Israel takes out top Hamas commander after missiles launched from Gaza

[Pouria]

Excellent information and I will review this at once. At first glance I notice the list looks to be a few of 'similar violations' where the previous violations were taken into consideration. That list dates all the way back to 1956. Once a thoughtful and clear review is conducted I can present my opinion of those UN violations.

[لني]

The problems with those UN resolutions are that many decision are made for political/economic reasons. Many of them are just saying, "Hey Israel, we don't agree with your actions", not like they're declaring to dismantle the country or anything. Simple pink slips, nothing more.

We also know that a huge percentage of the UN seats are filled by Muslim nations, 3rd world countries, tin-pot dictators, etc.... most who are not fans of Israel. Heck, most would probably "condemn" the United States too, except they know the US can just veto any motion and that the United States would crush them economically if such a move occurred.

As for the UN Human Rights Council, it's one of the the biggest jokes out there. When some of the representatives are from China, Syria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia are in it and even a guy like Muammar Gaddafi was to be award the UN Human Rights Award (or something like that)... something is very wrong, and it ain't Israel.

[لني]

Are you an Israeli or a Jew? Am just wondering because you seem to go to great lengths in defending Israel.

[Coda]

Turning for a moment from the recent developments in the middle east, I want to mention an interesting phenomenon I've noticed that I've always found odd.

It seems whenever the Israeli/Palestinian comes up, it is usually "liberal" and "leftist" people (to use two popular terms) who form most of the extreme support for the Palestinians. I'm talking about the hardline group that generally condemns Israeli actions as tyrannical and praises the efforts of extremist Islamic Palestinian groups like Hamas using terms like "resistance" and "freedom fighting".

These are the same people who in debating United States domestic policy would condemn any mention of religion in connection with politics, think the Tea Party was radical, support science and generally think of themselves as "progressive".

I find this a little ironic given how secular and progressive the country of Israeli is and how oppressive and backwards the extreme Islamic factions they support are. In 64 years Israel has done more for science than the Palestinians and all the surrounding countries combined...heck, add all the majority Islamic countries together and Israel has still done more than all of them combined in the fields of science and technology.

Is this some kind of leftover from the cold war years when the Soviet block took the side of the Arab nations in the conflict while the United States & Co. took Israel's side? I'm interested in your thoughts.

[Buddhas Hand]

Relevant video from last year's Durban conference:

[Buddhas Hand]

The problems with those UN resolutions are that many decision are made for political/economic reasons. Many of them are just saying, "Hey Israel, we don't agree with your actions", not like they're declaring to dismantle the country or anything. Simple pink slips, nothing more.

We also know that a huge percentage of the UN seats are filled by Muslim nations, 3rd world countries, tin-pot dictators, etc.... most who are not fans of Israel. Heck, most would probably "condemn" the United States too, except they know the US can just veto any motion and that the United States would crush them economically if such a move occurred.

As for the UN Human Rights Council, it's one of the the biggest jokes out there. When some of the representatives are from China, Syria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia are in it and even a guy like Muammar Gaddafi was to be award the UN Human Rights Award (or something like that)... something is very wrong, and it ain't Israel.

[Buddhas Hand]

Turning for a moment from the recent developments in the middle east, I want to mention an interesting phenomenon I've noticed that I've always found odd.

It seems whenever the Israeli/Palestinian comes up, it is usually "liberal" and "leftist" people (to use two popular terms) who form most of the extreme support for the Palestinians. I'm talking about the hardline group that generally condemns Israeli actions as tyrannical and praises the efforts of extremist Islamic Palestinian groups like Hamas using terms like "resistance" and "freedom fighting".

These are the same people who in debating United States domestic policy would condemn any mention of religion in connection with politics, think the Tea Party was radical, support science and generally think of themselves as "progressive".

I find this a little ironic given how secular and progressive the country of Israeli is and how oppressive and backwards the extreme Islamic factions they support are. In 64 years Israel has done more for science than the Palestinians and all the surrounding countries combined...heck, add all the majority Islamic countries together and Israel has still done more than all of them combined in the fields of science and technology.

Is this some kind of leftover from the cold war years when the Soviet block took the side of the Arab nations in the conflict while the United States & Co. took Israel's side? I'm interested in your thoughts.

[Coda]

I am so glad that i was born , and live in a country that when we frack up , we have the courage to admit it to ourselves and the people that we fracked with that we made a mistake and we are sorry .

No matter what information is presented , you will always try to find a way to discredit it .

The rest of the world is wrong and anti-semite , and israel is the only one is in the right

[Buddhas Hand]

When information provided is wrong or misleading, it should be discredited. That's what happens in a debate.

Surely you've heard of the Durban Conference that the video I provided is protesting?

Believe it or not, the U.N. is by and large not some warm and cuddly do-good society. When the anti-Israeli faction of the UN is lead by Ahmadinejad forgive me for not taking it without a grain of salt.

[Coda]

Jewish ‘modesty patrols’ sow fear in Israel

Some terrified that mere perception of impropriety could ruin their lives

Sebastian Scheiner / AP

An ultra-Orthodox man walks past a sign calling on women to dress modestly in a religious neighborhood in Jerusalem.

updated 10/4/2008 9:05:50 PM ET2008-10-05T01:05:50

JERUSALEM — In Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, where the rule of law sometimes takes a back seat to the rule of God, zealots are on a campaign to stamp out behavior they consider unchaste. They hurl stones at women for such "sins" as wearing a red blouse and attack stores selling devices that can access the Internet.

In recent weeks, self-styled "modesty patrols" have been accused of breaking into the apartment of a Jerusalem woman and beating her for allegedly consorting with men. They have torched a store that sells MP4 players, fearing devout Jews would use them to download pornography.

"These breaches of purity and modesty endanger our community," said 38-year-old Elchanan Blau, defending the bearded, black-robed zealots. "If it takes fire to get them to stop, then so be it."

Many ultra-Orthodox Jews are dismayed by the violence, but the enforcers often enjoy quiet approval from rabbis eager to protect their own reputations as guardians of the faith, community members say. And while some welcome anything that keeps secular culture out of their cloistered world, others feel terrorized, knowing that the mere perception of impropriety could ruin their lives.

"There are eyes and ears all over the place, very similar to what you hear about in countries like Iran," says Israeli-American novelist Naomi Ragen, an observant Jew who has chronicled the troubles that confront some women living in the ultra-Orthodox world.

The violence has already deepened the antagonism between the 600,000 haredim, or God-fearing, and the secular majority, which resents having religious rules dictated to them.

Religious vigilantes operate in a society that has granted their community influence well beyond its numbers — partly out of a commitment to revive the great centers of Jewish scholarship destroyed in the Holocaust, but also because the Orthodox are perennial king-makers in Israeli coalition politics.

Thus public transport is grounded for the Jewish Sabbath each Saturday, and the rabbis control all Jewish marriage and divorce in Israel.

In recent years, however, the haredim have eased up on their long campaign to impose their rules on secular areas, and nowadays many restaurants and suburban shopping centers are open on the Sabbath.

These days, most vigilante attacks take place in the zealots' own neighborhoods.

'They can burn in hell'

Israel police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the modesty police are not an organized phenomenon, just rogue enforcers carrying out isolated attacks. But Israel's Justice Ministry used the term "modesty patrols" in an indictment against a man accused of assaulting the Jerusalem woman.

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The unidentified, 31-year-old woman had left the ultra-Orthodox fold after getting divorced, according to the indictment filed by the Jerusalem district attorney's office. The indictment said her assailant tried to get her to leave her apartment in a haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem by gagging, beating and threatening to kill her. He was paid $2,000 for the attack, it said.

A 17-year-old who moved to Israel from New York five years ago said she was hospitalized after being attacked with pepper spray by a crowd of men outraged that she was walking down a Jerusalem street with boys.

"They can burn in hell," said the girl, who would identify herself only as Rivka.

She lives in Beit Shemesh, a town outside Jerusalem where the vigilantism has been particularly violent. Zealots there have thrown rocks and spat at women, and set fire to trash bins to protest impiety. Walls of the neighborhood are plastered with signs exhorting women to dress modestly — spelled out as closed-necked, long-sleeved blouses and long skirts.

'Stupid troublemakers'

The state, catering to religious sensitivities, subsidizes gender-segregated bus routes that service religious neighborhoods. Ragen and several other women challenged the practice in Israel's Supreme Court after an Orthodox Canadian woman in her 50s told police she was kicked, slapped, pushed to the floor and spat upon by men for refusing to move to the back of the bus.

Another Beit Shemesh girl, who asked to be identified only as Esther, said zealots threw rocks, cursed and spat at a friend for wearing a red blouse — taboo because the color attracts attention.

Yitzhak Polack, a 50-year-old Jerusalem teacher, is one of those who deplore such behavior.

"They are stupid troublemakers who are bringing shame and disgrace on this holy community," he said.

But the rabbis are afraid to condemn them, says Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, another community member.

"They can't come out against zealots who champion modesty. Here and there they write against violence, but the militants ultimately set the tone," he said.

Stores are targeted too.

'This store burns souls'

In August, a Jerusalem man was placed under house arrest on suspicion he set fire to a store in a haredi district of the city that sold MP4 players.

"It started about six months ago. They would come into the store, about 15 of them at a time, screaming, 'This store burns souls!' and they would throw merchandise on the floor and threaten customers," said 31-year-old Aaron Gold, a haredi worker at the Space electronic store.

Secular ?

Progressive ?

[Pouria]

Which would be the equivalent of asking if someone is a palestinian or muslim because they defend hamas.

[Coda]

So what about the incidents the resolutions are referring too , are you going to tell me they never happened ?

As i have said , when i screw up i admit it , you keep on believing that israel is right and EVERYONE ELSE is wrong .

EU 'regrets' Israeli settlement plan

By AFP

Posted Saturday, October 20 2012 at 04:59

In Summary

• Catherine Ashton "deeply regrets" the Israeli interior ministry decision to back the expansion of the Gilo settlement by 797 units, said a statement from her office

• Israel's interior ministry granted final approval for the plans on Thursday

• The move will mean the westward expansion of Gilo, which is on the southern flanks of east Jerusalem, very close to the West Bank town of Bethlehem

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BRUSSELS

The European Union's foreign policy chief on Thursday criticised Israel's plan to build hundreds of homes in annexed east Jerusalem and called for it to hold fresh talks with the Palestinians.

Catherine Ashton "deeply regrets" the Israeli interior ministry decision to back the expansion of the Gilo settlement by 797 units, said a statement from her office.

"Settlements are illegal under international law and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible," said the statement, which repeated the EU's call for an end to settlements, both in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem.{C}{C}

Talks "continue to represent the best way forward in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," it added.{C}{C}

"Continuous expansion of settlements makes this all the more difficult."

Israel's interior ministry granted final approval for the plans on Thursday.

The move will mean the westward expansion of Gilo, which is on the southern flanks of east Jerusalem, very close to the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

"Israel's decision to build 800 housing units is part of an overall Israeli plan which aims to destroy the two-state solution," negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP on Thursday.

The only answer was for the international community to back Palestinian plans to seek upgraded UN status, he added.

A resolution to that effect is to be put to the UN General Assembly in November.

Israel considers both west and east Jerusalem to be its "eternal, indivisible" capital, and does not view construction in the eastern sector as settlement activity.

The Palestinians, however, believe east Jerusalem should be the capital of their future state and are fiercely opposed to the extension of Israeli control over the sector

So tell me , what conspricay is running the EU

[Buddhas Hand]

Tell me, why the random news story from a month ago regarding Israeli settlements? Apparently I am to believe that this article supports the view that Israel is the most tyrannical country in the world? Get a bit of perspective.

[Buddhas Hand]

? That's quite a small minority you know. Learn a bit about it:

[Coda]

I am proving to you that the whole world thinks that the israeli's are wrong in their treatment of the palestinians .

I have all night , and a plethora of articles at my disposal

[Coda]

I know A lot about it , and religious police , ARE religious police .

As you said , when the information someone provides is wrong , then it is my duty , and pleasure , to enlighten them

[Buddhas Hand]

I have no doubt that the majority of the world has one-sided support for the Palestinians against Israel. However that argument is Argumentum ad populum which is a fallacy.

There are many reasons why people may hold such a one-sided view: anti-jewish sentiment and lack of education being just two.

As long as we're posting random articles somewhat unrelated to the topic at hand:

http://blogs.jpost.c..."-when-pressure

[Buddhas Hand]

Evidently you didn't read the article very closely, as these were incidents involving vigilante ultra-orthodox jews. You seem to want to portray their actions as typical to Israelis...it would about as stupid as portraying crip/blood attacks in Los Angeles as being indicative of the character of the people and government of LA.

On the other hand Hamas is the elected government of the Palestinians of Gaza. Do you need me to educate you on their political and social stances?

[Coda]

You know Coda , you are a paradigm of why this circle of hatred will never end , you like the israeli's think they have done nothing wrong , and will do nothing to address the root issue's of this conflict .

[Coda]

Coda , i do not call a place that has religious police walking the streets , secular or progressive , no matter how many "police" there are .

And the day you can teach me , is the day pigs fly