Operation pillar of cloud. Israeli assault on Gaza

[Delroy Booth]

Iran presents an interesting and somewhat contradictory issue. They did indeed supply the resistance with Farj 5s and helped build tunnels etc. However Iran's role as a regional power is under threat. Most obviously in Syria where their ally Assad is in big trouble. It is significant that Hamas have distanced themselves from Assad in recent years. Earlier this year they publicly supported the Syrian opposition and condemned Assad. Iran for its part is building relations with smaller resistance groups such as Islamic Jihad.

What we are seeing is the growth of the Muslim Brotherhood across the region. It is in power in Egypt. It is leading the protests in Jordan where it is confident enough to call for the overthrow of the King. It is amongst the Syrian opposition and it is a natural ally of Hamas who come from that tradition. I think we are witnessing Hamas move away from Iran and towards the Muslim Brotherhood and I think we are witnessing the rise of a Muslim Brotherhood axis spreading across the region something which raises interesting questions about the future relationship between Hamas and Egypt and Egypt's relationship to Israel.

I'd be interested to see how these countries within the orbit of the Muslim Brotherhood deal with Iraq, which is historically dominated by a ruling class of sunni's, but has a substantial shi'ite population more likely to side with Iran than the Muslim Brotherhood. Iraq's the faultline, looking back it's not hard to see why the US was so keen to have soldiers and a compliant government there.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

The rise of the MB is interesting, not quite the mad Muslim extremists they've been made out to be, perhaps statehood has 'moderated' them or are they just biding their time?

 

[elbows]

The rise of the MB is interesting, not quite the mad Muslim extremists they've been made out to be, perhaps statehood has 'moderated' them or are they just biding their time?

'Brothers of the 1%' is a phrase that popped up here after Morsi won.

 

[elbows]

What we are seeing is the growth of the Muslim Brotherhood across the region. It is in power in Egypt. It is leading the protests in Jordan where it is confident enough to call for the overthrow of the King. It is amongst the Syrian opposition and it is a natural ally of Hamas who come from that tradition. I think we are witnessing Hamas move away from Iran and towards the Muslim Brotherhood and I think we are witnessing the rise of a Muslim Brotherhood axis spreading across the region something which raises interesting questions about the future relationship between Hamas and Egypt and Egypt's relationship to Israel.

And Qatar seem to be quite friendly with the MB, and they have regional ambitions and vast natural gas reserves that countries like the UK want continued access to.

 

[dylans]

Finkelstein

The Bigger They Are. The Harder They Fall

Israel suffered a double defeat.
Its announced goal when it went into Gaza was to restore its “deterrence capacity.”
But at the end of the day its deterrence capacity had been drastically reduced:
The once mighty Israeli army that caused the whole Arab/Muslim world to tremble could not even defeat the impoverished and weaponless tiny enclave of Gaza.
Israel demanded an unconditional and unilateral secession of Hamas “rocket” attacks.
But Israel had to accept a mutual ceasefire. It also had to make promises regarding the siege of Gaza.
It is highly improbable that anything will come of these Israeli promises, but still, Israel could not unilaterally impose its will.
Let it, finally, be said:
In praise of the ever-martyred but ever-heroic and ever-renascent people of Gaza.
May they live to see the full brightness of dawn.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Hmmm...not sure I'd gloat about this just yet.

 

[teqniq]

Interesting analysis of the Egypt-brokered ceasefire by Evan Hill

What did Egypt just buy?

 

[elbows]

That is rather interesting. We may need to revisit chapters in history which have not featured much in the tale of Palestinians in recent decades. In various forms Egypt was in control of the Gaza strip from 1948 to 1967. And although certain concerns have long been buried beneath all the Palestine-Israeli mess we are familiar with, there are always serious questions about how independent some kind of Palestinian state would be.

Given that its a struggle to properly understand the changes that have actually happened in any one country affected by the arab spring or previous US 'adventures' in the region, let alone the full implications for the region as a whole, I suspect we will have to wait till a later stage of the game before being too confident in asserting what the realities are. For example its still pretty hard to tell whether the US has been rather clever or rather stupid, although I tend to assume the former until proven otherwise.

 

[TomUS]

Israel/Likud has been humiliated. They gained nothing & had to in effect recognize Hamas as the gov. of Gaza. Gaza is no longer abandoned in the Arab world. Interviews of Israelis in Tel Aviv say 'Why didn't Bibi finish it." I'd say Bibi & his gang have come out of this very badly.

 

[Balbi]

Egypt and the U.s swooping down, separating the two and clipping Bibi round the ear and making him say sorry to his little sibling Gaza.

 

[teqniq]

The Palestinians are seeking more help from China:

BEIJING (AP) — A Palestinian envoy arrived Thursday in China's capital to discuss the Palestinians' conflict with Israel and their bid to upgrade their status at the U.N., in the latest sign of Beijing's growing influence in the Middle East.

Bassam al-Salhi's arrival came hours after a cease-fire in the fiercest fighting in years between Israel and Hamas militants. Eight days of airstrikes and artillery attacks by Israel and rocket attacks by Palestinian militants had killed 161 Palestinians and five Israelis.....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10540873

 

[Random]

The rise of the MB is interesting, not quite the mad Muslim extremists they've been made out to be, perhaps statehood has 'moderated' them or are they just biding their time?

They've always been a broad-based political movement, with both moderate and radical wings. Repression made the radicals more visible.

 

[Random]

Is this Israel's Suez moment? Literally.

 

[Pickman's model]

Is this Israel's Suez moment? Literally.

they had their suez moment in 1956 too.

 

[nino_savatte]

I hope Bibi and Lieberman get thumped at the ballot box.

 

[Pickman's model]

I hope Bibi and Lieberman get thumped at the ballot box.

i just hope they get thumped

 

[Random]

they had their suez moment in 1956 too.

They had their Israeli Suez, but are they now having their British Suez? The British had their Israeli Suez something like 1656.

 

[nino_savatte]

According to the Jewish Voice, Bibi and Lieberman are on course for a resounding victory.

In the first round of public opinion polls taken following the assassination of Hamas military leader Ahmad Jabari and in the midst of the Pillar of Defense Gaza offensive, the Israeli public seems to be satisfied with the leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Israeli leader saw an immediate bounce of 11 points in his approval rating and is retaining a steady and convincing lead, ahead of the Knesset election this coming January.
While 84 percent of the Israeli public support Operation Pillar of Defense, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak now have 55 percent and 52 percent approval ratings, respectively, according to a Haaretz-Dialog poll taken Sunday. Although they fell short of the approval ratings of their predecessors, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former Defense Minister Amir Peretz, at the beginning of the Second Lebanon War - Olmert and Peretz had 85 percent approval ratings for the first week or two of that war – it’s still a much higher level of approval ratings than in previous surveys before the operation, a jump of about 20 percent.
As for the upcoming Knesset elections, Netanyahu‘s joint slate with Avigdor Lieberman’s ‘Likud Beitenu’ party would currently win 41 seats in the 120-member 19th Knesset, if elections were held today. This result would ultimately give Netanyahu the option to form a right-wing coalition government with the right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties, who together would win 69 Knesset seats, while the center-left bloc would win only 51 seats, including two belonging to Ehud Barak/Atzmaut.
http://jewishvoiceny.com/index.php?...ictory-in-january&catid=107:israel&Itemid=290

Israelis are blinded to the spectacle of security and peace on Likud's terms

 

[Pickman's model]

They had their Israeli Suez, but are they now having their British Suez? The British had their Israeli Suez something like 1656.

1656 is when britain captured jamaica

 

[ViolentPanda]

Egypt and the U.s swooping down, separating the two and clipping Bibi round the ear and making him say sorry to his little sibling Gaza.

I feel sorry for the staff in Fat Benny's "grace and favour" house. He'll take it out on Miss Piggy (the swinish Sara), and she'll take it out on the staff, as she's so often done in the past.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I hope Bibi and Lieberman get thumped at the ballot box.

It's a nice dream, but it's dependent on how Fat Benny and Sleazeberman play the remaining time. Will they continue with hawkishness, or will they play peacemakers, and milk whatever advantage they can domestically from the ceasefire?

 

[ViolentPanda]

i just hope they get thumped

By thumped, I hope you mean "killed with an M79 Grenade Launcher, affectionately known as a 'thumper' ".

 

[Pickman's model]

By thumped, I hope you mean "killed with an M79 Grenade Launcher, affectionately known as a 'thumper' ".

i was thinking 'beaten to death'. but an using m79 grenade launcher would do the trick too.

 

[elbows]

As with the death of Thatcher, I suppose I am far more interested in the death of what they represent and stand for than the end of their fleshy vessels.

 

[dylans]

The place to watch in the immediate future is the West Bank. During cast lead the West Bank was virtually silent, not least because Abbas security managed to crush all street demonstrations. This time the West Bank erupted. There were riots in virtually every town and several deaths due to live fire (5 I think). The PA lost control of the streets. There has now been claims of a unity deal that will only benefit Hamas and now Abbas is looking more and more irrelevent. Notice how he was completely uninvolved in the ceasefire negotiations. Something that is sure to increase as Israel and the US squash his attempt at UN observer status next week.

The Israelis are certainly nervous. This is from Haraatz

It is impossible to disconnect what has been happening in Gaza from the violent demonstrations in the West Bank, which express opposition to the IDF's actions in Gaza and identification with acts of terror that will be conducted against Israel ...

The policy of 'divide and rule' that Israel has adopted in the two parts of the Palestinian Authority can no longer guarantee quiet and stability, or surrender and political obedience from the Palestinians. And that is why, even when a cease-fire agreement is reached in Gaza, and the terrorists who planted the bomb in the bus in Tel Aviv are caught, there will be no alternative but to sober up: The key to thwarting terror is primarily in the peace process and not in the use of force.

In addition. Israel have just arrested 55 people in the West Bank.

Israeli troops have arrested 55 Palestinian "terror operatives" across the West Bank, hours after a truce came into effect in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said the swoop was related to "recent terrorist and violent activity" in the West Bank, which has seen days of widespread protests and clashes over Israel's relentless bombing campaign targeting Hamas in Gaza.

"A total of 55 terror operatives, who are affiliated with different terror groups have been detained," a statement said, with public radio saying it included members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
"Among those arrested were a number of senior level operatives."

 

[Dr Jon]

Gaza is a prototype:


Elites Will Make Gazans of Us All

They are establishing a world where most will be hungry and live in fear, while a few will gorge themselves on delicacies in protected compounds. And more and more people will have to be sacrificed to keep this imbalance in place. Because it has the power to do so, Israel—as does the United States—flouts international law to keep a subject population in misery.

 

[Balbi]

We are all Palestinians? Post-ceasefire despair, I am in you.

 

[DotCommunist]

We are all Palestinians? Post-ceasefire despair, I am in you.

I'll set up a sideline selling kaffiyeh

 

[nino_savatte]

It's a nice dream, but it's dependent on how Fat Benny and Sleazeberman play the remaining time. Will they continue with hawkishness, or will they play peacemakers, and milk whatever advantage they can domestically from the ceasefire?

The most recent polls show Bibi riding high. He's played the macho man and it's worked. it's just a shame that Israelis can't see through the obvious lies and politicking.

 

[dylans]

The most recent polls show Bibi riding high. He's played the macho man and it's worked. it's just a shame that Israelis can't see through the obvious lies and politicking.

Let the dust settle and I think Netanyahu will come under attack from the right.

This was posted on facebook today. It's IDF soldiers spelling out in hebrew the words "Bibi Loser"