Sunisle:

Pappe has failed as a historian, and as thus as a source for serious debate.

Efraim Karsh of the University of London cuts Pappe's "The Making of the Arab-Israel Conflict" to shreds. He demonstrates that Pappe willfully gets it wrong on:

A) the ratio of forces during Israel's war of independence;

B) whether Zionist leaders colluded with King Abdullah of Jordan; and

C) the claim that Zionist forces adopted a pre-meditated strategy of ethnic cleansing in 1948.

Karsh writes that Pappe's provides nothing more than "a synthesis of previously published [anti-Zionist] writings on the topic, making no original archival discoveries." And since Pappe freely admits that his work is more influenced by his ideological beliefs rather than an objective search for fact, Karsh notes that he violates "all the tenets of bona fide research in his endeavour to rewrite Israeli history in an image of his own devising."

Pappe has also continued to provide unstinting support to Teddy Katz, despite the fact that the former MA student was forced to retract his tale of an Israeli massacre when challenged in open court. When Karsh's indictment is added to Pappe's behaviour in the Teddy Katz affair, it becomes clear that is is not a serious scholar, but rather a shoddy propagandist of the far left.

'The Bible has nothing to do with this. And neither does the Arab league.
Posted by Neocommie, Wednesday, 18 October 2006 11:41:49 AM'

Neocommie

The bible is the root cause of the problem. I agree it should be dumped along with all those pesky UN resolutions. Especially that original one 181. Ted won't agree though.

The Arab League is an organisation the diseminates Arab views. It also acts in Arab interests. I wonder why you think it should have nothing to do with suggesting a peace solution in a dispute one of it's members has with Idrael occupying it's territory

So, sunisle, what’s happening with Arabs of Palestine you & Co call “Palestinian people”?

I presume it depends where they live in.

Israeli Arabs enjoy all advantages western democratic principles offer, have their representatives in “alien country's” parliament, sex when they want, where they want and who they want with, by any way they want, travel a world, study at universities-as local and worldwide, and live their lives as much rich as they can afford.

And to my understanding, correct me if I am naive, they are happy in Israel and support "fighters for freedom" under a pressure of peers because they naively suppose having more under a banner of Islamist rulers-who? Arabian Christians of Palestine?

Arabs over “green line” are hostages of Muslim from around a globe politicians, of whose clinching to power at national levels demands instant image of an enemy, to distract their poor hungry subjects from their own problems, by mastering new un-provoked attacks at the Jewish State from Lebanon as most recently, and instantly denying their “Muslim brothers and sisters from occupied Palestine” a possibility to naturalise inside their own political entities too often artificially created decades ago by a known colonial master too many in Australia still worship.

However, one could meet in the UN hallways much more “oppressed Palestinians” employed at different levels of international organizations than the Jews from around a glob, Israel inclusively, and this impression is applicable for an Australia-based local enterprises surely.

Special for Marilyn Shepherd.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1159193478190&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

"Human Rights Watch condemned Hizbullah on Thursday for using cluster bombs on an estimated 113 occasions during this summer's war, according to research performed by the NGO's investigators."

The source is irrelevant to the truth of the article. It is or is not a true report from HRW.

"HRW spoke to people in the Israeli Druse village of Mughar whose family members - civilians - were wounded by Hizbullah's cluster bombing, as well as with Israel Police officials."

Hmm....

KEITH - if you agree to dump the UN along with its "pesky resolutions" I'll take the deal. The United Nations is a failed institution that does far more injury than good. It has the reverse Midas touch, anything with which it comes into contact turns into excrement.

And back to the original topic of this thread, this from Ha'aretz:

"HAMAS READYING FOR WAR WITH EXPLOSIVES, ARMS arms

By Amos Harel

Hamas wants to create a "balance of terror" with Israel in the Gaza Strip, in order to deter the Israel Defense Forces from making a major ground forces incursion into the territory, IDF officers have concluded on the basis of the organization's greatly accelerated munitions acquisitions over the past few months.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 20 tons of explosives, anti-aircraft missiles and antitank missiles have been smuggled into Gaza.

Senior IDF officers told Haaretz recently that Hamas is working to improve its offensive capabilities, with an emphasis on Qassam and Katyusha rockets, while at the same time establishing a solid defensive position in order to prevent the IDF from entering built-up areas within the Strip. By increasing the range of its missiles, the deadly force of their warheads and above all, by using high-quality blast explosives, Hamas hopes to heighten the threat to the northern and western Negev from the direction of Gaza

If Hamas succeeds in improving the rockets in its possession, it will be able to store them for months, as opposed to just days, as it does now. That would enable the organization to fire massive salvos at the Negev for days at a time during periods of escalation, as Hezbollah did in northern Israel during the second Lebanon war.

Arms smuggling is also continuing. Recently, Hamas took possession of a shipment of dozens of Russian Konkurs (AT-5 Spandrel) antitank missiles. These relatively precise missiles have a range of 4.5 kilometers, similar to those used by Hezbollah during the war. IDF officers believe that Hamas will try to smuggle in hundreds more."

Am I prescient, or what?

I heard today that Hezbollah has used cluster bombs against Israel. Reported by Human Right Watch.

No mention of this here yet :)