Within Israel, some questioned the scope of the action, suggesting it was out of proportion to Hamas’s provocations.
“The military move was a mistake,” said Galia Golan, a political scientist at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya north of Tel Aviv. “It is very terrible, way beyond anything that could be justified and I don’t think it will make a difference.” [emphasis added]
Let’s hear it for disproportionate response!
Our Flemish correspondent VH suggests that it might be time to revive my graphic from a couple of years ago. He points out that the quote from the spokesman for EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana qualifies as a call for “proportionate response”:“We are very concerned at the events in Gaza. We call for an immediate ceasefire and urge everybody to exert maximum restraint.”
Israel is routinely excoriated for violating the human rights of the Palestinians by building a wall or putting up roadblocks. This article from YNet News is a reminder of what “human rights” means to Hamas:
Hamas passes bill allowing executions- - - - - - - - -
London-based al-Hayat newspaper reports Gaza parliament sanctions bill allowing whipping, hanging as standard punitive action
Where are the human rights groups? Hamas has recently passed a radical Islamic bill ushering whipping, dismembering and execution as standard punitive action into the Gaza penal code, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Hayat reported Wednesday.
According to the report, the bill passed its second reading in the Gaza Parliament, by unanimous majority of three — the only three members of parliament who were present at the meeting.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is unlikely to sanction the bill, as required by the Palestinian law, but Hamas would have little problem implementing it in Gaza — which is under its complete control.
The bill is made up of 214 subsections. Section 59 states that “any Palestinian found guilty of raising a weapon against Palestine in favor of the enemy; countering Palestine’s interests in a negotiation with a foreign government; and placing Palestine’s existence in danger by committing an act of aggression against a foreign country… will be sentenced to death.”
A similar fate awaits anyone found guilty of the following: “Joining a foreign army fighting Palestine or facilitating such action; demoralizing the Palestinian people to any of its resistance movements; spying on Palestine or engaging in espionage during wartime.”
Section 84 stipulates that anyone found guilty of “drinking to making wine will be subjected to 40 lashes… drinking and harassing the public will be punishable by 40 lashes and three months in jail.”
The whip will be used on anyone “engaging in games of chance, offending religious beliefs and defaming others’ character,” as well. The bill also calls for dismembering — mostly of the hands — of anyone convicted of theft.
VH also included a link to this Google map in his email:
©2008 Google
This map of south Israel may be interesting to your readers. Just click away the labels (in the menu “Satellite”) and look again at the border between Israel and the Sinai, the border between civilization and backwardness.
10 comments:
placing Palestine’s existence in danger by committing an act of aggression against a foreign country… will be sentenced to death
Ynet News missed this most important part of the new law: Palestine doesn't consider Israel a foreign country.
It is impossible for any western country (including Israel for these purposes) fighting Muslims anywhere be it Lebanon or Iraq to escape the rankest criticism in the leftist (most western) media which leads "world" opinion.
Hamas and its ilk do not care about civilian losses. In fact, they routinely target enemy civilians. They also use their own civilians as cover, causing their unnecessary deaths. From their point of view, it's win-win. Either western forces back off afraid of hurting civilians, or Hamas gets to parade on the TV cameras with civilian bodies bewailing the inhumanity of the enemy.
The western media turns a blind eye to this rope a dope con and the ruthlessness of Hamas and other terrorists, romanticizing them as some kind of freedom fighters instead of the most cold-blooded strategists who will sacrifice their own children to the cause of their satanic religion.
Meanwhile, not just the media, but people who should know better, like congressman Murtha say unjustified horrible things about our soldiers.
In this way, making our side fight with one arm tied behind their backs, requiring them to face people trying to kill them without killing a single civilian as collateral damage, the Left has completely sapped the tremendous technological and numbers advantage that the West would enjoy and kept backward barbarians who could have long ago been demoralized by a united front in the game.
Without a doubt, the Western Left, especially the MSM have prolonged the conflict and increased fatalities through their sapping activities.
Disproportionate response is what it takes to break the enemies' will to fight. Which is what we need.
Further, EU should stop its rather extensive material support to Gaza. That would be the easiest way to take down the Hamas regime.
Remember, the old Israeli adage:
You never bring a knife to a gun fight!
GO ISRAEL annialiate the scum!
A response I've been itching to try out...
If France were regularly shooting missiles across the channel into the south of England, we wouldn't just say "oh it's nothing, nobody got hurt, just ignore it." We'd be up in arms about the perfidious frog, the new Napoleon-complex, snail-eating cowards taking pot-shots at us! We'd consider it an act of war and proceed to blow them to hell and back.
I missed that logo.
I am a fan too... as long as that response will not fall all over me... or Serbia for that matter...
...
I think in ten years time the Antis, Leftists in general and the European Union will have a similar logo. And I also think I will not like it then. I enjoy it for now.
I read in today's Sunday Times that French politicians also think the Israel response was 'out of proportion...'
Also in the same newspaper the 'comments' section referred to the 'response to provocation' instead of self defence.
Islamic law at it's finest.
If one were to add up all of the efforts of hamas to threaten, disrupt, and harm Isreal, the responses of Israel would seem mild. Hamas targets random civilians and even if their efforts are often failed, they have certainly made a lot of them. Israel responds with precision and rapidity, AND goes in afterward to assist Palestinian civilians caught in the strikes. If the UN is so concerned about civilians they should have done something about Mugabe years ago killing white farmers. The UN is a global joke that basically hates the same ones that started it, ie the West.
Terrorist Hamas must be destroyed.
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