Godlike Productions - Conspiracy Forum
Users Online Now: 2,226 (Who's On?)Visitors Today: 77,449
Pageviews Today: 114,152Threads Today: 34Posts Today: 637
12:52 AM


Rate this Thread

Absolute BS Crap Reasonable Nice Amazing
 

ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney

 
BUSH MUST GO
Offer Upgrade

User ID: 105879
United States
07/17/2006 07:33 PM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
"Curious onlookers should note that Israel’s attacks have not been aimed at Hezbollah, but mainly at Lebanese infrastructure. In fact, there have been no reports of Hezbollah casualties so far. This is no coincidence. Israel’s plan is to reduce Lebanon to rubble and create a humanitarian crisis similar to the one in the occupied territories. Throughout the Arab world the same theory of "pacification" is being applied as Bush and Olmert continue their wanton assault on the basic platforms for human survival leaving millions of Muslims in abject poverty without food, medicine, clean drinking water, or sufficient heat or light. They have created tens of thousands of refugees who have been driven from their homes or left in the ruins to slowly die in the dark."


[link to www.uruknet.info]

One Giant Gaza Strip

Mike Whitney

(GRAPHIC PHOTO AT SOURCE URL)

July 17, 2006


"We will not be the only ones who pay a price. Our homes will not be the only ones destroyed. Our children will not be the only ones killed. Our people will not be the only ones displaced. Those days are over. …I promise you those times have passed." Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, Leader of Lebanese Resistance Organization Hezbollah [link to www.uruknet.info]

The last few days have provided a troubling view of the new world order. The Israeli assault on Lebanon’s infrastructure has battered bridges, roads, power-plants, grain depots, apartment buildings, mosques, community centers, civilian homes, gas stations, ports and many of the country’s critical life-support systems. Additionally, Israel has killed 155 civilians including 15 children who were instantly vaporized by a missile that destroyed their van while they were fleeing southern Lebanon. Israel has justified the carnage by pointing to the 2 soldiers who were captured by members of the Lebanese resistance organization, Hezbollah. But Israel’s defense is hopelessly flawed.

What if relatives or friends of the many US detainees who’ve been illegally imprisoned at Guantanamo, decided to use F-16s and laser-guided missiles to attack the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sears Tower, New York City’s electrical grid, and vast swathes of the highway system? Would that be equally justifiable? Or, more to the point, what if Hezbollah decided to blow up major parts of Israel’s infrastructure in retaliation for the hundreds of Lebanese prisoners languishing in Israeli prisons without any legal recourse? Would that be okay?

Israel’s rationale is merely an apology for state terrorism and it’s utterly meaningless in respect to the enormous damage they’ve caused.

What if the shoe was on the other foot? What if it was Israel’s citizens who were locked away in Lebanese prisons? Would Israel simply leave them to their fate?

Hezbollah wants their prisoners back as much as Israel and they’ve shown a willingness to negotiate. Israel, however, has other things in mind; flattening another Arab country and plunging them into the Stone Age. This is the way Israel does business.

The history of the present conflict did not begin with the capture of the 2 soldiers as the media would have us believe, nor is it simply aimed at dismantling Hezbollah. Israel is planning to occupy the territory between its northern border and the Litani River in Southern Lebanon. This will provide access to an important water source for Israel and create a buffer-zone between itself and Arab militants. The demonstration of overwhelming force is intended to send a message to Syria and Iran that they’d better "shape up" or expect similar treatment in the near future.


"A Clean Break"


Israel’s present battle-plan originated with a policy paper that was written by former Defense Policy Board chief Richard Perle and (Bush administration officials) David Wurmser and Douglas Feith. The document, which was titled "A Clean Break; Strategy for Securing the (Israeli) Realm" [link to www.iasps.org] provides the details of Israel’s plan to topple potential rivals in the region and redraw the map of the Middle East.

The text reads: "Securing the Northern Border;


Syria challenges Israel on Lebanese soil. An effective approach, and one which America can sympathize, would be if Israel seize the strategic initiative (preemption) along its northern borders by engaging Hezbollah, Syria and Iran as the principle agents of aggression in Lebanon including…striking military targets in Lebanon, and should that prove insufficient, striking at striking at select targets in Syria proper."


Perle’s document outlines exactly what is presently taking place even though it was written back in 1996. (It was composed for the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.)

This shows that Israel is not acting irrationally or spontaneously, but executing a carefully-considered master-plan for crushing potential enemies and reconfiguring the Middle East to accommodate the modern Israeli kingdom. (hence, the pretentious euphemism "Securing the Realm")

This is the war that Israel wanted from the very beginning; a final showdown with arch-nemesis Hezbollah followed by confrontations with Damascus and Tehran. It’s all in Perle’s blueprint for "total war".

Prime Minister Olmert has not deviated one millimeter from the original scheme.

[link to www.uruknet.info]
---


ALSO, DON'T MISS READING:


WMR: ISRAEL USING POISON GAS AND DEPLETED URANIUM SHELLS IN SOUTH LEBANON; SOUTHERN BEIRUT (POPULATION: 800,000) TOTALLY DEPOPULATED

"American media is failing to report that the Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza, like the U.S. attacks in Iraq, are violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Additional Protocols governing military attacks on civilians by governments that are parties to the conventions"

[link to www.godlikeproductions.com]

DEMAND ISRAEL STOP TARGETING CIVILIANS!: Call your members of Congress NOW at 888-355-3588 or 800-828-0498

"It is time for us to stop being apologists for the inexcusable."

[link to www.godlikeproductions.com]

ATROCITIES IN THE PROMISED LAND: "THE INSANE BRUTALITY OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL" by former CIA analyst, Kathleen Christison

"Critics of Israel note increasingly that Israel is self-destructing, nearing a catastrophe of its own making. Israeli journalist Gideon Levy talks of a society in “moral collapse.”"

[link to www.godlikeproductions.com]

WE'RE BEING SET UP FOR WIDER WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST by Paul Craig Roberts

"It is the refusal of Syria and Iran (and Saddam Hussein's Iraq) to stand with Israel against Palestine that has made them targets for American attack. Neocons have total control of U.S. foreign policy in the Bush regime, and they have morphed our strategic interests into Israel's."

[link to www.godlikeproductions.com]

WILDLY DISPROPORTIONATE ATTACK ON LEBANON SEEMS LIKE PRETEXT TO CONFRONT IRAN by Linda McQuaig

"...the U.S. and Israel don't want to look like aggressors. They insist their intentions are purely defensive. Recall that Washington also claimed its invasion of Iraq was purely defensive — to protect itself from Iraq's arsenal of deadly weapons, which, it turned out, didn't exist."

[link to www.godlikeproductions.com]

WILL WE GO TO WAR FOR ISRAEL? ISRAEL SAYS "JUMP!" AMERICANS ASK: "HOW HIGH?" by Justin Raimondo

"What Israel wants is what they have always wanted: to use American power, American tax dollars, and American lives to advance their own expansionist agenda . . . While the War Party runs roughshod over authentic American interests, the U.S. political landscape, at this point, lacks anything remotely resembling a Peace Party. Don't look to the Democrats, as a party, to come to our rescue. They won't. "The Lobby"" (AIPAC) "works both sides of the partisan fence, and, as we all know, "politics ends at the water's edge" – which is how we've been dragged into every war of modern times, despite popular opposition."

[link to www.godlikeproductions.com]

---


For the most recent articles shared search by 'user name' BUSH MUST GO in the Advanced GLP Search at www.godlikeproductions.com/searchhandle.php [link to www.godlikeproductions.com]

Last Edited by Phennommennonn on 09/24/2011 08:03 PM
'Link, Copy, Paste, & Disseminate!'
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 117252
United States
07/17/2006 09:28 PM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
READ THIS DOUBTERS!!


>>>"Curious onlookers should note that Israel’s attacks have not been aimed at Hezbollah, but mainly at Lebanese infrastructure. In fact, there have been no reports of Hezbollah casualties so far. This is no coincidence. Israel’s plan is to reduce Lebanon to rubble and create a humanitarian crisis similar to the one in the occupied territories. Throughout the Arab world the same theory of "pacification" is being applied as Bush and Olmert continue their wanton assault on the basic platforms for human survival leaving millions of Muslims in abject poverty without food, medicine, clean drinking water, or sufficient heat or light. They have created tens of thousands of refugees who have been driven from their homes or left in the ruins to slowly die in the dark."<<<

THAT IS SO TRUE!!

DAMN THEM!!

bump
BUSH MUST GO (OP)

User ID: 105879
United States
07/18/2006 02:14 AM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
READ THIS DOUBTERS!!


>>>"Curious onlookers should note that Israel’s attacks have not been aimed at Hezbollah, but mainly at Lebanese infrastructure. In fact, there have been no reports of Hezbollah casualties so far. This is no coincidence. Israel’s plan is to reduce Lebanon to rubble and create a humanitarian crisis similar to the one in the occupied territories. Throughout the Arab world the same theory of "pacification" is being applied as Bush and Olmert continue their wanton assault on the basic platforms for human survival leaving millions of Muslims in abject poverty without food, medicine, clean drinking water, or sufficient heat or light. They have created tens of thousands of refugees who have been driven from their homes or left in the ruins to slowly die in the dark."<<<

THAT IS SO TRUE!!

DAMN THEM!!

bump
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 117252


Yes, 117252, it struck me also as a rather interesting revelation I had not come across elsewhere.

It does make sense.

BMG
'Link, Copy, Paste, & Disseminate!'
BS must go
User ID: 22556
United States
07/18/2006 10:49 AM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
skull_fing
shitbush
User ID: 116586
United States
07/18/2006 11:14 AM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
For the most recent articles shared search by 'user name' BUSH MUST GO in the Advanced GLP Search at www.godlikeproductions.com/searchhandle.php [link to www.godlikeproductions.com]
'Link, Copy, Paste, & Disseminate!'
---------------------------------------
obviously you don't have much in the way of original thoughts....

bush must go...into your open mouth
BUSH MUST GO (OP)

User ID: 105879
United States
07/18/2006 11:26 AM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
obviously you don't have much in the way of original thoughts....

 Quoting: shitbush 116586


Of course not, 116586. That MUST be it! Thank you so much for explaining me to myself. I really, REALLY, appreciate it.

Attention everyone! 116586 has shown me the light and I will change my ways immediately!

chuckle

BMG
'Link, Copy, Paste, & Disseminate!'
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 91701
United States
07/18/2006 11:32 AM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
actually according to the word of God,all the land even up to iraq an the euphraties was given to the jews for an everlasting covenant.lol
shitbush
User ID: 116586
United States
07/18/2006 11:37 AM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
obviously you don't have much in the way of original thoughts....



Of course not, 116586. That MUST be it! Thank you so much for explaining me to myself. I really, REALLY, appreciate it.

Attention everyone! 116586 has shown me the light and I will change my ways immediately!

chuckle

BMG
 Quoting: BUSH MUST GO

=======================
so post something original and prove it

probably couldn't if your cut and paste life depended on it
BUSH MUST GO (OP)

User ID: 105879
United States
07/18/2006 12:44 PM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
so post something original and prove it

probably couldn't if your cut and paste life depended on it

 Quoting: shitbush 116586



shitbush, don't flatter yourself.

I don't owe you anything.

You're nothing more to me than some slimy bug that dwells under a rock I might pass.

Remain in your comfortable darkness where you belong.

BMG
'Link, Copy, Paste, & Disseminate!'
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 115549
United States
07/18/2006 12:45 PM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
Too long and possibly too much bullshit, didn't read.

give
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 103782
United States
07/18/2006 12:46 PM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
We saw the war on poverty with Katrina.
shitbush
User ID: 116586
United States
07/18/2006 12:47 PM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
talk about self-flattery...or, in your case, self-flatulencery

fecal insults are as close as you can get to originality
BUSH MUST GO (OP)

User ID: 105879
United States
07/18/2006 12:48 PM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
Too long...

 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 115549


Typical.

Another poster-child for today's 'Mericuh.

1rof1

BMG
'Link, Copy, Paste, & Disseminate!'
BUSH MUST GO (OP)

User ID: 105879
United States
07/18/2006 12:49 PM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
talk about self-flattery...or, in your case, self-flatulencery

fecal insults are as close as you can get to originality
 Quoting: shitbush 116586


YOU'RE the one, 'shitbush', that has to allude to fecal matter in your username.

Something go wrong in your potty training, hmmm?

chuckle

BMG
'Link, Copy, Paste, & Disseminate!'
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 103782
United States
07/18/2006 12:52 PM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
When international aid does arrive, you can be assured it will be carefully dispersed (ie no weapons). This way the poor people will actually get the food, water, shelter and medicine they need. Like they were taken care of before :rolls eyes:

Every house in Israel has a bomb shelter. No house in Lebanon has a bomb shelter. They don't really care about their people, from what I can tell. The governments are just into obeying orders from the Arabs in Iran and Syria.
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 22792
United States
07/18/2006 12:56 PM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
obviously you don't have much in the way of original thoughts....



Of course not, 116586. That MUST be it! Thank you so much for explaining me to myself. I really, REALLY, appreciate it.

Attention everyone! 116586 has shown me the light and I will change my ways immediately!

chuckle

BMG
 Quoting: BUSH MUST GO


I agreed. BMG is cut and paste queen spewing hate.
BUSH MUST GO (OP)

User ID: 105879
United States
07/18/2006 01:01 PM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
I agreed. BMG is cut and paste queen spewing hate.

 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 22792


Yes! THAT's what it is! Cut and paste hatred in bulk form.

Thank you so much for showing me the light, 22792!

And here I thought I was providing some alternative insights.

Oh, woe, what I fool I've been.

The shame of it all!

laugh

BMG
'Link, Copy, Paste, & Disseminate!'
shitbush
User ID: 116586
United States
07/18/2006 01:20 PM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
if you hate jews so much, why do you use harpo as an avatar

at least harpo could keep his mouth shut if he didn't have something funny to say
BUSH MUST GO (OP)

User ID: 105879
United States
07/18/2006 06:58 PM
Report Abusive Post
Report Copyright Violation
Re: ONE GIANT GAZA STRIP by Mike Whitney
if you hate jews so much, why do you use harpo as an avatar

at least harpo could keep his mouth shut if he didn't have something funny to say
 Quoting: shitbush 116586



Concerning my alleged 'anti-Jewish' stance, shithead 116586, permit me to repeat what I've pointed out to other lemmings such as yourself.

BMG

P.S. Harpo didn't speak at all.


---


From ISRAELIS ARE DYING: IT MUST BE AN ESCALATION by Jonathan Cook, [link to www.godlikeproductions.com] , 7/18/2006 4:12 AM:


bmg is just anti israel . just let him .
he is not ripe enough to look at both sides of the story .
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 118689


Of course, 118689, that MUST be it!

It couldn't possibly be as stated in the article I just posted:


PITY THE NATIONS by Luciana Bohne

"To those who accuse us of anti-Semitism for supporting such struggles as the Palestinian struggle for self-determination, we say: we have made a choice to side with those citizens of Israel who oppose the occupation and who, at the risk of their limbs and liberty, stand for justice in Israel. Israel is not a monolithic state: it has people who act in the name of peace and justice. To take their side is not to side with "self-hating Jews," as their own state's propaganda brands them, but it is to side with the forces of right, with the forces of empathy, solidarity, and justice. There is nothing "anti-Semitic" in that. As for Palestinians, Iraqis, Lebanese, Syrians, Iranians, who resist war and occupation, in siding with them we side with human rights -- the right to live in their own lands, free from the boot of occupation.

It's not complex at all. And it's a matter of life and death -- theirs and ultimately ours."

[link to www.godlikeproductions.com]


And, these people, as described in the following article, aren't REALLY Jewish, right, 118689?


"For all the claims of democracy in Israel, the rally received almost no coverage in the local and international media and was dispersed by police within two hours"


www.wsws.org/articles/2006/jul2006/isra-j18.shtml
[link to www.wsws.org]


Antiwar protests in Israel


By Mike Head

18 July 2006


If one were to judge by the international media, the Israeli government’s assault on Lebanon and Gaza enjoys the virtually unanimous support of the Israeli population. In so far as Israeli citizens have been interviewed, they have been invariably in favour of war, insisting that it provides the only means of protecting the Israeli people.

Despite a barrage of pro-war propaganda in the Israeli media, however, visible opposition has begun to appear. Some 2,000 people marched in Israel’s commercial capital of Tel Aviv on Sunday to demand prisoner exchange negotiations with the Palestinian Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah, and an end to the offensive against Lebanon.

“Yes to Peace,” “Stop the War Monstrosity,” “Say No to the Brutal Bombardments on Gaza” and “Our Children Want to Live” were among the calls from the mixed crowd of Jewish and Arab demonstrators organised by several Israeli anti-war groups.

They also accused Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Amir Peretz of murdering children and carrying out war crimes in complicity with American policy. The slogans included “Olmert Agreed With Bush: War and Occupation” and “Peretz, Don’t Worry, We’ll be Seeing You at The Hague.”

For all the claims of democracy in Israel, the rally received almost no coverage in the local and international media and was dispersed by police within two hours. Police arrested three protesters, claiming they were holding a demonstration without a permit.

Some of the marchers interviewed for Ynet, an Israeli web site, expressed their horror at the outrages being committed in their names. Eitan Lerner said: “Israel is entering another cycle of fighting and continues the foolishness of exaggerated aggression. I came here to protest because there’s a link between starving and oppressing the Palestinians and the bombings in Lebanon.”

Manal Amuri, from Jerusalem, said: “What Israel is doing now has resulted in the deaths of civilians, innocent children, and it serves no purpose except for the government’s vindictiveness. I think it’s good we’re showing that there are Arab and Jewish citizens in Israel who oppose the war.”

Abeer Kopty referred to the intensive efforts being made to stampede public opinion. “They keep telling us that there is a consensus in support of the war, and that’s not true. They keep telling the citizens that this is the only way, and I think that there is another way.”

A women’s protest was also held on Sunday, next to the central Haifa train depot where a Hezbollah rocket landed earlier that day, killing eight people. The women said that in the coming days, they would be assembling a new group of Arab and Jewish women against the war.

Several days earlier, only a few hours after the start of the attack on Lebanon, 200 people picketed the Defence Ministry in Jerusalem. According to Adam Keller of the peace movement Gush Shalom, writing on Al Jazeerah on July 15, the demonstrators responded to an e-mail sent by a group of young people.

Under the headline, “ ‘Summer Rains’ Precipitate a Flood of Blood!” the e-mail accused the government of using “cruel military force and collective punishment against the civilian populations of Gaza and Lebanon.”

It continued: “The latest events in Gaza and Lebanon are directly related to the government of Israel’s campaign against the elected leadership of the Palestinian people. This policy prevents any chance of creating a channel of communications and diplomatic negotiations with our neighbours, and leaves the arena to those who want endless fighting.”

On the picket, the slogans chanted included: “Peretz—You Promised Education and Pensions, And All We Got Is Tanks and Dead Bodies!”, “Peretz, Peretz, Minister of Defence / You have Killed Seven Children Today!” and “Jews and Arabs / Refuse to be Enemies!”

Mounting political tensions

These sentiments undoubtedly reflect wider anxieties about being dragged into a wider war, as well as deep-seated distrust in the coalition government cobbled together by Olmert’s Kadima Party and Peretz’s Labour Party after national elections in March. For now, the pro-war atmosphere dominating the media and the political establishment has largely drowned these voices out, but the underlying social and class tensions wracking the Zionist state are building up just below the surface.

Writing on the Arabic Media Internet Network, Uri Avnery of Gush Shalom commented on the stifling of anti-war sentiment. “The public is not enthusiastic about the war. It is resigned to it, in stoic fatalism, because it is being told that there is no alternative. And indeed, who can be against it? Who does not want to liberate the ‘kidnapped soldiers’?... In the media, the generals reign supreme, and not only those in uniform. There is almost no former general who is not being invited by the media to comment, explain and justify, all speaking in one voice.”

Despite this concerted campaign, a number of commentators have drawn attention to the cracks appearing in the official justifications for the military onslaught. On the same web site, Gilad Atzmon, an Israeli-born musician and writer living in Jordan, noted:

“Although both Palestinian militants and Hezbollah were originally targeting legitimate military targets, Israeli retaliation was clearly aiming against civilian targets, civil infrastructures and mass killing directed against an innocent population. It doesn’t take a genius to realise that this is not really the way to win a war or confront that particular sort of combat known as guerrilla warfare.”

Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy wrote on July 17: “Regrettably, the Israel Defence Forces once again looks like the neighbourhood bully. A soldier was abducted in Gaza? All of Gaza will pay. Eight soldiers are killed and two abducted to Lebanon? All of Lebanon will pay. One and only one language is spoken by Israel, the language of force....

“In Gaza, a soldier is abducted from the army of a state that frequently abducts civilians from their homes and locks them up for years with or without a trial—but only we’re allowed to do that. And only we’re allowed to bomb civilian population centres.”

In a column posted on July 16, Shmuel Rosner, chief US correspondent for Haaretz, pointed out that in October 2000, just months after Israel ended its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon, three Israeli soldiers were abducted from the border area. Ehud Barak, Labour prime minister at the time, decided to let it pass—an approach repeated several times by his Likud successor, Ariel Sharon—in order to avoid opening a “second front” in addition to the one in the Palestinian territories.

Rosner attributed the change in policy to the levels of frustration that had built up among Israelis with the country’s political and military leadership. “You can hear them on every street corner, in every cafe, and in almost every living room: people of the right and the left, young and old, from north and south—frustrated, toughened, disillusioned....

“In this atmosphere, no military officer and no civilian decision-maker can even think about restraint. Reaching at least one of the two goals they set for this current operation in Lebanon—bringing the soldiers back home and ‘changing to rules of the game,’ meaning no more Hezbollah militias on the Israeli border—will decide not only the future of the northern front but also the political future of Israel’s leaders.”

This assessment ignores the backing given to the Israeli aggression by the United States, not to speak of the entire cycle of war launched by the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet Rosner’s references to the popular frustration and the uncertain political future of the Olmert-Peretz government are revealing.

A major factor propelling the militarism of the Zionist administration is the need to divert the disaffection and social polarisation generated by the government’s anti-working class programme of “market reforms” and welfare cuts.

Last November, Peretz, a former national trade union chief, unexpectedly defeated the veteran Shimon Peres in a Labour party leadership contest. Peretz won by pledging to end the conflict with the Palestinians through a negotiated settlement and to look after the interests of ordinary Israeli families hard hit by Sharon’s Likud-Labour government.

Peretz withdrew Labour’s cabinet members from Sharon’s coalition, triggering a realignment of Israeli politics. In a bid to regain support, Sharon was joined by Peres in setting up a new party, Kadima, and calling national elections last March. But in what amounted to a stunning repudiation, Kadima—led by Sharon’s successor Olmert—failed to win a majority, while Likud’s rump was routed.

Sharon’s measures had caused such hostility that his finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who took over as Likud leader, unsuccessfully sought to apologise during the election campaign for the social pain he had inflicted.

Led by the left-talking Peretz, Labour profited from this opposition, together with a new pro-welfare party, the Pensioners Party, and Shas, whose base is the predominantly working class ultra-orthodox Sephardim (Middle Eastern Jews).

However, having campaigned against the cuts in welfare and family payments implemented by the Sharon government, the three parties promptly joined the Kadima-led government, regardless of Olmert’s stated intention to continue the pro-business measures. In particular, the government is determined to see wages fall further in order to make Israel “internationally competitive.”

This programme has included privatisations and tax handouts to benefit the wealthy, accompanied by cuts in social benefits such as unemployment, child and insurance benefits, and income assistance, and a rise in the pension age as well as restrictions on the right to strike.

These measures have already brought unemployment and poverty to increasing numbers of workers and their families and given Israel one of the highest rates of inequality in the world, second only to the US in the advanced countries. According to the National Insurance Institute, the richest households have 14 times more income than the poorest, while one quarter of the 6 million population live below the poverty level, and 1 in 5 children go hungry every day.

While billions of US dollars have been poured into military spending to sustain the war against the Palestinians and an expansion of subsidised settlements in the occupied territories, most Israeli workers and their families have seen their living standards decline.

Aided by Peretz, Olmert and his military generals are intent on channeling the rising discontent into fratricidal warfare against the impoverished Lebanese and Palestinian masses. But the conditions are emerging for growing numbers of Israeli youth and workers to realise that the Zionist project of a national home for the Jews and refuge from persecution has turned into a nightmarish dead end.
'Link, Copy, Paste, & Disseminate!'

News