Israel alone in its unflinching support of US

As millions turned out worldwide to oppose a US-led war on Iraq, Israel insisted Sunday that a conflict remains imminent and polls show the Jewish state -- a frequent target of Iraqi rhetoric -- is the only US ally where both government and people back a strike.

While some other states have supported US President George W. Bush's push for a war on Iraq, a large part of their population is opposed to the conflict, as the weekend's peace demonstrations around the world showed.

But in Tel Aviv only a few thousand people turned out to voice opposition to the war, while a poll last week showed 51 percent of Israelis favoured an immediate attack, against just 43 percent who supported efforts to solve the crisis peacefully.

"Israel is in a totally symbiotic relationship with the United States," said Uri Avnery, a former MP who now heads the far-left group Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc).

He said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "has succeeded in convincing President Bush that the two countries are facing the same terrorist threat and they have become inseparable allies," he told AFP.

As for Israel's hostile attitude to Iraq, he said the public "was too apathetic to express itself and was stunned by media mind games."

In any case, he said Israelis were "too busy preparing their shelters and anti-chemical war kits."

But strategic analyst Joseph Alpher said Saddam Hussein's Iraq presents "a very real threat" to Israel, which he said explained the Jewish state's massive support for a US offensive.

"Saddam Hussein is a very dangerous psychopath who calls openly for the destruction of Israel and there is every reason to take his threats seriously, even if he is incapable of carrying them out at the moment," he told AFP.

"Israel has a vital interest in neutralising Iraq and knows it cannot do it alone, so there's no reason to be surprised if Israelis back a US operation."

Israel and Iraq never agreed on an armistice at the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and have traded blows since then, with Iraqi forces fighting in subsequent Middle East wars in 1967 and 1973.

In 1981 Israeli bombers destroyed a nuclear reactor Iraq was building, while in 1991 Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at the Jewish state during the US-led offensive to drive Baghdad's forces out of Kuwait.

But Alpher, who favours a compromise solution to the protracted Israeli-Palestinian crisis, dismissed the theory advanced by many in government that a US victory in Iraq will open a new opportunity for peace in the region.

"This domino theory advanced by Israeli officials is an illusion," he said.

Last week at an international security conference in Munich, Israel's national security advisor Ephraim Halevy predicted that a successful US campaign would lead not only to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat being dumped but could also result in Syrian forces leaving Lebanon.

Whether Israelis support the war or not, a senior Israeli government official told AFP that the conflict was "inevitable" and would only be delayed by a UN report of progress in weapons inspections and by global peace rallies.

And Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz told a weekly cabinet meeting Sunday that the coming US offensive would be "massive, intensive and short," lasting several weeks and "neutralising the Iraqi threat to Israel."

Saddam Hussein, a secular Arab leader, has in the past echoed the words of Islamic hardliners in saying the Palestinian struggle against Israel must end in the creation of a Palestinian state from the Mediterranean to the river Jordan, a clear call for the destruction of the Jewish state.

As millions turned out worldwide to oppose a US-led war on Iraq, Israel insisted Sunday that a conflict remains imminent and polls show the Jewish state -- a frequent target of Iraqi rhetoric -- is the only US ally where both government and people back a strike.

While some other states have supported US President George W. Bush's push for a war on Iraq, a large part of their population is opposed to the conflict, as the weekend's peace demonstrations around the world showed.

But in Tel Aviv only a few thousand people turned out to voice opposition to the war, while a poll last week showed 51 percent of Israelis favoured an immediate attack, against just 43 percent who supported efforts to solve the crisis peacefully.

"Israel is in a totally symbiotic relationship with the United States," said Uri Avnery, a former MP who now heads the far-left group Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc).

He said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "has succeeded in convincing President Bush that the two countries are facing the same terrorist threat and they have become inseparable allies," he told AFP.

As for Israel's hostile attitude to Iraq, he said the public "was too apathetic to express itself and was stunned by media mind games."

In any case, he said Israelis were "too busy preparing their shelters and anti-chemical war kits."

But strategic analyst Joseph Alpher said Saddam Hussein's Iraq presents "a very real threat" to Israel, which he said explained the Jewish state's massive support for a US offensive.

"Saddam Hussein is a very dangerous psychopath who calls openly for the destruction of Israel and there is every reason to take his threats seriously, even if he is incapable of carrying them out at the moment," he told AFP.

"Israel has a vital interest in neutralising Iraq and knows it cannot do it alone, so there's no reason to be surprised if Israelis back a US operation."

Israel and Iraq never agreed on an armistice at the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and have traded blows since then, with Iraqi forces fighting in subsequent Middle East wars in 1967 and 1973.

In 1981 Israeli bombers destroyed a nuclear reactor Iraq was building, while in 1991 Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at the Jewish state during the US-led offensive to drive Baghdad's forces out of Kuwait.

But Alpher, who favours a compromise solution to the protracted Israeli-Palestinian crisis, dismissed the theory advanced by many in government that a US victory in Iraq will open a new opportunity for peace in the region.

"This domino theory advanced by Israeli officials is an illusion," he said.

Last week at an international security conference in Munich, Israel's national security advisor Ephraim Halevy predicted that a successful US campaign would lead not only to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat being dumped but could also result in Syrian forces leaving Lebanon.

Whether Israelis support the war or not, a senior Israeli government official told AFP that the conflict was "inevitable" and would only be delayed by a UN report of progress in weapons inspections and by global peace rallies.

And Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz told a weekly cabinet meeting Sunday that the coming US offensive would be "massive, intensive and short," lasting several weeks and "neutralising the Iraqi threat to Israel."

Saddam Hussein, a secular Arab leader, has in the past echoed the words of Islamic hardliners in saying the Palestinian struggle against Israel must end in the creation of a Palestinian state from the Mediterranean to the river Jordan, a clear call for the destruction of the Jewish state.

American protester killed in Gaza
Sunday, March 16, 2003 Posted: 4:32 PM EST (2132 GMT)



Rachel Corrie was run over by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza Sunday.

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RAFAH, Gaza (CNN) -- An Israeli bulldozer Sunday killed an American woman protesting the destruction of Palestinian houses in the Gaza city of Rafah on the border with Egypt, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said.

The woman, identified as Rachel Corrie, 23, of Olympia, Washington, was taken to a hospital, where she died of her injuries.

She had been part of the International Solidarity Movement, a group protesting Israeli actions in the occupied territories and recently appeared in a televised mock trial in which President Bush was accused of war crimes for his support of Israel's actions in Gaza.

"This is a very regrettable incident," an Israeli military source said. "This is a group of protesters who are acting very irresponsibly.

"They are putting everyone in danger, the Palestinians, themselves, our forces, by intentionally placing themselves in a combat zone. We are checking the details of the incident and believe it to be a very regrettable incident."

A member of the group, who described herself only as Alice from London, England, said she and Corrie were seated in front of houses belonging to their friends as the bulldozers approached.

Alice said they had been seated for three hours and the driver of the bulldozer must have seen them before driving over Rachel.

She emerged from underneath the bulldozer saying, "'My back is broken, my back is broken,'" Alice told CNN.

The arrival of ambulances was delayed because drivers were afraid to approach the Israeli forces, Alice said.

Tom Dale said he was about 10 yards from Corrie when the incident occurred. Dale said Corrie, clearly visible in an orange jacket, placed herself between the bulldozer and houses targeted by the Israelis.

As the bulldozer lifted a pile of earth, it moved forward and captured Corrie under its blade, Dale said.

Israel has a right to defend itself. No American can stop it. Americans do not understand what it means to be surrounded by Palestinian terrorists.
Americans are stupid and clueless.

jack-***?!

Enough is enough. Let's stick to immigration problems in this forum. PLEASE EVERYONE, JUST DISREGARD ANY POSTS NOT RELATED TO IMMIGRATION AND DO NOT BOTHER TO RESPOND, SO THAT THE THREAD DIES. If you respond, then the thread will never stop and will continue. So do not post a reply to any thread that has nothing to do with immigration.

I came with the idea First but nothing has changed.
Just go with the flow, there's nothing YOU can do

BUM BUM