted and confusing!? for me. I do know that one of the reasons was WW2, but thats all i could figure out.
Pal never existed legally. t was 0ttoman before the Allies captured it in WW11. Never Arab .
The Jews have been there for thousands of years in the area which was Judea. They were indigenous to the area long before the Arabs invaded.
After WW11 the area was divided along the Balfour Declaration 1917 which originally gave Israel a greater holing in the area than the final British Mandate. Jordan was created & Israel. Arabs couldn't accept Israel so they immediately attacked.
Jews & Arabs lived together in a very uneasy situation but the creation of Israel raised hostilities to a new level. They both had their own villages & many were friends previously. This was only a territory as opposed to a state or country with no legal standing internationally.
The Arab Grand Mufti fought with the Nazis in WW11 recruiting Pals to fight for Hitler. They lost & were subjugated to the British Mandate until the area could be divided between Arabs & Jews.
Really quite simple . Arabs hate Jews & non Muslims. They will never accept the legally created state of Israel which is 20% Arabs. All the rest is BS.
They do not steal Pal land. They occupy a 1/3 of WB. PA controlled 1/3 & the rest was disputed territory under the failed Oslo Accord.
Israel holds that part for security reasons & it is that simple !
Our blind obedience to the State of Israel has been one of the worst foreign policies in our nation's history. Putting the well being of another country before the safety of the United States used to be treason. It's cost us too much American treasure and FAR too many American lives. It's time to take the responsible, neutral position between these two terrorist nations.
Shame on israel for trampling the Palestinian human rights.
Free Palestine.
If they want to starve, let them. They have a choice, and the only outcome they hope for is to die with honor for the religion of Islam. For all you that blame anyone else but them are only falling into their trap. So go ahead and blindly live your life in a fantasy world, just like them. What is it? Oh yeah, something about 40 virgins in the afterlife...uh-huh.
It's 72 these days with inflation!
I hope the hunger-strikers are successful. It'll make more room for the rest of the terrorist, murdering Palestinians in the region.
Israel,
A country of former victims that now excels at being the victimizer. Guess they didn't really learn anything.
Idiot they learned to fight back !
"But the increase of the Palestinian non-violence movement has been largely ignored by the West. Despite the fact that for years, Palestinians were promised that their cause would be advanced globally if they would only rejected “terror” and embraced non-violent forms of protest." And that is why they shoot rockets into Israel every day? Give me a break!!!
Do I see this correctly? These men are in prison for terrorist activity and now they are non-violent? Go figure!! It's funny how they can change their ways once they are in jail. It's like all the murders in prison here that get religion and are now saved and think they should be let out now. Sorry I don't see it happening here or there.
There is no palestinian non-violence movement.
This is like Obama trying to sell America the idea that the Taliban will be good little Muslims and not kill people after we leave afghanistan.
yes there is, in any population of people there are always those who advocate for peaceful existence, and to say there isn't is to paint a broad brush.....................like for example, some ultra-orthodox rape children, and the community blames the victim, and circles the wagons around the abuser, is that to say that all jews behave as their criminal haredi brethern.......................
that is like trying to Netanyahoo trying to sell Israel the idea that the diaspora jews are all good little jews and will not be raping babies anymore after all of the publicity dies down.
get it, that crap goes both ways, and don't forget for a second young zionist, there are quite a few people on the planet who believe and can compile quite compelling proof that the jews were in bed with both the nazis and the communists, and that their loyalty to their (host country, sponsor, neighbor, or morality even) is at best suspect, and at worse, worthy of immediate deportation, and or summary execution.......................what is done in the dark must come into the light......or the internet
Most of people who have posted comments here are a bunch of fools and idiots and really shows the character of these people. It is only a matter of time Palestinians and Arabs take over their mother land that they are living since the time of Christ. History normally repeats itself and then these fools will be treated in the same manner as they are treating other people now!!
superman (lol) go back to making a suicide vest or firing rockets or what ever you do.
Racists and terrorists are not to be tolerated or negotiated with. If Palestinians wanted peace with Israel and have a civilized country they could do it at any time. Trouble is they would have to recognize the right of Jews and Israel to exist, they won't do that. Israel should just push the terrorists back into Jordan where they belong.