Yes; absolutely. Fatah - the organisation formerly headed by Yasser Arafat, and currently headed by Mahmoud Abbas, the President of Palestine. Hamas merely won parliamentary elections and then basically conducted a civil war to control Gaza without consulting the legal President. Fatah continues to control the West Bank and the bulk of Palestinian territory (except for Israeli colonial incursions of course).
Partly what we have seen in the last week is Hamas trying to convince Palestinians to shoot its way to statehood (an approach which deserves to fail), and Fatah trying to convince Palestinians to negotiate and use the tools of diplomacy (an approach encouraged by the UN, obviously, and which deserves to succeed.) This doesn't suit the madman Israeli prime minister Netanyahu, who "retaliated" by ordering more colonisation of Palestine by Israeli extremist theocrats.
I was delighted to see France and the UK recall their ambassadors to Israel to object . Something the US and Canada should have done as well.
The best chance for peace comes from the electoral failure of Hamas and Netanyahu, with a successful showing by Abbas, and probably Tzipi Livni on the Israeli side. So hopefully they'll all have elections soon.
Last edited by bankside; December 3rd, 2012 at 05:55 PM.
Americans need to keep their guns so they can protect themselves from gun violence just like Nancy Lanza did. And like Chris Kyle did. And like Gabby Giffords did. And like Tom Clements did.
"Thirty-one* states allow all qualified citizens to carry concealed weapons. In those states, homosexuals should embark on organized efforts to become comfortable with guns, learn to use them safely and carry them. They should set up Pink Pistols task forces, sponsor shooting courses and help homosexuals get licensed to carry. And they should do it in a way that gets as much publicity as possible. "![]()
--Jonathan Rauch, Salon Magazine, March 13, 2000
*the number is now forty
"Thirty-one* states allow all qualified citizens to carry concealed weapons. In those states, homosexuals should embark on organized efforts to become comfortable with guns, learn to use them safely and carry them. They should set up Pink Pistols task forces, sponsor shooting courses and help homosexuals get licensed to carry. And they should do it in a way that gets as much publicity as possible. "![]()
--Jonathan Rauch, Salon Magazine, March 13, 2000
*the number is now forty
It is not a weird view that they are anti gay. They are anti gay, they cut gay people's faces off and brutally torture them.
Hamas does represent much of the radical Islam of the area. Further more the Israelis are not stealing their land. The land rightfully belongs to Israel. It always had a strong Jewish presence even when the Arabs and the Romans displaced much of the Jews. Further more there never was a nation called Palestine. They were always under foreign rule by such peoples as the Ottomans and Jordanians. It was only when they Jews were given back their land and the Pallys could be potentially under Jewish rule did these hateful Muslims reject. Point in fact the Pallys could have their land if they would make peace with Israel. However they do not want peace they want the destruction of all Jews and Israel. Palestine is a prison state chiefly because of Hamas and their terrorist practices and in reality they are the reason why they have no land because the Israelis must occupy it to protect themselves.
Hamas is a sexist, homophobic, racist and violent organization which only wants genocide and blood. If you support Hamas then by nature you are a homophobe and an anti semite. This video in fact debunks much of your anti Israeli nonsense.
If you were in Israel this is what they would do to you in the following link. I bet the Pallys thank their useful Liberals everytime they blow themselves up or cut off a gay person's face. Remember Johnny Anger this is what you support.
http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Israel,_Palestine,_and_Gays
Islam does endorse killing and violence. It advocates Jihad against all disbelievers as these verses show.
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Qu...3-violence.htm
I can also show many verses which are racist, sexist and homophobic.
Last edited by Mariatenebre; December 3rd, 2012 at 08:09 PM.
I dunno, the problem with Israel to me (as I've voiced before on this forum) is you can't have twelve children and give candy to one and expect the other eleven to play nice. No matter how many brilliant diplomats you toss at the situation, nothing positive will become of it. I do not fault Israelis or Palestinians or their offshoots for the issue, mostly the United Nations for even creating the Jewish state to begin with without acknowledging other cultures and ethnicities in the area. Ya'll know, WW2 aftermath and all that jazz.
The passive-aggressiveness and borderline psychopathic personalities required to be in international relations/politics allowed me to shrug off any prospective career in that arena with relative ease after my freshman year...
blacksyringe
Well as an update Cracker Barrel does not fire gay people anymore although it did. Chick Fil A is still anti gay though.
Yeah when he donates to groups that wants gays dead and finances such things as the Kill the Gays Bill in Uganda there is a problem.
Well first of all the Jews needed a homeland free of persecution so that is why Israel was created. Israel was also created to give discriminated Jews a seperate place from the Arab Pallys who wouldn't give them basic human dignity. In America Native peoples own land and have equal rights. Jews could never be treated equal in Palestine or in any other Muslim country.
Jews and Arabs can live together. However Muslims can not live with anyone without treating them like shit. Plus when they conquered the Jews they treated them like second class citizens as Dhimmis. The Muslim treatment of Dhimmis rivals even that of Apartheid and segregation.
Israel can not let them be a country when they wish to destroy them. Palestine had made it clear that they will not be satisfied with their own country but want all of Israel destroyed.
Of course my post is viscious. It describes the butchering Pallys and their Liberal apologists.
The Israelis have full right to take the land form the so called Palestinians when they are fighting to destroy them. This is simple logic. It is France and UK with their clear Liberal stupidity and anti semitism who need to stop siding with savages.
You only give candy to children that play nice. Kids that act like brats and thugs don't get any candy.
Sadly so true.
The Romans themselves considered Rome sacred in a way and had special laws surrounding even entering it so I'm not sure why the concept mystified them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jihad
Jihad is about as misunderstood in the English language as the word "geisha" is.
It could be interpreted as anything from "maintain your faith in the face of people trying to restrict it" to "defense against an invader of another religion" to 20,000 things in between.
One thing is certain however is that if you try to claim jihad exclusively or primarily means "go out and aggressively war on anyone not Muslim" you're going to have a majority of Muslim scholars/theologians disagreeing with your definition of it.
Additionally I'm certain you don't mean to imply that things in other religions cannot be interpreted in ways that seem harsh, cruel or negative to modern sensibilities. Like exiling women who are in their "unclean time" or cutting off your hand if it causes you to sin or hitting your children with rods.
Last edited by xbuzzerx; December 4th, 2012 at 12:06 AM.
"Thirty-one* states allow all qualified citizens to carry concealed weapons. In those states, homosexuals should embark on organized efforts to become comfortable with guns, learn to use them safely and carry them. They should set up Pink Pistols task forces, sponsor shooting courses and help homosexuals get licensed to carry. And they should do it in a way that gets as much publicity as possible. "![]()
--Jonathan Rauch, Salon Magazine, March 13, 2000
*the number is now forty
I guess I need to apologize for last nite. It dawned on me this AM that today would have been our 32nd anniversary.
The cats caused it.
Just as an aside on the subject title, Iron Dome has performed far better than expected. I understand the local mayors in cities all though southern Israel are fighting to get new units placed to cover their communities. The Short Range ballistic missiles and artillery range that Iron Dome operates in was thought to be impossible to effectively protect against but the system works. After a lot of ridicule from skeptics over the years Missile Defense seems to be proving out in all the ranges.
Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right. H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 - 1956)