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Israeli Iron Fist Ruthlessness By Stephen Lendman 11-7-14

Israel operates extrajudicially. Rule of law principles don't matter. Nonexistent security threats justify anything goes. Palestinians are victimized for wanting to live free. Demanding fundamental civil and human rights everyone deserves. Protesting throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Largely peacefully. Israel considers legitimate resistance "terrorism." Justifying iron fist harshness. "We will respond to any attempt to undermine the order and stability of Israel's capital with an iron fist," Netanyahu said. Warning of "a prolonged battle." "Jerusalem is not up for debate," he added. Its mayor Nir Barket echoed similar views, saying: "(T)he message we will send the terrorists (is we're) here to stay. We will not budge. We will overcome the challenges and win this battle." Addressing his November 2 cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said: "Israel is taking vigorous action against terrorists…We will pass stronger legislation on the issue." "All of this is in order to restore quiet and security throughout Jerusalem." "I have ordered that massive reinforcements be brought in and that additional means be used in order to ensure law and order in Israel's capital." "It could be that we are in a lengthy struggle. (W)e are determined to be successful." "We will certainly oppose all systematic and continuing attempts by Islamic extremist elements to stir up unrest." "They would like to set a religious fire in Jerusalem and thereby ignite the entire Middle East. The place they are most determined on is the Temple Mount." "They are disseminating lies to the effect that we intend to destroy or harm the Al-Aqsa Mosque and that we intend to prevent Muslim from praying there." "They are using verbal and physical violence in an effort to exclude Jews from going up to the Temple Mount. We will not allow this to happen." Journalist Dan Cohen says Israeli policy reflects lawless holy war against Palestinians. Extremists like rabbi Yehuda Glick want a Third (Jewish) Temple replacing Al-Aqsa. Deputy Knesset speaker Moshe Feiglin encourages genocide against Palestinians. On August 1, he published a plan for eliminating them in Gaza. Calling for the "conquest of the entire Gaza Strip and annihilation of all fighting forces and their supporters." "This is our country, our country exclusively," he said. "(I)ncluding Gaza." Urging Netanyahu to "turn (it) into Jaffa, a flourishing Israeli city with a minimum number of hostile civilians." "Concentrate (and) exterminate," he stressed. He wants IDF forces "designat(ing) certain open areas on the Sinai border, adjacent to the sea, in which the civilian population will be concentrated, far from the built-up areas that are used for launches and tunneling." "In these areas, tent encampments will be established, until relevant emigration destinations are determined." Concentration camps by any standard. Denying them "electricity and water…(S)helling (them) with maximum fire power." Destroying "down to their foundations" the "entire civilian and military infrastructure of Hamas, its means of communication and logistics." "Israel will start searching for emigration destinations and quotas for the refugees from Gaza." "(T)hose who insist on staying, if they can be proven to have no affiliation with Hamas, will be required to publicly sign a declaration of loyalty to Israel, and receive a blue ID card similar to that of the Arabs of East Jerusalem." Feiglin isn't a lone loose cannon. Other Israeli extremists are likeminded. Supporting genocide. Willful "commit(ment) with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group…" Feiglin's full statement was as follows: "With God’s Help Attention Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Mr. Prime Minister, We have just heard that Hamas has used the ceasefire to abduct an officer. It turns out that this operation is not about to be over any too soon. The failures of this operation were inherent to it from the outset, because: a) It has no proper and clear goal; b) there is no appropriate moral framework to support our soldiers. What is required now is that we internalize the fact that Oslo is finished, that this is our country - our country exclusively, including Gaza. There are no two states, and there are no two peoples. There is only one state for one people. Having internalized this, what is needed is a deep and thorough strategic review, in terms of the definition of the enemy, of the operational tasks, of the strategic goals, and of course, of appropriate necessary war ethics. (1) Defining the enemy: The strategic enemy is extremist Arab Islam in all its varieties, from Iran to Gaza, which seeks to annihilate Israel in its entirety. The immediate enemy is Hamas. (Not the tunnels, not the rockets, but Hamas.) (2) Defining the tasks Conquest of the entire Gaza Strip, and annihilation of all fighting forces and their supporters. (3) Defining the strategic goal: To turn Gaza into Jaffa, a flourishing Israeli city with a minimum number of hostile civilians. (4) Defining war ethics: 'Woe to the evildoer, and woe to his neighbor' In light of these four points, Israel must do the following: a) The IDF shall designate certain open areas on the Sinai border, adjacent to the sea, in which the civilian population will be concentrated, far from the built-up areas that are used for launches and tunneling. In these areas, tent encampments will be established, until relevant emigration destinations are determined. The supply of electricity and water to the formerly populated areas will be disconnected. b) The formerly populated areas will be shelled with maximum fire power. The entire civilian and military infrastructure of Hamas, its means of communication and of logistics, will be destroyed entirely, down to their foundations. c) The IDF will divide the Gaza Strip laterally and crosswise, significantly expand the corridors, occupy commanding positions, and exterminate nests of resistance, in the event that any should remain. d) Israel will start searching for emigration destinations and quotas for the refugees from Gaza. Those who wish to emigrate will be given a generous economic support package, and will arrive at the receiving countries with considerable economic capabilities. e) Those who insist on staying, if they can be proven to have no affiliation with Hamas, will be required to publicly sign a declaration of loyalty to Israel, and receive a blue ID card similar to that of the Arabs of East Jerusalem. f) When the fighting will end, Israeli law will be extended to cover the entire Gaza Strip, the people evicted from the Gush Katif will be invited to return to their settlements, and the city of Gaza and its suburbs will be rebuilt as true Israeli touristic and commercial cities. Mr. Prime Minister, This is the a fateful hour of decision in the history of the State of Israel. All metastases of our enemy, from Iran and Hizballah through ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood, are rubbing their hands gleefully and preparing themselves for the next round. I am warning that any outcome that is less than what I defined here means encouraging the continued offensive against Israel. Only when Hizballah will understand how we have dealt with Hamas in the south, it will refrain from launching its 100,000 missiles from the north. I call on you to adopt the strategy proposed here. I have no doubt that the entire Israeli people will stand to your right with its overwhelming majority, like myself - if only you will adopt it. With high regards, respectfully, Moshe Feiglin" Cohen calls him a "hyper-extremist" for good reason. "See(ing) himself on the front lines of the struggle for Western civilization against Islamic extremism." A lunatic threatening "holy war." Supported by likeminded MKs and settlers. Shalom Hartman Institute senior fellow Yossi Klein Halevi calls the Temple Mount "ground zero" of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Affecting Muslims everywhere. An unnamed Palestinian perhaps spoke for others saying: "(T)he situation is on the stove. If (Israel) continues to (restrict or) forbid prayers at Aqsa, we will have another intifada in Jerusalem." Throughout Occupied Palestine. Perhaps beyond. East Jerusalem remains a tinder box. Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch want elements Israel calls terrorists dealt with accordingly. Summarily. "A terrorist who attacks civilians should be sentenced to death," he said. No trial, due process or judicial fairness. He wants it made official government policy. On-the-spot summary executions. Empowering Israeli security forces and armed civilians as judges, juries and executioners. Creating more explosive conditions than already. Police state ruthlessness by any standard. Anger over Israeli instigated Al-Aqsa violence reflects decades of justifiable Palestinian pent up rage. Highlighted by Operation Protective Edge. Settlement construction on stolen Palestinian land. Occupation harshness. Militarized brutality. Institutionalized racism. Murdering Palestinians in cold blood. Unaccountably. Extremist Israelis running things saying "this land is ours (exclusively), and that's just the way it's going to be." Fear-mongering, state terror, premeditated wars without mercy, and slow-motion genocide reflect official Israeli policy. Peace is a convenient illusion. Israel bears full responsibility. Washington and rogue EU partners share it. Mindless of Palestinian rights. Criminalizing their liberation struggle. Murdering them in cold blood unaccountably. Jerusalem remains out-of-control. So do other West Bank cities. Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters continue. Scores of arrests and injuries follow. Dozens of children affected. Netanyahu wants harsher crackdowns. Iron fist ruthlessness. Escalating intolerable conditions. On November 3, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) headlined "Israeli Government Persistently Challenges the International Community an Approves Additional Arbitrary Measures in Occupied Palestine," saying: PCHR "strongly condemns the latest Israeli measures and decisions against occupied East Jerusalem that aims to fully create a Jewish demographic majority in the city." Closing Al-Aqsa is symptomatic. So is restricting Temple Mount prayer. Permitting extremist Israeli settlers access where they don't belong. For provocative Talmudic prayers. Heavily protected by Israeli security forces. Besieging Al-Aqsa. Denying Palestinian worshippers access. Western community leaders turning a blind eye. Letting Israel operate lawlessly. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon mostly silent on what demands open condemnation. Holding culpable Israeli officials accountable for high crimes against peace. Ending longstanding impunity. Hardline Economy Minister Naftali Bennett called for "defensive shield" ruthlessness in Jerusalem. Saying a "government that does not know how to regain deterrence and sovereignty and provide security for its citizens in their capital does not have a right to exist." Israeli Radio said Netanyahu ordered home demolitions and detentions without charges or trials of anyone designated "terrorists." Including Palestinians accuse of committing Jerusalem attacks. With or without corroborating evidence. Guilt by accusation suffices. On Thursday evening, scores of extremist settlers marched toward Jerusalem's Old City. Heavily protected by Israeli security forces. Clashes between police and East Jerusalem Palestinians continue. Including in Shuafat refugee camp. Youths threw stones at Israeli security forces. They responded with rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas and stun grenades. Police closed off Abu Tor neighborhood. After stone-throwing incidents. Addressing European Parliamentarians in Brussels on Thursday, Arab Israeli MK Ahmad Tibi urged sanctions on Israel. Claiming right-wing extremists control things. Fascists by any standard. "There are pyromaniacs in the government and in the Knesset," he said. Determined to inflame Jerusalem. He urged EU help restraining them. Blaming Netanyahu for ongoing violence. Heightened tensions. Al-Aqsa policies. Gaza aggression. Daily ruthlessness. Settlement construction. "The continued construction and expropriation of land impedes any possibility of a two-state solution," he said. Or longstanding conflict resolution. Israel deplores peace, stability, equity and justice. Avoids what matters most at all costs. Occupation harshness persists. Liberation remains a distant dream. A Final Comment On Thursday, US Joint Chiefs Chairman General Martin Dempsey lied claiming Israel went to "extraordinary lengths" to prevent Operation Protective Edge civilian casualties. Over 80% were noncombatants. Including hundreds of women and children. Willfully targeted. Including in clearly designated UN shelters. Residential homes. Hospitals. Mosques. Schools. Other non-military locations. Dempsey outrageously claimed what he knows is untrue. Ignoring cold, calculated, premeditated Israeli naked aggression. Saying: "I actually do think that Israel went to extraordinary lengths to limit collateral damage and civilian casualties." "In this kind of conflict, where you are held to a standard that your enemy is not held to, you’re going to be criticized for civilian casualties," he added. "The IDF is not interested in creating civilian casualties. They're interested in stopping the shooting of rockets and missiles out of the Gaza Strip and into Israel." Israel considers civilians, non-military infrastructure and facilities unrelated to military necessity legitimate targets. Dempsey lied claiming otherwise. Absolving Israeli high crimes. Similar to US lawlessness. Ruthless by any standard. It bears repeating. One fascist regime supports another. America and Israel threaten world peace. Operating extrajudicially. Unaccountably. Denying fundamental rights. Waging war on humanity. Stopping them matters most. Survival depends on it. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.

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