U.S.: Easing Gaza siege would help counter Goldstone

why do you think israelis dont trust obama? come on...power is nothing short of a dumb american who doesnt KNOW what its like to live next door to psychotic indoctrinated, genocidal martyr based theocratic islamic radicals. She really has no clue..all she knows is she cant stand israel and she only feels ofr the 'poor' palestinians...well guess what? obama knows EXACTLY where she stands..she's just another holier than though left wing ideologue that fills the obama administration...if anything, hamas are the architects of the siege...they brought it on themselves. Israel left gaza. all this mumbo jumbo is useless...if the pals, or hamas, or syria want land back, they have to want true peace. So far(60 yrs) they have not wanted it. All they want is all of israel..maybe russia should move troops into Texas to help the mexicans retrieve their rightful land? is that ok with power? get it through your heads leftists, left wing academia, obama style, is ruining ANY chances of peace.

And you think that they are not terrorists???Where have you been? in a dream world I guess, Get a life!!!

The democrates acting knoew as hipocrates but this is no suprise with lefts

The war was already in place with Arab irregulars attacking Jews wherever they could all over Palestine,they had already killed over a thousand Jews before the Arab armies moved with their stated intentions. That they did not achieve their stated final objective does NOT mean they did not want to invade all areas containing Jews. It is totally illogical to claim because they could not achieve their stated objectives they did not invade. Aplogia at its finest.

You are right, but the simple ideas don't illuminate the tangled brains of who would give a helping-hand to the cease Gaza siege.

under Arab sovereignty - you are just trying to steal the land you never owned. No demagoguery would change the basic fact - Arabs want the land that is not theirs.

There is a little tiny detail: US is saying that it might use its veto, to save Israel from embracement. What is the meaning of that? Exactly what some of the talkbacks refers to as bubble standard. It is hypocrisy to state that everybody is the same before the law except?? if you have big muscles, are rich, white, Christian and so on. The world movement is towards the democratic values: ?Same before the law and individual responsibility?. This movement has to battle the nondemocratic rules and is doing it quite successfully.

every day the palestinians in gaza are subjected to a prison-like existence. why? because the israeli masters impose it. israelis want to live freely. the palestinians must succumb and obey their masters. operation cast lead has thrown them into a life of despair. one independent, international judge came to investigate and found that israel has committed crimes, israel defiantly dismisses it. international donors came to help rebuild what an earthquake-like israel has destroyed in gaza. israel refuses and blokades all possibilities of rebuilding gaza. israel imposes and imposes. how many more crimes must israel commit before he is finally brought to justice??

So, Israel bombs the living crap out of a civilian population killing 1400 human beings - follows that crime with another crime, denying that same people everything basic for sustaining life (food, water, medicine etc.), and now they are not to pay for their crimes against humanity if they will just pleasepleaseplease start behaving a bit human. Is there still anyone out there that is wondering that people around the world are getting increasingly tired of Israel? A nation of 5-6 millions dictating world politics. The good part is that it just cannot go on like this - change will come...eventually!

"easing the Gaza blockade would help counter the fallout from the Goldstone report on alleged war crimes during Operation Cast Lead a year ago". Sounds like the UN has no concrete proof to suggest any war crimes against Israel and also may realize how morally bankrupt it looks simply by going after Israel while not investigation serious and legitimate war crime abusers. So to save face the USA comes up with this suggestion. Now with regards to the blockade Israel has made it very clear. Release Gilad Schalit and the blockade will ease. Its a very simple proposition. Israel offered a more than fair prisoner exchange but as usual you give an arab a finger they want the whole arm. I think Hamas if they really were concerned about their citizens would have already accepted this more than fair prisoner exchange.

'Might makes right'? International Humanitarian law should be applied to Israel but not to Nato or the US or Britain in their wars agains terror? I would say that either you believe that might makes right or you believe in internation humanitarian law. But if you believe that might makes right when it comes to the big boys but IHL makes right when it comes to Israel, I would say that is a double standard, probably based in anti-semitism.

If the United States wants to break the seaige of Gaza it does not need Israel's permission. Just send ships with materials. The Israelis woud not sink them.

Certainly it would. And leaving Gaza entirely would end hostilities between Gaza and Israel. Wouldn't it?

rejected it. There's no question that there were Jewish settlements inside what was to have become Palestine, and there's also no question that they were prepared to defend themselves if attacked. HOWEVER, had both sides (i.e had the Arab side) accepted the a partition there would have arisen two states - one Jewish one which also contained Arab settlements and one Arab one which also contained Jewish settlements. The side which started the war is the side which rejected the partition - that that was the Arab side.

implying by this question (and in other posts you have implied) that no Arab armies attacked any Israeli territory - that all the attacks were on areas that should have been part of the Palestinian state. So I've just pointed out a few Israeli areas that were attacked by Arab armies in 1948. And yes, you're quite right once a war has started one is permitted to attach the other side. That's why, as you point out in that farce of a site you cite, the UN resolutions regarding the armistice refer to the Israeli army withdrawing from areas in Palestine. Once the Yishuv was attacked, it carried the battle onto it opponents territory.

PSM: "CJ evading by asking more questions & moving tangentially" Reading thru the thread it appears to me that CJ keeps asking you the SAME questions, even as he points out that Benny Morris' letter to the editor didn't actaully address those questions. CJ asks one very interesting question: Q: Did "five arab armies invade Israel"? There is no question that five arab armies INTERVENED INSIDE PALESTINE, but that is not the same thing, precisely because the Haganah was *already* well outside the "Jewish state" and deep inside the territory of the "Arab state" by then. So did those five armies: a) attack the Haganah inside the "jewish state" or did they: b) attack Haganah forces that were invading the "arab state". Answer (a) is an "invasion of Israel" but, so sorry, answer (b) is not. So which one, PETER?

Why yes I have read Benny Morris' letter as it so happens, and as he accuses 'the likes of... of recycling shop worn Arab propaganda' it is in this context H-I-G-H-L-Y R-E-L-E-V-A-N-T where the likes of us get our information from. I find it is interesting that you quote 'Knusty the Clown'! For the record I don't hate anyone - including myself.

with reality. they shoot from the hips with quips and quotes never thinking about the consequences of their babble. Logic, sovereignty, self defense will conquer Goldstone, not capitulating to sworn enemies of Israel. There are quite a few dupes out their today that will blame israel long after the conflict is over.

combatants are permited to attack militant opponents IN the opponents territories.

TP: "If Israel`s operation in Gaza can be referred to the ICC, so can the US and NATO drone operations in Afghanistan, Turkey`s operations against the Kurds etc etc." No, actually that logic is flawed, because no matter what happens in THIS case neither the USA nor NATO can be referred to the ICC. After all, the veto power of the USA is not "use it or lose it". The world doesn't revolve around Israel, Prophet, and a slapdown of One Very Piddly Fish need not bother the Big Boys one little bit. Why did you think otherwise?

in 48 though both were in territory alloted to Israel. So that's two Arab armies that attacked the sovereign territory of Israel in 48.

At your direction, I read what you demanded, and I must say that one could hardly describe a letter to the editor from a zionist apologist as a significant impartial source of information.

- though both were in territory allotted to Israel. Just one more of your lies and slanted information rebutted.

Surely King Abdullah of Jordan had a secret agreement with Israel to carve up Palestine?Abdullah was to get East Jerusalem and the West Bank; I am sure I read about it in one of Benny Morris' books!

"Cast Lead"! what two terrible words to indicate a retaliaton against the attacks of Hamas! Cast Lead means to bring devastation and dead of human beings and environment! Trees and vegetables can't for a long time grow there for cause of the pollution! 1300 Palestinians dead, in comparison with 15 Israelis is very out of proportions. The Goldstone report is arrived too late! I dare anyone of you to say I am in the wrong! If the UN were most severe towards the Israeli Government it would be more responsible and more interested to the restart the peace-talks.

...I certainly didn't. "we know more than you about international organizations helping jews and israel ( the red cross and concetration camps etc)" Uh huh. You care not to know anything about International Law or being truthfull though...more's the pity. "The holocaust was our lesson. we will not wait for iran and its puppets to destroy israel." Fine by me. Don't start anything based on mere suspicions tho......or in order to illegally acquire other folks territories. Otherwise, NO lessons will have been learned from the Holocaust.

You didn't read post #46 and the Benny Morris letter to the Irish Times, did you? If you did read it, you might want to rethink invoking Benny Morris in support of your argument! The fact that Pappe et al are Jewish is I-R-R-E-L-E-V-A-N-T. As Krusty the Clown (in 'The Simpsons') said when he was told he wasn't really Jewish: "All these years I thought I was a self-hating Jew, and it turns out that all along I was just a plain old antisemite".

I should think that most of us who argue for Palestinian rights have got much of their information from Jews rather Arabs, including Ilan Pappe, Norman Finkelstein, Noam Chomsky, Baruch Kimmering and Benny Morris. You might even be surprized to learn that not all Arabs are liers, try reading Palestine and the Palestinians by Samih Farsoun and Nasser Auri.

perhaps the Obama administration should seek Israel's advice before making such foolish demands? If America did, it may have stopped the Ft. Hood and other terrorists attacks here, in the USA? How offensive and deliberately rude and ignorant can Obama's crew be? they keep digging a deeper hole for themselves while at the same time offending America's greatest ally. Obama has no qualifications for such matters. They're over his head.

Rebut Morris factually and historically if you can

rockets is not an attack? we know more than you about international organizations helping jews and israel ( the red cross and concetration camps etc) The holocaust was our lesson. we will not wait for iran and its puppets to destroy israel.

"One last time 5 Arab armies attacked Jewish community" 1) Where is the UNSC resolution condemning the Arab States attack on Israeli Sovereign territory in 1948? 2) Exactly which Sovereign Israeli territories were attacked by the Arab States in 1948? http://wp.me/pDB7k-ki Morris tells us there were forces OUTSIDE of Israel's newly declared Sovereign boundaries... He lies when he says /in the 1948 war the Israeli leaders decided to bar the return of the "refugees" (those "refugees" who had just assaulted the Jewish community)/ The majority were CIVILIANS. None of whom attacked any Jewish folk. Under basic RoR Israel does not have to admit combatants. The RoR issue is pure fallacy, simple maths shows it to be propaganda. http://wp.me/pDB7k-jS Historical UN correspondence shows us Israel's true intentions 1948/49/50 http://wp.me/pDB7k-l5

It does not matter if shalit is release Israel will still find a way to siege the Palestinian people! Peace is in Israel hand! Stop build where you dont belong mark border and east jerusalem!! It is very simples!!! Israel do not want peace.there dream is trow all arab out and keep all the land!This is why they start to strangle the Palestinian arab with the occupation raid jail and keep the most human need away from them! The holocust happen to the Arab when the Israel state was astablish how many arab town was destroy!! history cannot lie If we can pretend that didn't happen? then we can pretend the holocust then happen either!

is very bad PR and is very difficult to sell. Many innocent people (at least the children) are suffering.

Is this the same Samantha Power who perpetuated the false Jenin Masacre? There is a new book out called A Lethal Obession: Anti-Semitism from Antiquity to Global Jihad by Robert Wistrich. It examines the new anti-semitism. Maybe someone should send her a copy.

Israel has every right to protect itself, it's ACTUAL Sovereign territories. Were it ever attacked by any foreign State, the UN is obliged to help protect it. Thus far only Israeli forces OUTSIDE of Israel's Sovereign territories have ever been attacked by the Arab States.

Why is it such a big problem to turn some of those individuals over to the ICC? All of them can be easily replaced by people with no blood on their hands. Just get rid of them!

Don't try to evade with insults,you are the one preaching occupation,when it suits you.

of Israel. They do so regularly in Arabic to their people.

Easing the "seige" would only bring more terror into Israel. Countering Goldstone for what? Read the report, reading it alone convinced me that no amount of countering would help. clearly the report had an agenda that did not include fairness.

Letters page Irish Times 21 Feb lettersed@irish-times.ie ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS Madam, - Israel-haters are fond of citing - and more often, mis-citing - my work in support of their arguments. Let me offer some corrections. The Palestinian Arabs were not responsible "in some bizarre way" (David Norris, January 31st) for what befell them in 1948. Their responsibility was very direct and simple. In defiance of the will of the international community, as embodied in the UN General Assembly Resolution of November 29th, 1947 (No. 181), they launched hostilities against the Jewish community in Palestine in the hope of aborting the emergence of the Jewish state and perhaps destroying that community. But they lost; and one of the results was the displacement of 700,000 of them from their homes. It is true, as Erskine Childers pointed out long ago, that there were no Arab radio broadcasts urging the Arabs to flee en masse; indeed, there were broadcasts by several Arab radio stations urging them to stay put. But, on the local level, in dozens of localities around Palestine, Arab leaders advised or ordered the evacuation of women and children or whole communities, as occurred in Haifa in late April, 1948. And Haifa's Jewish mayor, Shabtai Levy, did, on April 22nd, plead with them to stay, to no avail. Most of Palestine's 700,000 "refugees" fled their homes because of the flail of war (and in the expectation that they would shortly return to their homes on the backs of victorious Arab invaders). But it is also true that there were several dozen sites, including Lydda and Ramla, from which Arab communities were expelled by Jewish troops. The displacement of the 700,000 Arabs who became "refugees" - and I put the term in inverted commas, as two-thirds of them were displaced from one part of Palestine to another and not from their country (which is the usual definition of a refugee) - was not a "racist crime" (David Landy, January 24th) but the result of a national conflict and a war, with religious overtones, from the Muslim perspective, launched by the Arabs themselves. There was no Zionist "plan" or blanket policy of evicting the Arab population, or of "ethnic cleansing". Plan Dalet (Plan D), of March 10th,1948 (it is open and available for all to read in the IDF Archive and in various publications), was the master plan of the Haganah - the Jewish military force that became the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) - to counter the expected pan-Arab assault on the emergent Jewish state. That's what it explicitly states and that's what it was. And the invasion of the armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq duly occurred, on May 15th. It is true that Plan D gave the regional commanders carte blanche to occupy and garrison or expel and destroy the Arab villages along and behind the front lines and the anticipated Arab armies' invasion routes. And it is also true that mid-way in the 1948 war the Israeli leaders decided to bar the return of the "refugees" (those "refugees" who had just assaulted the Jewish community), viewing them as a potential fifth column and threat to the Jewish state's existence. I for one cannot fault their fears or logic. The demonisation of Israel is largely based on lies - much as the demonisation of the Jews during the past 2,000 years has been based on lies. And there is a connection between the two. I would recommend that the likes of Norris and Landy read some history books and become acquainted with the facts, not recycle shopworn Arab propaganda. They might then learn, for example, that the "Palestine War" of 1948 (the "War of Independence," as Israelis call it) began in November 1947, not in May 1948. By May 14th close to 2,000 Israelis had died - of the 5,800 dead suffered by Israel in the whole war (ie almost 1 per cent of the Jewish population of Palestine/Israel, which was about 650,000). - Yours, etc, Prof BENNY MORRIS, Li-On, Israel.

and who will garantee the safety of israel?

I hope you give all its residents a vote in Israeli elections or stop pretending Israel is a democracy. To people who don't know Judea and Samaria are the West Bank Palestinian territories which Israel occupied in 1967 and has since populated with hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers.

Gaza can get supplies by barrels just as Hamas sends bombs to Israel floating along the sea." I doubt it, the prevailing currents go the opposite direction. Nth to Sth. Israeli propagandists are arrogantly stupid. They're more likely barrels of explosives used for illegal deep water fishing, from North of where they were found.

Was Azzam Pasha talking about what Jewish forces were doing or what the Arab League would do? Because the Arab League Declaration said this: : //The Governments of the Arab States emphasise, on this occasion, what they have already declared before the London Conference and the United Nations, that the only solution of the Palestine problem is the establishment of a unitary Palestinian State, in accordance with democratic principles, whereby its inhabitants will enjoy complete equality before the law, [and whereby] minorities will be assured of all the guarantees recognised in democratic constitutional countries, and [whereby] the holy places will be preserved and the right of access thereto guaranteed.// "PS When are you leaving Mr Big talker Australia was never Terra Nullis you know." PETER SM of MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA...You're hilarious!! (or completely mad)

"Cj you are just repeating the same lie" What lie? On what date has Israel legally annexed ANY territory, EVER? FACT, Israel has never legally annexed any territory. Prove me wrong. "The territories are `disputed`, not `occupied`." The UNSC says otherwise. 8 January 2009, UNSC Res 1860 "Name the country that Israel is occupying, and don`t tell me Palestine, it is not a country and never has been." It was and still is a legal non-state entity. http://wp.me/pDB7k-il " Jordan illegally conquered it" Israel AGREED that Jordan could occupy between 1949/50 - '97. Read the armistice agreement. " Israel is doing what the entire world recognized as legitimate historical right " NO COUNTRY RECOGNIZES Israel's ILLEGAL ACQUISITION BY WAR OR ILLEGAL ANNEXATION (except Israel)

Gaza can get supplies by barrels just as Hamas sends bombs to Israel floating along the sea.

Smanatha Poser? That gal who wanted to send US troops into Israel to teach it a lesson! Give me a break. Hold tight Israel do not waiver. The US congress will not back her - nor Obama on this suggestion to make tings easy for Hamas which holds Gild Schalit. The US can just say 'no" to sending report to ICC. Isreal has never consented to ICC jurisdiction-nor should it. What mushroom has smantha power been eating. Israel must not take that crap.

continually reject peace and claim all of their country and boasted of annihilating them in the same way Mongol hordes annihilated the areas they conquered. Their combined intention, celebrated enthusiastically all over the Arab world, was expressed plainly and publicly by Azzam Pasha, Secretary-General of the Arab League: "This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre, which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades." Who practiced terror for hundreds of years long before any of the current excuses. Unfortunately for them they only managed to ethnic cleanse parts of Jeusalem,the West Bank etc. PS When are you leaving Mr Big talker Australia was never Terra Nullis you know.

both material and economic, Iran goes back to being a peripheral influence in the strip. Just as it was before the siege. Then Israel weakens its big argument. That Iran is a mortal danger to Israel. Israel does not want this. Due to the unending and counterproductive loyalty shown by the US to Israel, Israel thinks it can solve everything militarily. The logical conclusion of such a policy in this part of the world is either genocide or the 'Somalization' of Gaza or just as likely both. This also serves the purpose of splitting a Palestinian state in two before it is even formed, so making its formation less likely. Israel is a bigger danger to world peace than Iran for this very reason.

for the past 2000 years. What occupation are you talking about. We are finding Israel presence from Lebanon to Iraq. So, you are saying, genocide is legitimate way to reduce Israel and her nation to whatever size you whish? Clearly this one does not know what his own mouth is uttering...

The Goldstone Illusion What the U.N. report gets wrong about Gaza -- and war by Moshe HALBERTAL Moshe Halbertal is a professor of philosophy at the Hebrew University and the Gruss Professor at New York University School of Law. http://www.tnr.com/article/world/the-goldstone-illusion --". Since the early 1990s, the nature of the military conflict facing Israel has been dramatically shifting. What was mainly a clash between states and armies has turned into a clash between a state and paramilitary terror organizations, Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north. This new form of struggle is now called ?asymmetrical war.? It is defined by an attempt on the part of those groups to erase two basic features of war: the front and the uniform. Hamas militants fight without military uniforms, in ordinary and undistinguishing civilian garb, taking shelter among their own civilian population; and they attack Israeli civilians wherever they are, intentionally and indiscriminately. During the Gaza operation, for example, some Hamas militants embedded in the civilian population did not carry weapons while moving from one position to another. Arms and ammunition had been pre-positioned for them and stored in different houses. In addressing this vexing issue, the Goldstone Report uses a rather strange formulation: ?While reports reviewed by the Mission credibly indicate that members of the Palestinian armed groups were not always dressed in a way that distinguished them from the civilians, the Mission found no evidence that Palestinian combatants mingled with the civilian population with the intention of shielding themselves from the attack.? The reader of such a sentence might well wonder what its author means. Did Hamas militants not wear their uniforms because they were inconveniently at the laundry? What other reasons for wearing civilian clothes could they have had, if not for deliberately sheltering themselves among the civilians? As for the new ?front? in asymmetrical warfare, we read in another passage, which is typical of the report?s overall biased tone, that, ?On the basis of the information it gathered, the Mission finds that there are indications that Palestinian armed groups launched rockets from urban areas. The Mission has not been able to obtain any direct evidence that this was done with the specific intent of shielding the rocket launchers from counterstrikes by the Israeli armed forces.? What reason could there possibly be for launching rockets from urban centers, if not shielding those rockets from counterattack? And what is the moral distinction that is purportedly being established here? By disguising themselves as civilians and by attacking civilians with no uniforms and with no front, these paramilitary terrorist organizations attempt nothing less than to erase the distinction between combatants and noncombatants on both sides of the struggle. "--

Cj you are just repeating the same lie. The territories are 'disputed', not 'occupied'. Name the country that Israel is occupying, and don't tell me Palestine, it is not a country and never has been. Jordan illegally conquered it, and has since relinquished it's claims West of the Jordan. Israel is doing what the entire world recognized as legitimate historical right before Arabs scared the world into making false and immoral decisions regarding the conflict. Israel is the oldest historically-legitimate country in the world, with its indigenous population, 'Jews' (incase you've never read history of the last 3,500 years) on it own territory and can and should do whatever it wants. All other countries are modern inventions for political connivance.

If Israel's operation in Gaza can be referred to the ICC, so can the US and NATO drone operations in Afghanistan, Turkey's operations against the Kurds etc etc. The fact is that NO member State of the UN is prepared to have the legality of its own military operations (now or in the future) assessed according to the interpretation of IHL standards now sought to be applied to Israel. NO member State of the UN wants to set that kind of precedent because it could come back any time in the future to bite them on the bum. None of Johnboy's past predictions about what the Obama administration is likely to do in relation to Israel has come to pass. You can add his latest prediction to the list.

I don't understand how the lifting of the siege has anything to do with war crimes? Is it right to pull the cover up on the death of several civilians from both sides (palastinians and israel) by lifting the siege which is also illegal? The responsibles should be brought to justice no matter the siege or not.

how come our delegation was NOT met also by Obama`s security advisor & U.S. Justice deputy ? ------ Secondly how come the moderator didn't publish my 2st comments especially the 1st one , in which the herded recommendations of the Goldstone Sharia report concerning Gaza fhishermen and free movement, as far as the 2 U.S. human rights officials are concerned (as named by this Haaretz report), were with facts , objectively relevant as evidences in light of the recents days acts committed , as threat to peace by local enemy and terrorist . My contributive comments should not be censored out of foreign and/or biased interests abusing coercing or violating my freedom of expression . Moreover when I as Israeli civilian , the Sovereignty of my Jewish State is daily assaulted and undermined rudely and maliciously by a bad faith Belligerant Arab Occupier portrayed as 'people' under a non biding UNGA 'friendly nations' resolution that at first glance pertain to appear as customary Int'l Law when in fact is a grave breach of Int'l Jurisprudence .

The Hauge with neutral judges is the only correct answer to Israel's war crimes. Nothing else will work.

has remained essentially unchanged for the last 40+ years. between that and the fact that it's a part of the executive branch says ALOT about the honest views of every presidential administration throughout that time. obama's is just the latest. and the difference, bill? the difference is that the state department, being a direct extension of the executive office, has remained free from the political influence levied on congress by powerful special interests...like aipac. to put that in simpler terms: as an entity, the state department is a much more realistic reflection of american values and conscience than any body made up of politicians with various motives, both personal and political, and whose primary interest above all else, is insuring their own re-election.

Are two faces of the same coin. Trust in the USA to lead the World has evaporated. YES, WE CAN parols were only words of a preacher, not of an honest leader. The USA lost more friends during the first Obama year than ever before.

"It is time for Israel to say what any normal, self-respecting country would say when faced with hostility from foreign governments, pseudo-friend or not" That'll be hard. Normal countries stay within their Internationally 'acknowledged' boundaries. Normal countries don't illegally annex, illegally settle and illegally institute their Civilian Law in "territories occupied" (and never withdrawn from). Normal countries aren't in breach of 223 UNSC resolutions.

for those addressed in Goldstone. Boy --an offer not to be refused. And then there is Israel. Never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

have an inquiry, as it suggests!

Any opportunity or strategy to blame and weaken Israel has been the policy of the Democrats. The Arabs have spent the last 60 years accusing everyone and everything in the world for their violence and creative terror, as the immoral, greedy nations fall into place. It is time for Israel to say what any normal, self-respecting country would say when faced with hostility from foreign governments, pseudo-friend or not.

Its amazing to see my tax money, money I have paid to the coffers of Israel, just waste away on these poor poor little Israeli. America has been generous to a fault with Israel yet we get nothing but whining from its citizens about how to teach you people to be more civilized to your neighbors. Your disregard for human life and how you marginalized palestinians sickens me to no end. Collective punishment is the most brutal of these marginalizations. Grow up Israel and join the rest of the world, you need a long way to go before I can consider you part of the Western world.

M: "Flash...intelligent Israeli to US...easing Gaza siege would in all likelihood lead to more Jewish deaths! " Why, exactly? Israel will still insist that all goods go through the Israeli crossing into Gaza, and not through the Rafah crossing. Do you think that the Israelis will let Grad missiles slip through their inspection regime? Really?

Read this article again and the answer appears to be "no", because the Americans appear to be saying to the Israelis that IF Israel insists on keeping Gaza under siege THEN the Americans will find it very difficult to justify using their veto. Don't be surprised to find the US ambassador out playing golf with Obama on the day of that vote....

Israel, the spoiled trouble maker child, defies American Peace initiatives, then begs for help when they get in real trouble. We are sick of Israel. Let the Natives Vote, get on with it.

Then how come our delegation was met also by Obama's security advisor & U.S. Justice deputy ? Gaza operation didn't disregard human rights matters . To the contrary , We didn't back away from a fight but we also countered Terror Hamastan the Belligerant Arab Occupier intent to create humanitarian crisis .

..but Israel is making no effort at all to ease the siege. Putting pressure on the civilians is how Israel does business and always has. To illustrate, Israel claims Hamas and Hizbollah are terrorists and war criminals because they "target" civilians. Israel has killed many times more civilians and doesn't feel a thing.

17: "Easing Gaza siege would help Hamas." Well, yeah, and leaving any Gazan alive also helps Hamas - but that isn't exactly a good enough reason to go out and kill 'em all. That logic is equally as true regarding your statement i.e. this collective punishment of Gaza is the WRONG way to "hurt Hamas", and therefore it should end regardless of wether (or not) ending it "helps Hamas". The ends do not always justify the means, 17.

yes, but would help immensily Israel

Flash...intelligent Israeli to US...easing Gaza siege would in all likelihood lead to more Jewish deaths! Nix on ending Gaza siege.

The real joke is that the government officials mentioned in the article are part of the executive branch...not in the US Congress. The POTUS and Sec. of State are in the executive branch rather than the legislative.

This is who Obama has dealing with this. Power in 2002 interview you can see on youtube calls for force against israel to get it to change its ways. After she made her comments about hillary she was supposed to be marginalized.

the entire purpose of the goldstone report is to blackmail israel. samantha powers, who at one point thought of invading israel, makes it very clear that the obama administration's essential interest is to force israel to "ease the gaza siege." no one in this administration seems one bit concerned about israel's security needs. no one seems to be concerned that iran is sending long range missiles and revolutionary guard trainers to gaza. while the united states sends huge numbers of troops to faraway lands to fight islamist terrorists, the same united states would demand that israel allow the islamist terrorists in gaza to have freedom of operation.

I would not concern myself with what Samantha Power has to say in this regard. Her anti-Israel hostility is well known and she is as about as objective and credibile as that non-entity Christine Chinkin of the Goldstone Commission. Beware Israel of some of these fools in the Obama administration.

Michael Posner: U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor. Samantha Power: Presidential adviser on human rights. Neither position is directly related to matters of "security! security! security! terror! terror! terror!". Don't assume that the USA's security council veto is a shoe-in on this one....... Israel needs to do what the USA wants on this issue or this issue is heading for the ICC, because if Israel continues to sit on its hands then the USA might just decide that two can play that game.

... to think of the man hours the United States spends on the state of Israel. More than on anything else, guaranteed, no question about it.

I hope Israel is charged with war crimes like they rightfully deserve.

proves what a joke the US congress actually is....

I agree with the US comments. What we are witnessing is a paradigm shift. Isi Liebler has in my opinion correctly identified one of the symptoms of this being European post-nationalism which he see's as a major threat to Isreal's current policies. At the time of Operation Cast Lead the Bush regeime and in effect the world gave Israel Carte Blanche in Gaza under the old win loose approach. In some ways it is unfair to hold Israel to the emerging post Bush reverence for international law. It is said that the past is a foreign land, what is important is Israels intentions in the future as can be signalled by Israel's treatment of the people of Gaza. Goldstone would have much less sting if its issues where seen as belong to an old approach and not existing Israel policy.

Releasing Shalit would help ease Gaza siege

I hope Eviatar Manor is a bonafide diplomat and not some joker like Lieberman or Ayalon.

Is this the same Samantha Power that wanted to send US troops against Israel to Judea and Samaria? http://israelprotect.blogspot.com/