Holy Land War Diary - 23 July 2014

 

The IDF evidently claims it has lost 32 killed so far but from my count of the dead mentioned in this Haaretz piece I would make that 34 counting the two armored corps captains killed by snipers who are mentioned farther down in the article.  Armored officers are killed by small arms fire usually when parts of them are outside the vehicle.  A head sticking out of a hatch where visibility is better makes a good target.  IDF casualties will continue to accumulate and IMO will increase in number if the IDF presses farther into Gaza City.

Richard Engels' linked video makes it clear that the IDF is targeting clearly marked ambulances employing the lame excuse that they are being used to transport armaments.  They are doing the same with marked medical facilities.  The IDF has long done such things.  A Givati lieutenant once told me in Bethlehem that they "normally shoot people giving first aid to Palestinian wounded."

IMO the whole Gaza strip is one big undergraound fortified zone with interconected bunkers, tunnels, fighting positions, supply points, etc.  The underground facilities are very well built, have electric power and uninterceptable communications.  

Hamas/IJ want a big bite out of the IDF and if this continues they will get it.

At the same time Ben Gurion airport remains closed.  People like Bloomberg have flown over there to show "solidarity."  IMO he should volunteer for service in the Golani Brigade and stay there. The Israeli government wants more US money for Iron Dome so that it can continue to defy the US government's desire for a cease fire?  Bloomberg should show his solidarity by donating the money.  pl

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.606735

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"I’d like to propose a new rule of thumb for writers: When your op-ed’s first sentence reads “Let’s state the obvious: No one likes to see dead children,” you should step away from the keyboard, take a look in the closest mirror and think long and hard about exactly the argument you’re about to make. Otherwise, you may end up with an execrable screed like the one New York University law professor Thane Rosenbaum published in the Wall Street Journal on Monday. Rosenbaum argues that the adult residents of Gaza are not innocent civilians, as even Israeli leaders (sometimes begrudgingly) admit, but part of a “citizen army.”"  Washington Post

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This linked oped by Rosenbaum is contemptible, racist, fascist evidence that some Jews evidently learned a lot from their experience if the Shoa.  Unfortunately, what they learned were the worst things possible.  pl 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2014/07/23/the-most-vile-op-ed-you-will-read-about-gaza/

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"Hanin Zoabi, a favourite target for the right, was briefly arrested at a rally in Haifa on Friday. Lieberman called her political party Balad "a party of traitors", and suggested that she be barred from running for office in the next election.

The vitriol directed at Zoabi, Barakeh, and others, is rarely applied to Jewish politicians who make incendiary statements. Ayelet Shaked, a prominent member of Bennett's Jewish Home party, penned a status on Facebook earlier this month suggesting that Israel kill the mothers of Palestinian fighters, lest they give birth to more "little snakes". There was no public outcry or official censure.

"When they are under fire, soldiers killed, rockets flying in the centre [of the country], they become irrational, totally irrational," said Basel Ghattas, another Knesset member from Zoabi's party.

Public criticism has come mostly from the relatively liberal enclaves of Tel Aviv and Haifa. But those voices are being drowned out in a society that has drifted steadily to the right over the past decade.

Knesset members have pursued laws to declare Israel a "Jewish state", drive Palestinian parties out of politics and crack down on left-leaning NGOs. Opinion polls find that younger Jewish Israelis are increasingly right-wing and hold negative views of Palestinians. Al-Jazeera

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Bennett is frequently interviewed in US TV as a supposedly rational actor on the Israeli political scene.  pl

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/israel-shrinking-space-dissent-gaza-20147216123850798.html

And then there is the question of Hizbullah.  What will Nasrallah say on Friday?  pl 

Comments

[Farooq]

Initially Thane Rosenbaum's article had the following heading which was more explicit about the content of his article
"About Those 'Innocent' Palestinian Civilians"

but then changed to more Hamas specific title:
"Hamas's Civilian Death Strategy"

[Poul]

I have long wondered what shifted Israeli politics towards Likud and further to the right. What happened in Israeli socity in the 70's which so changed the political views in Israel?

Israel went from having Labour as the largest party in an Israeli government to it being Likud. Is it the settlements themselves which created this power base for Likud.

[Kerim]

I have have the feeling that something has changed with Hamas. They seem to be behaving more like HA this time around. They now have stated that they will not stop until the people in Gaza can lead normal lives (and they have the support of Fatah and representatives of Gazan civil society). Hamas is now standing their ground, are organized, disciplined. This might be the moment of truth for Israel..
They is now more and more of a push for bibi to finish Hamas off. For that the army will need to enter into the cities and clear the militants tunnel by tunnel. I think that's the moment Hamas is waiting for. The numbers of Israeli soldiers killed will increase significantly. When that starts happening it will be a game changer. And either GOI seriously negotiates directly with Hamas (I'm doubtful) or the bloodletting will continue. The Israelis have more to loose than the Palestinians.
And yes the big question is indeed what will Nasrallah say. Las time he said the next battle will be the last...

[Denis]

Thank you so much for highlighting Shaked's deplorable comments. If one reads through her entire quote, it becomes obvious how sick some of these Zionists have become. Exhibit "B" is the Israeli academic Mordechai Kedar who echoed Shaked by publicly stating that the only way to stop Palestinians was to rape their mothers and sisters.

http://logophere.com/Topics/14-07/Jul22-14-WTF.htm

If any Palestinian politician or academic had said such vile things about Israeli women, the US MSM would have absolutely exploded.

But at least some of the mainstream non-MSM are beginning to finally come to their senses a little bit about the whole USG-GoI tag team buggery of the Palestinians. HuffPo, for instance, has an article today pointing a nasty finger at AIPAC. That would have been unheard of even just 5 years ago.

BTW, Hamas has finally done something that makes sense -- they hit Ben Gurion Airport. And they closed it down, mostly. Looks like Bloomberg got there just before the fireworks. Maybe he'll be there longer than planned.

I'm not condoning the attack, and I'm not saying it's right or wrong, good or bad, tactically prudent or a waste of missiles -- I'm just saying finally they've done something that makes sense to me. I have been waiting 50 years for Fatah, Hamas, Arafat, Abbas, PLO -- anybody on the right side of this conflict -- to do something that one could fairly characterize as "smart move" -- politically or militarily.

Look at all those IAF airstrips w/in range of Hamas' missiles -- Tel Nor, Sdot Micha, Tieman, Hatzerim, Hatzor -- and look at all those missiles that hit nothing but desert sand and have no effect other than guaranteeing more Gaza-spanking. Finally a target that makes sense. They would only have to hit it once a week to put it on the FAA no-fly list for the duration of hostilities.

The Palestinian people have heart and they have courage, like the Vietnamese did against the French and Americans. But unlike the Vietnamese, what the Palestinians lack is brains at the top. After all of these years of conflict I cannot think of one Palestinian who will be looked at by historians as being brilliant. Black September, for instance, set the entire Palestinian movement back decades, IMO.

[Matthew]

Col: Pace Norman Finkelstein, this time they really have gone too far. Abbas has agreed with Hamas: No ceasefire without a lifting of the siege.

The Palestinians are going all in. They know 'it's die today, or be expelled tomorrow.'

[William R. Cumming]

PL you have a dark vision for these events. Unfortunately mine is much darker! Why? Almost none in the American polity really care what happens or understand what could happen unless related by religion or kinship to those involved.
The US Congress is about to recess [abdicate?] for a long time! Its only concern is whether a unified by party House and Senate will exist come January. A feckless Secretary of State continues to go down with the Ship of State.

The self-serving foreign policy establishment continues to pretend its a unipolar world and others have no options including self-destruction.

Hoping I am wrong! If Charlie Cook's toss-ups for the fall Senate races break even the Republicans are a lock on control. IMO of course.

[Cee]

PL,

Thank you, thank you and I agree with what you said.

Denis,

Who was really pulling the strings of Black September? Did you ever read Abu Nidal: A Gun For Hire by Patrick Seale?
How about Profits of War by Ari-Ben Menasche? Both will make you think about what has happened in the past and now.

[Cee]

I forgot to add that two days ago Hezbollah said they were getting off of the fence. The FAA should keep the ban in place.

[oofda]

How are 155mm howitzers a "pinpoint weapon?" Of course, they are not- but the IDF using heavy artillery in built-up areas also gets close to war crimes.

In a related vein, Huffington Post today carried a critical article by Stephen Walt on Isreal's actions.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-m-walt/aipac-americas-israel-policy_b_5607883.html

This is the reason Bibi took the action he did, according to Walt:

And why did Netanyahu decide to go on another rampage in Gaza? As Nathan Thrall of the International Crisis Group points out, the real motive is neither vengeance nor a desire to protect Israel from Hamas' rocket fire, which has been virtually non-existent over the past two years and is largely ineffectual anyway. Netanyahu's real purpose was to undermine the recent agreement between Hamas and Fatah for a unity government. Given Netanyahu's personal commitment to keeping the West Bank and creating a "greater Israel," the last thing he wants is a unified Palestinian leadership that might press him to get serious about a two-state solution. Ergo, he sought to isolate and severely damage Hamas and drive a new wedge between the two Palestinian factions.

[crone]

The Labor party ruled the country from 1948 to 1973 when the right wing Likud party under Begin took over due to the growth of the Jewish population from the Arab lands who resented the Labor party aparatchiks who often looked down on them.To make matters worse there has been a huge immigration of Jews from the Soviet Union who are hostile to any form of Socialism. And to compound the situation the Orthodox population has grown due to their large birth rate. What you now have is a nation ruled by right wing nuts who are leading the nation on the path of imperialism. imho

[VietnamVet]

Colonel,

These are very interesting times.

Hamas has learned their lessons well from Hezbollah. Either, Israel backs down and loses credibility; or, they make a desert and call it peace. The problem is that genocide in Gaza will start a third Palestinian Uprising on the West Bank. Stirring the cauldron of war always leads to unintended consequences. Seeing a chance to get payback at Israel, will Egypt or Hezbollah, or all of Islam intervene? Will the USA send military advisors to Israel?

Meanwhile, IS consolidates its gains in Iraq and Syria far from the headlines. In the strangest of ironies, the wellbeing of American troops in Baghdad depends on how effectively Hezbollah trains the Shiite militias. The US troops only chance to avoid a fighting escape is if the Shiites are busy digging tunnels and setting up IEDs right now to defend the line from Baghdad south to Kuwait. It the Shiite defenses are tough enough, the jihadists’ Toyotas and Humvees will be channeled toward Mecca where the true believers want to go anyway.

President Obama is sending military advisors to Ukraine. The USA is now at war with Russia, it just has not been declared. America’s foot soldiers in the war are Right Sector Nazis and the Ukraine National Guard. Flight MH-17 was collateral damage from the Eurasian War.

Congress is going on August recess. No matter. The puppet politicians won’t stop the ruling elite’s grasp at Russian resources or end their profits from the forever wars. With the escalating and widening wars, together with incompetent leadership, it is hard to see how we will avoid becoming collateral damage ourselves.

[walrus]

I think the irony of the victims of the Shoah inflicting the same on an innocent race is finally being perceived by the man in the street.

[ISL]

All:

In these things, a reference is useful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Lebanon_War

the war with Hezbollah ended after 34 days and 165 Israeli dead. In that regards, in about a week at current rates, the war shifts to an Israeli political liability. If Hezb joins, the shift occurs sooner.

Kill ratios were 10:1 in 2006. The land invasion decreased the prior 100:1 ratio to 20:1 now, and still falling.

I expect Israel to propose a cease fire in a few days that meets none of Hamas goals to test how serious Hamas is to persist. Hamas preparations show a serious strategy, so unless Israel unilaterally retreats, things will continue for longer until the political liability becomes outweighed by addressing key Hamas demands. A few weeks at most.

[Peter Brownlee]

One of the benefits of digital everything and everywhere is that the disclaimers and flim-flam of hyperpartisans can be reasonably often questioned, if not completely disproved, pretty quickly -- sometimes with the vision completely contradicting the unlikely narrative of which it is purportedly part.

This still seems to elude many in the mainstream media. Reporting on the Ukraine and the Holy Land imbroglios (imbroglii?) are amazingly similar in the absence of curiosity and serious questioning of patent absurdities.

[Haralambos]

At the risk of posting far above my pay grade, I will offer this. Military service is 24/7/365 until relieved or furloughed or given R and R or leave or whatever it is now called in repeated deployments.

Those in many government services get one month, Congress shuts down, and recent US presidents go to the ranch to ride or clean brush or treat their families to culturally-enriching experiences. Unless and until the US puts the nation on war status and demands everyone sacrifice for these absurdities, those in power will be home free. The IDF is not taking two weeks or more off, nor is/are their target/s, I imagine. The same goes for every other hot spot as Europeans head to the beaches, and Americans who can afford holidays take them.

[Buzz Meeks]

James Howard Kunstler also posted another one of his anti-Arab, anti-Muslim racist screeds Monday. Another Zionist hypocrite jetsetting around the country milking peak oil. Hopefully the American public will finally wake up to the Fifth Column that is accelerating the collapse of this country both domestically and overseas. The rapidity and frequency of our self-destructing actions is stunning.

I can see future historians asking the same question that was asked of Germany after the end of WWII. How did we allow it to happen? You can start with the Bloombergs, Kerrys, Schummers,Finesteins, Boxers, Adlemans, Goldman Sachs et al, Rosenbaums,NYT, WaPo, CNN, Obama and Holder. The list of criminalsis a very sorry and sordid long one.

Buzz Meeks

[Babak Makkinejad]

All:

Ayatollah Khamenei's comments on Gaza and Israel:

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/07/23/uk-palestinians-israel-iran-idINKBN0FS2HT20140723

[Babak Makkinejad]

I agree.

But the question is what is the point of initiating all these crisis - does someone or a group of them have a death wish?

[Fred]

walrus,

It is the descendants of the victims of the Shoah who are inflicting the same. Even that characterization is inaccurate as up to 20% of the population is Arab decent and almost 25% of the current population came from or were born to immigrants from the former USSR. The guilt trip should end, so should the killing. Israel should talk to their enemies as all they are succeeding in doing now is making more of them while opening the blind eyes of the people of the West to what is really happening in the Holy Land.

[Farooq]

I am sure there are many "righteous jews", to borrow John Mearshiemer's phrase, who are utterly disgusted at what Israel has become. Norman Finkelstein's activism in support of Palestinian for example is deeply influenced by the terrible pain and suffering that his parents (mother in particular) endured in concentration camps. I am sure many more like him who were brow beaten into submission and might become more vocal as time passes by and questioning the manufactured narrative becomes less risky.

[confusedponderer]

Don't you know, fools know they are immortal.

How else to explain all those deadly freak accidents.

[Cee]

So AIPAC has created human shields of us. The FAA lifted the flight ban. Incredible!

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Jul-22/264687-nasrallah-hezbollah-will-stand-by-resistance-in-gaza.ashx#axzz38MQl7qTL

[Ryan]

Detailed article of how and where ISIS sells off the oil from the fields they have captured. The writer goes into areas where the combatants have turn blind eyes to the activities of each other when it comes to black market activity.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/23/us-iraq-security-oil-idUSKBN0FS0BP20140723

The Israeli tank commanders took heavy losses during the 1973 War as well. That's right, the visibility inside an armored fighting vehicle is 50% of what it is with one's head exposed. The Israeli armored doctrine calls for tank commanders to ride unbutton.

Naftali Bennett has been making the rounds. He has appeared twice back to back on Huckabee' show. He said Israel has gone from Iron Dome to Iron Fist. Ayelet Shaked was not part of the discussion.

[Abu Sinan]

If Palestinian adults are legit targets because they are part of a "citizen army" then this also means that every Israeli adult male that is not elderly is a legit target. This is a rather stupid argument for someone who is pro-Israeli to make when one considers every adult Israel male is REQUIRED to be in the IDF or reserves. By their own argument this makes every attack that targets adult Israeli males legitimate.

[Thomas]

Death wish?

No, a desire for dominance.