Israel cuts Gaza's electricity - world media calls it 'revenge'

[kamaz]

nice dose of healthy and balanced reporting by the UK Times

the headline calling the electricity cut a 'revenge' and the ever present children with candles (great sympathy factor!) are a nice touch.

pathetic.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3221871.ece?Submitted=true

[Hollis]

With the billions spent on the Palestinian "infra structure", one would think they would have become self reliant. Maybe the Egyptians would be glad to provide power for them?

[Snoshi]

With the billions spent on the Palestinian "infra structure", one would think they would have become self reliant. Maybe the Egyptians would be glad to provide power for them?

This is what i dont understand...
Why should Israel supply electricity and water to a hostile territory which is ruled by a faction that calls for Israel's destruction?

The money that Hamas ministers bring thought Rafah could have been use to build infrastructure instead of wasting them on explosives and other weapons.

[kamaz]

some of the user comments on that link are grossly disturbing, comparisons to the Nazis, and all kinds of ugly accusations.

[JJC]

This reminds me of how the media played into Hezbullah's hands. Gaza power plant did not run out of fuel. Hamas Chose to shut it down after it first invited the media and children with candles. Not many articles are reporting the facts that Israel's and Egypt's power plants are continuing to pump about 70% of electricity to Gaza, so it's not like the entire Gaza is dark and hungry as the media portrays it.

[SOG]

This is what i dont understand...
Why should Israel supply electricity and water to a hostile territory which is ruled by a faction that calls for Israel's destruction?

The money that Hamas ministers bring thought Rafah could have been use to build infrastructure instead of wasting them on explosives and other weapons.

I thought the same thing, but then I thought of the situation over here. Why don't we close our border tight with Mexico against drugs and illegal immigrants? Just curious, how much cheap labor does Israel get from the Palestinian side? Is it enough to tolerate the constant tit for tat?

I wonder if the illegals etc coming in provide such a useful service that we tolerate the millions sent back and jobs taken across multiple States. There has got to be a reason in any case.

[Ordie]

This sorta reminds me of a scene in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome movie where Master Blaster (a dwarf techie in a backpack with a giant thug) cuts power to the city to remind Auntie (Tina Turner) who's really in charge of Bartertown.

[LaoSexMachine]

With the billions spent on the Palestinian "infra structure", one would think they would have become self reliant. Maybe the Egyptians would be glad to provide power for them?

by the time it gets to the people it's not enough. waste of my tax dollars.

[Ordie]

Just curious, how much cheap labor does Israel get from the Palestinian side?

Little now.

Filipinos, Romanians, South Americans, Thai's and others now fill the void. In fact there's a community of Filipino Transvestite Caregivers of the elderly in Israel.

[that_one_guy]

Little now.

Filipinos, Romanians, South Americans, Thai's and others now fill the void. In fact there's a community of Filipino Transvestite Caregivers of the elderly in Israel.

seriously?

That's one export I didn't hear about when I went back to the Philippines...

[non]

With the billions spent on the Palestinian "infra structure", one would think they would have become self reliant. Maybe the Egyptians would be glad to provide power for them?

Egypt does provide something like 5-10% of Gaza's power. Israel provides (number variance depending on source; sorry.) somewhere between 65-75%. The Gaza plant provides the rest. It's the border closure that's cut off the fuel to the Gaza plant that is causing the potential "humanitarian crisis". You'd think it was the largest catastrophe in the world by the reporting in some sources. It's a sad situation, but kind of insulting to more severe "criseses" in recent history. To say the least.
I'm not saying I know myself, but, the fact that Israel provides such a majority of the areas power gives it no small advantage. Perhaps, Israel doesn't mind the 'burden'. These subjects are sensitive, I know, and I'm merely doing the devil's advocate thing. I swear.

[Masai]

the palestinians are gonna milk this for all they can.

we will heard stories of people dying on operation tables soon....

bah! whatever

[Snoshi]

the palestinians are gonna milk this for all they can.

we will heard stories of people dying on operation tables soon....

bah! whatever

I think that Hamas already told that 5 people died and that they had heavy choice to do. Either close the power in baby room or close the power in heart surgery room..

[gilgoul]

NO TOTAL POWER CUT IN GAZA!
Israel still provides like a sucker about 60% of Gaza electricity.
That the Hamas prefers to run Qassam workshops instead of hospitals is in no extend whatsoever Israel responsibility.
That the MSM (israeli included) falls once again in the cheap thrill only tells of their bias.
If there is any hardship right now, well, Egypt can open it's border further, it does so for the smuggling of weaponry, so one or two trucks of "humanitarian aid" can also find it's way among the tons of explosives and the millions of bullets.

Talk about feeding the dog who bites you.

[zad]

With the billions spent on the Palestinian "infra structure", one would think they would have become self reliant. Maybe the Egyptians would be glad to provide power for them?

Most of the civil infraestructure build with foreign aid has been destroyed by Israel army during second intifada, Gaza airport is an example, the destruction of roads by bulldozers or bridges by aviation is other.


The destruction of the 140-megawatt reactor, the only one in the Gaza Strip, threatens to create a humanitarian disaster because the plant supplies electricity to two-thirds of Gaza's 1.3 million residents and operates pumps that provide water supplies.

Israeli warplanes hit the power plant two days after Palestinian militants attacked an Israeli Army unit, killing two soldiers and taking another one hostage. Israeli forces responded yesterday by entering the Gaza Strip for the first time since Israel's historic pullout from the territory nine months ago, bombing the plant and three bridges.
The power plant cost about $150 million and took more than five years to build.
Plans for it began in 1999, when two private investors -- the now-defunct Enron Corp. and a Palestinian-born construction mogul, Said Khoury -- laid down the blueprint for making the Palestinian territories less reliant on buying electricity from Israel.
The project faltered when violence broke out in Gaza in 2000 and when Enron collapsed into bankruptcy, but Khoury continued to push forward. His construction company's US subsidiary, Connecticut-based Morganti Group, bought out Enron's stake in the plant.
In 2002, the plant began operating, becoming the first such facility regulated by the Palestinian Energy Authority. In 2004, it reached full commercial capacity and its owners were able to purchase $48 million in ``political risk" insurance from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation , an arm of the US government that provides American businesses with financing abroad and promotes US interests in emerging markets.


http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/06/29/gaza_power_plant_hit_by_israeli_airstrike_is_insured_by_us_agency/



On 28 June 2006, Israeli aircraft fired eight missiles into the Gaza Strip’s only electricity power plant, destroying its six transformers, and bombed and destroyed the main bridges. These and other air strikes also damaged water and sewage and electricity networks. At the same time, Israeli forces air-dropped leaflets in the northern Gaza Strip warning residents of impending military strikes in the area, sowing fear and insecurity among the tens of thousands of people who live there and have nowhere else to go.

The destruction of the electricity power plant, which provided electricity to half of Gaza’s 1.4 million inhabitants, seriously affected water supplies, as water pumps depend on electricity to function. Most of Gaza’s inhabitants were left without electricity and water for much of the time during the hottest months of the year. Hospitals were forced to rely on generators, but Israel also restricted entry of the fuel needed to power the generators. Food and medicines, already in short supply due to the restrictions imposed by Israel on the entry of goods into the Gaza Strip, could not be refrigerated and were left to rot. In August, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) ascribed a 56 per cent increase in the incidence of diarrhoea among small children to poor water and food. Repairs to the electricity power plant and other damaged infrastructure were hampered by Israeli restrictions on the import of equipment, machinery and other goods into Gaza.

Although stringent restrictions on the movement of people and goods in the Occupied Territories have long been a dominant feature of Israel’s policy, the extent of the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for most of 2006 has been unprecedented. Its consequence has been devastating.

In a period of more than three months between June and October 2006, the Rafah pedestrian crossing was open for a total of only 12 days. The repeated and prolonged closures of the Karni cargo crossing caused shortages of food and other necessities, including an unprecedented rationing of bread earlier in the year.13

The long blockade of the crossing also halted the export of Palestinian goods, causing waste of perishable agricultural exports and a loss of markets for these and other exports. The blockade resulted in the closure of 920 small factories, which in December 2005 employed 25,500 workers, as they were no longer able to export their products.14Such measures deprived Palestinians of a crucial source of income, worsening the already high level of poverty in the Gaza Strip. In addition, thousands of fishermen and other workers in the fishing industry lost their livelihoods due to the ban imposed by Israel on Palestinians going out to sea off the coast of Gaza.16


http://www.amnesty.org/en/alfresco_asset/ad1d2c9e-a4ad-11dc-bac9-0158df32ab50/mde150932006en.html

[achilles]

This is what i dont understand...
Why should Israel supply electricity and water to a hostile territory which is ruled by a faction that calls for Israel's destruction?

Perhaps because cutting the electricity supply makes many Palestinian civilians suffer?


The money that Hamas ministers bring thought Rafah could have been use to build infrastructure instead of wasting them on explosives and other weapons.

I wouldnt be so eager to build infrastructure in my garden if my neighbour was razing it to the ground every now and then.
http://www.turks.us/article.php?story=2006062822523560


In any case, its a good think that Israel responded positively to international brickbats, for practices that belong to other periods of history.

[Calanen]

Perhaps because cutting the electricity supply makes many Palestinian civilians suffer?



If there are no consequences to firing hundreds of rockets into Israel, then there is no incentive for them to cease doing so. The government and the terrorists on the Palestinian side also use electricity. It may be unfortunate that civilians suffer because of the actions of terrorists, but that is the terrorists fault, not that of Israel. Israel shows remarkable restraint with continued provocations against it. You cannot expect Israel to keep providing services like this, if the government on the Palestinian side will not take steps necessary to prevent terror being inflicted across the border in Israel.

This is war, not a boxing match according to Marquis of Queensbury rules. And even if it was, the terrorists on the Palestinian side can hardly claim the higher moral ground.

One would expect also that if a neighbour of Greece was firing rockets into Hellenic territory, Greece would be doing more than shutting off the power.

[achilles]

If there are no consequences to firing hundreds of rockets into Israel, then there is no incentive for them to cease doing so. The government and the terrorists on the Palestinian side also use electricity. It may be unfortunate that civilians suffer because of the actions of terrorists, but that is the terrorists fault, not that of Israel. Israel shows remarkable restraint with continued provocations against it. You cannot expect Israel to keep providing services like this, if the government on the Palestinian side will not take steps necessary to prevent terror being inflicted across the border in Israel.

Targeting those who actually fire rockets against Israel is one thing, and crippling the ability of the Palestinian people as a whole to live decently is another.

It is the Israelis who claim that terrorism is aiming at civilians, first and foremost.


One would expect also that if a neighbour of Greece was firing rockets into Hellenic territory, Greece would be doing more than shutting off the power.

Although this is purely hypothetical, i could say that Greece would aim at those who are trully responsible for hostile actions.

[Snoshi]

Targeting those who actually fire rockets against Israel is one thing, and crippling the ability of the Palestinian people as a whole to live decently is another.

It is the Israelis who claim that terrorism is aiming at civilians, first and foremost.


Israel does.. Last week IDF killed 19 Palestinians of whom 17 were militants.. And guess what.. Abbas and the world blamed IDF for escalation and massacre...

Sometimes patience must end.

[Snoshi]

Hamas’ PR trap
Hamas produced the simplest, most primitive and most transparent propaganda video clip – and again we were caught unprepared and without an adequate response.

The State of Israel, on all its wise people and spokespersons, fell into the public relations trap laid by Hamas and went silent with fear. There was nobody who would remind the world that there are children and elderly in Sderot as well. There was no one who presented the sick Palestinians who are leaving Gaza to receive medical treatment in Israel despite the closure (just yesterday, 130 patients left the Strip – twice the average daily number).

There was also nobody out there who would ask how come there was no electricity for hospitals in Gaza, yet there was electricity for Hamas’ TV station? Besides that, does anyone really believe that a power station as large as the one in Gaza keeps diesel fuel reserves that last for only a day and a half? Such lies can only be sold to those who really want to buy into them.

Suddenly, there is nobody who will remind the Israeli public that the IDF had the upper hand in the latest round. It’s a fact – the greater the pressure exerted on the Strip, the greater the decline in Qassam rocket attacks. They fold, and the IDF continues to hit hard. So we won this battle, but in the fight for perception we continue to look like a plucked dog with its tail between its legs.

The moment the defense minister announced that we are renewing the supply of diesel to the Strip, this was akin to an admission of guilt: As if we’ve done something wrong. As if there is really no electricity in Gaza because of us. As if we are really responsible for the death of five people in a Gaza hospital. Egyptian President Mubarak called, and we became weak in the knees.

The defense minister should declare that not only will diesel not be allowed into the Strip – even a drop of gasoline will not be allowed into the Strip. He should say that there is no reason for Israel to supply transportation for the Qassams. If the Palestinians insist on firing them, let them carry them on their backs or on donkeys.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3497299,00.html

[sosed]

Palestinian territories are under Israel occupation and by Geneva conventions occupator state must ensure elementary supplies and infrastructure to occupied people. What Israel is doing now in Gaza is war crime and genocide and for this must Israely leaders be judged in trial like nazis in Nuremberg, because this is same as Himmler and his SS do to other nations. If Gaza is not Occupied territory than Why Israel blocs Gazas borders with Egypt and Gazas coast that they could not get supplies from the sea or from Egypt?

[Snoshi]

Palestinian territories are under Israel occupation and by Geneva conventions occupator state must ensure elementary supplies and infrastructure to occupied people. What Israel is doing now in Gaza is war crime and genocide and for this must Israely leaders be judged in trial like nazis in Nuremberg, because this is same as Himmler and his SS do to other nations. If Gaza is not Occupied territory than Why Israel blocs Gazas borders with Egypt and Gazas coast that they could not get supplies from the sea or from Egypt?

hmm.. One simple answer... Because Israel is at war with Hamas? And as soon as it opens the border you will see a repeat of 2000 suicide bombings.

And Israel does not block Egyptian border with Gaza(i whish it did), Egypt control Rafah crossing.

Did Russia supply electricity to Grozny during first war and between the wars?

[budgie]

Did Russia supply electricity to Grozny during first war and between the wars?

This is not a medieval castle siege - there has to be a better way of dealing with the Palestinian problem than "starving them out".

[Hollis]

This topic was pretty civil till a last few post. Let's keep the extreme condemnations to something closer to what actually has happened.

[sosed]

Geneva convetions are clear here. Every occupied nation have right to fight for its freedom and ocupator force must ensure elementary supplies. Fighting against the rebels must not include civilians. For the sample in 1941 german nazis after some fighting against partisans kill 6000 civilians in Kragujevac and 4000 civilians in Kraljevo In Serbia what was clear war crime. The same was nazi Warsaw gheto for jews, crimes in Russia etc. Israel have rights to fight against rebels but according to Geneva conventions.

As I know Chechnya have electricity and elementary supplies in both wars, which was interrupted because of heavy fightings.

I think it will be better for Israel to start talking with hamas than fighting them, while hamas win democratic elections in Palestinian territory. To get real peace with Palestinians you have to talk with both hamas and fatah.

[Paiste]

Sometimes I wonder of the Israeli-Palestine case is ever going to get solved.
It seems like a never ending cat and mouse game between both the Israeli and Palestine ''governement''.
Too bad it are the Israeli and Palestinian CIVILIANS who are suffering from this on a daily basis. One thing I know for sure, by cutting electricity or by firing rockets into Israeli territory you are only going to make it worse. As long as extremists are ruling both countries, this war will never ever end.

[sosed]

This is what I want to say. Peace process must be between enemies and Israel enemies are Syria, Iran, Hamas and Hesbollah and with them they have to start to talk. What is the point of peace process between friend states? They are already friends and in peace. Excluding your enemies from peace process is just peace process for show and nothing more.

On the other hand Geneva conventions must be for all the same war crime is war crime, whoever do it. For now only german nazis and serbs (Milošević, Mladić) were under trials. It seem that only if you are not US ally you will be judged for war crimes, but US and Israel and US allies have immunity on war crime trials. this double standards really made me angry. What is the difference between palestinian civilians under Israel war crimes and bosniak civilians under serb war crimes?

[Hollis]

This is what I want to say. Peace process must be between enemies and Israel enemies are Syria, Iran, Hamas and Hesbollah and with them they have to start to talk. What is the point of peace process between friend states? They are already friends and in peace. Excluding your enemies from peace process is just peace process for show and nothing more.

On the other hand Geneva conventions must be for all the same war crime is war crime, whoever do it. For now only german nazis and serbs (Milošević, Mladić) were under trials. It seem that only if you are not US ally you will be judged for war crimes, but US and Israel and US allies have immunity on war crime trials. this double standards really made me angry. What is the difference between palestinian civilians under Israel war crimes and bosniak civilians under serb war crimes?


This constant USA bashing makes me angry too, Enjoy the holiday.

[kamaz]

Although this is purely hypothetical, i could say that Greece would aim at those who are trully responsible for hostile actions.

offcourse Greece would, because its so simple you see! The ones that commit hostile actions wear different colored clothing and never ever mix with civilian population. Greece is so much more noble in her actions, obviously.

Nevermind the fact that the majority of Gaza's civilians voted for a genocidal terror gang to be their leaders, knowing full well their goals and speeches and modus operandi.

When will this whine fest and Palestinian grievance theatre end and when will they be counted to take on the responsibility of their own actions??

Who in their right mind would provide fuel and resources to the very people who vow to kill you??

[Zombie Squad]

Targeting those who actually fire rockets against Israel is one thing, and crippling the ability of the Palestinian people as a whole to live decently is another.

It is the Israelis who claim that terrorism is aiming at civilians, first and foremost.



Although this is purely hypothetical, i could say that Greece would aim at those who are trully responsible for hostile actions.

You don't understand. It's military strategy, has nothing to do on aiming for civilians, or making civilians suffer.

[IsraDani]

blockade against an hostile country is a pretty common practice during a war, you know.Angry about it?Well, then tell hamas to accept the Oslo directives and stop the rockets barrage.

[tanks_alot]

Bad move by Israel, it walked right into a PR trap that could have been seen miles away and there isn't any way to leave it while saving face, it's going to end up as another Hamas victory, as far as the Palestinians are concerned.

However, those that are screaming about how unethical this move is, are in the end dooming at the very least hundreds of Palestinians, and dozens of Israeli soldiers. because unless you've noticed, Israel has been dragging it's feet towards a large scale Gaza operation, for a very long time now, while trying to pull every possible move in order to prevent it. and of course the people that are now saying that blocking the borders is an inhuman, collective punishment, were saying last week when the IDF killed doznes of gunmen and the rockets still kept falling, that it's a brutal unproportionate move.
and when the IAF was targeting the big chiefs of the terror organizations, they've called it political assignations and war crimes. and when the IDF placed artillery batteries in order to fire at the Qassam launching points, after the first time a family was hit (because the terrorists are firing from urban centeres) they've screamed again about unproportionate responses and how the IDF is firing randomly at civilians, so the IDF removed the big guns... and the rockets still kept falling.

So by now, i think it's safe to say that no matter what kind of tactic Israel will employ, the usual suspects will still scream murder and because of the dense settings of Gaza and the tactics of the terror groups, innocents will get in the way, but what we can't ignore is that Israel is almost out of tricks, you might see soon the IAF targeting the Hamas political leaders in order to get them to cave in, but there really is little standing between a large scale Gaza operation, which will be very bloody on everyone involved.

[achilles]

offcourse Greece would, because its so simple you see! The ones that commit hostile actions wear different colored clothing and never ever mix with civilian population. Greece is so much more noble in her actions, obviously.

Greeks problems and Israeli problems are not comparable anyway you look at it.


Nevermind the fact that the majority of Gaza's civilians voted for a genocidal terror gang to be their leaders, knowing full well their goals and speeches and modus operandi.

When will this whine fest and Palestinian grievance theatre end and when will they be counted to take on the responsibility of their own actions??

Who in their right mind would provide fuel and resources to the very people who vow to kill you??

Hamas does not conduct referendums before proceeding with rocket firing, now does it?

[SOG]

Targeting those who actually fire rockets against Israel is one thing, and crippling the ability of the Palestinian people as a whole to live decently is another.

The only thing crippling the Palestinians ability to live in peace is themselves. Money, aid, work? They have it, they refuse to use it. The people let themselves be controlled to their own detriment.

Their former "glorious" leader:

In August 2002, the Israeli Military Intelligence Chief said that Arafat's personal wealth was USD $1.3 billion,[81] but provided no material evidence for this claim. In 2003 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conducted an audit of the PNA and stated that Arafat diverted $900 million in public funds to a special bank account controlled by Arafat and the PNA Chief Economic Financial adviser. However, the IMF did not claim that there were any improprieties, and it specifically stated that most of the funds had been used to invest in Palestinian assets, both internally and abroad.[82]

-->Also in 2003, a team of American accountants – hired by Arafat's own finance ministry – began examining Arafat's finances. The team claimed that part of the Palestinian leader's wealth was in a secret portfolio worth close to $1 billion, with investments in companies like a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Ramallah, a Tunisian cell phone company and venture capital funds in the US and the Cayman Islands. The head of the investigation stated that "although the money for the portfolio came from public funds like Palestinian taxes, virtually none of it was used for the Palestinian people; it was all controlled by Arafat. And none of these dealings were made public."[83]

-->Although Arafat always lived a modest lifestyle, Dennis Ross, former Middle East negotiator for Presidents George H.W. Bush and Clinton, stated that Arafat's "walking-around money" financed a vast patronage system known as neopatrimonialism. According to Salam Fayyad, - a former World Bank official whom Arafat appointed Finance Minister of the PNA in 2002 - Arafat's commodity monopolies could accurately be seen as gouging his own people, "especially in Gaza which is poorer, which is something that is totally unacceptable and immoral." Fayyad claims that Arafat used $20 million from public funds to pay the leadership of the PNA security forces (the Preventive Security Service) alone.[83]

An investigation by the European Union into claims that their funds were misused by the Palestinian Authority found no evidence that funds were diverted to finance terrorist activities.[84] Fuad Shubaki, former financial aide to Arafat, told the Israeli security service Shin Bet that Arafat used several million dollars of aid money to buy weapons and support militant groups.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasser_Arafat

If the people do not have the will to break free then they will continue to be the pawns of their leaders and a victim of Israels fighting against their leaders radicalism.

[achilles]

The only thing crippling the Palestinians ability to live in peace is themselves. Money, aid, work? They have it, they refuse to use it. The people let themselves be controlled to their own detriment.

So Israel has done everything right?

[kamaz]

Greeks problems and Israeli problems are not comparable anyway you look at it.


not they arent, what Im telling you is that Greece would not be dealing with this type of situation in any more honorable or noble manner than Israelis. Greece for decades has been preaching to Israel about human rights and morality re: the palestinian issue, giving sanctuary to murderers, as in the Nazareth church incident a few yrs ago. How do you propose they deal with people who have signed a charter stating their intent is to murder and destroy.

THis isnt about any occupation or the 'humiliation' nonsense that has been fed to the world by the media last 20 yrs, Gaza isnt occupied by anyone except Hamas. Any action Israelis take to protect themselves, no matter how benign is deemed a 'war crime' or 'disproportionate', whatever that means.

Then you have morons on here comparing Israelis to Nazis, for simply refusing to give resources to a bunch of Islamo-thugs with a bloody ideology.

Everyone is quick to point and condemn, while sleeping soundly in their comfortable countries, surrounded by socialist european brethren with no threats of rockets falling on their own children.



Hamas does not conduct referendums before proceeding with rocket firing, now does it?

oh sure, like it needs to. Every citizen of Gaza who voted for these animals is quiet well aware of their ideology, terrorism and methods, including firing rockets at civilians.

I guarantee you that if the Turks started bombarding Greek cities and civilians with rockets, all while whining about lost electricity, Greece would be at war within hours. Israel is obviously held to another standard, as the jew of the nations.

[kamaz]

So Israel has done everything right?

obviously not, since this latest PR propaganda war is being waged by Hamas very successfully.

Its amazing what a few strategically placed pictures of kids with candles will do to generate world sympathy and deflect attention from their degenerate government and deplorable rocket attacks on civilians. Israel is definitely not waging the PR war correctly.

In these days, PR is everything.

[kamaz]

and to prove that there is an obvious double standard for Israel, just take a look at world reactions to similar instances of counter terrorism for other nations.

There is a humongous outrage at Israel for cutting off part of electricity to a hostile entity, no deaths or military ops, just electricity, yet when the Lebanese army had to clear a hostile Palestinian camp this past fall, there was not a peep from the world or the big human rights people. Lebanese army went in and used artillery to wipe out neighborhoods of a palestinian islamist group, killed hundreds of palestinians, and not a peep was heard from anyone. Nothing.

But a mere threat to cut off electricity to the Hamas degenerates creates an uproar. I wonder why.

[Ordie]

I think it was a smart move on the Israeli's part.
A reminder to Gazans on who holds real power (pun intended) over them.

Israel cares about its security, not international image.

[Snoshi]

Hamas shows world images of kids weeping by candlelight, yet Israel does nothing to publicize fact it supplied electricity to Gaza for years despite violence, Qassam attacks

Ingrained into the international psyche is the haunting image of Gaza’s children, weeping by candlelight in wake of Israel’s blackout of the Strip.

Lost in these haunting, heart-wrenching images is the little known fact that Israel continued to supply electricity to Gaza even after the disengagement, and also in wake of repeated violence and Qassam rocket attacks. Al-Jazeera’s broadcast of these images also seemed to be more than conveniently timed.

Israel appears to be failing yet again in its PR efforts opposite Hamas, according to former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s spokesman Ra’anan Gissin.

“Just like we failed to handle the shooting of 12-year-old Palestinian boy Mohammed al-Dura, we are failing in our management of this blackout as well.We can’t very well tell the world at this point that Hamas itself is to blame for this situation,” said Gissin.

The Gaza blackout once again indicates that Hamas is emphatically winning the media war, noted Gissin.

“The Palestinians are using the media as a weapon, just like the Iranians are doing in their battle with the US. It is said that the western world, the originator of the modern media, fails to use it as a tool to further its own ends,” said Gissin.

Sharon’s former spokesman further stated that the west must now “fight back relentlessly and at full force, and launch a media counter-attack. It is images that the world needs to see, not words, and Israel must disclose these images even at the risk of exposing classified information.”

To counter these stark images of darkness and suffering, Israel must show the world the bright and illuminated path that it follows, suggested Gissin.

“We must show the world how Hamas suffocates Gaza’s residents and does not allow them to earn a living. The world must conversely see how Israel treats Palestinian patients at its hospitals, even though allowing them to cross into Israel can potentially endanger Israeli live,” he said.


'PR counter-attack needed'
Zvi Mazel, former Israeli ambassador to Egypt and Sweden, echoed Gissin’s statements, and stated that the Israeli Foreign Ministry should roll up its sleeves and launch a massive media counter-attack against Hamas.

“Hamas receives massive coverage on the al-Jazeera news network, where as there are European countries that have never even heard of Sderot. The Foreign Ministry and the foreign minister should be interviewing 24-7 and they have failed to do that even after Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah’s speech. Official response to that speech came from the IDF, not the Foreign Ministry,“ said Mazel.

In stark contrast to these claims of PR defeat, Former Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Liel, stated that Israel has done all that it possibly can on the hostile media front, even when faced with highly unfavorable conditions.

“Israel is portraying events in the country as best it can, but even the most seasoned public relations manager cannot convince the world that Israelis are suffering more than their Palestinian counterparts.

"The gap between the daily lives of Israelis and Palestinians is so very vast that not media manipulation can possibly bridge it,” said Liel.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3497424,00.html
http://www.ynetnews.com/PicServer2/02012008/1355197/SJS10_wa.jpg

[Paiste]

Bad move by Israel, it walked right into a PR trap that could have been seen miles away and there isn't any way to leave it while saving face, it's going to end up as another Hamas victory, as far as the Palestinians are concerned.

However, those that are screaming about how unethical this move is, are in the end dooming at the very least hundreds of Palestinians, and dozens of Israeli soldiers. because unless you've noticed, Israel has been dragging it's feet towards a large scale Gaza operation, for a very long time now, while trying to pull every possible move in order to prevent it. and of course the people that are now saying that blocking the borders is an inhuman, collective punishment, were saying last week when the IDF killed doznes of gunmen and the rockets still kept falling, that it's a brutal unproportionate move.
and when the IAF was targeting the big chiefs of the terror organizations, they've called it political assignations and war crimes. and when the IDF placed artillery batteries in order to fire at the Qassam launching points, after the first time a family was hit (because the terrorists are firing from urban centeres) they've screamed again about unproportionate responses and how the IDF is firing randomly at civilians, so the IDF removed the big guns... and the rockets still kept falling.

So by now, i think it's safe to say that no matter what kind of tactic Israel will employ, the usual suspects will still scream murder and because of the dense settings of Gaza and the tactics of the terror groups, innocents will get in the way, but what we can't ignore is that Israel is almost out of tricks, you might see soon the IAF targeting the Hamas political leaders in order to get them to cave in, but there really is little standing between a large scale Gaza operation, which will be very bloody on everyone involved.

Interesting post


The only thing crippling the Palestinians ability to live in peace is themselves

That is a pretty dangerous and worrying way of looking at things if you ask me.
Why not blame the thousands of poor children who obviously voted for Hamas? They obviously are born as terrorists and deserve to be treated that way as soon as they come out of their mothers belly. *sarcasm*
You dont have to forget that there are still tons of CIVILIANS out there who are stuck in between the two sides and wish nothing more then to live in peace together with the Israeli people. They deserve a little respect I would say. The same goes for the Israeli children though. You can not unite two sides by dividing them in the first place. Mutual respect is the way to go and that goes for BOTH sides of the conflict.

[Hollis]

Interesting post



That is a pretty dangerous and worrying way of looking at things if you ask me.
Why not blame the thousands of poor children who obviously voted for Hamas? They obviously are born as terrorists and deserve to be treated that way as soon as they come out of their mothers belly. *sarcasm*
You dont have to forget that there are still tons of CIVILIANS out there who are stuck in between the two sides and wish nothing more then to live in peace together with the Israeli people. They deserve a little respect I would say. The same goes for the Israeli children though. You can not unite two sides by dividing them in the first place. Mutual respect is the way to go and that goes for BOTH sides of the conflict.


Your assumptions is that it is mutual combat, both parties are agreeing to fight each other. That sort of ignore a lot of History of Israel being invaded by armies and terrorists. Also giving back the Siani to the Egyptians also demonstrate they (Israel) are not in for the a "land grab" as they are often accused of.

A strong view if the Tangos would put their weapons there would be peace. If the Israels put down their weapons they would be dead.

[gilgoul]

What you all fail to understand, is that there is NO real blackout in Gaza!
Israel still provides for between 60 to 70% of Gaza electricity, and Egypt for 5%.
BTW, Egypt could easily increase the output to 15% without infrastructure change.

All in all, yet another Hamas PR trick we all fall in for.

Disgusting manipulation, and another easy Israel bashing, to the point that the caves in our government cave in, until, as Tanksalot pointed out, they gonna have to go for a major operation, that won't be easy on anyone.

So Israel is in a lose lose situation, we'd rather get used to it, and do what we need to do without caring too much about PR.
First, because we aren't that good at that apparently, second, because we could be the best it wouldn't change much the coverage we get anyway, too easy to condemn the small guy far away, eager to apologize to exist even.
Pathetic

[gilgoul]

I find it tragically amusing:

90 wounded by Egyptians near Gaza




Egypt delivered a strong warning to Gaza's Hamas government on Tuesday after thousands of Palestinians stormed the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing.

More here (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1200572514331&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFullI)

[IsraDani]

Sometimes I take a wild guess about it and I end up thinking that most of the people just wants to see this non-existent humantiarian crisis just like the so called jenin massacre and many other events.I tried to imagine what would happen if it was the israeli police to beat that women at rafah,what we would see now in the infamous media.
The thing is getting even more comic if you think that those assholes fire their qassam to the ashkelon power station, which supplies the 70% of their needs if I recall correctly.The workers of that power station risk their lifes every day also for the gazans but no one seems to really give a shyte about that either.
Well, I guess we are used to it.Better alive and hated.
Anyway,If they want a real blackout I would give them with pleasure.This situation has to going somewhere and we have our goals to achieve.

[Hollis]

I think what some of these people fail to realize, that supporting Anti-Israeli propaganda is killing the Palestinian people.

And they think they are supporting the Palestinian people.

[gilgoul]

I think what some of these people fail to realize, that supporting Anti-Israeli propaganda is killing the Palestinian people.

And they think they are supporting the Palestinian people.

Right on Hollis.
Tell that to your congressman.

[kamaz]

I find it tragically amusing:

90 wounded by Egyptians near Gaza




Egypt delivered a strong warning to Gaza's Hamas government on Tuesday after thousands of Palestinians stormed the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing.

More here (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1200572514331&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFullI)

i cant wait for world press to condemn Egypt and its handling of the poor and oppressed Palestinians. They behave just like Nazis!! ... oh wait.

[achilles]

I think what some of these people fail to realize, that supporting Anti-Israeli propaganda is killing the Palestinian people.


Is this your outlook of the whole conflict? Its only the Palestinians' fault?

I agree that the Palestinians are also responsible for their fate but apart from that innocent Palestinians are being killed by Israeli bullets, apaches and bulldozers. Thats a fact we all need to accept.

As for the current crisis, what i know is that approximately 700,000 Palestinians have fled so far to Egypt. This is certainly a humanitarian crisis which cannot be justified by a bunch of Qassam rockets launched; an equally damnable action against Israel.

Lets not be hypocritical about it.

[alexz]

Is this your outlook of the whole conflict? Its only the Palestinians' fault?

I agree that the Palestinians are also responsible for their fate but apart from that innocent Palestinians are being killed by Israeli bullets, apaches and bulldozers. Thats a fact we all need to accept.

As for the current crisis, what i know is that approximately 700,000 Palestinians have fled so far to Egypt. This is certainly a humanitarian crisis which cannot be justified by a bunch of Qassam rockets launched; an equally damnable action against Israel.

Lets not be hypocritical about it.

If I may use your logic against you?
Then I believe Greece shouldn't exist, you should convert to Judisdem or be killed and we demand Greece provids as with all that is required to sustain life! In return Israel will lunch Jericho-3 missile on Athens after every fuel and food delivery. However, we do accept some blame since we wouldn't want to be hypocritical about it.

[Hollis]

Is this your outlook of the whole conflict? Its only the Palestinians' fault?

I agree that the Palestinians are also responsible for their fate but apart from that innocent Palestinians are being killed by Israeli bullets, apaches and bulldozers. Thats a fact we all need to accept.

As for the current crisis, what i know is that approximately 700,000 Palestinians have fled so far to Egypt. This is certainly a humanitarian crisis which cannot be justified by a bunch of Qassam rockets launched; an equally damnable action against Israel.

Lets not be hypocritical about it.


From reading your past posts, your bias is noted. Did I say it was the Palestinian fault. Re-read, I stated, "I think what some of these people fail to realize, that supporting Anti-Israeli propaganda is killing the Palestinian people."

Look at the title of the thread. "Israel cuts Gaza's electricity - world media calls it 'revenge' "

The Palestinians are not the world media, or those influenced by the world media, like you.

Arafat became a billionaire on making the Palestinian people suffer. The more they suffered, the more Arafat made. Look at how Hamas plays the media (read the post in this thread). People like you buy into it. You all use the catch word terms, like occupation. Gaza is currently occupied and controlled by Hamas, not the Israelis.

Who controlled all the aid money that went to the PA? The PA not the Israelis. Who allows terrorist cells to operate with out penalty in their controlled area, the PA. No country in the world would tolerate the existance that has been force on the Israeli to endure. The suffering of the Palestinian people have only served and enriched who, the PA!

With all the Aid money given to the PA, who did not use it to build a infrastructure, but kept the Palestinians linked to Israelis for necessities? The PA!

The Palestinian people deserve peace, put they sure don't need the international media's support, that has made the PA rich and for them to suffer.

BTW, have you even read what happens to Palestinian News reporters in the PA areas that challenge the PA?

There is no free press or free speech in the PA controlled areas.

Maybe you might figure out the Repression of the Palestinian people come from the PA and friends if your are ever freed of your anti-Israeli bias.

BTW, I am all for a Free Palestine.

BTW, I am not bothering to address you remark that is nothing but hot air:

"Lets not be hypocritical about it."

[orionhawk]

I'm thinking this a major portion of the whole point of this thread, right here...


What you all fail to understand, is that there is NO real blackout in Gaza!
Israel still provides for between 60 to 70% of Gaza electricity, and Egypt for 5%.
BTW, Egypt could easily increase the output to 15% without infrastructure change.

All in all, yet another Hamas PR trick we all fall in for.