Chronology of Gaza problems

A chronology of Israel's relationship with Gaza

• June 1967: Israel captures the Egyptian-controlled Gaza Strip during six-day Mideast war. An Israeli census put the population at 380,000, at least half of whom were refugees from Israel. Today the population stands at about 1.5 million. The U.N. lists just over 1 million as refugees and their descendants.

• December 1987: A clash in the Jebaliya refugee camp sets off Palestinian uprising, which lasted until 1993 and claimed the lives of more than 2,000 Palestinians and 192 Israelis. The militant Islamic Hamas is formed early in the uprising.

• September 2005: Israel withdraws its troops and all of its 8,500 Jewish settlers. It retains control of Gaza's airspace, coastal waters and border crossings.

• June 2007: Hamas violently seizes control of Gaza after routing forces loyal to rival Fatah faction of President Mahmoud Abbas.

• June 2008: Hamas and Israel reach truce to halt the cross-border rocket attacks and end Israeli offensives in Gaza.

• November 2008: Palestinians resume rocket and mortar fire into Israel after Israeli incursion.

• Dec. 19, 2008: Hamas formally declares the truce over, rocket fire on Israel intensifies. Daltons Comment - this did happen first everyone. For all the people screaming and yelling at Israel, Hamas threw the first punch and now I don't think they like the fact that Israel is coming back at them. IMHO, time for Hamas to be disbanded.

• Dec. 27, 2008: Israel launches a fierce air offensive, killing more than 200 Palestinians in the first day. - AP

View from Palesine journalist

"Shabbat Shalom" in Gaza
Rami Almeghari writing from the occupied Gaza Strip, Live from Palestine, 27 December 2008

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli air strike in the town of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, 27 December 2008. (Hatem Omar/MaanImages)

Shabbat Shalom! "Peaceful Saturday." I don't believe that Israeli leaders appreciate the meaning of this Hebrew greeting given at the start of the weekly Jewish day of rest. No more "Shabbat Shalom," as on Saturday, 27 December 2008, just a few days before the start of a new year, Israeli warplanes dropped bombs on different parts of the Gaza Strip.

Update: I'm watching the Twitter Feed for Gaza live this morning, and trying to comprehend a complex but horrible situation. One that goes back 2,500 years or more. Let me go a little spiritual this morning, it is Sunday.

First, we know that Israel are God's chosen people. Not because they follow Christ, no in fact they spit on him and had him cruxified ... no, they are chosen because God decided he wanted to choose them, and doesn't need our approval to do what he wants. By the way, there are a lot of Christians in Palestine and they are really confused by Americans who support Israel's socialist brand of democracy over Palestinian.

Second, we know that the forces aligned against God want Israel and Jews destroyed or neutered to the point that they really aren't even Jewish any longer. Secular humanism and communism did part of the job by turning most Jews into non-practicing securlarists. Hitler did some more of the job by just plain murdering. Muslims have vowed to continue this assault and want Israel pushed into the sea and destroyed.

Third, the battle with Palesinians goes back for centuries, with both people groups claiming to have been there first or longer. The truth is, they were both there for a long long time and there's not going to be an easy answer.

Fourth, if both people's want to be countries, so be it. Palestine should pack up the Hamas terrorists and affilitated mobsters and send them packing to ruin another country. They should agree to sovereingty and work out a solution that allows Israel and Palestine to co-exist next door as neighbors and friends and trading partners and perhaps even one day as allies. Wouldn't that just frost the Arab and Muslim fanatics that have been using the Palestinians as a wedge issue for 50 years, if Palestinians allied and traded and worked alongside Israelis.

Fifth, one day this peace will be secured and guaranteed by 10 nations. We may not know when that happens, it may be in secret. But we do know that things are going to get very crazy soon thereafter.

President Peres (Israel) on Gaza

Here is the transcript from Huffington Post

President Peres:
It is the first time in the history of Israel that we, the Israelis, cannot understand the motives or the purposes of the ones who are shooting at us. It is the most unreasonable war, done by the most unreasonable warriors.

The story is simple. Israel has left Gaza completely, out of our own free will, at a high cost. In Gaza there is no single Israeli civilian or soldier. They were evacuated from Gaza, our settlements, which called for a very expensive cost. We had to mobilize 45,000 policemen to take out our settlers from there. We spent $2.5 billion. The passages were open. Money was sent to Gaza. We suggested aid in many ways - economically, medically, and otherwise. We were very careful not to make the lives of the civilian people in Gaza difficult. Still I have not heard until now a single person who could explain to us reasonably: why are they firing rockets against Israel? What are the reasons? What is the purpose?

And I must say also that the phenomenon about Israel is the restraint of the army and the unity of the people. The army waited and waited; the Palestinians asked for a ceasefire, and we agreed. They themselves have violated the ceasefire. Again, we didn't know why, until it came to a point where we were left without a choice but to bring an end to it. The operation was planned carefully and the army was true to its principles: namely, to be precise in its targets and careful not to hit civilian life. There is a problem because many of the bombs were stored in private houses. We have contacted the owners of the houses, the people that dwell there, and told them leave it. You can't live with bombs. We have to bring an end to the source of the bombs.

Israel doesn't have any ambition in Gaza. We left out of our free choice. We have never gone back to the idea of returning to Gaza. It's over. But we cannot permit that Gaza will become a permanent base of threatening and even killing children and innocent people in Israel for God knows why. I feel that in our hearts, we don't have any hatred for the Gazan people. Their suffering doesn't carry any joy in our hearts. On the contrary, we feel that the better they will have it, better neighbors we shall have. Now that Hamas is turning to the Arab world for help, the truth is that the Arab world has to turn to Hamas for the help of Hamas. If Hamas will stop it, there is no need for any help. Everything can come again to normalcy. Passages: open; economic life: free; no Israeli intervention; no Israeli participation in any of the turnarounds in Gaza.

As a nation, we feel united. As a nation, there is wholehearted support for the army, the way they handled it, their restraint, their discrimination, and their responsibility. The great winner can be reason, and reason will lead to peace. We are very serious, in a serious mood. Many of our children are still in the shelters, and we would like them, like the children of Gaza, to breathe fresh air again. This is the story, and whoever asks us to stop shooting - they have to change the address. Let them turn to Hamas and ask them to stop shooting, and there won't be shooting. Thank you very much.

END OF TRANSCRIPT

Pakistan and India escalation

About two hours ago posts to twitter announced to the world that Pakistan had cancelled military leaves and was beginning to move troops away from the Afghan border and toward the Indian border.

Obviously this is a continuation of the story which began over Thanksgiving when terrorists attacked Mumbai and killed and blew up many before being killed by Indian authorities. In the ensuing weeks it was released by India that the terrorists had direct connections to terror groups which are based and train in Pakistan.

My thoughts - first, Pakistan is playing a bit of a game with the world. They say they are fighting terrorism in the mountains next to Afghanistan but the truth is they don't want to break up the tribal regions for fear of a civil war. They say they aren't funding terror operations to attack India, but similar to the Afghan terror world prior to 9-11 they are allowing it to continue.

For the first time in years the nation of Pakistan has a democratically elected President, our chosen one during the initial thrust of War on Terror, was not elected. How therefore do we balance our desire to support freedom and democracy, with our desire to destroy Terror and those who support it?

Real Estate Recovery predicted for 2009

Watch for a massive and rapid recovery in housing and real estate in 2009 according to blogger (me) Steve Dalton and a list of Carnival writers

clipped from synergyhomes.blogspot.com RE.covery Carnival of Real Estate clipped from exitrealestate540.com I LOVE A PARADE - Especially a PARADE of REAL ESTATE POSTS about a RECOVERY! THE 2009 REAL ESTATE RECOVERY ... RE.COVERY Real Estate Recovery in 2009 from The Real Estate Bloggers has the Governor of California predicting that 2009 will see the real estate recovery. I for one agree. This post wasn't submitted but I took some liberty and included it to start things off.

Tension in Gulf of Aden escalates

With tensions in the Gulf already quite high, Iran sends warship to "protect" their shipping. Now quite a few countries featuring warships all in the same gulf. This has the potential for problems and mistakes.

Iran sends ship against pirates

World leaders have called for more action to tackle piracy

Iran has sent a warship to the Gulf of Aden to protect its merchant shipping from attacks by Somali pirates, Iranian state media has reported.

Pirates have attacked more than 100 ships, including two Iranian vessels, in the gulf in the past year and at least 15 are still being held.

Several countries now have naval forces operating in the region.

#TCOT targets Pigs wanting gov't cash

GM, Chrysler and UAW still want cash handouts even though Ford says it can make it thru 2009

clipped from michellemalkin.com Operation Three Little Piggies Top Conservatives on Twitter have launched a new action project targeting the “three little piggies” — UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, GM CEO Rick Wagoner, and Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli. I know I’ve got a lot of fabulous Photoshoppers out there. This one sounds fun. So go and check out Operation Three Little Piggies here. And if you haven’t opened a Twitter account (or haven’t figured it out yet), make sure to join TCOT.

Obama will be tested - DR Congo

Remember only 90 days ago when Joe Biden predicted that President Obama would be tested and we may not like what he does, and he may seem weak? That appears to be well underway ...

In DR Congo, a place far closer to Pres. elect Obama's hometowns in Kenya than Chicagoland corruption, he will be tested by a series of events that characterize many of the corrupt and tribal governments of Africa. If he is to be the first African President, he'll be tested to come up with a solution to centuries of poverty, corruption, disease, and government ineptitude. Basically, although colonial powers were thrown out, the citizens of these countries have yet to enjoy true democracy or rule of law.

From the Washington Post today:

Expectations for the president-elect are high not just in America. And eastern Congo will be an early foreign policy test for the administration -- its suffering not only engages our conscience, it is the most urgent expression of a difficult question: What does America do with failed states and regions?

After generations of mismanagement, the vastness of eastern Congo has become a vacuum of sovereignty. And the chaos has attracted some very bad elements -- Rwandan genocidaires, Lord's Resistance Army terrorists, militias of every ideology and description.

Talk to Ford about auto bailout on twitter

Lots of talk about the auto bailout, and whether the Congress or President will give them cash. This guy has engaged on Ford Exec himself and is hosting a public exchange on twitter this morning

clipped from kirkpete.blogspot.com Lobbying in Plain Sight: The Auto Bailout on Twitter Update: Operation Ford Motor now has its own hash tag, #OFM, if you want to follow the action today. I don't know what if anything will come of this, but it's fascinating -- beginning at about 10:30 a.m. today, Scott Monty, the head of social media for Ford (yes, there is such a function now), began a Twitter conversation with Michael P. Leahy, head of a new Twitter-powered conservative group called Top Conservatives on Twitter (#TCOT). Even if you don't have a Twitter account, I believe you should be able to follow this search link, which currently shows the "Tweet" below as the first result:

Potential DR Congo breakthru

DR Congo and Rwanda agree to disband Hutu militia that seems to be the source of the greatest anger to the rebels.

DR Congo, Rwanda agree plan to disband FDLR militia

By Joe Bavier

GOMA, Congo, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Congo and Rwanda have agreed a military plan to try to disband a Rwandan Hutu militia whose presence in eastern Congo is seen as a root cause of enduring conflict there, the Congolese Foreign Minister said on Thursday.

Alexis Thambwe Mwamba said the plan to tackle the FDLR armed group was drawn up by officers from the Great Lakes neighbours and agreed with his Rwandan counterpart Rosemary Museminali.

The two ministers met in Goma, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, where weeks of fighting have displaced a quarter of a million people.

The conflict pits Tutsi rebels led by renegade General Laurent Nkunda against the Congolese army and Rwandan Hutu fighters from the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

Nkunda cites the presence in east Congo of the FDLR, which includes perpetrators of Rwanda's 1994 genocide of Tutsis by Hutus, as the main justification for his Tutsi rebellion, which has conquered fresh territory in recent weeks.

Mwamba said the joint plan, whose details he refused to reveal, would be signed on Friday.

"The FDLR must either go back to Rwanda or become non-combatant in Congolese territory," he told reporters.

The Congolese minister said implementation of the plan could involve friendly outside forces, such as the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUC) or soldiers from the southern African SADC bloc, which has offered troops to help pacify east Congo.

Nkunda has declared a ceasefire with the Congolese government army, but his Tutsi fighters are still battling the FDLR, whose existence many regional experts believe is at the heart of the persisting fighting in North Kivu.

"They (the FDLR) are actually the root cause of the insecurity that we see around," Museminali said.

United Nations peacekeepers in Congo fear that without a political settlement the violence could escalate into a repeat of the wider 1998-2003 regional war that devastated Congo.

Hutus in DR Congo want war

FDLR's goal is to return to Rwanda and topple President Kagame - Murwanashyaka's Hutu FDLR and Nkunda's Tutsi CNDP will remain enemies forever

The gunmen who executed the Rwandan genocide and now fight in the Democratic Republic of Congo will "always" kill Tutsis because the two sides "cannot mix", according to Major Vincent Habamungu, who commands the Hutus FDLR "Tiger" unit. Read more at link above

Update: This situation is not as cut and dried as we're being told. The "rebels" think they are protecting the Tutsis, who are being killed by Rwandan Hutus from across the border. The DR Congo government may be working with the Hutus because they are fearful the rebels will try to overthrow the government. The UN is basically in the way, with little guidance and no ability to protect citizens.