Israel's military says ground forces are crossing the Gaza border in an escalation of Israel's week-old offensive against the territory's militant Hamas rulers.
Israeli TV channels are broadcasting images of troops marching into Gaza after nightfall. The military confirmed a ground operation was under way.
Defense officials say around 10,000 soldiers have massed along the border in recent days.
Given that Israel will not be able to stop the rocket attacks by air power alone, it was inevitable that a ground incursion would occur if any real peace was to occur. Otherwise, Hamas would claim victory by simply existing and maintaining its ability to fire rockets at Israeli civilians and the cynical "cycle of violence" so beloved of the the west's moral equivalent crowds would continue.
Israel also needs to quit phoning in warnings to targets that the buildings they are in are about to get hit. Bombing an empty building, while sending a message, isn't nearly as effective as killing the terrorists as they reside there.
The phone calls and the uncredible providing of humanitarian aid by UIsrael to gaza while the fighting continues (has any other side in a conflict done this -- supplied food and medical and other supplies to their enemies while in the midst of battle -ever?)have failed to win Israel the European Union / Leftist stamp of approval, but that was unlikely to occur in any case.
Israel has a limited opportunity to strike hard and decisively before a cease-fire is forced upon it to save Hamas. Here's to hoping the IDF makes good use of the limited time they have to strike hard enough so that Hamas knows its beaten and to restore the IDF's deterrent effect that has been badly weakened these past few years.
4 comments:
The WHY? of Terrorism in Islam… (and Hamas)
When it comes dealing with Hamas (other than with bullets and bombs) Israel really has no choice. Let me explain.
I am an American living in Asia. I am not Moslem, but I am a writer and historian. I would like to share some information with you: information concerning Moslem violence and terrorism, and why the United States and its military allies must both continue to be vigilant, and when appropriate, respond to individual acts of violent Islamic terrorism with relentless, overwhelming, and deadly force, while at the same time, practicing moderation and restraint, when dealing with moderate Moslems.
This information may help you understand what is going on not only in Israel and the entire Middle East as well as India, Pakistan, and China, along with other parts of Asia, Africa, Europe, and (soon) even the United States. In the not too distant future, Moslem extremists hope to involve you and your loved ones, as well as a vast number of other innocent victims in a man-made catastrophe: an organized and violent calamity of biblical proportions that is based on teachings that were deliberately added to the Koran, decades after the faith was founded.
Disregarding the social, economic, and political factors that serve as underpinnings for Islamic terrorism, I will address the more fundamental issue: the religious teachings that sanction violence against non-Moslems and AGAINST ALL WOMEN. Here are seven verses from the Koran. These scriptures have been translated into modern English.
…murder, crucify, or cut off the hands and feet of non-Moslems…Chapter 5 Verse 33 - The Koran
…create terror in the hearts of non-Moslems …cut off their heads…Chapter 8 Verse 12 - The Koran
…and fight non-Moslems until Allah’s religion is the only one…Chapter 8 Verse 39 - The Koran
…of all the loot you plunder from non-Moslems, 20% belongs to Allah and to Mohammed. Chapter 8 Verse 41- The Koran (Author’s note: Loot included kidnapped female sex-slaves.)
…Take as many as four wives from the women you are sexually attracted to … Chapter 4 Verse 3 - The Koran
…God has made men superior to women… Virtuous women are obedient. If a woman becomes disobedient, beat her. Chapter 4 Verse 34 - The Koran
…When it comes to marriage, Allah makes it legal for you to take as wives, women whom your right hand possesses. Chapter 33 Verse 50 - The Koran (Author’s note: This verse talks about the “loot” non-Moslems call… kidnapped female sex-slaves.)
Most people in the western world have never heard of these astonishing scriptures, but they are in the Koran … along with a relatively short list of others, just like them. This is important because not all Moslems are the same; there are two very different types. Militant Moslems view these verses as commandments from their god – a primitive desert god, from an ancient land of heat, sand and scorpions. Militant Moslems think these teachings apply to life in the Twenty-first Century and they try to use them, regardless of the suffering and mayhem they create, whereas moderate Moslems ignore such verses because they were uttered a long time ago, when the Arabian peninsula, from whence Islam came, was a wild and savage place.
Historians tell us these terrorist teachings are part of a cluster of ferocious beliefs that were deliberately added to one specific part of the formerly peaceful and tolerant Koran. These startling changes were made, decades after Islam was first founded in the Arabian city of Mecca. By the time of these changes the original (and real) prophet of Islam was dead. Thereafter the religious headquarters was uprooted and moved to the city of Medina. In its new environment, with new leadership at the helm, Islam mutated; it turned cruel and predatory.
The historical record reveals that Islam didn’t simply fall from the sky as a full-blown religion, but rather evolved from a persecuted sect of Jewish-Christians. The first Moslems lived in the city of Mecca; they were actually part of a larger group of Jesus’ followers called the Ebionites.
Ebionites were peace-loving disciples of Christ, who shared their wealth with fellow believers, and taught that a man should marry only one wife.
In fact, women were much more independent in the Ebionite Jewish-Christian days of Islam. They were more influential too. I say this because my research has determined that the first prophet of Islam may have been someone other than Mohammed: I believe the first prophet was a very special Arabian princess named Khadija the Pure. Khadija was Mohammed’s first and only wife for twenty-four years. Khadija was fifteen years older than Mohammed. She was considered to be fabulously wealthy, and she was Mohammed’s employer, before she became his wife.
Mohammed on the other hand, before he became Khadija’s employee, was an impoverished youth who had been raised as an orphan. Ultimately Mohammed worked his way up to a position as Khadija’s business manager. With time, Khadija grew fond of Mohammed. She even married him. However, Khadija was a liberated woman. In fact, Khadija was the one who initiated the marriage proposal to Mohammed! And after their wedding, she never allowed Mohammed to take other wives, or have other women in her house.
Throughout her lifetime, even though Khadija had already converted to Christianity, Mohammed’s first and only wife for twenty-four years remained an important Arabian princess in the ruling family that controlled worship in the Kabba Temple, with it’s pantheon of more than three hundred pagan gods and goddesses. Clearly, in the early days of Islam, Khadija was a person of great influence in Arabian society: and clearly Mohammed, her husband… was not. www.TheMoslemInstitute.com
After Khadija’s untimely death from a terrible illness, Islam was hijacked by a cartel of corrupt men, headed by Mohammed himself. The faith was abruptly relocated to the city of Medina and new beliefs were added to the Koran; at the same time, old beliefs were deleted or relegated to unimportance, and the religion was changed beyond recognition. In the end, Islam abandoned many of its Ebionite Jewish-Christian teachings. Women suffered the most: they became the focus of repression, scorn, and violence.
Today, although moderate Moslems are loath to admit these ideas, and many of them are terrified to voice criticism of their militant Islamic brothers, because of fear that violence will come to them and their families, the fact remains that these added teachings are not the original beliefs of Islam; they are amendments: They are the terrorist teachings of Islam.
In the near future, militant Moslems hope to unleash a Jihad: a Moslem holy war upon the non-Moslem world; not only upon Israel, the United States and Western Europe, but also throughout parts of Asia, including India and maybe even China, and Japan. Because the terrorist teachings of Islam sanction treaty breaking, deception, and war, as well as looting, murder, kidnapping, terrorism, and human slavery (including sexual slavery), so long as these crimes are directed against non-Moslems, there is no limit to the things these fanatics can do. But the scariest part: Militant Moslems will do everything… in the name of their primitive desert god.
Once victory is attained in this violent holy war, these fanatics believe Allah will bless them with harems of kidnapped sex slaves taken from destroyed cities and nations, as well as enormous fortunes of loot plundered from the non-Moslem world. They believe this because of the terrorist teachings that were added to the Koran. These terrorist teachings even say ransoms paid to Moslem terrorists, to redeem stolen property (like hijacked oil tankers and cargo ships) as well as kidnapped men, women, and children, are part of the Islamic loot these vicious criminals are entitled to receive.
These same terrorist teachings even allow Moslem men to force their kidnapped female sex slaves to marry them in Moslem wedding ceremonies, and bear children for them: whether the women want to or not. Terrorist Moslem teachings mandate only two requirements: The women must come from Christian or Jewish backgrounds, and secondly, if the unfortunate women resist, these same terrorist teachings say the Moslem husbands must beat them, and imprison them in their own homes.
If the Moslem fanatics die while committing these crimes against humanity, as an eternal reward for their cruel deeds Islamic extremists believe their fierce desert god will admit them to paradise and bless them with luxurious palaces filled with riches and populated by seventy-two virgin brides, who are exquisitely beautiful, yet modest enough to struggle to control their unbridled lust to have sexual intercourse with a dead Moslem terrorist.
With these stinging indictments against terrorist Islamic doctrines entered into the record, it is important to remember that the majority of Moslems are moderate, decent people who love God and practice acts of charity and kindness to their neighbors, both Moslem and non-Moslem. Such moderate Moslems recognize these violent teachings as obsolete and out of place in the Twenty-first Century. In the author’s opinion, in spite of enormous cultural and ideological differences that exist between the non-Moslem world and the followers of Islam, it is with this moderate Moslem majority that any long-term resolution to the Islamic terrorism issue will ultimately be negotiated.
However, given the massive population increases taking place in the Moslem world, at a time when poverty, chaos, criminality, and religious fanaticism are burgeoning, the numbers of Moslems worldwide who declare themselves militant is increasing; the influence their growing networks of terror cells exert on Islamic governments throughout the world has reached crisis levels. Because of the terrorist teachings of Islam, modern civilization faces a nightmarish future; the attacks on Mumbai, India, the World Trade Center in New York, and the subway bombings in Spain and London are simply previews of things to come. In this ferocious Jihad, nuclear and biological weapons are almost certain to come into play.
To paraphrase Winston Churchill: The road before us will be long and dangerous and terrifying; the United States and Europe and Asia must be resolute… and take courage. We must work together to neutralize militant Islamic movements… and if necessary… wage war against the governments that sustain them. At the same time, the non-Moslem world must also nurture moderate Islamic states and establish strong alliances with them. The very survival of our civilization depends on it.
Are you are interested in learning more about an array of Islamic topics including:
1. Who are The Seventy-two Virgins of Islam and how did they become part of militant Moslem dogma?
2. What role did the Ebionites and Khadija the Pure play, in founding the original (peaceful) religion of Islam?
3. What role does militant Islam play in modern human slavery?
Visit The Moslem Institute website: www.TheMoslemInstitute.com
Regards,
Dane Dahl
Author and Historian
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The evil and violent passages dominate the Koran and they cancel out the early tolerant passages.
Hamas are evil garbage, they must be eliminated. Then, if the rest of the 'Palestinians' really want peace they can give up their dream of destroying Israel, if not, they will never have peace.
Israel must destroy as much of Hamas as possible before the MSM and the idiots and ignorants whine loud enough for them to stop. They must only quit when they are ready.
For EVERY missile shot into Israel at least ONE missile should be returned to the area as close as possible to the shooter. Tit for tat. Every single missile should be returned. Period. Treat them like adults, if they kill, they will be killed. If they send missiles, they will receive them. That is the only way they will learn. Screw public opinion, force them to see the truth, or let them be damned.
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absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
hope your kids grow up
to strap bombs on babies
to kill other children
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absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
form a terrorist country
then wish to be destroyed
by committing acts of war
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absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
blame your failings on the Jews
for a few more thousand years
they are Earth's scapegoats
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absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
give Israel away
to appease her enemies
dishonor America
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All real freedom starts with freedom of speech. Without freedom of speech there can be no real freedom.
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Philosophy of Liberty Cartoon
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Help Stop Terrorism Today!
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USpace
:)
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Imprimis, I am uncomfortable with the label "Orthodox" as it applies to Jewish people (though that is how my own lifestyle is commonly labeled). In fact, the labeling of Jews by other Jews, regardless of the label or the labelee or the labelor, tends to negatively impact the Jewish people as a whole. How a Jew handles his or her Jewishness is, as a practical matter, a very complex, very personal, and often conflict-fraught matter. Those Jews who carry their Jewishness with pride have given (and usually continue to give) their particular situation much thought. We all have much room for improvement. I try to not be judgmental.
As a Sabbath observer, I was concerned that Israel had launched its air strikes on the Sabbath. Why, I wondered, couldn't they wait until after sundown? The only reason why Israel has survived until now is because G-d has sustained it. If Israel is indeed a Jewish state, then it must comply with G-d's laws, or else no good can come in the long run.
Hamodia is a newspaper published by and for a traditionally observant and often insular segment of the Jewish community. I have chosen to subscribe to it. In the Hamodia issue of 31 December 2008 / 4 Teves 5769, on page B4, there is to be found an interesting explanation as to why Operation Cast Lead was initiated on Shabbat. The article is entitled "Why the Attack Had to Be Launched on Shabbos" by M. Shalom.
It turns out that yes, the powers-that-be in the Israeli Defense Forces did prefer to not initiate the operation on Shabbat. There are, after all, many, many Sabbath-observers among the IDF. But on that very Saturday there were two events occurring in Gaza:
(1) A "graduation" parade of newly-minted Hamas officers, trained to attack Jews; and
(2) A supposedly secret meeting of many of the Hamas top brass.
The timing of the launch enabled Israel to get lots of bang for the bullet, so to speak, to eliminate a relatively high number of dangerous terrorists in a short window of time, at the expenditure of a relatively small amount of resources.
Some knowledgeable and authoritative rabbis were asked whether, under the circumstances, it was permissible to desecrate the Sabbath. The rabbis ruled that, given the exigency, the IDF had done the correct thing.
Not a bad idea to achieve surprise by beginning the incursion at the end of Shabbat. I'm pretty sure Hamas wasn't expecting the Israelis to move on Shabbat. This also gives the Isrealis most of a weekend rather than the start of a business week so they have more time to move before enough diplomats can assemble to condemn them.
After all as Hamas was preparing to kill Israelis, Shabbat is not a suicide pact. Indeed under the Talmud "If someone is coming to kill you, rise and kill them first" is a pretty decent guide.
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