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Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid: Demolition of Gaza homes must end

by haaretz
Justice Minister Yosef Lapid on Sunday harshly criticized Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip, saying it must end and warning that it could seriously damage Israel's standing in the world.
Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, Lapid said Israel must halt the destruction. "The demolition of houses in Rafah must stop. It is not humane, not Jewish, and causes us grave damage in the world."
Specifying the potential damage in the international community, Lapid said: "At the end of the day, they'll kick us out of the United Nations, try those responsible in the international court in The Hague, and no one will want to speak with us."

Lapid sparked controversy when he said a picture of an elderly Palestinian woman searching on all fours for her medication reminded him of his grandmother.

Cabinet members immediately thought Lapid, a Holocaust survivor, was comparing the Israeli operation in Rafah to the Holocaust - but that was not his intention, Lapid told Israel Radio.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Lapid to retract his comments, the radio reported.

Health Minister Dan Naveh told the radio that even an indirect analogy to the Holocaust was inappropriate and has "no place whatsoever."

But Lapid said his comments had been misunderstood.

"I'm not referring to the Germans. I'm not referring to the Holocaust," Lapid told Israel Radio. "When you see an old woman, you think of your grandmother."

Sharon meets defense officials to discuss revised pullout plan
Sharon met Sunday morning with heads of the defense establishment to discuss the security aspects of the revised plan to disengage from the Gaza Strip and parts of the northern West Bank.

Israeli sources relay that senior IDF officers object to this plan to evacuate settlements in stages; they would prefer to dismantle the Gaza settlements and four northern West Bank settlements all at once.

The modified plan is to be presented to the government for approval next Sunday, and Sharon has promised ministers that he will provide a document detailing the advantages inherent in the pull-out.

The importance of Sunday morning's attempt to recruit the support of top IDF officers stems from Sharon's promise to prepare this document, and his need to allay his ministers' security concerns.

Under the revised disengagement plan, settlements slated for evacuation are to be divided into a few groups - isolated settlements on the Gaza Strip, the four West Bank settlements, Gush Katif bloc settlements - on the basis of the level of the security problems they have raised.

In logistical terms, sources explain, the IDF preference isn't feasible. "Army bulldozers won't be able to head toward all the settlements at the same time, and so the evacuation will have to be in stages," they state.

However, the senior sources continue, long stretches of time need not pass between the dismantling of the various settlements: "If the army wants to carry out [all the settlement dismantling] in a short period, that's no problem," they insist.

Officials in the PM's Office are unhappy that top IDF officers are voicing reservations about the disengagement plan. The original expectation in Sharon's circle was that leading IDF officers who complained during budget discussions about the heavy burdens shouldered by their units in the territories would be eager to support a plan that promises to ease their units' burdens.

Under the revised plan, the IDF will destroy residences on settlements that are evacuated, but leave public infrastructure facilities untouched.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/430587.html
§Gaza political storm hits Israel
by bbc
The Israeli justice minister has infuriated cabinet colleagues by saying the army offensive in Gaza reminded him of his family's woes in World War II.
Yosef Lapid, a Holocaust survivor, said a TV picture of an elderly Palestinian woman in the rubble reminded him of his grandmother's wartime suffering.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reprimanded Mr Lapid, who denied he was drawing comparisons with the Holocaust.

Israeli troops have demolished dozens of homes in the Rafah refugee camp.

More demolitions?

In an interview with Israel Defence Forces radio, Mr Lapid also revealed that the army was considering demolishing some 2,000 homes in Rafah to widen the so-called Philadelphi road on the border with Egypt.

Referring to the TV picture, Mr Lapid said he was "talking about an old woman crouching on all fours, searching for her medicines in the ruins of her house and that she made me think of my grandmother".

"I said that if we carry on like this, we will be expelled from the United Nations and those responsible will stand trial at The Hague," Mr Lapid told Israel radio, describing his argument in cabinet.


Mr Lapid, leader of the centrist Shinui party, spent part of World War II in a Budapest ghetto and lost many members of his family in the Holocaust, including a grandmother who died at Auschwitz.

He stressed that in his comment on the Rafah offensive, he was "not talking about Germany or the Nazis".

Israeli political sources quoted by Reuters said Prime Minister Sharon scolded Mr Lapid at the cabinet meeting, denouncing his remarks as "unacceptable and intolerable".

And Health Minister Danny Naveh of Mr Sharon's right-wing Likud party, said Mr Lapid "can argue about demolishing houses... but you can't draw these kinds of analogies".

Using the Nazi genocide of the Jews in political debate is considered taboo by many Israelis, who see it as cheapening the memory of the Holocaust victims, correspondents say.

On Friday, Israeli forces pulled out of parts of Rafah after three days of fighting and occupation, in which more than 40 Palestinians were killed.

The policy of demolishing Palestinian houses has been widely condemned.

The offensive was launched after 13 Israeli soldiers were killed by Palestinian militants in the Rafah area last week.

Israel says it is trying to secure the border with Egypt to prevent arms being smuggled into the Gaza Strip.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3740649.stm
Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by ANGEL
Why are these homes being demolished making more women and children homeless???

Israel is demolishing hundreds of homes in Gaza because they say there are tunnels from Egypt to those homes. The question: Since any tunnels must cross the Egypt-Gaza border, why do hundreds of homes have to be destroyed to find them and stop their use? All Israel has to do is dig a trench, as deep as they want, right along the border. They will find every tunnel. There was never a need to destroy a single home.

Anyway again I wish to say to end all this Insanity, Free the Palestinian People.....

For there to be Peace and for there to be a reason for the Palestinian People to stop their fight for Freedom:
We need a Palestinian State with Reasonable Border NOW, If the Road Map that is backed by the U.S., U.N., E.U., and Russia is to work...
Send in a Joint, U.S., U.N. Peace keeping Force to the West Bank and Gaza for the sole purpose of trying to avoid conflicts between the Palestinian and the settlers..
Then have the Biased (biased because they will always be on the side of the settlers) Israeli Military retreat to the pre 1967 Israeli Borders, They can then concentrate their effort on guarding this Border..

Example of a possible solution:
SET THE BORDERS BACK TO 1967...
In return the Refugees have no Right of Return inside the 1967 Israeli Borders..
One complaint that Israel has is that the Right of Return will result in two Palestinian States, (The Right of return is almost impossible any way because the land and homes they lost are now built up with Jewish homes businesses etc…)
The Refugees can be compensated and helped to settle somewhere in the new Palestinian State..
The Settlements are now part of Palestine...
If the some 300,000 Israeli Settlers living in Palestine do not like living there, they can move to Israel...
If the 1,000,000 or so Palestinians who now live in Israel do not like living in Israel, they can move to Palestine...
If 1,000,000 or so Palestinians can live in Israel, then some 300,000 Israeli Settlers can live in Palestine if they choose to stay..
If you take Israel, West Bank and Gaza, West Bank and Gaza is only 22% of the total area in Question, This small amount is not too much to ask for millions of Palestinians who must have their freedom to have a peaceful life.
If this solution was implemented there is a good chance the so called terrorist (seen as freedom fighters by the oppressed Palestinian People) would stop their fight, if not they would be very foolish because then Israel would have a just cause to fight back and the U.S. would have a just cause to help Israel fight back.
Otherwise we will continue to have:
Israel: We have to confiscate Palestinian land and demolish Palestinian homes because there are suicide bombers???
Palestine: We have to defend ourselves because Israel is slowly confiscating all our land and demolishing our homes. We have no military to defend ourselves and our land. If we do nothing, we will soon have nothing at all???
The era of colonization is past,. We can not expect to oppress millions of Palestinian People and still have peace.
by ANGEL
Why are weapon smuggling Tunnels always being dug making more Israeli women and children dead and wounded???

Israel is demolishing homes in Gaza because they say there are tunnels from Egypt to those homes. The question: Since any tunnels must cross the Egypt-Gaza border, why do hundreds of homes have to be destroyed to find them and stop their use? Israel cannot dig a trench as deep as they want right along the border. There was a need to destroy some of those homes.

Anyway again I wish to say to end all this Insanity, Free the Israeli People.....

For there to be Peace there must be a way to teach the Palestinian People not to be Crazed Idiots. We need a Palestinian State with Reasonable Borders, Unless the Palestinians continue to worship Hamas murderers, then they deserve nothing but a One Way Ticket to Jordan, Syria or Lebanon. NOW, If the Road Map that is backed by the U.S., U.N., E.U., and Russia is to work...
Send in a Joint, U.S., U.N. Peace keeping Force to the West Bank and Gaza for the sole purpose of trying to avoid conflicts between the Palestinian and the settlers..
In return, the Palestinian Refugees, who are still refugees because Arab Countries and even Arafat have kept tham so, have no Right of Return inside the 1967 Israeli Borders.
One complaint that Israel has is that the Right of Return will result in two Palestinian States, which is true, and that is why it is a ridiculous thing to suggest. Also, since Jews do not get a Right of Return to Arab countries that took their Land, why would Jews be asked to do it, especially after all the wars against the Jews?
(The Right of Return is almost impossible any way because the Land and Homes they lost are now built up with Jewish Homes businesses etc…)
The Refugees can be helped to settle somewhere in the new Palestinian State..
The Settlements are now part of Palestine...
If the some 300,000 Israeli Settlers living in Palestine do not like living there, they can move to Israel...
If the 1,000,000 or so Palestinians who now live in Israel do not like living in Israel, they can move to Palestine...
If 1,000,000 or so Palestinians can live in Israel, then some 300,000 Israeli Settlers can live in Palestine if they choose to stay...
If this solution were implemented there is a good chance the Palestinian Terrorists who think it is impressive to murder innocent Jewish people would probably keep right on attacking, since they are rabid lunatics, but at least maybe some nice Palestinians might finally speak out against them.
Until the Palestinians abandon terrorism we will continue to have:
Israel: We have to confiscate Palestinian Land and demolish Palestinian Homes because we have given these people tons of chances to make an Agreement but the Palestinains are the dumbest People on Earth.
Palestine: We have to defend ourselves because we are too stupid to realize that Israel is not going to disappear, and attacking Israel does not help us. Even dogs and cats learn not to do things that hurt them, so why do Palestinians insist on attacking Israel when they know all it will do is prevent Israel from being able to trust them with Land Control???
The era of terror is past, We can not expect to terrorize millions of Jewish People and still have peace.
by ANGEL
Well if it isn't the poor ANGEL imposter, after all this time he/she still does not have his/her own name or handle.
How sad indeed that he/she cannot compose his/her own comments. (Since you are so against ANGEL maybe you could try Anti-ANGEL or Not an ANGEL) That way people who agree with your views can cheer you on.

>>>>Why are weapon smuggling Tunnels always being dug making more Israeli women and children dead and wounded???<<<<Words of ANGEL imposter>

Lets see who has died since this Struggle for Palestinian Freedom began in Sept. 2000?

2993 Palestinians have died including 550 innocent children
963 Israelis have died including 106 innocent children

For details on these figures:
CLICK HERE > http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/deaths.html


Why are these homes being demolished making more women and children homeless???

Israel is demolishing hundreds of homes in Gaza because they say there are tunnels from Egypt to those homes. The question: Since any tunnels must cross the Egypt-Gaza border, why do hundreds of homes have to be destroyed to find them and stop their use? All Israel has to do is dig a trench, as deep as they want, right along the border. They will find every tunnel. There was never a need to destroy a single home.

Anyway again I wish to say to end all this Insanity, Free the Palestinian People.....

For there to be Peace and for there to be a reason for the Palestinian People to stop their fight for Freedom:
We need a Palestinian State with Reasonable Border NOW, If the Road Map that is backed by the U.S., U.N., E.U., and Russia is to work...
Send in a Joint, U.S., U.N. Peace keeping Force to the West Bank and Gaza for the sole purpose of trying to avoid conflicts between the Palestinian and the settlers..
Then have the Biased (biased because they will always be on the side of the settlers) Israeli Military retreat to the pre 1967 Israeli Borders, They can then concentrate their effort on guarding this Border..

Example of a possible solution:
SET THE BORDERS BACK TO 1967...
In return the Refugees have no Right of Return inside the 1967 Israeli Borders..
One complaint that Israel has is that the Right of Return will result in two Palestinian States, (The Right of return is almost impossible any way because the land and homes they lost are now built up with Jewish homes businesses etc…)
The Refugees can be compensated and helped to settle somewhere in the new Palestinian State..
The Settlements are now part of Palestine...
If the some 300,000 Israeli Settlers living in Palestine do not like living there, they can move to Israel...
If the 1,000,000 or so Palestinians who now live in Israel do not like living in Israel, they can move to Palestine...
If 1,000,000 or so Palestinians can live in Israel, then some 300,000 Israeli Settlers can live in Palestine if they choose to stay..
If you take Israel, West Bank and Gaza, West Bank and Gaza is only 22% of the total area in Question, This small amount is not too much to ask for millions of Palestinians who must have their freedom to have a peaceful life.
If this solution was implemented there is a good chance the so called terrorist (seen as freedom fighters by the oppressed Palestinian People) would stop their fight, if not they would be very foolish because then Israel would have a just cause to fight back and the U.S. would have a just cause to help Israel fight back.
Otherwise we will continue to have:
Israel: We have to confiscate Palestinian land and demolish Palestinian homes because there are suicide bombers???
Palestine: We have to defend ourselves because Israel is slowly confiscating all our land and demolishing our homes. We have no military to defend ourselves and our land. If we do nothing, we will soon have nothing at all???
The era of colonization is past,. We can not expect to oppress millions of Palestinian People and still have peace.



by ANGEL
Well if it isn't the poor ANGEL imposter, after all this time he/she still does not have his/her own name or handle.
How sad indeed that he/she cannot compose his/her own comments. (Since you are so against ANGEL maybe you could try Anti-ANGEL or Not an ANGEL) That way people who agree with your views can cheer you on.

>>>>Why are weapon smuggling Tunnels always being dug making more Israeli women and children dead and wounded???<<<<<Words of real ANGEL>

Let's see who has died since this Struggle for Palestinian Destruction began in Sept. 2000?

2993 mostly Combatant Palestinians have died including 550 children, many of whom were not innocent
963 Israelis have died including 106 innocent children, all were murdered

For deceitful details on these figures:
CLICK HERE > http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/deaths.html

Why are weapon smuggling Tunnels always being dug making more Israeli women and children dead and wounded???

Israel is demolishing homes in Gaza because they say there are tunnels from Egypt to those homes. The question: Since any tunnels must cross the Egypt-Gaza border, why do hundreds of homes have to be destroyed to find them and stop their use? Israel cannot dig a trench as deep as they want right along the border. There was a need to destroy some of those homes.

Anyway again I wish to say to end all this Insanity, Free the Israeli People.....

For there to be Peace there must be a way to teach the Palestinian People not to be Crazed Idiots. We need a Palestinian State with Reasonable Borders, Unless the Palestinians continue to worship Hamas murderers, then they deserve nothing but a One Way Ticket to Jordan, Syria or Lebanon. NOW, If the Road Map that is backed by the U.S., U.N., E.U., and Russia is to work...
Send in a Joint, U.S., U.N. Peace keeping Force to the West Bank and Gaza for the sole purpose of trying to avoid conflicts between the Palestinian and the settlers..
In return, the Palestinian Refugees, who are still refugees because Arab Countries and even Arafat have kept tham so, have no Right of Return inside the 1967 Israeli Borders.
One complaint that Israel has is that the Right of Return will result in two Palestinian States, which is true, and that is why it is a ridiculous thing to suggest. Also, since Jews do not get a Right of Return to Arab countries that took their Land, why would Jews be asked to do it, especially after all the wars against the Jews?
(The Right of Return is almost impossible any way because the Land and Homes they lost are now built up with Jewish Homes businesses etc…)
The Refugees can be helped to settle somewhere in the new Palestinian State..
The Settlements are now part of Palestine...
If the some 300,000 Israeli Settlers living in Palestine do not like living there, they can move to Israel...
If the 1,000,000 or so Palestinians who now live in Israel do not like living in Israel, they can move to Palestine...
If 1,000,000 or so Palestinians can live in Israel, then some 300,000 Israeli Settlers can live in Palestine if they choose to stay...
If this solution were implemented there is a good chance the Palestinian Terrorists who think it is impressive to murder innocent Jewish people would probably keep right on attacking, since they are rabid lunatics, but at least maybe some nice Palestinians might finally speak out against them.
Until the Palestinians abandon terrorism we will continue to have:
Israel: We have to confiscate Palestinian Land and demolish Palestinian Homes because we have given these people tons of chances to make an Agreement but the Palestinains are the dumbest People on Earth.
Palestine: We have to defend ourselves because we are too stupid to realize that Israel is not going to disappear, and attacking Israel does not help us. Even dogs and cats learn not to do things that hurt them, so why do Palestinians insist on attacking Israel when they know all it will do is prevent Israel from being able to trust them with Land Control???
The era of terror is past, We can not expect to terrorize millions of Jewish People and still have peace.
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