The Politics of War in the Middle East

[Super Nova]

Well, there is war all around me.

Israel and Hamas and just a month a go Iraq went to shit.

A great time to be in the middle east.

The rationale and the political manipulations behind what going on in Israel is very confusing however this article presents an interesting theory that makes sense. The Palestinians are forced to do something because the status quo is no way for their people to live.

War... boom boom... what is it good for..... absolutely.... well not nothing it appears.

Why the Islamists are happy to be victims again
Published at 12:01AM, July 10 2014

It is broke and divided, but Hamas is gambling that a limited war with Israel will enhance its fortunes. The group is acting out of weakness, having lost most of its bankrollers. Egypt’s crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, the group’s political cousins, and its restrictions on the use of the smuggling tunnels from Gaza — the economic lifeblood of the strip and its 1.7 million people — has driven the group into bankruptcy. President Assad of Syria no longer picks up its bills; the group’s HQ in Damascus has long since been dismantled.

Even Qatar is thinking twice about its subsidies. To reinvigorate Arab support, Hamas needs to become a fighter and victim again.

It is a reckless logic, but the inevitable bloodshed could significantly shift the terms of the strategic conflict throughout the region and propel it into a period of chaotic warfare that spreads across several borders.

The first step has been to disturb Israel’s sense of security: to fire not only on civilians, but to use long-range rockets to disrupt public life, to send people rushing to shelters and paralyse tourism at the beginning of the summer season. A ground war — an increasingly likely option for the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu — cannot be won in a military sense by either Hamas or Islamic Jihad.

They calculate, however, that they can ambush sufficient numbers of infantrymen and blast enough armoured vehicles with Kornet missiles to present themselves as cutting edge heroes to their sponsors, especially their private donors in the Gulf.

The ultimate prize would be the capture of Israeli soldiers to negotiate prisoner exchanges and ease the blockade by Israel and Egypt.

Hamas would not have escalated to a position where its fighters fired on central Israel, however, unless it had assurances that Iran would rearm it after round one of the war.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/worl ... 143425.ece

[Neferti]

Two peoples fighting for the same thing: examining the Israel-Palestine conflict, from 66AD to today.

http://www.news.com.au/world/two-people ... 6985449546

THE roar of rockets. The bark of rifles. The din of angry mantras. It’s hard to make sense of what’s going on in Palestine and Israel amid such a cacophony. But here’s a try.

Blasts of anger and wails of grief sounded the push of a dispossessed people to reclaim their lost land back as far back as the 1930s. Today the same sounds are still being heard — same place, same reason, but from a different people.

The Jewish people believe this is their holy soil, given to their forefathers — Abraham, Moses and David — as a gift by God himself.

The Palestinians believe the same thing: It’s just their religion diverged from that of the current form of Judaism several times over the past four thousand years.

Over the millennia it’s been called Canaan, Judea, Samaria, Galilee and the Holy Land

They have been in conflict since the Year Dot. Good write up in this article of the history of it, if anyone wants to read it.

[Aussie]

While I wish no harm on you or your Family, fact is that Rome is closer than you are.

[Neferti]

While I wish no harm on you or your Family, fact is that Rome is closer than you are.

Excuse me? What the hell are you on about now, Aussie? Have you been partaking of a few too many VBs?

[Aussie]

While I wish no harm on you or your Family, fact is that Rome is closer than you are.

Excuse me? What the hell are you on about now, Aussie? Have you been partaking of a few too many VBs?

Geography not your strong point Einstein?

[Rorschach]

Yes Nef this'll be good...
Italy is further away from us than Saudi Arabia?
I thought SN was in SA? Or the Emirates?
Or does he mean Rome is closer to Tel Aviv.
Or closer to Gaza?
Why Rome?

Oh dear he is so obtuse at times...

[Super Nova]

Yes Nef this'll be good...
Italy is further away from us than Saudi Arabia.
I thought SN was in SA?

Next door. In UAE.

[Aussie]

Yes Nef this'll be good...
Italy is further away from us than Saudi Arabia.
I thought SN was in SA?

Next door. In UAE.

And Italy is closer to the shit fight than he is. Yeas SN?

[Rorschach]

Yes Nef this'll be good...
Italy is further away from us than Saudi Arabia.
I thought SN was in SA?

Next door. In UAE.

Yeah I already edited my post.

Not doing it again.

So what do you think he is on about?

[Rorschach]

Well so is malta or greece... who do we know there and... oh FFS why do i bother?