Word: palestinians
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...therefore there is no need for a humanitarian truce.” That Livni arrived at this conclusion—despite reports from the United Nations, the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Oxfam International and Human Rights Watch—reflects the irreverence with which the Israeli government regards Palestinian lives. Indeed, there is no other explanation. How else could a week of aerial bombing of such a densely populated city and intentionally starving its citizens be justified...
Rantissi was Hamas' political leader in Gaza when we met in a dark safehouse in April 2002. The second Palestinian intifadeh was at its height. The previous week, Israeli troops had bulldozed into the refugee camp in Jenin, in the West Bank, smashing the infrastructure of another militant group, Islamic Jihad, but also killing civilians. Israeli forces were easily beating Hamas forces in Gaza too; in Ramallah, Yasser Arafat was practically under house arrest as Israeli snipers took up position around the seat of the Palestinian government...
...Rantissi that Palestinian militancy was failing, that groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad were only playing into Israel's hands. In any confrontation that involved guns and tanks, I said, Israel would win. Rantissi gave me a patronizing smile and explained that military defeat was the best thing that could happen to Hamas...
...Rantissi's view, it didn't matter if a few dozen - or even a few hundred - Hamas fighters were killed. Their "martyrdom" would only strengthen Palestinian hatred for Israel and sympathy for Hamas. It didn't matter if Israeli jets bombed Hamas offices, because cinder-block structures could easily be replaced. And it didn't matter if Israel took out Hamas' leaders, because they were also replaceable. "Any moment, a rocket could come through that window and kill me," Rantissi said, "but even before the smoke has cleared, there will be a replacement ready." What the Israelis didn't realize...
Israel says its military offensive in Gaza has dealt Hamas a heavy blow, but that's not how the leaders of the radical Palestinian group see it. Their view is based more on a kind of jujitsu that uses Israel's military momentum against its own political objectives than on any serious belief in rhetoric about the organization's "steadfast" fighters being able to "crush" the invaders...