Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Israel's  Experiment in Famine

Israel's  Experiment in Famine
An Experiment in Famine
Hamas is Not the Real Issue
By NEVE GORDON
The experiment in famine began on January 18, 2008. Israel hermetically
closed all of Gaza's borders, preventing even food, medicine and fuel from
entering the Strip. Power cuts, which had been frequent for many months,
were extended to 12 hours per day. Due to the electricity shortage, at
least 40 percent of Gazans have not had access to running water (which is
channeled through electric pumps) for several days and the sewage system
has broken down. The raw sewage that has not spilled onto the streets is
now being poured into the sea at a daily rate of 30 million liters.
Hospitals have been forced to rely on emergency generators leading them to
cut back, yet again, on the already limited services offered to the
Palestinian population. The World Food Programme has reported critical
shortages of food and declared that it is unable to provide 10,000 of the
poorest Gazans with three out of the five foodstuffs they normally receive.
After five days of extreme suffering, a group of Hamas militants took the
lead, and blew-up parts of the steel wall along the Egyptian border.
Within hours more than 100,000 Gazans crossed the border into Egypt. They
were hungry, thirsty and sick of being locked up in a filthy cage. Once in
Egypt they bought everything they could get their hands on and waited
patiently for the international community to intervene on their behalf.
Yet the world leaders failed them again, and on January 28, after a five
day respite, the iron wall was re-erected and the Palestinians were pushed
back into the world's largest prison -- the Gaza Strip.
Ehud Barak, Israel's Minister of Defense, did not stammer when he
justified his decision to experiment with famine; he had no qualms about
introducing a policy that historically only the most brutal leaders have
adopted. 
His argument seems rational. Barak said that no government in the world
would tolerate the ongoing bombardment of its citizens from across the
border. Since other measures -- like harsh economic sanctions,
extra-judicial executions, the ongoing barrage of northern parts of the
Strip as well as the bombardment of several critical infrastructure sites,
like the electric power plant and Palestinian government offices -- did
not do the job, Israel had no other option.
This ostensibly rational argument conveniently ignores the fact that since
its victory in the January 2006 democratic elections Hamas has proposed
several cease-fire agreements, the latest emerging just last week. In
these proposals, Hamas agrees to stop launching missiles at Israeli
citizens, in exchange for Israel ending its incursions into Gaza, the
assassinations of militants and political leaders, and the economic
blockade.
Hamas's proposals underscore two important facts. First, despite what
Barak says the use of force is not the only option Israel has: The
government could decide to open a dialogue with Hamas based on a
cease-fire agreement. Second, it emphasizes, as Israeli critic Uri Avnery
cogently observes, that Israel is cynically using the assaults on its own
citizens as a pretext for attempting to overthrow the Hamas regime in Gaza
and for preventing a Hamas takeover in the West Bank.
Ultimately, though, even the courageous Avnery does not spell out Israel's
main objective. The central issue for Israel is not Hamas yes or no, but
rather Palestinian sovereignty yes or no. The recent crisis reveals, once
more, that Israel's August 2005 unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip
was not an act of decolonization but rather the reorganization of Israeli
power and the implementation of neo-colonial rule. Israel realized that in
order to maintain sovereignty all it would have to do is preserve its
monopoly over the legitimate means of movement. Very different from the
withdrawal of British forces from the various colonies of old, it
accordingly continued to dominate Gaza's borders, transforming the Strip
into a container of sorts whose openings are totally controlled by Israel. 
The experiment in Gaza is, in other words, not really about the
bombardment of Israeli citizens or even about Israel's ongoing efforts to
undermine Hamas. It is simply a new draconian strategy aimed at denying
the Palestinians their most basic right to self-determination. It is about
showing them who is in control, about breaking their backs, so that they
lower their expectations and bow down to Israeli demands. The Palestinians
understood this and courageously destroyed their prison wall while crying
out into the wilderness for international support. Instead of the expected
outrage, the only response they received was a weak echo of their own cry
for help.
Neve Gordon teaches politics at Ben-Gurion University, Israel and can be
reached at 
neveg...@gmail.com
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Anche per questi motivi esposti da Gordon, sostengo che il consenso dato 
dai cittadini israeliani al programma di Kadima è stato truffato e 
dirottato in senso opposto.
Ai motivi esposti da Gordon si dovrebbe aggiungere la necessità di 
fermare la diffusione del concetto "Terra in cambio di pace" che 
all'epoca aveva un crescente successo.
--------------------------

-- 
Lo giorno se n'andava, e l'aere bruno
traeva li animai che sono in terra
da le fatiche loro; e io sol uno
m'apparecchiava a sostener la guerra
sì del cammino e sì de la pietate,
che ritrarrà la mente che non erra.

 dirottato in senso opposto.
Ad esempio da chi ha risposto al ritiro con i razzi.
Persio...
Tb
-- 
Libertà per i comunisti siriani in carcere: Fateh Jamus, 'Isam Dimashqi,
Basel Hurani, 'Abd al-Halim Rumieh, Ratib Sha'bu, and Doha 'Ashur
al-'Askari 
http://snipurl.com/1oqtm

 Ad esempio 
hint: punizione collettiva verso tutti i palestinesi di Gaza, nazistucolo
del likud. 


 hint: punizione collettiva verso tutti i palestinesi di Gaza
Questo dopo essersi truffaldinamente ritirati, e senza ricevere nessun 
attacco dal territorio liberato.
E' la versione di voi camerati?


 Persio...
<< This ostensibly rational argument conveniently ignores the fact that 
since
its victory in the January 2006 democratic elections Hamas has proposed
several cease-fire agreements, the latest emerging just last week. In
these proposals, Hamas agrees to stop launching missiles at Israeli
citizens, in exchange for Israel ending its incursions into Gaza, the
assassinations of militants and political leaders, and the economic
blockade. >>
Bagarozzo, sei la quintessenza della bagarozzaggine.


 several cease-fire agreements,
Vedo che confermi che al ritiro si è risposto con i razzi. Questo è un 
primo elemento.
Quanto al cessate il fuoco, è di esecuzione molto semplice. Basta che 
smettano di sparare.
Persio, sei davvero molto pirla.


 Persio, sei davvero molto pirla.
Continui a rosicchiare gli articoli invece di leggerli, bagarozzo?
D'altra parte è la tua natura...


 Continui a rosicchiare gli articoli 
E' la realtà, Persio.
Non so se il tuo articolo viva in qualche mondo parallelo.
Ma nel caso, saresti un pirla.


 smettano di sparare.
l'hanno già fatto, e hanno guadagnato lo sceicco paralitico seccato.
Perchè dovrebbero farlo di nuovo, visto che il governo israeliano
riesce ad essere addirittura meno credibile di Hamas?

 l'hanno già fatto, e hanno guadagnato lo sceicco paralitico seccato.
Non l'avevano fatto. Anzi, avevano appena fatto la strage del decennio.
Però parlavano, parlavano, parlavano...
Dopo Rantisi e Yassin hanno parlato anche di più, ma fatto meno stragi.
Good deal.


l'hanno già fatto, e hanno guadagnato lo sceicco paralitico seccato.
non posso negare di aver brindato quando gli israeliani hanno seccato
Yassin... quel vecchio dimmerda. Sei paralitico? stai a casa e non
rompere il cazzo!
NO! Lui voleva fare il terrorista! OK, allora beccati questo
missiletto nel culo!

 blockade. >>
Peccato che fermano solo il lancio di razzi .... ma non liberano i
soldati prigionieri ne consegnanto i terroristi che hanno lanciato i
razzi.
In pratica e' un pretendere di stare al sicuro dopo aver cominciato il
casino.  Idea buona solo per i *PIRLA*.
-Stefano