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American Liberty, anti-Semitism, Barack Obama, Bombing, Civilisation, Coffee, Counter-Jihad, Counterjihad, Cultural Marxism, Defend the modern world, Demographics of Europe, Gaza, Hamas, Hamas Charter, Israel Gaza, Operation Protective Edge, War, Zionism
Anyone who values civilisation – from its music and museums, to its cinemas and nightclubs – will have been sympathetic to Israel’s plight over the past two weeks. It is being attacked by another century, and cannot respond except by striking (as surgically as possible) one of the most densely populated territories in the world.
Faced with these odds, Israel has inevitably lost. As I said a fortnight ago, the only way Operation Protective Edge could succeed (or be worth the ocean of negative publicity arising from the project) is if Hamas was knocked conclusively out of history. I’m far from alone in holding this view. Many a patriot in Israel has been exasperated by this war and its apparent lack of direction.
Hamas – in contrast to Netanyahu’s ambiguity – is working with a clear and intelligent strategy:
1. Provoke Israel into bombarding Gaza.
2. Fire missiles from hospitals, schools and (for added propaganda effect) UN-affiliated buildings in order to maximise foreign and civilian casualties – human lives being cheaply expendable given the local birth-rate.
3. Mobilise Left-wing and Pro-Palestinian media around the world with photos of dead women and children. Gain as many young and naïve adherents to the Palestinian cause as possible.
4. Allow the war to die down. Re-arm and await next operation.
As you can see, there is little room for failure here. One can also see how Israel’s response has fed directly into it. The intensity of Pro-Palestinian information-flow since the start of the war has been staggering. And it hasn’t been limited to the closed world of the political Left either. Here are some of the hundreds of anti-Zionist comments left on the centre-right Daily Mail website (all of which were given hundreds of ‘green arrows’ by its readership) –
“Israel would like nothing more than to destroy all Palestinian settlements. The ‘excuse’ of defending its people is a smokescreen. If this campaign somehow stops they’ll find another excuse to attack and kill thousands of innocent people. Israel are mass murderers.”
“Israel is an apartheid state gone wild and it’s unfair to expect their neighbours to sit there defenceless without the weapons and military to defend themselves.”
“Israel wants the land for its natural gas, it’s as simple as that. It won’t stop and is behaving in an appalling manner.”
“The whole world knows what a terrorist state Israel is-you can sit here all day trying to defend it-it won’t work.”
Elsewhere, the Telegraph (arguably the most reliably pro-Israel news source in the UK) has run numerous reports on the bombings of Hamas targets near schools and hospitals with the (rather important) Hamas element unmentioned anywhere in the text. It used to be the case that only the BBC was capable of this wilful propaganda. This time around, were it not for the middle-ground politeness of the BBC, the Israeli side would have no media voice in the UK outside the Jewish Chronicle.
Its inherent evil aside, Hamas is reaping the crop from a well-thought out and devilishly clever tactic. Now let’s look at what a comparably clear Israeli response would have looked like:
1. Delay retaliation to Gaza rocket fire. Instead make clear to Hamas and international community that living next to a terrorist group has become intolerable (i.e. make the case for the action before the action). Issue final warning to Hamas and make clear that it will be removed if rocket fire continues. The longer the period between the ultimatum and military action, the less the power of criticism will be when the latter is underway.
2. If rocket fire continues, launch air and ground strikes against all known Hamas sites. Occupy Gaza for as long as it takes to arrest or kill Hamas leadership and its supporters. After the occupation, make clear that the same routine will be repeated if any comparable terrorist group emerges there.
By way of conclusion, Protective Edge has been a disaster for Israel, a windfall for the Palestinian cause, and it raises serious questions about Israel’s long term planning. Let’s hope lessons have been learned.
D, LDN.
Defend the Modern World 
It used to be tiny Israel against a huge Arab & Muslim world. Now it has become powerful Israel against a tiny Palestine. David has become a Goliath and Goliath has become a David. This is one if the most cynical & effective propaganda ever perpetrated. The very word “Palestine” or “Palestinian” is a propaganda word and should be avoided. It’s an Arab(Muslim) and Israeli conflict and one should call it as such.
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Indeed. It is far more broad.
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A tiny Palestine with the financial help of Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia?
A tiny Palestine whose sympathizers are demonstrating violently in European cities.
A tiny Palestine whose advocates are speaking every week on news programs.
A tiny Palestine whose demonstrators are trying to burn down synagogues and who terrorize Jewish men, women and children.
Yeah, right.
A tiny Palestine.
If you want to understand the conflict, just imagine what would happen to Israel if they did not have the Iron Dome.
Then we can talk about a “tiny Palestine.”
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There was a good article in The Atlantic which asked ‘What Would Hamas do If it could do whatever it liked?”. Scary thought.
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Right you are about this being a religious and ethnic conflict.
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I can agree with most of what you said. But the problem that Israel faced was the complexes of tunnels whom build by the Hamas from Gaza to Israel. That threat alone force Israel government for land operation. It was a real threat to Israeli civilians some tunnels reach civilian residents and houses where the Hamas people could kidnap and murder in big scales. Israel intelligence found there was a plan to do so in one of the Jewish people holiday.
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I agree that this threat has to be addressed, but surely removing Hamas is the best long-term solution to the threat of terror. If Israel stated openly and honestly that it is not willing to live next to a militant organisation dedicated to its extermination, few people could mount a decent objection. If the job is started, it should be finished.
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I agree
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The arabs (“palestinians”) have fooled the entire world into thinking that they are somehow noble savages being victimized by big, bad Israel. The left even compares them at every opportunity to “indigenous” peoples who are under attack. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is a palestinian state—Jordan, and there are arabic states hundreds of times the size of little Israel that surround it. ALL of them shitholes. The truth is that they have always rejected the existence of Israel from day one and have folded the islamic grievance machine into the process. With all the billions that have been lavished on the “palestinians” and Gulf and Saudi money that could rectify this situation or resettle them, why has it never happened? The reason is that Hamas is fighting a proxy war for Qatar and all the other arab states that have waged war on little Israel and refuse to recognize it’s legitimacy. That same money is at work in our big media here in the west, make no mistake about it. The blatant anti-semitism of these monsters is what drives this hate. The Israelis really are the canary in the coal mine and when the arabs finish with them, they’ll come for the rest of us.
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Indeed. Israel is the frontier of liberty. If it falls, the West falls with it.
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The thing about nuclear weapons and a delivery system to take them someplace else, is that once a state has them, that state can never – EVER – cease to exist. Such an event is unfathomable by political scientists, and unprecedented in history.
That’s why foreign policy and strategic analysts freak out about North Korean nukes. That’s why Pakistani’s nukes are one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century.
But that said, Israel will never – EVER – cease to exist. With that in mind, could we hypothesize that the support of the world is irrelevant? Can they do what they need to in order to survive and thrive, and to hell with leftist, UN, and Islamophile judgement? It’s anti-Israeli anyways and won’t change the material facts on the ground. That would render Hamas’ stragety impotent in the long run, no?
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I think nuclear weapons are of questionable value in such a crowded region. It could have severe environmental impacts for the Israelis were they to use a nuke on Syria for example. It’s better for Israel to expand and perfect its conventional military. Iran is another matter. That may become a nuclear confrontation whether Israel wants it or not.
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In the words of Peter Hitchens who actually travelled to Iran and interacted with the locals there
1. Iran is an European civilization trapped by history and geography in the midst of the Arabs and Muslims.
2. Iran is a secular country kept forcibly Islamic(Shia) by the government. (The mirror opposite of Turkey & Pakistan)
3. Iran’s government is deeply unpopular among the people, but, any attack on Iran will rally the people behind their government.
I think it’s not black and white with Iran, and the West should deal with a Iran in a nuanced way, ignoring the rhetoric, as Iran could be the best potential natural ally for the West & Israel in the Middle East.
I recommend Peter Hitchens book: Short breaks in Mordor.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Short-Breaks-Mordor-Departures-Scribblers-ebook/dp/B00L1AWJA2/ref=la_B001K7XE1E_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407572054&sr=1-1
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If Iran does not give up its nuclear program, we will have to attack. The ball is in Tehran’s court for now. Time is running out. I’m sure Iran could be a stable, affluent society if Islam was ejected from it. Unfortunately there is no historic precedent for an Islamised country becoming non-Islamic. Turkey and Lebanon have provided evidence of how difficult that is to achieve. I’m open to being proved wrong though.
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Why should we fear Iran’s nuclear bomb, which, for all of Iran’s anti-Israel rhetoric is primarily a deterrence against Sunni & Arab aggression(Which could be a good thing). And how is Iran’s bomb more dangerous than Pakistan’s, which is a far more dangerous and unstable country than Iran.
Iran is Shia & Iran is Persian and proud of it. They have a barely concealed hatred towards the Arabs(whom they considered semi-civilized barbarians) for conquering their country and continue to dominate them through Islam. The reforms in Turkey and Lebanon were top-down & imposed by a secularizing leadership whereas Iran’s public is largely secular. If any country could do it, it would be Iran.
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Israel has just cause to feel intimidated by an Iranian nuke. Many CIA analysts suggest Saudi Arabia may possess (or be close to acquiring) nuclear weapons from Pakistan. Turkey also has 200 nuclear warheads on its soil (and in the control of its air force) under the NATO nuclear sharing agreement. An Iranian nuke would result in a Sunni-Shia cold war fought by proxies outside the major states (probably in the West) and thus not diminishing the power of either bloc. Perhaps that would be to our benefit, but that’s a hell of a risk to take. As I’ve said before, in terms of manpower, the Sunnis have all the advantages. The best course of action is to prevent any Muslim state going nuclear. We should put pressure on the Pakistanis to come clean on their nuclear relations with Saudi. At the same time, we should be wary of Algeria and Egypt who are also said to be intent on producing one. Iran’s nuclearisation would be the spark that lights the wildfire of proliferation across the region. We cannot allow our hard-won military advantages to become obsolete by laziness.
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For more about the Pakistan-Saudi nuclear agreements, see Michael Scheuer’s ‘Marching Towards Hell’
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Ultimately it comes down to this: Would we be comfortable in Israel’s position if a state like Iran acquired the means to destroy us?
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Hard won military advantages have in many ways been made obsolete by allowing mass immigration of people who hate the West and it’s values. Anyway, military advantages are always fluid and ever changing. An impenetrable fortress has no value in the age of the aircraft, a suit of arm our has no value against a machine gun.
Iran may threaten Israel, but it’s main enemies are the Sunnis and the Arabs. I think it’s trying to acquire or at least making a show of acquiring nuclear weapons as a deterrence against these enemies.
The West and Iran have a common enemy: Aggressive, confident-of-itself, eager-to- expand, destroying-all-in-it’s-path Sunni Islam. They must, by some means, either through overt or covert diplomacy, join forces to defend each other against it.
It is wasteful for both sides to use up their resources and manpower in fighting each other, when the main, existential threat keeps becoming stronger.
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I understand that Israel is obviously NOT your concern. However, I think you overlook the status that Iran would gain in the Muslim world if it were to destroy Israel and the United States. Please note that Death to America Day is a big holiday in Iran. Believe me, the Jews (in Israel at least) have learned an important lesson during their painful history: When someone says they want to kill you and will devote their energy to that, BELIEVE THEM!
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Another piece of advice from an eager reader and commentor/commentator. (What do you call one who comments in blogs?)
Please release your articles one at a time instead of in bunches of 3-4 at a time. It gives an even flow and helps keep comments sections more involved and vibrant.
Excellent blog though! Keep up the good work. Every bit helps in the struggle to maintain our freedoms. As an ex-muslim myself, and one who acutely feels the loss of freedom to speak one’s mind and the pressure to conform, the last bit was heartfelt and not at all a cliche!. I may not be of Western ethnicity, but my values and outlook is what you’d call a Classic Western Liberal, and because of own experiences, passionately so.
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Thanks. Congratulations on escaping.
As to the blog, I did once publish every few days, but I’m really not the most organised person in the world. I like having a single deadline.
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Vaseegaran, I would not call your values classic Western liberal. It sounds to me like you have definitely narrowed your focus to a rather small part of the world — the one in which you reside. Please try and remember that the world is much larger than Europe. The inhabitants of those other areas of the world are also important. Your hostility towards the Sunnis is showing. Considering the role Iran has played in the terror attacks against Americans and Sunnis in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention supplying Hamas with long range missiles and empowering Bashar Assad in Syria and sending in Hezbollah into Lebanon to ensure havoc there, I find your “classic Western liberal” mindset rather suspect. Iran is doing more than just “making a show of acquiring nuclear weapons.” Its leaders believe in the return of the 12th imam and have no compunctions about doing whatever they need to do to bring it about. Their goals are not just the acquisition of the oil triangle it shares with Saudi Arabia or revenge for all that persecution the Shiites have had to endure from the Sunnis. The leaders of Iran really are bad, crazy people, and their threats should be taken seriously.
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