For all of you positive-thinking, “optimistic” types out there who really believe that there will be peace in the Middle East – keep dreaming. Only in dreams will there ever be peace in this region. These so-called “peace talks” between the Israelis and Palestinians are a total waste of time and nothing more than politics being played out, particularly by the Jews, who have their own agenda and are going to maintain their course of action regardless of whether the United States, United Nations or all the countries on earth dictate otherwise.
Because of the seven and a half million or so Jews in Israel there will someday be a war to end all wars. And as Albert Einstein once said: “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
Way to go Israel, you have taken yet another step in alienating yourselves from neighboring countries and demonstrating to the rest of the world just how self-serving you are. TGO
Refer to story below. Source: Associated Press
ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Israel and called for an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council as criticism and condemnations arose across Europe and the Arab world Monday over Israel’s deadly commando raid on ships taking humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip.
The raid, in which at least 10 pro-Palestinian activists, most of them Turks, were killed, was a new blow to Israel’s international standing at a time when the West — including the United States — have grown frustrated with its stance in the peace process. The bloodshed particularly hurts its relations with Turkey, which was once a close regional ally of Israel but has become increasingly critical of it.
Around 10,000 Turks marched in protest from the Israeli consulate in Istanbul to a main square, chanting, “Murderous Israel you will drown in the blood you shed!” The protesters earlier tried to storm the Consulate building but were blocked by police. The flotilla of six ships, carrying some 700 activists, was sponsored in part by a Turkish organization.
Around 1,000 protested in Jordan’s capital, Amman, calling for their government to cut diplomatic ties with Israel. Smaller protests erupted in capitals across the Middle East as well as in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, the Greek city of Thessaloniki and the Pakistani city of Karachi.
Palestinian youths protesting the raid scuffled with Israeli soldiers, throwing bottles and stones at them, at a checkpoint north of Jerusalem, as senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called the Israeli raid a “war crime.”
Israel says the activists attacked its commandos as they boarded the six ships taking tons of supplies to Gaza, while the flotilla’s organizers say the Israeli forces opened fire first.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the violence, saying, “I am shocked by reports of killing of people in boats carrying supply to Gaza. I heard the ships were in international water. That is very bad.” He called for a “thorough investigation.”
The White House issued a cautious reaction, saying “The United States deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries sustained, and is currently working to understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy.”
The European Union’s foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, said the bloc was deeply concerned and she called on Israel to carry out an inquiry. British Foreign Secretary William Hague deplored the killings and called for an end to the Gaza blockade.
Spain and France condemned what they called the disproportionate use of force. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called for an immediate investigation into the matter by a neutral party but was careful not to directly place blame. He said that the German embassy was seeking information on six German citizens believed to have been aboard the ships.
Greece suspended a military exercise with Israel and postponed a visit by Israel’s air force chief. Greece, Egypt, Sweden, Spain and Denmark summoned Israel’s ambassadors demanding explanations for the violence.
The Gulf Cooperation Countries condemned Israel’s “heinous crime” on the Gaza ships, which it said was “pre-planned” by the Israeli government.
But the strongest reaction came from Turkey. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc called Israel’s actions “piracy” and said Turkey is withdrawing its ambassador on Monday as well as canceling three joint military drills and calling on the U.N. Security Council to convene in an emergency session about Israel. Turkey is currently a member of the council.
“I strongly condemn the use of force by Israeli military forces on an aid convoy composed of 32 countries, including Turkey,” Arinc said. “This attack must not remain unanswered.” He also said a Turkish youth soccer team currently in Israel would be brought home.
The raid also brought heightened attention to Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, imposed after the Palestinian militant group Hamas seized control of the tiny Mediterranean territory in 2007. The blockade — along with Israel’s fierce offensive against Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009 to stop Hamas rocket fire — has fueled anti-Israeli sentiment around the Arab world.
The president of Iran, a key supporter of Hamas, called the raid “an inhuman act.”
“All in all, these (actions) only bring closer the end of the miserable and false regime” in Israel, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, according to state TV.
The Cairo-based Arab League called an emergency session for Tuesday to address the attack, as the two only Arab states with peace deals with Israel — Jordan and Egypt — sharply condemned the violence. Jordan’s information minister, Nabil al-Sharif, called it a “heinous crime” and called for the lifting of the blockade on Gaza.
The incident also put Egypt in a tight position. The only Arab country bordering the Gaza Strip, it has helped enforce the blockade by cracking down on smuggling tunnels that are a key source of goods to Gaza’s 1.5 million people and by rejecting pressure that it open its border crossing. The Egyptian government has said it cannot open the border since there is no agreement on restoring European monitors who left during the Hamas takeover.
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said the violence underlines how Gaza “remains under total Israeli occupation,” and it called “for the immediate lifting of the Israeli siege on Gaza.”
In Beirut, about 500 Palestinian and Lebanese activists protested in front of the U.N. headquarters, setting Israeli flags on fire. “The only solution with the usurping entity is resistance. This entity only understands the language of force,” Hezbollah lawmaker Nawar al-Saheli told the crowd.
In neighboring Syria, more than 200 Syrian and Palestinian protesters staged a sit-in before the offices of the United Nations to denounce the Israeli raid.
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Keath reported from Cairo. AP correspondents from around the Mideast and Europe contributed to this report.
