All entries for Friday 20 January 2006

Indonesians kill up to 180,000 East Timorese civilians from 1975 onwards.

Writing about web page http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4630122.stm

It'll be interesting to see what the UN makes of the report. It's somewhat less than earlier estimates of around 250,000 killed but I would love to see the UN launch an official investigation into events and, on the basis of UN findings, see international tribunals bring some of the primary perpetrators and their direct supporters (including Americans such as Henry Kissinger) to justice.

: 20 Jan 2006 16:20 |  Tags: Politics Random Thoughts |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

On Israeli Hasbarah הסברה: Part 1

Part 1: The Palestinians are clearly failing in their obligations.

Israel has one of the best military services in the world today.
It has some of the most restrictive borders in the world today.
It has security everywhere.
It receives billions per annum in "aid".

A suicide bombing just occured in Tel Aviv. 15 people were injured. Israeli politicians eagerly scrambled to capitalise on the situation issuing statements such as:

"This brutal attack proves once again that the Palestinian Authority is failing to fulfil its obligations," Gideon Meir

Source

Tragic though it may be that a bombing has occured, apparently targetting civilians, I fail to see how the PA, whose infrastructure has been systematically destroyed over the past 5 years could possibly have the finances, the resources, the sheer infrastructure to succeed where the Israelis with their wealth and supposed counter-terrorism policies have failed. If the Israelis cannot police their own borders, how can they expect the PA to police anything when the PA aren't allowed to police their own roads and cities? Even under the terms agreed at Oslo, the Palestinians had very, very little actual military/police control over Palestinian ares. Now, a bare frame of a government, the PA is expected to have absolute control over the actions of every Palestinian?

More on Israeli הסברה, including an introduction to the History, varations and current forms of Hasbarah, to come.

: 20 Jan 2006 00:32 |  Tags: הסברה Hasbarah Politics Random Thoughts |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem