Are these the actions of the forces the Israeli apologists think use minimal force ?

The family of a British journalist shot dead by the Israeli Army in Gaza five years ago have received a £1.5 million payout from the Israeli government. The Israeli government, however, despite a full enquiry and even film of the event claim the Israeli soldier was NOT breaking the law.

Now remember, this is the same Israeli government who also claim their forces are acting within the law and within strict limits when the bomb and shot their way in to Gaza.

According to film footage shot at the time, Mr Miller, is seen waving a white flag as he steps from a building in Gaza. There is a shot and his colleague shouts: "We're British journalists."
There is then a second shot, which hits Mr Miller in the neck.

So just to be sure, remember that this IS the sort of behaviour the Israeli's accept from their armed forces and do NOT think is illegal.

And we are supposed to think this is minimal force ?

What do the israel apologists and BBC haters do now ?

Since Israel started its campaign and war crimes in Gaza, there have been numerous Israel apologists and BBC haters on various blogs choosing to use the BBC's news coverage as evidence that the BBC is biased against Israel and that the BBC is evil.

Now, with the BBC refusing to broadcast an appeal for aid to be sent to Gaza, where are the BBC haters and Israel apologists now ?

The big problem for the BBC haters is that they always hold up Sky as an example to compare the BBC against. However, Sky have also refused to broadcast the appeal, thus removing this angle of attack.

Gaza ceasefire from Israel shows up their war aims as a lie

Israel started bombing Gaza at Christmas with two avowed war aims. Firstly, to neuter Hamas and turn the people of Gaza against them, and the second was to stop the missile attacks on Israel and end the means by which these missiles can get in to Hamas in the first place. Clearly with the announcement that Israel has announced a unilateral ceasefire these war aims have been shown to be lies.

Why do I say they are lies ? Because Hamas are as strong as ever in terms of their support in Gaza. There is no greater way of making an unpopular government popular than by having them stand shoulder to shoulder with the civilian population during a war. Israel has helped Hamas be seen, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, as the only people standing up for the ordinary people.

As for Israel's second aim, all the experts make clear that the tunnels from Egypt have been disrupted, but not closed whilst missile attacks continue on Israel, showing this object has also not been met.

Israels real aims seem to be clearer when we take in to account that Barack Obama takes charge in the US in two days. Israels real war aims were to lash out and cause as much damage as possible before Obama took charge, nothing more or less complicated than that. After all, if Israel calls a ceasefire without achieving any of their war aims, what other possible reason could there be for their attacks ?

UPDATE - This story must make Israeli apologists very proud.

Israel deliberately target non military targets - Time for the Israel apologists to stop

Let's make one thing clear, I have no inner hatred of Israel and have no time or sympathy for Hamas. However, what Israel has perpetrated today in Gaza is a deliberate war crime.

One might have sympathy if they were attacking Hamas linked or controlled media because they may feel that these "state" organs are guilty of propaganda. But deliberately targeting independent media , as the Israelis have done today is appalling.

Then there is the bombing of a hospital. Israel have all the GPS information on hospital locations, they know exactly where they are, so this has to be a deliberate act.

Finally, and perhaps worst, deliberately firing two phosphorous artillery shells at the main UN compound, is beneath contempt. Phosphorous shells are deliberately used in order to start fires. You would not use phosphorous for surgical strikes, as Israel claim. In fact the only reason for their use on the UN compound must be in order to burn the food stored there.

Please don't respond with "but Hamas are firing missiles in to Israel". I know this, but there is responsibility on states to act in a better and controlled way than terrorists, if not they only legitimise the terrorists, which is exactly what Israel are achieving at the moment.

How does trashing Starbucks help the people of Gaza ?

I see that the march in support of the people of Gaza in London has ended up with things being thrown at the police and a branch of Starbucks being attacked.

As the BBC reports,

"But as darkness fell a small number of people, several hundred, have begun confronting police and missiles have been thrown," he said.

"Although these are ugly and unwelcome scenes, they do not represent what has happened for most of the afternoon."

It's a sad fact that there are a number of Trots who join any demonstration in order to attack the police or shops and care little about any cause other than causing mayhem.

Strange parallels

When watching the final moving episode of the Diary of Anne Frank on BBC One last night I wondered if it ought to become prescribed viewing for all those involved in conflict around the world.

The strange parallels between the Frank family being taken from their homes by German forces and the news that Israeli forces in Gaza moved scores of people deliberately to one location before shelling the house with artillery just seems crazy. Sadly though the Israeli state seems to have learnt nothing from the holocaust.

Take the Sabra and Shatila camps where the Israeli forces let in militia men to massacre people i the 1980s, take the consistent policy of independent journalists being targeted and even murdered by Israeli snipers, take the bombing of schools.

Whilst I wouldn't question that Israeli faces a clear and present danger from Hamas, but the Israeli government seem to think that the Holocaust is an excuse for any Israeli behaviour that goes beyond that expected within the Geneva Convention.

I boy in my class, aged just 7, said yesterday when looking at a globe in my classroom, "Oh, Israel, I've found Israel. I saw on the telly that they bomb schools".

Reporter in peril ? Julian Mannion of ITV news

You have to laugh at the reporting on ITV news this evening. I don't doubt that Julian Mannion is actually in Israel reporting on the invasion of Gaza, but his constant repeating of the line "you can probably hear the explosions in the background", didn't alter the fact that you could hear no explosions, see no explosions, and to all intents and purposes it looked as if he was stood in a field just off the M25.

The population problem that means Israel must take the initiative for peace in the Holy Land

The Jewish state of Israel, as most people know, is not as Jewish as some Israelis would like or would have us believe. Israeli Arabs and Christians make up about one million of the Israeli population and with a much larger birth rate amongst the Arab population, Israel Jews might not remain the largest population group on 20 years time. Given these difficulties, Israel has always welcomed Jews from around the world, including some rather more unusual Jewish sects (particularly from Ethiopia) which have little to do with Judaism as Israels would recognise it, in order to bolster the Jewish population in Israel. However, this inward migration of Jews is on the decline.

The population situation should focus Israeli minds on getting a peace deal on the most favourable terms now. But will it. The figures show that Israeli occupied Palestinian areas have a further 4 million non Jewish residents, and if you take just a few hundred thousand of these in to Israel on redrawn boundaries, which is what the Israelis seem to want, then it will put Israels Jewish population under further strain.

The problem for Israel is with it's bizarre list system of proportional representation, minority parties and hardliners hold the whip hand meaning Israeli never have the guts to do the right thing either for the Jews or the Arabs.

perhaps the population situation will focus minds because a solution to the problems in the holy land are not only desirable for the Middle East, but also in the fight against terrorism worldwide. At this time of year too, it is an absolute tragedy that the holy land is still under the shadow of guns.

Nazis arrested in Israel ?

I thought this was some sort of odd joke when I saw the headline, but apparently eight Nazis, all Israeli citizens who moved from Russia, which presumably means they themselves are Jewish, have been arrested in Israel.

Having come from the former Soviet Union their knowledge might not equate with our own history of the Nazi's. In the Soviet Union there was an emphasis on teaching that the Nazis were anti Communist and that concentration camps were set up to kill Soviet Citizens. There was a tendency to devalue the holocaust as the Soviet Union itself had a long history of anti Semitism going back to the Tsarist days. however, it is shocking to think that Israelis could themselves could class themselves as Nazi's.

Just what is needed right now in Gaza - More Israeli air strikes

I heard a member of Hamas on the radio this week blaming the breakdown of law and order in Gaza on the Israelis, claiming they were responsible for the factional infighting between Hamas and Fatah. At the time I took his comments to be a ludicrously poor excuse for what is a Palestinian issue.

However, when you read that the ceasefire is now just holding in Gaza and the Israelis are now carrying out a series of air strikes in the area, you have to ask what the Israeli motives are. Why start air strikes now ? To my mind it is as if Israel knows that it is likely to destabilise Gaza by doing so and this may start of a further wave of violence in Gaza.

The Hamas member on the radio last week may have bee mainly wrong in his assertion that Israel is completely to blame, but the point can certainly be made that Israeli has most to gain by seeing civil war in Gaza.

Israeli Ambassador causing a diplomatic incident ?

Not a story I've seen widely reported, so many thanks to David Farrar of kiwiblog for this piece about the Israeli Ambassador to El Salvador.

It appears that the Israeli Ambassador had more that Ferrero Rocher at his receptions.

Ah, you are spoiling us Ambassador !