Tuesday, September 30, 2014



Why I Had Enough With The Damn Lies About Israel! A Very Politically INCORRECT Post! 2d copy/w video links
http://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/israel-shield/why-i-had-enough-with-the-damn-lies-about-israel-a-very-politically-incorrect-post/2014/09/30/0/?print



Published: September 30th, 2014
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I am so sick and tired of all the lies and propaganda against Israel. I have had it and it is time to expose and debunk them!

The truth is, I have no clue why anyone with a soul or a brain would possibly choose to support those that Israel is fighting. Is it Israel that has been responsible for multiple hijackings over the past 50 years? Have the Jews blown up buildings or threatened Western society in any way? Does Israel have an ideology to take over the world or implement Jewish law over the White House?

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In fact the only thing Israel has given the world is good! I am not talking only in the moral sense of the word but actual contributions that came out of Israel. Whether it be technology or medical, Israel has been at the forefront on innovation.

See:  Made in Israel -- Medicine  11:36
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20Zfk8uQXak#t=14





When it comes to Nobel Peace Prizes, Israel towers over ALL Islamic regimes and ALL Arab countries combined! There are over 1.4 billion Muslims in the world and around 13 million Jews. There have been over 168 Jewish Nobel Prize winners and only 6 Muslim ones. Israel alone has 12 Nobel Prize winners.

What The HELL Do You Want From ISRAEL? Stop the "occupation"?

STOP THE LIES!

ENOUGH ALREADY!

Israel NEVER in the history of the world occupied an Arab country called Palestine! Palestine was a geographical area that the British governed and NEVER was it an Arab country or national land.

The Romans coined the name Palestine when they occupied Israel from the Jews! So if you are holding the flag of 'give back occupied land', we agree!
SOME FACTS FOR YOUR PROPAGANDA GARBAGE!

In 1948 Arab countries attacked Israel and refused a UN partition plan. (Not Palestinians but Arab countries).  When the war ended there was a ceasefire line. This was not a treaty nor a border, it was simply where and when the Arabs stopped fighting .

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Jerusalem, the entire West Bank, Gaza, the Golan heights and all the "territories" the "Palestinians" claim was theirs were in Arab hands, but no Palestine State was declared. Gaza was part of Egypt and the West Bank and Jerusalem were under Jordanian rule while the Golan was part of Syria.

There was not a single inch of land that belonged to an Arab Palestine national entity of any kind, EVER! 

Resolution 242 makes no mention of a Palestinian people and the areas that were "occupied" were occupied from Egypt and Jordan, NOT Palestine! The "Palestinians" have no legal, national or religious claims over the areas they claim were stolen from them.

The Difference Between Israel & Her Neighbors

Take a good hard look at the map of the Middle East and tell me you sincerely believe that Arabs have a right to demand of the small and ONLY Jewish State in the world to relinquish land!

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While the majority of Islamic regimes surrounding Israel favor the total destruction of the small Jewish State, Israel's declaration of independence offers Arabs, both Muslims and Christians, full civil and religious rights.

If I had a dollar for every time some troll called Israel an Apartheid State I would be a very wealthy man!

The fact is, Israel has more Arab lawyers, teachers, doctors and even Supreme Court Judges than there are Jews in all the Islamic regimes combined! While Israel has 3

Arab parties in the Israeli Parliament and 20% of Israel's population are Israeli Arabs with FULL rights, there is not a single Islamic regime that offers their own people freedom of anything!


Israeli Arabs have FULL rights 

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This is NOT Apartheid!                    

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THIS IS!





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The anti Israel lies have no boundaries. I have heard people compare the situation in Gaza to Nazi Germany. Either the person making that statement has no clue what went on in Nazi Germany or they do and they are flat out evil.

The Jews in Europe were very loyal to the countries they were living in and did not have an ideology to take over any country or destroy Germany. During the tightest weapons blockade in Gaza, 2 malls, one 5-star hotel and a water park were opened up, for God sake! I do not remember my grandparents telling me about them sliding down a water slide in Auschwitz!

See:  The Humanitarian Crisis of the Gaza Mall 1:47
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxaDmAyt84g

 SEE



If the Muslims are already going to mention their friend Hitler, they might want to be reminded of the fact that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was a HUGE fan of the Fuehrer and had big plans for the Jews in the area!

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What About The Recent War In Gaza?

What about it?! Israel left Gaza in '05 and instead of building a normal society, the Arabs voted in Hamas who shot over 16,000 missiles and rockets at civilian populations in Israel!

ISRAEL FINALLY REACTED AFTER 9 YEARS OF MISSILE FIRE FROM GAZA!

Do not tell me those rockets are ineffective because of our Iron Dome! You don't shoot 16,000 rockets at a civilian population and expect no response!

Yes, civilians in Gaza were killed and even children and it is a terrible tragedy, but do not attempt to color a picture as if Israel was targeting innocent civilians! The only missiles that were targeting civilians were those of Hamas! You want to know why civilians in Gaza were killed and hurt in the fighting?

 SEE HERE!  France24 Exposes Hamas Using Human Shields  1:36
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABwLwSNwCeU




Jews and Muslims Got Along Fine Till The State of Israel

I thought it was the settlements of 1967 that were the reasons for Islamic terror on Israel?! Then again, in 1929 Muslim mobs attacked, maimed, slaughtered and expelled ALL the Jews in Hebron and I am pretty sure there were no settlements yet.

Of course we can go back in history to when Mohammad himself slaughtered the Jews of Medina for not accepting his new book, although I don't think that had anything to do with occupation or settlements!

We can talk about the Dhimi tax in Muslim lands that deems every none-Muslim a second class citizen or perhaps the law that a synagogue could not be higher than a mosque. I do believe if Israel implemented laws like those Muslims had against Jews long before the State of Israel existed, the "peace" activists would be screaming racism before you could say BULL****

Of course there are these collection of lies:
9/11 was an inside job
Al Qaeda is a US organization
ISIS is not Muslim
ISIS created by the US and Israel
and the lies go on and on and on!

The truth is very simple! Israel is a beacon of light in a sea of darkness and religious oppression. We are the ONLY country in the area that offers full freedom to all citizens irrelevant of age, sex or religion. Israel has been attacked time and time again and if the tables were turned and the Arabs would have won any of the wars, they would not have left any hint of a Jewish State. We have given up land, expelled Jews from their homes in the hope for peace. We trusted terrorists like Arafat and Holocaust deniers like Abbas in the hope for peace! We have done more than any other country has ever done to make peace with those who seek our destruction so dear world, GET OFF OUR BACK! 

There is absolutely no logical reason you would support or believe the fanatic Muslims who have been carrying out terror against Israel for the past 66 years over Israel that has given you nothing but good, so just cut it out!
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Monday, September 29, 2014


FULL TEXT OF PRIME MINISTER  NETANYAHU’S SPEECH AT UN   9-29-14

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
 Thank you, Mr. President.
I feel deeply honored and privileged to stand here before you today representing the citizens of the state of Israel. We are an ancient people. We date back nearly 4,000 years to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We have journeyed through time. We’ve overcome the greatest of adversities.
And we re-established our sovereign state in our ancestral homeland, the land of Israel.
Now, the Jewish people’s odyssey through time has taught us two things: Never give up hope, always remain vigilant. Hope charts the future. Vigilance protects it.
Today our hope for the future is challenged by a nuclear-armed Iran that seeks our destruction. But I want you to know, that wasn’t always the case. Some 2,500 years ago the great Persian king Cyrus ended the Babylonian exile of the Jewish people. He issued a famous edict in which he proclaimed the right of the Jews to return to the land of Israel and rebuild the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. That’s a Persian decree. And thus began an historic friendship between the Jews and the Persians that lasted until modern times.
But in 1979 a radical regime in Tehran tried to stamp out that friendship. As it was busy crushing the Iranian people’s hope for democracy, it always led wild chants of “death of the Jews.”
Now, since that time, presidents of Iran have come and gone. Some presidents were considered moderates, other hard-liners. But they’ve all served that same unforgiving creed, that same unforgiving regime, that creed that is espoused and enforced by the real power in Iran, the dictator known as the supreme leader, first Ayatollah Khomeini and now Ayatollah Khamenei.
President Rohani, like the presidents who came before him, is a loyal servant of the regime. He was one of only six candidates the regime permitted to run for office. See, nearly 700 other candidates were rejected.
So what made him acceptable? Well, Rohani headed Iran’s Supreme National Security Council from 1989 through 2003. During that time Iran’s henchmen gunned down opposition leaders in a Berlin restaurant. They murdered 85 people at the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. They killed 19 American soldiers by blowing up the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.
Are we to believe that Rohani, the national security adviser of Iran at the time, knew nothing about these attacks?
Of course he did, just as 30 years ago Iran’s security chiefs knew about the bombings in Beirut that killed 241 American Marines and 58 French paratroopers.
Rohani was also Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator between 2003 and 2005. He masterminded the — the strategy which enabled Iran to advance itsnuclear weapons program behind a smoke screen of diplomatic engagement and very soothing rhetoric.
Now I know: Rohani doesn’t sound like Ahmadinejad. But when it comes to Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the only difference between them is this: Ahmadinejad was a wolf in wolf’s clothing. Rohani is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a wolf who thinks he can pull the eyes — the wool over the eyes of the international community.
Well, like everyone else, I wish we could believe Rohani’s words, but we must focus on Iran’s actions. And it’s the brazen contrast, this extraordinary contradiction, between Rohani’s words and Iran’s actions that is so startling. Rohani stood at this very podium last week and praised Iranian democracy — Iranian democracies. But the regime that he represents executes political dissidents by the hundreds and jails them by the thousands.
Rohani spoke of, quote, “the human tragedy in Syria.” Yet, Iran directly participates in Assad’s murder and massacre of tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children in Syria. And that regime is propping up a Syrian regime that just used chemical weapons against its own people.
Rohani condemned the, quote, “violent scourge of terrorism.” Yet, in the last three years alone, Iran has ordered, planned or perpetrated terrorist attacks in 25 cities in five continents.
Rohani denounces, quote, “attempts to change the regional balance through proxies.” Yet, Iran is actively destabilizing Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain and many other Middle Eastern countries.
Rohani promises, quote, “constructive engagement with other countries.” Yet, two years ago, Iranian agents tried to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador in Washington, D.C. And just three weeks ago, an Iranian agent was arrested trying to collect information for possible attacks against the American embassy in Tel Aviv. Some constructive engagement.
I wish I could be moved by Rohani’s invitation to join his wave — a world against violence and extremism. Yet, the only waves Iran has generated in the last 30 years are waves of violence and terrorism that it has unleashed in the region and across the world.
Ladies and gentlemen, I wish I could believe Rohani, but I don’t because facts are stubborn things, and the facts are that Iran’s savage record flatly contradicts Rohani’s soothing rhetoric.
Last Friday Rohani assured us that in pursuit of its nuclear program, Iran — this is a quote — Iran has never chosen deceit and secrecy, never chosen deceit and secrecy. Well, in 2002 Iran was caught red-handed secretly building an underground centrifuge facility in Natanz. And then in 2009 Iran was again caught red-handed secretly building a huge underground nuclear facility for uranium enrichment in a mountain near Qom.
Rohani tells us not to worry. He assures us that all of this is not intended for nuclear weapons. Any of you believe that? If you believe that, here’s a few questions you might want to ask. Why would a country that claims to only want peaceful nuclear energy, why would such a country build hidden underground enrichment facilities?
Why would a country with vast natural energy reserves invest billions in developing nuclear energy? Why would a country intent on merely civilian nuclear programs continue to defy multiple Security Council resolutions and incur the tremendous cost of crippling sanctions on its economy?
And why would a country with a peaceful nuclear program develop intercontinental ballistic missiles, whose sole purpose is to deliver nuclear warheads? You don’t build ICBMs to carry TNT thousands of miles away; you build them for one purpose, to carry nuclear warheads. And Iran is building now ICBMs that the United States says could reach this city in three or four years.
Why would they do all this? The answer is simple. Iran is not building a peaceful nuclear program; Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Last year alone, Iran enriched three tons of uranium to 3 1/2 percent, doubled it stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium and added thousands of new centrifuges, including advanced centrifuges. It also continued work on the heavy water reactor in Arak; that’s in order to have another route to the bomb, a plutonium path. And since Rohani’s election — and I stress this — this vast and feverish effort has continued unabated.
Ladies and gentlemen, underground nuclear facilities, heavy water reactors, advanced centrifuges, ICMBs. See, it’s not that it’s hard to find evidence that Iran has a nuclear program, a nuclear weapons program; it’s hard to find evidence that Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapons program.
Last year when I spoke here at the UN I drew a red line. Now, Iran has been very careful not to cross that line but Iran is positioning itself to race across that line in the future at a time of its choosing. Iran wants to be in a position to rush forward to build nuclear bombs before the international community can detect it and much less prevent it.
Yet Iran faces one big problem, and that problem can be summed up in one word: sanctions. I have argued for many years, including on this podium, that the only way to peacefully prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons is to combine tough sanctions with a credible military threat. And that policy today is bearing fruit. Thanks to the efforts of many countries, many represented here, and under the leadership of the United States, tough sanctions have taken a big bite off the Iranian economy.
Oil revenues have fallen. The currency has plummeted. Banks are hard-pressed to transfer money. So as a result, the regime is under intense pressure from the Iranian people to get the sanctions relieved or removed.
That’s why Rohani got elected in the first place. That’s why he launched his charm offensive. He definitely wants to get the sanctions lifted; I guarantee you that. But he doesn’t want to give up Iranians’ nuclear – Iran’s nuclear weapons program in return.
Now here’s a strategy to achieve this. First, smile a lot. Smiling never hurts. Second, pay lip service to peace, democracy and tolerance. Third, offer meaningless concessions in exchange for lifting sanctions. And fourth, and the most important, ensure that Iran retains sufficient nuclear material and sufficient nuclear infrastructure to race to the bomb at a time it chooses to do so.
You know why Rohani thinks he can get away with this? I mean, this is a ruse. It’s a ploy. Why does Rohani think he – thinks he can get away with it? Because – because he’s gotten away with it before, because his strategy of talking a lot and doing little has worked for him in the past.
He even brags about this. Here’s what he said in his 2011 book about his time as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, and I quote: “While we were talking to the Europeans in Tehran, we were installing equipment in Isfahan.”
Now, for those of you who don’t know, the Isfahan facility is an indispensable part of Iran’s nuclear weapons program. That’s where uranium ore called yellowcake is converted into an enrichable form. Rohani boasted, and I quote, “By creating a calm environment – a calm environment – we were able to complete the work in Isfahan.” He fooled the world once. Now he thinks he can fool it again.
You see, Rohani thinks he can have his yellowcake and eat it too. And he has another reason to believe that he can get away with this. And that reason is called North Korea. Like Iran, North Korea also said its nuclear program was for peaceful purposes. Like Iran, North Korea also offered meaningless concessions and empty promises in return for sanctions relief.
In 2005 North Korea agreed to a deal that was celebrated the world over by many well-meaning people. Here’s what the New York Times editorial had to say about it, quote: “For years now, foreign policy insiders have pointed to North Korea as the ultimate nightmare, a closed, hostile and paranoid dictatorship with an aggressive nuclear weapons program. Very few could envision a successful outcome, and yet North Korea agreed in principle this week to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, return to the NPT, abide by the treaty’s safeguards and admit international inspectors.”
And finally, “diplomacy, it seems, does work after all. Ladies and gentlemen, a year later, North Korea exploded its first nuclear weapons device.”
Yet, as dangerous as a nuclear-armed North Korea is, it pales in comparison to the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran. A nuclear-armed Iran would have a choke hold on the world’s main energy supplies. It would trigger nuclear proliferation throughout the Middle East, turning the most unstable part of the planet into a nuclear tinderbox. And for the first time in history, it would make the specter of nuclear terrorism a clear and present danger. A nuclear-armed Iran in the Middle East wouldn’t be another North Korea. It would be another 50 North Koreas.
Now, I know that some in the international community think I’m exaggerating this threat. Sure, they know that Iran’s regime leads these chants, “death to America, death to Israel,” that it pledges to wipe Israel off the map. But they think that this wild rhetoric is just bluster for domestic consumption. Have these people learned nothing from history? The last century has taught us that when a radical regime with global ambitions gets awesome power, sooner or later its appetite for aggression knows no bounds.
That’s the central lesson of the 20th century. And we cannot forget it. The world may have forgotten this lesson. The Jewish people have not.
Iran’s fanaticism is not bluster. It’s real. The fanatic regime must never be allowed to arm itself with nuclear weapons. I know that the world is weary of war. We in Israel, we know all too well the cost of war. But history has taught us that to prevent war tomorrow, we must be firm today.
And this raises the question, can diplomacy stop this threat? Well, the only diplomatic solution that would work is one that fully dismantles Iran’s nuclear weapons program and prevents it from having one in the future.
President Obama rightly said that Iran’s conciliatory words must be matched by transparent, verifiable and meaningful action. And to be meaningful, a diplomatic solution would require Iran to do four things. First, cease all uranium enrichment. This is called for by several Security Council resolutions. Second, remove from Iran’s territory the stockpiles of enriched uranium. Third, dismantle the infrastructure for nuclear breakout capability, including the underground facility at Qom and the advanced centrifuges in Natanz.
And, four, stop all work at the heavy water reactor in Iraq aimed at the production of plutonium. These steps would put an end to Iran’s nuclear weapons program and eliminate its breakout capability.
There are those who would readily agreed to leave Iran with a residual capability to enrich uranium. I advise them to pay close attention to what Rohani said in his speech to Iran’s supreme cultural revolution — Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council. This was published in 2005. I quote. This is what he said:
“A county that could enrich uranium to about 3.5 percent will also have the capability to enrich it to about 90 percent. Having fuel cycle capability virtually means that a country that possesses this capability is able to produce nuclear weapons.” Precisely. This is why Iran’s nuclear weapons program must be fully and verifiably dismantled. And this is why the pressure on Iran must continue.
So here is what the international community must do: First, keep up the sanctions. If Iran advances its nuclear weapons program during negotiations, strengthen the sanctions.
Second, don’t agree to a partial deal. A partial deal would lift international sanctions that have taken years to put in place in exchange for cosmetic concessions that will take only weeks for Iran to reverse.
Third, lift the sanctions only when Iran fully dismantles its nuclear weapons program. My friends, the international community has Iran on the ropes. If you want to knock out Iran’s nuclear weapons program peacefully, don’t let up the pressure. Keep it up.
We all want to give diplomacy with Iran a chance to succeed, but when it comes to Iran, the greater the pressure, the greater the chance. Three decades ago, President Ronald Reagan famously advised, “trust but verify.” When it comes to Iran’s nuclear weapons program, here’s my advice: Distrust, dismantle and verify.
Ladies and gentlemen, Israel will never acquiesce to nuclear arms in the hands of a rogue regime that repeatedly promises to wipe us off the map. Against such a threat, Israel will have no choice but to defend itself.
I want there to be no confusion on this point. Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone. Yet, in standing alone, Israel will know that we will be defending many, many others.
The dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran and the emergence of other threats in our region have led many of our Arab neighbors to recognize, finally recognize, that Israel is not their enemy. And this affords us the opportunity to overcome the historic animosities and build new relationships, new friendships, new hopes.
Israel welcomes engagement with the wider Arab world. We hope that our common interests and common challenges will help us forge a morepeaceful future. And Israel’s — continues to seek an historic compromise with our Palestinian neighbors, one that ends our conflict once and for all. We want peace based on security and mutual recognition, in which a demilitarized Palestinian state recognizes the Jewish state of Israel. I remain committed to achieving an historic reconciliation and building a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
Now, I have no illusions about how difficult this will be to achieve. Twenty years ago, the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians began. Six Israeli prime ministers, myself included, have not succeeded at achieving peace with the Palestinians. My predecessors were prepared to make painful concessions. So am I. But so far the Palestinian leaders haven’t been prepared to offer the painful concessions they must make in order to end the conflict.
For peace to be achieved, the Palestinians must finally recognize the Jewish state, and Israel’s security needs must be met.
I am prepared to make an historic compromise for genuine and enduring peace, but I will never compromise on the security of my people and of my country, the one and only Jewish state.
Ladies and gentlemen, one cold day in the late 19th century, my grandfather Nathan and his younger brother Judah were standing in a railway station in the heart of Europe. They were seen by a group of anti-Semitic hoodlums who ran towards them waving clubs, screaming “Death to the Jews.”
My grandfather shouted to his younger brother to flee and save himself, and he then stood alone against the raging mob to slow it down. They beat him senseless, they left him for dead, and before he passed out, covered in his own blood, he said to himself “What a disgrace, what a disgrace. The descendants of the Macabees lie in the mud powerless to defend themselves.”
He promised himself then that if he lived, he would take his family to the Jewish homeland and help build a future for the Jewish people. I stand here today as Israel’s prime minister because my grandfather kept that promise.
And so many other Israelis have a similar story, a parent or a grandparent who fled every conceivable oppression and came to Israel to start a new life in our ancient homeland. Together we’ve transformed a bludgeoned Jewish people, left for dead, into a vibrant, thriving nation, a defending itself with the courage of modern Maccabees, developing limitless possibilities for the future.
In our time the Biblical prophecies are being realized. As the prophet Amos said, they shall rebuild ruined cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine. They shall till gardens and eat their fruit. And I will plant them upon their soil never to be uprooted again.
Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Israel have come home never to be uprooted again.







Sunday, September 21, 2014


By Arlene Kushner

Then, I want to share a level-headed and informed assessment of Mahmoud Abbas’s recent threats. You’ve heard much of this from me, but better still to hear it from an international lawyer.
Alan Baker – director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and director of the International Action Division of the Legal Forum for Israel – says, in his piece – “Is Abbas Serious?” – that (emphasis added):
“The Palestinian Authority leadership’s fixation on ‘internationalizing the conflict’ by ‘going back to the UN,’ joining various international conventions and taking Israeli political and military leaders to the International Criminal Court sounds dramatic and even threatening. But it involves a large degree of self-delusion
“The latest ploy by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for frightening the Israelis – going to the UN Security Council with a resolution demanding withdrawal by Israel from ‘Palestinian territory’ to ‘the 1967 borders’ within three years and threatening to go to the International Criminal Court if it isn’t passed – would appear to be no less misguided legally, no less self-deluding and fraught with non-sequiturs than previous abortive Palestinian UN forays.
“Despite all the annual politically generated UN resolutions, which do nothing more than represent the political opinions of the states voting for them, the territories of Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip have never legally or historically been declared to be ‘Palestinian.’ There has never been a sovereign Palestinian state, and no treaty, agreement, or binding resolution has ever determined that the territories belong to the Palestinians.

“To the contrary, even the Palestinians themselves agreed in the 1993-1995 Oslo Accords, guaranteed by the US, the EU, Russia, Norway, Egypt and Jordan and endorsed by the UN, that the permanent status of the territories would be determined in negotiations. To determine in advance that these territories are Palestinian is to prejudge an agreed-upon negotiating issue.

“Similarly, there is no such thing as the ‘1967 borders.’ The parties have agreed to negotiate ‘secure and recognized boundaries,’ as demanded by UN Security Council Resolution 242, and the question of ‘borders’ is also an agreed negotiating issue pursuant to the Oslo Accords…

“Moreover, Abbas’s ostensibly serious ammunition – his threat to go to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and have Israeli leaders and military officers tried for war crimes in the event that his Security Council ploy fails – appears almost certain to backfire.

“Even if the ICC prosecutor, as she has promised, accepts a Palestinian request for standing in the Court…that, in and of itself, cannot guarantee that Abbas and his associates will be able to advance any serious criminal claims against Israeli political or military leaders.

“This is because of the Court’s complex evidentiary rules, specifically the rule of ‘complementarity,’ which prevents the Court’s exercising its jurisdiction if the case in question is already subject to investigation and potential juridical process by the nation state of the accused…Thus it is highly unlikely that any such attempt to bring Israeli leaders to trialwould succeed.

“Even more noteworthy is the likelihood that the Palestinian leadership, in giving the Court jurisdiction over the territories, including the Gaza Strip, would be placing itself – as well as senior Hamas commanders and tacticians – at the mercy of anyone who chooses to initiate claims against them for serious war crimes and terrorism.”


Saturday, September 20, 2014





  • http://www.israellycool.com/2014/08/24/assessing-the-ocha-gaza-crisis-atlas-2014-report/


http://www.israellycool.com/2014/08/25/further-analysis-of-gaza-crisis-atlas-2014-damage-clusters/

1.     Assessing The UN’s OCHA “Gaza Crisis Atlas 2014 Report
 August 24, 2014

  • http://www.israellycool.com/2014/08/24/assessing-the-ocha-gaza-crisis-atlas-2014-report/

2.     Further Analysis Of “Gaza Crisis Atlas 2014 Damage Clusters
 August 25, 2014
http://www.israellycool.com/2014/08/25/further-analysis-of-gaza-crisis-atlas-2014-damage-clusters/




  • http://www.israellycool.com/2014/08/24/assessing-the-ocha-gaza-crisis-atlas-2014-report/


http://www.israellycool.com/2014/08/25/further-analysis-of-gaza-crisis-atlas-2014-damage-clusters/

1.     Assessing The UN’s OCHA “Gaza Crisis Atlas 2014 Report
 August 24, 2014

  • http://www.israellycool.com/2014/08/24/assessing-the-ocha-gaza-crisis-atlas-2014-report/


  • Last week, OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) published their “Gaza Crisis Atlas“.
    It is a 100-page long, ready-for-print, PDF atlas of Gaza, showing the locations of schools, shelters, hospitals and other infrastructure, along with more than 12,000 points representing damage and destruction caused by the IDF air and ground assault during the first month of Operation Protective Edge (between July 9th and August 5th).
    The Gaza Crisis Atlas is a planning tool intended to assist aid and development agencies in assessing and responding to humanitarian and reconstruction needs emanating from the conflict in the Gaza Strip. It is a vital tool for humanitarian and development organizations, but it is also a valuable resource for anyone operating in Gaza as well as those wanting to better understand the impact of the recent escalation of hostilities.
    The Atlas includes printable A3-size maps featuring satellite images of all areas of the Gaza Strip. The main features / land marks were plotted on a high resolution satellite image captured on 6 July 2014. The Atlas was designed at the neighbourhood level to provide higher level of detail to support operational organizations to conduct needs assessments and programming.  The individual subset maps illustrate physical damages provided by UNOSAT based on analysis of satellite images from 14 August 2014. Location of shelters, health and education facilities in addition to other baseline information is all mapped.
    I cannot independently verify the veracity of the damage reports and locations, or the methodology used by OCHA in collecting and classifying these sites. From going over these locations with satellite imagery, they are indeed overlapping structures and other compounds.
    OCHA defined 4 qualitative severity levels
    • Crater/Impact
    • Moderately Damaged Structure
    • Severely Damaged Structure
    • Destroyed structure
    Their maps are colour coded, and I’ve used this same symbology for my maps
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    It should be noted that these maps had a separate symbol for damaged hospitals and power stations, yet didn’t actually have a damage point on top of it. I’ve saved these with threat level “zero.”
    I extracted the points and uploaded them in this easy to navigate Google Fusion Tables map, displayed by severity.












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    Map data ©2014 Google, Mapa GISrael, ORION-ME Imagery ©2014 TerraMetrics


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    Map
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    Here are those points extracted by severity (increasing from 0 & 1 on the left to level 4 on the right):
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    Gaza Damage points broken down by severity, click for full resolution
    Several patterns are discernible:
    The attacks are in no way “random” or “indiscriminate”. One can clearly see the spatial distribution of the damage in several aspects. We find 8,952 of the 12,433 total points (72%) are within a 3 KM buffer abutting the border with Israel. The main objective of Operation Protective Edge was to find and destroy dozens of terror tunnels dug from Gaza into Israel.
    That the most intensive damage was caused to the area where the tunnels naturally originated is thus perfectly understandable. Furthermore, of the 4,441 destroyed structures, 3,481 of them (78%) are within the 3 KM buffer, as are 2,531 of 3,303 (77%) of the lowest intensity damage (simple craters), which are mostly strikes on rocket launchers and tunnels.
    Most of the attacks are grouped around certain neighborhoods or villages, such as Shuja’iyya, Johur ad-Dik, Sureij, and Khuza’a. These were probably the result of the ground operations that took place in dense urban areas also within the 3 KM buffer that housed multiple tunnel entrances and shafts, as well as launch sites for mortars and rockets.
    The IDF has published a map of known terrorist infrastructure in the neighborhood of Shuja’iyya. By overlaying the the IDF’s map with OCHA’s damage points, the correlation is uncanny. Furthermore, note how most of the strikes on farmlands are indeed classified as “Crater/Impact”.
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    OCHA Damage points overlayed over IDF map of Shuja’iyya, click of full resolution
    Of the places that were attacked outside of the 3 KM buffer there are two of note. The primary one is the Philadelphi corridor that separates the Gaza Strip from Egypt (under which run many smuggling tunnels). Additionally, there is the southern Gaza city neighborhood of al-Zeitun, which was just recently used as the launching site of the mortar that killed 4 year old Daniel Targeman.
    OCHA is focusing mainly on the civilian aspect, and has thus divided and analyzed the damage based on the 5 Gaza governorates and their subdivisions, tallying the data in several tables in the report. This analysis is missing the “big picture”, the overall intensity of the strikes.
    Damage Intensity Heatmap
    This heatmap was created with a weighted kernel density of the OCHA damage points, with the weight being the severity.
    Gaza-Damage-Heatmap-Vertical2.jpg
    It now becomes very clear that most of the damage was caused to 5 locations right on the border with Israel. The rest of the Gaza Strip was, for the most part, undamaged. The main population areas of Gaza city, Jabaliya, Khan Yunes, Rafah and Deir el-Balah were disproportionately undamaged.
    If we do a rough estimate of the damage area, it is once again clear the vast majority of the Gaza Strip was unscathed. With a fairly generous estimation that a damage point has a 25 meter radius – the footprint of a house, or the blast radius of a bomb – the total damage area of the 12,433 impacts was in the order of 15 KM2. The land area of the Gaza strip is 360 Km2. In other words, less than 5% of the land was affected.
    One last point which should be noted: with roughly 15% of Hamas rockets and mortars falling short or misfired, it is safe to assume that a significant number of those damage points were not the result of Israeli air strikes, shelling, or detonations. This is not mentioned in the OCHA report.
    In conclusion, in this post I tried to show some absolute data and geographical information beyond the online and printed hyperbole that we have seen in the past several weeks. While it is indeed upsetting that many uninvolved have been killed, the lopsided portrayal of the “IDF attacks on Gaza” is disingenuous. Israel has said from the get-go that it is targeting terrorists, and the spatial distribution of the damage points (from this third party source) proves the IDF’s claims of targeted attacks on terrorist infrastructure, whether they are in fields or in the middle of a neighborhood hijacked by Hamas.
    I am more than willing to continue analyzing and investigating the OCHA dataset and am open to suggestions and remarks from others. I am sharing CSV with the full list of 12433 geocoded points in WGS84 D.d format including their severity level and the page they appeared on for easy indexing, and WKT Geometry field.
    Disclaimers:
    OCHA damage data, while not published in itself, is considered public domain and as such can be subject to fair use.
    All other geographic data: roads, buildings, outlines and places are OSM data.
    The Damage Intensity map is copyrighted and watermarked. You can share it with proper attribution to my post here at Israellycool with a link back to this post. If you would like further comment or to republish this work please contact judgedan48 [at] gmail.com
    Update by Brian of London:
    A quick note about Dan’s very pretty “Damage Intensity Heatmap”. This map is simultaneously excellent for showing a big picture yet somewhat exaggerating the actual damage that occurs. It is very important to view this heatmap alongside the fine detail map provided just above (the one with 4 separate images).
    Dan’s “weighted kernel density” map is a way of taking those four maps and combining them into one.
    It should not, under any circumstances, be regarded as showing that areas shown in the “hottest” colours suffered total devastation. Each strike is still pin point in nature.
    In making his map Dan assumed each strike caused damage in a circle 50m across (25m radius). It is highly unlikely all these strikes caused that amount of damage. Even the recent destruction of multi story buildings in Gaza (videos here) probably only measure 50m across. This number is necessary to get a smooth coloured map even if it indicates damage where there really wasn’t any.
    A kernel density is a way to calculate the density of an element in a continuous way. This takes into consideration the total area of an element’s affect is not equal, and is more dominant close to the origin, and dissipates the farther away you go. The results are a much smoother and good looking density map. The weighted part is just a way to give extra emphasis for higher ranking points.


    2.     Further Analysis Of “Gaza Crisis Atlas 2014 Damage Clusters
     August 25, 2014
    http://www.israellycool.com/2014/08/25/further-analysis-of-gaza-crisis-atlas-2014-damage-clusters/





  • My first post about the assessment of the “Gaza Crisis Atlas 2014 was a “big picture” analysis. Now I’m going to analyse damage clusters in a more detailed way.
    The least severe OCHA damage classification “Crater/Impact” is most probably an air strike or detonation of a launcher. They are predominantly mapped in open areas like fields, sand dunes and other empty lots around the Gaza Strip.
    As it turns out, they also plot several of the Hamas terror tunnels dug from Gaza to Israel that were used for terror attacks and kidnappings. These appear as linear clusters of severity level 1 damage points, at a right angle to the Israel-Gaza border, and heading toward Israeli civilian communities.
    The following 6 maps are screenshots. Click and you’ll be directed to the live map.
    Cluster 1: West of Kissufim
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    Cluster 1: West of Kissufim
    Cluster 2: West of Nirim
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    Cluster 2: West of Nirim
    Clusters 3a and 3b: Between Nirim and Nir Oz
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    Clusters 3a and 3b: Between Nirim and Nir Oz
    Cluster 4: West of Nir Oz
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    Cluster 4: West of Nir Oz
    Cluster 5: North west of Sufa
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    Cluster 5: North west of Sufa
    Clusters 6a and 6b: North of Kerem Shalom
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    Cluster 6: North of Kerem Shalom
    There are several more clusters, less visibly obvious, but you get the picture. Compare the OCHA data with a map of Hamas infiltration tunnels made by Patrick Megahan of QME:

































    Cluster 1
    Cluster 2
    Cluster 3a
    Cluster 3b
    Cluster 4
    Cluster 5
    Cluster 6a
    Cluster 6b
















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    QME Hamas Infiltration Tunnels and OCHA Damage Cluster
    A superimposed map of Patrick Megahan of QME "Hamas Infiltration Tunnels" and least severe OCHE damage clusters


    Gaza Incursion Tunnels


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    July 28 - Nahal Oz
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    Shajaiya-Nahal Oz 2
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    Shajaiya-Nahal Oz 3
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    Shajaiya-Sa'ad 1
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    Shajaiya-Sa'ad 2
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    Al-Wafa Hospital-Kfar Aza
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    July 21 - Kissufim
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    July 19 - Ein HaShlosha
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    July 19 - Nirim
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    July 8 - Kerem Shalom
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    IDF 3 km Buffer Zone
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    July 20 - Nativ HaAsara
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    July 21 - Nir Am
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    July 19 - Be'eri (Potential)
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    Smuggling Tunnels
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    July 17 - Sufa
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    July 19 - Nir Oz
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    2 km Tunnel Range
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    July 17 - Sufa
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    July 19 - Nir Oz
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    July 19 - Nirim
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    July 19 - Ein HaShlosha
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    July 19 - Be'eri (Potential)
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    July 28 - Nahal Oz
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    July 21 - Nir Am

    OCHA Damage Clusters


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    Cluster 1
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    Cluster 2
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    Cluster 3a
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    Cluster 3b
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    Cluster 4
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    Cluster 5
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    Cluster 6a
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    Cluster 6b










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    • Map data ©2014 Google, Mapa GISrael, ORION-ME Imagery ©2014 TerraMetricsTerms


    Since the start of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge on July 17, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) discovered and destroyed 32 tunnels built by the terrorist group Hamas. 14 of those tunnels are reported to have crossed into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Based on press reports and the IDF, it is possible that as many as 15 tunnels may have gone into Israel and, of those, seven were used to conduct attacks.
    The black lines on the map illustrate the approximate location of the 15 tunnels crossing into Israel. The red shaded area along the Gaza-Egypt border represents the area were 1,642 smuggling tunnels are reported to have been found and destroyed. The estimated range of Hamas’s tunnels into Israel can be seen on the map indicated by the red 2 kilometer tunnel range line. Additionally, the extent of the IDF’s ground operation into Gaza to clear tunnels is highlighted by the green 3 kilometer buffer line.
    As you can see, several tunnel routes and damage clusters overlap.
    Apart from the tunnels, other interesting factoids appear from viewing the OCHA damage points over satellite imagery, such as my caveat regarding the veracity of the locations and data collection.
    For example, these handful of houses, sheds and huts were claimed to have sustained no less than 34 severe damage points.
    Cluster-7.png

    Keen eyes will also spot the severe damage point smack in the middle of a field (bottom left).
    Let’s not forget the odd point in the ocean, the lack of damage points on Hamas marine police HQ in Gaza harbor, or the chains of adjacent green houses sporting one damage point each. While I do agree that for the most part these points are accurate, one cannot escape the sense OCHA were at times very lax about their data quality.
    There is however one positive aspect of these points: identifying Hamas compounds. Several of them are placed in the dune areas west of Khan Yunes.
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    This second image has an irony to it. The reservoir-like depression in the ground was actually the Bdolach oxidation pond – a sewage pond, which was part of the Gush Katif waste water treatment  facilities. That Hamas is sh*t we know; now there’s proof they hide and train in it too.