Is the IDF practicing for ethnic cleansing? by Daniel 5:26am Thu Oct 10 '02 IDF performs demonstration exercize on village that has been cleansed of its residents. print article In today's Yediot Achronot, there is an article about the IDF's preparations for the coming "crucial year" in its fight to crush the Palestinian uprising. The article begins by describing an exersize performed the day before for an audience including the Prime Minister, Defense Minister, and roughly half of Sharon's cabinet. The scenario for the excersize was an all-out assault on a village that has been abandoned by its inhabitants, with only armed fighters remaining. The Israeli soldiers come in with the newest and heaviest weaponry and bulldozers they have, and basically flatten the place. To anyone that has been observing the the fighting of the last two years, and the Israeli incursions into Palestinian towns under the pretext of chasing terrorists since early 2002, this scene should seem very strange. The IDF, in all the recent fighting, has been operating in more or less heavily populated civilian areas, and has never had the luxury of assaulting a village that had been cleared of its residents. This exersize is certainly not practice for the kind of situations these soldiers have found themselves in up to now. In my mind this raises the question: is this a situation that the IDF expects to encounter in the coming rounds of fighting? And what basis do they have for expecting to encounter villages emptied of their inhabitants, other than a plan to actively drive out the civilian inhabitants before flushing out the remaining fighters, demolishing many of the homes in the process? The excersize described in the article looks eerily like 1948, when the Israeli army cleared hundreds of villages of their inhabitants through scare tactics, before coming in and trashing what remained. add your comments

It is frightningly so- by Zionist. 6:20am Thu Oct 10 '02 print comment Your suspended judgement is quite rediculous. ariel sharon plans a final mass exodus for the None Jewish inhabitants of Palestine. This is his last chance before he passes away( he is over seventy y.o.) to materialize his wilder dreams of an Israel free of none jews. The nut publicly declared a few weeks ago of his plan to nuke the residents of Iraq. He has the bloodiest resume of all the current democracies in the world and will die before he will ever be held accountable for his part in the destruction of the civilians of the Mid East. add your comments

speak up! by manipulated or manipulate 6:25am Thu Oct 10 '02 print comment israelis, it is crucial that you understand how the rest of the world sees you. they view you as a cult of fanatics ... the few who will stop at nothing to achieve their ends. add your comments

to the cult of fanatics who identify with by zionism 7:07am Thu Oct 10 '02 print comment ...you adopted the worst of nazi traits and wisdom and institutionalized it into a fanatic and deranged culture...that perplexes sane individuals. add your comments

... by Lovem 7:48am Thu Oct 10 '02 print comment Having said that... I want to reiterate that your culture is so beautiful in countless ways. You must be disciplined when protecting your image around the world, so the rest of us can witness your humanity instead of your heartless behaviour to the none Jewish Palestinian Citizens. Again, we appreciate the positive aspects of your country... make them emerge often, for the sake of your country, add your comments

IDF and Politicians by * 2:21pm Fri Oct 11 '02 print comment The IDF does what the politicians tell them to do. They may give advice in situations, but must always follow the orders of the political entities. One can not blame the IDF for following orders. One can blame them for not doing a good job following orders, or taking orders that are illegal, and not take complaints seriously.....or recognizing that they kill civilians. The fault however lies on the politicians and the people of Israel who elected them. In a democracy the people have the power to make changes for good or worse...in Israel it has been for the worse, both for the Palestinians and the Israelis. But to understand why the people elected these criminals that are now in charge, one must look at the threat the people live in on a daily basis. By electing Sharon, Israel elected a man who they thought could bring security.....Israel got more deaths instead. The people of Israel wants peace, but chose the wrong way to achive peace. Only true justice will bring peace. Justice is found in international law. Through dialogue, international recommendations and international law peace will come. Through military might, weapons, occupation and humiliation; death will come. It always has and it always will. "There is no path to peace, peace is the path" add your comments

What the hell is going on? by kurtis 10:13am Tue Oct 15 '02 print comment I'M A BLACK MAN HERE IN THE U.S.A. AND I KNOW SOME WHAT ABOUT BEING OPPRESSED. BUT I CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW THOSE FUCKING FANATIC ISREALI JEWS ARE DESTROYING THE PALESTIANS CLEARLY FOR THE SOUL PURPOSE OF STEALING THEIR LAND. MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS GOES OUT TO THE PALESTIANS WHO HAVE FOUGHT AND DIE FOR THE LIBERATION OF THE PALESTIAN PEOPLE. HOW, IS IT THAT ISREAL CAN SLAUGHTER INNOCENT LIVES INCLUDING CHILDREN JUST THROWING ROCKS AT SOLIDERS AND NO ONE IS WILLING TO STEP FOWARD AND SAID ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. BUT THE U.S.A. WANT TO DRUM UP SUPPORT FOR AN ATTACK ON IRAQ. TO BE TRUTHFUL ISREAL IS THE BIGGEST THREAT IN THE MIDDLE EAST WITH UNITED STATES AID AND SUPPORT. WHAT IS THE REAL PURPOSE OF ARIEL SHARON AND GEORGE W. BUSH. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? add your comments

Nothing new here by John Veldhuis 3:10pm Tue Oct 15 '02 print comment Well, ethnic cleansing is the basis of the Israeli state. Without the ethnic cleansing, performed in and before 1948, there would be no Israel. So, nothing new. add your comments

To Kurtis by David James Vickery 2:58pm Wed Oct 16 '02 address: Nablus, in northern PALESTINE dhoud_in_palestine@yahoo.com print comment Dear Kurtis, It's about the oil reserves in a geogrphical area known as the 'Caspian Basin'. You can search Google on this. In reality, Israel is an extension of the U.S.A.-they want to finish what they did to the native Palestinians, starting from before the State of Israel was created in 1948, this time using U.S.- supplied Apache Attack Helicopters, F-16 Warplanes, and 61 Tonne Merkava tanks made in Israel. And a lot of U.S. taxpayers' money. Israel would not exist but for ethnic cleansing. At the same time, the U.S. wants to conquer Iraq, then Iran, then Syria, so they can establish a permanent military presence in this area, thus controlling the area AND THE OIL. Its about CONTROL, POWER, MONEY, and they don't give a damn about United Nations Resolutions, past, present or future. Kurtis, I'm a Canadian who has lived and worked here in Nablus, with Palestinians, for more than a year and a half. Trust me, the only thing I have to fear is the Israeli Soldiers who can arrive at any time of the day or night, scaring the hell out of us all. (tanks rumbling by my bedroom window at 4:30 in the morning) They are the only 'terrorists' I've seen here. If you haven't already, please try reading Edward Said, or Uri Avnery. They're both good. All the best, David/Dhoud add your comments

Palestinians slaughter jewish children by muslim 6:02pm Wed Oct 16 '02 print comment stop screaming, Kurtis the truth is here: Children on both sides of the conflict have been killed in the violence. Any child's death is a tragedy, and the Jewish people mourn the loss of all lives - but especially those of children. However, the underlying causes of these deaths are different on the Palestinian side and the Israeli side. Throughout the present conflict, the Palestinian Authority has encouraged children to participate as combatants against Israelis. Children as young as 5 years old are trained in paramilitary youth groups and summer camps and are indoctrinated to hate Israelis and Jews via the PA-controlled media and school curriculum. They are told that they will become "martyrs" if they die fighting the Israelis, that they will ascend to heaven, and that their family will be monetarily compensated for their "heroism." The PA has deliberately employed a strategy that uses children as human shields to attack previously agreed-upon Israeli military positions in a 4-stage battle formation. The American Academy of Pediatrics has condemned this deliberate use of children in battle by the PA. While the majority of injured Palestinian children have been cynically used as human shields or combatants, others have been injured during Israeli retaliations to Palestinian military attacks. These deaths would not have occurred if the Palestinians did not initiate attacks against negotiated Israeli positions, Israeli settlements, Israeli towns and villages within the pre-1967 borders, or innocent Israeli civilians. Israel has not initiated any attack, but only has retaliated against PA installations that are used as staging areas for attacks against Israel. These include PA police stations that are used to launch mortar attacks against Israeli towns and villages, or the Voice of Palestine radio station that incites anti-Israel violence. Israeli children have been killed in deliberate terror attacks against innocent civilians. In some cases, Israeli children themselves have been the intentional targets of these attacks. For example, the murders of 10-month old Shelhevet Pass, who was shot in the head by a PA police sniper, and two 14-year old boys, Yosef (Yossi) Ish-Ran and Ya'acov (Kobi) Mandell, who were beaten to death and their bodies mutilated in a cave outside Tekoa. add your comments