₦airaland Forum

From my inbox, read and enjoy!

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Dehumanizing the Palestinians - by Ali Abunimah

The Israeli cabinet has voted to declare the occupied Gaza
Strip a "hostile entity," thus in its own eyes permitting
itself to cut off the already meager supplies of food,
water, electricity and fuel that it allows the Strip's
inmates to receive. The decision was quickly given backing
by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Israel is the occupying power in the Gaza Strip, despite
having removed its settlers in 2005 and transforming the
area, home to 1.5 million mostly refugee Palestinians,
into the world's largest open-air prison which it besieges
and fires into from the perimeter. Under international law
Israel is responsible for the well-being of the people
whose lives and land it rules.

There have been barely audible bleats of protest from the
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ("Such a step would be
contrary to Israel's obligations towards the civilian
population under international humanitarian and human
rights law" and the European Union ("The [European]
Commission hopes that Israel will not find it necessary
to implement the measures for which the [cabinet] decisions
set the framework yesterday."

What? It hopes that Israel will not find it necessary to
cut off water supplies to 1.5 million people of whom half
are children?

These statements serve only to underline that Israel
operates in a context where the "international community"
has become inured to a discourse of extermination of the
Palestinian people -- political and physical.


Yossi Alpher, for example, a former director of the Jaffee
Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University and
once a special adviser to former Israeli prime minister
Ehud Barak, argued coolly this week that Israel should
murder the democratically-elected leaders who won the
Palestinian legislative election in January 2006 -- calling
for "decapitating the Hamas leadership, both military and
'civilian.'" True, he admitted, there would be a possible
downside: "Israel would again undoubtedly pay a price in
terms of international condemnation, particularly if
innocent civilians were killed," and because "Israel would
presumably be targeting legally elected Hamas officials
who won a fair election." Nevertheless, such condemnation
would be quickly forgotten and, he argued, "this is a mode
of retaliation and deterrence whose effectiveness has been
proven," and thus, this is "an option worth reconsidering."

Alpher incited the murder of democratically-elected
politicians not in a fringe, right-wing journal, but in
the European Union-funded online newsletter Bitterlemons,
which he co-founded along with former Palestinian Authority
minister Ghassan Khatib. What journal would publish a call
by a Palestinian -- or anyone else -- to murder the Israeli
prime minister? Alpher presumably does not worry that he
will be denied visas to travel to conferences in the
European Union, or will fail to receive invitations to
American universities. History tells us that he can feel
confident he will suffer no consequences. Indeed, in the
current political climate, any attempt to exclude Alpher
might even be cast as an attack on academic freedom!

Declarations that reduce Palestinians to bare biological
life that can be extinguished without any moral doubt
are not isolated exceptions. In May, as reported by The
Jerusalem Post, Israel's former Sephardic Chief Rabbi
Mordechai Eliyahu issued a religious ruling to the prime
minister "that there was absolutely no moral prohibition
against the indiscriminate killing of civilians during a
potential massive military offensive on Gaza aimed at
stopping the rocket launchings" (See "Top Israeli rabbis
advocate genocide," The Electronic Intifada, 31 May 2007).
I could find no statement by any prominent Israeli figure
condemning Eliyahu's ruling.

And, in a September 6 blog posting, an advisor to leading
US Republican Presidential hopeful Rudolph Giuliani argued
for "shutting off utilities to the Palestinian Authority
as well as a host of other measures, such as permitting no
transportation in the PA of people or goods beyond basic
necessities, implementing the death penalty against
murderers, and razing villages from which attacks are
launched." This, the advisor stated, would "impress
Palestinians with the Israeli will to survive, and so bring
closer their eventual acceptance of the Jewish state."
(See: "Giuliani Advisor: Raze Palestinian Villages," by Ken
Silverstein, Harper's Magazine, 14 September 2007) Giuliani
faced no calls from other candidates to dismiss the advisor
for advocating ethno-religiously motivated war crimes.
Indeed the presence of such a person in his campaign might
even be an electoral asset.

The latest Israeli government declaration comes as
Palestinians this week marked the 25th anniversary of the
massacres in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut, in
which the Israeli occupation army and political leadership
were full participants. We can reflect that Israel's
dehumanization of Palestinians and other Arabs, its near
daily killing of children, destruction of communities and
racist apartheid against millions of people has been so
normalized that if those massacres occurred today Israel
would not need to go through the elaborate exercise of
denying its culpability. Indeed, the "international
community" might barely notice.

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Co-founder of The Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah is
author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-
Palestinian Impasse (Metropolitan Books, 2006).

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Can there be peace with injustices abound? I think not.

@TayoD,

You make it impossible for one to discuss issues with you without taking a moment to attempt to understand why on earth you reason the way you do.

Dem tell you say dem go deport you if you talk wetin dey your mind concerning US in general and Bush in particular?

The level of defence you put up for the US even when the US agrees to a wrong doing is shocking.

Okija Shrine? Well, na wetin person dey involved in e go dey talk about so enjoy the blessing of all the babalawo in the world, I no need them.

@mamajama,

Why do you love only negative things? Just wait make BigB1 read your post and you go sabi how far.

What do we now call TayoD, I-man & Davidylan?

The Naija Trio?

Just like the Dutch Trio (Marco Van Basten, Rud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard) made AC Milan of those days almost invincible it seems that the Naija Trio are trying to make nonsense of anything Nigeria, Africa or even the entire black race.

Any better name than Naija Trio?

If you get better name abeg come forward with am as we really need to honor these Nigerians (that is if they even agree that they are indeed Nigerians).

@dude,

To be honest with you I won't waste my time responding to non issues.

Was the guy operating a bank or a wonder bank?

He simply made outrageous promises to gullible people who refused to think through the promises and the penchant for making millions without lifting a finger took the better part of the people involved.

Now that you are aware of who the guy is, I have been waiting to see you pay for notices on TV, radio and newspapers or are you not interested in warning Nigerians?

If we must be objective then one will maintain that Lee Bollinger simply expressed his opinions on the president of Iran just as the president of Iran effortlessly expresses his opinions on world issues.

Fairness demands that everyone reserves the right to say anything and it will only help if the listeners are also given enough reasons to support or oppose anything said by anyone.

Also, considering the fact that Iran will not host a meeting where other powerful Western leaders can come and express their views openly without any intimidation whatsoever it makes sense to assume that the president of Iran should have understood that he was in an unfriendly territory.

I would oppose Lee Bollinger if he made such remarks at the UN, but in a school where he is the president I don't think he was wrong even though he could have done without the rude remarks.

Bottomline is that one can be quite rude and quite right at the same time.

Enjoy!

Sometimes I wonder what the genetic make up of the following people looks like

TayoD, I-man and Davidylan.

With these guys around Bush will get a 4th term in office if they campaign for him.

Shalom!

I was thinking of sending an appropriate reply when I read this

dude:
@ Afam,

u still are missing the point here and infact have not said anything reasonable to convince any sound minded individual on why investors should be TOTALLY blamed for their misfortune. Law they say is made for the man, and not man for the law. Now how was this guy able to operate since the 2001\2002 u knew his scam network?( chances are that he has been operating longer before then). will u howbeit now admit EFCC\ICPC\ and the Nigerian police should be blamed for "unleashing" such a terrorist on an unsuspecting public for close to a decade who is getting bolder because of the lapse in our security system? my dear afam, i will also blame you for not using your intellect and advantages at your disposal to help bring this man to book. afterall, you knew him since 2001\2002 and even had the "rare opportunity" to speak with him on phone. u owe it to this society as a good citizen and as enshrined in our constitution to do help nail this man. therefore, i will put it to you that you have no Moral Justification WHATSOEVER to come on a public forum like this and blame people whose interest you and the government you are trying so hard to defend failed to protect. (no offence or insult intended)

but changed my mind when I saw this

dude:
am i justifying or making excuses to the victims? NO. what i have a problem with is that you seem to think Government should be absolved of any wrong doing.

Guy, you are not even sure where you stand, sorry.

Maybe if someone promises to make you the president of Nigeria in 6 months if you paid him N2M and after 6 months you are no where near Aso Rock you will turn around and blame anyone that have ever seen the person that made such a promise to you.

I have actually written more than is necessary based on your write it.

Suit yourself, believe what you want to believe but do me a favour, organize your thoughts abeg.

This is getting interesting.

BigB1 - IBB's son

Mamajama - Ehindero's son

Panalyst - Former no 2's son - WHO EXACTLY? We want names as we have seen so many former No 2's in Nigeria.

How cheap? How reliable?

Mixing State with Religion is bad business.

Pilgrimage is not compulsory, if you can afford it, fine, if you can't sorry.

@I-man,

I am not surprised you are one of the very few that are trying to justify the stupid statement from Bush.

Even Davidylan that supports the US in virtually everything has tactfully avoided defending Bush on this one.

Man, with an advocate like you by the side of Bush even Osama will like Bush.

The comedy on this forum will never end.

Did I read comments from people trying to explain that Bush didn't mean Mandela was dead? Even till this day Mandela is not a common name and as such the statement remains very very stupid and would only come from a slowpoke.

But as usual there are people who are so blinded by support for anything US that such blunders must be explained away as innocent statements.

It seems that some of us have no shame and don't know when to come out defending issues. Shame!!!

@bantos,

And the funny thing is that your answer to the only logical question from a logical person is dumb even with the color of your text as unreadable as it can get.

We are not competing for anything to begin with, so get that straight. Anything you put down on a discussion forum is meant for public consumption and as such people are free to comment on them.

I should watch how I talk? As long as my comments are in good faith I don't give a damn and I lose no sleep over any comments I make on this forum.

Correct the broken links and stop looking for a fight as you won't get one from me.

Joit:
Is it possible to buy a domain and host a website as low as N1,000/year with php, mysql, email, chat e.t.c functions.

Anybody reply

Yes, it is possible.

But there are just 2 classes of people that can provide you with such services at that price.

1. Big companies like google or yahoo that can use that as marketing or advertising stunt

2. Service providers that are desperate to have clients and as such your website may be just one out of say 100,000 websites on a single machine.

In fact you can even have all that you asked for just N1.50 sef.

Hope this helps.

I had no choice. When someone you do not even know come to a forum to abuse you for airing your views on a clear scam being run by someone you are provided with very few options. Many some people think a public forum is a place where they throw insults about and expect to be hailed for doing so.

Accept honest criticisms when they are made.

Some of the links on your site don't work including the Webmaster Forum.

And whether you designed it 10 years ago or last week it has nothing to do with the links not working.

Sometimes it is better not to reply at all to certain posts than for one to offer replies that are very bad.

We should learn to throw in a little bit of seriousness in what we do.

@I-man formerly 4Play,

I-man:
@Afam

You are an imbecille.Nobody cares who you take seriously.

Why are Africans seemingly interested in foreign affairs uninterested in events on the continent?Their interests solely resides in the Middle-East,strangely they are not Middle-Easterners.

It is pertinent to point out that people from the Middle-East are not interested in our affairs.We have more burning issues to contend with on the continent but we prefer to hyperventillate about issues and people that don't affect or care about us.

Your response above shows you care about who I take seriously or have you stopped thinking with your brain abi na your left hand you dey take think these days?

Keep changing identities online, typical character of a scammer, shameless pig.

denex:
With little intelligence you would have known he was trying to type BLANK.

@Denex,

Dat one na if to say little intelligence dey common.

Make I kukuma go modify am before she go carry am go AIT.

As expected you have provided a blank (BLANK) and senseless response.

chidichris:
where is mamajama and afam? i hope they are still asking foe evidence?

Why don't you just go hang yourself this pig? You remain the greatest slowpoke on planet earth, get a life or drop dead please.

In a way I prefer these people to proceed on self imposed exiles if the law cannot catch up with them here in Nigeria, at least that is better than having them around flaunting their ill gotten wealth.

For sure, no matter the amount of money they stash away, they will always wish to be in Nigeria where they will see people to oppress.

So, let them go to jail or go on exile, Nigerians are cool with either option as these 2 options are the onces available for now and in the future.

As bad as the situation is the government can have the 34000 vacancies filled up in less than a week going by the rate of unemployment in the country.

Naija, I hail thee.

Meanwhile, Oyo people made these men and they alone have the powers to unmake them.

Mariory:
[color=#006600]As for Iraq, the only people being 'humbled' are the Iraqi people. They are being humbled daily by suicide bombers, car and truck bombs. This is the mindset I cannot understand. Yes the terrorists are sticking it to America by slaughtering Iraqi people. Really saddening that people who claim to be intelligent see things this way.
You know, there is a reason why former rebels are now working with America to defeat Bin Ladens boys in Iraq.[/color]

*For those with quick fingers, this is not a general defense of US foreign policy*

Now, I am trying to see the difference between the content in red and the content in bold (well, apart from the number of words and spelling differences sha).

Whatever happens to her now I believe that she is finished politically in Nigeria.

No amount of damage control can help in this embarrassing situation.

chidichris:
mamajama,

is ibb's house more expensive than obj's transcrop, library, uttah farm and his hotel or is it not possible that the same bank that gave obj loan might have given loan to ibb to build his house.

Is there a company with the name TRANSCROP in Nigeria?

Where is this UTTAH farm sef? I have seen this written over and over again by the same person that I am beginning to wonder if OBJ has a secret farm somewhere with the name UTTAH

How person wey murder sleep wan come sleep?

Even with all the short comings of the EFCC all well meaning Nigerians know that what we have now is far far better than what we used to have when EFCC wasn't in existence.

babasin:
very interesting

what prowess?? all they acheive in Iragi is overthrow of Saddam.

Nigeria military junta will do this with less money, less blood and less danger to rest of the world

The content in bold refers, I agree completely with that.

BIMBY4REAL:
Mr AFam or whatever your name is,you need to get something doing spo as to get busy and stop blaming people for your POVERTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

MFM IS WAITING FOR YOUR SEASON OF FASTING AND PRAYERS TO DELIVER YOU.

Empty barrels they say make the loudest of noises.

6 posts on a forum and your are this bitter and frustrated?

I clicked on your profile and what I saw on this page is discouraging for someone accusing others of being poor.

Make una follow me see this link https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?action=profile;u=69321;sa=showPosts

3 out of the 6 posts are on this thread trying to justify this scam.

1 out of the 6 don't make sense.

The remaining two were about submitting CV to a company and thanking someone for providing information on a vacancy on another topic.

Well, it seems that this dog really need to take the advice that she was freely giving out as her situation is really bad.

And for a lady @ 27years with this level of reasoning I dare say you will have a big problem having a husband or even a boyfriend, sorry but that's the way I see it.

@topic,

So, this whole thing has boiled down to trade by barter, na wah ooo. I will return all the naira I have to the bank and start doing business that way eg I setup your business website and you give me a brand new car in exchange. Wow!!!

Nigerians should be bold enough to accept that they have been fooled into parting with their money for returns that never existed in the first place.

I-man:
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-74879.0.html

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-12179.0.html

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-54683.0.html

See the amount of responses threads on Darfur get.The usual suspects-Afam,Denex and Tornadoz-will never contribute to such topics since they can't find a way to blame America

If I call you a slowpoke now you will start to riot but honestly I can't find a better word to use in this situation.

So, I must respond to a thread on Darfur, is that your point? I am highly disappointed. Sometimes you just type without thinking.

By the way the only time you are not making jokes with your one liners is when you are all out to defend the West, right or wrong? And I am supposed to take you serious?

Meanwhile, when are you going back to your original ID of 4Play as Davidylan has reclaimed his former ID and has dumped PTH.

Thanks guys for the comments, really appreciate them.

I am glad the simplicity is appreciated as I have always maintained that the best sites in the world are simple, fast and useful to visitors and that is what I intend this site to remain.

Hopefully, it will become a reference point for businesses wanting to go online as every single tool needed to run a business especially IT related will just be a click away.

Many thanks for your time.

@Kenmentor,

Why don't you get a website for your business? It makes things easier especially when people are getting to know you the first time.

We currently give away free personal and business website scripts to Nigerians doing legitimate businesses.

Just focus on getting a domain name and any decent hosting package and you are good to go.

See www.justwebservices.com (Vendor Showcase) for the free scripts

See www.ijann.com to select any web hosting package