Hamas announces truce with Israel

[mawilson 2,133]

The US was one of them and so was Israel.

Do you consider the United States a terrorist country? Yes/no, please.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Do you consider the United States a terrorist country? Yes/no, please.

A terrorist country...no. A supporter of terrorist...most definitely. The US calls peeps it supports "rebels", and the ones fighting against US backed regimes "terrorist". It all depends on what the US policy is supporting atm.

Edited September 6, 2011 by Why_Me

[Sofiyya 1,687]

I don't really like using Wikipedia as an authoritative source, but it does get it right sometimes. Interesting snippet from Kip's link:

Bernadotte was assassinated on Friday 17 September 1948 by members of the Jewish nationalist Zionist group Lehi (commonly known as the Stern Gang or Stern Group).

A three man 'center' of this extreme Jewish group had approved the killing: Yitzhak Yezernitsky (the future Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Shamir), Nathan Friedmann (also called Natan Yellin-Mor) and Yisrael Eldad (also known as Scheib). A fourth leader, Emmanuel Strassberg (Hanegbi) was also suspected by the Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion of being part of the group that had decided on the assassination.[30][31][32][33] The assassination was planned by the Lehi operations chief in Jerusalem, Yehoshua Zettler. A four-man team ambushed Bernadotte's motorcade in Jerusalem's Katamon neighborhood. Two of them, Yitzhak Ben Moshe (Markovitz) and Avraham Steinberg, shot at the tires of the UN vehicles. A third, Yehoshua Cohen, opened the door of Bernadotte's car and shot him at close range. The bullets also hit a French officer who was sitting beside him, U.N. Observer Colonel André Serot. Both were killed. In the immediate confusion, Col. Serot was mistaken for Dr. Ralph Bunche, the American aide to Bernadotte. Meshulam Makover, the fourth accomplice, was the driver of the getaway car.

I interviewed Dr. Ralph Bunche while in high school for an article I wrote for my school paper (I was the editor). I also used his recollection of the events he was personally involved in as an authoritative source for my undergraduate thesis, which was on the creation of the modern Middle East. A lot of people don't know he was Black. He was a great man, an inspiration, and a civil rights hero.

I'm not taking sides...both side have legitimate gripes. But a lot of countries (before they became countries) started out with terrorist activities. The US was one of them and so was Israel. I don't agree with what Hamas has done and is doing, but Israel helped to create Hamas by refusing to negotiate for a Palestine.

Here's a good read down below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folke_Bernadotte

Folke Bernadotte

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

I think there will eventually be a Palestine, but I think has a good chance of getting wiped out right afterwards if the crazies take over. You take a look at Lebanon and it's Hezbolla that's tearing that country apart in it's hope to turn Lebanon into a another Iran. If the those kinds of peeps get power in a legitimate Palestine then it has zero chance of existing for the fact Israel is going to wipe it off the face of the map.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

I'm amused by the idea that Israel can wipe anything off the map. It can't. It can't even rebuild Soloman's temple.

I think there will eventually be a Palestine, but I think has a good chance of getting wiped out right afterwards if the crazies take over. You take a look at Lebanon and it's Hezbolla that's tearing that country apart in it's hope to turn Lebanon into a another Iran. If the those kinds of peeps get power in a legitimate Palestine then it has zero chance of existing for the fact Israel is going to wipe it off the face of the map.

Edited September 6, 2011 by Sofiyya

[The_Dude 1,142]

I'm amused by the idea that Israel can wipe anything off the map. It can't. It can't even rebuild Soloman's temple.

I'm sure Syria, Egypt and Jordan thought the same thing. Misplaced hubris can be dangerous in 2011, just as it was the last time they tried to invade.

[mawilson 2,133]

I'm amused by the idea that Israel can wipe anything off the map. It can't.

It almost did, just didn't finish the job.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Misplaced hubris can be dangerous in 2011

That's what I keep saying about Israel.

It almost did, just didn't finish the job.

Almost is the operative word that proves my point.

[William33 110]

Four posts removed - personal insults.

The next personal insult will result in individuals being banned from this thread and possibly more.

[luckytxn 2,264]

Four posts removed - personal insults.

The next personal insult will result in individuals being banned from this thread and possibly more.

Guess happy hour ended.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

MONDAY, JUN 28, 2010 12:29 ET

Fun and games with the "terrorism" label

BY GLENN GREENWALD

(updated below - Update II)

I've written numerous times about how "terrorism" is the most meaningless and most manipulated word in the political lexicon; the best demonstration of this dynamic is the work of NYU's Remi Brulin, whose dissertation documents how Western governments and media outlets have applied the term so inconsistently and self-servingly. One of the principal dangers of the Supreme Court's recent, free-speech-decimating decision in Humanitarian Law Project -- which held that the Government has a sufficiently compelling interest to restrict citizens' First Amendment rights by criminalizing even political speech made to designated Terrorist groups -- is that Terrorism means whatever the U.S. Government says it means: they create the list of off-limit Terrorist groups and they essentially have unfettered, un-reviewable discretion to do so. That's because the word is so ill-defined and manipulated that it's impoverished of any real meaning.

I happened to come across a typical though highly illustrative example of this manipulation when reading this NYT interview yesterday with Israeli politician Tzipi Livni. After railing against the Terrorists in Gaza, Livni said this:

NYT: Your parents were among the country’s founders.

Livni: They were the first couple to marry in Israel, the very first. Both of them were in the Irgun. They were freedom fighters, and they met while boarding a British train. When the British Mandate was here, they robbed a train to get the money in order to buy weapons.

If any group meets the definition of "terrorism," the Irgun does. In July, 1946, the group (led by future Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin) notoriously bombed the King David Hotel, which housed British government offices, killing 91 people (Irgun claimed they warned of the bombing in advance, a claim denied by many British officials). Israel and its defenders love to point to the naming of a public square after a Terrorist by the Palestinian Authority, while ignoring the fact that the current Israeli Prime Minister, in 2006, actually led a celebration of the King David Hotel bombing with an official commemorative ceremony and plaque outside the building. Irgun also perpetrated numerous armed attacks on civilian structures, train stations, government buildings, and bridges. On December 30, 1947, the first paragraph of The New York Times read as follows:

IRGUN BOMB KILLS 11 ARABS, 2 BRITONS

A bomb thrown by the Jewish terrorist organization Irgun Zvai Leumi from a speeding taxi today killed eleven Arabs and two British policemen and wounded at least thirty-two Arabs by the Jerusalem Damascus Gate, the same place where a similar bombing took place sixteen days ago.

In reporting on a plot egged on by Begin to kill the German Foreign Minister, The London Times wrote that the Irgun "used terrorist tactics against the British occupation of Palestine."

It was once commonly accepted that Irgun members were Terrorists. But that was then and this is now. Bombings, stealing and killing in pursuit of statehood by some groups is Terrorism and by other groups it is "freedom fighting." And thus does Israel, which justifies the most extreme brutality and violence based on the pure evil of Terrorism, celebrate those acts as "freedom fighting" when done by its own side. This would be all tolerable if it were merely about rhetorical inconsistencies. But since our wars are justified, our laws are enacted, and our rights increasingly restricted based on this term -- see Leon Panetta justify the Government's targeting of U.S. citizen Anwar Al-Awlaki based on his unchecked decree that Al-Awlaki is a Terrorist due to his constitutionally protected advocacy of Muslims fighting against the U.S.* (video below: Trial By CIA Director, just like the Constitution guarantees) -- the malleable, manipulated, meaningless nature of this all-justifying term deserves much more attention.

* To be clear, unlike the author, I do not advocate American Muslims arming against the US government. Sharia requires Muslims to obey the laws of the land where they live, and while it can be interpreted that US policies in the ME hurt Muslims, there are other legitimate paths available that give us input and influence over government policies that do not require violence or the advocacy of violence.

[TBoneTX 45,266]

I'm amused by the idea that Israel can wipe anything off the map. It can't.

Oh, Israel could take the Palestinians out in a day. This, matter-of-factly, from a retired Israeli Army officer of my acquaintance.

It can't even rebuild Soloman's temple.

That's because someone built a mosque on top of it.

It was, if I'm correct, Benjamin Netanyahu who said, "If the Arabs lay down their weapons, there will be no more war. If Israel lays down her weapons, there will be no more Israel."

Edited September 7, 2011 by TBoneTX

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Palestinians are everywhere. If that should happen, it's buh bye Israel for sure.

Bennie is a #######.

Oh, Israel could take the Palestinians out in a day. This, matter-of-factly, from a retired Israeli Army officer of my acquaintance.That's because someone built a mosque on top of it.

It was, if I'm correct, Benjamin Netanyahu who said, "If the Arabs lay down their weapons, there will be no more war. If Israel lays down her weapons, there will be no more Israel."