Friday - January 16, 2009

Guest Post #1, by Doc Jeff

> OK, I’m sure we’re all impressed by this.  When was the last time anyone from Hamas vowed anything except revenge against Isreal?  Congratulations to the IDF, another successful surgical strike against Hamas.

An Israel Air Force strike in Gaza on Thursday killed Hamas’ Interior Minister Said Sayyam, one of the Islamist militant group’s three most senior leaders in the coastal strip.

> Good start.  Read on so you can see what a sweet benevolent man Sayyam was.

A Hamas official vowed vengeance for Siam’s death. “The blood of Said Sayyam will be a curse on the Zionist entity,” Mohammed Nazzal told Al-Jazeera television.

> Very colorful.  Was he doing the monkey pump with an AK47 as well?  It would play well on TV.  This makes reason 483,726 why Hamas doesn’t like Zionists, aka Israelis.

Sayyam, 50, was killed in an air strike that targeted the home of his brother Iyad. Also killed in the attack were his son, his brother, as well as Salah Abu Shreich, head of internal security in the organization and the person responsible for the liaison between the political and military wings of Hamas.

> Good shot!  Got lots of birds with one rock!

Palestinian sources said Hamas’ military commander in Gaza City, Mahmoud Watfah, was also killed in the attack.

> And another guy who needed killing.  The Palis seem to be telling the truth.  What’s wrong?  They’ve got to be up to something.

Six other Hamas operatives were wounded in the air strike in the heart of Gaza City, the sources said. The IDF Southern Command ordered the airstrike on the basis of precise intelligence provided by the Shin Bet security service.

> Only wounded?  Tsk.  Gonna need another air strike.  In any case, let’s hear it for the Shin Bet, knowing the right time and place to clean up so many bad guys in one blow.  I think they’re still the best spy agency in the world.  Overall it was a good deal.  Three members of Hamas’ upper echelon deleted plus at least half a dozen (if not more) assorted Hamas operative out of action.  Nice.

Sayyam was the effective founder of the Hamas-led police force. He pushed for Hamas’ bloody 2006 coup in Gaza, during which it ousted the rival Fatah faction from power.

> Nice guy, he even kills other Palis if he doesn’t get his way.  I never thought I’d feel any amount of sympathy for a member of Fatah.  This guy’s making me consider it.  He controlled the police force as well.  Nice, it gives him more opportunity to order killings.

As interior minister in Hamas’ government in Gaza, Sayyam oversaw thousands of security agents and was widely feared.

> I like this phrase.  In other words, he ran the Gestapo in Gaza.  Salah Abu Shreich runs the internal security apparatus and reports to Sayyam.  Thousands of undercover agents plus the uniformed police can give a guy a lot of power....and terrify any possible dissenters into silence.

He was the number three behind Ismail Haniyeh and Mahmoud Zahar, and was seen by many as the most extreme of the triumvirate.

> Yeah, ok, whatever you say.  What made the other two moderate?

The airstrike on Sayyam was apparently an attempt by Israel to deliver an image of victory in its offensive against Hamas. The Israel Defense Forces understands that Hamas’ agreement in principle to the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza signals that the campaign is nearing its end.

> What’s this about “...an attempt...to deliver an image of victory”?  Deleting someone like Sayyam and a few of his friends is a pretty positive advance.

In an interview with Haaretz in November 1995, Sayyam said, “I do not hate [Israelis] for being Jewish or Israeli but because of what they have done to us. Because of the acts of occupation.”

> “Done to us....” Guess who’s killed thousands more Palestinians than the Israelis have?  Answer:  King Hussein of Jordan when the Palis tried to go after him like they’re now going after the Israelis.  Now watch for his idea of the “acts of occupation”.  Remember, Israel unilaterally pulled out of Gaza a few years ago, even leaving buildings and farms for the use of the Palestinians.  Buildings and farms that the Palestinians immediately destroyed.

In response to a question about whether he saw a chance for change in relations between Palestinians and Israelis, he said, “It is difficult to forget what was done to us. If the reason for the hate will not exist, everything is possible.

> He won’t forgive or forget anything.  The reason for his hate is the existence of Israel.  He wants to destroy Israel.  Read Hamas’ platform.  It hasn’t changed since the beginning. 

“But if the reason remains, it is impossible to love. First we must convince in general and in principle that we have been wronged, then we can talk about ‘67 or ‘48. You still do not recognize that we have rights. The first condition for change is recognition of the injustice we suffered.”

> This paragraph is nice and twisty.  “...if the reason remains, it is impossible to love.” Remember the reason that remains is the continued existence of Israel.  Then he wants people to understand that he, the bloodthirsty murderer of Israelis and Palestinians alike only acts because the Palestinians are victims.  So, what does he want to change about 1948 or 1967?  Does he want to remake history so that the combined might of the Arab world couldn’t destroy Israel?  Does he want to remake history so that the Arabs weren’t fools?  What could he be talking about when he references those years other than deleting Israel from history?  What does he propose will be enough?  An autonomous Gaza?  An autonomous West Bank?  Wait a minute, don’t they pretty much have that already? OK, his people have suffered an injustice.  Almost true.  Arab refugees were allowed to return to Israel after 1948 until they started killing Israelis.  Since 1948 their brother Arabs held them in camps, with no land of their own.  The Israelis gave them a land of their own and the Israelis are still the bad guys - got it? 

Reality, what a concept.

[ Drew: I can’t wait until Hamas rejects the cease-fire proposal they just made, if Israel accepts it. I’m kind of hoping the Izzys vote it down tomorrow. ]

Posted by Drew458     on 01/16/2009 at 09:50 PM   
Filed Under: • RoPMA • War On Terror •  
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