Niall Robertson

The words strike a chord with any politician or policy maker of our time and conjures images of USA soldiers patrolling broken streets in Iraq or Afghanistan. What exactly is American foreign policy, and why is it pursued? Is America right to interfere in the affairs of far away countries? Does the US really seek to advocate democracy abroad, or is it really a facade for hidden economic interests? These questions certainly occupy the mind of any bookworm, student of politics, or intellectual.

But what has this got to do with the average person? Well, to be fair, the influence of American foreign policy reaches far and wide, and affects us all in some way or another. Just read on to discover why.

Here is a fact. A major aspect of American foreign policy is its military and economic aid to Israel. The USA has provided Israel with a grand total of $91 billion since 1949, and continues to provide an average of around $3 billion every year. This is far more than the aid sent to any other country. Why Israel though, when the poorest of African countries are suffering to an extent unimaginable.

Here is another fact. Israel occupies the Palestinian territories to this day, and uses much of the USA military aid in order to do this. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in constant poverty, fear, and oppression, and are caught in the crossfire. Why would one think so much anger is being expressed towards America by Arab states such as Iran? Even left wing groups, and Arab students in Western countries are up in arms against this particular area of American foreign policy. It is completely understandable. Palestine is a very topical and heart felt issue that affects Muslims and Arabs all around the world.

This issue spirals into a completely different debate. In short, Israel was created in 1949, partly due to Western influence such as Britain and the USA in order to provide a safe haven for Jews around the world after the Holocaust. In doing so, the state of Israel sent hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the area to live in refugee camps that still exist to this day.

How about the war in Iraq? It has displaced around 2 million Iraqi citizens. These are people who have been forced to flee from their homes due to the conflict. There is also a gaping figure of around 88,000 civilian deaths so far. It seems that one can no longer argue that the country is better off now than it was under Saddam Hussein!

So how does this affect us? Well, the USA follows such policies in order to ensure worldwide security, so that people in the western world can live in a safe and secure environment without the threat of terrorism. I am afraid to burst the bubble of the optimistic mind, but the continued presence of US and British troops in Iraq poses a threat to national security. The continued military aid pored into Israel also poses a threat to national security. Why? Because it has been the number one source of grief in the Arab World. USA military aid in Israel has been the source for countless deaths of innocent Palestinians caught in the cross fire, and arguably a contributor towards the deaths of those caught up in 9/11 and other acts of terrorism. "Blowback", as Ron Paul, the Republican candidate in the USA, would so wisely put it. This again, however, can spiral into fierce political debate.

How can you blame somebody who has lost a family member, or who knows of others who have lost family members and commits towards seeking revenge, and justice? You simply cannot judge such a person. So long as the USA follows such policies representing the interests of the few, whether it be due to economic and oil interests or the influence of the Pro Israel Lobby, there will always be civilian casualties caught up in the cross fire causing more and more hatred towards Western countries. So long as the USA pursues aggressive foreign policy in Middle East, terrorist groups such as Hamas, the Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda, will continue to thrive and recruit in the Middle East. After all, is there not an element of truth to the famous saying, "one man"s terrorist, and another man's freedom fighter'?

In order to understand the full extent of what is going on over there it is important to know the history of what has happened over the past few years. The origins of the conflict that is occurring right now can be traced back to the Palestinian elections in January of 2006. In this election the Hamas party won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Parliament. This group can either be vilified as a terrorist group or praised as a freedom fighters, either way it is an organization that is pronouncedly anti-Israel. It would be interesting to point out here that these elections were democratic and in fact they were conducted in a highly exemplary manner and good not have gone better. What should be taken into consideration is the fact that despite the U.S.'s adamant stance on spreading democracy they refused to deal with Palestine immediately after the elections. This is because the U.S. does not negotiate with terrorists; the U.S.'s attempt at democracy in the Middle East backfired on them and now they are stuck with the smoking gun.

Now after the elections the U.S., European Union, and several Western and Arabic states imposed sanctions that suspended all foreign aid, which Palestine largely depends on, after Hamas gained control of the Parliament. There reasoning for this was because Hamas refused to recognize Israel, accepting the agreements made by the previous party, the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization), and denouncing violence. Obviously Hamas refused to do this but was still able to bring in enough money to maintain some structure in there health and education systems. Despite Hamas' renown as a terrorist organization it is really only the militant wing that can be considered terrorist. In fact, it devotes most of it budget to social services, unlike its rivals, Fatah who is viewed as more corrupt than Hamas.

On the flip side Hamas' opposition, the PLO or Fatah as its known was supported by the U.S. and other such countries do to the fact that it is not considered to be a terrorist organization as Hamas. This is ironic because in the 1980's the PLO was considered a terrorist group by many and some countries still consider them to be to a terrorist organization. The U.S. even went as far as supplying Fatah groups with guns, ammunition and training since the election of Hamas and was seriously considering a coup. This stance seems to be opposite of the U.S.'s view on democracy, the U.S. is not, as it would like you to think, concerned about what a country's people want, but instead concerned with what will benefit the U.S. the most regardless if it is democratic or not.

War between Hamas and Fatah eventually did come. Fighting between the two parties slowly escalated over a period of several months starting in December of 2006 and finally reaching a climax in June of 2007 with the Battle of Gaza. This battle lasted over a period of four days of intense fighting with Hamas taking control of the Gaza Strip by force from Fatah. The clashes between the two resulted in over a hundred deaths.

This hostile takeover by Hamas was denounced by the majority of the world and the US, EU, and Israel still only show support to the non- Hamas controlled government, increasing aid to the parts of the country that is run by the Palestinian National Authority. This has left the Gaza Strip without any aid or help from outside powers. This fact sets up the tragedy that is occurring there right now. 

For months on end radicals in Gaza have been launching primitive Qassam rockets at Israel with Hamas support. They are simple steel rockets filled with explosives that lack any kind of guidance system. These rockets fell mostly on the town of Sderot, causing a number of civilian causalities and sometimes death. However most of the time these rockets do little to no damage and it is mostly structural damage to house and buildings. The Israeli “retribution” to these attacks is vastly out of proportion. Routinely after a rocket attack Israel will send in whole units of soldiers to attack members of Hamas. Unfortunately while members of Hamas are targeted and removed, many civilians have been killed as well. It seems to almost be a weekly occurrence to see that there have been several Palestinians killed after a Qassam rocket attack on Israel. It is true that Hamas leaders are killed and removed but the vast majority of those killed or wounded are civilians, which include women and children.

Over a nine day period, between February 7th and 16th an Israeli military action in Gaza resulted in the death of twelve civilians and wounding of 75 others including 25 children. The raid left only one Hamas leader dead and one captured, leaving twelve civilians dead and 75 others wounded. All of this occurred after rocket attacks that failed in injury or kill any Israelis. It is hard to justify Israel's tactics here but somehow the U.S. does citing that it sees it as a “tough stance on terrorism”. This is just one example of the injustice that is happening in the Gaza Strip right now.

On January 15th, in the middle of peace talks between the two countries some of the worst fighting in months occurred. Eighteen Palestinians were killed, including twelve members of Hamas and 45 more were wounded. The cause of this military action into Gaza was the result of 50 rockets and mortars being launched at towns in Israel, Sderot and Ashkelon. The attacks left five wounded, which ranged from slightly to moderately wounded. While it is true that this Israeli Army action did result in the death of several members of Hamas it also left several civilians dead and wounded. This is not even the end of the problem, two days later things got much worse for the people living in the Gaza Strip.

On January 17th 2008 Israel set up a full blockade on the Gaza Strip allowing nothing in or out of the Strip. This was done in response to the ongoing rocket attacks and that it would stop when the attacks stopped. This closure has left the Palestinians with sustenance issues along with the threat of Israeli attack. Immediately affected by the closure were Gaza's utilities, the power plant was forced to shut down after several days and the water and sewage treatment plants were soon to follow. The food supply slowly dwindled and Gaza was left in ruins. Fortunately, the situation did not stay as dire as it looked.

In the next few days Israel did allow some fuel and foodstuffs into Gaza but only in limited supply. Despite the outspokenness of the Red Cross and other humanitarian groups, Israel is not taking the situation with as much urgency as those groups call for. The United Nations Reliefs and Works Agency said that it would have to suspend its food aid due to the closing because it was running out of distribution bag. The Agency themselves were running out of fuel due to the fact they were giving away the majority of their supply to fuel generators and power hospitals. Also the World Health organization said that there was a great lack of medicine and spare parts for machines and that while there is no crisis yet but if the situation continues there will be one.

The situation seemed to grow worse each day until the 6th day of the blockade when militants destroyed a section of the border wall between Gaza and Egypt. Thousands of Palestinians flooded into Egypt in search of food, fuel, medicine, and other basic supplies that they had run low on during Israel's blockade on Gaza. This flood continued until Egypt and Hamas resealed the wall over the weekend.

What is even more horrifying is that all during the blockade Israel was still continuing their military actions against Gaza. Since January 1st, seventy-six Palestinians have died as a result of Israeli military action and close to three hundred were injured, the raids that caused these deaths and injuries were a result of only six to eight Israelis wounded by rocket fire. Not only is Israel denying all Palestinians their basic right and slowly starving them; they are killing them needlessly.

. The UN Security Counsel attempted to put together a statement addressing the crisis but stopped after the US said they would not support it. The statement would have condemned both Palestinian and Israeli attacks along with the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. The US claimed that the statement did not address the issue of the rocket attacks in enough depth. They were the only country of the fifteen on the Security Counsel that opposed the forming of a statement. 

What Israel is doing is known as collective punishment; punishing an entire group for the actions of a few individuals. This goes against the Geneva Conventions and international law. However it seems that this will not stop them from keeping up the blockade. Several humanitarian groups in Israel appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court on behalf of the Palestinians and calling for an end to the blockade on the basis that it was collective punishment. The court, however, declared that the blockade was in fact a just punishment for the rocket attacks. It is incredible that the Israeli government and judicial system can view the starvation and imprisonment of an entire people group as a just retaliation for a barrage of rockets that have injured few and killed fewer.

In fact in the past seven years rockets attacks have only killed 13 Israelis, yet the people in the town of Sderot, where most of the deaths occurred; still feel the need to punish Gaza more than they already have. Even Israeli officials are urging a sharper retaliation against the Gazans, Meir Sheetrit, a minister from the governing Kadima Party, stated that the army should “make an example, to take a neighborhood in Gaza and erase it” after warning the residents to leave. If that is not collective punishment then it is hard to see what could be called collective punishment.

The top UN humanitarian affairs official, John Holmes, visited the Gaza Strip recently and was “shocked by the miserable things” he had seen. He said all the misery he saw there was a direct result of the Israeli blockade and the reduced food and materials being let in. He stated that the major concerns were the fact that eighty percent of the population was relying on food aid, the rampant joblessness, and the limited supplies of fuel and electricity along with the shortage of supplies in hospitals.

It seems incomprehensible that the US, the supposed bringer of justice, truth and democracy, would not only let this happen but supporting those that are causing the injustice. We are able to go into Iraq with the pretense of going to free the Iraqi people from a horrible dictator; yet we stand by and support a country that is clearly violating international law and the Geneva Conventions. As the rest of the world is opening its eyes to the humanitarian crisis that has developed within Palestine the US has become the obstinate holdout; not willing to risk its relationship with Israel over a million and half people. Have we become that obsessed with the regaining political offices that we will not risk offending some of the lobbyist groups to intervene on the behalf of an entire nation? Are we afraid of offending the Jewish American because if we do they might bring up the Holocaust and how many Jews died during that atrocity. It is justifiable because so more Jews have been killed throughout history than Palestinians. Or are the politicians afraid of upset the “Christian” right that so firmly believe that Israel is still God's chosen country. We need to listen to other countries.

Right before the Iraq War the US was offended by France's lack of support for a war they were against. France received more flak from this than they should have, yet in the end it turns out we should not have invaded Iraq in the manner that we did. If the US is smart it will listen to France this time. The French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner urged Israel to lift the blockade after he visited Gaza. He felt that the humanitarian and economic situation in Gaza right now is especially awful and are direct results of the blockade. Kouchner calls for, “the Gaza blockade to be lifted -- there must be free movement of both people and goods”. The US needs to realize that it is one of the few countries that are actually supporting this crisis and step up to stop them.

The US needs to realize that it is not alone in the world and not everyone agrees with its foreign policy. There is perhaps no better example of how narrow-minded the US view of the world is then what was mentioned earlier where Hamas was elected into power democratically. In this situation the people of Palestine held a parliamentary election, as the US so emphatically encouraged, and those elected into power were those whose policies the US didn't agree with; rather than chalk it up to what people wanted the US refused to negotiate with the government and even considered preparing a coup by the losing party Fatah. It seems to emphasize how the US doesn't really care about democracy but rather whether or not those in charge will cooperate with the US. There are countless examples of how, rather than supporting a revolution that would benefit the people, the US helped quash a rebellion in order to keep a US friendly government in power.

The Human Right's violations that are occurring in Palestine right now are deplorable. The people are being forced to live in captivity with limited food and electricity, poor sanitation and a fear of constant raids by the Israeli army that are disproportionate to the attacks on Israel by the militants. Right now someone needs to step in and end the atrocities that are happening everyday in this area. According to Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for the occupied Palestinian territory since 2005 there have been 1290 Palestinian deaths with 222 of them under eighteen years of age. In contrast there have been 86 Israeli deaths with eight of them under eighteen. The injury reports are just as staggering with 6297 Palestinians wounded and 864 of them under eighteen. Again the Israeli total is 1184 wounded with 14 of them under eighteen. The difference is staggering; there have been more Palestinian deaths then Israeli's being wounded. More Palestinians under the age of eighteen have died than there have been total Israeli deaths. The injustice is overwhelming. The world must counteract the Israeli atrocities against Palestine.

His art always make a not-so-subtle social statement. His rats, perhaps, representing the “rat race” of modern society.

To any graffiti artist, an unadorned wall takes on the temptation of an artist’s easel.

When Israel built the controversial 436 mile long security barrier to separate itself from the Palestinian Authority controlled areas, they might as well have sent out an invitation to Banksy at the same time!

He is quoted by The Mail Online as saying: “The segregation wall is a disgrace…The possibility I find exciting is that you could turn the world’s most invasive and degrading structure into the world’s longest gallery of free speech and bad art.” A UK television station, Channel 4, ran a news item quoting Banksy’s attitude to the wall: “It turns Palestine into the world’s largest open prison,” and described the wall as “the ultimate Graffiti Artists’ holiday destination.” While his political views are open for debate, his art is still unquestionably intriguing.

So with this huge canvas available, Banksy took his “holiday” in 2005.

Whilst probably not the safest place to carry out such a bold undertaking; with his prepared stencils, he probably got away with it because of the speed in which he was able to do it.

On his website Banksy recalled one incident when he was approached by some soldiers:

“Soldier: 'What the f*** are you doing?'
Banksy: 'You'll have to wait ‘til it's finished'
Soldier (to colleagues): 'Safetys off…'”

This is only one part of the approximately 6 mile long stretch of the walled section of the security barrier. The remaining is predominantly fencing and creates a border between the Palestinian Authority controlled areas and Israel, as one of the starting points in a workable two-state solution.

What drove him to take the risk of either Palestinian police or Israeli soldiers potentially opening fire?

Rachel Campbell Johnson, art critic for The Times Online, offers the following explanation, "[The wall is] like a red rag to a bull. You’re going to want to cover it in work. Also it may be a publicity stunt in a way. But to have a politically repressive situation to react against is enormously important for many artists. It gives them something to react against; something to give meaning and importance to their work."

Is it simply a publicity stunt? If so, who is the publicity for? For himself? For the existence of the wall, or the people on both sides cut off by the wall?

There will always be issues to debate. Of the wall itself, Israel claims it is a security measure. The Palestinian Authority claims that it is an attempt to grab land.

However he also recounts that an old man came up to him and told him that he was making the wall look beautiful. Banksy thanked him. The old man replied, “We don’t want it to be beautiful. We hate that wall. Go away.”

The publicity was, however, still appreciated. In 2007, Banksy and several other graffiti artists were invited to produce works in Bethlehem as part of an exhibition.

Through his PR spokeswoman Banksy said that he hoped the art would "attract tourists to Bethlehem."

Banksy still remains anonymous. The words attributed to him were originally sourced from his website or spokesperson.

All images are from Flickr.

This is the second in the series of articles about the works of Banksy

the others are: 

Urban Graffiti as Art: Banksy

Banksy Storms New Orleans: Banksy vs the Grey Ghost

Urban Graffiti Artist Banksy Opens a Pet Shop

Banksy Gunrat Will Double Value of British Pub

Banksy: How to Make Millions with Spraycan and Stencil

Banksy Punked Paris Hilton: Cunning Stunts

Or all may be seen on Triond at

C Jordan

The revenge industry has now taken on a new dimension in that terror groups and activists will now use the news media to publish their intention to avenge. One of the headlines in the Jerusalem Post reads 'We'll soon avenge Mughniyeh's death' (Aug 22, 2008 11:23 ). Everyone knows that Hizbollah will avenge but it publishes these kinds of threats in order to keep up its image among their people as a strong advocate of the ‘downtrodden'. But in fact, who are they protecting, or indeed advocating for? To begin with Israel has denied involvement in the afore-mentioned slaying, but let's for a moment imagine that Israel did dispatch Mughniyeh. Firstly he was a valid target, since he was well known in his terror network and his death could well have prevented several bombings in Israel. If Israel was involved, their agents singled him out and surgically removed him from the picture with the only other casualties being his bodyguards.

However, Now that Hizbollah has announced that they will avenge his death, their response will most likely be against civilians in a crowded place where it is least expected. Heaven forbid that the ‘brave' Hizbollah should engage in fighting with actual soldiers! The lefty media loves to use terms like ‘disproportionate response' when writing about Israeli incursions in their hunt for terrorists, but are they going to now say that the murder of dozens of civilians out shopping is a ‘proportionate response' to the killing of one admitted terrorist and murderer. In a war neither side is going to act proportionately because they want to win the war. Germany used the Blitzkreig, and the allies flattened Hamburg not to mention the Atom Bomb on Japan.

Admittedly though, World War II was a different situation, with a lot more desperation. The League of Nations had collapsed and as yet there was no UN. Perhaps if there had been no UN in the previous Middle Eastern conflicts, then maybe the warring nations would have reached a lasting solution themselves. Instead, with the calling for ceasefires, rather than negotiating peace terms, there has just been a lull in the fighting which enables the sides to replenish supplies for their war effort. This raises yet another question, that of who makes war, and who is the international community going to recognize?

Previous wars in the Middle East were fought between Nations. Egypt, Syria, Jordan, etc attacked Israel, and Israel fought back and eventually, a ceasefire was called. Hizbollah and Hamas claim to be legitimate because the people voted for them but they have brought their people nothing but misery and bloodshed. Hizbollah started a war that they knew they couldn't win, and then they stored weapons among civilians, while hiding among their own population, and how brave is their supreme leader, he conducted the war in the Syrian Embassy Bunker. How gullible do they believe the Lebanese people are when they announced that they had defeated Israel, yet they had caused the deaths of thousands of their own people, and all they had succeeded in doing was kidnapping two Israelis and firing rockets. Everyone knows that you can bomb an enemy as much as you like but it is the infantry that wins a war.

In the light of all the news clips of terrorist training camps and facilities which show would-be terrorists going through their paces, there are some key points that are apparent. For instance in Al Qaeda stories, whenever someone is said to have been to a terrorist training camp in say Pakistan or Afghanistan, the clip always shows a boot camp kind of training regimen. What is this meant to do? Are we to believe that being in al Queda requires one to have skills like a soldier, like a Green Beret perhaps, or Delta Force? Not likely, whenever terrorist groups have come up against ‘real' soldiers they have always crumbled. Let's face it being a soldier takes more than doing a boot camp scenario in front of a willing lefty news camera. More proof that the training is for the media's consumption is clear when one imagines how difficult it is to strap on a bomb vest and pull the cord.

How many terrorist group actual members become suicide bombers? Had an Arafat, Mashaal, or Nasrallah ever lead their followers by example, there'd be much less bloodshed in the Middle East. It is one thing to tell people that they need to kill themselves and take as many of the enemy with them as possible, but it is another to do it yourself. It seems that as long as the Terrorist leaders can perpetuate the lie of oppression that they will have any number of willing saps ready to blow themselves up in this cause. The promise laid out to entice this action is the promise of 72 virgins in Paradise. But if we look at this reward it doesn't really hold any water on its own. First of all, Paradise or Heaven is a place where the elect will have sanctified bodies without the need for physical gratification or procreation. Secondly, what happens to the paradise after the martyr has had sex 72 times, there'd be no more virgins, oops! Thirdly, in the case of a female suicide bomber, is she going to get 72 male virgins, where will they find them, or will she be a pedophile? On the other hand women don't want male virgins because they lack experience. In the Bible it says "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise" (1 Corinthians 1:27) but that is talking about shaming the unbeliever into belief. The 72 Virgins doctrine is so far off the believable, that it is approaching the ridiculous. The sad thing is that so many people will blindly believe this promise of martyrdom.

The usual catch-cry of the lefties is that when a person has no hope in the future they will resort to suicide as their only option. There is always an option. Those few, and I mean few Arabs who were living in the Biblical land of Israel when the Jews returned were offered citizenship. They instead chose treachery in an attempt to take back land that they had readily sold when it was useless desert and swampland. Therefore, the refugee problem was created by the Arabs themselves, and they refuse to reabsorb the ‘Palestinians' into their own countries. Tit for tat retribution has been the Middle Eastern way for millennia and the Semitic peoples have lived in a tenuous existence moving from war to peace to skirmish to escalation back to peace and maybe war again. Unfortunately, with the involvement of the West and mainly the bureaucratic UN in the negotiations, it tries to impose analytical Greek thought onto Middle Eastern problems which have always existed with holistic Semitic thought patterns.

Jews and Arabs of Semitic background have basically the same thought patterns, they both look at problems holistically. Jews will say, "We keep Kosher not because the food is healthier, but because it is in the Torah." Arabs will say, "Allah has willed it." Neither of these two peoples feel the need to analyze the Scripture that has just told them to do something, although many of them will do that analysis, it is not the central reason for doing. And so the failure of the West in handling the situation it has undertaken in the Middle East is apparent, in the many peace plans that have been put forward. The Road Map for one, was meant to implement concessions in parts. One side did one thing and the other side did something else, the one conceded one part and the other stopped stoning. This lead to recriminations about who was conceding more, or not conceding enough, or not keeping to the plan etc, until it became obvious that the Peace Plan, or should it be Piece Plan had failed.

This gets us back to the original subject of revenge. There would be no need for revenge attacks if there were no attacks. When I lived in Israel in 85/6 there were no attacks, no revenge. I am not a political analyst so I won't try to write about the reasons why, suffice to say that the Arab neighbors seemed happy. In fact, one Moshav I worked in leased land across the border in Jordan, and daily we would drive the tractor into Jordan to tend the fruit trees, without Passports. On the other side of Israel on Independence Day, or the Nakba as it is now called by Arabs, we ran, marathon-like from the Kibbutz ruins on the Egyptian border back to the new Kibbutz as part of the celebration while being watched and cheered by Arab residents of the Gaza Strip. Alas, that was back in the ‘good old days' and things are different now.

Now we have of terrorists who are self-styled leaders of the people. The population is told what they need, indeed what they want, or how they will achieve fulfillment. Revenge it seems is a never-ending cycle. No matter what act is perpetrated, be it shooting civilians, or blowing up buses or cafes, there is no end of murderers to be redeemed posthumously by having crimes committed in their name. The martyr being avenged is always the person who was killed while pursuing his terrorist agenda of bomb making or planning the next terror attack. The oil fortunes of the rich Arab states are a fleeting thing, and from the view of this outsider, for the Arabs to have peace and prosperity all they need to do is not more terror or weapons or bombing, but just to desire it.

In the year since the Germans had arrived in his land things had changed so much and life was becoming more difficult by the day. Everything was regulated so much more for the jews than it had been before. The universal joke was that soon you would need a permit to visit the toilet! Now the building of this wall was making things impossible. Men were being cut off from even going to their places of employment. They could no longer go out and sell their goods or for that matter bring in the goods that were needed to live a normal life. Slowly and surely in the months that followed, the life was being sucked out of the community.

Simon and his young friends became adept at finding ways in and out of the ghetto. It was essential to smuggle goods in as the daily allowances were nowhere near enough for the inhabitants to survive. More and more people were being rounded up from around Poland and shipped into the ghetto. Even with the smuggling there was widespread hunger and children were starving to death. Medicines were almost non existent.

Months turned into years and the daily struggle for survival became constant. Even in this strange and terrible environment where people were being crammed more than seven to a room they learned how to adapt and to a certain extent, cope with the atrocities that were being inflicted on a daily basis.

And then came the deportations and disappearances. Soldiers would come in the night and take people away. There was no rhyme or reason to it. Both young and old, men and women, anyone could disappear at the hands of the nazi occupiers. As the rumours spread about the terrible fate awaiting those who were taken, Simon began to realize what his grandfather had meant when he spoke those words to him. "they are preparing to finish the job".

As news filtered back into the ghetto it soon became clear that the rumours were indeed true. The jews were being taken from Warsaw to Treblinka.But Treblinka was no ordinary concentration camp, it was purely an extermination camp. It was literally a highly efficiant killing machine. The remaining inhabitants of the ghetto had no choice. They would have to fight to the very last for their own survival. At the young age of 13 Simon shot a man for the first time in his life as he defended the barriers with his fellow Jews. For three long months they held out against the nazi murderers. But eventually the last pockets of resistance were overcome and the Ghetto was razed to the ground along with most of its inhabitants.

Simon was one of the lucky ones. Although gravely wounded, the knowledge of the alleys, tunnels and sewers that he had attained during his three years of smuggling enabled him to escape from the ghetto in the last days of the terrible onslaught. He was taken in and hidden by a friendly polish family with whom he remained until he was well enough to join the resistance once again in the struggle against the Germans. He survived to witness the utter destruction of the German Reich and the execution of its evil leaders. He had lost his entire family in Warsaw but in 1950 at the age of 20 he eventually arrived to start a new life in Israel.

Simon Karski was 73 years old as he stood with his 10 year old grandson watching the construction engineers under the protection of armed guards begin to unload their equipment from the trucks. It was the summer of 2003 and Simon now lived in the village of Zufin near the Palestinian city of Qalqiliya. A city that was gradually being turned into a ghetto by the building of this barrier. "What are they doing Grandpa?" asked Simon's grandson. "They are preparing to finish the job." Simon replied in a weary voice. A great feeling of sadness washed over Simon as his thoughts turned to the last barrier he had watched being built, and he knew that this time would be no different.

It came as no surprise to Simon when over the next few months life became more and more difficult for the inhabitants of Qalqiliya. Everything was regulated so much more for the Palestinians than it had been before. The universal joke was that soon you would need a permit to visit the toilet! Now the building of this wall was making things impossible. Men were being cut off from even going to their own fields. They could no longer go out and sell their goods or the produce they did manage to grow in the markets of Tel-Aviv nor for that matter could they bring in the goods that were needed to live a normal life. Slowly and surely in the months that followed, the life was being sucked out of the community.

And then came the disappearances. Soldiers would come in the night and take away husbands and fathers, brothers and sons. there was no rhyme or reason to it and usually no charges. It was all done in the name of "State Security" or for "the safety of the state". Women in labour would be denied access to hospital because the ambulance would be turned back at the checkpoint. Heaven forbid that a newborn was given the chance to be the next suicide bomber, Better be safe and turn the ambulance back. The elderly, young and weak were left to suffer and die through lack of medicine Because nothing was allowed through the barrier without permission and usually the essentials for daily living including medicines were turned back.

Gradually things were becoming more and more like a concentration camp. Not a concentration camp like the Nazis of old had built but like the ultra efficient concentration camp that the Israelis had produced from what was the Gaza Strip. Simon had heard of the deprivation that was prevalent there, even though Israeli citizens were forbidden to enter. He knew also from experience what men did when they were pushed to extremes and it became a question of survival. They would fight, and they would fight till the last man drew his last breath. Just as so many of his friends had done those long years ago in Warsaw.

The Israelis had learned well from their Nazi teachers. They had learned how to build walls to keep people where they wanted them. They had learned how to control whole populations through fear. They had learned how to use laws to rob and confiscate land and property and they had learned how to subjugate an entire people, dehumanise and crush them underfoot. In the space of one man's lifetime, the most abused race on the face of the earth had gone full circle and become the abuser. Just as the abused child often grows up to abuse others, so the abused Jewish people grew up to be the abusing Jewish state of Israel. Israel was indeed a star pupil who learned and implemented these lessons of the nazis well. Unfortunately they did not learn the most important lesson of all. It was all to obvious to Simon who had only been a humble plumber, but it was lost on his grand and lofty leaders as they sat in the Knesset and passed their draconian laws.

Of course the character of Simon does not really exist. But sadly, the events woven around his life are all too real.The lessons of history are there for all to see. In the terrible events of 1943 the Jews of Warsaw were wiped out as they fought for survival in what was once their home but had become their prison. Although the Warsaw Jews were destroyed, the final result was the utter devastation wreaked on the nazi nation by the allies as they stopped the evil regime in its tracks. Sooner or later The Palestinian people will reach a point of no return. If the events and injustices are allowed to continue to develop as they are at present then they will have no alternative but to take up arms and fight for their very survival. No doubt they will suffer the same fate as the warsaw Jews. But their allies and neighbours will surely avenge them and destroy the regime that sought to annihilate an entire population.

The Swastica and the Star of David. Two diametricaly opposed symbols of statehood. Who would ever consider that the two states represented by these symbols would have anything in common? Surely the idea is ridiculous, But there is indeed a commonality between these states. In the nineteen thirties Nazi Germany sought to justify its actions and expansionist policies by using the phrase "Lebensraum" or "living space". Hitler saw the expansion of his borders as providing both increased security to the state of Germany's borders and also a way of providing that "living space". Now in the early twenty first century Israel seeks to do the same. It may not be called Lebensraum any more but the methods employed and the rethoric of the politicians is remarkably similar. The continued occupation of the west bank is justified by the need for living space for the Jewish people and the building of the barrier is justified in the name of state security. But the reality is the ongoing and increasing suffering of the Palestinian people whose only crime is to have been unfortunate enough to have been born Palestinian.

There is a famous quote by George Santayana that says "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it". That quote has been used by many other wise and great men throughout the ages including Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill. Let us hope and pray that the leaders of Israel will learn that lesson before it is to late. The result of not learning this important lesson of history could spell utter catastrophy for the whole Middle East Region not to mention the state of Israel itself that so many brave and honorable people laid down their lifes to create. The inevitable consequences this would have on the western nations incuding the US does not bear thinking about. Suffice to say it would make today's war on terror look like a minor disturbance.

Apart from this meeting there was a meeting from the so-called Middle East Quartet of peacemakers. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is the one who will preside on the meetings and meets with a number of Arab states in a long stretch effort to better economy in the West Bank and Gaza era. One set back that was mentioned was the fact that these investments were not in the smallest way to interrupt peace talks. Brown has pushed Israel to lift its restrictions on the Gaza Strip; they were added after the Islamic militants of Hamas seized control of the territory from Abbas' security forces last June. The sanctions have cut off the flow of all but humanitarian supplies.

Tony Blair was the one to make the clearest point to the investors and that was the investors should potentially consider doing business in that Palestinian area. He demonstrated that many are already doing well, despite the obstacles. Another point was that even though the thoughts of the Palestine are always smeared with problems, those marks are slowly being erased. Tony Blair left the investors with Palestinian Prime minister, with low friendly taxation laws and the fact that the people of Palestine want to make this work.

Personal Reflection

In my personal view, I think that London Prime Minister taking notice in the potential money that both sides of the story can get is large will benefit and speed up the peace process. I think that investors taking notice in places like Palestine is great because it spreads the world's money a little more evenly. No nation should ever be just independent it should relay on other nation to help it in the time of need. London has done a great job of eyeing potential problems, such as Palestine's economy, and search for an answer. It takes one to start a chain and I believe that many others will follow in example. If London were ever to see the US in a time of need they would assist in whatever way they can. Point being that it's not just Palestine that they are helping they are helping the countries that have been bound with Palestine. Also, another point is that London will at nothing stand to watch a conflict unravel, knowing that they might have a chance to assist It.

Vocabulary

• Diplomacy: Exceptional the conduct by government officials of negotiations and other relations between nations.
  
• Diplomats: a person appointed by a national government to conduct official negotiations and maintain political, economic, and social relations with another country or countries.
  
• Fortitude: mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously:

Some of these children have been reported to be under the age of fifteen and many are need of urgent medical assistance. Children of any age are precious; we cannot simply sit back and allow this type of suffering to go on. The media in itself hardly covers the anguish that Palestinian children have to endure and it is appalling that they have to been put through the atrocities that have occurred so far.

The children that have been forced into Israeli prisons live in terrible conditions reinforcing both mental stress for them and for their mothers who are being chained by their hands and feet. This type of treatment is not even how a human would treat an animal. What kind of inhumane behaviour is this, these are people who are innocent victims being victimised because they are Palestinian. Some women have even had to give birth to their newborn babies inside the Israeli Prisons! There are still newborn babies that live inside the prisons one example reported from the Peoples Voice is of three month old Yusuf Alziq.

Other reports of the treatment of the Palestinian children were that they would run after Israeli tanks where soldiers would taunt them with water bottles as they run after them just for a drop of water.

As a mother myself, hearing these reports make me emotional and compassionate to the plight of Palestinian children and innocent civilians. If you want to make a difference sign the petition so that Palestinian children can be free from prisons on this website.

• Spike Lee has come out saying that when Obama is elected, it will be a "Chocolate City"!
  
• Obama promised to debate McCain anywhere and anytime. Now he will only debate him on the 4th of July when almost every American will not be home!
  
• He has promised to bring all ethnicities together but would not let Muslim women set behind him.
  
• He now is sporting his own personal seal which resembles the Presidential Seal! Is this the beginning of the Obama Republic? How arrogant!
  
• Mosheh Oinounou, writes that McCain Campaign Senior Adviser Steve Schmidt says: "As we scrutinize Barack Obama's words, it is increasingly difficult for those of us with the responsibility of following this year's election closely to discern what Obama truly believes at his core on the issues of great importance to the American people."
  
• Barack Obama said during the primaries, "Don't tell me words don't matter." That's all he has done is speak words without any explanations of any plans to restore our country!
  
• Obama reversed his position on accepting general election public financing. This change in position comes after nearly two years of speaking to and signing his name to his commitment to the public financing system. In the end, Barack Obama's words were empty and he decided to break his pledge to accept public financing in the general election.
  
• The energy policy that he assails for being a Bush-Cheney creation for the benefit of the oil companies is the very same energy policy he voted for in the 2005 Energy Bill. Again, Barack Obama's words on energy are empty and actually contrary to his own public record.
  
• His tax increases would hurt the economy and American workers.
  
• Obama consistently attacks John McCain for favoring "tax breaks to corporations." Yet, he recently told The Wall Street Journal that he too was considering cutting corporate taxes. Just last month, Barack Obama called corporate tax cuts "the exact wrong prescription for America." On one day, Barack Obama took two positions on one issue, again leaving observers and voters unsure of what he really believes.
  
• Throughout the primaries, Barack Obama has been determined to withdraw from Iraq regardless of the consequences or the facts on the ground. This week, Barack Obama talked with the Iraqi Foreign Minister. According to The Washington Post, the Foreign Minister left the conversation "reassured". The ABC News headline captures this perplexing issue clearly: "Obama and Iraqi Foreign Minister have Different Memories of their Conversation." In our foreign policy, we cannot afford a president whose public words are discounted by allies and enemies alike.
  
• OBAMA said: "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided." Yet, only a day later, Barack Obama said the future of Jerusalem would have to be negotiated by Israel and the Palestinians. Barack Obama was no longer prepared to say that Jerusalem should be undivided.
  
• At a time when we need a break on gas, Obama is still against any tax cuts which would help the common people!
  

Every word out of his mouth about wanting to help the common people of this nation is a lie! If you don't wake up, We'll have Obama as our Supreme Commander, Farrakhan as our Nation Defense Secretary, Father Michael Pfleger as Minister of Intelligence, Reverend Wright as Minister of Education and Reverend Al Sharpton as Minister of Justice! The time is coming unless America wakes up, we will all be singing, "Hail to the Supreme Commander Obama." (That is if the White Race is not ethnically cleansed by the new Supreme Order!)

David, Israel's great king established a large independent state, with its capital at Jerusalem. Under David's son and successor, Solomon, Israel enjoyed peace and prosperity, but at his death in 922 BC the kingdom was divided into Israel in the north and Judah in the south. When the nearby empires resumed their expansion, Israel fell to Assyria. Judah was conquered by Babylonia, which destroyed Jerusalem and exiled most of the Jews living there. Nebuchadnezzar entered Jerusalem. The Temple was sacked and set fire to, and razed to the ground. The Israelites laminated as they were carried off in chains to Babylon. "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion" words from the Book of Psalms, were fervently uttered by the Israelites after their exile, and have been ever since.

Over the next 13 centuries, the Jewish people enjoyed periods of monarchy, independence and autonomy in the Land, interspersed with eras of foreign domination. Following the destruction of the Second Temple and their expulsion by the Romans in 70 CE, the majority of the Jews were dispersed throughout the world. According to Jewish biblical tradition, God gave the Land of Israel to Abraham and his descendants for all time. The believing Jew, therefore, sees the Land as part of the religious/national heritage of the Jewish people, and attaches special merit to living there. During almost 20 centuries of exile that followed, Jews prayed three times a day for return to their ancestral homeland. This longing to return to the Land of Israel also became a major topic in Jewish literature and thought. Central to Zionist thought is the concept of the Land of Israel as the historical birthplace of the Jewish people and the belief that Jewish life elsewhere is a life of exile. The hope of returning to their homeland was first held by Jews exiled to Babylon some 2,500 years ago - a hope which subsequently became a reality.

Over the centuries, Jews were expelled from almost every European country - Germany and France, Portugal and Spain, England and Wales - a cumulative experience which had a profound impact, especially in the 19th century when Jews had abandoned hope of fundamental change in their lives. [They were also expelled from all Arab-Islamic theocratic nations in the mid 1900s.]  The national liberation movement of the Jewish people, emerged in the 19th century within the context of the liberal nationalism then sweeping through Europe. Thus political Zionism, which coalesced in the 19th century, invented neither the concept nor the practice of return. Rather, it appropriated an ancient idea and an ongoing active movement, and adapted them to meet the needs and spirit of the times. The Jewish national idea, however, was never abandoned, nor was the longing to return to their homeland. Throughout the centuries, Jews have maintained a presence in the Land, in greater or lesser numbers, and uninterrupted contact with Jews abroad has enriched the cultural, spiritual and intellectual life of both communities.

The Zionist movement aimed to solve the "Jewish problem," the problem of a perennial minority, a people subjected to repeated pogroms and persecution, a homeless community whose alienness was underscored by discrimination wherever Jews settled. Zionism synthesized the two goals of liberal nationalism, liberation and unity, by aiming to free the Jews from hostile and oppressive alien rule and to reestablish Jewish unity by gathering Jewish exiles from the four corners of the world to the Jewish homeland. Zionism aspired to deal with this situation by affecting a return to the historical homeland of the Jews - the Land of Israel. The history of aliya, much of which was in direct response to acts of murder and discrimination against Jews, provides strong proof for the Zionist argument that a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, with a Jewish majority, is the only solution to the "Jewish problem."

“If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand wither away; Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do not set Jerusalem Above my highest joy.” Some 2,500 years ago, David wrote, "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion." Psalms 137:1).

Israel is not a country that merely bluffs bully countries, such as Iran, when their survival is on the line. The history of Israel is a testimony to its iron-firm constitution for survival.

Middle East Arab regimes share one main aim - to survive. The regimes deny the Holocaust facts, instead spread accusations of Jews of using non-Jewish infants' blood in their rites, and of utilizing and sucking the blood of Arabs. The Palestine Times wrote of "God's lying people" who are "the Holocaust worshippers...the lie of extermination". Muslim clerics call upon the worshippers in the mosques to "have no mercy on the Jews, no matter where they are, in any country...wherever you meet them, kill them”.

The Israel Foreign Ministry spokesman has communicated that Israel welcomes the resolution that was adopted on 3 March 2008, by the United Nations Security Council. Israel "s Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, said “that the third Security Council resolution is an additional necessary step that expresses the understanding that the international community must neither give up nor stand aside in the face of Iran"s attempts to attain a nuclear capability. This important resolution is an unequivocal message that the international community cannot countenance Iran's nuclear program. Iran, whose policies undermine global peace and stability, and whose leaders openly threaten Israel, continues to ignore the demands of the international community and persists in violating previous UN Security Council resolutions. The international community has no confidence in Iranian declarations that its nuclear program is designed for peaceful purposes, and rightly so. Therefore, the United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution that constitutes another stage in pressing Iran to retreat from its intention to attain nuclear weapons.”

Shaul Mofaz, the Israel Transport Minister and former army chief, told the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on June 7, 2008 “If Iran continues with its programs for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are ineffective. Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable.” A spokesman for the Prime Minister did not address Mr Mofaz's comments directly but said that “all options must remain on the table and that more could be done to pressure Iran.”

It was the most explicit threat yet against Iran from a member of the Olmert Government. Mofaz, who is designated as a deputy prime minister, is a former Defense Minister who remains privy to Israeli defense planning. He is a member of Olmert's security Cabinet and leads regular strategic coordination talks with the US State Department.

The Israel "Mahal," the Hebrew acronym meaning "volunteers from outside the country" is probably the world's greatest intelligent fighting unit. When the Nation of Israel was formed, and fighting for its very existence, close to 3,500 volunteers answered the call to come to its defense. These young men and women, both Jews and non-Jews, arrived from 37 different countries. Most of the foreign volunteers were veterans of World War II, and thus had amassed extensive military experience. Israel combat fighter pilots, and ground crews have honed their craft primarily in English-speaking countries - Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, and the United States. Even prior to the declaration of the state on May 14, 1948, foreign volunteers joined the ranks of the Haganah, the Palmach, and the underground organizations. Mahal soldiers were imbued with a tremendously fierce sense of duty and pride, and have performed numerous acts of bravery worthy of recognition. They stand ready and waiting to defend their country whenever necessary.

Israel has anticipated nuclear war since at least 2002. The Israel military and citizens are taught to be prepared for war at any time. Israel will not be defeated without a fight! This can be testified to by my active duty Air Force husband. As he flew back from Germany in 2002, he was quite nervous as he glanced around the seats occupied by numerous Middle Eastern looking gentlemen. He attentively watched the interactions of the gentlemen, until he finally recognized the men were speaking Hebrew. After he took a relaxing breath, he started a conversation with the Israel gentleman next to him. All these facts were confirmed during their conversation.

Arab/Islamic anti-Semitism.

It is a difficult determination to conclude as to where the United States would stand against Iran. The United States is currently divided by two distinct groups of people. One group has chosen Barack Obama as their leader; the other group has chosen John McCain as their leader. Each leader has an entirely different perspective on where the United States should stand against Iran.

Hamas and other terrorist organizations are hoping he wins so it will be easier to defeat us. Ahmadinejad is licking his chops and telling the world that the unraveling of the United States has begun! He will cleanse the earth by destroying anyone that does not follow his beliefs.

Senators and Congressmen have decided they know better than the people, and selected a Demon with a gold tongue. They actually believe he can control the world and make the people believe all is well with extreme taxation so the Delegates and Super Delegates can gain riches and wealth beyond their wildest dreams! They will be able to have uncontrolled power or the peasants. We won't need an Army as long as the Golden Tongued Warrior exists.

YOU IDIOTS! You have just picked Obama to lead the Democrats because of his speech and race. Just like an American Idol gets selected. Well, when malls start blowing up, you have no money because taxes are so high, and our troops get defeated because of poor morale and not enough supplies; just remember that you selected Obama the Great to lead this country to its destruction. JUST AS IT HAPPENED DURING THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. Someday, someone will read in the history books about a country named "The United States Of America" that was the strongest in the world, but the stupid people failed to see all the warning signs about this man, and collapsed!